There’s a lot of new music listening & discovery websites popping up. Where do you start? Well I start where I can listen to the music to my own whenever I please — at home, in the airport, on the airplane, on a beach — and I can only do that if I can . . . → Read More: A guide to downloading the best free music on the internet Related posts:

1. April Monthly Goal Meetup
2. 3 Reasons To Work For Free

Whenever I’m worried or scared, I always ask myself, “What’s the worst that could happen?” and I usually realize that it’s not that bad after all. “Everything will be fine.”

But what happens when the unthinkable happens? When something . . . → Read More: Disaster relief fundraiser complicated by tornado outbreak Related posts:

1. It’s a Free Market For Spreading Ideas
2. PechaKucha at ideaSPARK: Behind The Scenes
3. Recognizing Essential Communities

The word I find myself using over and over is “overwhelming”. SXSWi was in fact entirely too large. The sense of “community” was lost in the masses of random people. There was little opportunity for serendipitous running-into-one-another of people you’d want to meet. Although yes, that did happen on occasion, for the most part if I wanted to meet someone I had to make a concerted effort—and even then most of the time it didn’t happen. Lots . . . → Read More: Is SXSW Interactive Worth It? Related posts:

1. How To: Throw the Best Party of 2011
2. For Raleigh: Notes From Austin
3. I quit my job.

In the past I’ve seen Raleigh residents, businesses and city planners try to copy other “big cities” like New York and Miami when we really just needed to cultivate  Raleigh’s own strengths and culture, as I’ve seen Austin do.

We don’t need to be Austin, either. But we could certainly take some tips from them. Starting . . . → Read More: For Raleigh: Notes From Austin Related posts:

1. Pecha Kucha: A New Sector of Raleigh Creative Minds
2. SPARKcon
3. Is SXSW Interactive Worth It?

I’ve already received many congratulations, which is exactly the response I was expecting to get. I’ve also received lots of questions like, “What’s your plan?” or “Do you have another job or interviews lined up?”

My “plan” really started a year ago and because RTI wasn’t part of my plan to achieve my goals, quitting was simply imminent.

No job lined up. So what is my plan now? I’m looking for the next big thing that will bring me closer to my goal of . . . → Read More: I quit my job. Related posts:

1. First Internship Lessons
2. Recognizing Essential Communities
3. Quit Planning & Just Do It!

So she emailed me asking for some suggestions, a place to start, and some “event-y wisdom” as she put it.

Consider this an “annotated bibliography” of event planning resources . . . → Read More: Online (and offline) Event Planning Resources Related posts:

1. Quit Planning & Just Do It!
2. Network Roulette: Easy Networking Whenever & Wherever You Want
3. Happy Birthday to Me! (and my blog)

Imagine you will completely lose your memory of 2010 in five minutes. Set an alarm for five minutes and capture the things you most want to remember about 2010.

These fruits that grow in Jamaica remind me on little miniature brains (but they taste really good with eggs).

This was sort of a good exercise, except by nature of the exercise and having been reflecting on the past year for over a week now, mostly what came to mind were the big life-changing moments of 2010 or just the really exciting moments. I . . . → Read More: Learning to Remember Related posts:

1. How To: Throw the Best Party of 2011
2. Quit Planning & Just Do It!
3. Learning from the Press: both sides of the story

I can’t take it much longer. I’ve been there for 2 and a half years. I’ve changed so dramatically over the past two and a half years and my job has changed this much: not at all. So I was happy there at first. I took copious notes. I pitched in as much as I could. I read everything I could get my hands . . . → Read More: A Wise Decision, Things My Life Doesn’t Need & Appreciation Related posts:

1. To the unemployed whiners: make your own job!
2. I’m A Human Being, Not A Human Doing
3. Finally, The First Day Of My New Career

Case Study: SPARKcon flash mob dance: Raleigh, NC If you look closely, you can see my head bopping to and fro. Participating in a flash mob dance was something I got to check off my bucket list this year!

Case Study: Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Manchester, TN

Just pretend like you’re hearing . . . → Read More: How To: Throw the Best Party of 2011 Related posts:

1. On TNGG: Volunteering at Bonnaroo
2. Is SXSW Interactive Worth It?
3. Learning to Remember