Read at your own risk.
After an amazing weekend discovering new artists, Live in the Vineyard closed with an amazing performance from Lifehouse.
Before the show, Chris had a chance to talk to them about awareness, great food, the upcoming summer tour, and their recent Live at 35 flights with Southwest Airlines while I did what I could to hold the camera steady.
After the interview we took the token selfie with the boys, because, we do.
Nice way to end the show.
What a treat. This afternoon Chris and I met Katy Tiz who you probably know from her hit song “Famous”, and more recently “Big Bang.”
Get a sneak peak of her song “Bam Bam”, a great acoustic version of “Big Bang” and hear the brilliant chinwag with Chris Heuer about Grumpy Cat and her fabulous shoes.
She was an absolute riot. Here is another video of her performance I shot, her song “Whistle.”
We had a chance to sit down and speak with Melissa Etheridge before her stellar performance at Sutter Home earlier today as part of Live in the Vineyard.
Chris spoke with her about the need to keep hustling, the power that women bring to leadership and her new album, This is M.E.
He also dove into her brilliant song that finished the album “Who Are You Waiting For?,” which was in essence her wedding vows to Linda Wallem from last year.
She’s such an amazing soul, and her voice is as powerful as the first time I heard her sing some 25 years ago. What an amazing performer, what an amazing person.
And she was gracious in allowing us do our traditional event photo, the selfie.
We need more strong women in our life. Women like Melissa.
I was smart this year. We made sure we were asleep by 1am every morning, we didn’t get shitty each night, and we even ate better than we have ever done before. I was sure I got out of SxSW without coming down with a cold. It would be the first time in five years, but I was feeling good when we boarded the plane in Austin.
Three days later…it all kicked in. And it kicked hard.
Week one was filled with the typical Mucinex cocktail (part Sudafed, part Mucinex with a heavy side of Echinacea tea).
Week two came along and I wasn’t feel even the slightest bit better. It hurt when I took a breath, the pressure in my sinuses would not let up and I couldn’t get any sleep as the minute I laid down I would get into coughing fits that felt like my lungs were ripping apart. I paid a visit to the doctor and after listening to my lungs and feeling confident it was just a cold, I was told there was not much more I could do but to try and rest.
So I did. Totally out of character as sitting still for too long drives me nuts, but I knew this time was different, and with so many people I knew down with this crap, I didn’t want to take a chance of it lasting for weeks. I kept ‘hacking up a lung’, I consumed more chicken noodle soup than I thought possible and I rested.
Week three came and it was still hanging tough. Then I got what I thought was pink eye, so I went back in to see the doctor.
He listened to my breathing again, and this time, sent me home with a prescription for cough syrup, an inhaler and recommended special eye drops as it wasn’t pink eye, but the cold showing itself in a different body part. Odd. Those three items combined with more rest, chicken noodle soup and Sudafed finally did their trick and at the top of week four, I was finally feeling better.
It took another week for the cough to completely go away, but at least I was able to sleep and I was finally getting my energy back.
Not sure what else we can do differently to avoid getting sick after SxSW, except maybe not go to SxSW. Always an option I guess.
Social Media Club is embarking on a 5-city-conference tour this Summer and Fall focused on advanced level education around social media marketing.
This conference series will head to:
Atlanta (August 26th), Los Angeles (September 9th), New York (September 23rd), Toronto (October 7th) and Kansas City (October 21st)
We will feature topics on Becoming a Social Business, Social Media Measurement and Metrics, Producing a Killer Corporate Blog, Setting Up Your Corporate Infrastructure, Crisis Communications and so much more. I am really looking forward to the road trip and meeting local Social Media Club members in each city, while making a couple of new friends along the way.
This is a big step forward for Social Media Club to support our mission to provide education around social media, and I am proud of the team for working so hard and making this series come to life.
Heuer and I were in Vegas once again to work with our pals at Lenovo to host a Blogger Party during CES. This week is always a whirlwind for me, and 2011 was no exception.
We spend our time meeting new people. Seeing new technology. Eating and drinking good food and great wine. But the best of it all? Bonding with the Lenovo social team who are not just clients, but dear friends. We absolutely adore Nano, Gavin and Erik and I am so happy we get to add Becca to the love fest now too. That girl is my sister from another mother, I just know it.
One of my favorite things from the Lenovo Lounge this year was the photo booth they brought in. It is amazing what happens when you give adults boas, strange hats and stuffed animals (the taxidermied kind, not stuffed with cotton kind). Craziness ensues.
The only thing I did wrong was not bringing that damn jackalope home. I so loved that jackalope.
More of my photos from CES are here, and Heuer has a bunch over here.
As mentioned earlier, Heuer and I headed over to the San Francisco Vitners Market and spent the morning – scratch that – spent the *day* drinking lovely wines from vendors in the area.
We were joined by our dear friend, Carolyn Gerin, who is behind the amazing blog – Anti Bride – and ended up sampling so many wines, I think I lost my taste buds about two hours into the event (even though I was pouring half the glass out at each one).
Two wineries that did stand out for me were the folks from Cameron Hughes (lovely Chardonnays) and the Cask Cabernet. Holy moly, that one was a.m.a.z.i.n.g.
I have to say, it was great being there on a press pass as we were ahead of the crowds and could sample more of the wines. That actually might be what did me in as well. Ha.
More photos from the event can be found here.
Just about the time Chris and I both agree to stop drinking so we can ‘jump start our metabolisms and lose that winter coat‘, a great wine tasting event pops up on my calendar. It happens every single time, without fail. And we always go to the event as our will power sucks. We like wine. 🙂
Latest case and point: During the drive home from last night’s Social Media Club event, Chris and I had this discussion
Wouldn’t you know it –> today I receive an invite to the San Francisco Vintners Market – Harvest in the City event happening tomorrow that will showcase wineries that sell their wines direct to you. This is great as we have been to several events where we find great wines and then are never able to find it again when we want to buy. Not so here. The San Francisco Vintners Market gives us wine enthusiasts the chance to try and buy wines from over 200 wineries.
Sounds awesome. And of course we are going. It is almost like the universe WANTS us to drink wine.
Besides, the holidays are upon us and we are always looking for nice wines to give to friends or to bring to dinner parties. The Vintners Market sounds like a perfect place to find that new gem that will leave everyone wanting more.
Bonus: Our buddies over at Antibride have a discount to save you 10% off the ticket price if you register using this link. Do it, and let’s drink some juice together tomorrow.
This past week Chris and I had an opportunity to hang out on the red carpet of the AVN Awards in Las Vegas and capture some of the industry professionals on their big night.
My observations from the red carpet:
1. While silicon runs rampant in the industry, there are several ‘naturals’ like Charley Chase making a name for themselves. Natural rocks.
2. Everyone was extremely professional. This was a serious award show. Think Academy Awards for their industry. Have to admit, I expected more rowdyness on the red carpet. (see point three)
3. The ‘craziest’ thing I saw was a lesbian porn star pulling a huge penis out of her pants and kiss on it a bit. Kind of expected more. Feeling disappointed and pleasantly surprised all at the same time.
4. I was surrounded by thousands and thousands of yards of taffeta. I now know where all my bridesmaid dresses went, and I am glad to see my hot pink one found a good home. 🙂
5. Every adult film star we spoke with, and we spoke with most of them, loves Twitter. Seems to be their number one social tool (they all have user names ending in xxx). It was great to see an industry adopting the tools like they are en masse.
6. I saw more porn in 15 minutes worth of clips during the show than I have seen in 10 years. And the titles of the shows…OMG.
7. My ‘wish I was a fly on the wall’ moment came when Robin Leach, Flavor Flav and Ron Jeremy were in a small huddle having themselves a giggle. I so wanted in on that conversation.
8. My ‘WTF moment’ came when we saw Shauna Sands. Leaves me speechless really.
We also had the opportunity to interview Dave Navarro from Jane’s Addiction and Sasha Grey, the ‘it’ girl of the porn industry.
It was great to be part of this experience, and get a glimpse into a world I so rarely see, but thinking it was one of those ‘nice to do once’ type of things.
Our pal Brian Zisk caught up with Sasha on the red carpet at the 2010 AVN Awards, and asked what her plans for 2010 were. Sounds like she is working on a horror film, has a few more adult films in the works, and possibly some music too (thanks to her pal Dave Navarro).
Side note: Sasha gets my best dressed award. She looked amazing.