VerveCast

One of the key components of my success thus far as a young creative has been involvement. Getting out there. Meeting new people. Learning about new ideas. Getting to know the movers and shakers in the Milwaukee community. Plus, being involved in the creative community is a great way to reinvigorate your own creativity. Re-motivate and re-inspire yourself, so to speak. And it never hurts to be in the know.

That’s why I’m a big supporter of networking and community gatherings that support Milwaukee’s creative culture. The following three upcoming events are personal recommendations from yours truly. I suggest you check them out:

TONIGHT: Spreenkler Meetup
Group of energetic creatives who gather to discuss social, tech, startups and more. The meetup consists of a little presentation or two, Q&A and then open forum. Beer and snacks are usually provided. I’ve attended this meetup for close to a year now, if not more, and in my opinion, it’s a can’t-miss event.

SATURDAY: WriteCamp
“WriteCamp is a free, unconference designed for you to discover new ideas and connect with people who are part of the writing world in the Midwest. It’s free and open to the public — come and enjoy keynote speakers, ad-hoc presentations, networking and food.” This will be my first Write Camp visit… can’t wait!

SATURDAY: PhotoCamp
“PhotoCampMilwaukee is a BarCamp-like event fully focused on photography. It’s an ad-hoc un-conference for people who love photography to get together and teach what they know, and learn what they don’t.” Even though I’m no pro photographer, I do have a passion for it. Sadly, it falls on the same day as WriteCamp so I won’t be able to attend this year, but you’ll see our very own Pete if you attend!

Okay, now it’s your turn. What events here in the Milwaukee area do you love to attend? Why do you think it’s so important to stay involved with and connected to our creative community?

On Saturday, April 9, chances are you could have found me with a curling iron dangerously close to my scalp. Since I had never been to an event like A Night At The Calatrava before, you can imagine the stress I went through to get ready and pick the right dress. The invitation called for guests to be “dressed to impress” and I didn’t want to disappoint.

To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect from the highly anticipated This Time Tomorrow Foundation event at the Milwaukee Art Museum, but I was anxious to find out.

I was joined by my friend Allison, and after waiting in a short line to hand over our tickets, we marched down the red carpet, feeling a bit like celebrities as our picture was taken.

From there, we continued down the long hall toward the Calatrava and passed a large assortment of silent auction items. Many items caught our eyes, including the signed Justin Bieber photograph. Needless to say, my 14-year-old sister was very jealous that I got to see it in person – she’s got Bieber Fever!

Halfway down the hall, the smell of appetizers hit us. Wow. Rounding the corner into the Calatrava, we caught a glimpse of the tables full of food, and everything looked as amazing as it smelled. Allison and I had just gotten dinner together so we skipped the appetizers and nabbed a bunch of the delicious desserts later in the night.

After saying “hello” to some familiar faces, we grabbed a couple glasses of Chardonnay and socialized, all while taking in the enormity of the Calatrava. You don’t realize how big it truly is until there’s an entire stage and hundreds of people mingling in it.

Oh, and I should add that when there’s a party like this going on, Milwaukeeans sure know how to dress to impress!

“What stuck with me from the event was the mother who spoke about her young daughter’s experience with Leukemia.  Their story was powerful and made me feel fortunate to have had a normal childhood,” Allison said about LLS “Girl of the Year” Corah Buth, pictured above with her parents and older sister.

Sadly, neither of us won the Lime Citrine necklace raffle, but we had a wonderful time nonetheless. The speeches were touching, the music was great and the Calatrava looked amazing, filled with hundreds of caring Milwaukee community members.

As Allison so aptly put it, “Milwaukee has a big heart, and I’m proud we came together for a cause like that.”

Z2 account executive Dawn and I were awake very early this past Thursday to make the trek out to the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City, Utah. This event, which happens in both summer and winter, is a big deal for businesses in this industry because a whole slew of buyers and senior-level decision makers are there to notice the ones with exceptional products.

We were there to visit PORON (@PORONCushioning), one of our clients, to see how they were getting the message out about their amazing products and impacting this industry. Two years ago, we built their brand from scratch, and it was great to see in person how our team leveraged the brand in the booth’s graphics.

While walking through a special section called Project OR, we happened to find a young seamstress sewing PORON XRD pads into ski pants. Project OR is a design competition for outdoor recreation clothing, and the woman photographed with the PORON XRD pads is Sara Creech (@sara_creech), a Purdue University graduate. In fact, she won both the Overall Competition Award and the Audience’s Choice Award for her design featuring the PORON XRD pads. Congrats, Sara! We were impressed with what we saw!

On May 7th, 2010 we’re throwing a big concert at Milwaukee’s Historic Pfister Hotel featuring Bascom Hill, The Felix Culpa, The Celebrated Workingman, The Boogie Men, Hayward Williams, The Jeanna Salzer Band… and more! (See the full list at ThisTimeTomorrow.org/concert)

And… we’re also holding a silent auction at the same time, with great items from Generac Power Systems, Allied Pools, Wheel & Sprocket, Milwaukee Wave, Heiser Automotive, Rishi Tea, Cascio Interstate Music… and more!

And… it’s all for charity. The money raised will go to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, to help fight blood cancers.

And don’t forget to check out ThisTimeTomorrow.org for more info.

This Time Tomorrow has once again proven to been inspiring to everyone involved. We hope you enjoy this music video, and also hope you’ll be inspired to buy the song and attend the benefit concert we’re putting on.

A big, big, big thanks to everyone who helped make this song and video a reality: Cory Zimmermann (ZyFy), Joe Hite, Tony Goff (The Boogie Men), Chris Steelman (Oil Can Harry), Randy Komberec (The Boogie Men), Brian McLaughlin (The Toys), Dani Daly (Oil Can Harry), Dan Henderson (Spoiled Rotten), Joe Gleesing (First Kiss), Joy Bach, Eric Darnell (Old Mil), John Hauser (The Love Monekys), Bobby Rouse (Rhythm Method & Light Up), Cheryl O’Hara (Sweet Tarts), Eric Barbieri (The Barbeez), Ameerah, Xeno (Bad Boy), Plus our group choir of musicians and friends, and everyone at Z2 Marketing

Find out more about this project at ThisTimeTomorrrow.org