I’ll be speaking tomorrow at the pre-conference Politicopia on Why Social Media Matters in Politics and on Geotagging.

Oh, and there’s also this little film festival called Sundance.

A few weeks ago, a client of mine was visited by the big guy. (No, not Jesus. Easter is well over 2 weeks away. I should know, I haven’t had alcohol since Fat Tuesday. I’m counting.)

Last year I did some consulting work with  OPOWER, an Washington DC-based energy efficiency software company that helps utilities meet their efficiency goals through effective customer engagement. Formerly Positive Energy, I helped OPOWER with a full rebranding, new logo, new website, and social media program.

Think about viewing your energy bill like you view your cell phone bill. Getting information on various inputs of your usage. Which appliances are using more energy, what time of day? How much could you save if you were to replace an old appliance? What side of your house is higher on energy usage.   All of these variables are determined by information inputs from Smart Grids, which deliver electricity from suppliers to consumers using two-way digital technology.

However, OPOWER’s game-changing approach to changing consumer energy usage is based on behavioral studies and how social norms affect change.  Study after study, research shows that, by far, the factor that impacts behavior change in energy consumption is social approval or disapproval. More simply put, consumers who are told that they are using more energy than their neighbors, are more likely to reduce usage. Each OPOWER energy report scores a household in comparison to the neighborhood average, in the form of a smiley face, or frown face.

The Arlington, VA company has quickly become the leader in their technology field, and continues to successfully grow at a rapid rate, the reason for President Obama’s visit a few weeks ago.

After Obama’s visit, we received the following email from the company founders:

“Friends and Partners, Wow! We’re still pinching ourselves from the honor of having hosted President Obama at our office on Friday. He spent a half hour with us, touring the office and meeting our staff, and then held a press conference on creating jobs in the clean energy economy. For everyone here it was a lifetime highlight, and we’re thrilled to share our excitement with all of you without whom our work — and the President’s visit — would not have been possible. We’ve pasted highlights of the President’s speech below, and for those inclined, there are links to videos of his visit and photos as well.”

Links to videos and photos:

• Whitehouse Official Video: http://bit.ly/WhiteHouseOfficialVideoOPOWER
• C-SPAN video includes tour of the office: http://bit.ly/C-SPAN_OPOWER_Video
• Reuters and Associated Press Photos: http://bit.ly/Reuters_and_Associated_Press_Photos
• OPOWER’s Photos: http://bit.ly/OPOWER_President_Obama_Photos
• Alex’s follow up interview on Bloomberg Television: http://bit.ly/OPOWER_Bloomberg_Interview

Excerpts from President Obama’s speech at OPOWER’s headquarters:

“It is great to be here at OPOWER. And just looking around, this looks like a fun place to work. The work you do here, as we just heard, is making homes more energy efficient, it’s saving people money, it’s generating jobs and it’s putting America on the path to a clean energy future.”

“We know that there have been success stories all across America. OPOWER is one of those success stories. This is a company that works with utilities to help folks understand their energy costs and how they can save money on their energy bills. And for the folks in the press that weren’t able to hear, this board testifies to the number of kilowatt hours that have been saved, the amount of money that’s gone back into consumers’ pockets, and the amount of carbon that has been taken out of the atmosphere as a consequence of the great work that these people here at OPOWER are doing. Now part of the reason, I suspect, you’re growing, is that you’re doing your jobs well. But I also know that a big part of the reason is that you’re seizing the opportunities of the future. The jobs of tomorrow will be jobs in the clean energy sector, and this company is a great emblem for that.”

Congrats, OPOWER. Keep up the awesome work!

Politics. Design. Social Media.

That’s pretty much how my day has gone so far.

(That, and me trying not to freak out when meeting design idols like Joslyn of Simple Lovely. And she is just that, simply lovely.)

In other news, I may never leave this place.

I was invited by the organizers of ALT to take part in a pre-conference workshop called Politicopia, led by Utah Senator Steve Urquhart. Myself, Laura Mayes, Colin Delany, David All and Ric Cantrell spoke to local Utah politicians and campaign teams about new media tactics and trends. The experience was amazing, and I learned a ton from my fellow panelists, all brilliant political new media strategists. It’s exciting and inspiring to see how other states’ legislatures are utilizing these new media tools.

After the workshop I wondering into the lobby of the Grand America Hotel where the conference is taking place this weekend, to meet up with some speakers and attendees of ALT. Holy hell. This hotel. Is incredible. Think, Versailles meets holy freaking radness. There’s a parlor. IN OUR ROOM. Straight up roylaty, y’all.  Here’s a pic from our balcony. Oh, there’s two balconies. Natch.

Tonight there’s a speed networking event and a “Hollywood Glam” mixer. Thankfully, between Laura and I, we packed enough for a small Paris Hilton army.

More later.  And yes, I’ve been singing Band of Horses all day.

tumblers, by slightclutter

It feels as if this post is way overdue. On the other hand, it also feels to be entirely immature.

I’m going to cram a lot into this post, so for you ADD readers, here’s the short version:

• Update on Baby Kailey: she’s doing great!
• I moved in with my parents to help with the baby!
• I still have my place, so there will still be a Christmas Tree Viewing Party 3.0!

• I quit my job!

• I’m freelancing! (yes, read above: i quit my job!)
• I’m really, really happy, excited, and scared as all hell!
• Wedding Bells

Whew. That wasn’t so hard?  Now what took me so long to write this post? (Besides painstakingly searching for the exact right image. Which I will always obsess over.)

First things first. I’m doing GREAT.  In the last 4 months I’ve made some of the biggest decisions of my life, and I couldn’t be more excited about everything. The recession be damned! I know it’s a very real thing, but I’ve decided to not participate in it. ;-)

Secondly, there is entirely no way I would have been able to make any of those decisions without the wonderful friends and family who have surrounded me with support and encouragement. I’d be about 2% of a person without you all.

Update on Baby Kailey + Home Again

Before I get into too much detail with my new career direction, I wanted to give an update on Baby Kailey. Many of you have asked about how she is doing, or who that cute baby is popping up on my Flickrstream.  If you didn’t read my original post on Kailey, it’s here. Short version is…since November my parents have had custody of my cousin’s baby girl. She was 2 months old when she came to stay with us, she is now a healthy 7.5 month old.  Mom has since started back at work, and I have moved in to help out with the day to day awesomeness of having a baby around. I swear, everyday I wonder how single mothers do this. There are 3, sometimes 4, adults in this house, and we are all exhausted! :-)

In February, after the awesomely successful Mom 2.0 Summit, I made the decision to move in with mom and dad to help out as mom started back at work. I was a little worried about leaving my place, but I found a friend who needed a place to stay for 6 months, and it just worked out perfect.  I only had to move my clothes, and he lets me visit whenever I want. Thanks, Trae!

I made the decision so quickly, that I really didn’t have time to think about what a big transition this would be.  Barring a few post-college months, I hadn’t lived with my parents since high school, nearly 12 years ago. In one day I went from being an independent, single, urban, museum district-highrise dweller, to a diaper changing, baby-talking, suburban daughter living in my parents house in Jersey Village.  Head spin!

But every moment’s been worth it.  I’ve been here nearly 6 weeks and I haven’t missed my apartment once. Due to an open invitation from Trae. :-)  I’ll never forget what the wise Laura Mayes said to me when I was contemplating this decision: she said to me, “You’ll never regret spending this time with your family.”  And that really stuck with me.  And has continued to. What is 6 months in my life? A time to be there for my family, to spend time with my mom and dad, and most importantly to experience the first year of a child’s life. There really was no decision to make.

Independence Day

After a few weeks of being home, it started to occur to me what a financial benefit this was becoming. I had not intended on moving home for the sake of saving money, but it was certainly an ancillary benefit. I quickly came to the realization that the time was here and now for me to make another decision I had been struggling with for years.

Most of you know me in one capacity or another, and at one time most of you have asked the question, “So what is it you DO?” A question I’ve struggled with answering, usually with a chuckle.  It usualy starts like this, “Well, my day job is _____, but I also do _______.”  About 4 years ago I made a decision that my traditional (well-paid) Oil & Gas marketing career would never fulfill my career passions.  I tried many companies, much to the dismay of my resume and friends’ skepticism. Over the last few years, I’ve reached out for ways to explore my creative passions in the form of PR, event planning, design, and most recently, social media. As a result, I’ve built up a network of amazing people, dream clients, and many, many new friends. It’s always been a means to an end, as I knew that one day I would make the jump from corporate employee to self-employed. And last Wednesday, that day came.

Yep, in the midst of an economic depression turned recession, on tax day nonetheless, I finished my last day at Halliburton. For 3 days now, I’ve officially been self-employed. And I can honestly say, I haven’t been this happy in a long time. And of course everyone says I will eventually say, why didn’t I do this a long time ago.  But I disagree.  This was the right time.  I had to be ready.  All the elements had to be ready. And this was the time.

I’ve have the amazing opportunity to work on some dream projects over the last few months. Starting with the Mom 2.0 Summit, where I met so many amazing folks.  One in particular, author and wife of Houston’s Mayor,  Andrea White. Since then, I’ve been working with Andrea, and with the Bill White for Texas Senate Campaign on social media strategies, and it’s been a wonderful experience.

COLABorate

So that brings me to my plans. The number one question I get these days is no longer “what do you do?” but rather, “so what ARE you gonna do?” And it seems like an easy one to answer. But it’s been difficult.

I’m not a graphic designer, a web developer, or a traditional public relations person.  Both my undergraduate and graduate degrees are in Psychology. Go figure. And most of what I do relies on the collaboration of those within my network.  I can take a decent picture, but I know a helluva lot of incredible photographers. I can open Photoshop and tell you what color looks good next to pink, but I am friends with some incredibly talented designers who can design circles around me. I can Google CSS lines of code, but call some of the best programmers around friends. Where I’ve found my strength lies is in the communication of an idea with a client.  The development of a strategy.  The execution of that strategy with a team of creatives. This is where I excel.  Bringing my network of talented people together. And it’s taken me 10 years to figure that out. So here I am.

I’ll have much more details in the coming months of my newly formed company, COLAB, and about the projects I’ll be working on. For the sake of cohesion I’ve dubbed it “interactive creative services,” which includes PR, event coordination, graphic design, web design, and social media strategy.  Website launched soon, and planning a networking event to officially announce the start of COLAB. I’ll post all the details here on my blog.

So here I am.  Back in my parents house.  In the suburbs. Eating my words. Remember “Midtown Monica”? I haven’t forgotten her. My new found independence, undoubtedly dependent on dependence of my family, who has never once wavered to help me get to where I want to be.

Wedding Bells

Hahahaha, GOTCHA! Knew THAT would get your attention. No, no, I’m not headed for the alter!  Leading a double life for the past 4 years or so can really take it out of ya. So I’m also looking forward to getting back to some of the things that I so love, but haven’t had the time for. Like writing.  I have a few projects I will be working on, that you will hearing more about soon, including more blogging and a few books I am working on.  One book that is super imminent, A Single Girl’s Guide to Weddings. Why so?  Well, as of today, I have 15 this year. Yep. FIFTEEN weddings. I’m in 4 of them. And 3 are out of the state.  Not only do I have 15 weddings. I have 15 bridal showers. and 15 bachelorette parties. Couple’s showers. trips to Crate & Barrel. In all honesty, I LOVE weddings.  No pun intended. I thought this would be a fun way to share my experiences and observations on love, dating, marriage, and (to borrow a phrase from MagsMac) the ultra important debate between taupe and off-white. I’ve attended 3 already this year, and have 3 chapters so far.  Very excited to see where this goes.

I’m still blogging over at Houstonist, and on my design blog, Design Junky, which recently got a facelift, and of course here on Cosmopolitician. Will be blogging for a new fun blog, deets on that soon!

There’s More?!!  Dang.

Thanks for lasting to the end of this post.  I know it was a bit of a marathon, and I promise to be more brief in the future.

I can’t tell you how much all of your support, encouragement and confidence has meant to me. This community is my world and my backbone. I hope this doesn’t sound to Grammy acceptance speech, but there are a few people I REALLY must thank for helping me get to this point.

Maggie McDonald for your huge smile and constant determination, you inspire me;

Laura Mayes who’s infinite wisdom and grace pushed me to quit my job (so that she wouldn’t be alone in her self-employment!);

Ed Schipul for pretty much everything: every token of crazed wisdom, every vote of confidence, and every “what the eff are you waiting for” speech;

And last but the very UNleast, Mom and Dad, who never let me believe for a second that I could fail at anything.  Even when I have. I love you, I love you, I love you (now what day does the maid come?) :-)

Mayor Bill White, image by David Brown

This past Saturday, I had the esteemed honor of putting on a Social Media Workshop for Houston Mayor Bill White, his staff, and volunteers for his upcoming US Senate Campaign. We discussed Facebook,Twitter, and other social media tools.

We gathered at the Houston Technology Center and specifically discussed the importance of new media tools in politics. Admittedly so, not a student of politics, I invited two of the most capable teachers I know, Ed Schipul and Katie Laird, to help present.  Ed and Katie explained the importance of storytelling, how to listen first before engaging, and the art of responding.

You can view their full presentation here.

After Ed and Katie presented, Mayor White got up to share a few words.  I was entirely impressed by his understanding of this medium of communication, and more importantly the need for it in politics.  He went on to explain that what politics can benefit most from social media is the transparency and honesty that comes along with it.  No longer can politicians say one thing to one source, and another to another source.

In the time I’ve spent with both Mayor White and his wife Andrea White I’ve come to know them not only as intelligent, capable leaders, but as eager students who both see the value in community.

Big thanks to all of our volunteers: Julie Pippert, Katrina Esco, Ashley Minor, Laura Mayes, Jenni-Rebecca Stephenson, Grace Rodriguez, Katy Bacon, and Felicity Pereyra.

To David Brown of Spacetaker for playing official photog for the day, and for all of his continued support of Mayor White.

Thanks to the Houston Technology Center for hosting us.

To the city’s best coffee, Coffee Groundz, and to the Kolache Factory, who answered my last minute call via Twitter (while in Colorado nonetheless) and provided us with yummy breakfast.

I look forward to being involved in more of these workshops, and wish the Mayor the best in his campaign for the U.S. Senate seat.  I hope he gets it. Because Bill White gets it.