It’s been a busy week around the homestead. Or beyond the homestead really. Down to the south 40 in the grand ole city of Austin, Texas for a week long company retreat. Why, you may ask? With a company full of consultants scattered all around the country, getting everyone together for a few days a year is a great way to actually get to know the rest of the team. It’s incredibly helpful and allows a lot of interaction we wouldn’t normally get.
For this retreat, I scheduled a photo/video shoot with everyone to get new headshots as well as good interview footage of who we are and why we do the work we do for nonprofits. I was truly amazed (as I am most days) of the incredible people I get to work with. This crew has skills to work at any company, and they choose to apply them at a company dedicated to serving the needs of nonprofit organizations. Thanks for building up a company that people can believe in, Keith. It works.
I’ve also gotta give huge props to Marcin and Tara from ManMadeMedia for all their work on the shoot. If you ever need video work done, give them a call first. From beginning to end, they know their stuff and make it happen without a hitch. And Marcin will change the way he says his name every single time he says it if you are not careful. Great shoot, great footage, lots of editing to be done. Let’s do it.
After an exhausting week at the retreat, what do I do next? Come home, relax, get some sleep? Heck no. I got off the plane and grabbed a shuttle directly to Lost Lake Lounge to catch SF1 (and the amazing Candyman) and Julie Almeria for her birthday show. Love those crazy kids. So much talent all packed into those energetic bodies. Of course it was a class reunion with a ton of the friendlies from around town in attendance. Happy night.
So that was Friday night, Saturday night is time to rest up, right? Oh no. Saturday night is family concert night with Rob Drabkin’s birthday show at the Bluebird Theater. SHEL was there as well so it was another great show. Love seeing Rob’s dad join for the gigs. Aimee was photographing the show, so LilF and I got to hang around and enjoy the scene for a bit. The Bluebird has changed a ton from the porn theater it was when we first moved here! The whole Colfax strip has had a massive evolution. #winning
Now it’s time for sleep, right? Not quite. You see it was also the king of the local music DJ’s birthday, Alf! For his birthday he was spinning an all star gig with his 45 + 1 sets back at Lost Lake, so we walked back up for that. Again, more friendlies, more fun. For the unaware, Alf’s 45 + 1 gigs are great. He spins some great discs while a local artist riffs with it in their own special style. Saturday there were members of the Flobots, Epilogues, SF1, Eldren, and on and on and on. Great lineup all night. After that, members of the Sound and Color got together with Josh Lee for a set of something new. By this time, I was spent, so finally went back to the homestead for some resting before the Bronco game (fail).
Denver and the Front Range has a great music community. Bands and musicians from Colorado Springs up through the amazing scene in Fort Collins all cross pollinating and making great music for us. Large fun sandwiches for all. Really looking forward to the SpokesBuzz stage down at SXSW this year. Jam packed with Colorado bands, it’s going to be a damn amazing week.
Monday was MLK day, so LilF and I headed out on a beautiful day to Denver’s stellar march/parade – marade – to celebrate a man we should all know more about. As I looked at the over 30,000 people around me, it occurred to me that we are in a strange transition point. A good portion of the crowd were alive to witness Dr. King in person, many had even marched with him in years past. Others have only heard of his legacy through books and videos from our history classes. The spirit of his message was still alive in all of us, though, and while some of the younglings probably didn’t quite get it all, the vibe clearly touched everyone. We marched together down Colfax Ave, united and strong, talking about the challenges we still face so many years later. The fight isn’t over, but there is still hope within so many of us. The dream will be realized in time. Sometimes it feels a lot farther off than others, but we’ll get there.