Amanda Blum is a whirlwind. That is the only way I can put into words her personality and outlook on life. And our friendship has been nothing short of a whirlwind either.

I really can’t remember how I came to volunteer with Wordcamp Phoenix 2011, but knowing Amanda as I do, I most likely got recommended to her and then she sucked me into being involved in a such a way I didn’t even know it was happening. This is the beauty of Amanda. She eliminates fear and empowers others without them ever knowing they had anything to be fearful of. Well that, and you can’t say no to her.

Which is why six months later when she asked me to be her number two when running the first ever TwilioCon, I didn’t hesitate.

Amanda is a fantastic mentor because she doesn’t realize she’s doing it. All throughout this incredible conference, for which I’m making decisions and calling out orders I pulled out of my ass, she’s supportive and instructive. It’s common for conference organizers to take all the glory and shut everyone else out, but Amanda wanted me in on every meeting and every phone call. She didn’t hide the bad stuff, nor did she sluff it all off onto me or someone else. It was Amanda that taught me there’s no point in freaking out because we can always figure out something.

Of course, I’m still working on this last part.

And while much of her empowerment is subtle, she’s knows when to get in your face and push you too. Most people coddle me – either because I’m cute or they feel sorry for me for some reason. Amanda shoves my mistakes in my face and says, ‘You screwed up. Now we fix it.’

Amanda has given me the confidence to believe I could actually plan a huge conference and survive – though I do hope she’ll be around to help =)

The Red Haired Madam is a post from: Not so subtle...

Typically I’ve relied on work and events to keep me busy, but over time I realized I needed projects that challenge other parts of my brain. I needed something to do on weekends not filled with work.

I had already started to solve the problem without realizing it. My frustration with not having matching furniture led me to figure out how to sand, stain and spray paint various surfaces, as well as how to remove drawers, knobs, etc.

My love affair with Do-It-Yourself projects had begun.

DIY culture is about reusing and hacking. Instead of throwing an object away and buying a new one, DIY challenges you to find a new purpose. It’s recycling for everything you own, and a fight against irresponsible consumerism.

But more than reuse, DIY builds better innovators.

Photo courtesy Johnnie Walker

1. Objects are not what they appear

To be successful DIY-er, you train your brain to look at any object with multiple purpose. A bookcase isn’t a bookcase. It’s a wine cabinet, bed frame, desk, bar, child’s LEGO or changing table. Or maybe pieces of the bookcase can be combined with cabinets to create a closet for a startup designer.

This skill is very useful if you are creating a product or service. What else could your creation be used for? How can you market this quality? What could you tweak that would differentiate you from competitors?

2. Build more with less

Necessity is the mother of all invention. The NASA engineers during the Apollo 13 mission had to create a square filter that could fit into a round hole using nothing but what was on the space shuttle at the time. By using socks and pieces of a space suit, they were able to wrap the filter to fit. You create a fix because you don’t have another option.

Few know this better than DIY-ers. No budget for art? Glue some crayons you have lying around to a canvas and melt them with your old hairdryer. Voila.

Focusing on what you can do with what you have makes for better innovation. Limits and restrictions cause you to focus on the problem and less on the tools. More startups are choosing to bootstrap their business in the first few years in order to learn how to trouble-shoot without relying on money to solve the problem.

3. Share & Transform

Openness is the cornerstone of DIY culture. A new project is shared and followers quickly comment with tips, hacks and failures. Following directions isn’t what’s important. It’s sharing the changes you make.

This already exists within the open source community – LINUX being the prime example. Leaders shared their innovations with a community, leading to further innovation from which everyone benefits.

The most common advice you will see in any book on how to inspire creativity is to try something you’ve never done before. DIY, whether it’s crafting, construction or electronics, gets you out of your comfort zone and your brain working differently. You may tease your Pinterest loving friends, but I challenge you to choose a project from the site and give it a shot. You’ll find the experience incredibly frustrating to be sure, but incredibly rewarding as a creative.

Related articles

• Turn These IKEA Lamps into Speaker Mounts to Keep Your Computer Speakers Out of the Way [Ikea Hacks] (lifehacker.com)
• Make an Affordable, Good-Looking Charging Station for Less than $10 [DIY] (lifehacker.com)

DIY Projects Equal Better Innovation is a post from: Not so subtle...

I’ve become really good at running Gangplank Chandler. Putting together systems, recruiting leaders and setting programming for a single location came naturally to me. Sure, there have been rough spots and I’ve been challenged, but nothing I couldn’t handle or reach for guidance.

Then came the first mention of me as Director of Global Operations. Pretty sure I’ve laughed it off the half-dozen times it’s been said. I knew in the back of my mind it was a fast approaching reality, but not one I really had time to digest.

Lately however, the concept has been hitting harder every day.

This is what I signed on for. When Derek and Jade asked me to come on staff more than a year-and-a-half ago, I knew I was becoming part of a misson larger than myself or Arizona. This is what I wanted – an opportunity to really challenge myself as a leader, to take ownership and help a local vision become an international game changer.

And it’s scary as all hell.

Image via Wikipedia

I was sitting in a visioning meeting today. The only part of the meeting I felt I could contribute to was creating a story board for what a Gangplank of the future looked like. I got excited about envisioning a day in the life of a collaborative worker, as they travel to neighborhood Gangplanks around the world. As we moved into writing a vision statement, I lost interest.

I couldn’t think of the right words, or contribute thoughts that would explain the ‘why’ of Gangplank. I got asked repeatedly why I was so quiet and I knew if I want to truly be a leader in this movement, this is what people expect of me.

Am I not able to think in terms of the bigger picture? This has always a great fear of mine. As a doer and not a visionary, I fear I’m stunted when thinking in terms of mission. Sure I can think long-term, but in regards to logistics, financial, staffing and viability. Does this mean I shouldn’t be a part of these conversations? Am I capable of developing this leadership trait?

This is the opportunity I’ve been working towards since I left teaching. Nothing you truly want is ever easily obtained and the path is paved with self-doubt. But where do I turn for guidance? How can I train my right-brained way of life to think in terms of global change? There is no standard for what we do. We are paving the way and I’m not sure how to use the shovel.

I’ve got a lot of growing ahead of me and I’m taking a big leap of faith in believing I can do this. But hell, I’ve made it this far. And I’ve got some pretty smart people that believe I can.

Related articles

• The Risk of Living Fully (joyofspa.com)
• Is there a right kind of volunteering? (katiecharland.com)

Leap of Faith is a post from: Not so subtle...

Instead of a recap of 2011, or listing off my resolutions for the new year, I instead would like to pay homage to some of the mentors who have shaped my last year.

And what better place to start than with the best =)

When I first started at Gangplank, I was terrified of James Archer. For those who know James personally, or have even seen him, you’d know this is completely ridiculous. Regardless, there was something about the way people described him at Gangplank which made me feel like I couldn’t waste his time.

Yet James has let me ‘waste’ his time over my entire career at Gangplank. Whether it is sharing my scattered thoughts to help put them together, bringing risky ideas for guidance or asking him to mediate difficult conversations, James has been a key mentor in my role as Director of Operations.

The lessons James has passed onto me are one of patience and picking your battles. Some might call James complacent, agreeable or easily persuaded. I know this to be quite the opposite. In fact, James will be quite firm when he is truly passionate…and you can’t say no to him. James doesn’t argue unnecessarily, or hold grudges or believe others to be inferior. He doesn’t follow a zero tolerance policy. James gives due process to each situation he finds himself in – making him a great mentor and business owner.

Perhaps the best example of James’ wisdom is in the letter I asked him to write today for future Gangplankers.

1. You’re smart, and you’re used to being right. You’re in a room full of people who are also smart, and also used to being right. Put those personalities together in a room, and you’re going to have a ton of passionate debates about issues that don’t really matter that much. Choose your battles, and learn to let things slide even when you disagree with them.

2. When there’s rough consensus on something, roll with it, even if you were on the opposing side. Your opposition should exist right up to the point that a decision is made, and then you need to get on board. This is because at that point your opposition no longer serves a constructive purpose; it only slows progress, fractures relationships, and serves as a cancer within an organization.

3. People communicate in totally different ways. You can communicate in yours, but you have to let them communicate in theirs. Try to understand what they’re saying instead of focusing on how they’re saying it.

4. Everyone’s doing the best they can with what they’ve got. Don’t attribute to malice what’s more likely do to a lack of understanding, experience, or perspective. At their core, everyone’s a good person.

Thank you James for taking the time to share your wisdom with a young, wide-eyed professional, setting off on her own path. You are a fantastic mentor and colleague.

If you’d like to receive some of James’ advice gems for yourself, he’s available the third Wednesday of each month from 4:00-7:00pm during his Gangplank Mentor Office Hours.

The Great James Archer is a post from: Not so subtle...

I’m a student of history. I truly believe the old adage, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” However, I also understand history is inherently biased. It is based on the experiences and memory of whomever is doing the telling. There aren’t always two sides to a story; the result being history gets warped as it passes down.

In the nearly five years I’ve lived here, I’ve learned Phoenix is ALL about history – being afraid of it and holding on it at the same time.

When I came on staff as Director of Operations at Gangplank, the organization was nearly three years into its existence. I myself had only been coming to Gangplank for a little over six months when I was hired. I hardly understood what Gangplank was, let alone how it got started and the original crew that shaped the manifesto.

Before I even knew the history of the organization I was working for, I began to be affected by it.

Image by politicalhumor.about.com

No organization is ever shaped without turmoil. There is a great deal of passion surrounding this community, which is often compared to a religion or cult. There are those passionate about moving Gangplank forward, and those that would like nothing better than to see it torn down. Regardless of the feelings, no one disputes that Gangplank is no longer a small revolution fighting the Man. Gangplank is a big dog, which can throw its weight around and therefore, the elephant in the room for any discussion on coworking and workspace in Arizona. As a result, Gangplank automatically becomes the ‘Them’ when any new group comes into the coworking space, fueling the animosity for another cycle.

I learned the hard way that I would be judged and disliked simply for being a part of this organization. People wouldn’t return emails, or vehemently opposed invitations to collaborate on projects. I started feeling like an outcast at meetups and groups, with individuals concerned about talking to me in case it got back to someone at Gangplank they didn’t like. And people I had never met before were now counting me among their enemies.

I’m not looking for pity. I’ve grown tremendously in this job partly due to the adversity of working for such a unique organization. I am looking for people to understand the impact history has on those that weren’t a part of it.

The fights, the falling outs, the firings or the events gone wrong have nothing to do with me or the generation of community leaders that will come after. It is one thing to share the lessons of the past – it is another to set these leaders against each other before they’ve ever set out. The experiences you have had with an individual or organization may not be theirs and there’s no way to learn if you don’t let them try.

We’re standing in the way of our own progress by holding onto the past. Perhaps in the case of Phoenix, it’s best of we just laid it all to rest.

Related articles

• Economic Development’s Attraction to Coworking (shareable.net)
• Working in the UnOffice: The Lonely Planet of coworking guidebooks (thenextweb.com)

Working for the Elephant in the Room is a post from: Not so subtle...

Image by vastateparksstaff via Flickr

I’ve been a volunteer my whole life. It’s a wonderful lesson I learned from parents at an early age – watching my Dad act as Treasurer for my swim team, help the alter boys light the candles or my Mom babysitting neighborhood kids and teaching summer school.

Volunteering is more than the golden rule for me…I enjoy it. Being volunteer often means bonding with new people and experiencing different environments. In my time as a volunteer, I’ve baked cupcakes with small kids fighting huge odds against various kinds of cancers and heard them speak wisdom beyond their years. I’ve learned how to build houses and witnessed stay-at-home English moms learn how to run for local political office.

But as I grow up, get busy with work and volunteer less, I begin to wonder if there is a right kind of volunteering. In the last year, I’ve only managed to answer phones for a PBS pledge drive and help lead homeless individuals through the maze of services at Valley of the Sun’s United Way ‘Project Connect’. Yet, on a daily basis, I ignore the day laborers asking for a few bucks, send away homeless individuals from Gangplank and avoid talking to strangers looking to start a conversation. I reserve my compassion for structured opportunities through a recognized nonprofit.

On the other hand, there’s Tyler. My fiance often gets slammed for his aggressive comments online, with many thinking he’s a jerk. Tyler has never “volunteered” as an adult, meaning he hasn’t taken advantage of the volunteer opportunities available through nonprofits. However, Tyler exemplifies the kind of volunteering I wish I could embrace. He buys police officers coffee, instead of donating to a fund.  He brings his old suits down to homeless men right on the street, instead of avoiding interaction by dropping them off a donation center. He sits down with bums and discusses religion, or devotes countless hours to various events no one even knows he was ever a part of.

The volunteering I’ve done my whole life feels sterile and safe. I’ve helped others without every learning more about their plight, about what has caused their pain. Tyler has been down in the trenches and built relationships. Isn’t that volunteering really should be about?

Related articles

• Why Volunteers are Like Superheroes (tambaya.wordpress.com)
• Not me! 22 cities that volunteer least (cbsnews.com)
• Volunteers, Ideas, Creativity and Innovation (shinygemskc.wordpress.com)

Is there a right kind of volunteering? is a post from: Not so subtle...

Image via Wikipedia

Being the adult in the room is never easy. Growing up doesn’t the lessen the feeling of wanting to make yourself small when conflict arises, but it does give you the experience to deal with it.

In large organizations, backchannel whispering is unavoidable. Leaders can promote a culture of openness, but even the most transparent of organizations falls victim to human nature. Employees get upset and when they feel it is something small, they’ll harbor it in hopes it will disappear.

As a leader, it is important to encourage transparency as an organization, but it is just as crucial to provide your employees with the tools to solve problems for themselves.

One of the most valuable experiences I was given in middle school, those horrendous years when it’s dog-eat-dog, was my time as a peer mediator. At 13 years old, my school trained my in mediation scenarios, how to talk down teens from places of anger and encourage a resolution that worked for everyone. Though they weren’t my conflicts, talking through the issues gave me the vocabulary to deal with my own problems.

Recently, this came in handy within my organization. I don’t have the luxury of holding grudges in my position, as I need to work with everyone and vice versa. When I started feeling that my emotions were getting the best of me, I reached out to a colleague that was comfortable with both myself, and the individual I was angry at, to act as mediator. He didn’t have to say much, but it kept me calm and the conversation civil, leading to a productive, positive discussion.

Within your organization, don’t just outline conflict resolution strategies, practice them. Role play is one tactic, but having employees act as mediators in outside conflicts provides more valuable real-world experience. Be sure leadership is not above this method as well. Mediation has to be modeled, as it is out of many’s comfort zone, and equality is a vital component to that model.

Related articles

• How can conflict resolution be added to the k-12 school curriculum? (compassioninpolitics.wordpress.com)
• The Handbook of Conflict Resolution (allthingsreform.org)

Conflict Resolution is a post from: Not so subtle...

Image via Wikipedia

**To read about my SXSW personal revelations, visit Rough/Tumble: Just Spit it Out.

Being a bright-eyed optimist can be painful. Most people are jaded enough to have low expectations about just about everything, therefore preventing the sometimes emotional realization that well, Santa just isn’t real.

Me, on the other hand, could discover the toys under my parent’s bed weeks before Christmas, be devastated, then come right back the next year with my list for Santa.

I was both scared and excited about SXSW. Talk of the parties, the people you meet, had been going on for years and now it was my turn to experience it. I had high expectations, which quickly became misconceptions:

I’m going to have tons of takeaways from the sessions.
Apparently, I’m the last person on earth that still believes conferences serve an educational purpose. My SXSW session success rate hovered around 33% – and they were all sessions that had nothing to do with my job.
Lesson Learned: Have no strategy. Attend whatever sounds interesting to you and bring a laptop as a contingency in case it sucks.

The networking is fantastic.
There should be a disclaimer attached to this statement — only if you like people and have a clue why you are there in the first place. This is not a conference for the shy, people-haters or those without a story. The majority of people are here to either see old friends, or to hang out with their current clique. The rest are on a mission to find the five people from their Twitter followers they’ve had crushes on for the last year (fan-boy love included).
Lesson Learned: Avoid reading the Twitter stream from friends during the conference. Everyone wants to brag about the people they meet and it quickly begins to feel like a competition. Know your story and be ready to ask questions. People are more than business cards.

The partying is crazy!
If you’re single, have an invincible liver, crazy ass friends and a willingness to wait in line, I’m sure the partying is crazy. The parties I did wait in line for weren’t that impressive and I had to scream to be heard by anyone. Not the best environment to meet people, unless you’re looking to get laid. Side note, I have absolutely no idea what the point of Diggnation is.
Lesson Learned: Accept your nonpartying status early, to avoid the feeling of failure for not outlasting your friends. There are plenty of spots to people watch, nurse a beer and enjoy good company that make a trip to Sixth Street worth it.

The value of the conference is the connections you make.
While I did enjoy meeting the economic development and coworking folks from Oklahoma that will inevitably lead to good discussions in the future, the value I found in SXSW has been in getting to better know my coworkers, as well as being in environment that challenges and encourages me to prioritize.
Lesson Learned: Don’t have lofty goals of collecting people. Take time to connect with one or two people, even if it’s your coworker and really build relationships. The value lies in not what they can give you right then, but whether they are willing to help you later down the road.

Overall, this conference isn’t for me. I’ve got a lot of community building left in Arizona before I can focus on outside relationships.

Related articles

• SXSW Interactive: The Quick and Dirty Takeaway (danpatterson.com)
• Putting conference distractions to good use (radar.oreilly.com)

Lessons Learned from SXSW is a post from: Not so subtle...

Image via Wikipedia

I’ve been making powerpoint presentations since high school. Back then, my presentations were filled with animations, colors, sounds, etc. Of course as I got older, my powerpoint slides became more professional and instead I spent more time switching between potential themes than anything else.

It’s been awhile since I’ve spoken, but booking Gangplank brownbag speakers and attending conferences has shown me that the best speakers are ones that don’t rely on powerpoints.

Not to say I haven’t seen excellent slide decks, but most don’t come with confident speakers. Unless you can make a speech stand on it’s own without the help of props, a powerpoint ain’t going to help you become an incredible public speaker.

ChandlerCamp is a recent example of how speakers step up when challenged. Organizer Tyler Hurst told speakers not to rely on a powerpoint or projector. As a result, speakers like Susan Baier put on fantastic workshops, focused on hands-on, real interaction with audience members that resulted in more learning than reading off slides could ever happen off slides.

Granted, this may not work for every audience or talk. But there’s the challenge. Could you make it work? Could you find a way to challenge the status quo?

So here’s my challenge to you. Before your next public speaking engagement, try making your point and teaching your lesson without relying on a slide deck. You might surprise yourself.

Related articles

• Anti-PowerPoint-Party Admitted to the National Election (prnewswire.com)
• In defense of PowerPoint (scottberkun.com)

Powerpoint a speaker does not make is a post from: Not so subtle...

Note: After Tyler and I became engaged, several people suggested that we write dueling blog posts discussing the various stages of our engagement, wedding planning etc. At first, I thought this silly. But after a week of sitting up nights thinking about Tyler and my relationship, so much of what we share and believe in is the importance of stories. Therefore, recording our individual thoughts on our forthcoming marriage, untainted by discussion with each other, didn’t seem so silly anymore.

With that, bring on the stories.

When I thought about the my engagement, I only went so far as to imagine what I might say or how the gentlemen might propose. It never occurred to me how my friends, family or even beyond that – my network – might react to the news.

Of course, my fiance Tyler and I are both social media fiends, so a posting to our profiles was nearly automatic. It was the best way to share the good news with friends the quickest (and least interruptive at 10pm at night).

For so long both of us have been in search of community, and it was heart-warming to see the outpouring of congratulations from the most unexpected outlets – Joe’s Real BBQ, Councilmen Jeff Weninger, etc. How many people can say that one of their favorite restaurants or local government care enough to wish them well on an engagement, let alone even remember their names?

Tyler and I have tried to bring out the best in our communities (in rather different ways , perhaps), and it was fantastic and very special to see the support for our engagement. I feel blessed in so many ways.

An ‘Engaged’ Community is a post from: Not so subtle...