So what does this little script do?

It will back up some of your current installation’s files, create a new system folder, copy the new and backed-up files to the new location, and link your system folder to this new location. This will save you time and hassle, and keep it easy to roll back to the previous version if something goes wrong.

Before I get into all the technical aspects of the script, a bit of warning: Using this script does require shell access to your hosting environment and the ability to create folders above your public folder/document_root. You should be comfortable navigating the shell and command line.

I also want to give some credit to Mark Huot since the folder structure used is based on content in his Securing ExpressionEngine 2 book.

The folder structure

So let’s start by looking at the folder structure that makes all this function.

• ee – this is the symbolic link to your EE system folder, in this case the ee2.4.0 folder
• ee_upgrate.exec – the magic script
• ee2.4.0 – the EE system folder
• htdocs – the public folder (document root) for this site. Depending on your host it may be named public, httpdocs, or something else
  • cp – the placeholder folder for CP access (there’s no need to use this, it’s just how we choose to do it … the admin.php file is sufficient)
  • images – the EE images folder
  • index.php – the EE index file
  • themes – the EE themes folder
• libs – this is where I store my custom PHP classes and additional code
• src – where I keep the ZIP files for EE and temporarily unzip them (more on this later)
• templates – my EE template files

Using this approach, it will become easier to find what you need and keep your files separate from the EE core. Don’t forget to update your config file with the proper paths for system and template files.

This folder structure also improves security by keeping your core EE files outside of the publicly accessible folder. This helps prevent accidental access to your config files and other bits such as any custom code or SQL in your templates. To learn more about this approach and why it’s a good idea, check out Mark’s book or this article on EE Insider.

The upgrade process

So here we go, the upgrade process.

Step 0
Back up your EE database.

Step 1
Download the new version of EE and upload the ZIP file to your SRC folder.

Step 2
Log in to the shell for your site and unzip the EE ZIP file you just uploaded.

Step 3
Make sure the ee_upgrade.exec script is set to executable (chmod 755).
Run the script like so:

./ee_upgrade.exec <relative path to unzipped EE folder> <relative path to current EE folder> <name of new EE folder>

Example:

./ee_upgrade.exec src/ExpressionEngine2 ee2.3.1 ee2.4.0

This will upgrade using the new files in src/ExpressionEngine2. Copy the needed bits from the ee2.3.1 folder into the new destination folder ee2.4.0 and link the ee folder to the ee2.4.0 one.

Step 4
Follow the usual upgrade process as described in the EE docs beginning at “Run the Update Wizard”.

Step 5
Enjoy your upgraded site!

Download

NOTE: Use this script at your own risk. I make no guarantees and cannot be held responsible for any issues or loss of data.

Download the script

Also included is a simple build update script as a companion. Leave a comment with any feedback or if you run into any problems, please use Twitter (@fredboyle) to reach out to me.

Prior to starting at nGen, I spent my entire full-time career dedicated to one full-service branding & advertising agency—a solid 12-year stint, working up from a Jr. Art Director to VP/Design Director, enjoying all the highs and lows that the industry and economy had to offer. During that time I wore a lot of hats and picked up a variety of skills … the main one I left with being laser-focused on visual branding—which landed me at nGen as “Concept & Executioner.”

So what’s with my title?

I get to make up my own title! So I know what you’re asking yourself, “Why didn’t I call myself ‘Super Awesome Majestic Design King Of All That Is Amazing And Glorious’” … well, for starters, it’s too long. :-) But seriously, I found that given the chance to give myself my own title, I was stumped beyond belief. As a designer, I know my skills and what I’m capable of, but how do you sum it up in a couple of words? There are tons of Art Directors, Senior Designers, etc., out there … but their titles don’t necessarily reflect who they are or what they really do. So needless to say, it wasn’t about coming up with a cool name, but instead a little introspection.

Sooooo, again, what’s with my title?

Like a lot of designers, I’m a little OCD when it comes to design. Not just the practice of crafting and creating, but more so the process that leads up to it. At a time where design struggles with being considered a commodity, it’s crucial to me that we place more emphasis on unique solutions that tell an honest story. Not just creating a logo, a website, a package, but instead understanding the challenge a client faces and producing ideas to rival the issue. The beauty of being a designer is that you can immerse yourself in your client’s business and industry. I equate it to being a method actor, molding your perception to that of the audience you’re trying to reach. That kind of research and understanding is what really inspires good ideas and produces work that fits the client’s brand. From there, the creating comes naturally. And I’ll always be a designer—a maker of things—but how I achieve those things is only half the story. So, that process, in its simplest form, is “Concept & Execution.”

Now what?

Now it’s about living up to the hype. Getting the job is one thing. Keeping it is another. I guess that’s where I can really even things out.

It’s a new year and a chance to do great things. Time to beef up our nGen a little with a brand-new teammate.

Introducing Greg Aker, our latest nGeneer! 

A talented back-end developer and ExpressionEngine heartthrob, Aker comes fully loaded. He’s got a firm appreciation for Python and PHP, has worked with the industry’s best—including being on the ExpressionEngine development team—and he plays a mean jazz saxophone. What more could a distributed team ask for? 

We just hope Greg realizes that by default he’s officially nGen’s new Gofer. Thank god, I was getting sick of shipping coffee halfway across the continent.

It’s great to have you aboard, sir!

We’ve been out for a couple weeks, taking some time to sift through the triumphs and kinks of 2011. It’s given us a chance to see where we went wrong, where we did okay, and just where we’d like to go in 2012. And we’re excited—this year feels especially big.

Seeing a Connection

The world’s a crazy place and 2011 offered no exception. Oil spills, SOPA, Occupy movements, and the collapse and death of hostile dictators marked an unrelenting wave of changes to digest—some good, some bad—to a point where I lost track of the headlines. However, one thing that really stood out to me was the shift of our role as human beings amidst those changes. Our capacity to influence this tumultuous world has seemingly shifted from a short-term tenancy agreement where we’re given little say in important matters and are kept deliberately uninformed to one where our voices are not only heard but heeded. From Twitter, to online campaigns, to influential projects and products, I think this shift is influenced largely by the volume and intensity of our connections. I’m not just talking about digital tools here. Our remote connections and ability to spread information like wildfire is truly stunning, but in addition we also have the time—the ‘cognitive surplus’ as Clay Shirky would put it—to innovate ways of sharing that information that benefit us all.

Small Teams, Big Deeds

This year, nGen is anticipating a world where small groups do big things. Where trust and transparency come first and where the people we work with and projects we dive into must be fun, or they’re out. Where we are no longer simply an agency but an agent of change. Using the technology around us and the tools at our disposal means we can do more than just ‘build a website’ or ‘create an app’. Simply delivering a product isn’t enough. We want to work with our clients to make things that equal a better place to exist. That isn’t some gushy promise to pull out our power cords when we’re not using them (we would anyway) and it doesn’t mean we’ll suddenly work exclusively with not-for-profits—it’s simply a genuine sentiment we want our clients share with us to ensure we’re both reaching for the same goals.

That’s the point after all, isn’t it? Doing things that connect us to something bigger than ourselves? Something that means a bit more than just a final payment or design award? Something that keeps our lives simple and meaningful and lets us look back without regret?

Last year we spent a lot of time trying out our new skin. We had to grow into it and stretch it out in other places as we wrestled with the whys and hows of doing things, but the end result was that nGen fit like a glove. And we now have a stronger understanding of who we are and who we need to be this year. 2012 will be a time to focus our energy into understanding and sharing the big picture in and out of our industry. It’ll be about how we can use the simplicity of small teams to make big shifts to current systems and perceptions. We’re already digging in.

Soft as a feather, sharp as a tack. Derek’s not shy when it comes to web standards. Don’t mess with this guy. He speaks, he writes, and he’ll make an accessibility example out of you if you get in the way of his mission to right the world of web.

Oh, did we mention, he can bench press the equivalent mass of a black hole—at least he could back when he was a science teacher.

Welcome aboard, Derek!

Here are a couple ways to make sure your message is clear and the feedback useful.

Clear Feedback: Giving It

Need to hammer an important point all the way home to Kansas? It’s gotta be clear like a Croatian waterfall and sharp like a dinosaur tooth—how do you do it?

Make End Goals

Although you probably don’t need a personal secretary or hourly agenda, it’s a good idea to establish the end goal of your communication. Before you get fresh with any verbal back and forth, mentally outline what it is you want to accomplish so you can stick to it. This will keep you on topic and streamline your chit-chat like a Boeing 747 doing Mach 10 down the conversation flight path. Watch out for that seagull.

Prep Your Peeps

Send out a short list of all your big questions or big ideas before your meeting. This will give your team or clients time to digest the concepts so they won’t rear up like a circus elephant in a tutu made of mice. Springing something new and potentially ego-threatening (like that clever idea of signing your CEO up for Zoomba classes) will make your peeps squirrelly if you sideswipe them with it. It can turn enthusiasm for new ideas into a reaction primed on emotional rather than rational fuel. Except—who doesn’t love Zoomba?

Use Bullet Points

Keep your nails short and your messages even shorter—bullet points tighten up your language and decrease your risk of run-ons. When possible, limit your points to three to five. Anything longer, and [yawn] you’ll start losing your audience to a bullet hailstorm. That doesn’t mean you have to be a jerk and get all curt with people. It just means you gotta make your language clear just like it should be on the web. Follow Erin Kissane’s content strategy rules and things should be peachy.

Eight-Second Rule

After asking a question, wait up to eight seconds before following up with a response. It’s true. People ponder at different rates and sometimes the best answers aren’t necessarily the ones spat out within the first 10 milliseconds. A nice pregnant pause will give your shy voices a chance to speak up and your loud ones time to chew on their premature answers.

Warning: eight seconds feels like forever (ask a bull rider), but it’s that awkward pause that churns out the best creative responses. Try it in a Skype meeting. I dare ya.

Mic Check

If you want to be sure people know what you’re talking about, get them to repeat what you say in their own words. For mustard’s sake, don’t ask them, “What did I just tell you?” or any other asinine comment like that. You’re not talking to a pimply teenager who wants to borrow the car. Instead, phrase it as an open-ended question.

“Alright Steve, what are our next steps?”
“Dalia, what’s the plan?”

Be careful, when you call someone’s name out of the blue, it sends alarm bells shooting through their spines like they were back in grade two arithmetic. Don’t put the same people on the spot repeatedly. If they don’t know the answers, gently bring them back to the real plan and cut them some slack. Then cut their holiday bonuses—just kidding.

The Combo Approach

People absorb information in different ways. In fact, there are more than nine different learning styles floating around in our creative world. That means that communications relying on your sexy voice alone probably aren’t enough to captivate the minds of your team or clients. Sorry sugar. You may have lost them when you passed through Nose Whistle Stop back in Boring Town. Use a combo of seeing (written/visual info), listening (auditory or musical), and doing (hands on, kinaesthetic) to compliment your ‘saying’, and let your peeps take command over their own learning. They’ll thank you for it with some peanut brittle and an autographed tie.

Clear Feedback: Getting It

When you’re looking for clear feedback, there are a couple important rules to follow; namely, don’t talk more than you listen, and when you do talk, be Jon McLane clear. Here are a few more tips to get the most out of your daily discussions.

Keep it Consistent

Ask regular questions throughout your meeting. And for the love of Jujubes, don’t use the ‘does everyone understand?’ approach. That’s the equivalent of stating, “Hey, does anyone want to admit to looking like an idiot?” Most humans would rather flub their way through assumptions causing more harm in the long run than admit they don’t know what you want in the first place. Instead, focus on specific phase- or section-related questions like:

“Is there anything you’d like to go over regarding our discovery process for this client?”
“Before we move forward, what are your thoughts on this campaign’s target audience?”

Keep it Objective

When people offer feedback, they’re often tempted to use this little gem: “I don’t like it.” How useful is this in context? Not very. When we shift our team or clients from giving emotional responses to giving objective ones, the feedback becomes more salient—less prone to emotional knee jerks that undermine the process you put so much thought into. So instead of asking Sally CEO for feedback without any guidelines, encourage Sally and her team to tell you this:

• What’s working?
• What isn’t working?
• Why?

Objective, clear, and focused on establishing the problem—not on Band-Aid, client-driven solutions.

Ask Clear Questions

Ask simple questions; no need to get all quixotic and load your sentences with double speak like I do. People cry when they have to read between the lines. Be pragmatic. If your words don’t match your meaning, prepare for a wave of retort from astigmatics. Be clear and avoid rhetoric.

Back Up Requests

If you really really want something, make sure your communication backs up why you should get that thing in the first place. For example, you want a raise? What have you done to earn it, sunshine? And just how does ‘you getting a raise’ make the company a better place to work? I guess you’d liken it to catching a fish; hook him, reel him in, then let him go.

Oh, and heed the art of subtlety. Don’t go jibber-jabbering about how awesome you are. Let the numbers, the teammates, and the end products speak for themselves.

To Summarize:

How To Give It

First

• Make End Goals
• Send Questions Early
• Three to Five Bullet Points

Next

• Wait Eight Seconds
• Repeat In Your Own Words
• Appeal to Different Learners

How To Get It

• Ask Consistent Questions
• Keep it Objective
• Keep it Simple
• Prove Value with Evidence

So? What did you think of that? I’ll give you an eight-second head start to let me know.

Andrew currently works with some of nGen’s largest clients, spending his time on both user experience and user-centred design.

Rachel: Hey Andrew, how long have you been with nGen now?

Andrew: Well, I’ve known Carl for years, but I started working back in February.

Rachel: How’s it going so far?

Andrew: Really, really great. Carl contacted me over IM and asked me if I would ride shotgun with him on a research project, so we flew to South Carolina. It was a two-day event; we crammed in tons of user sessions and then analyzed the results.

Rachel: Wow! That’s a unique beginning. So, what’s your title at nGen? What do they call ya?

Andrew: I’ve kind of self-assumed the title, User Friendliest.

I try to make sure that all the design work I do is user-facing and user-centred design, so it’s always informed by a conversation I have with an actual end user.

As interaction designers, we have a chance to tell stories with help from our users. We’re authors and we have this power of narrative, collaborating with users to tell a story. It could be the story of their business or their personal success and how they work together.

Rachel: I’m a total voucher for stories. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself, maybe your latest adventures in life?

Andrew: Well, my latest adventure in life has been moving to San Francisco, which has a crazy real estate market!

I graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in Mathematics. I knew I didn’t want to just do mathematics—during college I also studied classical voice.

I’ve always done design—it’s kind of a hobby. My first real internship that I enjoyed was working for a Principal Radar Researcher at the Department of Defense. One thing led to another and I started working on his and his wife’s website. I was kind of hooked from there. I taught a summer class on web design and that got me started professionally—that was where I wanted my career to go. It was so inspiring: not only teaching, but seeing the things my students came up with.

Rachel: You have a well-rounded history there. It’s a unique path…

Andrew: It’s definitely been free-form, but I’m one of those people who if you ask me what I do for a living, I don’t shut up. I just get so excited about doing user experience design.

Rachel: So you like your job then?

Andrew: Uh yeah! [laughs]

Rachel: Could you take us back to as you were growing up and some of the things that might have influenced you to go this route?

Andrew: I skipped two grades in middle school and it definitely shaped my understanding with regard to how to talk to people and when people are listening, and how to listen. You’ve heard of active listening—where you listen to what people say and then respond? I feel like being younger in high school, the communications I did have, I took very seriously. I think that has shaped me growing up with regards to how I talk to people and listen to “users.”

Rachel: Tell me about a guilty pleasure of yours. Not that you have to feel guilty about it, but something you enjoy doing that people may not know.

Andrew: I guess I’d say singing or humming along to music while I work. Now it works well because I work at home. When I had a job at a start up, I had people come in to ask, “what is that noise?”

Rachel: Did you realize you were doing it?

Andrew: I didn’t even know I was doing it, but it wasn’t until someone pointed it out that it became a guilty pleasure. I really enjoy doing it, but I know that other people not hearing the music are not too thrilled.

Rachel: I think the next Skype call we make with the team, you should do that. Just a little bit.

Rachel: What’s the latest book you’ve read that relates to your learning and UX?

Andrew: I read this book by Gerard Unger called While You’re Reading, which is about all the little details that contribute to the reading experience—line spacing, kerning…and then there’s things like saccades—how you parse reading a line of text—and all that. That kind of stuff really fascinates me. It’s all of those things like vertical and horizontal rhythm and the placement of the characters that really color how you interpret words and that really go a long way to shape a user’s experience.

When you talk to users, the design kind of happens; it manifests. Really, if you’re doing it right, the design falls together. The hard part is really making that picture which starts out as just boxes and arrows and ‘stuff’, compelling. And that’s something I really want to learn about: taking all the cold stale design and turning it into interactive, lively, engaging design.

Rachel: Okay, we know you’re mad about user experience. What’s one thing that people wouldn’t know about you?

Andrew: Well, I have a twin brother.

Rachel: Is he an identical twin?

Andrew: Yes. He’s really into body building and he’s a DJ. We have very different interests. Whereas I’ll stay at home and I would love to spend the evening working, he enjoys going out and DJing or working out. At one point he was working out a lot—three or four times a day. He is about 30 pounds heavier, and it’s all muscle.

Rachel: So people don’t mix you up then? Is that what you’re telling me? [laughing]

Andrew: When people look at you and they don’t know you’re a twin, you see that sense of wonder in their face—like they’re asking, ‘What’s going on?’

Rachel: Totally.

Andrew, if there was one thing you could learn, what would it be?

Andrew: I was going to say learn to cook.

Rachel: You cheater, you already know how to cook.

Andrew: But I would love to learn how to run a big bakery or something. I would love to try my hand at anything and everything really. I think movie production would be really interesting. You have such a capacity to tell a story…

Rachel: Agreed!

I really appreciate that you sat down and talked with me for a bit. I think without the people who make the team, there is no company, and each of you have a personality that is totally worth getting to know.

A true storyteller right down to the bone and man of many talents, Mr. Andrew Maier. If you’d like to find out more about this world traveling, mathematical, classical-voice-studying madman, check him out on UX Booth (he’s the editor-in-chief) or follow him on Twitter.

A few months ago, Khoi Vinh wrote an article declaring the end of client services. I’ll be the first to admit Khoi is a super-smart guy who has done a lot for the industry. I’ll also say I agree with Khoi that for a lot of people, both clients and web professionals, client services is not the best option. In fact, there is very little I take issue with except Khoi’s conclusion. I don’t think that the client service model is dead. I think rather that it has to evolve. For those of us running digital agencies, the first step in this evolution is about understanding who we want to work with.

Read the rest of the article on .net.

To do that, I need your contributions prior to the conference — your questions, concerns, suggested topics for discussion or even an EE problem you’d like to discuss how to solve. Please keep in mind that these do not need to be EE exclusive and can venture into general web technologies. Include as much detail as possible, including screenshots, video and/or sample code, as well as whether you’d like to remain anonymous. If you opt to not be anonymous, I may call on you during the session to help get the conversation going.

Please send your suggestions and submission to eeci2011@ngenworks.com. If I have any questions, I’ll be back in touch with you to make sure I clearly understand your submission.

Thanks for your help in making EECI 2011 even more awesome and I look forward to seeing all of you in Brooklyn!

So what’s on the menu, you ask?
nGeneers!

Last week I (Rachel Gertz) sat down with each and every nGeneer to painstakingly record their childhood dreams, their guilty pleasures, and their deep-seated desires. Sure we know what makes them tick at work, but I’ll bet you’ll never guess what kind of hidden talents these folks boast in their private time. Well, now you will!

I’ll sprinkle these interviews throughout the blog for the next couple of months. You know, just to keep you on your toes. This week I begin by harassing the lovely Lori Averitt.

Rachel: Lori, tell me a little bit about yourself. I understand you’re the Super Glue at nGen Works. Can you explain a little about what that means to you and what you do at nGen?

Lori: Super Glue—well, my tagline is, “I hold everything together,” which works well. I do a lot of communication with clients. Every Monday I give them an update for the week. During the week, I communicate about things we may need. If they ask us any questions, I relay them to the nGen team to get an answer.

A lot of my week is spent doing maintenance with clients whose sites we’ve completed. Doing the communication and then discussing estimates with the team. The other part of my job is that I test the websites. I think I’m up to nine browsers now. I make sure that everything works and looks good browser to browser.

I’ve always been eagle-eyed and been able to catch typos ever since I started working. That’s something I’m pretty proud to be able to do.

Rachel: When did you first notice this crazy skill that enabled you to attack every detail?

Lori: You know, the first time I really remember was when I was in high school on the yearbook staff. We would have to proofread the names of everybody. And back then there were no computers; it was all done the way advertising was done back then. You would melt it to boards and you would type up on a typewriter the name of each student. And I remember going back that far to where I would catch incorrect spellings or the wrong name with the wrong person. Fortunately, I was in a small school so I knew everyone.

Rachel: So aside from this gatekeeping and super glueing, what else do you want us to know about you?

Lori: One thing I’m not sure that everybody knows is that I play the piano. I only took like a year and half of lessons when I was in fifth and sixth grade and the rest I taught myself just from sitting down and continuing to practice. I did play the piano at the church I attended for several years. I also play the flute which I learned in band in junior high.

Rachel: Do you keep it up?

Lori: The piano, yes. The flute, no. I still have the flute, but the last time I tried to play it, I got no sound out of it. I’m not sure if it was me or the flute.

I also love to scrapbook and take pictures. Unfortunately, I’m not quite up to date. I left off in 2005. I’m getting there. It’s kind of an obsession because I love to go to scrapbook stores no matter which town I’m in, since everybody has different scrapbooking stuff. I go to scrapbook shows with different friends to see the new gadgets and to buy more and more stuff. I could probably open a scrapbook store, I have so much stuff myself.

Rachel: What kind of ‘scrapbook style’ do you have? Visual? Descriptive Words?

Lori: I’m more visual than about the words. I like a lot of pictures. I like the stickers and decorated paper. I’ve been to classes and that kind of thing, but I’m more freehand. I just kind of take a stack of pictures, put it on the page, think about it for a little while and just do it. It’s my own style. It’s not the way they’d teach it.

Rachel: But that’s more fun anyway. Is it kind of therapeutic?

Lori: I have a vast array of friends and it’s a way to bring them all together. I scrapbook by year, whereas some people do it by event, but I like to be able to go back and look at a full year, where I went and who I spent time with—relive the fun memories. So yes, it’s very therapeutic.

Rachel: When was the last time you were able to do it?

Lori: It’s been about a year. It’s time to sit back down at my desk and get going. But when I get going it’s like a six- or eight-hour day. It’s a long two, three, four in the morning type of thing.

Rachel: There’s no better way to spend a Saturday night. A bottle of wine and some scrapbooking.

Lori: Absolutely, or whatever other alcoholic beverage is around.

Rachel: Do you get better at the scrapbooking as you drink or worse?

Lori: Worse. Especially the handwriting. I find the whiteout and have to go back to get the right spelling. I usually figure it was related to that drink I had while scrapbooking.

Rachel: I have heard tell of the Gator Club. Can you tell peeps a little more about your involvement?

Lori: The Gator Club is an extension of the University of Florida’s Alumni Association. So, it’s generally for people who went to Florida, although I never did. You can be a member as “a friend of” Florida. I became a football fan right outside of high school and started going to games. One day, which is so not like me, I saw an ad in the paper that they were looking for volunteers. I went down there all by myself and have pretty much been involved with the club ever since. That was like 1987. I walked in not knowing a soul there and made fast friends that I am still very close to today.

The local club, what we do is, we raise money to give scholarships to students in our county. There’s a couple times a year where we do big fundraisers, and the rest of the year it’s about sports. I was president for four years and now I’m Vice President of Communications.

Rachel: Holy moly, Lori. How has your position evolved over the years?

Lori: When I first got started back in the 80’s there was no website of course. There was no list serv to send emails. I’ve learned how to use all those tools, so the majority of what I do is keep the website updated, send emails to club members, keep the hotline updated, and I have people that help me out with the social media stuff a bit.

Rachel: Busy lady! You do a lot of behind-the-scenes work at nGen. What is it like to experience a day in the life of Lori?

Lori: There are few days I know what’s going to come my way. A lot of my days are spent doing whatever pops in my inbox—whatever Carl needs me to do, whatever I can help Mary with. It’s being able to bounce a lot of balls and keep them in the air. Gotta make sure I’m sending an email to the right person. [laughing] All the little things.

And I have to admit, I am a list maker. That’s the way I’ve always been able to keep up with things.

Rachel: You’re definitely keeping up, my dear. From now until the day you look up into the sky and say, “I did it world!” what other thing would you want to learn or do or try?

Lori: The one thing I’ve always wanted to learn was how to play the violin. It’s something that I’ve thought about recently; something just for me. I also have a fondness for cooking, even though I’m not that good at it. We’ll see!

Rachel: You and me both sista. So, at what age would you say you became an adult?

Lori: I would say 18. I lived at home till I was 23, but I had a full-time job at 18. Even though it wasn’t supposed to be a full-time job, I ended up being there for 19 years. I’ve kind of always been on the serious side.

Rachel: And yet you still have that wicked sense of humour…

Lori: [laughs]

Rachel: On that note, when was the last time you remember gettin’ in trouble?

Lori: Do I have to explain what the trouble was?

Rachel: Nope.

Lori: 2005. This is a story I’ll share in Vegas. Saying I got in trouble might be pushing the limits, but it was definitely not my finest hour. It’s not a story I tell very often.

Rachel: I can’t wait!

Well, thanks for letting me waste 30 minutes of a day you’ll never get back, Lori. I know you’re busy, so I’ll let you get back to it. Let’s do it up in Vegas indeed!

Check Lori out on Twitter or visit her team page to find out more.