Why November 2012 was awesome

This month has been a whirlwind of change, airplanes, meetings and events. Here are just a few reasons why November 2012 rocked my world (along with some Instagram photos, because hey, why not).

I started a new adventure.

It’s true: I am now the Assistant Manager of Digital Media at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland, College Park. The building is beautiful, the people are friendly and I have lots to learn; I’ve been itching to try some things with digital media that weren’t practical at an arts service organization, so I’m super excited. <shamelessplug>FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM</shamelessplug>

Taken on my first day of work.

I voted.

I did my duty. ‘Nuff said.

I went to the National Arts Marketing Project Conference in Charlotte, NC.

This trip was awesome for the following reasons:

1. Bob Lynch, President & CEO of Americans for the Arts, is a total rockstar, which I found out while interviewing him during the Knight Foundation Fellows pre-conference;
2. I got to catch up with old colleagues and meet tons of new ones;
3. I fell in love with cdza;
4. Charlotte is a city I’ll need to visit again;
5. I will forever remember crashing my simulator racecar at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Be warned: it’s not like a video game. You don’t respawn and get to try again. Hmmph.

With Bob Lynch after our session at the Knight Foundation Fellows pre-conf!

Amanda, Brett and I on the fifth floor balcony of the Mint Museum Uptown during NAMPC’s Opening Reception.

Sulu DC turned three.

I missed it because I was in Charlotte, but Sulu DC had a great third anniversary show at Meeps in Adams Morgan. Don stepped in to volunteer in my place and even won the Audience Award!

The Don in my place.

I visited Denver for Thanksgiving.

Thankgiving in Denver = food, drink and games all weekend long. We played Gloom, Pit, Munchkin, Cranium, Guillotine, Kittens in a Blender, Zombie Fluxx and Nintendoland games on the WiiU. (Yes, we take our play very, very seriously.)

Playing Munchkin. So many items equipped.

And a picture of a street performer on Pearl Street in Boulder, just for the fun of it:

She was singing a Guns N’ Roses tune.

I scored a You’ve Cott Mail mention.

Kind of. Joe at Butts in the Seats quoted part of my ARTSblog post about the “Stereotypes, Exoticism and Cultural Competency” session at NAMPC, which was then featured in November 28 edition of You’ve Cott Mail. I was so stoked about it that I tweeted:

Whoa–got a(n indirect) mention in today's @youvecottmail! My life is complete. // How welcoming is your arts org? conta.cc/TtDlJq—
Megan Pagado (@andmegansaid) November 28, 2012

To which Thomas Cott replied:

@andmegansaid Thanks Megan, but I hope your life is complete for far better reasons! —
You've Cott Mail (@youvecottmail) November 28, 2012

Don’t worry, Thomas. It most definitely is.

I met Sherry and John from Young House Love.

My friend Michelle and I have been Young House Love readers for quite awhile, so when she told me she signed me up for their book signing in Georgetown, I didn’t think twice. And neither did hundreds of our fellow DC-area YHL fans, apparently:

The line.

We stood in line outside in the Georgetown cold for three hours before getting into Flor for the signing. Toes were frozen, hands were cold and we were delirious and super giggly by the time we got inside…which clearly is not a good combination for making a good first impression on anyone.

I feel like I regressed to my nerdy middle school self.

We were so awkward. We couldn’t think of anything to say, which we confessed to them, then I ended up telling them that they actually look like their pictures on their blog. Real smooth, Megan. Real smooth. (But seriously, isn’t that a great thing, finding out that people aren’t Photoshopping the hell out of their pictures online?)

Luckily, Sherry and John are as warm and friendly in person as they come across on their blog. Even though they probably thought we were a couple of crazies (which we may have confirmed when we signed their guestbook afterwards — yikes!), they were incredibly gracious, thanked us for waiting and asked about our frozen toes. I really can’t imagine sitting, smiling, signing and conversing for 4-5 hours nonstop with hundreds of people, but seriously, they were just lovely, lovely people.

Also, Sherry said she liked my necklace, which totally made my night.

So that’s pretty much my November. Can’t wait to see what December brings!