I just got home yesterday from Uganda. Expect some long posts to come, as well as dozens of epic pictures.
You ain't seen nothin' yet.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Take the Meyers-Briggs Personality Test.
To find out your personality is super-interesting. Take any standard 70+ question M-B test and then read about yourself here:
http://www.personalitypage.com/portraits.html
Love it.
http://www.personalitypage.com/portraits.html
Love it.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Sorry for the delay
It's been such a busy week at IC. Good old Nate Henn put it in perspective for us by taping a giant countdown to the door that we all walk in and out of every single day. At the time he taped up the countdown, we had 10 days left to book. Ten.
Now, we're down to Seven. In all reality, though, it's probably less than that. More like 5.
We have to book nearly our entire tour before we are even considered to go on the road. And with only 5 or 7 days left to do that, everyone is a bit on edge and incredibly apprehensive. At the same time, however, it's incredible how relaxed everyone can become once we return to the roadie house at night. Despite our late trainings and despite all the pressure from the staff, we can all come home and lounge around as if it's a high school Saturday night with no football game and no good movie at the theater. I love it.
But at Invisible Children we truly do play just as much as we work. Friday we were told no one should get to the office before 9am (the East Coast teams had been getting there at 7:30 every morning to call appropriate for the time zone difference). My alarm was still set for 7am, but at 6:50 I heard a dozen or so voices speaking very loud and very excitedly and the next thing I know we have a staff member or two barging into our room happily telling us all to wake up! Not exactly what I wanted to be doing at the time, but since I was going to be getting up in 10 minutes anyway what they heck.
Then it hit me. That was staff. That means that the people walking around our house before 7am were our bosses and we were all still sleeping. A few of us wandered out into the kitchen to see what on earth was going on and literally all of the Movement staff (Margie, Zach, and all the Regional Managers + Nate Henn, Natasha Bliss, and BWB rep Aaron King) were buzzing around the kitchen toasting Eggo waffles, slicing bagels, cooking scrambled eggs, pouring orange juice and setting out all the coffee additives. Heaven.
I knew this day was coming. I'd seen pictures of it from previous roadies. But I never thought it would be on a Friday. IC works too hard for that. Lo and behold, though, Friday it was.
We spent the rest of the day getting in touch with our inner selves--Meyers Briggs tests, marriage counseling questionnaire, gender differences and how to respond appropriately, etc. Essentially, they were preparing each of us for the three-month haul on the road. It's so awesome.
What wasn't awesome was the 102 degree heat and our house's lack of air conditioning. We ended up back at the office for the second half of training before we all broke off at the end of the day to visit cliffs and beaches and other fun locations like the infamous In-n-Out.
To back up to Thursday night, that's where all of this fun began. After work, Jedidiah got on a megaphone to announce that we had 20 minutes to get dinner and to figure out in our groups the riddle that he had handed out on cards. The riddle's answer would tell us our destination for the night.
Ultimately we went to Mt. Soledad where we played Running Charades--if you are unfamiliar with this game, I'll gladly play with you sometime. Bring friends. And from there we drove down to Mission Beach where the staff, including a lot of the art department, Jason, and Ben Keesey had built us a bonfire on the beach. The stars were gorgeous, the smores were lovely, the water was warm...and salty, and the sand is the SOFTEST in the world. I dare you to prove me wrong.
But better than all that, we had a special guest come to speak inspiring words to us. A man who has long loved Invisible Children and who does more for the organization than even the most dedicated fan could not possibly know. Hollywood director Tom Shadyac danced around the bonfire and told us his views on life and how we as roadies fall directly into his most revered category because we are donating our life and trusting that everything will be okay for five months. How do we return to the real world? A spirit of love and understanding. It sounds so textbook and cliché, but his delivery was sporadic and distracted and powerful all at the same time. I have a great new appreciation for this man, especially since I was unable to see him at Lobby Days.
I love my job.
Now, we're down to Seven. In all reality, though, it's probably less than that. More like 5.
We have to book nearly our entire tour before we are even considered to go on the road. And with only 5 or 7 days left to do that, everyone is a bit on edge and incredibly apprehensive. At the same time, however, it's incredible how relaxed everyone can become once we return to the roadie house at night. Despite our late trainings and despite all the pressure from the staff, we can all come home and lounge around as if it's a high school Saturday night with no football game and no good movie at the theater. I love it.
But at Invisible Children we truly do play just as much as we work. Friday we were told no one should get to the office before 9am (the East Coast teams had been getting there at 7:30 every morning to call appropriate for the time zone difference). My alarm was still set for 7am, but at 6:50 I heard a dozen or so voices speaking very loud and very excitedly and the next thing I know we have a staff member or two barging into our room happily telling us all to wake up! Not exactly what I wanted to be doing at the time, but since I was going to be getting up in 10 minutes anyway what they heck.
Then it hit me. That was staff. That means that the people walking around our house before 7am were our bosses and we were all still sleeping. A few of us wandered out into the kitchen to see what on earth was going on and literally all of the Movement staff (Margie, Zach, and all the Regional Managers + Nate Henn, Natasha Bliss, and BWB rep Aaron King) were buzzing around the kitchen toasting Eggo waffles, slicing bagels, cooking scrambled eggs, pouring orange juice and setting out all the coffee additives. Heaven.
I knew this day was coming. I'd seen pictures of it from previous roadies. But I never thought it would be on a Friday. IC works too hard for that. Lo and behold, though, Friday it was.
We spent the rest of the day getting in touch with our inner selves--Meyers Briggs tests, marriage counseling questionnaire, gender differences and how to respond appropriately, etc. Essentially, they were preparing each of us for the three-month haul on the road. It's so awesome.
What wasn't awesome was the 102 degree heat and our house's lack of air conditioning. We ended up back at the office for the second half of training before we all broke off at the end of the day to visit cliffs and beaches and other fun locations like the infamous In-n-Out.
To back up to Thursday night, that's where all of this fun began. After work, Jedidiah got on a megaphone to announce that we had 20 minutes to get dinner and to figure out in our groups the riddle that he had handed out on cards. The riddle's answer would tell us our destination for the night.
Ultimately we went to Mt. Soledad where we played Running Charades--if you are unfamiliar with this game, I'll gladly play with you sometime. Bring friends. And from there we drove down to Mission Beach where the staff, including a lot of the art department, Jason, and Ben Keesey had built us a bonfire on the beach. The stars were gorgeous, the smores were lovely, the water was warm...and salty, and the sand is the SOFTEST in the world. I dare you to prove me wrong.
But better than all that, we had a special guest come to speak inspiring words to us. A man who has long loved Invisible Children and who does more for the organization than even the most dedicated fan could not possibly know. Hollywood director Tom Shadyac danced around the bonfire and told us his views on life and how we as roadies fall directly into his most revered category because we are donating our life and trusting that everything will be okay for five months. How do we return to the real world? A spirit of love and understanding. It sounds so textbook and cliché, but his delivery was sporadic and distracted and powerful all at the same time. I have a great new appreciation for this man, especially since I was unable to see him at Lobby Days.
I love my job.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
We work hard. We play hard. Often simultaneously
So Wednesday was our movement director Margie's birthday (we're not sure which one). Since we as a staff love our hard-ass director, we went all out and gave her the best birthday present we could think of. True to IC style, here it is in all its glory:
Friday, August 21, 2009
Still no pictures
But if you are looking for a bit of reading, please read this:
http://blog.invisiblechildren.com/2009/08/20/exchanging-for-change/#more-915
One of the more fascinating of Invisible Children's ground programs in Uganda. I can proudly say that I know a handful of people who have participated in this program. The effects are astounding. I only hope to meet the Ugandans while they are here in the States, when that comes to pass.
PS, the MEND bags are rad. Ask me about MEND if you are unfamiliar with the brand.
http://blog.invisiblechildren.com/2009/08/20/exchanging-for-change/#more-915
One of the more fascinating of Invisible Children's ground programs in Uganda. I can proudly say that I know a handful of people who have participated in this program. The effects are astounding. I only hope to meet the Ugandans while they are here in the States, when that comes to pass.
PS, the MEND bags are rad. Ask me about MEND if you are unfamiliar with the brand.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
The Weekend Once Again
This week began our first few days of actual office work. We spend all day every day on the phones and on our computers trying to book screenings for our segments of fall tour. I have been assigned to the state of Washington, focusing mostly on Seattle--though I do have some screenings in Vancouver, WA and Spokane, WA.
It's so bizarre to be on the receiving end of these screening agreements. I'm always quick to send mine in--the office contacting me months ahead of time so the roadies don't have to. Now here I am booking for my own tour and people are very slow to get back. Now I know how frustrating this can be for people in the office as they wait to hear back from contacts who don't invest the time and energy into booking a screening. It'll all work out in the end, though.
I'm becoming such a stalker, too. Facebook, cell phone, email, SalesForce, school phone, work phone, you name it, I will find it. Those lessons about how people can find you on the internet? you know, the ones I had in sixth and seventh grade? Yeah, now I'm using them to figure out how best to contact people in as many ways possible.
On another note, I haven't taken pictures of the roadie house yet. Nor have I taken pictures of the coffee shop where I spend a lot of time. Nor have I taken pictures of the office where I spend the rest of my time. Nor have I taken pictures of my teammates. Basically, I haven't done anything to document my time in San Diego yet. I apologize to all who are waiting to see my life.
AAAAAAAAAND (drumroll) I'm going to Uganda in 3 weeks! I'm going to be traveling with one roadie from nearly every roadie team to the town of Gulu in Northern Uganda where we'll see all of the Invisible Children operations and programs in action. It's going to be a fantastic experience, and a shocking one, but overall it will definitely help me on tour. To be able to give firsthand experience of the same things we're advertising on the road will strengthen our tour. I don't know what all to expect, but I do know that it's going to be as lifechanging as the rest of this internship if not more so.
It's so bizarre to be on the receiving end of these screening agreements. I'm always quick to send mine in--the office contacting me months ahead of time so the roadies don't have to. Now here I am booking for my own tour and people are very slow to get back. Now I know how frustrating this can be for people in the office as they wait to hear back from contacts who don't invest the time and energy into booking a screening. It'll all work out in the end, though.
I'm becoming such a stalker, too. Facebook, cell phone, email, SalesForce, school phone, work phone, you name it, I will find it. Those lessons about how people can find you on the internet? you know, the ones I had in sixth and seventh grade? Yeah, now I'm using them to figure out how best to contact people in as many ways possible.
On another note, I haven't taken pictures of the roadie house yet. Nor have I taken pictures of the coffee shop where I spend a lot of time. Nor have I taken pictures of the office where I spend the rest of my time. Nor have I taken pictures of my teammates. Basically, I haven't done anything to document my time in San Diego yet. I apologize to all who are waiting to see my life.
AAAAAAAAAND (drumroll) I'm going to Uganda in 3 weeks! I'm going to be traveling with one roadie from nearly every roadie team to the town of Gulu in Northern Uganda where we'll see all of the Invisible Children operations and programs in action. It's going to be a fantastic experience, and a shocking one, but overall it will definitely help me on tour. To be able to give firsthand experience of the same things we're advertising on the road will strengthen our tour. I don't know what all to expect, but I do know that it's going to be as lifechanging as the rest of this internship if not more so.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Crazy Crazy
This has been a ridiculous weekend. I feel as though that word will be overused over the next five months and I'll need to find several replacements for it.
Last week was only 3 days long and it felt like a lifetime. The amount of information I have just crammed into my brain is unprecedented in any history class I've ever taken--and that includes everything that Ms. Neill has thrown at me in a single hour. Imagine 9 hours of Neill classes and you're more or less right. Then multiply it by 3 for the entire first week.
This weekend was a huge study time/break from work. Weird combination, I know. Friday night I read Blue Like Jazz. Yes, the whole thing.
We went to Pacific Beach on Saturday and stuck around until 8, but the entire time I was there, I was studying the history of the war in Uganda. Just before leaving, Forrest, Brian and I went to search for a GeoCache. Check it out sometime. Very cool concept. I came home that night more or less exhausted, and picked up The Irresistible Revolution at 11:00. At 11:30 I fell asleep.
I literally slept then until 9am on Sunday. If anyone knows me, that is an unheard of amount of sleep. I spent the entire day reading the rest of The Irresistible Revolution at a nearby coffee shop called Cosmos, finished it, and went to Vons to pick up coffee, creamer, and chai tea. It was a great day.
Today is Monday and we started real work today. Something's a-brewing in the offices and everyone knows it, but we don't know what that is. They're in the middle of working on a new piece of lovely merch to sell (get excited) but there's something else. Something bigger. We don't know what that might be or if it will even come out on our tour, but it's going to be epic--as only IC can do.
Bookings start Wednesday. Tomorrow we learn how to pitch Invisible Children to a contact. Today we learned the database system. Crazy crazy. I'm spending all night tonight pouring over my contacts in the Pacific Northwest and organizing information. The work here never ends.
SO READY for the rest of this week!!!
Last week was only 3 days long and it felt like a lifetime. The amount of information I have just crammed into my brain is unprecedented in any history class I've ever taken--and that includes everything that Ms. Neill has thrown at me in a single hour. Imagine 9 hours of Neill classes and you're more or less right. Then multiply it by 3 for the entire first week.
This weekend was a huge study time/break from work. Weird combination, I know. Friday night I read Blue Like Jazz. Yes, the whole thing.
We went to Pacific Beach on Saturday and stuck around until 8, but the entire time I was there, I was studying the history of the war in Uganda. Just before leaving, Forrest, Brian and I went to search for a GeoCache. Check it out sometime. Very cool concept. I came home that night more or less exhausted, and picked up The Irresistible Revolution at 11:00. At 11:30 I fell asleep.
I literally slept then until 9am on Sunday. If anyone knows me, that is an unheard of amount of sleep. I spent the entire day reading the rest of The Irresistible Revolution at a nearby coffee shop called Cosmos, finished it, and went to Vons to pick up coffee, creamer, and chai tea. It was a great day.
Today is Monday and we started real work today. Something's a-brewing in the offices and everyone knows it, but we don't know what that is. They're in the middle of working on a new piece of lovely merch to sell (get excited) but there's something else. Something bigger. We don't know what that might be or if it will even come out on our tour, but it's going to be epic--as only IC can do.
Bookings start Wednesday. Tomorrow we learn how to pitch Invisible Children to a contact. Today we learned the database system. Crazy crazy. I'm spending all night tonight pouring over my contacts in the Pacific Northwest and organizing information. The work here never ends.
SO READY for the rest of this week!!!
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