that one time i made up for lost time...

So...I've been MIA for a bit. Sorry about that. I planned to blog all throughout Social Media Week, but funny thing, real life got in the way.  How bout that?So, what have I been up to the last couple of weeks? Here are some highlights:


Social Media Week

The global event Social Media Week hit Chicago for the first time this year and I had the great pleasure of producing and moderating a panel discussion at Catalyst Ranch. Titled Social Media & The Next Generation, the topic of improving communication between the generations has been a particular passion of mine ever since I began teaching. Blessed with an awesome panel of social media pros and twenty-somethings, it was a pretty awesome night.









And of course, I had to attend other events and network. Tons of fun. Social Media people like to drink: there was an open bar almost everywhere I went. If you're interested in my new friends, hijinks and shenanigans, just follow my Twitter feed, looking for hashtag #SMWChicago.



Family

Jessa is having a baby. We had a great celebration to welcome Baby McHoffman. It was wonderful to see so many great friends from college. Perry remarked how amazing it is that we're still alive after all the crazy shit we did ten years ago. Seriously. Amazing. It was a great quasi-almost <gulp> ten year college reunion.






















Most importantly, DJ is in town. Nuff said.

Theatre

Besides palling around with my families at Porchlight Music Theatre and Silk Road Rising, I have been rehearsing a very interesting piece with the fine folks at Interrobang Theatre Project. The Argument by Gregory S. Moss is a surreal, post-Apocalyptic piece written in response to Hurricane Katrina. Towards the end there is a fantasy production number that I provide choreography for. The show runs from 10/6-11/6. Check it out: support new theatre and a new company!





















Besides that, I've been doing quite a bit of this



and





and not enough of this

Anyhow...it's fall. Less outside play time, more...well inside writing time. So get ready for more blogging and a different blog look for October.


Have a great weekend!

that one time social media produced and created a play

I've been doing theatre for about twenty years. Scary thought, huh? In that time, I've been very fortunate to have had a lot of good day jobs, but none as fun as social media strategist for my day job Catalyst Ranch. In the year and a half I've been working with social media, I've learned a lot and had a great time. I've grown accustomed to my worlds crossing. Actor A will be a creative consumer for Ideation Group B who is holding their meeting at the Ranch. Actress C dated Actor D in Production E and now we're working on Show F together. No big whoop. But I never thought that social media and theatre would cross significantly. All I've ever seen any theatre use their social media accounts for is blasting ticket specials and promoting their shows. Sure, you'll get some audience interaction on Facebook pages. Some. But ultimately, no theatre group (in my radar) was using social media for anything groundbreaking or innovative. Until last week.

Last Wednesday, I was working at my desk, minding my business. In the white noise that is my Tweetdeck, I see a retweet from social media maven Sue Koch from social media maverick Tim McDonald. We'd all met at a social media luncheon with the Tekkite Group a month ago. What was Tim up to? His company Zaarly was partnering up with the Filament Theatre Ensemble to create a play in 36 hours. It gets better. Not only would they create a play in 36 hours, they would source the content and title through social media channels and use Zaarly (and some extent Twitter) to produce the show. That's right, all props, all costumes, all set pieces were going to be sourced completely through social media. As a passionate theatre artist and social media geek, I HAD to catch this story.

I followed the happenings on Twitter, following #sustain36. I knew when they'd chosen their title. I knew when they were rehearsing. I knew when the Alderman came by to visit. Through Zaarly I knew that they were in need of a red tie, which I happened to be wearing, so I brought it with me. You can still follow the #sustain36 convo on Twitter and it's pretty cool.

The energy when I arrived at the storefront in Portage Park was pretty electric. I'd seen Filament do Sarah Ruehl's Eurydice last season, so knew that their aesthetic was one of true collaboration and sustainability. The artists excitedly rehearsing and rewriting, the social media folks running a tight ship behind the scenes...I mean, I'd never seen so many smart phones and Macbooks out in my life. It was pretty sweet.

What impressed me most was how they utilized the space. They really worked with the architecture of their found enviornment and maximized the artistic potential of it. I won't go on about it too much, as you'll see the full story below. Just know that it was one of the coolest artistic events I've ever experienced. And I hope it happens again real soon.




Bonus video
One of my favorite scenes from the night. More footage coming soon!

that one random adventure (+3 for hump day) episode 5

So August 28, 2011 marks the return of "International Read Comics in Public Day", a day for us geeks to hit public transportation, coffee shops, parks and anywhere one can sit and proudly pull out our old trade paperbacks or new weeklies and spread awareness and appreciation for comics. I'm a big fan of a good "(insert cause) day". I cannot even begin to express how geeked out I am by September's Social Media Week, where your's truly will be moderating an event at my awesome day job Catalyst Ranch. The trouble with this particular day I find is...well...I already read comic books in public. Every day. On both ends of my commute.

But the notion reminds me of this one time this past spring. Free comic book day to be exact, reading the awesome  FCMBD edition of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. Spidey sacrificed his iconic spider sense saving the city (again) in ASM#654 and was training with Shang-Chi (fresh off the pages of SECRET AVENGERS) to better tune his awareness through martial arts.

Lost in my book, I get a tap on my knee. A mini-me (7 if a day) looked up at me with gleaming almond shaped eyes and asked "awr you weading Spidew-Man?" (Swear to God he said his R's like that). His mother was napping next to him.

"Sure am pal" I replied.

"He's my favowite!" His torn up, third hand velcro Spidey sneaks proved as much.

"Mine too!" I replied.

"He's really funny."

"That he is." And so I nudged my book over so he can read with me, letting him turn pages when he'd caught up.

Spidey was off on Avengers mission. No spider sense, P.Parker is off his game.The turn of the page revealed a training scene between Spidey and Shang-Chi. Mini-Me's eyes lit up.

"Who's that?!" He demanded, setting his little finger on Shang-Chi. He could've cared less as I went over Chinese born Shang-Chi's master of kung fu street cred. His eyes remained fixated and he said in the most awestruck voice "He looks like me."

My stop came shortly after, the book remained unfinished between us. "Keep it" I said. "And make sure you ask your mom if you can read more. There's more Shang-Chi coming up in Spider Island." Standing on the platform, looking through the window, I saw Mini-Me flipping to the front of the book and reading it over again.

So yeah, when I read about NRACIPD, I thought "I don't need a day to celebrate this any more than I need the gay pride parade or Asian American Heritage Month. I celebrate these aspects of myself prudly every day." But like meeting an old drag queen who was there at the Stonewall riots, a closeted kid who suffers bullying in silence or meeting Mini-Me seeing himself represented in his favorite comic, its nice to get a reminder sometimes.

Celebrate yourself every day.

Three things I'm looking forward to for the rest of the week

Theatre (& Social Media)

Filament Theatre Ensemble presents a brand new theatrical experiment in partnership with Zaarly, the marketplace that helps you buy and sell with people nearby, Filament will attempt to create a brand new, locally-sourced, world premiere theatrical production in 36 hours. Community members can then share their stuff or their time in exchange for a ticket to the SUSTAIN36 Theatre Project performance which will be performed Thursday, August 25 at 8:00pm, a mere 36 hours after the playwriting process began.

This such an innovative and collaborative event. Following Filament's Twitter feed in every part of the process is pretty fuckin' rad. In the true spirit of Social Media, I read a retweet of the event on the SM side and was pleased as punch that it was a theatre event. A few tweets back and forth between Filament and lo and behold, I'm involved! Your's truly will be there video taping the process and the event as well as live tweeting tomorrow from 5PM on. For other convos happening about the event, search Twitter for #sustain36 and check for my blog/vlog footage on Friday!

For more info click here. If we had you at hello, get your tickets here. Will I see you there?

New Book Wednesday

X-Men Legacy #254
Written by MIKE CAREY
Penciled by STEVE KURTH
Cover by MICO SUAYAN

FINALLY! Someone's going into deep space to save Marvel Girl, Havok and Polaris. About goddamn time!

Family

I've been an uncle since I was one and a half. All of my nephews and nieces have been more like little brothers and sisters. None more so than DJ. In a blog where I open with a story of a mini-me, I am happy beyond belief to close out this entry to say the ultimate mini-me, not only blood family but best friend family, the fourth bertucelli, my little brother Mikey DJ is now in town and here for at least a month. Let the adventures commence!

Til next time!

that one random adventure (+3 for hump day) episode 1

Random adventure of the week

(cuz anything can be an adventure)

Networking events can be fun. So fun in fact that I went to two of them yesterday. Alright, the sarcasm in the second sentence may be lost in translation, but honestly, it's a brave new world I've just entered this past year and have done so very happily. Being in theatre, you're inherently networking every time you're at a theatre related event: rehearsals, auditions, seeing a show, post-show drinks. It's just innate. So actually articulating what "my people" have done informally all along and doing it within a business setting, with topics besides my core passion that interest me, well it's pretty cool.

(Ok, Danny B, where's the adventure?)

So (shortly) the first networking event was a luncheon about social media, specifically utlizing Google+. It was very cool to meet some leaders in the field and share experience with people who attended for the education. Met some very cool people, had some delicious lunch. And started my campaign to give "circle" a secondary verbal definition. You're welcome Google.

The second was an invite from one of my best friends Mikey for a networking event in his field. No real connections or interest, but I thought, "Part of my job is Client Liaison, there's an opportunity for me to practice the trigger-happy draw of my card I've learned to master at these shindigs." Alright, mainly it was the fact that the invite went something like "Ooooh Danny, want to get some free food and booze with me on Tuesday?" And really, who can say no to that.

Now, though you won't see me on an episode of A&E's INTERVENTION any time soon, I do love an open bar. And I was already in networking mode, so I was ready on the draw with my card. Except nobody came to talk to us. We milled around. We mingled a bit. But everyone stayed very cliquish, talking to their co-workers, barely making any connections. Weird, right? So we just kept going to the bar. Made friends with the service staff. Went back to the bar. Made fun of those woman's shoes. Went back to the bar.

So finally, we just sat there and drank, like it was a regular weekend for us. The snarkiness of "You could build a tower from your collection of Miller Lite bottles" from the dowdy girl next to us went <PING><PING> right off the judgement shield. We started naming people and I realized they were the archetypes of any networking event (besides regular attendees):

The Wannabee Queen Bee who would stop to say hi to you for a second before being "pulled off" in another direction, throwing one-hand clap waves to those she passed by like beads at Mardi Gras. More often than not, they're not as important as they think. (is my Heather Chandler/Regina George showing?)

The "I go to your things all the time, you HAVE to come to this one with me" Significant Other: 'Nuff Said.

Mr./Ms. Break Into the Industry: usually a person who is (sadly) displaced by this economy and is looking for their next opportunity. They'll do anything to break into this industry. ANYthing.

The Tracy Flick: their place of employ is better than your's. Or that other person's. And you know that thing you just said? It's wrong. Here's the correct answer.

And those guys who can only make it through this event is by taking full advantage of the open bar: little loud, little obnoxious, but one hell of a good time. Just ask the black ladies sitting at the table next to us. They were hooting and hollering along right with us until the bitter (drunken) end.

Special Guest Star of the evening:
The Math Teachers from the "Find Mr. Hall a love interest scene" in CLUELESS.

Favourite quote of the night:
"He's not gay, so stop trying to find him on Grindr"

Anywho...

three things I'm looking forward to the rest of the week

Show

Modern Conversation CD release party at Jerry's in Wicker Park

Friday, 7/29 9:30P-12:30A; $7 cover gets you in AND a copy of the CD

Modern Conversation kicks ass. Simple as that. Their sound is a fusion of folk, jazz, and alt-country which makes for an awesomely diverse sound. David Courtenay's soulful songwriting, Jackie Rada's rockin the keys, combined with that they all just vibe so well together and have such a great time playing together. And they're pretty easy on the eyes too ;)

You gonna join me? http://goo.gl/55QoP

Movie

So I'm kind of a movie buff. I like gritty indie films as much as Oscar bait as much as much as cheese rom-coms as much as epic comic book movies. There's no real rhyme or reason to what I will or will not like. I love to see movies for the experience. And I'm kind of a DVD hoarder.

When the poster for COWBOYS AND ALIENS was released, I was like "What the fuck? Is this gonna be another SNAKES ON A PLANE?" But then the trailer came out. And it just looks plain awesome.

Besides the intrigue of "Who is this mysterious stranger (Daniel Craig)?" and the blow 'em up awesomeness of cowboys with pistols fighting off lazer shooting alien ships, the thing I most appreciate about this movie is it's transperency. It's fucking called COWBOYS AND ALIENS. That's what you get. It doesn't try to hide who it's target demographic is (hi naked Olivia Wilde in the trailer). It's not trying to win any major awards or invite serious intellectual debate. It's about cowboys. And aliens. If you go in looking to be moved like you were in BREAKING THE WAVES or BLUE VALENTINE, then I've got some magic beans to sell you. It's fucking called COWBOYS AND ALIENS. And I'm fucking excited to see it. Anyone else gonna see it?

New Book Wednesday

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #666

Writter: Dan Slott

Artist: Stefano Caselli

Am I the only one who's noticed the glaring similarities between Spider-Man and Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Not that I'm complaining: they're both my superhero icons. But since the Straczynski run of ASM, with the introduction of Ezekiel and the concept of Spidey being part of a long line of men imbued with the totemic powers of the Spider, asking "What if the spider was meant to give you your powers before it even became radiated?" ("Into every generation a slayer is born.." anyone? Bueller?) there's been a huge correlation between the two. It makes sense really: at the heart of both heroes are ordinary people with extraordinary abilities and powers. It's what they do with it because of who they are at the core is what makes them heroes.

So when Marvel announced that the next big Spidey event "Spider-Island" would feature everyone in Manhattan suddenly possessing Spider-Man's powers, I couldn't help but think of the series finale of BtVS  where (okay seriously, if you need a SPOILER ALERT for this 8 years after the fact, we need to sit down for a little chat) Buffy shares her power with all the Potential Slayers, making them all Slayers (and putting Buffy at a slight identity crisis for the Season 8 comics from Dark Horse). Again, not a criticism. In fact, it makes me uber excited (love how Shang Chi and New Madame Web have been slowly woven into this arc over the year, pun intended, lol) Just very excited to see how Peter Parker reacts to it all.  Are you?

Til next time...