Archive for Community

Recent Events

There’s been several events lately that I’ve helped with, but I’ve been really bad about logging them here. So, here’s an all-encompassing post of what I’ve been up to around the East Valley for the past couple months.

Chandler Cupcake Camp

In early April, Katie Charland, Gangplank’s Director of Operations, headed up this sweet event held at the Chandler Senior Center.

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The day was filled with all things cupcakes, including baking tips, live icing demonstrations, and even a cupcake tasting at the end! My favorite: Spicy Chocolate vegan gluten-free mini-cupcakes from Sasha at 24 Carrots! The cayenne pepper flavor deliciously offset the rich chocolate ganache and sweet dab of icing on the top.

Gangplank Inaugural Volunteer Orientation

Local collaborative workspace Gangplank has been growing by leaps and bounds! So much, that they have put out a call for community volunteers.

Gangplank Inaugural Volunteer Orientation

This is a scene from our inaugural meeting where we did some brainstorming on the pieces of our lives that connect us all. Check out this Gangplank blog post for more info.

ASU Late Night Ready for the Real World

Gangplank and ASU collaborated to hold a career-readiness event for soon-to-be graduating college seniors on the evening of March 31st.

Ready for the Real World ASU

Students had several 30-minute stations from serious mock interviews to resume preparation. I was there helping with the latter.

LaidOffCamp Phoenix

Susan Baier and several area volunteers organized the biggest and best LaidOffCamp Phoenix the area has seen yet!

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The April 30th event at the Chandler Community Center provided hundreds of area residents with a free day of sessions to help with joblessness, career transitions, and starting a new business.

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Fighting Social Anxiety to Share Experiences

redfaceI hate speaking in front of groups of people. I always have, and I probably always will.

Ever since I was in elementary school and had to get up and speak in front of my class it has been relatively the same experience. I am brave enough to get up there, but then once I see all eyes are focused on me I feel a rush of blood to my head, then my skin pales and begins to fill with red blotches from my face to my chest. Sometimes, I’ll be so nerved up that I begin to break out in itchy hives over the blotches, which I’m sure is a lovely thing to witness.

Then the mind blanks out. Sure, I’ve prepared well thinking this time will be different and I’ll sound like a professional who knows what she’s talking about, but then the stammering starts. Read more

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Storytellers AZ–Off to a Great Start!

storytellingThe very first regular Storytellers AZ meeting kicked off last Tuesday, March 15th at Gangplank with a strong showing of 14 attendees even though quite a few of the original organizing members were off enjoying SXSW.

Rather than having speakers on a particular subject this time, we broke into smaller groups to discuss individual concerns like overcoming grammar issues, maintaining a regular creation schedule, how to get inspired, and more. Group leaders shared their advice from personal experience with these challenges.

Following that exercise, we took more time to discuss some of things we’d like to address in future Storytellers AZ meetings in a full group chat led by co-founder Tyler Hurst.

The greatest strength of this group may be our diversity. So far we have a motley crew including poets, novelists, a rap artist, technical writers, and bloggers on a wide array of subject matter! We also have mix of ability levels of all types from a wide range of backgrounds, so we certainly have much to learn from and share with one another.

The next Storytellers AZ meeting will be held at Gangplank on Tuesday March 29th from 7PM to 9PM, and subsequent meetings are currently slated to be held every two weeks thereafter. All are welcome to attend!

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