Once upon a time, not so long ago, I was talking with my supervisor/mentor/superwoman, Jerri and I said to her, “It’s like I’m energized by my own life.” She told me I should blog that. I think there’s an unfinished draft in there … somewhere.

There are SO! MANY! amazing things going on in my life. House shopping! Mentoring! Ad2 Reno reorganizing! Writing! Bike rides! Live tweeting the raddest blogger event! Hanging out with my superawesome family! Not to mention all of the growing, learning and amazing work* I do at my job.

But at some point, the law of diminishing returns comes into play and the energy I put in to the awesome starts taking away from the energy that comes out. And that = tired Becca.

So um, that’s it I guess. Because, right now I can’t and/or really don’t want to put any of it down. So tell me, friends. How do you balance it all? How do you make room for everything in your live that’s important to you?

* Amazing, as in the work is awesome and fun. NOT amazing, as in I produce amazing work. I mean I do – but that’s not what I mean here. Just, shhhhh.

this is not a recap

I thought about writing a recap of the summit, but I’m not going to for a few reasons. First, if you were there, and want to see the presentations, or the session you missed, you know how to get them.

What I really want to get across here is how freaking amazing this community is. Seriously. It’s kind of ridiculous. I mean, Reno was a pretty awesome place to be, with a pretty awesome community, before all this social media stuff happened. But every time I attend events like nim10, Ignite Reno and Reno-Tahoe Wordcamp, I am overwhelmed by our connectedness. Many of us working toward the same thing, many of us working toward different goals; but everyone supports each other in the path to get there. AND THE LEARNING! I loved school, but I don’t ever remember being as passionate as I have been about learning something new. And it’s echoed throughout this community. It’s inspiring.

So, Community? Lets do this often. TweetUpRNO and Ignite, I’m looking at you. And I want in.

okay, i lied, so here is a short recap:

a few of my takeaways:

• Erin Kotecki Vest [@QueenofSpain] was the inspiring keynote speaker, and I enjoyed her interaction with the workshop’s attendees. [Plus, she loves Nevada, so she's automatically rad.]
• I’m grateful for my education from the Reynolds School of Journalism at UNR.
• Truth = more important than damage done in libel cases. And nobody likes a liar.
• Community news is important in a place like Reno.
• My friend Annie is HILAR. And full of smarts. But seriously hilar. We’ve been BFFs for seven years and I’ve never seen her be so consistently funny as she was during her presentation.
• Marketing content does not necessarily = content marketing, and the social tool doesn’t matter nearly as much as what you put on it.
• Some people are much more likeable in person than they are on twitter. This is a compliment. I think.
• Sometimes, you just need to walk. it. off.

i work in integrated marketing.

Sure, I’m an advertiser and a PR person. I’m also a writer and a communicator. I’m a blogger and a social media [aficionado/enthusiast/evangelist/insert your favorite descriptor here].

But not one of these words or descriptions can describe my job alone. And I believe with my whole self that this is what makes marketing such a beautiful industry. There is most certainly an art to creating a marketing plan that uses each tool to its best advantage, in exactly the right place and time, woven together in a way that is unique to that product or service.

I graduated from the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno in 2007, and throughout my education, the importance of being a well-balanced marketer was reiterated consistently. I concluded my education with an Integrated Marketing Communications course, where we competed with other schools.  So, needless to say, keeping marketing skills and tactics integrated? It’s kind of important to me.

I mean, of course there’s the whole “in this day and age” argument, with regards to being adaptable and skilled in multiple disciplines. But it’s my personal belief that if we keep our agencies and professionals divided we’re completely closing ourselves off to such great potential. I’m not saying that everyone should know how to write and effectively distribute a press release, design a successful ad, write an ear-catching radio ad, draft copy for a Web site, be able to execute social media efforts on behalf of a client, do extensive market research, etc. etc. But to be able to understand all of the many facets of this industry we call marketing is the best thing you can do for yourself. And for your company. And its clients.

I struggle to find good reasons why agencies can still exist with a “PR department” and a “creative department.” Don’t you guys think if the discussions happen with everyone present, the press releases and media relations with be more consistent with the ads and overall branding?

And frankly? I think I’d be bored. I love the fact that I get to learn about everything at once. And everyone is my mentor. And we collaborate like you wouldn’t believe.

I just hope that one day soon, the rest of the industry can fully adopt the awesomeness that is integrated marketing.

I’d like to thank my supervisor and mentor, Jerri Conrad, for the many discussions we’ve had over the past few years that sparked this post.

* I smell another post brewing …

in case you need a reminder [the disclaimer]:

The opinions on this blog are mine and mine alone.  They in no way reflect the opinions of my employer or its clients. [however in the case of this post my opinions may have been definitely were affected by such a positive, encouraging work environment]

Great, I thought, at least I can catch up on blogging and homework for my Web class.

yeah. right.

It was weird, how being so sick not only sucked all my physical energy out, but I couldn’t even think hard enough to write a substantial post. And forget about learning CSS with my Web class.

It’s interesting how our bodies have a way of telling us when to chill the hell out. And last weekend? Mine had to remove my mental capacity to force me into getting some real rest. We don’t typically think about the amount of energy it takes to operate our brains, particularly when it comes to things like learning and writing. It’s like my body resorted to what it knows best: instincts. It’s like it said “if this bitch isn’t going to cool it, let’s just stop making her brain work.”

So, I’m glad to say that I’m healthy and fully functional again. I’m sorry, Body, next time I’ll listen better.

My whole life, I’ve been a procrastinator. I’ve been a down-to-the-wire, “I-swear-I-work-best-under-pressure,” wait-til-the-last-minute person. I studied journalism and work in a world full of short deadlines.

I’m starting to realize though, that I don’t have to be a procrastinator all the time. I always thought that procrastination was one of those things that you either do or you don’t. There are people who do everything ahead of time and leave buffers, and there are people that wait until the last possible hour to even start that paper.

I spent the weekend getting ahead in two important areas of my life: this blog, and the Web class I’m taking for work. These are two things that I don’t generally have time for on the Monday-Friday, but I need them in my life, and they’re not things I can put off.

So, while I may work well under pressure and on a deadline [hey, I still need to for my job], I can also be someone who plans ahead, does next week’s homework this week and writes/schedules future blog posts.

i could never use a planner

This week, I also learned about prioritization. Remember in school, how they always supplied you with those daily planners that had your school’s mascot on the cover, and the first five minutes of every class period was spent writing down that day’s homework? I was terrible at those. I always wrote it down, because I had to. But I never looked at it again until I had to write in it at the beginning of the class. I always just kept things in my head. And when I couldn’t? My hand was a better place for assignments than a planner [oh shuttup, I know you did it too].

But since school, that doesn’t work for me anymore. Maybe it’s my memory failing me in my old age [hah]. But really, there are just too many things to do. Sometimes, far more I can even think about doing in one day. Last week, I came to a point where a to-do list wasn’t enough. Because I could look at this list [which spanned more than one page], and feel my heart start to beat out of my chest with nerves.

so, i prioritized

I organized my list by client or project and then color-coded them by priority. Red has to get done today, yellow needs to be done this week and green is for next week. Call it OCD, but it helps me on those days where I have so much to do and ZERO ability to determine what should get done first.

Different things work for different people, and I’ve had to adapt my own personal habits to fit my workload. It’s definitely been an adjustment, but my sanity is appreciating the change.

what works for you?

Do you keep it all in your head? Do you write everything down? Does list-making and using a calendar help you?

photo credit: weheartit

I wrote about how easy it is to change when it’s something you want, and what the heck should I do when some unexpected change happens that throws my whole life out of whack and I want to crawl in a hole?

Then I had a meeting at work about my new role at work and then my brain started to swell, and then I got all twitchy, and then I couldn’t find my breath. I mean, I only sort of wanted to crawl in a hole, but just thinking about what it means to pitch to national media, being THE go-to person for something, how to keep track of every detail … it took my breath away.

even good change is terribly scary and hard

But it’s growth. And that’s what I’m after, right?

so. bring. it. on.

So, there are a lot of really exciting things happening in my life right now. I recently moved from one office to another office in our building. Both spaces were/are shared with a co-worker, but the difference is my new office has a door. I am beyond excited about my new door. But what I’m really excited about is the new level of responsibility.

Freed up from some administrative duties, I’ll be doing a lot more client work, which will include media relations for one of our biggest clients. I am SO completely terrified, but so excited. My company believes in me. They are invested in my future and my own development as a person and as a professional.

so, what about when it isn’t a change you want?

Change is great and exciting, but all of the good changes in my life [scary, but still good] got me thinking about how I’ll deal with the really scary, not so exciting, unplanned changes. Nothing like that is happening in my life right now, thank goodness, but who is to say that things couldn’t take a downturn tomorrow? [totally not where I planned on this post going] it’s important to remember the good in our lives and be grateful, because you never know what big, life-altering events can come up.

the real point

What I really wanted to say though, is that it’s how we deal with these things that counts. A blogger I admire got laid off last week. That is definitely not a change of the “more responsibilities,” getting a door,” “moving up in the company” type. Change like that makes us mad. It strips us of the comfort we thought we had. But his ability to see opportunity in such a potentially devastating change is what’s really impressive.

So, while I’m certainly embracing and appreciating the awesome changes happening in my life, I’m not going to forget how to deal with the potentially bad, scary and unplanned changes that I could be facing any day.

what about you?

How do you approach the scary and unexpected? Leave it in the comments, because I’d really like to be armed with some tools!

Think I am going to leave early so we can go on a really good bike ride.  Don’t wanna be inside!  On the up side, being alone makes me uber-productive.  I’m almost done with everything I wanted to do today.  However, the downside of that is I have pretty much run out of things to do!

Connie just got back with her kiddo, Ethan, so we have been all working together in my office.  At least it’s not so lonely.

Working hard

But they are leaving now for Batch Cupcakes (sad face), so it’ll be just me again soon.

Had to snap a few more pictures before they left:

Cheese!

Jealous of the 3D shades

Annnnd … I am officially alone.  Had a nice boyfriendly visit today though.  That was a nice surprise.

This is super sad.  I really, really hate being alone.  Maybe it’s because I am home alone so often, but I really do not appreciate my alone time as I should.  I don’t have kids, or many responsibilities for that matter, so I really just haven’t come to appreciate being alone.  I am sure in a few years or so, I’ll really love my me time, but for now, I want to be surrounded.  Maybe it’s a need to feel loved?  Maybe it’s because I was NEVER alone as a kid and as a result never fostered that imagination gene, but I really don’t think I am very good company.

Damn me for working so efficiently today.  Must go and find something tedious to do for the next hour or so.  First, some (several hours old) coffee to get my brain going again.

That's right, my mug says 'fabulous.'

And, since this has been such a random series of ramblings, I will leave you with a picture of my adorable niece, Emma.

Wiklers have good genes