Busy Day
It’s not that I have a ton to do in Nashville this week. It’s more that the people I am with have a ton to do and I am watching them do it. I got to Downtown around 3:00 yesterday and was basically running around and “hanging out” until about 1:00 in the morning. It really is fun to continually be bumping into people that I haven’t seen in a long time and that happened all day yesterday.
I was able to meet two “blog friends”, and talk to them a while even though our conversations seemed to get interrupted every five minutes. First I ran into Hannah and talked with her a bit about her new job prospects here in Music City. She’s on to something good and has a lot to talk about over at her blog. Then a little while later at MercyMe’s sound check I was able to sit down with Dale for a little while. Dale works in radio and I always have a hard time following what those guys do. They seem like they are always busy and always working, but Dale is doing great documenting the week over at his blog so make sure you stop in and say hey to him.
Today I head back up there to catch Phil play a showcase and then hopefully see a little bit of the Third Day / Switchfoot show. Most likely there will be more running around, but I’m having a good time seeing everyone. I will try to get some pictures today. I was lazy yesterday.
On a work related note, MercyMe has a hot new blog layout, so check that out. They are also documenting this week like crazy, so there will more coming from them. Also, Natalie is now on Twitter so make sure to follow her there. She hasn’t updated it yet, but I am going to try to meet up with her today to get her going on that. I am also occasionally updating my Twitter so you can check that out there. I think that’s it for now. Talk to you soon.
Long List
I have had a lot of jobs in the past. I mean a lot. In fact since last night I have been trying to think of them all so I could make a list. I started working when I was about fifteen helping out at different construction sites and from then on it was several unbelievably random jobs. So I thought it would be fun to try to list all the jobs I have had since then. Here goes.
Keep in mind, I have an atrocious memory, and some of these may be out of order.
- Construction site cleaner upper guy (Northern California)
- Dairy Queen (Northern California)
- Paver (As in road paving, asphalt stuff for a Paving company)
- Bookstore Employee (Northern California)
- Graphic Design Intern (Portland, OR)
- JC Penny’s Warehouse Truck Loader (Southern California)
- Movie Prop Warehouse Truck Loader (Southern California)
- Borders Books (Southern California)
- Landscaper (Northern California)
- Natural Foods Warehouse Forklift Driver (Northern California)
- Mailman (Yes For the US Postal Service) (Northern California)
- Paint Store Employee (Northern California)
- 911 Dispatcher (Northern California)
- Assistant Road Manager (Third Day – Tennessee)
- Merchandise Seller (Audio Adrenaline – Tennessee)
- Assistant Road Manager (MercyMe – Tennessee)
- Road Manager (Shaun Groves – Tennessee)
- Road Manager (Phil Wickham – Tennessee)
- Some sort of blogging thing that’s hard to explain.
Okay, your turn. List every job you have had since you started working. Have fun.
“Positive Post Tuesday”
Most of you already know who this guy is, and most of you have probably heard nice things about him already, but this week I chose Bart Millard to talk about for “Positive Post Tuesday”. I think a lot of times guys like this get so much recognition in one aspect of their life, but it’s more of a fan’s praise than it is for them as a real person. This guy is literally one of the nicest guys in the industry.
I have had the opportunity to work with Bart, and the rest of the MercyMe family a couple different times and in different roles, most recently working with them on their blog and online presence. The more I work with these guys the more I realize how “normal” and genuine they are. There is nothing “rockstar” about Bart, that I have ever seen. He is the same to the guys in the band as he is to the fans asking for autographs.
A couple weeks back the guys had a show in Nashville and I got the idea to stream video on to their blog from the show and mentioned it without knowing if the venue even had internet. I had no way to really know how to do any of it until I was at the venue testing it out. I got there early and sat down with Bart to try to figure out how to make it work. He had some great ideas, got the rest of the crew involved and it turned out to work really well. The part that blew me away was the next day, when Bart called on the way to his family vacation just to tell me that he thought it went great, was appreciative, and thought it was a great idea.
I know it probably doesn’t sound like a big deal, but to me that shows Bart’s personality and thought of other people. Sure he’s written (and owns) one of the biggest songs in Christian music history, and has several people working with him and under him as a company. Sure he’s on vacation with his family after a tour that lasted three months, but he wanted to call and encourage me in something that I took a chance on. To me Bart is a legit lover of God and people and it’s evident in the way he lives his life. In an industry where competition for attention and status runs about as high as it can, it’s nice to have someone at the top continue to be such a nice guy. To me that’s refreshing.
So now it’s your turn. Remember how to do this? Write a post building someone up. Something positive about them. Then come back here and fill out this box below. Ready? Go.
Weekend Recap
Happy St. Patrick’s Day.
I’m not sure really what that means, but I know that today while I am home with the boys I will make sure to wear something green or pinch them if they aren’t wearing something green.
I didn’t post anything yesterday because I was running around like crazy from about six in the morning until midnight. Starting with playing guitar at church for two services and then meeting up with MercyMe and others at Winter Jam.
For those of you that missed it, Blue and I went up to the arena early and set up a way for MercyMe’s set to be streaming live on their blog. We started setting it up one way and them MercyMe’s amazing crew helped me figure out a way better way to do it. In the end we had streaming video from a professional camera and the audio going into it was directly from the sound board. Not bad for not even knowing if the place had internet earlier in the day. For those of you that watched it, I hope you liked it. Hopefully we can do that more in the future.
Nashville shows are fun if you aren’t working because everyone that’s in town comes out and it’s a big get-together. And even though I was “working” I was able to spend time with a bunch of my friends. I was able to hang out with this guy for a while after the show. Very cool guy and amazing photographer. He was there to take pictures at the show, so it will be cool to see those. I was also able to catch up with this guy and talk about how we never hang out. This guy was there hanging out, and so was this guy. Like I said… a big get-together.
Anyway… it was a late night and the boys are waking up. Enjoy St. Patrick’s Day.
Winter Jam Tour Photo (It’s dark, I know)
Blue Playing Guitar Hero with Mike.
