Crashing the blogging couch: SMBMSP Guest Posts

It's blurry because your eyes can't even handle it.It was one of my biggest dreams this year to get Erika Napoletano up to Minneapolis so I could meet her in person. I didn't know how I was going to do it, or even if I could do it. I just knew that I really, really wanted to. And I knew that if I could make it happen, it could be a radically awesome happening for others, too.

I get a little fan-girl about Erika and RedheadWriting, but I'm totally okay with it, because her and it is some seriously cool shit. It's a little terrifying, to write an email to someone you admire and know that you can only hope and pray that it doesn't come off like the dumbest, most loserly online dating message you've ever gotten ("Uhhh...so I think ur kewl! We should hang. Tell me when u wanna come over here.").

But sooner or later, you gotta suck it up and wrangle that fucking dream. So I emailed Erika to ask if she had any dates planned to hit up Minneapolis to promote her book, and if not, would she want to come up if we could set something up for her? And then I took another chance and email the first person who came to mind who might want to help plan it with me - Mykl Roventine.

I didn't really know Mykl very well when I approached him about helping me with bringing Erika up here. I knew of him through Social Media Breakfast Minneapolis, of course, and had met him briefly at an event there and then again at an annual Lost Saturday happy hour with mutual friends. But once you take one brave step, it psyches you up to take another (possibly because chemicals from the adrenaline are rushing into your brain, making you slightly crazeballs). So I emailed to ask him if he knew of Erika and what would he maybe think about having her up to do a SMBMSP event, maybe?

And thus began one of the funnest partnerships of my life.

And while the whole thing started out with totally selfish motives on my part (I just wanted to meet Erika in person. Fuck the rest of you guys) there was something distinctly radical about being able to share her kick-assery with others. SMBMSP is pretty much the collective of cool when it comes to professionals in the Twin Cities, and Mykl and I knew that once the crew got a glimpse of who Erika was and what she was about, they would be all in, and better for it.

So consider this my personal wrap-up post. The event happened, and it was extraordinary. I was so proud to be a part of it, and I had so much fun working with Mykl and getting to know him better through this experience (we're totes friends now. Sorry if you're super jel). And I not only got to meet Erika in person, but I got to hang out with her and introduce her and her particular brand of bold to some of my favorite people.

And I'm still kind of beaming about it.

So I thought I'd also share a few of the guest posts I did for the SMBMSP After Hours event to both promote and wrap up the night. Because I had a ton of fun writing them, and so you might have a little bit of fun reading them.

But if you don't, I don't wanna hear about it. I'm not your cruise director. I can only give you what I can give you.

SMBMSP After Hours: The Nighttime Is The Right Time.

SMBMSP After Hours: The Buzz

Event Recap: After Hours with Erika Napoletano

Want even more of the SMBMSP After Hours awesomeness? 

Check out a podcast with Erika here (Mykl was rad enough to give me a shout-out, which means that I am now Podcast Famous. I'm adding it to my bio: "Podcast Famous Amber L. Carter is a writer, entrepreneur, speaker, and champion of both pizza parties AND podcasts.)

Catch up on the event photos and video of Erika's talk here. [image error]