Onsite on perfect summer days. . .

I love perfect summer days, I mean, who doesn't? Ballroom life sometimes makes you forget that there is a whole world outside waiting for you when you finish your show to rejoin it.

I'm at Navy Pier this few days working with Absolute Productions on the Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Chicago- and I have to say, there is no shortage of WINDOWS here at the Pier. Chicago is known for it's unpredictable weather, but the weather Gods have smiled on us bringing us a perfect weekend right on the water. So, you get- sunshine, water, Chicago skyline, music, boat racing, and people. In the middle of all of that, I get to go to work with and join a group of techs all here for the same reason I am. We laugh, joke, talk Chicago talk and I get a reminder of where I come from, where I live and how proud I am of our city.

It's already been quite the year!

2016 started with a big BANG! Dreams have come true. As a business owner/freelancer you can sometimes feel isolated- you're on the go, on your own, connecting and working on getting your next projects and creating life-long clients, you're moving and shaking. What you can overlook, or get hit by on a quiet night in your hotel room, is that this world you've created can sometimes be lonely.

How do you change that? How do you maintain your community of friends nearby for those nights? Where is your emotional and personal support system? 1. Well, you start by looking forward to the new community you will walk into on the project you're working on- new people, new relationships, new stories, new possibilities for the future. 2. You hope that you may know one or two of the people you are about to work with, giving you a rush of anticipation. 3. Home is always on speed dial.

On occasion the stars align and you are fortunate enough to work with one or more people from your past. You know who they are and they knew you. You could've known each other in a different capacity, and now you have all evolved to this time and place, this project/job that has brought you back together again. BAM! There it is. Comfort, joy and a little less anxiety about how you will fit into your new social/work community. You now KNOW people. Someone has your back. No matter what, you're not on your own.

The beauty in this convergence is that those people you trust, those people who know you, introduce you to people they know and trust on the project. MAGIC! New friends. You now are a group at the lunch table. You are making the effort to go out for dinner and socialize rather than do your usual room service and web surfing with the occasional movie rental evening. You have drinks. You make plans about gatherings outside of the work world. You become facebook friends and you text each other as a group when you have fun "inside joke" moments when on the road on another project. Hermiting is not allowed when you have this magical time. It's rare, precious, humbling, exciting and rejuvenating. These moments refresh your soul and give you new sense of purpose. Share, collaborate, fuel, catch up, laugh to tears and go forth and conquer.

I've already had quite the year with this social convergence, a rare celestial event. I am looking forward to the possibility of more- not just because of how I feel while we are together, but because of how great I feel after we've been together!

Go to www.standbyandgoprods.com to see our projects!

On the move

You wait and then suddenly BAM. . . there they are! Clients everywhere!

I am so grateful for the global community that creates the world which employs me and my services; as a matter of fact, the world that employs people like me and our services (who we are, what we do). Without this community, this infrastructure, we would float in the ocean constantly looking for land.

Gratitude.