Just under a month ago I announced that I had stepped down as President of Team Up for Nonprofits to create space in my life to enjoy my family and focus on new opportunities. I’m very excited then to share with you that I’ve accepted the role of Senior Account Supervisor at Spring Creek Group , a rapidly growing Social Media Brand Analytics, Strategy, and Marketing Services Agency located here in Seattle.
By being a part of the team at Spring Creek Group I’ll get some fantastic personal growth opportunities, not only will I be working internally with one of the best social media teams anywhere, I’ll get exposure to internationally recognizable brands and their great teams as well. The fact is Spring Creek is the real deal, it specializes in Social Media analysis, channel strategy, marketing campaign implementation, community development plus engagement and management. They have extensive experience with direct community engagement and hands-on management of brand accounts on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, YouTube, blogs, forums, and other top social media sites and services.
Having focused so heavily on Team Up over recent years I’m looking forward to bringing my focus back to the business environment while maintaining my involvement with Team Up through the Founder role and by my continued involvement as a Board Member. I will be scaling back my company, Fremantle Management, to focus on a few passion projects that I can enjoy in my own time, largely working with some of my very talented friends in the music and cause marketing spaces.
A big thank you to the many people who have supported me through the past month or so, I’ve been overwhelmed by your generosity and hope that you’ll continue to follow my adventures at Spring Creek Group, Team Up and beyond right here on this blog.
I’ve been looking forward to bringing back my Band of the Week column because I’ve been looking forward to sharing with you the music of Noah Gundersen. In fact I’d say his EP titled Family, released in August 2011, has been my favorite album of the winter.
Noah and I have met and briefly chatted a couple of times but I’m yet to have the opportunity to really get a sense of what makes him tick. But I am looking forward to that opportunity as it’s evident that there is a lot to this quietly spoken and prodigiously talented musician. Hailing from a musical family (his sister Abby Gundersen, plays violin and sings vocal harmonies on the EP) it seems music is in their blood. On his website Noah says about his EP, “Family comes in many forms. It lives with us, for better and for worse. It shapes us. Thats what this album is about.”
I don’t know about you but the theme of family and it’s ensuing ups and downs is entirely relatable so I connect with this EP, it’s a haunting reminder of what’s real. It succeeds by blending light with dark while delivering depth and gravity that keeps on drawing me back.
The folks at FX’s hit series Sons of Anarchy agree, as they selected two songs off “Family”, the title track and “David”, to appear on Season 4 of the series. With this exposure and some national tours with larger artists Noah is building a national following that seems to outweigh that of his hometown Seattle. I think this should, and will change as Seattle realizes this talent amongst them.
I’ve posted a few of Noah’s clips below as tasters. Noah’s EP, Family is available here and his tour dates are available here. Enjoy!
So I may have stepped down as President (see my previous post), but I’m not going to slow down in terms of promoting and supporting the nonprofit I founded. Next Thursday night (4/12) we have a line-up playing at Team Up‘s Gigs4Good benefit for Seattle Works that I’m really excited about. In light of that I thought I’d share some videos with you to inspire you to come and see these great bands and support two of my favorite Seattle nonprofits.
Enjoy the music below and then make sure you buy tickets to the show and join me at The Hard Rock Seattle to have a great night seeing live music for a cause. But don’t dilly dally, this is one of our fastest selling Gigs4Good benefits ever and we sold our last show out so buy your tickets here to not miss out!
First up will be my friend Kevin Long who’s one of those people who you could listen to all day long.
Second is Yuni In Taxco, a band who will be great fun to see live, they give it all and aren’t afraid to experiment.
Headlining are the very talented lads from Ivan & Alyosha, these guys have been doing really well lately, something Brandi Carlile agrees with as sh’es played a bunch of times with them. Team Up have been after these guys for a while and I’m really excited about having them play for you guys, I think you’ll really like them.
Over the past two and a half years almost every day I’ve gone to bed and woken up thinking about Team Up for Nonprofits, the 501(c) organization I founded. As you might guess it takes a lot of time and energy to launch and grow a nonprofit organization, energy a founder gladly gives for his or her (metaphorical) baby. But every founder also knows that at some point the organization they created will grow beyond their capacity to manage all of its aspects.
For Team Up for Nonprofits that time is now and I believe the ingredients for a successful transition are all present; a great Board of Directors that includes a wonderful leadership team, a successful platform of achievement to continue to grow from, a loyal network of supporters of the cause, and strong external relationships with people important to the growth of the organization. Given those key factors, last night I resigned as President of Team Up to focus on my duties as Founder of the organization. This decision will strengthen Team Up, allowing me a sustained involvement with the organization and the ability to better manage my time and energy between it and my real priority in life, my family. As Founder I’ll still sit on the Board of Director’s, I’ll be more relationship-focussed and represent the organization at events and speaking engagements. I will no longer be responsible for the daily goings on of the BoD’s or the Gigs4Good program.
The reality is Team Up has grown beyond the point where all roads can successfully run through one person. By dividing the roles I’ve been juggling and by adding an additional person to the leadership team the organization will be strengthened. Make no mistake that it’s hard for every founder to give up “control” and it’s been no different for me, but I also want what’s best for Team Up and of course my family. It’s actually become a pretty easy decision the more I’ve analyzed it. For those on “the outside” it’s important for me to point out again (as I’ve done at events when speaking) that Team Up was never a one man band, we have an extremely impressive group of very talented and motivated young professionals who I’m looking forward to working alongside as we move forward.
So what comes next? Team Up will be posting the President’s position on our blog in the coming days and for those who are interested in joining our team we will be asking for nominations. In the meantime I hope you’ll all support our Gigs4Good benefit on April 12th at the Hard Rock Cafe Seattle benefitting our friends at Seattle Works. Tickets are selling fast and given our last event sold out I’d recommend grabbing your tickets now by clicking here so that you don’t miss out.
I’d like to thank everyone who has volunteered in some capacity through my tenure as President, I’m proud of what we have done together and can’t wait to be a part of Team Up’s continued growth as Founder. . .
Lastly, to my wonderful wife, thank you for your patience, love and support… I love you!
Some of the 2012 Team Up Board
Some of the 2011 Team Up Board
Some of the 2010 Team Up Board
Please note that since writing this piece Lemolo sold out their 6/29 CD Release Party (in 11 hours) and have added a new show on 6/30. The ticket link below is still valid but tickets to this second show will not go on sale until 10am Monday April 9th.
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Finally some details about one of Seattle’s most anticipated debut albums emerged today. On their blog, local band Lemolo announced that the record release party for “The Kaleidoscope” will be at The Columbia City Theater on Friday June 29th. Tickets for this sure-to-sell-out release party go on sale this Thursday April 5th at 10am and can be purchased by clicking here. My tip is to get in very early or risk missing out on what will be a memorable night.
Back in September last year I featured Lemolo as my very first Band of the Week after seeing them perform their much talked about set at the thoroughly enjoyable Doe Bay Festival. In the past six months the two ladies have also played The Dave Matthews Caravan at The Gorge, Bumbershoot, City Arts Festival & most recently at The Treefort Music Festival in Boise Idaho, and all of this after supporting The Head and The Heart on tour. Make no mistake, this band is on the up and up.
If you’ve never heard or seen Lemolo before, here’s a taste… (and don’t forget to buy tickets to their show, I guarantee you won’t regret it!)
Today, one year ago, my wonderful wife and I welcomed our little bundle of energetic joy, otherwise known as my little human, or more commonly known as Jemma Grace Hodgson! I’m going to sound like every other parent here and say that I can’t believe it’s been a year already and I’m happy to say that we’ve been completely blessed with one of the most beautiful, happy, fun and giving children I’ve ever met. Now of course I would say that, I’m her dad!
But truthfully I’m just grateful to be fortunate enough to experience parenthood. It enriches your soul and proves you have capacity in amounts and ways you never dreamed you had, including most importantly a type of love that has no boundaries, a love that redefines life in many ways.
Below is a little video we put together to celebrate, hope you enjoy. Happy 1st Birthday Jemma-bug, you mean the world to us…
One of the benefits of owning your own marketing business is the opportunity for you to choose work in areas that really motivate and inspire you. For the past three months I’ve been fortunate enough to work on one such a project.
Let me introduce you to a business called Metamorphic Gear.
Metamorphic Gear is one of a small number of companies who actually get that this planet cannot and will not survive the impact of the enormous amount of products made from plastics and other materials that are not biodegradable. At some point we need to register that we just can’t keep creating more landfill. This is a very complex issue that drives deep into how we currently live as a community so it’s easy to just throw our hands in the air and walk (or run) away from it. Not Lindsay Lawrence, founder of Metamorphic Gear! His answer may be small but I think he’s on-board a ship that is not only about to sail, but NEEDS to sail. That ship is called Upcycling.
Through his company, Lindsay is taking unwanted sail cloth and truck tarpaulin destined for landfill and making mens laptop bags that are much cooler than the black laptop bag most of us have that will probably last a million years. So the idea… take existing materials and make something new out of them = upcycling. At least 75% of every Metamorphic Gear bag is made from upcycled materials. The catch is that you as the consumer have to care about our world enough to pay more for this upcycled product (designed and assembled here in the US). Now I know conceptually this makes sense, the question is are you going to get on the upcycling ship and buy one of these bags?
In case the concept of reducing landfill hasn’t gotten you excited about this product, Metamorphic Gear is donating 5% of all sales to highlight another problem the world is facing due to plastics. Imagine if you will, a couple of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean without human inhabitants. Then imagine that 1.5 million Laysan Albatross live on these islands… sounds like a great place for a national geographic film right? Well now get your head around the fact that nearly all of these 1.5 Albatross are found to have plastic in their digestive systems and that approximately one-third of the chicks die each year from issues caused by plastic consumption. I hope you’re sitting there wondering how that stat can be true, I know I was when I first read about it. Lindsay and the team at Metamorphic Gear are going to help bring awareness to this issue and the basic truth here is you can help them to do this by buying a bag. Click here to learn more about this situation.
Metamorphic Gear could not offer me more reasons to be motivated as a marketer… a great product helping the world by not creating new materials, a great man with a heart of gold at the helm, and it’s a corporate citizen with great values putting its money where its mouth is. Please keep an eye out for their next range of products which include a computer and ipod sleeve as well as a tote bag further down the line. You can buy yourself or a friend one of Metamorphic Gear’s upcycled bags here.
If you’d like to get connected with Metamorphic Gear please follow them on Twitter & Facebook. If you’re wondering what I do for the business I manage their marketing. I designed/wrote the website and the giving back strategy with Lindsay, manage the companies social media and provide overall business strategy support. I hope you like what we’ve done!
Someone very special is performing in Seattle this week, some of you may have heard of her, many probably have not. The fact that most of you haven’t heard of the name Andrea Gibson is a sign to me that our society shies away from truths that hurt or realities we’re not proud of. In my mind Gibson is an unsung hero, a leader who has the ability to greatly impact her audiences by the sheer clarity of her words. She is most known as a spoken word poet. Her words cut through the air and deliver a punch that no modern warfare could match. Gibson should be the poster child for people who say we should use words instead of weapons. Her words are weapons!
For those who haven’t seen her perform via YouTube or live at her events, Gibson was the first winner of the Women’s World Poetry Slam, has performed across the country and been featured on countless TV shows. She tackles the big subjects head-on without flinching. War, class, gender, bullying, white privilege, sexuality, love, and spirituality are all covered.
Gibson is by definition an award-winning poet and activist. In reality she has become a voice for non-heterosexual people and for many who have become disillusioned with modern day politics. For me I’m inspired by her conviction. It is tangible! She truly lives her beliefs in a way very few do. One of her poems that has most affected me dealt with two women loving each other without being ‘allowed’ to get married. There are many challenges facing people these days, not being able to marry the person you love has got to be one of the most unnecessary ones. It is truly heartbreaking to me and it doesn’t affect me directly at all. I can’t imagine how it feels.
Perhaps Gibson will give us some insight when she performs at the Fremont Abbey this Friday night as part of a benefit for Bent (a great organization). Tickets are only $12 or $10 for students if you get in early and purchase your tickets here or they are $15 at the door. Don’t miss an opportunity to see one of the great American poets!
“Andrea Gibson’s work is at once deeply haunting and profoundly inspiring. Her words cut so sharply and completely they cannot be shaken. To call her one of the best poets is a gross understatement. She is a rare artist who forever changes those who experience her poems.” — Carlos Andrés Gómez, author/actor
For those who follow me on Twitter or Facebook or read this blog you may already know that I’m a big fan of a guy called Kris Orlowski. I am definitely not alone as he has a growing legion of fans that stretch across the country. Tomorrow night, Wednesday, November 23rd, Kris will play the Tractor Tavern to launch his third (and best) release, a four track EP titled Warsaw released today.
I’ve known Kris for about a year and a half, he was first brought to my attention as a possible candidate to open for one of Team Up‘s Gigs4Good benefits. After seeing him play and meeting him it was pretty evident that Kris was embarking on a journey and not just playing gig to gig. Months later Kris headlined the most successful Team Up benefit to date, selling out The Triple Door in support of Climate Solutions. In my mind, his performance that night was a turning point in his career, he simply nailed it. His cover of Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic” performed in the middle of the crowd captured hearts. Fortunately it was also captured on video for us to all enjoy again and again, it is posted below.
Since then, Kris has gone from strength to strength, from playing Bumbershoot to finding the right guys to play in his band, everything he does sees his journey progressing in the right direction. Being a friend of his I see how hard he works, and it has inspired me to help out where I can, but the truth is I’m a fan, pure and simple. Warsaw is beautiful, it is definitely Kris’s best songwriting and a big step forward for guy who is truly going places. Get on board folks, buy Warsaw here for just $5 and grab $8 tickets to Wednesday nights show here. You won’t be disappointed.
FYI Kris will be joined at his CD Release show by the Smokey Brights and the very talented Hot Bodies In Motion. I hope to see you there!
Hi I'm Ryan, aka Ryan-in-the-us.
I'm an Aussie based in Seattle and proud dad, world traveler, philanthropist, music lover and ponderer. By day (and some nights) I'm the VP of Integrated Marketing at Yesler B2B Marketing and an experienced Social Media Coach. Please say hi on the social channels below.
