I’m very excited to be headed to London in two weeks to experience Virgin Atlantic‘s inaugural flight from London to Seattle! I am also stoked to be able to enjoy London for a few days before the flight. It’s been cough, um, cough, 21 years since I was in London last so I’m guessing a few things have changed.  That’s where you guys come in, I’d love to know what you recommend I do and see during my free time.  Please comment on my two social posts with your suggestions, choose Facebook or Twitter.

As someone who has traveled the world I’m pretty excited to experience Virgin Atlantic’s Upper Class on one of their Dreamliners.  As you can see in the video below the experience from your door to when you land is simply incredible.  It’s pretty safe to say that I’ve never traveled this way before so it’s an experience I can’t wait to have.  Additionally, Virgin is renowned for doing something special on their inaugural flights so I’m pumped to see what they do this time.

Of course I’m not going alone.  I will be sharing the entire trip with fellow Reinmakers, Joanna Hawley, Cassandra LaValle, Carolyn Yuen Marino, Charles Koh and Rebecca (BloggerNotBillionaire), all pictured with me below at the kick-off event in January.  Remember, please share your London tips with me on Facebook and Twitter and Seattleites book your trip to London now!

The Seattle reignmakers flying to London with Virgin Atlantic

*Virgin Atlantic will provide travel and accommodations for my trip to London. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Many of us who enjoy sports are drawn to teams we think reflect us.  That team for me is the Fremantle Dockers.  Affectionally known as Freo, the Fremantle Dockers represent the grit of the hardworking people that live in the Port of Fremantle area.  That same grit can be found in my father who grew up in East Fremantle.  Consequently he instilled in me the value of hard work and not to be afraid of being the underdog… in fact we kind of like it.

I’m a long way from Fremantle these days, living in Seattle, USA and now also a huge fan of the Seattle Seahawks.  The link for me between the Australian Football League (AFL) and the NFL here in the US is Darren Bennett.  One of my earliest memories is of my dad and I watching our local Aussie Rules football team, the East Fremantle Sharks and watching a young Darren Bennett take control of the game with awesome kicking for goal.  That guy went on to play for the San Diego Chargers and was a two time Pro Bowler (1995, 2000), and was honored be being selected in the NFL’s 1990s All-Decade Team and was inducted into the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame.  Not bad for a boy from Freo.

When I watched that game the idea of having a Fremantle team in the AFL hadn’t even crossed my mind.  Nor had the idea that I would one day live on the other side of the world. It has been the grit, determination and a healthy dose of adventure that I’m where I am today, and it’s those qualities that see Freo off to the best start to a season in club history, 8-0.  But what a long roads it’s been for this perennial underdog.  Those of us who jumped on to support the team from day one of the Fremantle Dockers know what I mean.  As do the fans of the Seahawks.  Both teams have struggled badly at times.  But not any longer.

Two years ago when the Seahawks won their first SuperBowl the Dockers reached, but sadly lost their first Grand Final in front of 100,000 people.

It’s in the the trials and tribulations of supporting a team that hasn’t been a successful club that one finds the value when that team turns from being the underdog to being the best.  And what a feeling it is for us fans.  All the disappointment, frustration turns into ecstasy, jubilation and our loyalty is repaid in spades.   But what I love most about the Dockers is not that they are wining now, but that while the talent of the team has wained at times the commitment has not.  That’s the grit.  You can see it in this video that spans the life of the Dockers, from day one.

At 8-0 maybe this is the year for Freo, I certainly hope so, but regardless of whether they win big prize this year I’m in for life. #foreverfreo

If you want to learn more about Australian Rules Football (AFL) and see some highlight videos click here.  

If you haven’t heard of Seattle band Ivan & Alyosha, my guess is you’re about to hear a lot about them.  Their folk-pop, harmony rich, full length debut album titled “All The Times We Had” drops next Tuesday 2/26, and it’s receiving a lot of praise.  I’ve had the album for a couple of months and I love it.  My tip is that they, along with Pickwick, will be the next bands to successfully rise out of Seattle’s very healthy music community and take their places along side recent Seattle success stories like The Head and The Heart, Allen Stone, and Macklemore.

Ivan & Alyosha are about to get big and it couldn’t happen to a nicer crew of guys.  Over the past two years I’ve had the opportunity to get to know them personally, largely due to the fact they’ve headlined two “Gigs4Good” benefits for the nonprofit I founded, Team Up for Nonprofits, and I’ve also helped them out with their social media strategies.  My take away from my time with them is that the term “nice guys” really applies here.  For further proof, they have also streamed multiple live performances to sick kids through the Melodic Caring Project.  I’ve had a great opportunity to witness first hand their growth musically, and as a marketer and former band manager, these guys really get me excited because they have all the ingredients for success!  They’re very talented – their harmonies are sweet (proven by their numerous acoustic performances), they work hard, they’re professional and committed, their shows are fun, and they’re not ugly… like I said, I’m wearing my marketing hat here.

Here’s a few indications that others agree with me…

• ESQUIRE included them in their list of “Top 15 Artists To Watch In 2013
• Starbucks have them as “Pick Of The Week” this week (2/19)
• PASTE Magazine named them in their list “Best of What’s Next”
• NPR featured their upcoming album in their “First Listen” series week of 2/11
• iTunes have them listed in their “Editor’s Choice” section
• Amazon web spot features their track “Easy To Love”
• KEXP hosted them live in studio today (2/20)

And if that’s not enough, publications such as RELIX, PASTE and MTV Buzzworthy have collectively likened their harmony infused music to legends like Fleetwood Mac, Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses and The Head and The Heart.  Big praise for a band putting out it’s first full length next week.  For those in Seattle, you should catch the bands Album Release Show this Saturday night at the Showbox Market, a show made even better by it’s supporting acts, Kris Orlowski (one of my previous Band’s of the Week) and the up and coming Smokey Brights.  Tickets are still available and can be purchased here.  If you’re not in Seattle the boys will be performing across the US and Canada all of March, April and into May.  Click here for show dates near you.

As usual I’ve selected three of my favorite clips to show you… enjoy!

When training for a half marathon you have good training days and you have tough training days.  Last week I pushed through stomach cramps and incredibly sore legs to stumble through 12 miles of hell.  How much a week can change…

Today I thoroughly enjoyed my first half marathon distance training run.  The 13.1 miles (21km’s) along the Wenatchee River in the area of Plain, just out of Leavenworth was anything but plain.  The river looks great, it’s full, flowing fast and deep from the snow melt in the surrounding mountains.  The forrest and fields are full with flowers and to top of the scene hundreds of birds were at play along my route.  Fortunately, unlike last week, I was able to enjoy it all.  I actually went out along the river quite slow but as I got through the run I seemed to get stronger and stronger which was unexpected but very welcome.

For those interested I was helped along by a glass of Accelerade sports drink before I set out, then supported by a Vega Sport Natural Plant-Based Endurance Gel which I downed at mile 7 (this is a new product and I think it’s great stuff).  Once done I had another glass of Accelerate and a glass of low-fat chocolate milk followed by a stretch and a cold bath.

My time of 1:55:30 will definitely not set any records but it is great to get the distance under my belt a few weeks before I run in the Seattle Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon.  I know  there are a lot of folks training for runs this summer so I hope if you are one of them, that you are enjoying your training as much as I did today.

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.

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.

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?

Giving Back

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!

So you have probably read my babble about how much I enjoyed my first Doe Bay Festival this year and if you were one of the lucky ones who also attended you will be right there with me remembering the majesty of the weekend.  If you weren’t at Doe Bay you are probably by now sick and tired of hearing about it.  What everyone who attended agrees on, is that it was very special, and with that in mind there are a group of folks who are trying to make a documentary that will attempt to capture what sets this festival apart.

The trouble is they need more money.  That’s where you come in.  This documentary has the chance to showcase an impressive list of Pacific Northwest talent to a big audience… like the rest of the world!  The type of exposure a good documentary could bring to the bands featured could make a big difference, bands like The Maldives, The Head and the Heart, Champagne Champagne, Ravenna Woods, Lemolo, Cobirds Unite, Damian Jurado, Tony Kevin Jr., Fort Union, John Vanderslice (SF), Campfire OK, Brian John Appleby, Keli Schaefer, Pickwick, Sarah Cahoone, Mash Hall, Don’t Talk to the Cops, Fly Moon Royalty and Ben Fisher.

The producers of “Welcome To Doe Bay” have started a Kickstarter project and they need to raise $8,500 by Dec 10. They currently have $3,493 after my $75 contribution.  Every little bit will count so if you have an interest in helping document Doe Bay because you were there, or you’d like to help a film that is showcasing great local talent, click here and donate what you can…

And because I know you guys like a teaser…