Baltimore Groups, Meetups, and Committees--oh my!

One of the best parts of working in a creative field is meeting other creative people! They are usually excited to share ideas and provide valuable feedback. If you're a full-time freelancer, there is no point in developing cabin fever--join a group, attend some Meetups, events, conferences, or even join a committee! The best part is that you don't have to travel far to find good company. Even if the event is a bust, you may end up chatting with a potential collaborator or client over a stinky cheese platter.

Here are a couple groups and activities that I have signed-up for recently. I am excited to meet creative professionals and maybe even make a couple friends!

Refresh Baltimore
Description: "We are a community of web-developers and designers who meet once a month to share ideas related to our industry. Our goal is to educate each other with new ideas so that we can help refresh the city of Baltimore, Maryland." http://www.refreshbmore.org/

Innovate Baltimore
"...a social community for creative technology leaders, entrepreneurs, professionals, and enthusiasts in the Baltimore region."
http://innovatebaltimore.com/

Ignite Baltimore
"At every Ignite, 16 artists, technologists, thinkers, and personalities take the stage to answer this challenge. Our goal is to spark new conversations and collaborations across cultures and disciplines. The Baltimore City Paper named us "Best Nerd's Night Out" in their 2009 Best of Baltimore awards!"
http://ignitebaltimore.com/

Wordpress Group
"The Baltimore WordPress meetup gets together every third Monday and talks about a wide range of topics related to WordPress"
http://baltimoretech.net/meetups/baltimore-wordpress/

Create Baltimore
"CreateBaltimore is a participant-created conference for artists, cultural workers, entrepreneurs, and technologists interested in building a creative community in Baltimore."
http://createbaltimore.eventbrite.com/

Baltimore Tech
Baltimore Tech Hub/Directory--Meet the faces of the tech community! I hope to one day add my humble mug to this list of amazing professionals.
http://baltimoretech.net/

Contemporary Museum Winter Party Planning Committee
My good friend roped me into this, but I'm actually really excited to help plan and execute this annual event! I can't reveal any of our plans (yet), but it's going to be a blast and a much needed break from this cold, dark time of year.
http://www.contemporary.org/index.html

Strictly Business 3 Conference, Philadelphia, PA
ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers)
A huge photography conference that talks business to a range of professionals--from beginners to experts. Looking to network and meeting photographers that may be interested in a virtual assistant! I also will get to visit and reconnect with a friend from back home, so it's a two-for-one deal.
http://asmp.org/content/strictly-business-3

Baltimore Print Studios Adventure!

Yesterday I attended the Holiday Card Mini-DIY-Magnetic-Poetry Workshop at the NEW Baltimore Print Studios. I enjoyed it so much, I smiled and danced throughout the whole two-hours we were there. I knew Kyle Van Horn, bearded-man pictured below, from the MICA printmaking studio--he's a very helpful and knowledgable instructor! In this workshop we used a letterpress machine to create kick-ass holiday cards. Will I send them out? Who knows! I am just excited to have them. Here are some highlights from the day:

Kyle explaining the printing process we used.

Easy payment with the square! https://squareup.com/

Using the Vandercook Press!

Hurray!

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Neat Lens Options: 4-in-1 German Lens Kit

The holidays always tempt me to purchase goodies for myself. This is a super indulgent item that I am itching to purchase; a 4-in-1 German Lens Kit that provides four different effects that you would normally get with more traditional photography processes such as pinhole, plastic, glass, and zone plate. Above is an example of the plastic lens module.
 Check out the Subjektiv 4-in-1 Lens Kit at the Photojojo Store!