Hot diggity! Being the social beast that I am, I have been asked to help set up a new festival in Atlanta. Going along with my “Think Small and Go Big” theme that I wrote about on Chia Town I don’t expect this to start out as a Coachella or Bonnaroo type event. However, I will say that it’s gonna rock.

So what is this all about? Jake’s Ice Cream is celebrating their 10 year anniversary this year and plan on having a bit to-do about it all. Why have some cheesy little “yay, we’re ten. Here’s a coupon” thing? Oh no…this can be so much bigger, and it will be! Since being tasked with being an event planner with my trusty partner in crime Heidi my phone has been going nuts sending texts, emails and making calls. Less than a day after our initial “hey, let’s do this” meeting we’ve already talked to five bands, a radio station, started working on some video ideas, working on getting the beer distributors there (nothing says summer like ice cream and beer!), a few vendors…oh yes…this is gonna be big.

I’ve never used the term “event planner” in my discussions with people when they ask what I do, yet I’ve come to realize that I’ve been planning events in one fashion or another for the past 15 or so years. Whoah! I must admit that I do enjoy doing it…the planning, the prepping, the promoting.

I shall keep you all informed as more details solidify. As of now we’re talking about the weekend of June 13th here in Atlanta. If you’d like to have a nice neighborhood summer festival, this will be one that you should keep tabs on.

Ta ta from one social beast to another!

So there I was this morning sending out a “Happy Friday!” to some of my friends. One of them happens to be an old coworker at a company I had left back in December and he ended up switching to the department I was in. It was my quick note to him that reminded me of one of the worst positions I ever had…doing support for a tech company. This job had me starting work at 11pm and ending at either 7am or 11am the next day. Not only that, work started on Thursday and went to Tuesday morning. No more weekend activities for me!

Worst. Job. Evar.

I couldn’t stand it. I was tired. I was cranky. My friends and family were concerned about me. My health was clearly affected. Terrible. Terrible I say.

I had another job offer in October that started in January. I stuck with the crap job to December and was then going to take some time off for the holidays to spend with family and friends but ended up leaving that job a week earlier as I had caught a rather nasty cold and couldn’t fathom staying up all night again and again. So I left and never looked back. My health immediately improved, my happiness returned and life was good. I started my new job in January and then they laid off my entire team three weeks later. Ayeee!

I’ve been working on a few side projects since then. Some personal, some professional with the hope that something will catch and we’ll come up with the next big thing. There are some smart and driven people out there despite all the doom and gloom you see on the news.

So what’s the point of this ramble? It’s not a full business ramble you’d see in in ChiaTown.com or a pure life rambling you’d find in WaxPorhetoric.com but rather something that mixes it all…something that the Social Beast is…a mix of many things. My point to this morning babble is that I’m off on my own again and I’m ok with it. It gives me the opportunity to explore new options. Thinking about that old job just gives me the shakes and made me wonder “is it ok to take any crap job to survive in this economy?” Honestly, I don’t think so. Yes, we all need to survive but good lord, when your very soul and core are destroyed from someone else’s schedule it’s just not worth it. We weren’t put on this planet to be mindless drones. We’re here to interact with others (family, friends, acquaintances, strangers, etc) and hopefully have a positive influence on their lives. Don’t take whatever you can get if it’s going to run you into the ground and negatively affect your health and your relationships.

That’s my ramble for now. Happy Friday to you all. Enjoy it, enjoy your friends and family and get ready for a good weekend.