Turtle Hill Events

I had hired someone the last couple of years to post regularly to THE's social media accounts, but life circumstances meant she couldn't continue, so I've taken it back in house. For the last couple of months, I've been posting a carefully curated post or two every day, if I can manage it, sometimes using a scheduler (HootSuite), sometimes just grabbing someone on my FB app on my phone and tossing it over there. 

It's been really fun pondering what people might like to read, and sometimes I'm rewarded with likes and even comments. I kind of love that. It reminded me that I should add links to those accounts to this website, and I'll get that done when I'm done posting this blog. If you're curious about what I like to read online, you can get some idea by watching those accounts. My online reading has expanded because of this change, too, as I've added blogs and various sites to my regular online destinations in an effort to find fodder for the social media mill. 

I'm still looking for more places to add to my repertoire, so if you have a favorite blog or ezine or whatever that has frequent posts, feel free to comment with it here or on social media where I'll see it. I'm happy for any help in this. It's often a struggle to find things that are appropriate. 

​Thanks!

A couple of people have asked for clarification about the other company I'm a partner in, Coil Registration Services, LLC, and this one, Turtle Hill Events, LLC. THE is entirely and solely owned by me. It runs events. That's all it does. Just runs events. At the time of this writing, it runs THE Beltane, THE Crossroads, THE Dungeons + Geekdoms NE and THE Dungeons + Geekdoms NJ. It also owns the brands The Geeky Kink Event and GKENE. 

Coil is owned by me and my partner, Jason. Coil provides registration services to events. That's all it does. Just provides registration services. At the time of this writing, it has contracts to provide those services to THE's events, so THE is a client of Coil's. 

I hope this helps clear up any misunderstandings. 

...of an event producer. Today was especially hectic. We hit three banks (no, not to steal from them, silly, just to make deposits and stuff), the post office, our local food coop, drug store, pet food store, plumbing supply house, grocery store and warehouse store. After recovering from all the damage that did to the bank account, I've spent the last two hours setting up social media posts, updating the website for the events, conversing with acquaintances about the latest gossip in the events biz and trying to get my daughter to reply to texts about pick up time.

Yeah, my life is sooo glamorous. But you know what? I like it this way. Yes, it's good to have some down time, but being busy keeps me on my toes and engaged in the world around me. The flow chart of when things have to get done for events has doubled in its intensity as we've doubled our event load for the year, but that keeps it lively. 

If it's Tuesday, it's THE hotel events Day. That means I need to spin up the plates on the D+Gs in particular. You know, like the old circus acts where they have a whole bunch of plates on sticks and if they stop spinning they fall off and break? Yeah, that's my life as an event producer, and it's just gotten positively forest-like! Whee! Spin, plates, spin! And I hope I don't drop anything that can't be picked back up again. 

I get a lot of questions from people about how we accept programming items at THE. It's highly scientific and based upon thorough market analysis...NOT. No, it's actually about several key factors:

• The level of professionalism of the presentation is important. If you're going to cold-call apply (send us unsolicited proposals), you really need to include at least some, better all, of the following:
  • A bio
  • References/other events we've heard of that you've presented at before. If you're a new presenter, at least give us a couple of names of presenters who know you. We do check those references.
  • Class titles and descriptions that can be used in the book and on our website.
  • A photo. Really. Doesn't have to be of your face, but we like to include pics on our site when possible. Could be of your hands or of something that inspires your work.
• Unusual classes will often get accepted over the run of the mill. For example, while, we appreciate a good TK class, they do get old after a while. But if you have a special TK style or technique, or you can find a different angle (like, maybe, TK to open the heart chakra, or inspired by Iron Man, or something like that?), that's pretty cool and catches our interest.
• Your proposal includes your needs, if any. Like, please don't schedule me across from my partner. But it isn't so restrictive that we can't schedule your classes at all. 
• Your title is interesting and grabs our attention. 
• Your description is clear and really represents what you're teaching. Hey, a tip: Have someone who has no idea what your class is about read it and tell you what they think it's about in their own words. If they tell you basically what you're intending, you've succeeded!

Just considering these basic concepts will increase your chances of being accepted as a presenter hugely. And helps us make good choices for our events.

Among the first ideas I've had recently for a workshop I'd like to present is one titled "Getting What You Came For". The concept is that people often go to events with no real focus, or with a focus that is possibly too specific or unattainable for the event they're at. I want to offer some ideas about how to make your event experience better through framing those desires more reasonably, and also through accepting what you're given.

An example: A dear friend of mine went to one of my events planning to spend time laying in the sun with her beloved, making love by the Maypole, and generally deepening her relationship. What's wrong with that? Absolutely nothing, except that a lot of those goals were based on things outside her control. For example, it was cold and cloudy most of the event that year. The ground by the Maypole was muddy and cold and her beloved didn't want to make love out there in the muck. Her beloved actually had gone to the event with the goal of hanging out with friends a lot, not spending all of their time with my friend. Thus, my friend's plans were effectively ruined.

But did her event need to be ruined because of this? No, not really. And it wasn't. Instead of the event my friend thought she wanted, she got something else entirely. She spent a ton of time with her friends and met some new and wonderful people. She learned some incredible things in classes and in one on one talking and took home some terrific new tools for deepening her relationship which she was able to use in a more practical way without the distraction of the event. 

So how do we frame our event goals in such a way that we can actually reasonably achieve them? Do we even need to have goals for events? Or can we take what comes to us, open to the guidance of the universe? I'll unpack more on this in part 2. 

Love to get comments! Tell me about your experiences! 

Sometimes the urge to write comes over me and it won't let go. This past weekend I attended Sacred Space, a conference I go to most years in Maryland. The focus at the event is on advanced magical practitioners, and the quality of the programming is very high. And, yes, I've presented there a few times, I'm proud to say.

At the conference, I attended several workshops by T. Thorn Coyle. I enjoyed them all, but the last one in particular, which was about Sigil Magic (the practice of imbuing symbols with magical power), sparked that urge to write. It helps that Thorn is a prolific writer herself and was sharing with us some sigils she'd created to help keep her writing. Because the secret to being an author is simply to produce words. Lots of words. Some of which are good words.

That's actually the secret to being an artist, too. Produce lots of art. Some of it will be good. Some of it will not be good. That's okay. Beauty. Eye. Beholder. Etc. Anyway, that's the long story of why this blog was formed. So read on and hopefully I'll produce some good words.