I thought it would be fun to catch you up with what I've been up to so far in 2012. I've been deep at work upgrading technology here in my studio and working with several startups doing product development but I've also been getting myself moving on building some new neurons by finding some cool spaces and communities to work in.
In January, I finally made it over to Teahouse Studios, located nearby in Berkeley. I had been seeing some great workshops coming up for the past year but couldn't make things work with last year's busy travel schedule. So, when I saw that Britt Bravo was doing an afternoon Tea, Cupcakes and Creative Blogging workshop I jumped at the chance to go see what kind of community these women (founders: stephanie, mati and tiffany) were creating while getting some ideas for my own writing.
Teahouse Studio is a wonderful, open and airy space. In the front is an open room that the bigger meetings and crafting work happen in. The large back room houses painting, computer and other crafting stations. In between is a kitchen space for the tea and the promised cupcakes for Britt's workshop.
Britt's workshop was set up to be a quick afternoon run at her wonderful juicy blogging material. It was really amazing to be in the same room with 20 other women - all with the purpose of supporting their creative blogging.
The afternoon progressed with a great get-to-know you icebreaker and then moved swiftly into talking specifics of how to keep things moving with your blog. My favorite exercise was a small-group brainstorm on topics for your blog. That was incredibly helpful as the women in my group were diverse and very intriguing
I came away with quite a lot to think about as it has become clear that my diverse interests are making things confusing for the people who read my blog. I'm even going to do a little coaching with Britt in the next couple of weeks to see if we can't shake out even more fun things to try - it's always good to have smart people to talk it out with, who can see the parts of the 360º you miss.
Be sure to catch Britt's Have Fun, Do Good blog, amazing podcasts, veggie cookbook blog and her lovely Instagram photos of the vegan meals she cooks! She frequently has online and in-person classes so if you'd like to keep up with her schedule, definitely sign up for her updates.
After the workshop, I really enjoyed staying and chatting with Tiffany, one of the co-founders of Teahouse Studios. She was telling me about some of the amazing classes they have coming up - including some last minute painting classes that fill up so quickly. Definitely sign up for their updates as well - these folks are doing some amazing work - and the community is really fun. I'll definitely be going back as soon as they have an open painting class.
Teahouse Studios (http://www.teahouseartstudio.com/)
1250 Addison St, Ste 208, Berkeley, CA 94702 (map)
Facebook Twitter: @teahousestudio
I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the amazing cupcakes from our workshop were created by Suzy Brannon of batter & dough.
blogging,