OMG April

Where have I been? I have been at work. I thought this was the slow time of the year. I have been so many events, I completely missed March! I assume it happened, but I didn't really notice it. And now we are halfway into April. April means more events and my sister's 16th birthday!
So what you missed: The new Customer Experience Coordinator, Court (not her real name), was hired! I had the flu. The honest to bedrest, FLU! As a result, I missed most of the Matuto concert. I did go in and make sure everything was set up and then I went home to bed. So I heard a little sound check and they seemed great! The corporate party went very well and I think they will book for next year. Then we had a baby shower for a couple of kids that looked a little deer-in-the-headlights followed by a few meetings. My one year anniversary meant it was time for the annual Black Hills FlyFisher's auction. I LOVE this event, maybe its because it was my first event, but I think it has more to do with the people. They are so funny and easygoing and they drink, a lot. My dad came and bar-tended for me, which was really fun as well. Another baby shower with someone who seemed a little better prepared. Court had her first experience with an exhibit reception, with Dahl Mountain Photo. The next one she will do (mostly) on her own. That was a long weekend for me with the exhibit reception on Friday, World Water Day on Saturday, and Art Legacy Project on Sunday. We hgad the final Downtown Master Plan open house over 2 days and had what may be the busiest tuesday ever with 3 events happening at once. Art Alley reception in the Cyclorama to celebrate/discuss the new permit system, American Landscape Architects in the event center talking about parks and showing a film, and the mini-masters reception in the cultural cafe for the preschool art show. Art Alley is this great place downtown where artists use the ugly side of buildings in the alley to make beautiful and important art. Unfortunately it has become also a place for artless tagging and random curse scrawls, so the city was going to shut it down. However a compromise was reached and the Rapid City Arts Council is stepping in to handle a permit system. Not everyone's favorite solution, but a necessary one. While the Landscape Architects showed the film, 10 Parks That Changed America, I was able to sneak over to check out the Mini Masters show

Spinsterhood

I am now 30 years old and have decided I am a spinster and I like it. ZuZu is not quite 4 months and can now officially roll over, as long as there is visible treat incentive. She is delicious.

Wood Shock

We had our fist wedding of the season. A small gathering of no more than 50 people in the Cyclorama on a Valentine's Day afternoon. It was so sweet. The brides were glowing and everyone was happy. We don't have another wedding until May, so for now it is concerts, exhibit receptions, and fundraisers on the horizon.

Specifically tonight we have the exhibit reception for Bryan Christianson's Wood Shock. He makes sculptures out of furniture. Very impressive.

Next Friday we are featuring Matuto, a Brazillian-Americana fusion band. I am looking forward to this concert, they seem great.

The powers that be have hired a new Customer Experience Coordinator. She will start (hopefully) next week. I am excited to meet her and really hope we work well together since our positions are very intertwined. I feel good about it. I get along with most people and feel like if I can turn 30, I can certainly do this.

Matuto

Looking further ahead, we have a corporate rental annual meeting whose coordinator is a little slow at getting back to me. Luckily they have had their event here for a few years so I have the notes on previous years for reference.

I am still booking wedding inquiry meetings for 2016 and am hoping to reach the magic number 15 for this years wedding total. I have 13 booked right now.

Wish me luck on tonight's reception! For most things I just double and triple check everything is perfect, but for the sound system in the galleries, I can set it perfectly and then I pray the old girl hold together.

February

Joel Guptill

So Friday night ended up going ok. There were a few hiccups. 2 volunteers ended up getting sick and not coming in and a front desk worker was late. Another volunteer scheduled to bar tend was scheduled at the wrong time. All of these things combined resulted in 2 people putting together the bar with no experience and a few hectic minutes. Dylan stepped up and other staff members made it work. Its funny how some things can seem desperate one minute and then later you realized that maybe the bar was 5 minutes late going up and really nothing else was effected. The most important part was over 300 people came to the Dahl to enjoy art, music, cheese, and wine. I call it a success. The Emerging Artist Showcase was fun to be a part of and see these performers swallow their fear and get on the big stage and rock it.

Training a service dog is not something I have experience with. We are working it out as we go. I am hoping to take a basic manners class in the next month or two, but in the mean time we are working.

skill	level
sit	proficient
lay down	beginner
stay	struggles
leave it	beginner
come	struggles

She is all in all a very good girl. She comes to work with me most days and rarely causes a disruption. I just know that she will continue to excel and  grown and learn.  I can see it in her eyes. Her creppy human beautiful eyes that caught me by surprise. 

February is my favorite month. My birthday is coming right up, my two best friends' birthdays are this month. I love chocolate. Winter is winding down. It is short. So Happy February!

Let's Blog Again!

I think I miss blogging. I hope I do, because I think it will be good for me. I often have weird downtime at work and I think blogging would be just the thing to do. For example I am currently in the John T. Vucurevich Event Center observing the rehearsal for tomorrow'sEmerging Artist Showcase presented by the Rapid City Arts Council at the Dahl Arts Center. Mostly I am here to lock up the building when they are done and possibly fetch an extension cord or two should they be needed. I have thoughtfully provided water for the performers and support people (sound guy, organizers, parents...) But really there is not a lot for me to do. So here it goes.

I got a dog on December 26th. Her name is Miss ZuZu's Petals, but you can call hr ZuZu. She is adorable and such a good girl already. Almost potty trained and very social. She gets to come to work with me every day and is in training to be my service dog. Yes, I need a service dog because...

I have MS. Multiple Sclerosis is a serious disease. I am, however,  a silly person and I mostly disregard it as a thing. I try to eat well (let's do better!) and I try to exercise (mostly at work) and I take my medication almost 100% of the time. I recently switched to 40 mg of Copaxone 3xs a week instead of nightly injections of 20 mg. I am pretty excited to only do 3 shots a week instead of 7, mostly because they get so itchy. I miss being on the clinical trial in Denver and going to Denver on the regular, but to every thing turn turn turn.

This Week At The Dahl:
I work at the Dahl as the Venue Coordinator for the Rapid City Arts Council. I manage all the events happening in the building, both rentals and internal RCAC events. I coordinate everything from Community Education Classes to Weddings, Corporate Parties to Memorials.
This week we had the January Buffalo Gals Round-Up in our historic Cyclorama Mural room.

Mark & Carolyn Mollers
Cyclorama Mural Room. 

It was well attended with 116 ladies enjoying the cheese, the wine, the music, and the art at the Dahl. This historic mural is 180 feet long and covers 200 years of economic history in America. Working entirely alone, Bernard P. Thomas finished the mural 1975. The mural highlights areas Thomas felt greatly impacted our nation including the Civil War, communication, transportation, agriculture, the Industrial Revolution, and war. It does present some issues for our modern age. For example, Buffalo Gals reported to us that several women declined attending this months event due to the "colonial oppressive depictions of women, African Americans, and First Nation peoples." This is a challenge that we acknowledge. Conversations like this are how we can acknowledge and accept our history while working for a better future for everyone.

Friday is a busy one for me. We have Evolution: A Retrospective my Sarah Rogers opening in the gallery from 5 to 7 and then the Emerging artist Showcase in the John T. Vucurevich Event Center immediately following. This means I will miss my weekly Improv performance, but I will make it up next week.