Not Just Any Party - Gina Holmes Book Launch at Roanoke Library

Where to start?? Gina Holmes is our home-girl-does-good story in Roanoke, VA. That is the big, awesome thing here. The new book she's written was just published and will be hitting the book stores very soon. It's called Crossing Oceans, about a young single mother who comes back into her family's life after a long absence.

For the past few weeks, all sorts of great local media coverage proclaimed and celebrated this artistic victory - the Press, TV, Bloggers, Social Media sites... But the most outstanding celebration of all was the love our own Roanokers showed Ms Holmes at the Roanoke Library last Tuesday evening.

The Roanoke Public Libraries, as we've mentioned other times, is (as an organization) one of the front-running advocates for the Arts scene in the SW Virginia region. They take it to the streets, up-close and personal. No fancy, corporate-sponsored bookings brokered here. What they do have is one River Laker, a fellow who keeps his eyes and ears on up-and-coming local talent (and from nearby cities), so he knows the latest, the artsiest, the grooviest... And then he books 'em for what always becomes a treat to the community in performances, exhibitions, seminars, readings, and that one very special thing so many "venues" can't really do - Participation.

So, Tuesday night at the Main Library's Howery Mezzanine, we all came out to celebrate Gina Holmes' Book Launch Party. Mr Laker brought together a very successful party, indeed - perhaps the largest attendance thus far at the Library. There was a lot of work behind it to pull this off, and again he coordinated that magnificently as always. Roanoke is lucky to have a real-life Eveready Bunny.

Ms Holmes was honored and entertained by fellow area artists. The cool thing about that is she was greatly involved with the entertainment herself. For one, the author's work inspired a short play that was performed during the event. From SW County's Showtimers, local actors Nancy Lawrence, Caitlin Morgan, and a cute little actor named Madeline Neil practiced the script with precision over the past couple weeks, under River's directing. Watch out, Broadway! (Oh yes, it was my debut as an actor that evening - and I enjoyed being in the company of experienced actors! Thanks for having me on!)

A short video, as a response or spoof to the book's trailer video, went over hugely with the audience. Gina co-starred in it with her husband and, oh, that guy with the British accent who dresses up in silly outfits... um, yeah - River again! You can see the video here, on River's Vimeo Channel, produced by Matt Ames.

The event had a musical guest, Maddie Grace Garber, a local teenager with tons of talent for songwriting and singing. Also, artist Toobz once again created a backdrop and banner for the stage area. His work is often showcased at the Library for Emerging Artists performances.

Ms Holmes answered questions from the audience about her book, about writing and her journey to become a published author. One guest, Sunny, who is also a local artist, even referenced a page and paragraph in her question to the author, which must've been a sweet compliment for any writer when someone can do that!


Star City FAME taped the book launch party, and will be editing the video this week. Hook up with us on Facebook so you can get updates on cool things that happen within the Arts community here in Roanoke.

Visit Gina Holmes' blog for more information about her life, her books, and the art of fiction writing. Her novel Crossing Oceans is also available through Amazon.com. We wish her many congratulations, much inspiration, and a long, happy career in writing!

See you around Downtown!!

Internet Learning Curve for Business 101

Change or die? Old dogs can't learn new tricks? Fear of the unknown?

How many people have never seen, used, or even heard of the internet... I have no statistics here. All I know is that if my Mom ever bought herself a laptop, she would junk her remote and browse QVC's website all day and night long. As it is, the UPS driver already knows her address by heart.

But if you're in any kind of business and still fumbling with getting information... how to improve your website, gain traffic, acquire basic geek skills, or just learn anything, pretty much, I bet you can find all of that in whatever skill level and language you will understand. Heck, you can even take online classes at M.I.T. if you want. FOR FREE!! (No, you don't earn a degree. But the courses are the same as if you enrolled. For some of us who value knowledge over mere paper, that's freaking awesome. Thanks, M.I.T!!)

I did a three-part blog post recently about the internet being a "series of tubes" - you know, the joke that's actually true, wink, wink?? So this time, I'm going to rattle off some cool stuff for beginners. The thing with the internet is that once you start looking and finding answers, you can't help increasing your knowledge. First, you will find answers, challenging as it may be to discriminate facts if you're a casual user (or gullible). But one must acclimate oneself. Think of it as hazing for a college fraternity, haha. Then, once you figure out the difference between snake-oil and useful information, you will develop a keen method of tracking down specific information through blogs, forums, and specific communities related to what you do.

I personally feel that this routine is as important (more so) than plain networking on Facebook or whatever. If you only pay attention to output (yackity-yacking online) but seldom find input (investigating how people actually DO THINGS in your industry) then "joining the conversation" will be nothing more than being in a high school clique. If that impresses you, go for it.

I'm not knocking socializing with inter- and intra- corporate collegues, your co-alumini, and connections surrounding your field. Heavens no... But if you can't bring fresh stuff to the table or understand the lingo of your peers, you ain't adding much to the conversation.

Okay, Blogs... I have this one on my blog feeds which is pretty direct and intelligent information. You can dig through this blog to learn a little about SEO and social networking, etc, etc… Useful for brushing up on guerilla marketing.

http://www.conversationmarketing.com/

The blogger above has a particular article on Google Analytics that might help those who haven't taken advantage of that application's power to reorganize their sites. It's not just for checking how many hits a page gets. You can use the information to figure out what direction to go and make adjustments whenever necessary. Follow the links to his "cheat sheet" from this article:
http://www.conversationmarketing.com/2010/01/google-analytics-cheatsheet.htm.

What I do with blogs, simply, if I feel like following them… is add it to my blog feed, which is similar to adding favorites on your browser. This way you don’t have to deal with the person’s blog page… you just browse through their headlines and click on whatever article you might like to read.

Learn how to do stuff… Tons of sites that explain stuff!! It’s nice to have the internet. I don't care if you think the following are lame. I've been an IT guy with a couple major corporations, and I still use these:

Ehow.com
Yotube.com (for the reading challenged or time challenged)
Howcast.com (video how-to's)
Ask.com
Howtodothings.com
Howstuffworks.com

Also, search your field or industry by typing in the word "forums" along with the kind of work you do. I myself belong to several related to videography. Some forums are hosted by the manufacturers of the products I use. Those are absolutley great! Some are independent of the manufacturer. But their users/members have a huge cross-section of knowledge outside the product lines. They talk about techniques and solve problems amongst themselves which can be invaluable. Join forums like that... just stay away from the trolls. And don't be one. (Trolls are those idiots who have nothing better to do than picking fights with other members over stupid things. Or they're just interested in spamming the forum with their BS websites while never adding anything useful to the thread.)

Asking questions is always fine. Be sure to state that you're a noobie 'cos the other members will figure that out and you might get yourself embarassed. Usually, there's a noobie section in a forum. Also, you will find a section called a "sticky," which is kind of a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) thing along with general rules of engagement for using the forum. If you break the rules, you might get kicked off.

So, there ya go. Educate yourself and pass it along. Practice safe cyber-surfing. Be sure to use an anti-virus.
Have fun!!

Pre-Production for "Planet Divine"

Star City FAME and Ahha Pictures begin collaborating on a new video series today, called "Planet Divine." Last night was a six-hour preparation involving setting up lights, cameras, and audio, with a run-through of costume checks and script-tweaking.

Director Hans Moore (Ahha Pictures) has been an actor in several local independent movies, one that is currently making the rounds at national-level film festivals. The movie Blue Ridge is a feature film by Vincent Sweeney, which was shot in the Roanoke area using many local talent, and stars Sean Gullette.

Hans picked up a video camera about two years ago when he acquired enough cash to get into it "the right way" after learning a great deal from working on-set with professional directors and cameramen. Film was not the medium, however, due to the huge expense. But he equipped himself with some of the best video technology available.

Ron Bergeron met Hans in December 2008 at a local Dunkin' Donuts in Roanoke, where the two stopped in to chat with friends. Ron remembers how excited Hans was about a new venture into film-making. Ron (that's me), who has been a musician in New Jersey and technically skilled at audio engineering for over 25 years, liked his enthusiasm so much that, a few months later, he contacted Hans to ask about going into video production himself. Hans was still so intensely involved and passionate, that it rubbed off... and they became close friends through sharing techniques and ideas. Eventually, the two began shooting and editing projects together.

One of the earlier collaborations between Star City FAME (Ron's Video Production and Media Company) and Ahha Pictures turned out to become a series of YouTube comedies called "Cher on Crack." These videos spoof the Sonny and Cher television show from the 1970's, but the characters are only loosely based on Sonny Bono and Cher. They are what Hans calls "Trailer Park Trash Sonny and Cher, looking to break into the big-time," and their last name was changed to Bonehead instead of Bono... to protect the innocent, of course.

This week marks the start of their new series, which will be a combination of studio green screen shoots and on-location filming in various Roanoke settings. Some of it will be impromtu (or "reality" style) in which there will be interaction with the public. Also in the works are casting local notables and collaborations with other film and media professionals from the Roanoke area.

Here are some photos of Hans and Ron in pre-production last night at the studio.

Director Hans Moore of Ahha Pictures

Definitely see you around Downtown!!!