Back in December, I got one of the best Christmas presents ever from Tara – a pair of tickets to a Buffalo Sabres game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Knowing that Tara is not much of a hockey fan, this is an amazing gift from her and we are going to be spending the weekend together at the end of March in Buffalo.  The gift is more than just a pair of tickets, it shows me that Tara is willing to take an interest in something that I love and wants to spend the time together cheering on my favorite NHL team.

So, there you have it.  I am not moving, getting married or becoming a father.  I am counting down to a weekend away in Buffalo with the person that means so much to me and I am really excited to spend the weekend away from work and just enjoy life :)

The biggest thing in my life right now is Tara :)  Here is the tweet that started it all:

@TwainRookie Have you been to a @JackalsHockey game yet this season? I would love to have you join me for one!

— Jacob Burke (@jacobburke) October 25, 2011

Things have been awesome and they just keep getting better :)  Yes, I cannot stop smiling :)

Work is keeping me busy and the 2nd Annual Winter Village Bluegrass Festival is at the end of the month – really looking forward to that.

Ok, I must get going and get back to work before heading to meetings in Ithaca for the day – more soon!

Cheers!

It is interesting that a use the term “normal life”, because no one that has undergone a transplant is living a normal life.  That person is living with a gift, whether it be from a complete stranger that has chosen to donate their organs upon death, or a special person that is making a living donation, these people have been given the gift of life.  Yeah, you could go on living by dealing with dialysis treatments, but that is no way to live your life.  The National Kidney Foundation helps make donations and transplants possible.

On May 22, I will be walking in the Elmira Kidney Walk.  I am asking for you to help however you can.  I know that financially people are continuing to struggle, but I am not asking for a lot.  My goal for the walk is $200, so I ask that you please give what you can, whether it be $5 or $50, all the sponsorship I can get is greatly appreciated.

Here is the link to my walker’s page: http://donate.kidney.org/goto/jacobburke

I hope that you will be able to find it possible to sponsor me as I walk to continue help those get the gift of a new life.

Cheers!

Once I saw the flyer that Rick had put together, I sprung into action.  I found a more “comfortable” shade of blue, replaced the dreaded Papyrus font and turned the poster into an 11×17 format.  Well that was the start of many more projects and many more poster revisions.

As the months went on, we decided on a 4×6 informational postcard, then we needed CD samplers to send to radio stations, oh and the postcard and poster underwent about five revisions each.  We added sponsors, more bands, things needed to be tweaked here and there until we were happy with it – well until Rick was :)  Interesting thing, the posters that we had printed at State Theatre were not the final design – that design was not printed until the afternoon of the festival, in which we wanted a poster for the musicians to sign (more on that later).  Gift certificates were also added into the mix in mid-December, that was one of the easier tasks – only two revisions to that design.

A few weeks out, I found out that the resort was nearing capacity for the weekend.  I thought to myself, “wow, we did it, we are going to sell out and this is going to be huge.”  I was right about that, but the work wasn’t over – not nearly over.

Roughly one week before the festival, I sent out for banners (we had a conversation about that back in December, but decided to table it – wish we hadn’t).  I had the design done, but it needed to be tweaked to fit the measurements of the wall – thankfully we had those – I ordered two, it was a BOGO with the printer, glad we did.  Then we needed a shirt design, just modeled it off of the banner design and called that done.  Finally, I was home free – nope!

I arrived at the resort on Thursday, one day before the festival started.  I was there to work – bar, security, whatever was needed of me – when you have the word “marketing” in your title, you do it all.  I was still creating signage for this event, even the morning it was supposed to start, oh the fun.  The final poster design saw the light of day after three different attempts to get the PDF file to Staples for printing.  Finally I exported the design as a JPEG and they were able to get the art printed so that we could have posters to get signed by the musicians – and you all wonder why I don’t get much sleep anymore :)

Overall the event was a resounding success – we sold out the resort both nights, the concerts were very well attended and I finally got to meet my favorite female bluegrass artist – the beautiful and talented Claire Lynch (her band was pretty awesome too).

So, would I do it all again – oh yeah!  I love the music of the bluegrass community and how supporting the community is of one another.  I have been a fan for a long time and have been listening to Claire Lynch for a while (more about that in a later post).  I can’t wait to start planning for next year and hope we can find some ways to make the event bigger.

Rick and Scott, thanks for putting this project on my desk, it is some of the best fun I have had – even with all of the work involved :)

I have seen the movie Runaway Jury so many times that I honestly thought that is how the selection process works: attorneys firing off questions at potential jurors and just a frenzy of back and forth.  Nope, not at all.

The jury selection process is that of an educational endeavor for those who are summoned.  The day started with going through security and some paperwork.  Once everyone was ready, we received an explanation of the day’s proceedings from the court clerk.  The judge also ran through the same explanation and then the first panel was called.  I sat there and took it all in, from the questions asked to how comfortable the judge made everyone feel.  It was nothing that I had expected.

After the second panel of potential jurors was challenged behind closed doors by the judge and attorneys, the rest of us were dismissed and thanked, and given our six year exemption.

I had a lot of apprehensions going into the whole thing, thinking it was going to be nerve-racking, but it was the judicial process in action.

Glad I went, sat, learned, and will wait until it is my turn again.

2011 will be no different, Monday morning starts out with jury duty in county court – a huge waste of time in my opinion.  I have no desire to sit in a room and watch two overpaid suits go back and forth over petty crap.  Who knows if I will even get selected to sit on a jury, it is just going to be a waste of time waiting to get called anyway.

My hope is to update this blog more often, I am shooting for once a week if the time allows it.  We shall see how things go…

Well, time to run, more work to get done and maybe some sleep if that is possible.

Cheers and welcome to 2011!

A lot of things have happened since February, most of them good :)

• I am single again and happy about it.  Relationships are a pain in the ass and I just wasn’t committed to making it work.  Besides, girls are crazy.
• Aron and I have started recording regularly with Falling Flat.  Last week we had our second guest on the show and things are picking up.  I am glad that we got our asses in gear on this, I am having fun with the show.
• The restaurant is doing very well.  My involvement has primarily cut back to marketing, but with all that we do, that is plenty to keep me busy.
• Business is good, I am keeping very busy with the resort and more projects just keep coming my way.

Wow, a bulleted list…how tacky, heh.

I am very excited about the new iPhone 4 and plan on getting mine on the 24th.  I may just pre-order it tomorrow, need to see how that whole thing works and if I can avoid an Apple Store visit (I rather just deal with AT&T).

Ok, back to work.  More soon, I promise!

Cheers!

There is a lot in store over the next few months with contests and guests, so be sure to check out the new episode to know what’s going on!

You can find the new episode in iTunes and the Zune Marketplace, or just listen over on the website.

Cheers!

In January, Joseph & Joey (two very good friends of mine) opened a new restaurant in Downtown Elmira.  I have been working with them on their marketing and am there in the mornings to help out too.  It is a great time working with my friends and I am grateful for the experience in being able to flex my creative muscles and learn even more about the food service industry.

While I am not at the restaurant, I am keeping busy with freelance work.  While some clients are only on for the short-term, I have been lucky to pick up some long-term clients in the area.  I am still working with La Tourelle Resort & Spa in Ithaca, but I have found some local businesses that are taking advantage of my services.  With the Internet and social media being the place where everyone goes, it keeps me busy.

As far as my personal life, I am enjoying my relationship with Pam.  We just recently hit the three-month mark and I am happier than ever with her in my life.  I am looking forward to our relationship growing even more as time goes on.

I am hoping to starting recording with Aron again soon, we have not published an episode of Falling Flat since last June.  Many people have asked us what is going on with the show, and I feel bad that this is something that has fell through the cracks.

Well, that is all for now.  I hope to start posting regularly again, just need to find something to write about.  Maybe you should suggest something, eh?

Cheers!

Over the summer I helped some friends open up two new restaurants. It was a lot of work, but it certainly paid off (free food FTW). One of those restaurants has now been purchased by two of my friends and I have been handling the marketing for them. I also work there four – five days a week, that helps when marketing the product :)

The Downtown Expresso has been successful since opening in late July.  We have quite a following on Facebook and there is a lot of buzz around town about the little shop.  If you are ever in Elmira, then be sure to stop in!

In addition to all of the work with the Expresso, I have been keeping busy with the internet marketing for La Tourelle Resort & Spa.  With the busy summer & fall season winding down, there will be more work to try and drive room sales.  The resort is an amazing place and if you are ever in Ithaca, be sure to stay there, it is so worth it :)

Falling Flat has taken a break, though not officially.  After recording our first three-person episode back in June, Aron and I have just not found the time to sit down and record again.  We would make plans to record and then one of us would have something come up and it just got pushed aside.  I am hoping that we record again soon, I miss doing that weekly!

Well, that is all for now.  I have more work that I must get done, it never ends these days!

Cheers!