Buds of Spring
Buds of Spring is a health and community focused group founded by my buddy Matt Barthelemay in 2011. Every year on the first day of Spring Matt embarks on a month long cleanse. Abstaining from alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, and other vices, Matt focuses his energy on getting to know his community and meeting new people. Last year Matt decided to go public with the Buds, and the group now has over 100 members in cities across the world (but primarily in Minneapolis). In addition to participating in Buds, I'm helping with the website and communications for the group. Along with artist and Bud Taylor Baldry, I coordinate the Bud of the Day feature, which gives other Buds of Spring members the chance to get to know each other a little better.
Paper Darts
In 2009 I co-founded Paper Darts, a Minneapolis based literary magazine. We published original content online nearly every day and produced three print volumes during my tenure. In October of 2011 we published local author John Jodzio's second book, Get In If You Want To Live, a collection of 19 short stories paired with 19 original illustrations by local and international artists. As editorial director I was responsible for shaping the voice of the magazine, both through our content and through our official copywriting and marketing materials. I also organized all of our launch parties and events, which had an average attendance of 300 people. I left the magazine in February of 2012, but it's still going strong under the leadership of the other co-founders and staff!
Pollen
In 2011 Lars Leafblad, the founder of Pollen, teamed up with Paper Darts to rebrand, redesign, and relaunch a new website and editorial vision for his popular networking newsletter. My Paper Darts co-founders and I built Pollen its very own website, expanded its editorial scope, and helped rework and rebrand Pollen to better reflect Lars' vision. During my time working on the project I wrote all the official marketing and website copy for the relaunch, developed and put in place a new editorial strategy, and wrote three feature articles for the website's debut. Pollen is now run exclusively by Lars and the current Paper Darts staff.