Here's a shot of Team Newman in the wild at SXSW 2007. Many thanks to Joe Flood for the documentation.

This is the first year since 2006 that one or both members of Team Newman are not making an appearance at South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi), the geek conference in Austin, TX.

It’s not that we haven’t loved it. Our SX adventures of yore enabled us to be among the first to try Twitter, discover Ze Frank, meet our good friend Joe Flood and give Gowalla a go. It also did wonders for our sticker collection. But after AT&T’s Great Network Failure of 2009, and attending one-too-many Twitter panels, we’re taking a break.

We wish many a Chris Brogan and Guy Kawasaki sighting, much fabulous swag and free beer to those thousands of social media guinea pigs in attendance. Have fun and consume tons of Stubbs BBQ for us!
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DC Flacks wrapped up our last happy hour of 2009 last night (we’ve got 68 members now – can you believe it?!). We had a great turnout and a surprise visit from Joe Flood‘s very talented (and delightful) friend Vincent, who took these FABULOUS pics of our peeps and their various appetizers.

Oh, and this hysterical shot of Team Newman in the wild:

If you are a PR or PA pro in the D.C.-area, we’d love to meet you! We simply gather each month to talk shop, meet new peeps and share a beverage. No big whoop. Join us here and follow our #DCFlacks tag on Twitter.

How do I know my computer-geek-of-a-husband is still madly in love with me? He sends me this someecard out of the blue on a Sunday morning:

(girlish sigh)

One year ago today I was blogging from a hotel lobby in D.C. — overwhelmed, honored and giddy. Recognized among the 2008 PR News 15-to-watch, I had just attended the PR People Awards luncheon at the National Press Club and still couldn’t believe I was looking at my name and bio in the program. (large PDF)

Dave and I stayed in D.C. a few more days to celebrate; not for one minute did we think that, just six months later, we’d be living here. What a difference a year makes, indeed!

And none of it would be possible without the World’s Best Husband, my supportive friends and stellar family.

I’ve got two hours left to say “I’m 29,” and mean it. As the big 3-0 approaches, that’s really my only deep thought.

I don’t feel like I’m getting old, mentally nor physically.  I certainly don’t look old–the casual passerby is often fooled by my petite frame.

Honestly, I haven’t thought that much about turning 30, other than the subconscious understanding that 30 puts me closer to what I’ve always thought of as my Work Age.

I sometimes hear that I’m “impressive for my age.” This is said with the utmost earnestness but often leaves me wondering to what age the compliment refers:  if I were 35 today, would I fail to impress? Am I a shiny object because I’m in my twenties? Will my polish fade when I’m firmly planted in the next decade? Read More…

In this town there is a Meetup, Tweetup, Festival or Twestival every night — at least it seems that way. Over the past three months, we’ve been hitting up social media happy hours like nobody’s business. In fact, Team Newman was recently included in a verbal listing of “the usual suspects” at “these kinds” of D.C. events. We weren’t sure if we should be flattered or embarrassed.

So far, we’ve: attended the NextGenWeb re-launch party, taken a free trip to New York courtesy of @SouthwestAir, partied with Social Media Club DC, eaten tasty brie at #Hyatt4Good, giggled at the DCBlogger’s Meetup, won a free dinner at the @destinationDC Tweetup, declared a winner of our very first Twitter contest and even started a Meetup group for digitally minded DC Flacks. Oh, and along the way, we’ve made some incredibly smart and talented new friends.

Yep, The Hill is alive with the sound of geek-ness — this particular social scene is just another reason why we heart The District. What’s your favorite thing about D.C.?

So, this morning I was a little mad at WordPress, the platform upon which Flackrabbit is built. I felt betrayed:

“WordPress, I’m confused,” my draft post from 9 a.m. read. “You love on everyone else but me. Lately, you’ve been sort of, well, difficult to deal with. I find myself turning to Twitter and even Picalicious to share good, cool or odd news. It’s just easier than watching you take away my editing tools, or fighting with you over HTML tags. (sigh).”

I was quite down. But then! Then! I logged in just now and found that hubs had magically found a cure for what ailed WordPress. All is right with the World Wide Web again. Thanks, GroovySoup!

It’s time for an update! First though, let me say that I’m really sorry I’ve been neglecting my Flackrabbit reporting duties. I realize that if you don’t know about Picalicious, or if we don’t stalk each other on Facebook or follow each other on Twitter, you might not be aware of how much I TOTALLY love DC.

So let me tell you: I TOTALLY love DC.

Over the past three weeks, lots of great stuff has happened for Team Newman; sure, it’s scary – just picking your life up and moving – but it continues to feel right. Everything that we have been stressing or fretting over keeps working itself out. It truly is a blessing.

Things I’ve been meaning to do for years, I’m doing. Like changing banks. There is no US Bank here in DC, so I’ve switched to SunTrust. Let me just say that I’m really, really enjoying their customer service and user-friendly website. I highly recommend them. I even earn interest on my checking account.

I’m really loving my gig. Again, I won’t be going into detail about it on this blog, but I keep pinching myself. I’m very blessed to have this opportunity and I love the pressure that comes with knowing they really took a chance on me, so I’ve gotta deliver. That may sound odd, but I dig it.

Dave moved up last week – and he loves it here. I’m so blessed to have him. He moved his whole life and business up here for me; I don’t know how I’ll ever repay him for that. Thanks, baby! In related news: Dave did Karaoke last week and I have proof! Just had to share.

Georgia is settling in well; of course, she’s got Dave, so she’s got that going for her, which is nice.  However, we are confused about why she’s starting to act like a real dog now. Exhibit A: she lays on the floor at your feet. That’s just weird.  We think the wall-to-wall carpet – that I hate -  is very empowering to her.

We continue to walk around awe-struck that we actually live here. We can walk out of our apartment and buy produce at the farmer’s market, or buy a bottle of wine at the little place across the street, or take the metro to the zoo, or just mosey across Pennsylvania Ave and hear free jazz in the sculpture garden. All without a car.

In other news:

• Team Newman is sad to report that Rebecca is leaving us right when we got here. We are uber happy for her and her fabulous new job in Dallas – but we are sooooooo sad to see her go! Be sure to check Picalicious on Sunday for pics of her going away party.
• Team Newman is happy to report that we have not been completely lost in the city yet, nor have we felt unsafe. You folks seem to be particularly curious about the latter half of that statement. We feel fine here! Swear!
• Team Newman feels obligated to report that it rains a lot here. Like all the time. We’ll be purchasing trench coats in the neat future.

And finally, don’t forget to pick up the June issue of Her Nashville! This month, Chic Geek answers some for your frequently asked questions – check it out!

Say what you will about how odd this lady is (not to mention how completely mortified her teenage daughter was) as she jogs through BWI Thurgood Marshall airport; she’s got great calves:

I was stuck in the airport for about five hours; she jogged around the people mover for two of them. She even jogged in place at Aunt Annie’s Pretzels while the cashier fetched her a handful of napkins for her glistening brow.

Odd, I tell you. Odd. I mean, I’m all about multitasking, but this was a bit too much. And hilarious.

In other news, I’m positively loving DC.

Although I won’t be going into detail on this blog about my gig, I will say that I’m blessed. It’s an honor to have this opportunity, and the warm welcome was the icing on the cake. I spent the first week there on my own; came home for some family time this weekend. And of course, Mere’s AMAZING wedding. (Congrats, Mere!) I return to Our Nation’s Capital this afternoon.

Dave moves up this Thursday – yay! He’ll bring up the poodle and the wireless router; two very important items in my life that I’m barely making it through the day without.

Oh! And you harassed asked, we listened: Picalicious is back, baby! The photo-a-day goodness is here!  Now you can check out photos of my Amtrak train hitting a deer, my sadness over the fact that there is no Fat Tire in DC, and of course, pictures of cool cars that Dave keeps seeing without me.

As always, I appreciate all the emails, phone calls, texts, Facebook wall posts, Tweets and snail mail you’ve sent my way; your support and encouragement has made this adventure possible – and so much fun!

We ventured out to the Easter Market neighborhood today… Lotta coffee shops, lotta street vendors.

Cute neighborhood; wish I had worn sunscreen.

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