by Monika

About: Monika

Recent Posts by Monika

The Underground Music Showcase (UMS) 2014 with SpokesBUZZ and FanPlan!

By Monday, July 21, 2014 2 Denver, Life, Music Permalink 0
UMS Logo for 2014

The Underground Music Showcase (also known as UMS or #UMS2014 on Twitter and Instagram) is almost upon us! I really love festival season here in Colorado that is kicked off by FoCoMX in April and continues with Denver Day of Rock, Westword Music Showcase, Big Gig, UMS, Riot Fest and I'm sure some others that I'm forgetting. UMS is no exception! Starting on Thursday, July 24th, UMS kicks off at 8pm and continues through Sunday, July 27th at midnight. There are over 400 local and national bands playing over 4 days down on Broadway in Denver at more than 20 venues. That's right 400 bands! Single day passes ...

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KTCL Channel 933′s #BigGig14 Social Stats

By Sunday, July 20, 2014 1 Denver, Internet, Life, Music, Social Media Permalink 0
Lawn at Fiddlers green for #BigGig14

Yesterday was awesome! As I said before, I love Big Gig and have been going since before it was called Big Gig (used to be Big Adventure). While I didn't tweet much during the event, it was because I was having too much fun running between the local stage and main stage and watching the bands! Bands In case you missed the lineup for #BigGig14: Panic! At The Disco Walk The Moon Twenty One Pilots MSMR American Authors Brick+Mortar Bad Suns Magic Man Locals Stage Rumours Follow Post Paradise Chemistry Club Pandas & People Glowing House Videos Sitting in the lawn wasn't the best for video and since Aimee was in the pit taking pictures, I figured that would be better than my ...

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Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness – Cecilia and the Satellite

By Friday, July 18, 2014 0 Life, Music, Obsession, Video Permalink 1
Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness - Cecilia and the Satellite Cover Art

On Sunday I had the privilege of seeing Andrew McMahon at the Aggie Theatre in Fort Collins. I've been listing to his music now for over a decade and have seen him perform in many band iterations in a few different states. I am also pretty sure the first show I ever crowd surfed at was a Something Corporate show in college. Those were the days. Now I cringe at the thought of crowd surfing. During his set he played songs from Something Corporate, Jack's Mannequin, Andrew McMahon and even played a few new songs with his new band Andrew McMahon and the Wilderness. One of ...

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Riot Fest 2014 – From Byers to Mile High Stadium

By Friday, July 18, 2014 2 Denver, Life, Music Permalink 0
Map of Riot Fest in Denver at Mile High Stadium

Riot Fest just announced a new venue for the festival in 2014: the parking lot of Mile High Stadium. My initial reaction was "Really? From a farm to a parking lot?" Can't say I'm too happy about where @RiotFest moved to: Mile High? Really? http://t.co/yGDTZMkNyo— Monika McMahon (@monikarun) July 18, 2014 Then I re-read the post about how they were going to make the parking lot more 'Byers-like': However, I do like that @RiotFest is turfing the parking lot so it won't be hot as balls! http://t.co/yGDTZMkNyo #milehigh— Monika McMahon (@monikarun) July 18, 2014 The reason I was annoyed they were going to hold it in the parking lot ...

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Fitbit, Wearables and Connected Devices – Need Your Advice!

By Thursday, July 17, 2014 3 Internet, Life, Technology Permalink 0
Fitbit Devices - Which To Choose?

My Fitbit Force was delivered to me the same day they issued their recall. I debated what to do, because I had spent a few days asking friends for advice on which ones they had and why and had settled on the Force because of the features, but mainly because most of my friends had Fitbit as well. Because of that I decided to keep it and was diligent about checking for any weird rashes. I've spent almost 6 months with it on my wrist and I was addicted! During Firefly, I was tracking just shy of 30,000 steps a day! Then a week later, it ...

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New Music Tuesday – Rise Against – The Black Market – And the Colorado Connection

By Wednesday, July 16, 2014 0 Life, Music, New Music Tuesday, Reviews Permalink 0
Rise Against's Secret Show at Kansas City Kitty

While Rise Against isn't a Colorado band, they do have many ties to this great state. Did you know that many of their last albums were recorded right here in Fort Collins, Colorado in the Blasting Room? Well, they were. A few years ago I had the pleasure of going to a 'secret' show of theirs where they played in local clothing store, Kansas City Kitty. The store moved all of their merchandise to the sides, or put away in the back and a line started outside the store before they even closed at 5. I remember it was a pretty cold night, so my parents ...

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Twitter Analytics Just Got Real

By Friday, July 11, 2014 0 How To, Internet, Social Media Permalink 0
Twitter Analytics Showing Actual Impressions Screenshot

I was excited when Twitter first announced that everyone had access to the analytics of their tweets, and loved it when they gave you the ability to download your entire Twitter history, but the analytics update they made today is AH-MAZING. I'm so excited about all of the new data available to me that I can hardly contain my excitement! What's so great about Twitter Analytics? Actual Impressions You read that right. Instead of estimating how many people saw your tweets by coming up with some weird algorithm, YOU NOW KNOW how many eyes were on your tweets! They give you a graph broken out by day: *Note, this isn't ...

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Tips on Creating Successful Kickstarter Campaigns

By Friday, July 11, 2014 1 Denver, How To, Internet, Technology Permalink 0
kickstarter logo

Last night, I attended a fun event all about Kickstarter, put on by Arts for Colorado (AFC) and WESTAF (Western States Arts Federation) at Deer Pile in Denver. I’ve never personally launched a Kickstarter (considered it for Noiselace, but instead built an online store), have supported many local artists in their campaigns, been a follower of Kickstarter for years and was definitely interested in learning more. Especially after potato salad happened this week. The speakers included 2 local individuals, Brigid and Robert, who each had successful campaigns and Stephanie Pereira, Kickstarter’s International & Civic Partnerships Lead. There was so much great information that I took over 4 ...

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Stitch Fix Box Number Nine

By Thursday, July 10, 2014 0 Life, Stitch Fix Permalink 0
Monika's 9th Stitch Fix

Jonathon is in a wedding soon and I’m also traveling to some onsite client meetings, so I was hoping to find stuff to wear to both of these events.

So here is what I got:
Under Skies Dover Sheer Back Knit Top
Pixley Danielle Long Knot Necklace
Fun2Fun Portland Stripe & Daisey Print Henley Tunic
41Hawthorn Filber 3/4 Sleeve Popover Blouse
Mystree Brad Striped Jersey Maxi Dress

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Newest Position: I’m on the Board of SpokesBUZZ!

By Monday, July 7, 2014 2 Life, Music Permalink 0
SpokesBUZZ.org's Logo

I know I've tweeted this a few times, but I'm excited to announce that I've joined the Board at SpokesBUZZ.org! SpokesBUZZ is a great organization that started in Fort Collins in 2010 and is quickly growing - they even just opened a Denver office! But let me back up a bit and explain a bit more about what SpokesBUZZ is all about and why I accepted a position on their board. SpokesBUZZ's Mission: Develop the professionalism of artists Promote and connect progressive cultural destinations Amplify music scenes Grow local economies Incubator Program What does that mean exactly? Well each year they take in 6 local bands (they used to be Fort Collins exclusively, ...

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