Today was former employers day or something. During my lunch break, I had a conference call with the DC job about a project I’m helping out with. Well, actually the project was my idea, and I asked to stay involved. However, a lot of people have bought into it, and it will be a fabulous web site. I wish that I could elaborate with more details, but I’m psyched. It’s using social media tools at their best and helping out on an issue that I care about.

Tonight, the Tower Club met at the Creative Discovery Museum, my old stomping ground. In my absence, Chattanooga suddenly became cool and clubs and networking groups for young professionals started. (I know!! Crazy!Who’d have thunk it?). CDM started a young professional auxillery to help fundraise for free programs and scholarships.

It was also Free Family Night! Anyone remember that? (Sadly, I can’t find any posts in my archives. I must have deleted them in the move from Blogger to Wordpress.) It was my baby for over a year. I was given a loose idea from our executive director and ran with it. It’s incredible to look at the success of a program that I nervously put together four years ago. That first night, I was a nervous wreck. All I did that day was pray that people would show up. I think we had about 425 people that first night. Now it’s a staple in the community that serves 12,000 people a year. I’m just so proud that my baby program found legs to stand on. I guess that I fulfilled my VISTA goal of creating a sustainable program that serves at-risk or underserved families.

It was wonderful to hear the sounds of my DC coworkers on the phone and get involved in another web site. I’m so comfortable in the uncharted, new media frontier that it’s a good thing I left it. At some point, my brain started thinking in web sites. Now, it needs to think terms of fundraising proposals and grants.

It was also great to visit CDM and return to my job roots. After college, I questioned why the only door that opened was a VISTA position. Now, I’m so thankful. I learned phenomenal nonprofit fundraising and communication skills there. Serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA was a life-changing experience that I heartily recommend to any recent college grad. The DC Roomie and I joke that you never stop thinking like a VISTA. Every time I think about a program now, I question how it will be sustained. Both of my previous jobs provided skills that I’m now drawing upon. The new job is challenging and requiring everything I’ve ever learned. It’s pretty awesome.

In August, it will be one year since I finished up grad school. Nine months out, and I’m ready to get back in a classroom.

Not full-time, but at least doing one class a semester. I love the academic world and the pursuit of knowledge. Were finances not a problem, I’d be quite content pursuing as many degrees as Buster Bluth.

The only problem is that the more education you have, the harder it is to find the appropriate program. Chattanooga is a wonderful, wonderful city, but lacking in communication PhD programs. Ideally, I’d like to stay in Chattanooga forever. At the very least, I plan on staying here five to seven more years. That eliminates moving anywhere for school since Maryland, UNC and UGA are my top picks. That also postpones the completion of my education for a long time. The longer you’re out, the harder it is to go back. Lastly, I’d be starting a post-graduate program in my thirties. (That’s painful to write!)

UTC provides two alternatives. If anyone knows anything about these two programs, please comment or email.

A certificate in nonprofit management.
After three consecutive jobs at very different nonprofits, I’m starting to see a trend. Getting a certificate wouldn’t take that long and UTC is pretty cheap. One class is equal to the cost of a single credit hour at American. I did 30 hours in 11 months including comprehensive exams, a thesis and working 30 hours a week. An 18 hour program covering topics that I deal with on a day-to-day basis doesn’t sound that bad.

Learning and Leadership Ed.D.
I’ve never considered earning an Ed.D. before, but there aren’t that many post-graduate options around here. This program looks intriguing. On paper it looks like it could mesh with a communications background. From what I’ve read, there’s some organizational theory in the program. Next to communications, I love organizational theory and took about 15 hours as an undergrad in the field. My goal in getting a doctorate is to teach. While I would love to devote three or four years of my life to systematically debunking the Excellence Theory*, eradicating the Grunig name from public relations and researching how the web is altering the way we communicate, that may not be in the cards. (A few people understand and appreciate those thoughts).

Any guidance from my wise readers?

*While Excellence Theory may be dead at the graduate level, Grunig wrote most of the undergraduate textbooks. It still runs rampant in many undergrad programs. I truly believe that further research on how the web is changing communications will prove something closer to Relationship Management as a general theory of public relations. (That was the most complex thinking that I’ve written in nine months. My brain hurts now.)

So if I have any readers left, HI! This poor little blog has almost been abandoned lately.

Never fear. Life is settling down, so I should be back on my normal blogging schedule shortly. Actually, it kinda feels like I never left Chattanooga. I think that’s a good sign.

Two weeks at home, and I’m strangely busy. It looks like I have two opportunities to build a web presence on Drupal using CivicCRM. Anyone have thoughts/ideas/suggestions? Both groups have a budget of $0, so I’m more drawn to the FREE aspect of Drupal than the lofty aspirations of the open source movement. Any Joomla/Drupal debates?

The new job is a mix of everything within the communications and development world. As much as I love being the web diva, sometimes it’s nice to write a simple press release or plan an event. (Yes, I’m aware of the SMR. It’s cool, but Chattanooga just isn’t there yet.) It uses another part of my brain that hasn’t been exercised much in the past two years.

Today, we had an event. Since I started last Monday, I haven’t been involved in the planning of said event. Yesterday, I came in the office worried that absolutely no press work had been done. I quickly created a media advisory and tried to find out if anyone had been contacted. Turns out, a couple of people had distributed a press release a few weeks ago and pitched. I followed up with a few calls and hoped for the best. It’s Chattanooga, so I don’t have to worry about some governor having a sex scandal. (DC job was launching a campaign in New York when the Spitzer scandal broke. I was literally about to send an alert when the news hit Drudge). Not that the Scenic City doesn’t have its share of scandals, but the local media always needs community stories.

All three TV stations, the Free Press and Chattanoogan showed up. Professor Hayes would be proud.

As Fanny Price says in the movie version of Mansfield Park, life has settled into a succession of busy nothings. Having survived my first week back in the Scenic City, it’s a wonderful change from the hectic pace of DC.

It’s nice to not check work email at 7 a.m. and realized that since 2 a.m., three or four state legislatures went haywire on your policy issue, and you needed to be in the office 30 minutes ago. It’s nice to be anywhere in the city within 30 minutes. It’s nice to leave work at 5:30 p.m. and not feel like you’re leaving early. It’s nice to go to the grocery store and not wait in line at the check-out for 15 minutes. It’s very nice to smile and wave at people and chitchat with complete strangers.

I heart the South.

The new gig is extremely different. This is the first time that I’ve ventured into fundraising. Thus far, I’ve enjoyed it. I always avoided grantwriting, but after two years of writing persuasive email alerts and websites, it’s an interesting challenge. Rather than convince people in 2.5 seconds to pick up the phone to call their elected official or click on a link to e-mail Congress, I have a few pages to convince a foundation or corporation to give us money.

It’s also a change to switch from policy to a direct-service nonprofit. As much as I enjoy big-picture change, it will be nice to see almost immediate results from my work by successfully funding a program or getting press for an event. There is no decades-long fight or detailed analysis of all 535 members of Congress (or Mondays with seven hours of meetings). Working on policy issues is a much bigger challenge than helping a local nonprofit. Change is extremely slow, and you’re usually very removed from the people that you’re helping. Those are two factors that people need when serving in the nonprofit sector.

It’s also great to be near my family again. DC is a solitary city. Between work and commuting, you spend a lot of time alone. For an introvert like me, who naturally loves being alone, that’s not necessarily a good thing. I’ve appreciated having a family to greet me. The home cooked meals are amazing. I never realized that I didn’t cook–I defrosted. When you work until 6:30 and don’t arrive home until an hour later, you’re too tired to whip up a nutritious meal. No wonder I primarily shopped the frozen food section at Trader Joe’s.

I do miss Ebenezer’s. I need that “third place” that Ebz provided. This is the first week in two years that I’ve gone without coffee. While I still have my daily cup of green tea in the morning, I need my afternoon latte or cafe-au-lait (and Orange Dreamsicle Freezer on the weekends during Hospitality). Chattanooga has no shortage of coffee shops, but they’re just not in any of my direct paths, and parking is an issue.

NCC, I really do miss you. I had no idea that I was attending such an innovative church. For me, it was a friendly place to worship that offered a million ways to get involved. In hindsight, I appreciate you more. Apparently, all the other “young, hip” churches in the country are immolating you, but more on that later.

Officially a full-time Chattanoogan again. Getting used to that will take some time.

Yesterday, I woke up at 4:30 a.m. (after 4 hours of sleep) and left Montgomery County about an hour later. Next time I make the drive to DC, I’ll have to remember to leave super early. By noon, I was already back in Tennessee and able to drive over 65 mph. (Hate Virginia’s speed limit!)

Last week, a co-worker and I were joking that packing is little more than 3-D Tetris (Hi Justin!). Ummm…packing my car with essentials was a work of art. There was literally just enough space for me to sit. When I pulled into the driveway at the Parental’s abode, they were shocked at the amount of stuff crammed in my car and raced to get the camera. I doubt that I could have squeezed a tube of toothpaste in my Accord.

It’s incredibly odd to be back in my parents’ house. I’ve been on my own for so long that it’ll be interesting. However, I’m grateful for this opportunity since I’ll be able to save for a down payment much faster. The Chattanooga housing market doesn’t even compare to DC. You can buy a condo here for under $80,000! No, I’m not missing any digits in front of that. The cheapest condos that I ever found in DC were around $200,000 for a studio. Not only is housing more affordable, but there’s no income tax in Chattanooga!!!!! Just by moving here, I got a raise.

This morning, I attended services at Lookout Mountain Pres and then headed over to Embrace. I’ve followed the church plant for so long that it was awesome to attend. I was blown away. The leadership team has done an amazing job with few resources. However, the best part is seeing the dreams of Beka and Dana come true. Count this as the first of many plugs for Embrace. If you’re looking for a new church home in Chattanooga, come by for visit. At the very least, you’ll get a free breakfast and meet GFTS.

Embrace meets at Loose Cannon Art Gallery on the Southside. Another reason I love Chattanooga–urban renewal. Why did no one mention CreateHere to me? What a great concept! It almost makes me wish I had gone to art school like I planned for most of my life instead of pursuing communications and politics. Well, maybe not. I was never that good and a steady paycheck makes me happy. The field of watercolors isn’t that profitable. (Neither is politics but at least you win some campaigns).

Tomorrow, my career transitions from social media diva to nonprofit fundraising and communications. There’s still some social media involved, but I’ll be returning more to my communication roots. I may even need to pull out my AP Styleguide! Time to change from public health policy to bleeding-heart nonprofit. Anyone willing to pull out their checkbooks?