VTF July 2024 Newsletter

Hi, ,

This month kicked off with a big family Fourth of July celebration, the middle was filled with a whole lot of work/design/selling, and now we’re already mapping out back to school fall activities! I've been savoring every sun-soaked moment of this Colorado summer – between family adventures, work breakthroughs, and a lot of time on the trail, I feel like I'm living my best "choose your own adventure" story.

My siblings’ families, my kids, and I took a trip to Crested Butte together! It was like a Norman Rockwell painting, if Norman Rockwell had a penchant for sunburn and burnt marshmallows. And the cherry on top? Running into two of my oldest college friends at the Fourth of July parade in this tiny mountain town! Sometimes the world is small in the most perfect of ways. We played, we ran, we splashed in the water – it was the kind of trip that makes you forget about your inbox (until you wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat reaching for the phone). A FAVORITE FAMILY TRADITION: You already know that we are a die hard Dutch baby family, but what you don't know is that it all started with the popover. Here's my go-to recipe! I swear Ina Garten is a gateway drug!

After months of coding, caffeine, and the occasional sleep deprivation hallucination, our digital baby is ready to tease out to world. We are *officially* pre-selling Partytrick's new platform and software offering! [Cue triumphant victory march!] What does our software do? Cue my inner nerd: Partytrick powers repeatable events at scale for businesses (their consumers AND their teams). Our content-loaded project management tool is an efficiency nut's dream. And our ability to capture the data and metrics to support ROI analysis and the optimization of biz efforts (🤓) is going to change the game. Now businesses will know exactly whether their demos/tradeshows/brand activations/experiential marketing efforts are really paying off.  The feedback so far? Has been more fun than an open bar at a wedding with a good DJ. We're focusing on the beverage industry first, helping companies craft (no pun intended) memorable, measurable experiences. Curious what it’s all about? Drop me a line, and I'll give you a sneak peek of the platform. And…shameless plug...please send your friends our way!! We are ALL impacted by the events, partnerships, demos, and more around us. Imagine if, as a planner, you got to actually enjoy the process of executing them, and as an attendee, you got to truly enjoy being at them?  MY FAVE BEVVIES THESE DAYS: It has been a Juliet and Aplós summer for me!

True to my word, I've been planted firmly on Colorado soil this entire month. I'm like the human version of those "Colorado Native" bumper stickers you see everywhere. My marathon training continues, and with the Rockies as my personal treadmill, who could complain?! At least while I’m gasping for air at altitude, the view is phenomenal. Training at almost 40 is definitely different than when I trained for the 2019 marathon.  But it hasn't been all sweat and high protein diets. I had the incredible opportunity to host another event for the Female Founder Collective in Denver mid-month (again, shameless plug - we powered the event with Partytrick as we’ve been piloting experiences for their city leads). I love being in the room for these events. It was like a TED talk, a group therapy session, and a networking event all rolled into one. WHERE I GO FOR A BOOST OF MOTIVATION: I am listing to this audiobook right now, and it's so *BEEPING* GOOD! Catch me listening to it, and you'll probably see me pumping my fists in the air and periodically yelling, "YESSS!" to no one in