Who is Ed Bartlett? Marine. Football fan. Music lover and social media advocate. He carves pumpkins with a chainsaw and is a guy who described being laid off as “perfect timing.” If you live along the Connecticut shoreline you may know his name because in just over one year, Bartlett has made it his job to pull together the people, artists, bands, and businesses of Connecticut.

Laid off from Linquist Builders Supply in March 2009, Bartlett wasn’t upset about it. His career had been successful and made him a good living, but it wasn’t until he started a Facebook page called Shoreline Out and About that he found his mission.

It had gotten to the point where I was unable to complete a thought or a task. This was so unlike me that I wondered if perhaps there was something physically wrong. Communications poured into my life. Emails on my desktop, laptop, Ipod and cellphone. SMS and voice messages. Phone calls, events, social media and news reports. Before I knew it, my day was done and all I had managed was to keep up with comms. I was getting tense and despite my attempts at giving every project my upmost attention, my day was becoming a patchwork of triage.

Next Thursday, November 4th, I’ll be attending the second meeting of the Connecticut Blogger’s Group at Thali’s in New Haven. This start-up group is the brain child of Ed Bartlett who has made it his mission connecting people and businesses in Connecticut. What an honor it is for me to be included in the inaugural group where these good people seek to create a change in their community and in the lives of their readers. Some of the best and brightest, their names include:

Featuring Ann Willoughby at Billings Forge Community Works, Hartford Connecticut

As creatives, we put design thinking into practice every day with clients. But, what happens when we apply that thinking outside of the office to other places and spaces? Inspiration that leads to transformation.

AIGA CT, in coordination with Sappi Fine Paper and Billings Forge Community Works, invites you to spend an evening with nationally respected designer Ann Willoughby of Willoughby Design as she shares stories of unique spaces and how they deepen our work and play, change lives and shape a community. This event includes dinner of handmade pizza that you and other guests will create with the wheat grown and harvested (all by bicycle!) by Billings Forge artist-in-residence Ted Efremoff of Bread Cycle Works.

Next weekend, October 16th, I’ll be taking a blanket, a warm woolen sweater and a picnic basket to The Sanctuary at Shepardfields in East Haddam Connecticut. My plan is to spend twelve hours unplugged (sorta), writing in the sunshine, and listening to the 14 bands which are scheduled for the Sanctuary’s Local Music Tribal Summit. I can not wait. The day should prove a wonderful mix of music and friends.