About
If people had tag lines mine would be “connector of humans and awesomeness.”
Earlier …
I moved to Boston from Nebraska during the summer of 1994. I’m from a town of 1010 people, so I intended to spend a three-month vacation exploring a much bigger city with friends in the area who I met online in college leading up to the summer. It’s now almost fifteen years later and that first summer hasn’t ended yet. My first project on the web was at my first Internet job in the Fall of 1995 — a coworker and I created a music video website streaming recorded Boston concerts on the web.
Life and work is an adventure.
In the late 1990s through early 2000’s I hosted a big annual sushi party for web industry colleagues and peers gathering in Boston for a web conference. April 2000 I was the event planner for the Geek Pride Festival held at the Boston Park Plaza Castle attended by over 3,000 people. The event included geek celebrity speakers, a 500-person Quake gaming tournament, trivia contest, live music and more. I helped raise $90,000 for the 12-hour celebration of geekiness.
Sooz?
A friend gave me the nickname Sooz in 1997 and it stuck.
The Web Marketing and Event Planning Consultant
I returned to the world of freelance and consulting work in January of 2008. My work encompasses event planning, web marketing, social media, inbound marketing, website project management and photography. If you are looking for help on a project, contact me at sooz(at)sooz.com or 617-379-0637.
In 2008 I was the event planner for Drupalcon Boston attended by 850 people throughout four days at the Boston Convention Center and then 100 people participated in a full-day code sprint at MIT on Friday. I coordinated all the event logistics and managed a $500,000 budget. Read what people had to say about their experiences at Drupalcon Boston. For the second half of 2008 I was a contractor at SolidWorks working on website project management and web marketing projects.
The Entrepreneur
From 1999-2004 I hosted a monthly networking lunch for people working on their own. That project relaunched in 2009 as Free Agent Jungle — an event and education company for people who are working on their own as free agents, freelancers and consultants. We are focused on providing support, community, networking and resources for people working on their own. Initially launching in Boston, MA, the company will expand into other cities throughout New England in 2009 and then other metropolitan cities throughout the country in 2010.
The Photographer
What started as a love for concert photography has transformed into work as a freelance photographer — music and concert events, social events, networking events, conferences, weddings and restaurants. I enjoy anticipating a moment right before it happens and capturing it with a photo without getting in the way of the event itself. View my photography portfolio. (The portfolio is a work in progress and doesn’t have all the photos there just yet.)
Labors of Love
I was part of the team of organizers for the first Podcamp Boston in 2006 as well as events in 2007 and 2008. I’ve been one of the organizers of Boston Barcamp since 2006. I am a member of the South by Southwest Interactive Festival Advisory Board. I created the Interactive Playpen with Ryan Gantz that has been part of SXSW Interactive since 2007 — a huge area of the conference floor with thousands of LEGO blocks.
Cheers
My work has been profiled in CIO Magazine, USA Today, The Boston Globe, The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Herald, Stuff@Night, The MIT Technology Review, The Improper Bostonian, Los Angeles Times and on ABCNews.com and CNN.
