Blog
Where in the World is Mel?
A Warm Welcome
When Steve Darden called and invited me to speak about my book to the Johnson City Noon Rotary Club, I let him know I was moving over to that club from my previous Tri-Cities Club in July, and would be glad to speak to them!
What a great warm welcome I received as I talked about my book, “Fill the Dam Thing Up!” and shared stories of communicating the Boone Dam project, a $400-million infrastructure project. The dam repair was a 7-year-long project that involved extensive community outreach.
Many thanks to my fellow Rotarians who purchased more books than I have sold since my book launch party, nearly one year ago. Thank you for reading!
"Fill the Dam Thing Up!" is available on Amazon, Audible, the Jonesborough Visitor’s Center, and Hudson’s Books in Kingsport
Do You Remember the 21st Night of September?
It’s hard to believe it has been one year since I launched my book! A book-marketing and PR guru (hey, every PR person needs a good PR person) – Stephanie with Empower PR, taught me to throw a launch party at a memorable time such as your birthday. What a great idea! I threw my party last year on my birthday-eve, September 21.
That date just happens to provide awesome walk-up music that Earth Wind and Fire wrote just for me (well, not really but it’s a great song…) Do you remember the 21st night of September? That’s when I held my launch party in Spark Plaza surrounded by friends and family.
Since that time, my book has launched far more opportunities than I could have imagined!
I have had numerous public speaking occasions - including most recently to my own Johnson City noon Rotary Club; writing opportunities such as the USSD Society publication and consulting opportunities.
If you are thinking about writing a book I say – Go for it!
Daniel Boone Meets Vasco de Gama
​​One of my favorite pastimes is spending time with other Rotarians. They tend to be very interesting people who enjoy learning about other cultures and traveling. When our Johnson City Noon Rotary Club Treasurer Theresa Billings heard I was traveling to the Azores in October with my husband, she sent me abroad with our club flag featuring Daniel Boone. What an honor and privilege it was to take part in an international club flag exchange with Marie Sousa in Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal. I returned with their club flag and presented it to our club’s past president Brackton Smith. The Portuguese love to explore (we saw a statue of Vasco da Gama at the port in Angra, Terceira.) So naturally, Marie enjoyed receiving the flag featuring East Tennessee’s frontier folk hero.
AMAzing Conversation on AI, Internships with ETSU Students
I was recently invited to give a guest talk to ETSU's American Marketing Association organization on the importance of AI and interns—with my intern Kaitlin Robbins, The club’s VP of communications! Students who participate in the group take their own time to participate in club meetings. After our presentation (partially generated by AI), we played a digital version of old-fashioned trivia, including questions on marketing, AI, and Halloween fun facts provided during our discussion. The students loved it and asked great questions about internships, AI, and getting that key first job. I recommend joining a professional student organization to all college students. Having an active chapter of the AMA student group has provided my intern with amazing opportunities, such as traveling to last year’s national conference in New Orleans, taking her first airplane trip, networking with other professionals, and even this internship with MarketingMel. I look forward to seeing where these AMAzing students go in the future!
