I have had the chance to attend a couple of Berkshire Creatives smaller networking events but 3 times a year they hold larger “SPARK” events throughout the county and last night was my first time attending one.
The Mount – Photo Credit: EdithWharton.org
It took place at The Mount in Lenox which is the estate of the famous Edith Wharton. Tom and I had never been there before so I was excited for the networking event as well as a chance to visit a new place. We parked in a large parking lot and walked down a long dirt road that lead to the main house. The walk there only took a couple of minutes and it was a beautiful short walk surrounded by trees, ferns, and a magical whimsical feeling that emanated from the property.
Berkshire Creative, check them out!
We arrived at the main house and we made our way inside and up the stairs. The house was beautiful but we didn’t have much time to look at that point so we found our way to the terrace where the SPARK event was being held. If you have any interest in any job within the creative community whether you have any experience or not Berkshire Creative is an amazing group of people who work hard to put together these networking events that can get you connected with people in fields you might be interested in. You can find opportunities to work on projects and learn as much as you can from some of the best in their fields.
Inside of the Main House
That is pretty much what happened to me, I have made some amazing connections and I have recently landed myself a job/internship with WAM Theatre as the marketing associate which is providing me some amazing learning opportunities and connecting me with some very talented people! I feel very fortunate to have such an opportunity without having to set it all up through an over priced university that just isn’t practical for me to be attending at the moment anyway. It is very inspiring and motivating to finally have found the people who are willing to mentor and guide younger and less experienced people in hope that they too can succeed and become a productive citizen of our community. I am proof!
Find out more about WAM!
At the event, you check in and you are assigned a color which will determine what group you are in. At first it is always a bit intimidating for me but after attending the smaller events called “SPARKettes” I had noticed how much I gained from putting my talents out there that I was excited to see who I might meet at the larger SPARK event. Last night I was there to represent WAM Theatre as their marketing associate(which is why there is not a lot of photos, sorry!). For those of you who do not know about WAM please take a moment to find out a bit more on our website. WAM stands for Women’s Action Movement and it is a non-profit theater company that uses their productions to raise money twice a year, once for an international organization that works towards providing opportunities for women, and again for a local organization that does the same. It is inspired by a book called “Half The Sky – Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide” by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. I am currently in the process of reading this book myself and I have to say that as hard wrenching and hard to read as these stories are this book is focused on the people who helped present these women with new opportunities to succeed. Even if you don’t have the money to donate, spreading the word about WAM alone can have a huge impact!
Our group was full of some extremely talented people, writers, photographers, marketing experts, animators, and tons of other talents. Many of the people around had multiple talents and had lots of great information and opportunities to offer. We were out on the terrace overlooking the gardens and all I could think about is how amazing it would be to get married there next October, I did actually get to talk to someone about that as well while I was there. It is hardly in our budget I am sure but a girl can dream right?
A small theater on the 3rd Floor
We finished up our groups and Tom and I ended up taking a quick tour of the beautiful main house before they had to close up. We will definitely go back to visit the property when we are not attending an event that way there is more time to stop and read and check it all out. Some of you might recognize “The Mount” from the famous TV show “Ghost Hunters” as well. (SPOILER:Check out a clip of the findings) While we were on the 3rd floor they were starting to close up and we heard some of them talking about the ghosts, and that this was about the time they started coming out so I didn’t have to much of a problem heading out! We said our goodbyes and made our way back down the beautiful dirt road to our car.
If you are interested in moving out of your rut in life and meeting new people and finding new opportunities you need to check out one of Berkshire Creative’s events. Whether you have experience or not it is a great way to find out more about anything you might be interested in or connect with people who have similar interests. It is always FREE and the SPARKettes always have delicious free food so please don’t be shy and just stop in and say hello!! Check out some of their upcoming events including the next SPARKette* for Music/Performing Arts on September 14th at Jae’s Spice on North St in Pittsfield!
Tags: Art, Berkshire Creative, creative, Event, Free, Networking
This entry was posted on Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at 10:47 am and is filed under Arts, Culture, Events, Lenox. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Kaitlyn is a gal on the move – great post from her about attending SPARK at the Mount via Berkshire Creative.