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Show Notes: Lena Levine (Girl Develop It) and Megan McNally (The Foundry), Episode 5

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We combined two interviews into a single podcast for this one becasue we thought that both of our guests are indicative of something new, interesting and exciting in Buffalo: a sense that anyone can make an impact if they’re willing to do the work. That’s a feeling that I am not sure existed in this city for the past several decades.

The first half of the podcast is our interview with Lena Levine, a local developer and one of the leaders of Buffalo’s Girl Develop It chapter. Lena has a fascinating story -- she’s a Russian immigrant who carved out a space for herself in the male-dominated university program she attended in her home country before moving to the U.S., realizing she had no interest in a corporate job, and launched her own design / dev business. 

Lena has also become one of the city’s leading advocates for women in STEM careers, which, coincidentally, is one of the hottest topics in the industry. It was great talking with Lena, and the conversation you’ll hear is only a portion of the long, winding discussion we had with Lena earlier this year.

Here’s a link to Lena’s business, Lena Levine Studio, and examples of some of her work.

Learn more about Buffalo’s Girl Develop It chapter’s doings.

Here’s an interview Lena did with Trocaire College back in December.

Interested in your own tech entrepreneural opportunities? Keep an eye on what’s happening at Dig Buffalo. 

Looking for more info on women in STEM? Check out STEMinist.com for profiles, stats and community links, or read about the White House Women in STEM initiative.

And who’s running the Women in STEM initiative for the White House? Buffalo’s own Megan Smith.

Part two of the podcast is a conversation with Megan McNally, an Ivy League-educated woodworker, entrepreneur and, now, executive director of The Foundry -- Buffalo’s makerspace hive on the city’s East Side. 

Megan, like Lena, defies convention. Similarly uninterested in a gray flannel life, Megan graduated from college and promptly changed course, diving into a career in woodworking and social responsibility that is guaranteed to be inspiring to anyone who ever wondered if it was possible to ditch it all and do what they love instead (which is not to say it’s been an easy ride for Megan). Her dedication to reuse, neighborhood improvement and education are heartening, and we look forward to seeing what projects Megan develops next.

Here’s a link to Megan’s woodworking business, Rusted Grain.

And here is a link to The Foundry, a space that is giving non-tech entrepreneurs in Buffalo a place to chase their dream.

Megan has been featured in media throughout the region. Here’s a piece on The Foundry from Oct. 2014 that gives great background and current stats on that project.

Back in October, The Foundry got a $100,000 grant from The First Niagara Fund -- here’s the Buffalo News story.

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Music has never tasted so good.

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🐝🍞BREAD - HIVE 🍞🐝 I finally found it!

#Bread #Bagel #BreadHive #Buffalo #BuffaloNY #RichmondGrotto #RichmondRascals #RascalReservoir #Brunch #SundayFunday #Westside #Bae #Boyfriend #Gay #GayCouple #Homo #InstaHomo #InstaGay #Spring #MyLife #Adventures #Friends #Family (at BreadHive)

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Cal Tjader Quintet, 1956. 

Cover art by Betty Brader.

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Show Notes: SXSW 2015, Episode 4

Our latest podcast offers you, the listener, a quick run down of Frank (left) and my experiences during our recent week in Austin, Texas as attendees at SXSW Interactive 2015. A grand time was had by all, and we learned a lot that we will take back to our other lives as famous admen.

Here are some of the relevant links from the new show:

We talk about our terrifying experience in an airplane over Austin -- it really happened, and here’s the aviation write-up.

We also talk fairly extensively about Tim Ferriss, a favorite of ours who we saw speak at the Austin Convention Center. Tim is definitely worth looking up, and here is his website. 

Frank discusses some of the lessons he learned from the ad agency Huge -- check Huge out online.

I also discuss the athletic performance groups EXOS, agent CJ Laboy and Buffalo Bill Aaron Williams, all of whom are worthy of further reading.

In case you’re not 100% sure what SXSW Interactive is, it’s worth reading about. I know the cool kids are over “South By,” but it is a pretty amazing experience if you’re into marketing, advertising, development, media or pop culture. If you’re not into those things, it’s really just a huge hassle.

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Show Notes: Episode 3, Del Reid

So late with these show notes -- the FIELD RECORDINGS crew (meaning Frank, pictured above, left, and me, on the right) was in Austin for a week for the SXSW Interactive conference and did not get a lot of podcast work done. We’ll be telling the stories of our Texas adventures in our next episode, which should be up later this week. 

Anyhow:

Episode 3 is now live at Soundcloud, and our guest was Del Reid (center) of 26Shirts.com. Del is well-known for his work not only with the popular garment company but also for co-founding the Bills Mafia, the loose network of Bills fans that coalesced through social media to become one of the driving populist forces behind the lovable losers (not for long!) here in Buffalo.

One note: we recorded this podcast in late January, so a lot of the roster moves -- Shady McCoy, Matt Cassel, the Charles Clay situation, etc. - had yet to happen, which is why they are not addressed.

Links to check out:

Background on the infamous Stevie Johnson drop against Pittsburgh.

Tweets with the Bills Mafia hashtag.

A story from The Saratogian on Del’s work with 26Shirts. 

The 26Shirts t-shirt archive. Lots of these are beauties.

Joe Ferguson’s Football Reference page. Note how he attempted a scant 164 passes as a starter in 1973 and then led the league in attempts with 457 in 1977 (the year I was born!). Fergie also led the NFL in passing yards with 2,803 that same season. I think Drew Brees has thrown for that in a game.

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Show notes: Episode 2, The Traditional

Does anyone look good in the photo above? This shot of Frank (second from left) and me (first on left) and Buffalo hardcore outfit thetraditional shows six pasty guys on a snowy January afternoon who really aren't thrilled about getting their pictures taken. 

The band was at my house (that's the living room / recording studio) to star on the second ever FIELD RECORDINGS podcast, and you can listen to the interview now -- it's a lot more laid-back than the vibe coming off this photo, believe me.

It came out pretty well.

Some notes from the show:

You can find The Traditional on Facebook, you can tweet them on Twitter, you can buy / hear their music on Bandcamp, and you can get their new album How to Live Without Blood and assorted merch on their label Anchor Eighty Four's store.

The Buffalo News posted a photo gallery from The Traditional's album release party on Jan. 25 at Waiting Room in Buffalo.

We recorded this interview back in January, but if you want to see The Traditional live, the band is slated to play on Sunday, April 19 at Waiting Room. 

If you feel like doing some reading, you can use your big ol' brain to peruse this post from Buffalo Spree. 

Thanks again to Anthony, Jon, Ryan and Michael for taking the time.

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Get out those headphones, gang: it's our conversation with Buffalo pop punk faves The Traditional. We talk to the guys about their origin story, how they write songs, life on the road and Jon's near-brush with country music purgatory. BONUS MATERIAL: The story of Frank's short-lived and tragic career in music. A MUST LISTEN.

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REVIEW: The Traditional - How to Live without Blood

The Traditional recently announced being signed to Anchor Eighty-Four records, and with that also came the announcement of their debut LP: How To Live Without Blood, a record about how vocalist/bassist Anthony Musior got through things and feelings with having the passing of his father.

Read More

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Coming this week on FIELD RECORDINGS: An interview with Buffalo pop punk band The Traditional. Many thanks to Anthony, Michael, Ryan and Jon for coming to record the show straight from work on a Saturday afternoon. Glad you guys liked the couch.

Also noteworthy: the opening track on each FIELD RECORDINGS podcast is actually "Disaster" from the band's new album, How to Live Without Blood. You can buy the record at the Anchor Eighty Four store.

Go live date is Wednesday, March 4 at the FIELD RECORDINGS Soundcloud page. 

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Show Notes, Ep. 1: Colin Dabkowski

So we went over a lot of stuff in our podcast with Colin Dabkowski of The Buffalo News, and I wanted to include some links to the stuff we discussed.

First of all, here is a link to Colin's work at The Buffalo News. Warning: There is a paywall that goes up after 10 monthly views. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. #

Colin's An Open Letter to the New Urbanist Movement, which was mighty controversial

Colin's Buffalo School Board stages theater of the absurd, which was pretty funny and sadly apt

Colin's Ten memorable moments from the year in culture, one of the few Buffalo News top 10 lists that didn't make me want to roll my eyes until I was staring at my own brain

We talked about the Albright-Knox, Burchfield Penney, Shark Girl, Shea's, Torn Space and a few other things that I can't remember off the top of my head, but these are all worth checking out

The Millennials Are Moving to Buffalo & Living Like Kings post from Gothamist that was a bit less starry-eyed than many other #Buffalove pieces

The Daily Public and Artvoice are Buffalo's two warring alt-papers, and both are online, too

The audio should improve in future podcasts as I learned not to lean away from the microphone (who knew?). Any and all suggestions, ideas, criticism is welcome. Well, not all criticism. -- Ben

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OK from left to right this is Frank, Ben and our first guest, Colin Dabkowski of The Buffalo News. He talks about college, art and the pleasant parts and dark sides of life in Buffalo, America's newest hipster paradise. 

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Very excited to drop S1E1 of the Field Recordings podcast. Let us know what you think!