Being Geek Chic is a blog for stylish geeks, sophisticated nerds and people who enjoy the musings of a complete dork. Join us as we dream of driving the TARDIS, cuddle with our eBooks and test out an iPad sleeve. It's written by Elizabeth Giorgi and a team of brilliant lady nerds. Meet the team.
Meet Jamie Millard! She’s a geeky, techy, spunky, literary whirlwind who’s got a ton of different projects up her sleeve. For starters, she holds a day job as a Client Relationship Manager for Fast Horse, an über-hip Minneapolis-based marketing agency.
But that’s just the beginning. She also serves as the vice chair on the board of directors for the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network – Twin Cities; she’s the Editor in Chief of Pollen, a publication/community “composed of civic-minded connectors who share ideas, career and civic engagement opportunities and peer-to-peer recognition;” and to top it off, she’s the co-founder and Executive Director of Paper Darts, a literary magazine, publisher, and creative agency that’s driving the Minneapolis lit scene.
I know, right?! When does this girl sleep?
In hindsight, I should have asked this for her interview. Alas! Read on, and follow Millard on Twitter @jjmillard.
Q: Could you tell us a bit about the inspiration for launching Paper Darts?
A: Paper Darts was partly birthed out of unemployment – the need to keep myself busy, inspired, and active. But also, me and my fellow co-founders felt there was an open space for a platform to tell irreverent, but resonating stories and do so in a way that embraced design like no other publishing model. To this day we are inspired by the combinations of art and lit and the new story that is created when these genres mix.
Q: What is your favorite aspect of working at Fast Horse?
A: I absolutely love the variety in projects and the core value of creativity. Everything Fast Horse touches pushes boundaries of boldness. It’s an environment where big thinking and fresh ideas thrive. Within my specific work, I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to work on accounts with mission-driven organizations—a space where I have extensive experience and passion. Plus, I get to list the “five video game combat moves I wish I could do IRL” in my official bio—that’s awesome.
Q: Got a 5-year plan?
A: I’m totally a 5-year plan type of gal. Actually, I used to have a 10-year plan—I even signed and dated it. Before Fast Horse, I had been previously entrenched in the nonprofit sector, and once I accepted the position, I kind of threw my 10-year plan out the window. I’ll probably sit down and recreate another 10-year plan, and then who knows, in 3 years from now I’ll probably end up throwing it out the window again.
Q: If you could take any fictional character out for a drink, whom would you choose and what would you drink?
A: I’d buy Luigi a whiskey ginger and ask him about his brother issues.
Q: What would you tell your 13-year-old self?
A: When you get to high school and college, don’t beat yourself up so much for hiding inside and playing so many video games. You’ll turn out just fine.
(Photo Credit: Minneapolis Institute of Arts)
Post by Emma Bauer, who works as BGC’s official intern. Clearly, she’s got great taste. She is a PR enthusiast, history scholar, tea drinker, fashion devotee, and of course, aspires to Be Geek Chic.
Follow her on twitter: @emmalynnbauer
I am not a “night life” person. Most Saturday nights for me involve watching a movie on my couch with popcorn on my legging wearing lap. Usually, my boyfriend is reading some insanely nerdy book nearby and the fireplace is glowing. This is how two Midwesterners survive the winter together.
But every once in a while, my girlfriends and I shine our dancing shoes, slip on some bling and put on our game face. This time was a little different though. Our game face meant zeroing in on A and B buttons and our purses were heavy with shiny silver Washingtons. Or quarters, if you will.
Insert Coin(s) is a new vintage arcade mixed with a dance club. Plus some wireless modern gaming if you can afford bottle service. It’s only the second in the country, the first is in Las Vegas, and it’s definitely found a good home in Minneapolis. We are an artsy, nerdy and fun-loving crowd the clientele definitely represented this.
I’ll be the first to admit: this concept works. Sure, I was sucking it up at Super Mario Bros because I was very busy swaying my hips to the loud Top 100 beats - but it was fun. Sub-standard gaming abilities aside, it turns out buzzed Space Invaders is more hilarious than regular Space Invaders. Who knew? And if you ever found yourself thinking, Pac-Man could be drastically improved with a Ke$ha track, well, this is your testing ground for that theory. (Yes, it’s better. Oddly.)
This ladies night out was made even more fun, because drunk nerdy boys dancing like robots and cowboys on acid is a surprisingly uncommon site in most bars around here. Not to generalize, but we’re a reserved and stoic people. It was honestly a 50/50 split between ladies and gents on the dance floor and I had more fun dancing there than I have at most “rave” style clubs.
Pickup line of the night goes to a dude who zeroed in on my lovely friend MM. His exact words: “You’d have to gain 100 pounds before you’d ever consider going out with me.”
Dude, what? Just buy us a round on NBA Jam. Quit dissing yourself and show us your skillz.
A couple of thoughts on how Insert Coin(s) could be improved:
1. The Lady Dancers: I really hate this about all nightclubs, but for some reason it all just seems so lazy here. The dudes working at the club wear dashing suits and the women are wearing cut up bikini tops and glow sticks. They are “crowd pleasers” or something of the type. On top of that, there were these barkeep girls in blue bustiers that were so tight, I wondered how they could even bend over. If you want girls to be dressed up and looking ridiculous, why not play into your theme and go for full on Cosplay? There are so many sexy video game themed ladies you could start with: Lara Croft, Jill Valentine or Samus Aran. The possibilities are really endless and they would make a girl like me much more excited about those gyrating hips.
2. Hand Sanitizer: Have you heard? The flu is going around in Minnesota. Suddenly, those Frogger controls look like a contagion area.
3. Coat Check: It’s 0 degrees here right now. There is NO way you can go from car to club without catching pneumonia. I had to start a dance party in line for my coat because it took 45 minutes before I got my hands on my down blanket with sleeves. Get a systems engineer in there and streamline that shit.
If you live in the Twin Cities or you are just visiting for the weekend, I recommend Insert Coin(s). Get a roll of quarters, pack the hand sanitizer and set a new record on Galaga.
Sometimes I’m shocked by how much nerd shit I can pack into one weekend.
Despite the rainy weather, I had an excellent weekend. The Avengers was delightful entertainment. I laughed, I *almost* cried and I swooned. Based on the box office totals, I’m guessing others felt the same. A great movie has a way of sticking with you for several days afterward.
I visited Twin City Comics on Saturday for Free Comic Book Day. Did you visit your local comic book shop? It struck me that comic book stores may be one of the only business models in the United States that hasn’t been incorporated. As a result, they each have their own unique local angles and personalities. My local shop has this incredible mural, which impresses me even in instagram form. It just furthers my belief that we all need to shop local and prioritize our spending when we can. Yes, Amazon is convenient, but it’s slowly killing small bastions of beauty on our streets. I’m not ready to lose that.
As I mentioned last month, I’ve never seen Doctor Who. Well, not until this weekend anyway. Rainy weekends are the perfect time to cuddle up with the boyf and a blanket and go on a tv series binge. So far, I’m enjoying it. I started with the 2005 reboot and I’ve got the old series in my queue. The quality of the special effects is sometimes shockingly bad, but perhaps it was a case of bad timing. After experiencing the seamless beauty of The Avengers FX, it probably ruined it for me by comparison. Either way, I’m charmed.
I just wanted it to be noted that this weekend might be tough to top.
Go support your local artists!
Art-A-Whirl this weekend! Bring an umbrella and have fun!
