TEDxKC & Brené Brown

Hi all!  Coming off of my high of the soccer game yesterday, I have some more good news.

You all know that I work/sleep some funky hours.  Well, I heard that the TEDxKC tickets were going to become available today, and since I knew that Brené Brown is going to be one of the speakers, I knew I had to do everything in my power to get tickets.  You can read an article in the KC Star about the event here.  It says, though, that she is going to be speaking on social anxiety and human behavior.  Score!

I went to bed around 5am, originally setting my alarm for 9:00am just to see if they might be available then.  I actually ended up waking up a little before eight and checked, but they weren’t available yet.  I reset my alarm for about 10:45 thinking that surely they’ll be available by then, but it’s still early in the day, so I shouldn’t have a problem getting tickets (which are free).

Ha.  I just happened to wake up around 8:30 or so and thought hey, I’m awake, I’ll check Twitter to see if they’ve announced that they’re available.  Well, they hadn’t, but one guy that I follow did.  I hopped onto the site ASAP and got a “server busy” message.  I hit refresh a few times and was finally able to order the maximum of two tickets.

(Let me quickly throw in here a “WHOOHOO I’m going to get to see/hear Brené Brown speak in person”)

Well, it is apparently much more popular than I thought, because all 650 tickets were gone in an hour.  Completely sold out.  Insanity!  But I am beyond excited that I get to go.  Even a busy night at work didn’t change that.

Most of you have seen me post about Brené’s work or mention her on here many, many times, so you know how much I admire what she does.  I think she’s an amazing woman and want to be more like her “when I grow up.”  If you haven’t already, check out her website here.  Her blog is usually wonderful, heartfelt, and thought-provoking.

I originally became acquainted with her work when I discovered her book, “I Thought It Was Just Me,” on sale at Borders.  One of the best non-fiction works I’ve ever read.  She explains her research in an easy, down-to-earth way and is very open about sharing how it relates to her own experiences.

She also has a new book coming out in September (I believe) called “The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are.” And if you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, then you know that I’m dying to get my hands on it.

Here is a list of some of the posts in which I’ve mentioned her or her work.  There are even a couple that she commented on.  I also posted on Twitter that I got my tickets and was excited to see her and she responded!  I know there are going to be over 650 people there, but am really hoping to get to meet her!

Anyway, the event is on August 12th.  Expect to hear more about it in the coming weeks!