Welcome to the halfway point of the year! From the onset, 2015 was destined to be a banner year – the kind of story that was packed with so much that a narrative would be epic and the movie version a two-parter. And since I’m narrating this story, that means the soundtrack would be a multi-disc compilation as well.1
At the stroke of midnight last New Year’s Eve, RivalCast Media was in the process of moving to video streams and trying new projects designed around building and engaging our community. I was starting what I’ve come to refer to as “finishing school for badassery:” combining management skills and team building with projects and marketing, creating and running public events, building networks, making friends, writing consistently, sharing that writing with others, kicking ass, and taking names.2 2015 was a time for ideas, but more importantly, it was a time for setting those ideas into motion. No more sitting on our hands saying “wouldn’t it be nice if…” No. As I said to my creative team numerous times over the past few months, I wasn’t walking into this looking to make a splash. I was looking to cannonball into the deep end with such force that the spectators on the pool deck would be left dripping wet in my wake, looking around at themselves going “what the hell just happened?” And the best part was, I’d finally found the team I’d been looking for to give us the best chance of being successful.
2015 for me started off, literally, with a bottle of my favorite pink champagne paired with a promise of late nights and early mornings. The first “early morning” took place a few hours later when I found myself slightly hungover and driving to Pittsburgh to meet up with a friend from the RCM community. We followed that up with a plan for using our social media outlets more effectively, launched a new show, negotiated the organization of the very first Orbfest open to the public, experimented with new marketing ideas, created new partnerships and started making outside broadcasting friends, laid the groundwork for what I hope (nay, fully expect) to be a solid writing and mentorship program by this time next year, and then as June came to a close we executed not only the first massive RCM convention,3 but also did it with a live video feed from the middle of nowhere, in the mountains, during a thunderstorm.
Not bad for the first six months. But wait til you see what’s on tap for Part Two…Monday night’s charity stream for Operation Supply Drop is just the beginning 
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The soundtrack (part one)
1. Video Killed the Radio Star [Presidents of the United States of America] – Yes, I did start the drive to Pittsburgh New Year’s morning with this song.
2. Some Nights [F.U.N.] (note – this is their official music video in its entirety. Skip about a minute in to get to the actual song)
3. First Day Of My Life [Bright Eyes]
5. Blank Space [Postmodern Jukebox feat. Ariana Savalas] – the inspirational backdrop for On Tap!
6. One of Those Days [Joy Williams]
7. You and I [Ingrid Michaelson]
8. Steady, As She Goes [The Raconteurs]
9. Set It On Fire [My Darkest Days]
10. Secrets [Simply Three] – this one plays into Agents of Arachnos quite a bit
12. Such Great Heights [Postmodern Jukebox]
13. Can’t Help Falling in Love [Ingrid Michaelson]
14. Hey Brother [Avicii] – Baron actually made a nice remix of this
15. Now It’s Over [Black Widow] – This one is also referenced in Hax’s dream sequence for Episode 9 of Agents of Arachnos
16. Pass Slowly [Seether] – for those of you who asked, this was the song Baron and the future Baroness were dancing to at the beginning of Agents of Arachnos Episode 3
17. Portal – Still Alive [Vitamin String Quartet]
18. Short Skirt/Long Jacket [Cake] – or as Dee would say, “MY BODY IS READY.”
Bring on 2015 Part Two!
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1 Aside to readers born after the year 1998: a “disc” was a recordable way to store and transport media data prior to digital downloads and cloud technology making it possible to have any music from anyone anywhere available at the touch of a button. As much as I hate iTunes, I have to give them credit for pushing the accessibility of media to new heights.
2 And other appropriate contact information.
3 Representatives from six states plus Portugal, baby! Not bad for a first run!
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