THE CHALLENGE

On January 6, 2010 we announced that the IMA was searching for its next blogger and outlined the rules of the contest.

The IMA is searching for its next blogger and we want you! Interested in sharing your thoughts about the IMA from an “outsider’s” perspective? Not afraid to muse publicly about the museum’s programs and exhibitions? Able to attend IMA events and willing to submit 300-600 words once a month? Then you could be the blogger for the job.

THE FINALISTS

After receiving dozens of submissions, the IMA narrowed the field to 5. Over the course of the last 5 weeks, we posted the candidates blog entries. Each had to answer the following questions:

Tell us a little about yourself:
Tell us a story. We want to know how good your yarn-spinning skills are, so give your best anecdote involving an experience you’ve had at the museum.
Why should you be an IMA blogger?

Review the Finalist’s Posts…

• Katie Neville
• Heather McAlister
• Jenni Clarkson
• Crystal Hammon
• Jessica Hancock

THE VOTE

Whose voice do you want to hear on a monthly basis? Blog readers, it’s time for you to decide! From now until March 23 at 11:59 pm you can vote for your favorite finalist.  The winner will be announced on March 24. Don’t forget, what’s at stake – The IMA’s Next Top Blogger gets a free membership to the IMA, invitations to special events throughout the year, and the opportunity to share her thoughts about art, design, the natural environment, and the IMA with the world.

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We challenged America to submit to be the IMA’s next top blogger and America answered.  Over the course of the next month, we’ll post the finalists in the IMA’s “So You Think You Can Blog” contest. After we’ve posted all five entries, we’ll let our blog readers vote for the winner. This week: Meet Heather McAlister.

Name: Heather McAlister, but you may call me Diva.  All my friends do, so why should you be any different?

Tell us a little about yourself.

I was born on a cold January day in 19—oops; I don’t think you really want my life history, right? I’ll just give you the highlights.   I’m a 30-something who has lived in Indianapolis for nearly 13 years.  I work for a large International non-profit organization where I develop, implement, and deploy leadership and educational materials. This really means I think up creative ways to educate those who serve the organization and inspire them to be great leaders.   The members then send me emails or call to say either A.) They love the materials I’ve created, it’s the best stuff they have ever seen, and I’m a genius or B.) They tell me what I’ve written is useless and how could I dare change something that was obviously already perfect and they can’t believe I didn’t consult them when I considered a rewrite.

I’ve learned I am either loved or hated for my work, but you can’t win them all and I need to support my Starbucks habit somehow.   Prior to my foray into the non-profit world, I was a teacher for 11 years.  Most of the time I loved it, but then, I started to love it less and less.  It’s sort of akin to a relationship.  You know you love the person, but you soon realize even love won’t keep you from wanting to beat them senseless with a cast-iron skillet when they do things that annoy you and no matter how hard you try, you just can’t ignore them.  I think I stayed as long as I did because I always had an excuse to buy new crayons and markers in August.  Yes, I went into teaching because I love the smell of new crayons and freshly sharpened pencils.    I’m creative—I paint pottery and make greeting cards.  I sing in the church choir.  I am training for my second Mini Marathon—mostly to see if maybe this year I don’t lose four toenails.

I’m also addicted to Facebook, Twitter, Starbucks Hot Chocolate (Ho Cho in Diva World), and my iPhone.   Eventually, I would love to write full time.  I aspire to be best friends with Jen Lancaster, author of Bitter is the New Black, so we can sit around and snark on people, write about it and get paid.  Until that time comes, I’ll keep my comments to myself and occasionally my Facebook page because really, how does anyone expect me to keep all of this in all the time?  I can only keep my ADHD tendencies under control for so long before it all just comes gushing out. Read the rest of this entry »

We challenged America to submit to be the IMA’s next top blogger and America answered.  Over the course of the next month, we’ll post the finalists in the IMA’s “So You Think You Can Blog” contest. After we’ve posted all five entries, we’ll let our blog readers vote for the winner. This week: Meet Jenni Clarkson.

You ask me,”Are you a blogger?”  My response is, “Not yet.”  My name is Jenni Clarkson, and I would like to be the next IMA blogger.  I’m 37 years old and live on the west side of Indianapolis, not far from IMA.  My Bachelor of Arts degree was initially just supposed to be in English, but I wound up with a double major in English and Art because I couldn’t stop taking art classes.  My current day job is as Assistant Managing Editor of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.  It’s a good gig for someone with an English major, but it’s not the most creative place for me.  That’s why I decided a couple of years ago to start taking some art classes again.  My hobbies include reading and writing (but certainly not arithmetic), as well as creating art, looking at art, and talking art with anyone who is willing. I should be the next IMA blogger because I love art, and I am enthusiastic about sharing that love.

You’ll find a sample ’story’ below.  Read the rest of this entry »

We challenged America to submit to be the IMA’s next top blogger and America answered.  Over the course of the next month, we’ll post the finalists in the IMA’s “So You Think You Can Blog” contest. After we’ve posted all five entries, we’ll let our blog readers vote for the winner. This week: Meet Crystal Hammon.

If I want to become part of the IMA’s blogging team (and I do), I’m supposed to write something about myself and the best anecdote or experience I had at the museum.

What is best? Best for you to read or best for me to have? I don’t know. It’s all been good. So I’ll just give you my top five experiences and let you decide what’s best. Let’s save the boring bio stuff for the end. I’ll try not to make it too boring, yet totally true. Have you noticed how easily people brag/exaggerate in their online bios? Everybody is a guru of something. Not me. But we’ll talk about that later. Read the rest of this entry »