I went to my first Taste of Chicago today with A*, La Petite Tricoteuse and her Captain, and their friend from Michigan. My back was still killing me and I had run out of ibuprofen (of course, because I really needed it, it went into hiding). I thought, No problem. There will be plenty of drugstores on the walk from the train station to Grant Park. No, my little friends, this is alas not true. We passed by a CVS Pharmacy and a Walgreens, both closed on Sundays. Excuse me? In downtown Chicago? It just doesn’t seem right. Hallelujah choirs sung out when we passed by a handy mart type place that not only was open but fully stocked with Motrin. I immediately took some.
Now with drugs in hand, we made our way to Grant Park to meet up with the others and gorge on yummy treats. I had a Chicago-style hot dog, corn on the cob, potato pancakes with applesauce, jerk chicken with rice and beans, and for dessert, ice cream in a waffle cone. I had a bite of this cucumber salad with hummus and pita chips that I was bummed that I hadn’t any room (or tickets) left to enjoy. It was OK though, as I felt content and triumphant over the crowds and my ever-aching back.
After we’d had quite enough with crowds, sun and sweat, we walked around the corner to Bennigans for a drink (it is far too expensive for watered down alcohol at the taste). I had a hurricane that was pretty good (when I finally got it) and some mashed potatoes that seemed to just settle everything else. I am a sucker for mashed potatoes and these were awesome with a little cheese and butter. Yum!
I needed a portable knitting project for the trip, and after quickly realizing that the scarf was too big for my bag and pattern intensive, Clessidra would be screwed within two rounds and everything else wasn’t portable, I had to cast on a new project. (Doh! My plan I already foiled.) I found the 9 to 5 socks appealing and chose this lovely lavender baby wool for the occasion. It’s whipping up pretty fast and I only really worked on it on the train, while we sat down in the park and on the ride home.
Be inspired.
I met Kate through the Association of Women Journalists (AWJ) and immediately was impressed (and inspired) by her creativity, drive, work ethic and use of social media. Her passion for journalism, digital media and communications overall is evident in the projects she takes on, including LoganSquarist, an online news outlet that she founded that uses social media to socialize the neighborhood. What I admire about Kate is her vitality as well as her desire to keep learning and growing personally and professionally. Kate is a modern-day renaissance woman who is multitalented (ask about her travel, knitting and marathon exploits!) and who brings instant value to any team or organization.
One of the best things I've ever done in my career is work with Kate Hamilton. Her enthusiasm for all things editorial, not to mention her energy and passion for any project she's involved with, is contagious. In addition to being a natural born leader, she's also a creative type, a thinker, a stickler for details, and someone with incredible vision and the drive to get things done. I always marvel at how she is constantly teaching herself new things. She always seems to be ahead of the curve on anything related to social media, and she also has an eye for design. This lady rocks! And she continues to be a mentor to me and others in journalism and communications.
Kate did and excellent job with our website. We have received several compliments on how nice it looks and how easy it is to navigate. She also went above and beyond to make sure that we were able to update and the website ourselves through Wordpress. I cannot gush about how awesome she is and how happy we are with the site and her dedication to the project.
Kate has an incredible amount of drive when it comes to LoganSquarist. In the six months that I’ve been involved, I’ve watched the site grow from a pet project to a respected community publication. This success can be attributed to Kate’s technical and leadership skills. From building out the site to off-hours community management and a consistent flow of content, the site improves by leaps and bounds on a weekly basis. When it comes to team management, Kate delegates tasks in an organized and efficient manner, making her an all around great and inspiring person to work with.
Kate is a real professional and a pleasure to work with. She is a great communicator and always put her client's (my company) interest first. She is tremendously personal and had a great understanding of our business and how she could help it. She is great and is a tremendous asset to any company.
I worked with Kate during my time as a community manager at Lightspan Digital while Kate was my direct manager. Kate’s communication practices really taught me how to navigate the sometimes complicated agency world. As an account manger, Kate smoothly orchestrated 10+ accounts at one time as well as help me manage and prioritize tasks in my role. Kate was a role model during my first few years in the professional world and continues to be so to this day.
Kate has been a fantastic resource for all things digital, whether redesigning my website on Wordpress, fine tuning my social media profiles, or understanding Google Analytics. She's an excellent communicator, and I will absolutely hire her again in the future.
Kate is a wealth of knowledge who served as a tremendous mentor for all of our team members while constantly improving processes and workflows. She’s a tremendous project manager, pays great attention to detail, and is able to demand results from her team with respect. At LoganSquarist she has built and led a team of dozens of volunteer contributors committed to her vision of a community resource. I would happily work with Kate again anytime!