Tag Archives: union

A Quick Happy Hour (or Making Myself Be Social)

Posted on April 26, 2018 | Comments Off on A Quick Happy Hour (or Making Myself Be Social)

I know there are times that I write about how I wish I had more fun stuff in my life or how I need to work on doing more when I’m not working. And I’ve gotten pretty good at scheduling stuff and finding things that I like to go to do. But then there are times where I just want to sit on my couch and watch tv. But I know if I just do that, I’ll feel like I’m missing out on something and I’ll regret it later.

This week I RSVPed to go to a happy hour that was hosted by the NextGen Performers committee of SAG-AFTRA. These happy hours are really just a good excuse to get together with awesome, like-minded people and to have fun. There is no agenda for the event, nothing is really scheduled, and everyone is usually in a great mood because there is free food (the key to making lots of actors happy). And I was excited to go because I knew I’d have some friends there and since it can be tough to find time to see them, these events are sometimes they only time we get together.

When I RSVPed for it, I assumed I’d be looking forward to the event. And I was until the day of. It had nothing to do with the event, I just was not feeling up for going out. I was dealing with nausea, I was tired, and I just didn’t feel like getting myself together and being social. But I thought about it and realized that I would regret it if I didn’t go. So I took my time getting dressed and ready and headed over to happy hour.

It helped that it was held at Rush St. which is super close to my house. I would have walked, but I don’t like to walk home in the dark alone so I drove there. But it still was very nice to have it be minutes away so I didn’t really have any excuse not to go and make an appearance. And I was hoping that once I got there, my mood would improve and I would feel better and I would spend a good amount of time there.

Unfortunately for me, my nausea wasn’t going away while I was there. I didn’t have any food because I didn’t know how my body would react to it, but things just weren’t getting better for me. I tried to focus on talking to a few of my friends who were at the event which was fun. We all always have lots of random updates on our lives to share. And many of the people at the happy hour were attending their very first union event so it was fun to talk to them about what other opportunities are out there for them to participate in. I always want to help union members (whether they are new or not) to get more involved if they want to do so. There are a lot of opportunities for members even if they don’t want to be involved in the politics of the union. And some people do want to get involved in the politics and I’m glad I can share my experiences with them so they know what to expect and what they need to do to run for an office.

Even though I was having fun talking with people, while I was there I just kept thinking how I really didn’t feel up for being social. It had nothing to do with the people I was talking to. I think almost anyone can relate to just wanting to be home and by yourself when you don’t feel good. I can’t let this be an excuse for me since I seem to feel nauseous 2 weeks out of each month, but I also don’t want to push my body too hard and then make things worse for me. So after being at happy hour for about an hour, I made my rounds of saying goodbye to my friends and headed back to my car to go home.

I wish I had been able to stay longer because I was having a good time there, but it just wasn’t meant to be. And I was also a bit worried that some of the new people I was meeting might think I was being annoyed by talking to them or something because I know I was a bit distracted. Again, it had nothing to do with who I was talking to. My body was just distracting me. But I think making myself go out to happy hour was the right choice because I did get to have some fun and I never have regrets about going out and having fun.

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Default ThumbnailAnother Union Holiday Celebration (or Being Social And Working Social Media) Default ThumbnailBeing Social Outside Of Workouts (or Making OTF Friends) Default ThumbnailNot Quite Happy Hour (or Making Time For My Friends) Default ThumbnailAnother Meeting of Mentees (Social Hour and Not Business Hour) Default ThumbnailA Happy Hour Mixer (or Being A NextGen Performer) Default ThumbnailHappy Hour and Happiness (or I’m On Another Blog Now)

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A MOVE Mixer (or Learning More About What I Can Be Involved In This Year)

Posted on April 4, 2018 | Comments Off on A MOVE Mixer (or Learning More About What I Can Be Involved In This Year)

I’ve said it over and over again on here, but I really just want to make sure I’m as involved in my union as possible. I am taking advantage of different opportunities that have come my way and I’m so glad that I am not feeling as nervous about being involved as I was before. And I’ve been adjusting my schedule so I have more free time to be involved in different events and that’s been making me really happy too!

Last week I went to the MOVE LA mixer event. MOVE stands for Members Organizing Volunteer Efforts, but besides organizing volunteer events they have some really great panels and social events. They are the group that organizes the NextGen Performers committee too. This mixer was a great chance to hang out with friends, get some information about past events, and learn about the events that are coming up over the next few months.

When I got there, the first hour was the social time. They had food there (I wasn’t feeling so great so I wasn’t eating anything) and I got to see who else was there. Several of the MOVE committee members are friends of mine and it was great to have some time to see them. Even though I saw several of them a few days prior at the Union Working event, we always seem to have only a few minutes to catch up at various meetings so we take what we can get.

After the social hour, it was time to sit down to have the educational part of the evening. First, the background of MOVE LA was shared with everyone and what historically the group has done. Past volunteer events were shared and it was also discussed about how the group supports other unions in their strike efforts (like the grocery workers have gone on strike). Also, the big volunteer event of helping the post office with the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive was shared because that event is coming up soon.

Next different committee members came up to talk about events and panels that either just happened or will be happening soon. There have been panels on diversity, sexual harassment and prevention, voice over, producing your own work, and other topics that are important to actors and the acting community. And coming up there will be panels on diversity in abilities, supporting broadcasters, editing demo reels, and other things like that. I probably should have taken better notes so I could share the upcoming things with you all, but I was just listening and taking it all in.

The best way to get information on the different MOVE LA events is to follow them on social media and to sign up for their email list on the website.

Many things they do are just for union members, but there are some opportunities that are open to everyone. But I’d only recommend getting on their email list if you are a union actor (you also might have to be signed into the website to access the link to sign up for the email list).

But even if you aren’t a union actor yet, it’s so good for people preparing to join the union in the future to know what opportunities and groups there are for them when they do join. I didn’t know about MOVE or other groups when I joined the union and I really wish I had. There was so much time wasted not taking advantage of these opportunities but I think I’m making up for lost time now. Again, I’ve said this several times but being educated about the union and union opportunities is something I am striving for myself and trying to get others to do as well.

The education part of the mixer was a little over an hour and then it was time to be social again! I loved that this mixer really was a social mixer along with an educational evening. It’s the perfect blend of having fun and learning and I got to meet several new people to MOVE who are interested in similar opportunities as I am. I’m not always a fan of networking, but at events like this one it didn’t feel as networky and was more like just getting to know like-minded people who I will probably see at future events.

I couldn’t stay too late after the education part of the mixer, but I did make a round saying goodbye to everyone I had met that night before heading back to my car. And I know that I will be at another MOVE event before I know it!

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Learning So Much From Union Working (or Getting Ready For Contract Negotiations)

Posted on March 29, 2018 | 2 comments

I know I’ve said this so many times, but I’m seriously so grateful that I’m a part of the Union Working group. Every time I’m at a meeting, I always walk away with so much knowledge and a better understanding of what is happening in my industry. There is so much information out there and it can be tough to figure things out on your own. So to have a group that can explain things and help you figure out what you want to focus on is so important to me.

And the meeting this week was another one full of information and I left feeling so empowered and ready to get to work on things. While we did have some of the standard discussions that we have at all Union Working meetings, the focus of this meeting was a mock W&W session. W&W stands for Wages and Working Conditions and these are meetings that the union has leading up to contract negotiations. These meetings are formal events for union members to come and discuss what changes they want to see in the next contract. We have these meetings for all different contracts but the next one coming up will be our commercials contract.

I have not attended a W&W meeting before. I have wanted to but I’ve had a few things stop me. Sometimes, my work schedule just doesn’t work with when the meetings are. I really can’t take time off work right now to attend, so if there aren’t meetings that are when I’m not working I can’t go. But also I’ve been scared to attend. It seems a bit overwhelming and while I want to be more involved in the union attending these meetings seems like a huge step. And I’m aware of how silly that probably sounds because I can always attend a meeting and just observe. I don’t have to propose any changes but I could hear what others think need to change.

But I think the team at Union Working get that the meetings can be overwhelming so they created this mock W&W session. Because W&W sessions are closed to the public (and our mock session was closed to all but paid union members), I can’t share too much of what was discussed. But I can share that we went over how to present an idea at a W&W, the rules for discussion and debate, and the feedback we may get when presenting an idea or debating one so we don’t get thrown off if it happens. All of these things were really great to learn about because you never know when you might be inspired to present something at a W&W and you want to be prepared and able to maximize your time that you are allowed to speak.

We didn’t get to do too many different ideas in our mock W&W session because the one that was presented was something that so many people in the group wanted to discuss. We didn’t have the time limits that you would have in a real session and some people were given opportunities to rephrase what they were saying to make sure they followed the guidelines of how we need to present them. I didn’t speak during the mock session, but I was paying attention to everything that was happening. And the more I listened the more I realized that all my fears about attending a W&W session in the past were silly and that I should have attending them before.

I still can’t guarantee that any sessions will be during times that I’m not working, but I’m going to make a much better effort to look into it so I can hopefully go at least once. I still don’t have anything I want to say about changes that I think should be in our next contract, but I do what to hear what others think. It’s also a great time to get even more educated about the current contract because when people propose a contract change, one of the first things that is discussed is what the facts are about the current contract. There is always a chance someone is proposing something that is already in the contract so you would learn about that. To me, so much of being a good union member is being an educated union member.

While I wasn’t feeling physically the best at the meeting, I’m so grateful I was there. There were so many things discussed that I am glad I got to hear about. I left feeling physically low but mentally on a high note. I know that there were some great ideas that others brought up that have given me things to think about. And like I said, the biggest thing to me is being as educated as I can and I know that being in a room with so many incredible people really are helping me understand as much as I can.

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Staying Educated With Union Things (or A Meeting Of The Minds)

Posted on March 6, 2018 | Comments Off on Staying Educated With Union Things (or A Meeting Of The Minds)

Recently I was at a meeting with several of my friends who are involved in SAG-AFTRA. Most of them were people who were at the union convention with me last fall, and it was great to get to see people again since I hadn’t seen everyone since October. And I was so happy to have a meeting like this after a vacation because it helped to get me focused and out of vacation mode quickly. Sometimes it can take me more time to get back into my normal life after a trip and I was so glad to have a meeting like this to ground me and bring me back to what I should be focused on.

It’s not election season yet so we weren’t really discussing the election or the next convention. But just because the next election is still about a year and a half away it doesn’t mean that there isn’t a lot happening with the union that we should all be informed and up to date on.

One of the biggest things that has been happening lately is the plan to help to prevent sexual harassment and to have better ways for union members to report it. This has been a huge issue for a long time, but it is only getting the attention it should have been getting recently due to some brave women and men coming forward and sharing what happened. While sexual harassment was never allowed, now we have a clear code of conduct for our members to refer to. And this code of conduct has been shared with studios, directors, casting directors, agents, and managers so others in the industry are aware of what expectations we have as a union when we are on set.

There have also been meetings lately for members to attend to learn more about how we can report sexual harassment and panels for people to discuss what they’ve experienced or what they have questions on. It can be tough sometimes when you are doing an intimate scene to know what is appropriate and what is not. If you are in a nude scene, having a director touch you to move you into where they want you to be or to make sure the camera is seeing what it should be seeing is a gray area. In any other workplace, your superiors should not be around you when you aren’t clothed or touching your body. But in our industry, there are weird situations that need to be discussed so everyone is on the same page. As an actor, you could say you are ok with that or that you don’t want anyone to be near you until you have the chance to put a robe on.

It reminds me of a project I worked on years ago where I was in a bra and underwear for my scene. There were other actors in the same state of undress as I was and we all had different ideas of what was ok. Between takes, even though I had a dress I could put on to cover up, I really didn’t bother doing it. Nobody on the crew was looking at my body in a way that I felt uncomfortable and I really didn’t care since I felt like it covered the same that a bathing suit covered. There were other actors who rushed to cover up and didn’t want to be given direction until they felt more comfortable. We were all lucky on that set because the director and crew all respected us and none of us felt weird for having our own limitations. But not every actor gets that experience on set and we need to make sure that we work toward making that happen.

Another big topic that was discussed was the commercial recapturing initiative and the upcoming commercial contract negotiation. This is something I have been much more involved in lately between attending union meetings and being a part of the Union Working group. Not everyone at the meeting was aware of Union Working and I’m glad we were able to share more about the group and what they have been doing. I know we want more actors (both union and non-union) to be at the meetings so we can make sure that everyone understands what is being negotiated and the opportunities they have to speak at the union about what their concerns are. And if you are in LA and are a SAG-AFTRA member, there is a meeting of the Commercials Organizing & Recapturing Initiative coming up on the 12th that I would encourage everyone to attend!

There were also other issues that we discussed like the New Media contract and how we are trying to make it easier for actors to create their own work, the current plan with the IMDb age lawsuit where the ages of actors and other industry people are being posted on a site that many people use when considering if they will be hiring us or bringing us in for a meeting, and the MOVE committee and the events and union support for all unions that is happening right now.

I know I say this all the time, but my biggest takeaway of all union meetings that I go to is that we as union members need to make sure we are staying educated and we are educating others. I did spend my first few years in SAG-AFTRA not really understanding what is going on and not taking advantage of what was being offered. But I’m for sure making up for it now. And my goal is to help other actors become more educated as well since I know how much more empowered I feel when I understand what changes I can help to make and why certain rules and policies are in place. That is why I keep sharing on here each time I have a union event. I know that not all of you are actors, but for those of you who are I hope that you are learning something. And for the non-actors, hopefully you find all this behind the scenes stuff interesting. There is so much more to being an actor than just acting and I know that most people don’t realize that!

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More Union Education (or Making Sure Ads Go Union)

Posted on February 15, 2018 | 3 comments

You may have noticed that I am posting more and more about union events. I’ve been saying for a while that I wanted to become more involved in the union and I’m finally taking advantage of that! My schedule is fairly regular so I can make plans to attend different meetings and events and I love how this makes me feel continuously involved in union happenings and not that I’m on the outskirts. And this week was another week where I was at union headquarters for another meeting!

So many of the meetings and events I’ve been going to lately have been about commercials. This is a pretty current issue for a few reasons. First, the union will be negotiating the new commercial contract next year so we are getting prepared for that. But also, commercials have always been both union and non-union, but we are starting to see more non-union than before. Many jobs are still union, but we want to make sure they stay that way and that we get even more union commercials.

SAG-AFTRA has an entire committee dedicated to keeping commercials union and that was what this meeting was about. Members of the committee as well as union staff were there to explain more about the plan to get more commercials to be union work and what things have been happening so far.

While I’ve been at several events regarding union commercials, I learned new things at this meeting. These meetings are a response to the growing problem of non-union work and because of what members say in them the union can know what our specific issues are and how to remedy that.

I’ve been pretty lucky. While I don’t audition for commercials a lot, my agents have never asked me to violate union rules and audition for non-union work. In fact, when a commercial lied about being union and when I found out, my agents told me to leave because they didn’t want me to run into any issues. Not all actors are that lucky and they were discussing how their agents are encouraging them to work non-union even though they are union members.

But even though I’ve been lucky since becoming a union member, I know the issues of non-union commercials from before I joined SAG-AFTRA. When I was non-union, I did a commercial that paid pretty decently. It was super easy work and with what I made I paid my rent and bills for a month! I was so excited! But I didn’t realize that because my contract allowed the ad agency to use the commercial in perpetuity (which is common in non-union work), I had no idea then that I would have something that has been on tv for 11 years! It’s a haircare commercial/informercial and I see it on tv all the time. If this was union, I would be making residuals and still be getting paid. But because it was non-union and I didn’t have the protection of SAG-AFTRA and the contracts we have, I only got that 1 payment that doesn’t seem that much when you think about it being split over 11 years.

Because of my experience with non-union work, I’m passionate about making sure that other actors don’t have the same issue. If they aren’t in SAG-AFTRA and chose to do a non-union work, I want them to know what things to look for in a contract so they are making an educated decision. But I am even more passionate about helping commercials be union so that actors will have the protections that we have in our contracts. And that’s why I love getting to know more about the Ads Go Union campaign in meetings and being able to share what I learn with you all. This time, we got more information on recent things that the campaign has done and promoted to other members.

Even if I don’t book another commercial in my entire career, this issue is going to be an important one for me. I know first-hand how easily actors who don’t know better can get into a contract that they may regret later. And I want to see more union work so that my union brothers and sisters have more opportunities to do what they love. For me, my union dedication is all about education and seeing others succeed. And hopefully I will succeed as well.

I am looking to branch out a bit more and find union events about other issues so I can learn more about other union things I may want to get involved in. But for now, I’m just so happy that I’ve been able to get involved in the commercial recapturing initiative and that I will be able to find ways to help out other actors. I do plan on attending more and more events and I will keep finding ways to be involved and to make sure that all actors are educated on the issues.

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First Union Working Meeting Of 2018 (or Union Strong For All)

Posted on February 7, 2018 | 1 comment

It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve had a meeting with the Union Working group, but I think that’s because things have been so busy for me lately! But at the same time, it doesn’t feel like it’s been that long because I’ve seen so many of the other group members at other events (both social and union related). I feel so connected to this group and I love that.

But since the group hadn’t had an official meeting in a few months, I was so glad that we had a meeting this week. There have been so many things that I have learned about the union that I wanted to connect to my knowledge that I get in the group and I was so antsy to see what I was going to learn this time. And because I love the group so much, I am always trying to get more people involved. I wish that there was a group like this when I joined the union because I was scared to be involved when I first joined. But a group like this is a great way to ease into getting involved in union issues.

I invited so many actor friends to go to the meeting and a bunch of them were hoping to make it. I totally understand how tough it can be to schedule around day jobs to attend events, so I also tried to let people know that we try to live stream as much of the meeting as we could in the Facebook group. But I was so excited when my friend Sarah said she could make it! Sarah and I were in the UCB class together and I don’t think we had seen each other in person since class! And she’s going to be joining the union soon so I thought it would be perfect for her to attend the meeting and hopefully get more involved in the group.

Before going to the meeting, my friend (who is one of the core members of the group) asked me if I could help out a bit more at the meeting. I’m always happy to help and he needed me to run the live stream on Facebook for the group. I figured it was a great opportunity to use my newish tripod and iPad stand and I could live stream from my iPad. It would be easier than doing it on my phone (and would keep my phone free for me to take notes). So I spent a lot of the meeting making sure that the live stream was working (we had some WiFi hotspot issues), but it still allowed me to pay attention to what was happening.

This meeting was really interesting for me. With the special guests we had, a lot of the discussion was about influencers and how that affects union work. This was almost the other side of the event I was at last week where it was mainly influencers learning about the union. This time, the union members were learning about influencers.

We also had a guest who discussed how to maximize using Instagram. I’m not the best at Instagram and I’ll admit that I don’t always have the prettiest photos up there. It’s a wide variety of photos and that’s fine if I want it to be that way. But there is a better way to represent my life on social media that could benefit me as an actor (and probably as a blogger too) and I’m going to be more aware of that from now on. I’m not going to make my social media only show the best things of my life because I do believe in staying honest. But I do want to make it look more like the professional that I feel I am in my career. The guest really gave me a lot to think about and I love walking away from our meetings with a little bit of homework so I stay involved and active.

Besides all the amazing guests we had at the meeting, the leaders of Union Working shared this incredible video that they created. While Union Working has been about SAG-AFTRA a lot, we want to be pro-union for all unions. The group is supportive of all unions and we want to make sure that unions are protected. In this political climate, many politicians are anti-union and trying to encourage workers not to unionize. But we know that as a group we are stronger. Unions protect workers and allow us to have collective bargaining to make sure that everyone benefits from contracts. I’m so excited that Union Working is expanding their reach and I can’t wait to see what unions we are able to partner up with.

I know I’ve said this before, but if you are an actor in Los Angeles I highly encourage you all to check the Union Working website, social media, and hopefully attend a meeting. You can also check out the YouTube channel for more videos. If you are an actor somewhere else in the country, still check out the group and maybe you can start a chapter of Union Working where you are. And if you are a member of a union and want to connect with Union Working, reach out on their website and social media. We are all working together to better unions for everyone in all industries.

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Another Educational Union Event (or Merging My Acting And Blogging)

Posted on February 2, 2018 | Comments Off on Another Educational Union Event (or Merging My Acting And Blogging)

As I continue to work on my union education, I seem to find more and more events that I really want to attend. Some of them are events that they have from time to time at the union that I’ve never attended before and some are new events that I’m so excited to be a part of. And this week, I was invited to attend an event that was brand new and perfectly suited for me!

SAG-AFTRA and Tubefilter came together to co-host an evening to discuss influencer marketing and the FTC guidelines we need to follow. While I don’t do a ton of sponsored posts on here or on social media, I do have them from time to time (I try to limit them to only things that I really believe in). And I know that there are some rules I need to follow in order to follow what the FTC requires and I wanted to make sure that I was doing everything properly. And since many sponsored posts can be under union jurisdiction, I loved that the union was involved in this conversation to answer questions.

I’ve learned a bit about some of the rules I need to be aware of because of other union events I’ve attended. Until recently, I had no idea that things I did on my blog could be under my union’s jurisdiction. I think this is something that most actor/bloggers aren’t aware of yet and I know that SAG-AFTRA is starting to get the word out now that guidelines are starting to be a bit more clear.

At this event, there was a panel that had a lot of amazing panelists. They included a YouTube creator, an employee of the FTC, and a union representative. While there was a lot of back and forth because some rules are still a bit unclear, I think the tone of the entire event was that we all want to work together to figure out how to create policies that protect us as creators and still follow FTC guidelines.

The meeting really reminded me of the Union Working events with how people may be coming from different sides of an issue but we understand that by working together and being strong as a group it will benefit us the most. And while not everyone has the answers to everything, people are bringing up questions that are helping those higher up to understand the issues we are facing and the concerns that we want answered. Sometimes, the answers to questions was to say that they didn’t know, but I highly respect people who aren’t afraid to say that they don’t know (instead of making up an answer).

The panel was about 2 hours long (and they probably could have gone for another 2 hours and I still would have been fascinated) and then there was a bit of a social mixer after. I was sitting at a table with some of my friends so I had a chance to be social before the panel. And after the panel, we came together to discuss what we had learned and what issues we are concerned about. We had a chance to speak with the National Executive Director of SAG-AFTRA and I got to express some of my personal concerns or confusion over the rules. Influencer marketing is still a pretty new system so I think there is a lot of confusion by a lot of people. And since I don’t do it that often I think I had extra questions. But I did leave the meeting feeling much better about the situation and knowing who to contact if I needed to get something specific answered.

I don’t know how big the overlap is with actors and bloggers (or other types of influencer marketers), but I’m very excited to be someone who fits into both categories. I’ve already talked to the union about how they can reach the blogger community to help those who are not in the entertainment industry understand what is happening and what the union is doing for them. I think it’s going to be a very exciting time to see those two worlds come together and I love that I get to help connect them and bring them together.

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Union Holiday Party (or Seeing A Lot Of People In A Little Time)

Posted on December 15, 2017 | Comments Off on Union Holiday Party (or Seeing A Lot Of People In A Little Time)

This seems to have been the week of parties. On Monday I had the 300th episode party for the podcast. On Tuesday I was supposed to go to a holiday party but I ended up being too tired to go (I was still recovering from Monday). And Wednesday was the SAG-AFTRA holiday party!

I’ve gone to the holiday party before and knew it would be pretty crowded. But I think I kind of forgot how overwhelming the entire party could be. I was still feeling tired from the week and had spent Wednesday working and working out. As soon as I was showered from my workout, I got into my car to go to the party. I knew I was missing the beginning of the party, but I wasn’t too worried about that. Last time they were running low on food toward the end of the party, but I was feeling a bit off besides being tired and didn’t feel like eating. So lack of food at the party wasn’t a concern for me.

As soon as I arrived and got in line, I started to see friends of mine. That is one of the great things about being more involved in the union. The more events I go to the more I recognize people at other events. It’s still a bit much going to a party like this alone and I had wished a friend could have come with me. But at least I knew I’d be seeing a lot of friends.

Once I was in the party, I started to try to make a lap around the room the best that I could to see who else I knew there. It seemed like everywhere I looked I knew at least one person so that was pretty awesome. Some of my friends there had been up since 3am that day because the SAG Awards nominations were announced that morning. That put my tiredness into perspective for me!

It was nice to have a fun social event to catch up with actor friends. We didn’t really discuss union issues, there was no need to talk about election season, and everyone was in a fun and festive mood. I didn’t take any pictures, but fortunately I had friends who took pictures with me so there is some evidence that I was at the party!

Since I got there late, I wanted to stay until the end of the party. But things just weren’t working for me that night. I was having a great time catching up with my friends and wanted to do more of that, but I knew I needed to get back home. I didn’t want to drive and feel tired so I wanted to leave before the tiredness started to feel worse. And my body was just feeling worse. I have a tendency to get stress sick (where you get sick right after something that was stressing you out) and I think I got that from worrying about the podcast party. I knew that I could potentially stay longer, but I would be paying for that later and I didn’t want to have to worry about that.

I only ended up being at the party for about an hour or so and I wish I could have been there longer. But at least in that hour I saw so many people who I knew. There were a few people who I saw in photos later that I didn’t get to see in person, but I think I saw a majority of my friends there. I felt like I had been pretty social and got to catch up on life with people. I think a lot of people were feeling tired and stressed so at least I wasn’t alone in that feeling. And my friends understood when I wasn’t acting like my normal bubbly self.

Of course after this crazy party week I don’t have any more big holiday parties that I can think of besides NYE parties. It would have been nice to have all the parties spread out so I could have enjoyed each one (and attended all of them), but things don’t normally go like that. I’m just glad that I didn’t feel too tired or sick to get to the union holiday party and that I did have a great time in the limited time that I spent there!

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Final Union Working Meeting For 2017 (or A Commercial Roundtable)

Posted on November 14, 2017 | 2 comments

I’ve been so lucky to get to be a part of Union Working for a while now. Their meetings are always so inspiring and I’ve learned so much from attending. I’ve made some awesome friends and I’ve been getting more and more involved with the union, which has been a goal of mine for a while. I know that there is much more that I can do, but I’m taking steps in the right direction.

The meetings for Union Working are about every 6 weeks and the meeting this past week was the last one for this year. It seems like a lot of things are winding down because of the holidays but I know that it will be back in the new year. But since this was the last meeting for the year, the group did one of the best meetings they’ve ever had as a 2017 finale.

Usually the meetings have a guest speaker who answers questions from the group about what is happening in the entertainment industry. A lot of the focus is on what is happening with commercials but other things come up too. But for this meeting there was a roundtable discussion. So instead of just one guest there were multiple guests. And the questions were asked to everyone so we could see how different people in the industry have different answers and they got to learn from each other as well.

In the roundtable we had staff from SAG-AFTRA (even though the group is not officially affiliated with the union we do have staff members who have spoken before), casting directors, agents, actors, and even the creator of one of the online submission services that is used for submitting actors for auditions. It was a really great variety in the panel and I was impressed by who they were able to get.

There were a lot of topics that we’ve heard about before, but it’s always great to hear someone else’s perspective. And to listen to the people on the panel debate amongst each other was interesting. Sometimes they helped to form ideas as a group that could help actors together. Or they learned why one idea or another wouldn’t work based on what we as actors have access too. And some of them weren’t aware of all the limits or abilities of the union so I’m glad that information was able to be shared with them.

The idea of this meeting wasn’t necessarily to walk away with actionable steps but to leave with ideas that we can use toward working on things for the future. I was more inspired than ever to keep working hard for my union and to keep trying to bring more people to Union Working meetings. When they start again in the new year, I want to try to get one friend to each meeting I go to. These meetings are great for members of the union but they are also great for those who aren’t members yet. There are many things I wish I had known when I wasn’t union. I probably would have been much smarter about my career and I probably would have joined the union sooner. But now that I’m in, I want to see all professional actors as union members so we can continue to strengthen the union.

There was a hangout at a bar after the meeting was over, but I needed to get home to get some work done and go to sleep. Last week was a bit of a rough week for me with sleeping due to the nausea issue so I really was making an effort to try to get to bed sooner than normal. I missed the social aspect of going to the meetings, but I know that leaving was the best thing for me and that I’ll have plenty more opportunities to go to bar hangouts when the meetings start up again next year.

Even though this is the end of the Union Working meetings for the year, it’s not the end of my involvement with them for the year. I was asked if I’d help out with some work that the group is doing and I’m pretty excited about that. I don’t have all the details about what I’m doing, but I’m just happy to be involved. That’s all I’ve wanted to do and it was an opportunity that presented itself to me and I’m taking advantage of it.

I’m so grateful that I was given the opportunity to be a part of this group. I’ve been able to do so much this year with them and I can’t wait to see what next year will bring for the group and for my involvement with them.

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It’s Convention Time (or I’ve Been Waiting 2 Years For This!)

Posted on October 10, 2017 | 5 comments

This past weekend was the SAG-AFTRA National Convention. I was attending as a second term delegate and it was just as amazing as it was the first time. I honestly had been waiting for convention to happen again as soon as the last one was done and I am now already anxious for the next one in 2 more years!

Since this time I knew what the convention was going to be like, I was much more prepared for things. I planned out my schedule a bit better so I wouldn’t feel as overwhelmed and exhausted, but since I was battling a cold it was still a bit tough on me mentally and physically. But it was totally worth it.

Convention started on Thursday night with a cocktail party to meet my fellow delegates. Last time, I was feeling a bit nervous and stuck with mainly talking to the delegates I already knew. I also felt like I had arrived late so I was feeling a bit scattered. So this time I got there early so I wouldn’t be late and had time to get checked in for the convention to get all my things before the party started.

While at the party, I did talk to a lot of my friends who are delegates, but I did make an effort to meet new people too. I got to talk to a bunch of people from New York, Portland, and New Orleans and many of them were first time delegates. The best advice I could give to them that it was going to be so overwhelming but they would be wanting more when everything was done. Some of the smaller locals don’t have slates to help prepare new delegates for the convention like LA does, so I tried to do my part. I also found out over the few days of convention that some first time delegates found my blog post from 2 years ago to learn about what convention would be like. So if you are reading this 2 years from now to get ready for the 2019 convention, hi!

I didn’t stay out too late because I knew the next morning was going to be an early morning. I was going to work my day job from convention again and I was going to start 2 hours early to make up for any time that I was going to miss to vote. That meant getting up at 6am to be out the door by 6:45 to deal with rush hour traffic. It was a very early morning, but it worked out ok since I was able to get logged into work right on time and I got a great seat for the convention in the LA section!

I also spent a bit of time that morning checking out the expo since I missed that the last time. Most of the organizations weren’t set up that early on the first day, but there was a “Words of Wisdom” wall we could sign and since the convention hadn’t started yet I got to be the 3rd person to sign it.

I wrote on the bottom “Don’t forget to smile!”. I knew that it would be getting filled up throughout the convention, so I’m glad I got to sign it before a lot of the space was taken.

Once convention started, things moved pretty quickly. We had to do the elections for the various vice presidents which included the executive VP as well as the geographical and categorical ones. Fortunately, most of that time was spent in the main convention room as Los Angeles and the actor categories are the biggest one. And they made some changes to the voting this year so it was significantly faster. I thought I’d have to be away from work for maybe 20 minutes when it ended up being less than 5!

And after those elections, we moved on to the resolutions. This would take part of all 3 days of the convention and is pretty important. This is where we vote as representatives for other members on various issues. I take this seriously and spent time before convention reviewing all the information and seeking answers to questions that I had. And since I had my computer with me, I was able to text others that were there that know more than me if I had questions.

At the end of the first day, I then had to get ready for the gala. But that is going to be a post for tomorrow. But I was out pretty late that night and had another super early morning for day 2. And again, I had to work from the convention, but my work shift was only 3 hours instead of 7 so that was much better. And we had more resolution voting and then we had what so many of us considered one of the highlights of the convention: the food truck lunch!

I didn’t take any photos of lunch, but trust me, it was delicious! And it was a bit of a longer lunch break so I had some time to wander around before the next part of the convention started. I took advantage of the photo set up with the giant SAG-AFTRA card.

And I saw my friend Robert who was there volunteering as a member ambassador! He also ran as a delegate but wasn’t elected. But it made me so happy to see that he is still being super involved in the union and of course we had to take a photo together too!

I also had some time to check out the expo again and see what was set up there. I got some information on various union affiliated organizations and got some fun swag too. And while I was there, our National Executive Director David White was adding his words of wisdom to the wall. He is one of the most inspiring speakers at the convention and at any union event he’s at and I had to get a picture with him.

Day 2 ended with finishing as many resolutions as we could and then there was a film screening we could go to. I ended up skipping the screening because I was really tired, but I heard it was amazing and I’m a bit sad I didn’t go.

Day 3 was the last day of convention and started a bit later than the other days. I also didn’t have to work my day job so that was nice. While we had breakfast provided every morning, the last morning is the nicest breakfast and I was able to eat outside with some of my fellow delegates. It was a mix of people I already knew, people I met for the first time earlier in the convention, and people I was meeting for the first time at breakfast. We had an amazing conversation that really was what being at convention is all about. We learned about each other’s concerns about the industry and what we all want for the future. It’s just so inspiring and I love getting to be a part of that.

The last day was a mix of finishing the resolutions as well as some speeches. We got to hear the reports from the president, vice president, and secretary-treasurer. Those speeches had some really inspiring moments. One of my favorites was when Vice President Rebecca Damon used a “Hamilton” quote. She said how this convention room is the room where it happens. And she is so right and I feel so lucky that I am inside that room.

Once the convention was adjourned, all the LA delegates had to stay so we could take a photo. Since I’m one of the shorter delegates, I was up in the front again.

And then technically it was all over. I couldn’t believe that it was done. It felt like it was so fast and even though I was ready to sleep for 27 days in a row, I wanted more! But I wasn’t ready to leave because I wanted to make sure I got lots of photos with my friends there. Everyone at convention is someone who is inspiring, creative, and just awesome.

Officially, my time as a delegate is done. But there are lots of opportunities for me to stay involved and I’ve already been working on those. And before I know it, it will be election time again and I’ll be running for delegate again. Being involved in union service was not something I considered before my first term as a delegate, but now that I’m involved I don’t want to stop. I know that this second term is still only the beginning of my union service career and I can’t wait to see what is next for me!

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