Driving Miss Delirious

So we were loving life in what is easily one of our favorite states in the union- North Carolina when the current gas crisis literally rained on our parade. Now, we are not here to rail against gas prices especially since we most recently feared no access to fuel. Flashes of depression era photos and being eaten by some mountain animal once we ran out of gas floated through our heads as we feared the worst.

It all started innocently enough...while in NC after our fabulous evening at Johnson & Wales we were headed to Banner Elk to work with the good folks at Lees McRae. Now Banner Elk is a good two hours of driving much of which involved wrapping around a mountain. Now many of you may have heard about the gas shortage in Charlotte and surrounding areas. It is no joke. But no one knew any details and we heard all kinds of wack-a-doo rumors. So we were not too concerned. We thought surely there would be a gas station in route to our destination so off we went. Now our innate cockiness sometimes serves us well. Not so on this special evening. As miles wore on and terrain looked more and more au natural we began to worry. Kelly even put in a call to her better half to call the local gas stations of Banner Elk to inquire about their fuel supply. Kel's husband like a magic eight-ball had bad news to report, "outlook not so good". There was no gas for whence we came nor where we were going. This would be a good time to mention that it would have been highly unlikely that we would have made it back without running our of gas. We were even at peace with the $7.50 a gallon Avis was going to charge us for not refueling if and when we ever made back to Charlotte.

But things continued to look worse, we would exit and find no fuel and then carry on. We ended up on this country road and came upon a little store, we did not even think they were a gas station. But lo' and behold. Like the Beverly Hillbillies we found our black gold. It has been sometime since I was that freaked out about running out of gas or about filling up. So, happy that we never had to go with a Plan B. At this little stop we found had a long line of cars. One patron said with traffic like this the town was going to have to get a stop light. Folks travelling from all over expressed their joy to have found the gas and theirs fears and frustrations with the shortage. After all our impromptu in store bonding we were off to Lees McRae where we were NEVER so happy to safely arrive to a program.

It was a great night and we met some awesome folks from athletics and the counseling center. The Peer Educators kicked it with us for awhile before the program. We cannot thank them enough for hosting us and for the gas Gods for shining light on us as stumble around this great country of ours.

Always-

Becca

PS Banner Elk is a beautiful town with lots of fun outdoorsy vacation spots.

Midwestern

MSU Panhellenic Posse

The folks at Midwestern State University made us feel right at home. After downing 4 delicious ice cold glasses of sweet tea at dinner (I am an addict) we headed to campus with our panhellenic posse. Greek life hosted our visit to campus and packed the auditorium with students some of which volunteered to be there while others were required or strongly encouraged with promises of extra credit. No matter the intent of their attendance, another couple hundred students have been given the tools and knowledge to help create a sexually empowered culture. I hold my sweet tea glass high and give a big cheers to that!

Panhel Prez, Becca and the Head Chief

On your mark, get set, TiVo!

Tomorrow morning Kelly will once again be coming to you live on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet http://www.mandjshow.com/.

Please give my soul sista and yours a little love and support by tuning in and letting the producers know you love seeing a member of the sexually empowered posse on the show.

She will be offering great advice on supporting survivors of sexual violence as well as sharing her perspective on the Spokane case.

Can't catch tomorrow's show....then get some of our best tips in this month's newsletter. You can subscribe by visiting http://www.kellyandbecca.com/.

Thank you all for your continued support. Please spread the good word about tomorrow and let us know what you think after it airs.

xo
Always-
Becca (and Kelly)

Go Argos!

Brandon, VP of SGA at UWF and Me after my Saturday morning session.

So get up, get, get get down, communication 411 is in yo town! Who remembers the late 90's Public Enemy "911 Is a Joke" song? I can't help but sing that song when I talk, think or write about our communication and leadership program, Communication 411. Not that our program is in any way related to the song. I have mad respect for the folks in blue... and black, and brown and white and all the colors of the many uniforms professionals associated to 911 happen to wear. I guess it's just the 3 similar numbers in the title that moves me to sing. I randomly break into song at the thought or sound of many simple titles or phrases. It's what I do. Anyway, lets talk about UWF!

I was thrilled when April, the President of the Student Government Association at UWF (my alma mater) asked me to speak at their upcoming leadership retreat. It was an honor to spend time with my fellow Argos talking about how they're going to help shape the university. They came up with quite the mac daddy list of goals.

Being at UWF had me feeling all sentimental and reflective. My experience as a student at UWF helped shape who I am today and I am so incredibly grateful for the many life lessons I faced throughout my collegiate career, some of them much easier than others and it's funny that the lessons I failed miserably at are also the ones I learned the most from. Wait a minute...are our parents really always right? I'm feeling an "if I knew then what I know now" speech coming on, but I'm not going to go there...not now anyway. What I will say is that, with everything that I am, I truly believe that students have the capacity to change their campuses and their communities for the better and it's an honor and a privilege to help facilitate that. I can't wait to hear about the many successes SGA is able to celebrate this year. Look out, UWF is moving on up my friends. Go Argos!

After an action packed session I was able to squeeze in some QT with my dear friends while I was in P'cola. Good ol' Saturday afternoon college football time, which for me basically means the TV's are on and of course I clap and cheer along. I've got spirit for days! But my real focus is hanging out, catching up and enjoying the great people, good times, cold beer and chicken wings. Good times indeed.

KP, Kelly and Chris.

Happy in Pensacola,

Kelly

Men, men, men, men, men

Last night we spoke to 500 plus athletes and about 100 new students at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. The audience was at least 70 percent men, maybe more. People often comment that it must be difficult talking with men about sexual assault and even last night, several of the coaches at St. Ambrose "warned" us about the guys and their less than attentive behavior for speakers. This had us feeling slightly nervous about the situation but, you know what we say? No way, we love talking with men, in fact, men have become some of our biggest allies! Our time spent at St. Ambrose reaffirmed this once more. So, a big "word up" to all the men out there who are proud allies! We should especially give a shout out to the men's basketball and football team at SAU. Several of them approached us after the program to respectfully say, thank you for coming and for making them feel like they can be part of the solution. This means so very much to us both because that's our sole purpose for doing this work, to educate all student to help them to be a part of the solution to end sexual violence. Amen, Hallelujah!

Kelly and Coach Callahan

Simpson sure was special!

Simpson Celebrities... Simpson student leaders are THE coooooolest! This fabulous four-some (pictured above) were the most involved of all the attendees tonight. They were front and center and so vibrant, they practically stole the show. Thanks for the amazing Q & A and for your interest in making Simpson the safest it can be!

Kelly, the fabulous and stylish Drew and Becca.

Sweet Briar

We love starting our semester off at one of THE most gorgeous campuses in the country (seriously, it's been in the top five of the 20 Most Beautiful Colleges in the USA for years) with some of THE nicest and most genuine folks we know. Welcome to Sweet Briar!

The dynamic and dazzling Jasmine who introduced us to the incoming freshmen class.

Becca with her newest Sweet Briar sisters at Let's Talk About "IT" some more.

Thank you once again to Dean Kraft-Meyer and her crew for making our time at Sweet Briar College wonderful! How sweet it is...

Southern Hospitality at SMU

The sisters of Delta Gamma really went all out and showed us some serious down home southern hospitality. Thank you for welcoming us into your home and serving up a delicious dinner with great conversation!

Q & A with the DG's before our orientation program at SMU. In case you're wondering, what's with all the black & white? They were ushers for the orientation program. What a fine job ladies, thank you!

Two of the Delta Gamma sisters showed us their mad PR skills and we captured the moment to share with you! Video shoot in the SMU greenroom, take two-

Longwood

It was kind of lonely in Farmiville, VA as my partner in crime headed home for a couple of days to take care of family business. It's the 4th day of 9 days on the road for me but I'm feeling all kinds of energized. I got 9 fabulous hours of sleep last night (in a row), watched 2 hours of MSNBC this morning (with a little VH-1reality show action thrown in on commercial breaks), had a ginormous fresh veggie filled salad for lunch with my favorite southern beverage, sweet tea, and I met another group of amazing students at an orientation gig this evening. What a day! Another HUGE freshmen class, Longwood has 1040 incoming freshmen this year and I got to meet them all! The staff and students at Longwood are nice as can be and made me feel right at home. Thank you, thank you Longwood lovies!
I meet up with Becca in the great state of Texas tomorrow morning for a 4 day stretch of orientation programs. Orientation season has been terrifically splendid so far. We certainly are lucky gals!

BB King was here...

1,500 freshmen packed into one of the most gorgeous auditoriums, ready to learn how to be proud, confident and safe, and create a safe and violence free campus culture makes for lasting memories and many new Facebook friends! To say we had a blast at Christopher Newport University is an understatement. After hearing that BB King performed on the very stage we would be standing on just days before us, we were feeling pretty darn excited. Then as the students began to arrive and we could feel their insanely exciting and positive energy we knew it was going to be a rock'n show (minus song, instruments and dancing of course, well maybe just a little dancing).

The CNU incoming students embraced our message of sexual empowerment with open minds and open arms. AWESOME! We will forever refer to this wonderful experience at CNU as our BB King moment!

Thank you to our friend Kathleen, a.k.a. Mrs. Bass for the opportunity to work with the CNU community and for taking such good care of us.

Pre-gig video blog action...

Cabrini College

As we were rolling through the gorgeous grounds of Cabrini College headed to our gig, we spotted a mama dear and her fawn. Neither of us quite finished up our veterinarian degree but we both agreed this baby looked close to brand new. We thought it would be a great idea to sneak a quick photo of the wild life standing before us, especially since they were less than 20 yards away from our car. Guess what? Their camouflage really does work! We now have a beautiful photo of some pretty spectacular trees and brush on campus. At least we know a beautiful new family of wildlife is in the shot somewhere.
A few photos that did turn out...
The Orientation leaders may look confused, but they really know their stuff. With excellent leadership like this, the class of 2012 at Cabrini College is golden!
Leave it to us to take photos in the bathroom. With safety tips, information and resources posted in the bathroom stalls we just couldn't resist. What a superb idea!
Here we are doing our thing and loving every minute of it. Orientation season is a little crazy but we are honored to be a part of it, even for just one hour. We get to look at the amazing faces of the incoming students and feel the anxious and hopeful energy in the room. It's quite the view.

Loving Cabrini,

Kelly & Becca

Liberal Oasis!

Tim, Kelly, Jeff, Tonya, Becca and Ken

Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas is a liberal oasis indeed. The campus is progressive and the students are fabulous and for the most part pretty liberal...we felt right at home and had a blast hanging out with our new Hendrix homies (above).

Prior to the program we got to see a preview of the Shirt-Tales "dance off" event being held on campus next week and all we have to say is, look out Chris Brown. Those Hendrix kids have some ridiculous moves! Following our new friend and dance machine, Ken put some serious pressure on these two soul sisters but we got it together and had a great gig. A BIG thank you to Hendrix making our brief stay in Arkansas both meaningful and memorable.

Here's a little video blog action we felt compelled to share. It's a joke Kelly can actually remember...well sort of.

Brown Chicken- Brown Cow --courtesy of Tonya Hale.

Ready for a good time!

Who's super excited about what the next 2 weeks will bring? WE ARE! We hit the road tomorrow to spread the good word of sexual empowerment throughout the land. Orientation season is upon us and we're looking forward to returning to some of our favorite schools, visiting new campuses and making new friends and of course we're anxious to meet the first time college students who are just starting out. Amidst the rush and chaos of the first few days on campus there is a noticeable energy of hope and excitement, a sea of freshmen eager to discover what the next 4 (or 5 or 6) years will bring. It's amazing to watch and an honor to be a part of it.
Stay tuned for stories and pics from the sexual empowerment highway and if we happen to be near you, don't be shy, give us a shout out!

Hendrix College- Little Rock, AR
Cabrini College — Radnor, PA
Christopher Newport University — Newport News, VA
Longwood University- Farmville, VA
Southern Methodist University — Dallas, TX
Sweet Briar College — Sweet Briar, VA
Simpson College — Indianola, IA
St. Ambrose University — Davenport, IA
Bates College — Lewiston, ME
Lees McCrae- Banner Elk, NC

Here's to new beginnings,
K & B

Marvelous Monday

Striking a pose after our session: Ginnie, Dr. Susan, Laymon, Emily, Issac, Kelly, Andrew

What a fabulous start to my week! Yesterday I got to spend the day with some of the most amazing, dynamic, talented and super fresh leaders in all of Florida. I met 32 of Florida's finest at the College Leadership Florida 2008 Conference (CLF). All the rival schools were there and always ready to represent, but this group of students turned into quite the family after an action packed week of leadership and learning. They even got to balance the state budget (look out Crist).

In addition to being surrounded by brilliant young minds and vibrant spirits, I had the chance to co-present a communication and leadership program with Dr. Susan Dellinger, creator of Psycho-Geometrics. Dr. Susan is a super sharp and incredibly talented speaker who happens to have one of the kindest and most genuine hearts of all the women I know. I am so lucky to call her a friend!

If yesterday was a glimpse of what this week will bring, I better fasten my seat belt and hold on tight!

Mad love and respect for CLF,

Kelly

Which side is it on?

As most of you know our work takes us to all 4 corners of the country and every where in between. We fly many a plane and rent a lot of cars. I like to think that we're pretty hip to traveling and fortunately we've learned helpful tricks from colleagues, friends and professionals along the way to get us from place to place safely, quickly and peacefully while collecting as many frequent travel points as possible along the way! I learned something new this week and of course would like to share it with you my pretties.

One of our closest friends Anna (aka, AB which is short for Anna Banana) recently shared an awesome tip with us. Anna is a wise woman and imparts valuable knowledge upon us often and this was no exception.

How many of you have suffered through the annoying task of getting out of the car to pump gas only to find that you've pulled up to the wrong side of the pump? You jump back in the car and scoot around the gas station parking lot trying to maneuver the vehicle in what's generally an unusually awkward space. Me too!

The other day there were 4 of us packed into a car and we were pulling up to the gas pump island at the BP station wondering which side of the rental car the gas tank was on at which point our buddy Anna kindly pointed out the arrow that appeared on the dash board gas gauge. WOW!Who knew there was an arrow there? Not me! Thank you Anna for saving what used to be wasted seconds of our lives searching for the gas cap.

Above is a pic of the gas gauge of the Ford Edge I recently rented in New York. What a super sweet ride! I took the photo while pumping gas at a station in Queens. A gas station which was also a furniture store. No joke. I love New York!

Safe travels,

Kelly