Random Connect Points:
Reba's Stories

If anyone doubts the power of social media to make connections, read on...   Many years ago, I had the chance to tour the White House with country music great Clint Black and a friend (read that story here ). An item on my bucket list has always been to see him perform again and maybe, just maybe, be able to meet him again. That chance materialized when he came to Florence to perform at the Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center. When I learned about the concert, I set out to make the right connections to meet him again and find out if he remembered that fun adventure at the White House with the same clarity that I did.  I figured that every day in my professional life I make connections using various communications tools to make a case. So maybe I could use those same strategies to make contact with Clint’s people and convince them I wasn’t some middle-aged crazed fan. I thought about the resources I had available to me to get my story to him… old...

I have worked in, or around, politics for my entire career. For that reason, most of the "grip and grin" photos in my office are with politicians. While meeting and having photos with a president, congressmen, senators, heads of state from around the world, legislators and local officials were thrilling experiences, my secret vice is my collection of photos with country music stars.   So when I got to go to the White House with a country music star, I was over the moon. "Smartly dressed" in the White House press room My love of country music started with a high school friend. This was back in the late '70s when the first of the "new wave" of country singers was coming along on the heels of the greats like Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. I came to love Reba McEntire, Lyle Lovett and the Statler Brothers in college.   Later, as a young professional in Washington, I often had access to concert tickets and backstage passes thanks to ...