Bed Head - Lewisville, TX
September 29, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
I was very excited to speak at the Bed Head Headquarters today! As you know by now, Bed Head is the official tour sponsor for my Fall book tour, and they have been so awesome to work with. I’ve been talking with several contacts there for a few months now, so it was great to finally put some faces with the voices on the phone. I gave an hour lunchtime program to the Bed Head employees, and then went out to lunch with my new friend in the publicity department, Karen. After lunch she took me shopping in the Bed Head store! It was like beauty product heaven…and the stuff was free! Thanks to all my new friends at Bed Head…hope to see you again real soon. See pic below of me and some of my new friends in the store.
Afterwards, I drove to the Dallas airport and caught a flight to Milwaukee and connected to a flight back to Newark, NJ. This was officially the longest I’ve ever been away from home…almost 2 weeks straight! But looking back over the past few weeks of blog entries, it’s kinda crazy all the places I have gone…it feels surreal! So to avoid burnout, this weekend I shall rest…
Baylor University - Waco, TX
September 28, 2006 | 1 CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
Today I flew from Cincinnati to Waco, Texas on one of the most vintage, Vietnam War Era planes I’ve ever stepped foot on. You board and just hope you’re living a good life….you know what I mean? Finally got here, and I’ve never been to Waco before. I recalled that I had left some of my toiletries in the hotel bathroom in Ohio, so I hit up the local Wal-Mart to re-stock. It was in this Wal-Mart parking lot where I saw probably the creepiest van in existence. For any of you who have seen me speak, you know I’m really into scoping out creepy vans. This one took the cake, since it was the only one I’ve ever seen with an air conditioning unit actually mounted into one of the windows. Unbelievable. Of course I whipped out my camera and everyone in the parking lot was watching me take pictures of this spooky van. It was a little awkward, but I couldn’t resist. Here it is…
Fast forward a few hours to my visit to Baylor! Wow, what a fantastic crowd! I was able to find my way from the parking garage to the program venue because there were packs of women with blue and brown t-shirts with Girls Fight Back on them. I just followed the herds. This program was organized by my homegirl Sarah, who put so much into the details of a truly superb event. My Scary Bad Guy was an awesome dude named Trey, and we taught the 100+ women all about the importance of hitting someone in the face BEFORE the groin. Then it was time to start chucking free book tour t-shirts into the crowd. I felt so bad, because I totally nailed this one girl in the face who wasn’t looking. Good thing it wasn’t any other object but a shirt…that could have caused some liabililty issues.
I was given flowers and a card by Sarah (See me and Sarah above) and all her sorority sisters. I opened the card when I got home (home=hotel these days), expecting just a note from her thanking me for my visit. Instead, I saw probably a hundred little notes from all the people who were there tonight! I got teary. Thanks so much to everyone who made tonight so incredibly special and fun.
College of Mount St. Joseph - OH
September 27, 2006 | 1 CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
Tonight I spoke at the lovely College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio. My scary bad guy for the evening was quite possibly one of the largest men I’ve ever met, and was appropriately named “Big Ern.” (short for Ernie, perhaps? Not sure…) What a great sport he was, but I have to say, he was the first male assistant ever to try and physically flee the stage from me. Check me out, doing an elbow strike on him. It was hilarious.
A big thanks goes out to the peer educator group called S.W.A.T. who brought me in. Special props go out to Connie, who has made it her mission to bring me to campus after seeing me speak over 3 years ago! Here’s me and the SWAT gang doing demos of our fave moves.
Road Trip
September 26, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
Today I drove 8 hours from Macomb, IL to Cincinnati, OH with a several hour stopover in Urbana, IL. I had to stop because I’ve been deprived of a decent internet connection for a few days, and I needed to blog and return the bazillions of emails I’ve received since embarking on this wild tour. I was on the prowl for a Panera Bread (free internet) or a Starbucks (T-mobile hot spot for $10 a day). I was literally getting off at exits, prowling the streets like a creepy wierdo in a scary van looking for my target. Thankfully I found one. By the end of that drive, I was getting a little delirious. On the final stretch to my hotel, I saw a sign for a Waffle House nearby and almost lost my mind…I was so happy. Tomorrow, Waffle House will be mine. Oh yes, all mine! Mu ha ha ha!
Western Illinois - Macomb, IL
September 25, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
Well the organizers of the program at WIU only set up chairs for 200 people…and 480 attended! Holy moly, I had another Britney Spears Night! The crowd was awesome, as was my scary bad guy, Greg.
This was a program I’ve been looking forward to. WIU is the school of another young, female author I have become friends with named Erin Merryn. Her book is called Stolen Innocence and is actually her teen diary which tells her story of her sexual abuse by her cousin. What a courageous and inspiring gal…she was recently on Montel and Good Morning America, and I wish her all the success in the world in spreading her message of opening up and talking about abuse. She had a lot to do with bringing me to campus, so holla Erin! I’d also like to thank Courtney, who is an R.A. on campus who found my website and was determined to bring me to Western. Another holla goes out to Janine, the director of the women’s center, who did such an awesome job planning logistics and even took us to dinner. So great meeting all of you, and I hope to be back soon. (Photo above, L-R: Erin Merryn, me and Courtney)
Art & Music Festival
September 24, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
Today was Hoboken’s semi-annual Art & Music Festival. It’s SO fun, and I was totally bummed to miss this. Since we were in Chicago for the wedding, it didn’t make sense to fly back first thing Sunday…only to have to return to Chicago for my program Monday at Western Illinois University. But alas, one can only be in one place at a time…I need a clone!
The GFB Program Coordinator, Tiffany Loertscher, ran the show for the festival. She and her crew of friends and GFB volunteers got up our tent, sold my books and distributed flyers detailing upcoming classes at our Hoboken studio. She said that a ton of people stopped by and were psyched to learn about our studio. I guess the weather was pretty wild, but my peeps pulled it off nonetheless. (First freezing, then warm, then nearly blowing the tent away with super winds, then raining…go figure!)
A big thanks to Tiff, John, Erica, Courtney, Toby, Lori, Nicole and anyone else who helped out! (Pictured above, L-R: Courtney, Tiffany, Lori and Nicole.)
Jen’s Wedding
September 23, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
Jen is one of my girlfriends from college, and quite possibly the most beautiful bride ever! Despite the weather NOT cooperating (think monsoon), she still pulled off the classiest celebration ever. Congrats to you both, Jen and Mike!
Holy Tornado
September 22, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
Today I flew from Boston back to O’Hare Airport in Chicago. My husband also flew in from New Jersey and we met at Hertz rental car. How romantic. He decided to come meet me since I’m gone from home for so long, and also because our friend Jen gets married tomorrow.
Well Peter was tired so he took a nap. Needing a little retail therapy, I headed over to Kohl’s to see if I could find a new dress for the wedding. So I get there, and I’m browsing. I buy a few things, and then begin to walk out to the parking lot. That’s when I’m greeted by the darkest, scariest sky I’ve ever seen. Seriously, it was pitch black and freaky. And the worst part was that the scary sky was accompanied by tornado sirens. Any good midwesterner knows what that means…
The manager of Kohl’s comes on over the loudspeaker and tells all the shoppers to head back to the Customer Service area to take cover. I’m thinking to myself, “This is just great. I come back to Chicago and go on a quick shopping trip and then I end up having a tornado drill at Kohl’s. Just perfect!” Well just as I’m grumbling to myself, I hear someone say, “Hey Weed!” It was my friend and one of my fave a-phi’s from EIU named Val. We had a chance to catch up on life during the tornado warning, and it was so great to see her. Man, you know your social life is strugglin’ when you need a tornado threat to catch up with friends…
WPI - Worcester, MA
September 21, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
Today I caught an early flight to Boston. And let me tell you, if you’re coming to Boston anytime soon…beware of the Big Dig traffic! Total insanity. They are closing off tunnels and re-routing people through the city. A nice scenic drive, but a little wierd. A big thank-you goes out to my fellow speaker and road warrior, Mark Sterner, who warned me of this!
Drove to Worcester, about an hour from downtown Boston. I spoke tonight at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which I visited about two years ago. It was funny, because I started out the program by saying that I had been there before, and the whole crowd was nodding. So I asked them, “Did anyone see me speak the last time I was here?” Literally, the ENTIRE crowd raised their hands! Kinda made me wish I had thought of some new jokes…
The photo above is an action shot of a palm strike. A big thanks to my scary bad guy for this program, adorably named “Cookie.”
Miami Ohio - Oxford, OH
September 20, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
Today I drove four hours from Charleston to Oxford, OH to speak at Miami of Ohio University. As I pulled into the parking lot of the student union, I saw this awesome banner outside strung between the trees!
When I got inside, I was greeted by a mob of peer educators wearing pink shirts. On the front they said my tagline, “Strong. Resilient. Spirited. Unified.” On the back was another one of my mottos, “Because fighting like a girl is actually a very good thing…” How fun is that?!
It was a great program and very well attended by a wide assortment of peeps. There were Alpha Phis, teen girls, professors, guys and curious students. Great crowd! And afterwards the peer educators had a dinner reception for me, and gave me a big bag of MU goodies. Thanks so much for the hospitality, my Ohio people. After the reception I drove an hour to the Cincinnati airport. Now I’ll grab about 4 hours of sleep before catching an early flight to Boston tomorrow…
E. Illinois - Charleston, IL
September 19, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
Today I drove 5 hours to get to Charleston, IL. This was another full-circle moment for me. EIU is where I went to college, where I joined Alpha Phi, where Shannon joined Alpha Phi and where she was later murdered. It’s the place where I met my bridesmaids and my friends for life. It’s where I really got jiggy with it at local watering holes. It’s where I learned I was capable of using my voice to take action and make a difference. It was also the first GFB program I ever gave, as a way of trying out for my speaker’s bureau CAMPUSPEAK. I videotaped it and sent it to them…several days later I received a contract from them with an offer to join. It’s been full steam ahead ever since.I’ve only been back to my alma mater a few times since graduating. Once for Homecoming 2000. The visit after that was for Shannon’s 2 weeek murder trial, which afterwards, I wasn’t too psyched to return for awhile. I came back in 2003 for Homecoming to recieve the Outstanding Young Alum award during the halftime presentation. The other recipients were older dudes, dressed up fancy and had white hair. Here I was, 25 years old, wearing an EIU sweatshirt and A-Phi baseball cap, and I must confess…I was also a tad buzzed from hangin’ at Marty’s the whole morning. Oh yeah, I was also late for the presentation, so I was that girl who ran onto the football field mid-presentation. (and thought it was hilarious…so did the crowd.) Real classy, huh?
So fast forward to today, where I drove 7 hours from Iowa to Charleston. Clearly I had a lot of time to think and reflect on the 5 years since Shannon’s murder. I called her mom, Cindy, during my drive. We both decided it wasn’t Charleston’s or Eastern’s fault that Shannon was killed there, and we both decided to make new, good memories of the place and replace them with the yucky ones from the trial.And that, I did! Tonight’s program was phenomenal. It was mostly organized by my friend Jason, who is Sigma Pi president and one of the most enthusiastic, dedicated adn motivated students I have ever worked with. No stone went unturned with this guy. It was truly awesome. I gave the program to several hundred women, who according to the amount of friends I acquired from Facebook, seemed to really dig it. Afterwards we created even more good memories by getting a group together and reflecting on a great event over a frothy beverage.So I can honestly say for the first time in a long while, I will miss Charleston…but tomorrow the tour continues as I drive to Oxford, Ohio. Stay tuned! (Pictured above, my Sig Pi friends utilizing the cool Bed Head stuff in creative ways!)
Iowa State
September 18, 2006 | 1 CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
Tonight I spoke at Iowa State in Ames, IA. I was initially introduced to these wonderful folks by my good friend and commander of the detective unit there, Gene. I met him through my mentor Bob Martin at last years Association of Threat Assessment Professsionals conference. What a fantastic guy! He wrote a stellar review that’s on the back of my book…I’m so grateful to know such awesome people like Gene.
The crowd was big…several hundred, although I’m not good at staring at a crowd and making good guesses. There were quite a few guy in attendance, which I thought was very cool. And they were really into it! Lately I’ve been finding that men are just as into this stuff as women, since they are at risk of being attacked too…just in different ways. Check out this action shot of me demonstrating the powers of the self-defense keychain!
These students were so filled with positive energy, hope and activism…THEY inspired ME! So thanks to everyone who set this up, especially Kris Olds. Check out this attractive bunch!
After the program I hit the road again, and drove 2 hours to Iowa City, since my next stop (Eastern Illinois Univ.) is 7 hours away. Thought it might be a good idea to break up the drive a bit.
CLICK HERE to read an article all about my Iowa visit.
Lovely Arizona
September 15, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
I was driving back from Tucson to the Phoenix airport today, and drove through the most beautiful scenery. How gorgeous is this? (and yes, I was that girl who was driving with a camera out her window…)
University of Arizona - Tucson, AZ
September 14, 2006 | 2 CommentsPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
For those of you who have seen my program, you know I use a lot of humor. But I don’t think I’ve ever had a crowd who laughed as hard as they did tonight. I was starting to get a little paranoid…was my fly open? No, apparently they just had a stellar sense of humor. But boy, do I look goony. Maybe the excessive time spent at 35,000 feet is nuking me. Seriously, what am I doing here?
After the program, we celebrated over dinner with the event organizers and Greek Life office. I had a chance to re-connect with my homeboy, Gary Ballinger, who was my friend while we were students at Eastern Illinois University. He’s now running Greek Life at U of A and it was so great to see him. Holla, GB! See all of us posing with some wooden bear with offensive nipples at a local restaurant, Gentle Ben’s. Some quick trivia for ya: U of A is where “Revenge of the Nerds” was shot. (But sadly, I did not see any nerds during my visit.)
Travel Day
September 13, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
This was a wild travel day. Got up early, and drove 2 and a half hours back to the Greensboro, NC airport. The drive took me through middle VA down into NC, and through the mountains. The day was insanely foggy and rainy, and as I decended into some mountain valleys, I was enveloped by the thickest, creepiest fog I’ve ever seen. I wanted to take a picture of it for this blog, but I figured I’d probably die in the process…so I decided against it.
Hopped on a flight to Newark, NJ to catch my connecting flight to Phoenix, AZ. On the plane ride to AZ, I saw a gorgeous sunset. (See below.) Even in the midst of insane and stressful travel, it’s so important to relish in the beauty of the journey…
Landed in Phoenix, got my rental car and then drove 2 hours to Tucson. Marathon travel day, huh? Time to hit the hay…
But before I go, I found this article online today that was in the Virginia Tech newspaper about last night’s program: READ IT.
Virginia Tech - Blacksburg, VA
September 12, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
This morning I boarded a plane for Greensboro, NC and then drove 2 and a half hours to Blacksburg, VA to speak at Virginia Tech. I was met by Brittany and Christy, the organizers who did a fabulous job at putting together a stellar event! See the 3 of us below.
This crowd was BIG. About 500, if I had to guess. The room could barely hold all of us, so during the interactive part of the program, I walked into the sea of people and did the moves there. It was fun. Because there were so many bodies in the room, you could physically feel the energy. It’s what I often refer to as “lovely chaos.” I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Overall this was an amazing program…I call gigs like this “Britney Spears Nights.” Why? Well, because I think it’s probably how Britney feels onstage…tons of awesome girls rockin’ along with you. And this time, I even had peeps on a balcony overhead!
Wonder Woman
September 11, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
Today is my one day at GFB headquarters before hitting the road for Virginia and Arizona this week. As a result, I’m doing non stop phone interviews and working out logistics for upcoming tour dates. So to tide your thirsty appetite for Weed’s tour in pictures, here’s a shot of my buddy Wonder Woman, posing next to a GFB Can O Whoop-ass. For those of you who don’t know, I’ve been traveling with my Wonder Woman action figure, and she’ll make random appearances in this blog. Sometimes it’s just not cool to do the arm-stretched-self-portrait thing in public. Much cooler to pose an action figure and take a pic of that. The cans o’ whoop-ass are one of my latest creations. I give them away to my male assistants who let me kick them around during my programs at colleges. The fun part is that we put surprise objects in the can, and they have to open up the can o whoopass to see what’s inside. Nice.
Anu’s Surgery
September 8, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
This morning I drove from Albany, NY down to Hoboken to return my rental car. Then I shot over to New York City on the subway to Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to be with my family. As many of you who read my e-newsletter know, my mother in law was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and this morning had a full masectomy. The good news is that her surgery went extremely well, and she looks fantastic. Thanks to you all for sending your thoughts, prayers and girl power to Anu in her time of need.
RPI - NY
September 7, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
Today I started by driving 2 hours from Clarion PA to Pittsburgh to catch a flight to New York. While I was in the airport, I couldn’t resist the urge to send a shout out pic to my boy Dan Kennedy at CAMPUSPEAK. He’s my booking agent, and a HUGE Steelers fan. So I never thought I’d don one of these bad boys, but here it is…
Flew to Albany, NY and spoke tonight at Renssealaer Polytechnic Institute. This was a full circle moment for me, since four years ago I spoke there as a “test” of whether or not I was good enough to be accepted into CAMPUSPEAK. Apparently it worked out…
Tonight I spoke to a great crowd of about 60 college gals, many of which were Alpha Phi girls. Thanks to all for coming out, and learning a thing or two about “being dangerous.” Here are a few pics from the evening:
Clarion University - PA
September 6, 2006 | Leave a CommentPosted by admin | Filed Under Erin Weed's Blog
This morning I caught an early flight from Newark to Pittsburgh. I took a cab to Newark, and it was simply bizarre. My driver was the type who didn’t quite understand how NOT a morning person I am. After a long ride to the airport, he hops out of the cab and steals the curbside check-in guy’s cart. He was just trying to help me, but seriously, you don’t do that. Those guys take carts seriously, and this one was no exception. He screamed at my driver, who then screamed back. I started taking my own bags out of the trunk while they duked it out. It was quite a debacle.
Many have asked how the travel is going, given the new rules and restrictions. As a frequent traveler for the past 5 years, it’s been a rough adjustment. Checking bags in my industry is unheard of. Checked bags equal lost bags! And I wouldn’t have an issue with this new “no liquids on the plane thing” if they didn’t prohibit coffee. That really sucks. (especially early mornings like today)
Got to Pittsburg, and drove 2 hours to Clarion. Spoke to a few hundred Clarion University women tonight, and had SO much fun! We came, we saw, we kicked some ass. See below some pics of me, the program and the book signing afterwards.
