Tanya J Smith Washington DC Salsa Mambo Bachata Latin
I’ve been on Face Book and Twitter since 2008 (totally missing the MySpace and Friendster Era) initially for the sole purpose of promoting the Mr. Mambo’s Salsa Social and as a proxy for keeping up with the exciting and highly curated lives of my friends and their shenanigans without having to call them daily. But the status updates swiftly became a medium for me to indulge in my passion for writing, story-telling, while engaging in provocative yet hopefully civilized dialogue on a variety of topics with my friends, acquaintances, and sometimes total strangers who would pop happenstance into my virtual world.
Tens of Thousands of sometimes MUY MESSY POSTS later, which had some of my friends questioning my values, morals, and sanity, was the persistent feedback that I, Tanya J. Smith, had something interesting to say upon occasion and maybe, JUST MAYBE, I should start a blog. After many fits and false starts, I’ve finally decided to do just that. I believe a website will be the perfect platform for me to better promote the Salsero Lifestyle along with my Salsa Dance events to a wider audience while also providing a more ideal space for my writing adventures.
This blog/website would not be a reality without the technical expertise and website wizardry of Paul Hernandez aka DC’s DJ NEO, who built this website from the ground up after we spent hours conferring on what I wanted to accomplish. We finally picked a WordPress theme that wouldn’t confound me or incapacitate me from actually USING the website. In fact, Paul approached ME this summer, asking whether I had ever considered doing a website. His inquiry was the trigger mechanism for me to finally turn this goal into a reality. He was very patient with me when it dawned on him the mammoth challenges he faced dealing with a person who doesn’t even have a 1st grade understanding of back-end programming, coding, or any other googly gunk that extends beyond me typing something into a status box and hitting send or basic copy and paste functions. He quickly ascertained that his project management skills would have to be sharp and HIGHLY attuned to keep me on track and get me to stick to deadlines. There was a lot of custom work done by Paul because of my specific desires for specific types of posts and I’m sure he was frustrated with my long winded ramblings that would double as impossible requests. Thankfully, he stuck by me and painstakingly worked through it all. As you can see, even when dealing with a world class procrastinator and prone to distraction disaster like me, he was cool as a cucumber and succeeded on all levels. Suffice it to say, I am very happy with the result! If you ever need a website designer that will commit to deadlines AND your satisfaction, hit me up and I will get you Paul Hernandez’s contact info with my personalized recommendation in tow.
Having said that, this website is still a work in progress. I am still trying to figure out how I want things to look, what to convey, and every hour brings about a flurry of changes with many corresponding UNDOS when I realized that some changes would mess something else up. Not to mention that the learning curve for WordPress and simple coding is just awfully steep for a Tech Retard and Newbie like myself. So its baby steps. The biggest piece of this website that is still in flux is MY LOGO. I need to give a shout out to Kelly Reed, a fellow Salsero, who I first consulted on logo design. I ended up not going with her designs but she was indispensable in starting the conversation with me about what I liked in design (still not sure) and sussing out a concept of how I want my name to represent me. The Logo I am currently using is NOT what I want and will not be permanent but it will have to do for now. Paul convinced me that we needed to launch the website soon or it would just languish while I go back and forth on revisions with different Logo designers looking for that Unicorn of Perfection.
Check out the Weekly Local Hotspots under Featured Events which focuses on Events in DC/MD/VA/NOVA. This Calendar gives you a Monthly and List View of Events Each Week along with a corresponding map of the locations.
Feel free to share any of your feedback or critiques with me and of course, share any of my posts you like.
Thank you for reading!
