One of the main themes this year in my life and business is connecting with people.

In a home-based business it’s all too easy to spend my days head-down, buried in my latest projects, Twitter, or writing posts like this one. Not that there isn’t value in these activities. Working in my track pants until 2:00 PM is cool, but getting dressed and connecting with people in the “real world” is something I need to be doing a lot more.

But you know me. I can’t just meet a few people. I have to create an event, right? Something Victoria knows quite a bit about.

In fact, when I meet with people like Victoria in Phoenix, or Mark in Portland, or Lori in Seattle, I feel refreshed. Energized. Ready to do stuff. And I like to think they feel the same (gee, I hope so).

So let’s do more of that!

Connecting with Mobile Pants

I live in a rural area outside of Portland. So if I’m meeting with a colleague or a client, I bring my mobile office with me. Before or after the meeting, I set myself up in a cafe and get my work done. Not only is it more efficient than turning around and driving right home (really hard to sit back down in the studio after that), I get to experience the hustle and bustle of the city, which feeds my creativity.

So I decided to make a commitment to connecting and working in a very public way every week. So here’s the deal.

Every Thursday, I’ll be Sparky Mobile Pants. I’ll be setting myself up in a cozy spot somewhere in the city of Portland for the day. It won’t be the same place every week, but I’m sure I’ll hit some of the same spots two or three times. Some of my favorite haunts are:

Muddy’s Coffee

Concordia Coffee

Lucky Lab (North Portland & SE Portland)

Powell’s on Hawthorne

On Wednesdays, I’ll post where I’ll be setting up. Sure, I’ll be working, but I am keeping myself completely interruptible. Which is really the point, isn’t it?

So if you’re in the area, I hope you’ll stop by and say hello. If you sit long enough, I’ll even create a Firepantsian doodle for you to take home.

How will you know it’s me? Hopefully there aren’t any Sparky Firepants imposters running around the Pacific Northwest, but to be absolutely sure, I’ll put up a sign at my table that looks like that graphic up on top there.

I swear I won’t bite. Or burn. Come out and say hi. Please!