Blogger Interview: Byron Mayes (BDPA Philadelphia)

I have a Village Interview series on my other blog. I thought it would be nice to interview BDPA bloggers around the nation for this blog.

We are pleased to present the first BDPA Blogger Interview with Byron Mayes, an active BDPA blogger in the afrosphere. His blog is simply titled, BDPA Philadelphia Blog.

Byron Mayes is the VP-Professional Development in the BDPA Philadelphia chapter. Here is some little-known biographical information on this brother:

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Louisiana-born composer Byron Christopher Mayes began his formal music training at the age of 10 on a ukelele given to him by his favorite aunt and culminated that training with studies in trombone and composition at Indiana University and the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music. Along the way he studied piano and mandolin, sang in church youth choir, did time in high school and college marching bands, played euphonium on the National Ellipse at TubaChristmas, performed professionally in orchestras and big bands, froze his arse caroling outdoors in period garb, and listened actively to music in all genres.

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I hope you enjoy the following Q&A session with Byron:

Q1. What were you like when you were younger?

Exactly as I am now. Cerebral and a bit stand-offish. Very open to those allowed to get close however (that was difficult for most to do).

Q2. Name a famous historical figure, living or deceased, you would like to meet and tell us why.

So many, I'll pick one each.

• Living - President Barack Obama, of course. He's my age and race, and has reached a level of accomplishment that many of my peers couldn't have imagined when we were younger.
  
• Deceased - Salvador Dalí. I'm an artist at heart and he was the epitome of an artistic genius.

Both men were their own men and inspiring in thier own ways.

Q3. Name a person in your community who is relatively unknown to the rest of the world, who you believe is significant in some way, and that you would like the rest of the world to know more about.

Kyle Bady, one of my former student assistants here at Temple University. He's currently a first year law student at Northwestern in Chicago. While here he maintained a 4.0 and still had charisma and personality unlike the average nerd (my pet name for him was "nerd boy"). Look out for him. He will change the world.

Q4. What are two items in your 'bucket list' ... things you want to do or accomplish before you kick the bucket?

Have a major concert of my musical works. Find my 'other.'

Q5. Describe your first experience on the Internet?

I was on the Internet in the early 1990s and learning it was part of my job responsibilities. Thus, my first Internet experiences were through the text-based protocols of gopher and FTP.

Q6. Tell us about your current blogging career and how you got into it.

I volunteer blog for the BDPA Philadelphia chapter, updating the news blog with items of interest to the membership weekly. I chose to do this as part of my responsibilities as VP for Professional Development.

Q7. Who are the two bloggers you read the most and why? Include their links and tell us why we should subscribe to their feeds.

Ars Technica - Because it's current and "hip" without lapsing into snarkiness. Full coverage of Apple, Open Source, Government, and all that's important to IT today.
White House - Because as a citizen of the US and an unabashed fan of our President and the new transparency surrounding the administration, I feel that I should be in the know.

Q8. Where are you taking your blog over the next 2-3 years?

Hope to maintain its level of useful information. Will also add information about the chapter's events.

Q9. What is your 'killer post' over the past year ... the post you are most proud of?

Most posts are not original, they simply refer the readers to other articles of importance. That said, I like that I got the 'Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov' up within the hour after the Inauguration.

Q10. What is your 'biggest noise post' over the past year ... the one that you took the most heat over from your readers?

None so far.

BDPAers, it is important that we use our various networks to get to know one another. I never would have learned about Byron's musical talents without this Q&A session. How many other BDPA colleagues do we only know on the surface?

Please share your thoughts on this blogger interview!