Summer Survival with Sarah Gish
Gish Creative/THE SUMMER BOOK
“The school year is almost over! What are the kids going to do this summer?” The end of May strikes fear in most parents, especially those of school age children. We complain about getting up early, making lunches, studying, and science fair projects, but when it comes down to it, at least in school the kids are entertained. Houston is a fantastic city with much to offer, but how do you find “the perfect” summer activity for your child?
Enter Sarah Gish and THE SUMMER BOOK: A GUIDE TO HOUSTON DAY CAMPS AND CLASSES FOR KIDS AND TEENS. After barely surviving the summer after her oldest completed kindergarten, Sarah created THE SUMMER BOOK, a “go-to” guide for Houston’s summer day programs. Since 2003, THE SUMMER BOOK has fast become Houston’s source for summer activity. Every year, a new edition is edited and published in March and the book is available on her website – www.thesummerbook.com – and in major bookstores in Houston.
With a degree in Art History and a love for media, Sarah Gish has worked for many businesses and individuals, helping them with marketing strategies and sales programs. A mother of two boys, Sarah started her company, Gish Creative (www.gishcreative.com), in 2000 when her youngest was born. Her third “child” is a PR and marketing business that represents mostly arts organizations and non-profits. Since 2009, she has expanded her focus to include more writing, creating art, and presenting talks and workshops.
Artist, writer, publicist are just a few of the “titles” Sarah carries. But more than anything, she really considers herself an “Infopreneur”. “I’m addicted to gathering information,” she says “and much that I find gets used somewhere, whether it’s in THE SUMMER BOOK, in my tweets, as an idea for art, or in the columns I write.” She collects brochures and magazines everywhere she goes and gets emails on all kinds of events from a variety of interesting organizations. And Sarah browses websites looking for “cool and cultural” local events – in fact, she starts with her own website (http://www.gishcreative.com/communityevents.htm) which leads her to many others.
Sarah’s love for information doesn’t stop at summer. In 2004, she created an email newsletter for families that included events she organized for the release of THE SUMMER BOOK. She soon realized that there was an audience hungry for ideas on ALL cultural activities, products and services for families – so she expanded her editorial coverage. Her initial subscribers were fans of THE SUMMER BOOK but the list grew quickly to include over 5,000 parents and caregivers from over 160 Houston area zip codes. The publisher of the Houston Community Newspapers approached Sarah in 2006 to create a weekly column with the same name and same focus in their paper. Since then, GISH PICKS (the email newsletter) has maintained a distribution list of 7,000+ and the newspaper column has appeared in all 35 HCN markets as well as in their online publication, reaching thousands more. Sarah focuses on free or cheap activities, helping parents entertain their families on a budget. You can sign up to receive GISH PICKS by going to: http://www.gishcreative.com/gishpicks.htm. Sarah considers her “labor of love” a community service. Speaking for all parents, THANK YOU SARAH!
We are very happy to host Sarah Gish and THE SUMMER BOOK on Wednesday, April 21st from 6:00pm – 8:00pm. Sarah will help us create a fun, fantastic, and family friendly summer! Be sure to get your friends together and come join us for an evening of fun and summer planning. She’ll have copies of the book available for purchase.
