Lots of local business networkers and fun humans will be celebrating the 8th Anniversary of Linked In Local, a global effort supported here in the region by Melody Baron, who invites Nestor and all the folks who are on the professional platform to to The Maryland Zoo on Wednesday night for a celebration and fundraiser. Party, animals…
Nestor Aparicio and Melody Baron discuss the LinkedIn Local networking event at the Maryland Zoo, set for June 11. Melody, who founded LinkedIn Local in Baltimore, highlights the event’s purpose of connecting professionals and raising funds for the zoo. The event will feature food, drinks, and entertainment, including a surf rock band and aerial performers. Tickets are $75, with all proceeds going to the zoo. Melody shares her passion for community engagement and the event’s history, which began in Australia in 2017. The conversation also touches on personal anecdotes and shared interests in music and sports.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
LinkedIn Local, networking event, Maryland Zoo, charity fundraising, business segment, LinkedIn local Baltimore, anniversary party, community engagement, virtual events, pandemic impact, ticket sales, sponsorship, animal ambassadors, Baltimore community, event promotion.
SPEAKERS
8
Nestor Aparicio, Speaker 1, Melody Baron
Nestor Aparicio 00:00
Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive. I would point to the logo, but it’s missing because I’m on my backup equipment, because my stuff got fried in Vegas. We talked about that. One thing that did not get fried are the Maryland lottery scratch off tickets that I have. We have the Back to the Future. They have all stack. We’re up here at Green mount station in beautiful pastoral green green mount station in Hampstead. We’re in Carroll County, God’s country up here. We’re gonna be talking about Carroll County Youth in our next segment, we did bowling. We did duck pin and 10 pin bowling. We’ve done fried versus broiled crab cakes. We’ve done the horsemen Association and Howard share and I from Duck doctors on one of my oldest pals picked apart the Orioles as well as the Ravens. This is going to be a business segment and a networking segment. Melanie Baron has been doing this thing online that I have watched from afar and participated in, called LinkedIn local. I’m one of those LinkedIn guys still trying to pan for navigator, still trying to figure out how to hell to make it work the right way and harness it all. But the power of LinkedIn is such that there’s no where I go anywhere in the business space where, if I meet you and say My name’s Nestor, and they say, I sell insurance and you’re Pete Raimondi, or I sell financial services and they’re Leonard Raskin, the first thing I do is in I did this at the Maryland party in Vegas for three days in networking. Oh, what’s your name? Now, people have a little sexy QR code, and they’ll tap and they’ll do this in that dance. But if I go to LinkedIn and you ain’t there, you ain’t nowhere, you know what I mean to me. So you started LinkedIn, local years ago. You’re about to celebrate a big anniversary, and I wound up at a fancy networking event on a fancy boat at the harbor, and you were the cause celeb to tell your story, and your story was compelling about passion and about wanting to run a charity and having a regular old federal job, the sad part of being a Philadelphia sports fan, but not currently, right now, because of the successes that have come your way in recent times. But it is good to have you on Good to meet you in person. I think we’ve been in the same room, networking, but you’re really popular and dressed up at these I mean, you take networking seriously. Sometimes a little line getting at you, and you were on the boat and I had to get off the boat. So it’s nice to see you, and thanks for coming out promoting your big event at the zoo next week. Thank
Melody Baron 02:23
you for having me. This is so much fun. And as I mentioned, what just started? Well, the drive was fun, and I had a really warm greeting so far, and the fact that you reached out, that’s sort of the intent and purpose behind LinkedIn local and LinkedIn local Baltimore. So I really appreciated that and connecting with you in that way. Why see
Nestor Aparicio 02:42
everything you do so I can, I can go backwards through a pool event down in the bottom of the thing by Woodbury. You know, you’ve done mansion events in big indoor, you do indoor, you do outdoor, you’ve done bars and grills, you’ve done function rooms. You’ve done a whole bunch of different spaces. I was at one of your early events, and I wanted to brag on the say I have been to one of your events. It’s way back in the beginning of the beginning might have been before we put the masks on. Maybe. Yeah, it was down on the waterfront Baltimore Peninsula, but not there the other side, where the Under Armor and the bridge under the Hanover Street Bridge
8Melody Baron 03:26
south point. Yes, that was one of our anniversary parties. That was a great, great event. We were out on the water. It was beautiful. People, nice people, bands. We had oysters, vintage clothes. We had the president of Baltimore magazine jamming out on the stage, and we had a beautiful birthday cake. I mean, that was a great event. Everybody was dressed up in their favorite Baltimore attire.
Nestor Aparicio 03:47
I think I went home a cake that night, good. I stole some of the cake. It was a beautiful we closed it down because we lived downtown at the time. You had, like, those Italian lights up and the sun was starting to set. And I don’t think we had ever attended an event there. It was kind of a newish space at the time, and I know I don’t really have a whole lot of events down. There’s big parking lot. And I went down early, I think I walked to the event from the harbor where I lived, and I said that my wife was out, like, doing a medical things after she had cancer stuff. I said, you know, I don’t know if this thing’s gonna be any good or not, but pick me up. And on a way over, I’m like, park the car get in here, this event’s great so, and I don’t know why I haven’t gone to another event. Some of our ticketed, some of them have a cost. Some of them are certain nights. Some of them fit into my schedule. You’re doing a thing next week at the zoo that it caught my eye originally, but then I was on the boat with you, and then you showed up on LinkedIn last week, and I’m like, I want to throw a dart and see if she wants to come at the green mount station, because I enjoyed hearing you speak about your passion for what you were doing. But I thought the story of putting together a networking group and having it be successful and around something that’s already so smart, because it’s the first place that I go to Network to LinkedIn, and I had no idea you’re so. Association. At first I thought, well, this girl must be working for LinkedIn, like five, six years ago, all over the place, trying to create this Baltimore community. And then on the boat, a month ago, I heard that this thing started in Australia. And this isn’t just like a this a pet project for you. This isn’t even like a business, correct. This is just sort of like you extending your personality a little bit to kind of maybe meet idiots like me and green mount station crab cake, maybe, right?
Melody Baron 05:27
It’s definitely a passion piece. This is not my day job. I do not get paid. I am not a LinkedIn expert, even
Nestor Aparicio 05:33
8though your hat, you have hats made. Yes, strategic
Melody Baron 05:35
factory is our title sponsor, and they do a great job. So does Bobby Carter, I actually brought you a gift. So you are ahead of the curve. Made this
Nestor Aparicio 05:43
tablecloth. Oh, really, if I hand you a business card, strategic factory made it Well, there
Melody Baron 05:50
you go. There. Yeah, they’re gonna love that that we’re talking about, because we’re
8Nestor Aparicio 05:54
we all, you know, yes, it’s a small place Baltimore, a
Melody Baron 05:58
local business community, and we try to make it a little bit more community centric. So as you mentioned, a woman by the name of Anna McAfee. She founded LinkedIn local in 2017 and Coffs Harbor, Australia. I fell in love there one night. At least I thought I did. I heard that about you, true. That’s a long flight for one night, one night, but I must have been a good night.
Nestor Aparicio 06:24
I was a two beer, one koala, one kangaroo, two parent story, okay, oh, and t, it involved.
Melody Baron 06:35
8T, those are the kinds of stories that I want to hear at a LinkedIn local
Nestor Aparicio 06:39
event. I’ll give you that one at the zoo. Okay, there were no wallabies, but there was a kangaroo, all right. Definitely. Were koalas. Wow. And she was beautiful. Oh my gosh, yeah. Cough, sarva. Cough, sarba, yes, north of Sydney on the road. I’ve never
Melody Baron 06:59
gotten to meet Anna in the flesh, but we have done a lot of virtual interaction with each other, and I really hope that someday our paths cross either
Speaker 1 07:07
Byron Bay. I would love to go to Byron Bay.
8Melody Baron 07:13
She started this concept. Shout off
Nestor Aparicio 07:15
as you Morton Bay box, eat them. They’re delicious.
Melody Baron 07:18
I would do it if it was covered in chocolate. You know what a Morton Bay bug is? I don’t, but m,
Nestor Aparicio 07:24
8O, R, E, T, O N, I’m doing, I’m performing for your LinkedIn. Girl here. But more Morton Bay bugs. Morton Bay is like the chest. It’s a bay it’s in. And they have these special lobsters. It’s a spiny lobster. But they call them bugs because they have, you know, they say funny things. Oh, wow. So if you get a Morton Bay bug, you are getting a delicacy of crustacean that is world renowned and delicious.
Melody Baron 07:52
I’m very into world delicacies, save
Nestor Aparicio 07:55
the bear monkey, but I love Australia and that I’ve been the cost harbor. I’ve been back since I fell in love that one night last century. I went my wife and I went to see Springsteen in hunters estates, which is nearby, and we drove through Coffs harbor very intentionally, because I’ve told my wife I fell in love there one night, and I went back. And it’s like, bigger, but it’s like a it’s a community. It’s a bayside community that’s a little sequestered in the way that I’m trying to think of a community that would be sequestered here. I don’t know, Salisbury would be in the middle of Ocean City in them. It’s, it’s a place, but it, it would, it’s a small town as I as I would see it. It’s not from the photos I’ve seen. It looks cute. Yeah. It’s, it’s, I highly recommend. I think you should use that as a business. Can you write that off? Business expenses? Sure. Kiwanis airlines
Melody Baron 08:46
over there. I don’t know. We’ll find out. Yeah. So it
8Nestor Aparicio 08:48
started there, and how did it get here? The butterfly flapping
Melody Baron 08:53
its overnight, a hashtag. This was a grassroots meetup campaign that literally, overnight, just blew up. Anna posted in June, early June. June 2 is the official birthday of local Yes, eight years, okay. And she said, hey, I want everybody to meet at this coffee shop. I’m posting all this content. I’m a content creator, and I really just want to connect with the people that are liking my posts and trying to connect with me and become one of my network, and she had like 20 some people meet up at that first coffee meetup. And when she posted the hashtag LinkedIn local, everybody flooded her inbox. What is LinkedIn local? How do I become part of it? And within, I think the first year of its inception, it was 800 cities worldwide, spanning almost every continent and in like 90 something countries, but
Nestor Aparicio 09:43
every one of them needed one like you. This wasn’t something like LinkedIn. Put some executive in charge of saying, let’s create a street brand. This was literally, truly organic, yes, like it
Melody Baron 09:55
8was people like me who wanted that interaction with their community, who were in. Interested in their community, who are interested
Nestor Aparicio 10:02
to get out. And the time I came out, I had a great night. I don’t know why I didn’t necessarily. I get invited to all sorts. I go to connect. Sometimes I go to accelerant. I go to different things. I really did think your thing was much more owned by LinkedIn and all of that, until I learned more about it last month. Now you have like, a gig totally aside from this. Yes,
Melody Baron 10:21
I’m a federal contractor by day, that’s exciting. Yes, it’s very exciting right now. We have a lot of fun at work these days.
Nestor Aparicio 10:28
Cut, cut, cut. What can I say? Melanie Barron is here. She is with LinkedIn local. We’re at Green mount station. We are in beautiful Hampstead. I’m glad that I just had you come over the border from Pennsylvania, because Luke’s in Owings Mills right now. And he always is, first off, the crab cakes are great here, but he’s like, Hey, that’s easy for me. That’s on the road between Owings Mills and where he lives in Pennsylvania. But you live, you don’t, you don’t even live in Baltimore. You live across
8Melody Baron 10:50
the line. No, I did for a long time, and then I navigated a little north. I heard you
Nestor Aparicio 10:56
have, like, a whole Pennsylvania thing that I’m from. Really,
Melody Baron 10:59
I’m born and raised in Philly, and I used to Baltimore in 2012 Yes, I did to the smaller version, Northeast is where I was born and grew up. And then a little later in life, my parents moved and we were right outside the city, about 45 minutes north in Bucks County. Your
Nestor Aparicio 11:19
8eagles, you know Warminster. You up that way? Where are you? I am from
Melody Baron 11:22
Warminster. That’s exactly where I lived and spent a lot of my life. And then as an adult, I was sort of near Rittenhouse before I left downtown. Yes, yes, yes. And I worked at the Wells Fargo Center at the time. I don’t know if it’s still Wells Fargo or what they’re calling it these days, COVID the day, but that’s where I started my career, 2025 years ago. That was my first job out of college. I was an intern, and I was doing all the sports and entertainment booking for that complex. And yeah, I was in the stadium when Chase Utley made his famous quote world F and champions, and it was a good time. I was a sports fan.
Nestor Aparicio 11:55
I was at the rink when Lindros got his head taken off. I was at that game.
Melody Baron 11:59
Oh my gosh, yeah, yeah. I’ve done some of those too. I
8Nestor Aparicio 12:03
saw Allen Iverson and and Shaq of NBA Finals of oh one, okay, building,
Melody Baron 12:12
wow, yeah. When did the campaign matumbo was around. That was like, when I was a fan. I was really into the Sixers. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 12:19
okay, yeah, I was into earlier, older
Melody Baron 12:22
8than you. I think, yeah, I still have my AI hat. I mean, he signed it for
Nestor Aparicio 12:26
that was across the street. That was spectrum. A
Melody Baron 12:28
little different. Yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 12:31
Spectrum now, yeah, the spectrum. You know, I got a lot of memories the spectrum.
8Melody Baron 12:34
So yes, I saw the last show, Pearl Jam. I was there right before. Every
Nestor Aparicio 12:39
time I eat a pretzel, a Philly pretzel. And I, they are among my favorite things. You’re gonna find that out in August, I’m doing my 27 favorite things to eat. Oh, no, Philly pretzels are under strong consideration. And and I went to all these concerts at this but I went to Philly see I was a Phillies fan as a kid, so we I would always come back it. I would be crossing the bridge, and it always smelled like, well, like, sort of like Dundalk, a little bit when you go over the bridge, when you leave in Philly, when you’re going across the school cool, and that you’re on the way to the airport, and that big fire thing that came up that smelled like Dundalk. And I would always have Philly pretzel stuck to the roof of my mouth, because, you know what I mean, because you’re grabbing them. You get in the car. You just got to make that left turn off of Patterson on the broad get up on you got to get the hell out of there. Good. You don’t want to get stuck there. But Philly pretzels are, you know, I love them. The
Melody Baron 13:31
one thing I miss hoagies. Our hoagies are much different in Philly than Baltimore. And there’s like,
Nestor Aparicio 13:36
8the whole toast. Get your proper Cheesesteak.
Melody Baron 13:39
Okay, we could do that, but it’s the hoagie I need the Italian hoagie with mayo and hot peppers, and I feel like the bread. You know, I found a couple places that will, you know, take me in the right direction. But there’s nothing like a South Philly hoagie sandwich from, you know, there’s
Nestor Aparicio 13:56
nothing about Philly that disturbs me more or disturbed me more than I had a friend who lived in Hatboro, and she had a dude, and my wife and I were going up for dinner or whatnot, and they sent us down to the pizza shop to get, like, some food subs, and I get some broccoli Rob stuff you can’t get here. You get in Philly, you know, yes, broccoli, one thing that they got there. And I don’t want to insult you, but I’m gonna all
Melody Baron 14:21
your people. You haven’t already, you said that my hometown stinks. Okay,
8Nestor Aparicio 14:25
go ahead. No, just the bridge stinks. The rest of it smells
Melody Baron 14:28
like that’s the Jersey side. What? No, no, I didn’t say that. Yeah.
Nestor Aparicio 14:32
So what’s I go to camp that for concerts all the time. But you know, like the whole Philly thing that I would go to a sub shop, and I would come home and have a pizza box, and I would open it up and look at it, and it’s dough and sauce
Melody Baron 14:50
8and there’s no cheese. I don’t know where you’re getting your pizza. Then tomato pie, what is? Oh, tomato pie is something completely different, and it’s delicious, and it’s meant to be eaten room. Temperature and a lot of pizza without cheese. There’s big chunks of garlic on it. I don’t know. Maybe somebody who’s lactose intolerant, I’m not sure, but cheese, but so don’t order the tomato pie. Order a pizza. They’re two separate menu items. If
Nestor Aparicio 15:17
I call someplace here and say I want a pizza without the cheese. They’re gonna tell me to go to Philly get
Melody Baron 15:24
it order that, because they probably don’t have tomato pie around here. I don’t know,
Nestor Aparicio 15:27
I kid Philly, but I love Philly. I mean, I do me too, my heart. Mean, I love I can, you know, I almost went to the man the other night to see Lenny Kravitz. Oh, nice. A great venue. Oh, my God, the top of that hill. It’s one of the most beautiful venues in the country. Without question. I saw river dance there. I saw Robert Plant there. I saw John on that hill. I like that, but I just whether it’s some Manny young there’s bars there, you know, over where the tower theater is was, and what do they call it? The main line, right? Yeah, it’s very neighborhood. I go to Ardmore for see Tommy common the young Rumblers play, right? So, I mean, yeah,
8Melody Baron 16:09
I still listen to the same radio station every day, almost all day, 93 3w, MMR. For the last 30 years, since I was in the
Nestor Aparicio 16:19
highest rock station in the country. I tell Kirk and the guys here, I tell Brill Hart that all the time. I’m like, whenever I go to Philly and I hear Pierre or, you know, like Jackie,
Melody Baron 16:31
it’s president, Steve Pierre, and then Jackie, bam, bam, yeah. And that’s my every single show at
Nestor Aparicio 16:36
8Ardmore about three years ago, Tommy Conwell and our boys. So I went up to his show at Ardmore and Jackie, bam, bam, and Pierre. And I’m a radio 35 years I’ve been doing this, so I’m not star struck, but I’m like, Man, I want a picture with you guys. And I put it up, and I didn’t put any identification on it. People in Baltimore know who Pierre Robert?
Melody Baron 16:56
Oh, everybody does. Everybody does? Celebrities know who he is? I do. I am lucky enough to have one photo with Pierre. I think that I can’t make that might have been out of buffet concert, actually, in Camden
Nestor Aparicio 17:08
and, well, he’s a rose, amusing legend. Yeah,
Melody Baron 17:11
I was in studio one time. I got to hear Preston and Steve record, which was a really cool experience. So I’m big fan, long time
8Nestor Aparicio 17:19
rocker, all right, Melody barons, here she is with LinkedIn local. Her event is at the zoo always, but it’s not a use and lose. I mean, you can join, talk about how to join your group, as simple as being a part of this, and then you give back. I mean, you’re like, you get sponsors. You come work for me. Treat this the way we treat Baltimore. Positive. The Maryland Zoo is a great spot. Mansion House. I was there a couple of weeks ago. I was there for the lighting that they did spring illuminations. Was beautiful, yes, but they got a little chimpanzee now, they got a little draft now, so I get Kirby, but you’ve decided to throw your event there and a spring night at the zoo on a Wednesday. Networking with serious people is, I think, a great way to do it.
Melody Baron 18:01
We are very fortunate to be hosting our eighth anniversary party there. And I do want to confirm it’s the eighth anniversary of LinkedIn local worldwide. So LinkedIn local Baltimore was founded January of 2018 so we’re a little bit behind. But nonetheless, this organization was created with the purpose to bring like minded individuals in one facilitated event to genuinely get to know the people behind the profiles. So beyond your company name, your business card, your title, your degree, those elements are just a fraction of who you are. So when we get everybody together in the room and we can raise money for charities while we’re networking, that’s a win. Win. We can be more and do more when we’re surrounded by the right people. Now in 800 cities worldwide, every single city is doing their events differently. They’re on different scales. They’ll have a different you, right, literally, correct. So a lot of this comes from maybe my vision in the beginning, but we have a huge team of volunteers that support the creative and all of the fundraising aspects that go into really big events like this. And our anniversary parties every June are one of our biggest fundraisers. So we will be at the zoo. Everything goes back to the zoo. We do not take $1 home. So every single person on this volunteer team has a day job, and we do this in addition to our day jobs, and even everything down to sponsorship money. I really, really, really try my hardest to make sure that every single dollar goes back to the charity. And part of that
Nestor Aparicio 19:36
you said on the boat last month, this is seven years, seven plus years, right?
Melody Baron 19:40
8We’re over a million at this point for so many different organizations. I had stopped counting probably, like, three years ago or something. You know, we used to keep a spreadsheet and
Nestor Aparicio 19:50
always keep track board. Come on. Yeah, I do know Jerry Lewis telethon somewhere,
Melody Baron 19:54
but I’m like, one of those. I don’t know. I’m like, you know? The tax guy in his office, and my paperwork is everywhere. So, but you have another gig I do. Yes, I’m a federal contractor, but
Nestor Aparicio 20:06
you’re not doing this every month. You were maybe in the beginning, right,
8Melody Baron 20:10
beginning, in the beginning, every single month, quickly, soon
Nestor Aparicio 20:13
after you started this. So we started, could not go out. And then virtual networking became the rage. Yeah, until we’re like, this sucks. I gotta get back out and touch people again. Exactly
Melody Baron 20:23
We were. Traditionally, we host the third Wednesday of every month, 6pm to 9pm so when we started, we were rocking and rolling. We had a full book of venues, vendors, sponsors, speakers, presenters, you name it. We had a full book, like going into 2021 actually, that’s how much people were interested in this organization and this nuance of this thing, LinkedIn, local. And when the pandemic hit, we shifted, and we did a few of the virtual events. And I will say the virtual events are more me personally. They are more mentally taxing and draining and take way more energy, I’m sure, as does this for you to sort of present yourself in that way and keep people interested on a video screen, as opposed to in person, and sort of free flow. And
Nestor Aparicio 21:13
8listens to the show.
Melody Baron 21:15
I think a ton of people listen to this show. Everybody I talked to knew who you were when I was coming today. But we did, we, you know, we pivoted and we did the virtual events. They were huge success. We still sold tickets to them, we still made money. And through the pandemic of the year of 2020 we still donated $14,000 that year. So we have a fan base. We have 50% return clients, 50% new clients, which we can track through our ticketing data, and we do put a ticket fee across every single event. Our events are not free, and that’s because I want to donate, I want to give back, and it also is an insurance policy for someone to show up to the event, you know. So you’re more likely to show up if you’re going to pay that ticket fee. So the event at the zoo next week, Wednesday, June 11, six to nine. It’s at the Mansion House, which has a lot of historic integrity and Baltimore.
Nestor Aparicio 22:08
Are they gonna bring the little bring hope, the little penguin, or Grace a little pink one up. I
Melody Baron 22:12
am told that we have two animals coming. However, it depends on their mood that day, on which animals are selected to come in.
8Nestor Aparicio 22:20
My cat like me, my house this afternoon, my cat might greet you,
Melody Baron 22:24
right? She might not. Well, that’s why I’m a very non committal person, because everything depends on my mood. So
Nestor Aparicio 22:29
Well, glad you made it here today. I was in a good mood. Crab cakes. I think Melody Baron is here. She runs LinkedIn, local. They’re having their big event Wednesday. That’s Wednesday the 11th, correct? Yes, I’m doing my show Friday the 13th, next week. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. Have the Back to the Future scratch offs. You’re getting lucky number 64 that’s good. That your eighth anniversary, eight times 864, there you go. Thank you. This is the winner. So Wednesday night, they’re gonna be at the zoo. So I went to your event, and it was Mike title bombs band, and by the way, his kids bands. Even better. There was beer. Was outside. It was this. It was that there was tacos, there was barbecue. I remember that night. It was a long time ago. Every one of your events, I think part of the your charm is that it’s not the same event at the same place, doing the same thing. Because I do networking events were and that works. Everybody knows how to get there and where to go. And there’s a there’s a benefit to being at the Grand Lodge or the mansion hall or wherever you are, right? You’re a little bit more, you know, let’s do something different, special, and change the food and change the vibe. What’s the vibe at the zoo this week?
Melody Baron 23:35
8So we will have food by Highland graze. We have the charmery coming to serve great dessert. We have the food and beverage is actually probably some leftover from brew at the zoo. So we’ll have beer and wine, but we also have Sagamore coming with signature cocktails and whiskey tastings. We’ll have the animal ambassador might
Nestor Aparicio 23:54
be David Rose. Is there? If sagamores coming? Oh, me and rose together Park.
Melody Baron 24:02
You know, we got oysters. We don’t like to have a birthday party without oysters, so the local oyster will be out front with Mercedes, with Sagamore. You come in, you’re gonna enter the 5050, you can win half the pot and a lot of different prizes. We have performers. So we’re gonna have aerial performers hanging from the ceiling. We’ve got a surf rock band. The Flying faders are playing the event. A lot of fun. I mean, we’ve got tons of surprises in between. And we have giveaways, and this is the very first one. You are receiving a custom LinkedIn local Baltimore Fanny
Nestor Aparicio 24:38
or bum pack, that kind of guy. No, but you know what?
8Melody Baron 24:42
It can keep tools or something, and there’s a secret stash zip back there. So
Nestor Aparicio 24:47
to put it here, the cable that would have made the headset work, it would have fit perfectly in here. And it’s, well,
Melody Baron 24:51
now you don’t have to take anything home that night. You’ve already got yours, and you are the very first person, and Bobby
Nestor Aparicio 24:58
8and everybody, and especially. Especially Robert Elliot. Bobby Elliot, who was my childhood friend, who was a printer at strategic factory, my good friend, thank you for giving me this. This is going to be what I put the new headset amp in that goes it’s going to go to every show with me until my roadie gets fixed. All right. Now it’s got a purpose, yes, 15 feet away from me at the pool, my roadie blew up out at the Maryland party in Vegas two weeks ago with Howard Perlow. Melanie Barron is here. I saw I met her on a boat a couple of weeks ago as part of LinkedIn local, and talking about all the good deeds that LinkedIn local has done, and my curiosities that this is the part in the program where i i probably would offend you because you’re from Philadelphia, but I mean, you clearly know who, like, Howard Eskin is and sports, right? I’m sort of what he is here to there. He and I are old chums and whatever, but the old school Baltimore sports guys, guy named Charlie Ekman, and he’s been dead. He’d been dead almost 30 years. Fourth of July, leader, let me tell you. So he would say, if I were going to your party and with the booze out there and all of that, me and David Rose and Sagamore, he’d say, You better call two cabs. Chief, yeah, so I better get an Uber. He wouldn’t know what an Uber is.
Melody Baron 26:09
We’re partying with a purpose. I mean, you’re if you know you want to get loaded, by all means, go chimpanzees,
Nestor Aparicio 26:15
rural Park. David Rose, look out the party’s Wednesday night. It’s the 11th tickets. How do we find it? You go to local, very easy, right?
Melody Baron 26:24
Eventbrite. You can search, search on LinkedIn. You can search our hashtag, which is LinkedIn, local Baltimore. You can connect with me on LinkedIn, and I will be happy to give you all of the details. There’s lots of ways to find it. We post across many websites, and have a lot of partners help us with marketing the event, like yourself. I know
8Nestor Aparicio 26:42
you’re here to be nice and have me promote and all that. So you haven’t rubbed the Eagles thing. I’m here because I was asked. You want to rub the eagle state? You want to do anything? Okay? So we’re in a sports barrel county here, proud Phillip. You even live in Pennsylvania. This is just your chance before I go to Ocean City and see everybody wearing Eagle stuff, like I see the Steelers stuff, but like, you won and nobody died, as far as I know, which is amazing, you know, right? And
Melody Baron 27:11
let me tell you something, if I’m being brutally honest with you, I only watched the halftime performance. I am not a sports fan. I think in my younger days I had a lot of sports in me because I was working in that field and in the sports complex. These days, I like to go to an Orioles game to get a tan and get a hot dog.
Nestor Aparicio 27:31
You’re not really watching the game. No.
Melody Baron 27:33
8I mean, I love it and I will be here, but I sport Orioles and ravens appropriately. Now I know where I am, and I consider myself a Baltimore. And now, I mean, I’ve been here for more than 10 years.
Nestor Aparicio 27:46
I was hoping you’re really going
Melody Baron 27:48
to be the obnoxious Philadelphia. I’m sorry to disappoint. So thought you would. I’m sorry if you caught me in like 2007 that would have been the OTB.
Nestor Aparicio 27:55
I would have said she’s going to come in, her guns blaring once she looks me up, figures out who I am.
8Melody Baron 28:03
You know all that I do, like Philly swag, though, like, I still wear a Phillies hat, just because I think it’s cute. But other than that, you know
Nestor Aparicio 28:09
what I would say to any Eagles fan, this is specifically for you, but anybody out there you when you win in 17 you win again. Act like you’ve been there before. You know what I mean, right? Act like you’re supposed to win every year, not like it’s some BFD, when you actually do win,
Melody Baron 28:24
I like to win it like finding a really good piece at a vintage shop. That’s my win. That’s my that’s my sport. Shopping is my sport. So I consider that a big win. If I come home with a really great price lamp or something other
Nestor Aparicio 28:38
8than memories in life, I’d be collecting Pacifica belt buckles, like rock and roll belt buckles from the 70s. I wore this one today, specifically for my first guest, Howard. I didn’t show it to him. It’s not a flashy one. It’s not a Pacifica legitimate but today and I’m wearing a rock shirt today. Wow, today.
Melody Baron 28:57
See that I’m into officially
Nestor Aparicio 28:58
licensed. So that is my if I’m if I’m vintage thrifting or eBay, the other thing I collect are 1971 NFL belt buckles. Okay, the old logos on them. Okay, I’m three away from having the whole collection. I’m not gonna tell anybody who the three are, because they’ll go out and get that Buffalo Bills when ahead of me, or that Denver Broncos one. But I am vintage II in that way. And I, I collect old rock and roll like the mirrors that you would win with the darts at the carnival, like I just picked up a really cool rush one. Okay, I
Melody Baron 29:32
remember rock and roll memorabilia too. I, like a lot of old school, not old school, but black and white photos of musicians from the 60s and 70s. Promo shots, yeah? Like, kind of both. I like a little bit of American
8Nestor Aparicio 29:50
so I have lots, yeah, those promo shots, those are the ones they would autograph, you know, or whatever would come with the press kit or whatever. But I love the photography, like when i. Been in the Hard Rock Hotel before they ripped it down in Las Vegas, there was this beautiful, gigantic wall print of Jimmy Page and and Robert Plant in the day, black and white, right? Real art like before. This is a terrible story to tell, but in Lahaina, in in Maui, Mick, Fleetwood has fleetwoods. You may have seen a thing on the news about, you know, he’s big into the island. After the fire, his place got destroyed in the fire, wow, I was there, man. But eight weeks before the fire, maybe fire, and I went into his place, and his place had memorabilia like and art, artwork, specifically, yeah, specifically the black and white. Annie Leibovitz, you know, kind of,
Melody Baron 30:42
I like seeing pictures from inside of studio 54 there’s a very iconic photo, I think of Elton John share and maybe Diana Ross, things like that, where, right now, I think it’s those sort of photos and those sort of shots are, they don’t exist in the same way, I would say, as Instagram, right? Yeah. I mean, I, I was raised in a household with the Rolling Stones. Were my first concerts. My parents were playing records and day. And no, it was at the but it might have been Wachovia Center at that time, but it was at that it wasn’t even in the spectrum Sean mayor, like 1996 or 97
Nestor Aparicio 31:18
okay, I saw the stones a lot in Philly during that air. So I was at those shows,
Melody Baron 31:22
8so that all of that stuff is very special to me. And my dad will not let go of the record collection. I’ve been asking for it for a very long time. I’ll get it. Want it, yeah, I’ll get it someday. Heavy
Nestor Aparicio 31:34
as hell, yeah,
Melody Baron 31:38
for the year, you know, years and years and years, and I want them.
Nestor Aparicio 31:42
I can only collect small things that don’t weigh a lot. I’ve moved a couple times, right? So like I’m ticket stubs, yes, guitar picks, yes. Okay. Guitars, no. Baseballs, no. Albums, no. Too heavy. Yeah. Album flat. Sitter, autograph, maybe. But like, art, all of my stuff fits in about five boxes. Every box weighs about 35 pounds. Appropriately, good for you, that’s all. That’s everything, because I can’t, for you, I can’t have, like, big things, frameable things. Oh, very tough. My
8Melody Baron 32:12
house is basically like a museum. There’s everything from African art to really Vint, you know, super vintage furniture and all kinds of pieces and beautiful handmade Turkish rugs and things like that. There’s, I like to be surrounded by my thing eclectic, yes, but organized. It’s it’s not the hoarding style, but it’s definitely like a bohemian sort of the closet when it comes to the clothing and the vintage. That’s where the hoarding
Nestor Aparicio 32:41
bohemian is such a wide it could be anything. Yeah. I mean, it implies
Melody Baron 32:46
pretty word.
Nestor Aparicio 32:48
8It implies you might smell like patchouli a little bit, you know, I hope I don’t know, I don’t think you do smell nice, but, but, yeah, I mean, patchouli is not bad.
Melody Baron 32:56
Actually, I have a friend that smells I tell her, she smells like a hippie all the time, and it’s a compliment. So
Nestor Aparicio 33:02
this smells like a Grateful Dead concert in the JFK parking lot in 82 I did attend live eight, and your your bird, see, that’s a cool one.
Melody Baron 33:10
I would have loved
8Nestor Aparicio 33:12
memories. I know is I watched all day. Yeah, I’ve played that disaster at the end. So cool, yeah, that was a night. That was a good night, yeah, it was a good night.
Melody Baron 33:24
Yeah. Roger Waters was a big one for me when I got to see him. And that tour that he did, it was 2000 something. When was that, that he came recently, he did the wall tour.
Nestor Aparicio 33:34
Oh, the Walter. I saw the Trump is a pig tour, okay, when he had the following Trump is a pig he I like saying,
Melody Baron 33:40
8Yeah, this one, he did the airplane, like, flew from the back of the arena, like, down into the wall, and then bit by bit, they took the bricks out, like, through the whole show until it was just him with the spotlight. And then they mimicked him from, I think, like, 69 and it was, it was wild. That change if you don’t eat your meat. Incredible. Yeah, I did the wall
Nestor Aparicio 34:00
at the British London museum. I forgot the name of the museum. It’s right next to Royal Albert Hall, and the wall was the exhibit that was going on there. Oh, wow. I had done the Bowie one at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York on the last day it was there, and it was done by the same company. I mean, I’m talking about all the artifacts, and it’s like a living, breathing Bowie Hall. I mean, all of his suits were there, room to room. You would move room to room, and you had a little headset and the music, you know, every room had a piece, and they did the same thing with the wall and pink floor going through their whole, you know, just crazy singer Sid the whole deal right into it. And then you got to the wall room, and there was an experiential thing, right? And it was like, John modell took me to the one the wall in London from the night before the Ravens played in Wembley. And I think it was like 35 bucks, or it wasn’t even, like expensive. And I’m like, Man, this is one of the great things I’ve ever. If you love a band and you can ever do that, that thing’s on display. I mean, it’ll wind up being at some museum in
Melody Baron 35:06
America. Yeah, should do it if you love the wall. David Bowie was my first crush. David
Nestor Aparicio 35:11
Bowie on the serious moonlight tour. I did dinner with David Bowie in 1991 dc outside the capitol ballroom. Oh, machine. I interviewed Bowie. You can listen to it at Baltimore positive. That’s very cool. The day he died, I found the tape. And my wife had just survived the second time. She just gotten released from the hospital. I remember her being on a treadmill. She weighed about 80 pounds, her skin and bones, drink a Diet Coke and eating pickles. It was like she was pregnant, except she needed the salt, and Bowie died. And I found the mp three of the conversation. I went back and listened to it, and I had never listened to it because I was was 20 years old. I thought I said something stupid to him, because I had panned his concert the summer before. Oh, wow. So I think he purposely came on with like, when I listened to the tape, it sounds and he just overwhelmed me with charm. Oh, he overwhelming, and he talked about death and dying and how he wanted to be remembered in this conversation with me, and I found the tape the morning he died. It’s been, it’s been 10 years. He died in January of 16. Okay, I can tell you that pretty succinctly. So he died. Joe Walsh died within a couple of weeks. Yeah, and Springsteen was touring, doing the river at that time. And I’m a Springsteen nut. Okay, I was flying around seeing Springsteen, and every time I saw Springsteen, somebody else would die. Beginning of the tour, he did the Eagles take it easy because Walt, because Glenn Frey said, Walsh fry died, then Bowie died. And he was doing suffrage at City for a couple of nights. And then he did rebel, rebel. Rebel. He did rebel rebel. And then at the at the end of that leg, Prince died. Oh, geez. And by the end of that leg, I saw and he was doing Purple Rain. So like these three amazing rock artists, all die within four months 16. And Bruce, you know, paid homage to all of them on stage for weeks and weeks and weeks is really kind of period. But, you know, rock and roll is like my soul, that’s my thing. You know,
8Melody Baron 37:05
music, I have to have it on at all times. That’s partly why, MMRS on all day long. Is because I grew up in a house with radio and music all day long. Yeah, maybe it keeps me connected. Maybe that’s why. Yeah, what
Nestor Aparicio 37:18
the Philly accent, the Baltimore accents really like the Kiwi in the Australian accent, similar, like cousins.
Melody Baron 37:25
I find it similar, and you sound Philly to me,
Nestor Aparicio 37:28
8I can’t do Philly. I sound I hear Eskin. I hear like that true that with Bill Conlon had like that Philadelphia at whatever that real Philadelphia accent is. I cannot mimic it. I would. I can do a Baltimore accent? Oh, I could. I could do the whole segment with you and Dundalk, because
Melody Baron 37:45
I’m from my mom has her Philly accent never went away. It’s thick, it’s it’s more she’s definitely, um, she went to Frankfurt. She’s still
Nestor Aparicio 37:54
got whiny. It’s more tinny. It’s more nasal than the Baltimore accent, in some way. But it’s nothing like the New York racks. It’s weird,
Melody Baron 38:00
like when I hear down the ocean that sounds to me, just like we’re going down the shore, like just a different word, it sounds exactly the same. Maybe that’s why I find so much comfort in this city. Like I it resonates to me and sort of how the city blocks are connected and the neighborhoods and how people talk and things like that, but it’s not the same. No, definitely not the same. I’m not I’m not saying,
8Nestor Aparicio 38:25
Oh, the accent, accent. I’m not talking the people, the people. No,
Melody Baron 38:29
it’s not the same. It’s not the same, or worse, but similar. It’s a northeast accent. I mean, we’re from the East Coast, so a little bit it’s all like, a little bit, it blends together a little bit,
Nestor Aparicio 38:39
all right, well, I’m still gonna send people to your venue though you’re from Philly. Please do please
Melody Baron 38:42
8do please come. It’s open to the public. Tickets are $75 and every single bit of that goes to the Maryland Zoo, and it helps their conservation efforts and all of their wildlife education programs and all of the animals that need constant run of the clock. You know, around the clock care things like those cute little penguins that everybody loves keeping that zoo intact. I heard their opening or they just broke ground on the new red panda exhibit. Yes,
Nestor Aparicio 39:07
I got a little tour about a month and a half ago when they brought the spring illuminations in. I know a lot about the zoo. Penguins are among my favorite creatures in the penguin house. We had an armadillo at the accelerant event about two months ago. Bill Cole roofie, so the armadillo was a real winner. And obviously, if you’ve never met one of the penguins, it’s worth the 75 bucks just to hang out with. The penguins are
Melody Baron 39:31
cool. Yeah, I’ve heard some stories along the way. Kirby Fowler, who’s the president CEO at the zoo, he’s been sharing some of the stories, like the giraffe baby tally, who sort of snuck in in utero. And her mom, Kippy, and she was born at the zoo, they didn’t know that Kippy was pregnant, and now there’s a baby giraffe that they’re slowly trying to acclimate to humans.
Nestor Aparicio 39:52
Have you met the Snow Leopard yet? I He’s in he Yes. Shots. He. Gets his own food. Yeah,
8Melody Baron 40:01
he’s, he’s glamping. Oh yeah, he’s just glamping out there and his little domain, and he made it into our video. So we have a really great promotional video that just launched the other day. And bless you. And yeah, he’s got his own little claim to fame in our video, which is gorgeous. All right. Melody, parents,
Nestor Aparicio 40:18
our guest, she’s here, Curtis, of our friends at the Maryland lottery. I’m gonna hold her ticket up because I don’t know. Her ticket up because I don’t know what the heck happened to mine. Uh oh, they’re underneath of the my new LinkedIn. Well, here I don’t want to take your lucky ticket. Yes, this is back to the future from the Maryland lottery. These are our scratch offs. We’re here at Green mount station. We’re in bucolic, beautiful Carroll County, God’s country. We’re gonna learn about Carroll County Youth. There’s a program going up here that I want to educate folks on about. My pal Howard share was here. We were arguing about the Orioles and the Ravens earlier, as we are want to do. And David Richardson came by and gave us really soup to nuts. Look at the horse racing Maryland Jockey Club. All that’s going on. Anything that I missed, I will get a cost this couple weeks from now, as I’m going to be broadcasting from Costas in Timonium. There’s my there’s my Charlie, okay? And that’ll be in the first week of July. Now, next Friday the 13th, none of that. We’re gonna be having delicious crab cakes at fade leaves. We’re gonna have shrimp salad. It’s gonna be doo doo doo doo doo for the angels, the California Angels of Anaheim of La will be in. Luke will be joining me as well, and Katie Pumphrey, who and that’s a good thing that she swam through the bay water before they dumped 2000 gallons of diesel fuel into the harbor the other day. Katie Pumphrey is going to be our guest at fade leaves next Friday as well. On Friday 13th, she’s going to talk about swimming through the English Channel. Maybe we’ll get a tea story in there. They’ll have something to do with Coffs harbor. I don’t know. We’re also going to be doing the Maryland crab cake tour at readers crab house on the 26th later on in the month, we’re going to be at the Y in Randallstown the week of the 16th Juneteenth, I’m not exactly sure, but we’re going to be at the Y in Randallstown with John Hoey and our friends at the Y. And we’re also going to be at 1623 brewing, because if I don’t drink enough at her event at brew at the zoo, I’m going to do that with Mike mcelvin,
Melody Baron 41:59
not brew at the zoo. Link to local Baltimore eight year anniversary party. Oh, I see.
Nestor Aparicio 42:06
8I cannot tell you a story about this, by the
Melody Baron 42:08
way, Katie Pumphrey came to our event last year, and she emceed the swim across the pool 5050 race, which was,
Nestor Aparicio 42:15
it was a good executive swimming. We did. I remember this.
Melody Baron 42:19
Yes, we did. I remember this, and Katie was there, and she had just finished the day before that last race last summer. So she was awesome. She was a super trooper. And one of her, I don’t know what they’re called, they’re like, support swimmers that go with her in the water for safety purposes. One of her support swimmers, yeah, she swam in the race with the executives, which was great.
8Nestor Aparicio 42:41
She participated in the crab race with me at Lexington market right before the Preakness. So she was a crab racer. She was not victorious. It was a ringer that beat her. Nobody swims more than her. I mean, we kind of thought she would be okay with crabs, but during that she didn’t know how to motivate a crab. She knew how to stay away from the crab, so that works. But candy, be with us as well, and we’re gonna be 6023, we’re gonna be at 1623, so my wife’s birthday was last weekend. She spends it with her sister, because they they’re sisters, and made the mistake about three years ago of her sister coming to Baltimore for this event, and it was built around brew at the zoo, because they love animals. They love the the rhinoceroses, they love the penguins. They love the zoo. A big trip to them would be going to Cincinnati to do Henrietta the hippo, or whatever. Oh, okay, whatever. That hippo, not Henrietta. What’s her name? I don’t know. Okay, Cincinnati Zoo. So they came in and they said to me, what are you doing this weekend? I’m like, either listening to you girls cackle or emceeing or whatever, whatever you’re doing. I’m gonna work because I’m a worker. I run Baltimore positive. So they said, Hey, do you want us to take the car down, or do you want us to drop us off? We’re going to brew at the zoo. And I’m like, Well, you know, you girls are in your 40s, you’re responsible. Why don’t you just go ahead and drive down and you know, something irresponsible happens. I guess I’ll just get an Uber and get you. Well, about four o’clock, I heard from my sister in law, which is usually a bad sign for my wife when that happens, and the next thing I know, the Uber’s driver’s picking me up, saying, Now, why am I Ubering you to the zoo when your car is at the zoo and I’m like, You’re Uber me so I can drive my brew at the zoo.
Melody Baron 44:29
Brew, victims, yeah, you know what
Nestor Aparicio 44:31
I mean, casualties, yeah, it’s like me on Preakness Saturday in the 80s.
Melody Baron 44:35
8I went for the first time this year. I was so impressed at the grandeur of this event. It’s huge. It’s huge. It’s their biggest fundraiser. And between the bands, the just plethora of food and beverage stations, and all of the little artists that are not little, but all of the artists that are selling, oh my gosh, and having open access to the zoo, I’ve never seen so many people in the zoo at one. And time, and I had so much fun. It was one of the really, really good experience and a really great memory. Put him in a car and drove him out and shout out to Ben O’Connor from the Orioles for giving me his other tickets. They told me
Nestor Aparicio 45:13
that they’re doing Zoomerang again. The Zoomerang might be a little before your time. Zoomerang was a black tie June event every year they did it so like a Friday night, and I was associated with the DJ, Bobby Nick and I was always, I would always help him load his stuff in and whatever it was behind the Mansion House, and it was indoor, outdoor. And one year, I’m in a tuxedo, and I had a beautiful date before I was married. And maybe it was when I was may have to ask my wife if she was, maybe she was Oh boy. Was married. Oh boy, either way, we were dressed up, and the storm came in, and I’m talking about a June
Melody Baron 45:49
Oh, wow, yeah, big one, yes, 645, this before
Nestor Aparicio 45:53
we even had like radar on the on the phone, and it was like a river, because, you know, it’s hilly, it’s
8Melody Baron 46:02
Hill Park, yeah, and the Mansion House,
Nestor Aparicio 46:04
and I remember seeing that, and they haven’t had zoomerangs in recent years. Brew at the zoo is sort of replaced that as an all day two day, you know, see the animals because it’s daytime. Yes, I mean zoomerangs nighttime, so it wasn’t right. Animals are Nighty night. Yeah, see them. I think anything that supports the zoo, because the zoo is like one of the real gems in the whole state. It’s one of the great things we have in our city. I
Melody Baron 46:29
Well, first of all, I want to say I think they are doing that again. I don’t know if it’s got the same name that they’re going under, but I think this year is like some special anniversary. They are yes, and they’re doing that black tie thing again, I still have my
Nestor Aparicio 46:42
8animal prick, calmer bond and wear it. Wear it. It’s appropriate
Melody Baron 46:45
for the event. I mean, you can wear it to our event. We tell people to come dress next week and your finest tropical evening wear. So if you’ve got something you want to bust out get, let’s go with the theme. We are venturing into the wild together. So,
Nestor Aparicio 46:59
writer, writer, I, I have it. Do it. I got it. Yeah,
Melody Baron 47:04
I’ve got a dress that has Pumas on it. So I don’t know if there’s a puma at the Baltimore Zoo, so I or Maryland Zoo. I’m sorry, this
8Nestor Aparicio 47:10
cummerbund. It’s, it’s an animal print. Do it, leopard cummerbund and tie. It was made specifically for Zoomerang, and it was given to how nice to wear to Zoomerang, because it was made for Zoomerang. That’s awesome, and it was 25 years ago. That’s awesome. Well, ask me, the last time I wore a cummerbund, you know, might have been, I don’t know. I mean, like, like, I don’t know what year that was. I can’t wait to see it. Yeah, my tuxedo definitely doesn’t fit me the right way. I mean, I’ve lost some weight and stuff. So just replace your
Melody Baron 47:41
Bon Jovi buckle with the cover bun. I mean, it’s your own flair. You could do whatever you want with it. He’s rock.
Nestor Aparicio 47:46
I can look like Paul Stanley in the animal eyes tour. That’s exactly what I want to look like when my hair side, I kind of do. Melanie Baron is here. She runs LinkedIn local. It’s very easy go to LinkedIn. Look up local. They’re gonna be at the zoo next Wednesday, doing a great turn. They do tons of stuff for charity in the community. And she has been a beautiful, elegant guest here at Green mount station. And they got you crab cake. Are you crab cake eater? I can be Yes, Cheese Steak, if you want your Wow. Thank you. I go all out, all all out for my guest. We’re gonna come back. We have one more guest coming. Lisa’s gonna come by and talk about some things going on with Carroll County Youth out here. I’ve been wanting to feature the community out here. I’m gonna be coming. Gonna be coming back out. David started to pull me. He knows I like Duckman bowling, and he owns a duck pin bowling alley, and there’s none of those. So I think I’m gonna come back out here and do a charity turn at some point inside the bowling alley. But everybody knows I love the crab cakes out here. One more segment ahead. Stay with us. I’m Nestor. We are wnsd. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. Back for more. Baltimore positive. Stay with us. You.
