Recently, Creative Loafing, a Tampa-based newspaper, released their fall edition of “25 Under 25 Promising Artists of Tampa Bay.” Gina Moccio, an alumnus of UT, was recognized for her creation of Travelogues and Vessel Collective. Moccio graduated from UT in 2011 with a BA in Communications and aspires to coordinate special events and programming for a museum. Since graduating she has been working to build her marketing and events experience by coordinating community projects such as Travelogues.
Travelogues takes place during the first Friday of every month at Cafe Hey in downtown Tampa. Each month, two new speakers share stories from two unique places.
“We’ve had stories from all over the world, including France, Costa Rica, Antarctica, Kazakhstan and the United States,” Moccio said.
She explains that she got the idea for Travelogues from an event she volunteered at in high school.
“Senior citizens would gather in our auditorium to hear travel stories in the dark with a slideshow,” she said. “At the time I wasn’t interested in coordinating events, but I thought that gathering to hear travel stories was very cool.”
Five years later Moccio drew from her experience in high school, and her own travel experiences during her semester abroad in England to create Travelogues. Anyone with stories from their travels is allowed to step up and share, which has created a sense of community among the local travelers and artists.
Moccio also attributes the success of Travelogues to her involvement as the events and public relations coordinator for UT STAND, a student-led anti-genocide coalition, and her position as head coordinator for Vagina Monologues, a group that performs sections of Eve Ensler’s book that has the same name. The book and performances celebrate women’s sexuality.
“You can accomplish so much more when you work with other people and organizations,” Moccio said.
Another one of Moccio’s creations is Vessel Collective, a website where she posts interviews from travelers and local Tampanians that have stories to tell. Vessel Collective is also where information about the next Travelogue session or other events Moccio is coordinating can be found. Anyone can participate and contributors help keep Vessel Collective and the coordinated events full of fresh faces and captivating stories.
Moccio shares her own favorite travel story from when she visited Stonehenge:
“I visited Stonehenge twice during my stay [in England], the first time was in September, the second was in November when a friend came to visit. Since I had already seen the amazing sight, I didn’t need to take photos, but the difference was that the ground, ropes and stones had a light snow on them. I hadn’t seen snow since I was 6 years old, so I started gathering the bits of snow from the rope surrounding the stones to make a small snowball. Then, I started rolling my snowball along the ground until it was so big that a Japanese family borrowed it to take photographs. It was a lot of fun,” she said.
Moccio advised students who have a vision for a project or business to stay dedicated.
“If you have a vision, you should see it through; if you are honest and passionate, others will appreciate that and seek to help you. If something doesn’t exist, create it,” she said.
Katherine Lavacca can be reached at katherine.lavacca@theminaretonline.com