#real-timeacademy

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"Parks and Recreation" actress Retta to present at the 6th Annual Shorty Awards

"Parks and Recreation" actress, comedian, Real-Time Academy member and #Actress finalist Retta will be a presenter at the 6th Annual Shorty Awards in New York City on Monday, April 7th! You can tune in and sign up for a reminder at ShortyAwards.com or purchase tickets here.

Meet Retta:

Retta stars as fun-loving office mate Donna Meagle on NBC's critically acclaimed comedy "Parks and Recreation." Retta, born Marietta Sirleaf to immigrant parents from Liberia (yes, she is related to Liberia's first female president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf) grew up in New Jersey. 

Retta's television appearances include "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia," "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Freddie," "Comics Unleashed," "The Soup," "Premium Blend" and "Comedy Central Presents . . . Retta." 

Her film credits include "Fracture" with Anthony Hopkins, "First Sunday" with Ice Cube and Katt Williams, "Sex & Death 101" with Simon Baker, and "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star" with David Spade. Retta currently resides in Los Angeles.   

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Announcing the members of the Cox BLUE Business Influencer Jury!

This year the Shorty Awards are honoring influencers in the business world with the Cox BLUE Business Influencer Shorty Award. To help us recognize the best writers, speakers and bloggers on social media, we've recruited the help of three thought leaders in the business community.

Dino Dogan is a global force for badassery, the founder of @Triberr, a refugee from Bosnia, a writer for @Technorati, a speaker, and a lousy martial artist. Say hi @dinodogan.

Porter Gale, the former VP of Marketing at Virgin America, is a public speaker, tech-lover, start-up advisor and the author of Your Network Is Your Net Worth. Tweet at her at @portergale.

Tim Washer is a comedy writer, host, Webby Honoree who has worked on SNL, Conan and Onion Sports Network http://bit.ly/CorpComedy. Follow him at @timwasher.

Welcome to the Real-Time Academy!