Announcement: A New Year, A New Job...

Some of you may remember a tweet that I sent out in October that mentioned company downsizing and being laid off.   I was inundated with well wishes, leads, words of encouragement, and positivity that absolutely floored me.  For anyone who says that Twitter is just a place where people talk about what they had for lunch that day, they could NOT be more wrong, and that day in October solidified that for me.  I would probably even go so far as to say that I kind of retreated a bit the past few months trying to figure out what the next step would be.  I realized how powerful one tweet could be (in the right circumstances, of course).    

I was quietly talking with people, and researching opportunities that were quite literally being thrown at me.  Everyday someone tweeted a job lead and CC'ed me, or put something on the #CmgrChat hashtag looking for Community Managers.   When Kelly Lux and I talked in August about starting a chat for community managers I think we did it so we could learn more about our own positions, and it's grown into such a vibrant chat each week with some of the greatest and most influential people that operate in their businesses using social media.  I'm very thankful for all those that participate and bring their smarts to the table each week.  Definitely looking forward to what comes out of this group in 2011.

So just like they say - the best way to get a job is to network.  I reached out to a few people and asked if they knew about any leads.  I hadn't even updated my resume yet and had already had 2 phone interviews with one company the day following my twitter announcement of being laid off by the end of the year.  Fortunately I had been given two months' notice and planned to take my time and find the right fit. Leaving Syracuse wasn't my first choice because it's an incredible community, but professionally a major move was needed.  Now was the time to really step up my game and work for a company that is forward thinking and aligns with my ideals - and ya know, would give me health insurance since that was something I've gone without the whole of 2010.   Risky business if you ask me.

As fate (or luck, or coincidence, or happenstance) would have it, that company that I had talked with not even 15 hours after being laid off was just that company.  That first conversation just felt so natural.

**.....Drumroll Please.....**

I am extremely excited to announce that I will be working back in the city that started it all for me a few years ago -  New York City, working for a start up in the realm of education at a company called 2tor.

I will be a Community Manager for the University of Southern California's School of Social Work Master's program.   You can read all about 2tor in their about us section on their site, but it was founded in 2008 by some education industry heavy hitters.  The whole concept of 2tor, is that the company partners with the top higher education systems to get their degree programs online for students to participate in from anywhere.  2tor provides the school with the resources, tools, experience, technology, and creates a community around the programs to help them grow and succeed on line.

I am beyond excited to dive into this new endeavor and I'm not wasting any time.  My last day at Alliance Relocation Services is tomorrow, Thursday December 23rd, and I will be starting at the 2tor offices in New York the day after I return from my vacation to India in the middle of January.  Hitting the ground running in 2011, that's for sure. And for all those in New York...  a move back to the big apple will be following closely behind that start date - can't wait to see you.


*Special thanks to @DavidSpinks for making the introduction to @Alexa!  Ya know, speaking of that whole networking thing.

Social Good During the Holidays

Regardless of the particular celebration you take part in at the end of the year, there’s no denying that people are more generous and thoughtful during the months of November through January.  Volunteering time, donating money or goods, or attending charity holiday parties are only a few ways that people give back at the end of the year.   But are there ways to do good all year long, and to do social good as well? 

If you’re going to crowdsource for social good, keep in mind a few important things:  

• What charity will your current audience care most about? 
• Remember to plan out all aspects of your social good campaign like you would any other project.
• Commit the required and appropriate amount of time to a social good campaign.  It cannot be an afterthought.

Mashable’s Social Good Page

Mashable is the social media hub of all online news.  A blog like no other that demonstrates up to the minute information, has recently launched a “Social Good” page that chronicles all of the ways in which companies are taking up initiatives that help the greater good using social media and reaching large audiences.   If you’re company doesn’t know how it can help, it should check this page for various ideas from the big to the small.

Recent Social Good Campaigns

Everyone is getting in on the location base services (foursquare, gowalla) these days and now foodies will get their chance to participate by more than just checking in at their favorite locations.  Foodspotting is a geolocation guide for food lovers.   The campaign it has just recently launched is asking its users to participate in what they are calling a “Spotathon Challenge” that will result feeding families in need.  The company, after so many feats are accomplished by the users, will donate a cow, a garden, and/or a pig.  

There are a number of organizations that accept donations on line at any time.  If your cause is to feed the hungry or to help out low income families in the United States, or even in your own local areas, consider these 4 organizations that can be found nationally – The Salvation Army, Feeding America, United Way, and the Global Foodbanking Network. 

Large companies like American Express and Yahoo are getting into the social good spirit as well.  American express encouraged people to buy their goods from small businesses on the Saturday following Black Friday.  All the participants had to do was to register their card on Facebook on “Small Business Saturday” and spend at least $25 at a small business and they received $25 back.  Yahoo, started the How Good Grows campaign in a pay it forward kind of initiative.  They provided $100 to 400 influencers to encourage them to do a kind act.  Since then 21,000+ have shared their acts of kindness in what they’re calling a ripple effect. 

If you’re a local group looking to do some good socially, ask a local bar to sponsor a holiday “tweet up.”  Have each person in the community bring a donation (money or an item such as a toy or canned good) and donate to a local charity of your choosing.  Or contact local shelters and see if there is a family you could sponsor and buy the children Christmas presents with the money you raise from an event you throw.  Whatever route you decide to choose, rememeber, even if you show up with one box of food to a local pantry, that’s still one more box of food they didn’t have before.   Use Mashable’s meetup system, or meetup.com to create an event.  Promote on twitter and local Linked In groups.  And use your own influence to get people to come and help out a charity.  

The End Always Makes You Think About the Beginning

As 2010 comes to an end I realize it has been nothing short of a whirlwind.   For me, I returned home from living abroad for nearly 3 years in December 09, and I didn't know what to expect.  The economy was terrible, I was living at home for the first time in 10 years, and quite literally the world was at my finger tips.   If I wanted to take off and go live in some random country, I could have, knowing that I'd already done it and could handle it.  However, it was the time to be home and enjoy resting a bit with my friends and family - and to settle into some kind of career.  I was told to buckle down for a long and difficult unemployed road, but honestly (and thankfully), that didn't happen.

Work, Work, Work
To give you some perspective on a job time line during a terrible economy:  I started the job search in January, received a temp to perm job as a recruiter at a firm in New York City in February.  The company was very unorganized, and I returned home in March for a speaking engagement at Syracuse University.  While I worked from home and waited for this company to get their act together, I found the perfect job for myself in community managing at a very promising national relocation services company right in my own backyard.   I turned down the offer from New York City, and started in on my year as a social media professional in central New York.


Things to Take Away from 2010
2010 was a year of learning... a year of creation... and a year of figuring things out and settling back in to life in America.  Don't let anyone tell you that reverse culture shock isn't a thing, because it very much is.  Knowing what life is like elsewhere is a tough thing to put behind you. For example, I went this whole year without health insurance which is a risky thing to do.  That's something I didn't have to worry about in life abroad, because everyone in the country of Korea has nationally funded health insurance (that you also pay into - c'mon, nothing's ever free). 

2010 was also a year of development. My new side project and start up company, Eat Your Serial, had a very successful Kickstarter campaign, and has really started to take form. We are looking forward to a launch and very exciting times ahead in 2011.  Expect to hear more about that later.


It was also a year of non-stop networking.  Thanks to things like Twitter, it has never been easier to create incredibly amazing career relationships.  I have no shame in saying that Twitter honestly changed my life as a tool that brought me so many opportunities. 

But if I take anything away from 2010, it will be this:

Be realistic about things and take time out for yourself to process events clearly.

All too often I felt burnt out this year and it is because I overloaded myself with expectations.  I got overly excited about projects and ideas that would never come to fruition.  2011 will be a year of trimming the fat.  This year taught me what's important to me professionally and personally.  I want to excel at my job and see incredible results from my professional efforts.  Patience has never been one of my virtues, but I'm trying to learn to scale myself back.  Sometimes I am my own worst enemy.

What comes from that is also the concepts of making sure I am organized.

For those that know me, you all know that I'm ridiculous about being organized.  But I don't mean this in a "my agenda book is color coded" kind of way.  What I mean is being more diligent and sticking to schedules.  Be consistent with the work I give myself and the goals I set.  Be realistic about the kind of time that it takes to complete a necessary task. 

2010 threw entirely way too many curve balls at me and that's what life is.  What's that famous lyric?  "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."   There are going to be things you cannot account for that get thrown at you.  However, how you handle them, and the organizational system you have in place will make all the difference.  The idea is to best prepare yourself for the worst - professionally, financially, and personally.

I have an awful lot to be proud of and thankful for this year, but at the same time I view 2010 as not one of my better years.  I can pinpoint an awful lot of mistakes that were made, but that's exactly what makes me excited about 2011.  The word I would use to describe this year:  Perspective.

Knowing where you went wrong, will inevitably help you do things better in the future.   And THAT makes all the difference for 2011.

What are the things you will work on in 2011?  What word would you use to describe 2010?

Hiring a Social Media "Guru"

First things first...  anyone calling themselves a guru, ninja, rockstar, maven, or expert is most likely the LAST person you want working for you.

That being said, hiring the “right” social media professional is a hot button issue these days.  Social Media jobs are popping up all over the place and there are more open positions than there are truly qualified people.  Anyone with a facebook page and/or a twitter account can call themselves an "expert" but that generally carries little weight.

Where to Start

Most companies will take a look at a person’s resume since that’s how you know they are interested in your position.   Look for all the obvious traits – education in traditional business, marketing, or communication.  If they do not have a solid communication background, odds are they will not be able to handle the demands of a social media job, since after all, social is in the title.

If you do not want to read the resumes you are given, it is very easy to go out and find the candidates you are looking for directly on Linked In or twitter.  Use key words like “Community Manager” or “Social Media Manager” and odds are, you’ll see resumes and blogs pop up almost immediately since the best candidates are already alive and active in the medium.

Once you have found a good sampling of candidates that you would like to start interviewing, a more and more common practice is checking Klout.com to find out how influential the candidate may be.  It is important not to use this score to make a decision on hiring, but as a starting point.  If their score is a 20, they clearly do not understand Social Media, and would probably not be a great hire.   Look for someone with 40 or above.  That's probably as far as I would take Klout as it is not a perfect measuring stick at the moment.

How to Assess

You will have a job description already prepared, and know exactly where you want this person to fit into your corporation.  The questions you ask must reflect the specific jobs you have in mind.  These are just a couple to get you started:

-        What programs would they use for website management?

-        How will they come up with blog content?

-        How will they drive traffic to a website?

-        What would their ideal strategy be on Twitter?  Facebook?

-        What experience do they have creating a strategy?

-        How do they plan to grow a community?

These are all great starting points, and their answers should reflect relationship building, actual names of tools and specific examples of past experiences. 

You want someone who is analytical, creative, responsible, entrepreneurial, social, outgoing, and has the ability to see the big corporate picture.   You do not want to hire someone who only understands how to build a personal brand instead of a company brand, someone who isn't on the big 3 networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn), or someone who thinks that high activity is the same thing as a marketing plan or strategy. 

The thing to remember, that while social media is new, the basic principles are still there.  The candidate must be strong in marketing, communications, & public relations – and understand that sales is the bottom line.