On Being a Blogmother

About 20 people came out last Thursday for my spur-of-the-moment social media 101 workshop. Thrilled with attendance given snowy blowy conditions across the Waterloo region. Even had a New Yorker fly up specifically for the networking opportunity and to enjoy a social evening with a group of tremendous people in the local tech/ECM community. So grateful to Kristina of the Laudi Group, a recruiter here in the area for stopping by on short notice - hoping some good connections were made.

About half of the group were newly unemployed - looking for tips on how to start or at least spiff up their online professional profiles.

The other half still employed know that they need to take control of their voice, their web presence and ultimate career path. Because no one can rely on a boss or a company to do that for you.


(yes I used this cartoon - thanks again to the brilliant Hugh MacLeod)

Within 6 hours, one new blog was launched. Welcome Brigid Greenway's The KISS Principle of Lead Generation. Brigid is goddess of the numbers and metrics of all things lead and demand generating and her perspectives are that of a pro. If you are looking for marketing insights earned in the trenches with real blood, sweat and tears, please check her out.

Within 24 hours, I've seen about a dozen LinkedIn profiles updated and refreshed. I've had a couple of newbie Twitter followers. Glad that the workshop inspired action.

I could have talked about this stuff all night, but wanted to make sure there was ample time for networking, hugs and sharing of other success (and #fail) stories.

What we heard:

• Squeals of joy when someone first searched for the hashtag #jobs on Twitter
• Amazement of someone who changed his LinkedIn status to 'no longer employed' and immediately got 6 messages promising to pass along leads
• A great lady who confessed she got her last job because she put up a Facebook status saying she was in the mood for something new
• Confession of an "ah-ha" moment when a tech manager got followed by a major analyst firm after retweeting an article link

Job Hunting 2.0 is a bit of an obsession with me right now. My own recent career change experience solidified a lot of the Enterprise 2.0 evangelism I've done over last 2 years, but with some new perspectives that I really wanted to share with those who need it.

• LinkedIn *is* your resume now. And your Google juice is your reference check. To this day I've never sent Eric a resume or a reference - and never will. But I fear that increasingly in tech marketing having no presence means not being qualified.
  
• Quit worrying about how you're going to accommodate the Gen Y'ers in the workplace - and worry more about why they will want to hire you. There is a new generation of entrepreneurial talent that is skipping the usual management bureaucracy path and just building their own company.
  
• If you bitch and moan about not having time to build an online professional profile - stop doing something in your life that is useless. For most it means turning off the fucking TV. Get off the couch. Stop consuming passive media: Read. Write. Engage. No one knows how brilliant you are unless you prove it. Show your work.
  

Being connected professionally means you have people who know and trust you watching your back. Can't think of anything more important in times of instability and uncertainty. Don't ignore the people around you who walk the talk.