Let Employees Twitter

While continuing to question the point of microblogging, I have also begun to see its benefits.

I recently did a guest post for Alexia Vernon's blog about corporate leadership. It might make you think I have officially become one of Twitter's Generation Y minions. Well I haven't -- I still have plenty of critiques about the narcissistic culture we are all entering. However, as far as the workplace is concerned, I think we must all adjust to and embrace the tools Twitter and other social networking sites have to offer. Here is one perspective I offered for a corporate leadership audience:

Let Employees Twitter

When I log on to Twitter at work, I wonder whether I am doing something naughty or incredibly productive. That is the crux of the social networking/workplace conflict: While some workplaces scoff at or even block social networking sites, other organizations pressure and encourage workers to use social networking as a way to market the business brand. The latter group is onto something.

Social networking might take on new and better forms, but it isn’t going away. For many industries, social networking, such as the microblogging site Twitter, is the future of marketing. So it’s probably a good idea to let your employees get the hang of using them. The current form of social networking might feel slightly unprofessional at times, but that’s why social networking needs more corporate structure. Completely ignoring social networking now could cause problems for companies down the road.

Meanwhile, the workforce, from Generation Y on up through the Baby Boomers, is increasingly using social networking in their personal lives. Members of Generation Y have grown into adulthood comfortable with having both themselves and a digital projection of their identities. We go through our lives choosing just the right moments to convey digitally to the rest of the world. A workforce that includes the Millennial generation is going to have to include our digital personas too.

Read more here.

The 'Secret' of New Media: Part II

As the way we consume information continues to evolve, new media is a vital skill for all of you information-spouters out there. As introduced last week, I am writing a series about what publications and editorial-bent Web sites can do with new media content.

As a journalist myself, I am thinking of other journalists as my audience for these posts, but I think the word "journalist" is becoming so broad. So, this info will be helpful for any company that wants to learn how to better convey information in a potentially lucrative way. It is necessary for companies to adjust to the changing way we consume information if they want to remain lucrative.

If you read nothing else, please read this point: Successfully deploying new media requires more than lumping information from old media into a new format; it requires a systematic change in how we think about gathering and showcasing information.

The three pillars of new media are audio, video and social networking. All of them overlap, but I chose to organize them that way. Here's a breakdown of what I mean by each, and what sort of equipment you need to do them (assuming a computer). I am sure you will let me know if I'm missing anything;)

audio -- podcasts; streaming audio
equipment: audio editing software; audio recording equipment; (optional) phone recording equipment
Web requirements: audio player; RSS feed (to subscribe to podcasts)

video -- video (including interviews, documentaries, b-roll); slideshows (I'm lumping them into this category, although they are stills)
equipment: video editing software; audio recording equipment; camera and sound recording equipment; (optional for more advanced) backdrop or green screen
Web requirements: video player

social networking-- blogs; microblogs; forums; user-submitted content
equipment: n/a
Web requirements: blog hosting; social networking hosting

Now that you know my road map, I will get into the specifics of each of the above categories, including how to use them to convey editorial content and what equipment to use. I will also address how to market new media outside of your own Web site. I look forward to feedback going forward!

Will Pay for Job

Want to make some extra cash? Get this person a job.

New York Craigslist has people willing to pay others to find them a job. Basically, you get this graphic designer an interview, and if he (or she, doesn't say) gets the job, he'll give you $500. He's got a lot of stipulations though, including his salary requirements.

This graphic designer is willing to pay $200 even for part-time work.

Considering how many interviewees there are these days, is that much money worth the work of getting someone an interview, only to be rewarded if they get the gig?

Well, if I knew of an easy opportunity in their fields, I'd probably send it over.

The 'Secret' of New Media: Part I

Everyone always says you need new media on your Web site. But no one ever explains what that means.

Well, my Principles of Online Journalism textbook spells it out, but it's already outdated. I don't have the time or expertise to write my own textbook, but I can share what I have learned in the field. I hope I can provide a cheat sheet about how Web sites can utilize new media to their advantage.

Let me tell you the big secret: It's really quite easy.

But it can be time-consuming. And it does take proper resources -- but they don't have to be enormously expensive.

In my next post, I plan to address what I see as the four main aspects of a new media operation: video, audio, blogging and social networks. My focus is geared toward publications; more specifically, I am interested in how a publication can employ multimedia in a journalistic fashion on its Web site. However, the basic principles I'll lay out can be applied to almost any Web site. (Isn't that a sign of the times -- nothing to differentiate the media from the rest of the folks?)

I plan to do several posts about the topic of new media because it is both helpful to me in making sure I preserve my ideas, and more importantly, helpful to any readers who need to be aware of new media as it becomes increasingly important in several industries. I hope it helps to hear just how possible new media is from a journalist who didn't go to school for video production. I'm experimenting myself with how to get good at it, and I hope we can help each other.

I'm reminded of my colleague Christopher Gohlke. He went to London as an intern at a financial trade magazine right out of college and ended up jump-starting an entire multimedia operation. This was two years ago, when you were even less likely to see multimedia at a niche publication. I ended up working under him as an intern and he taught me the basics of everything I know about audio and video. (We now work for different publications from the same company, Asset International.)

Christopher is mostly self-taught with multimedia, and so, like me, he has really learned multimedia storytelling through trial and error. It is rocky at first here and there to teach yourself how to tell a story in a different way, but with the correct support and gumption, it is possible to create professional content.

Yes, I just ended with an anecdote at the end rather than beginning. It's like I'm throwing storytelling on its head! ...Get used to it -- that's what it's all about!

Hilarious: Unemployed To Do List

from reddit

Forced from the Job Force

The financial crisis has forced younger workers to give up both the dream and the fear of choosing a job just for the benefits.

I keep reading surveys about how upbeat Generation Y still is despite the job market. Many bloggers, myself included, have said that the financial crisis is an opportunity for the youngest generation in the workforce to be entrepreneurs and do what we really want. Well, OK, but "doing what you want" doesn't exactly always pay the bills or provide health insurance. The national consciousness hasn't entirely caught up with helping entrepreneurs.

My boyfriend, Matt, a photographer, was laid-off recently from his day job as a digital imaging specialist. Now he has more time to actually take pictures, and has been able to take freelance jobs. Basically, he is doing more of what he likes.

But he doesn't currently have health insurance. (I should point out that COBRA benefits have been extended to help unemployed workers, but it's not as cheap as having a job.) A lot of people -- especially young people -- are left uninsured or underinsured. You know that temporary health insurance? Well it doesn't cover large medical events -- not even pregnancy in many cases.

Matthew Padgett, the unemployed photographer, photographs a fellow unemployed person on the street.
More photos at www.matthewpadgett.com.

I sometimes scoff at our parents for worrying so much about such a mundane thing like health insurance, but they do have a point. It seems to me that older generations are chained to their mediocre jobs in order to receive health insurance and a pension. Like many people my age, I fear being the same way.

However, the financial crisis is keeping us from being the same way even if we wanted to be.

First of all, we feel less tied to the same job because of retirement savings like some of our parents. Very few members of Generation Y will have a pension. We are products of a generation that will save for retirement entirely through 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts. Essentially, there is more responsibility on our individual savings rather than employers. Whether this will work for us is a conversation for another day (and one I'm currently researching).

Meanwhile, the national consciousness seems to be moving toward making health insurance more accessible and not tied to employment. While there are many politicized arguments about both the good and bad ways to do this, the general idea of unbinding health insurance from employment seems in keeping with the consciousness of Generation Y.

Generation Y was on the road to fulfilling American culture just like our parents -- getting a decent job with decent benefits. Eventually, we would have settled, and many of us still will if we can. However, the financial crisis has somehow taken away the immediate opportunity to settle for many of us.

So what does my boyfriend and many of my other friends who can't find stable employment do? Take pictures.

You Mean I Won't Be 23 Forever?

How to get better? Get older.

An accomplished journalist and friend of mine (not of the Gen Y persuasion) recently gave me a very simple and valuable tip the other day. I asked him what advice he would give to someone like me who wants to be a better journalist.

He promptly said: "Just get older."

Well, that's good to know.

He would scoff at the idea that getting ahead is about working extra hard (although I'm sure you do not make it where he has by twiddling your thumbs). I garnered from our convo that he just picked something he was pretty good at and pursued it efficiently. It doesn't seem like he got too weighed down by his ambitions, and it turns out he ended up in a good place, covering a coveted beat for huge news organization.

Understandably, recent graduates -- especially journalists -- are freaking out about finding work and continuing in their career. I understand the need to work hard and do all of the right things -- I will not stop blogging about mundane career conundrums, such as whether to use Arial or Times New Roman in your resume. But the overall point is: If you do what you are supposed to do and you picked the career that is the right fit for you, why shouldn't you be successful some day? Baby Boomers can't work forever; someday the job market is really going to need the youngest folks.

It reminds me of that wonderful quote from a Jane Austen book: "How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation?"

Confessions of the Ultimate Denial

From the transcript of the Bernard Madoff trial:

Madoff: "...When I began the Ponzi scheme I believed it would end shortly and I would be able to extricate myself and my clients from the scheme. However, this proved difficult, and ultimately impossible, and as the years went by I realized that my arrest and this day would inevitably come..."

Wow, what must it be like to know all of those years you were a fraudulent sonabitch and would end up in jail? For whatever reason, it humanizes him for me, even though what he did was despicable. I think a lot of financiers walk the line, and suddenly you dip over too far one day, and before you know it, you are operating a massive, fraudulent Ponzi scheme. More than a little scary.

In this video he is happily talking about how you can't get away with anything without the regulators' notice. I guess, in the end, he was right. They just came a little late.

Bring in the Girls

The financial industry has been a breeding ground for aggressive behavior.

It has been suggested in the media that the financial industry's high dose of testosterone led to increased risk behaviors led to ... crisis. I was re-reading a study just the other day about how men are riskier investors than women (whether by sociology or biology or both). And men overwhelming dominate the financial industry.

While writing about the securities services industry in London, I researched a lot about the aggressive, high-risk atmosphere of the investment banking business (an entry from the Global Custodian blog). The trade room is, arguably by necessity, the quintessential breeding ground of male aggression. We replaced hunting grounds with trade screens and buffaloes with credit default swaps.

I don't actually blame men -- that would be a simplistic reading of what I am saying, and I'm not a fan of generalization. I do blame a society that has allowed aggression and workaholism to breed and flourish. I blame a welcome atmosphere for the dangerous trading of complex financial instruments. But blame aside, I also see this as an opportunity to reform the "old boys network" of finance.

I can see how a dose of feminine voice and matriarchal values -- channeled through both men and women -- could help the financial industry in the future to be a vehicle of healthy prospering rather than cliff-diving.

Another Job Site

I have another solid job site to add to my list of job search engines. Its called Careerjet.com and like LinkUp it searches actual Web sites for job posting. (No they aren't paying me, but they did send the suggestion along, and I thought it was worthwhile!)

A Year Back in the Ol' U.S.A.

It's already been a year since I returned from working abroad. I've recently been in touch with Leslie Forman, author of a new blog about spending your quarter-life crisis abroad, and it got me thinking about how my first year at a job in the U.S. compares with the six months I spent in England. While it's been nice to be back in a place where the customs make sense, I'm a bit sad to be accustomed to some of them.


For instance, in America we do not value vacation as much as many European countries. I noticed that the English view themselves as workaholics like Americans--and it's certainly true--but they still know how to take a holiday. Sure, Americans take vacation (although not as much right now), but it is not as integral a part of our culture. I spent a lot of time defending Americans for their lack of passports (Europeans like to pick on us a lot for that). However, the truth is, after living in another country and returning here, I did find some Americans to be rather narrow-minded and unexposed to other countries (or other regions of their own country for that matter!). Sometimes it seems to me that Americans could use a vacation not just to get away from work, but to see past their own noses.

Also the work day is so much more airy in England. Pub lunch here, tea break there. In the U.S. I find myself barreling through each day, attached to an IV of coffee. Lunches are spent hunched over the computer. Many Americans do not know how to get a bit of fresh air. Again, this work ethic is something I felt proud of in England, but some days I wonder if it's quite unhealthy.

And on top of that, our workplace benefits are famously lacking compared to other countries. Maternity leave? Ha! Wouldn't it be nice to be in virtually any other country and enjoy months of paid maternity leave? You are lucky to get a few paid weeks in the U.S. and the Family Medical Leave Act only guarantees 12 unpaid weeks.

It's true I spent the whole six months working abroad complaining about the British. But the grass is always greener on the other side of the pond, isn't it?


The photo of Tower Bridge was taken in the fall of 2007.

Survival of the Fittest

As twentysomethings facing life adjustments amid a financial crisis, how do we stay sane? How do I pick myself off the floor of my roach-ridden apartment and don business attire? Here are a few things I've found helpful and thought I'd share:

1. Autonomy -- Find something creative you can do that is not dictated by a boss. Find something that is purely self-satisfying. Hopefully work is satisfying, but you also need something that you are in charge of. For instance, I love blogging and writing poetry. Some people enjoy community service or knitting.

2. Health -- Don't just ignore problems. Yes, there are some things that aren't easy to change, like the hours you work or where you live. But you can take control of something, like getting to the doctor or joining the gym. I have been working out a lot the last few months and it has worked wonders for my mindset.

3. Friends -- Man, do I love my Roach Support Group. Almost every young person I know in New York has roach or mice problems. We can sit around and compare stories. They are all also going through their first jobs and some of them love where they are and others hate it. We all have massive credit card debt or student loans or some other financial instability we can try to one-up one other with. In general, there's always a word of support.

4. Put it away -- A former professor/friend/mentor of mine told me recently that it's easy for her to tell younger people to compartmentalize, but she knows it's hard for young workers to do. That is true. We take a lot of work to heart. We are so ambitious and eager about our careers that we don't know how to say, "OK, this co-worker and I don't get along. Let's put that in a box and away and not worry about it the whole weekend." I don't know if I will ever really master the compartmentalizing thing, but it is helpful to do the three aforementioned tips above in order to get there. Go the gym. Hang out with friends. Write in your blog. Don't dwell on what happened in the office. You've got, like, your whole life ahead of you, so don't get so fixated on where you are.

Interestingly, I found the above tips in a draft post I forgot to publish from the fall. It is good to read, because I feel immensely more settled and happy in my life than I did months ago... I think the above strategies might actually work!