get a (second) life

the fascination with second life in academia continues and i can't for the life of me figure out why. it's an especially hot topic at conferences that engage recruiters and career center employees. i get monthly invitations to career fairs occurring in second life, none of which i have ever endorsed or advertised to students, yet employers invest hundreds of dollars to attend these fairs. while i see the attraction of paying one fee and potentially reaching students from schools across the country, my casual conversational research of gen y has told me that they are not turning to the virtual world for their job search and thus second life recruiters may be left unfulfilled.

i am actually surprised that second life is a topic in a social networking class taking place in 2010. i was under the impression that the virtual world's membership and popularity had waned significantly in recent years. maybe my attitude will change after thursday's exploration of second life in itec656, but for now, the 3d immersive space looks about as inviting as a shark tank.

but who am i to judge? i've never raised a barn or built a fishlab either.

keep it clean

working in a university career center, i'm often reminded to be mindful of my virtual contributions to the world. more often than i'd care to recount, i'm hearing stories of job offers revoked and internships ended thanks to unprofessionalism in cyberspace.

while not the forefront of larry lessig's chat on "speech, privacy, and the internet" at chicago university law school, it's the message that struck me the hardest: not only is your virtual footprint public to the world wide web and anyone who cares to take a peek, but it sticks around permanently.

i have long been interested in bringing someone to campus to talk to students in a workshop format about cleaning up their digital data strewn across the interwebs and brought to light by a simple google search. i often think if giving the talk myself, my message would be simple and clear: think about what you are contributing in the first place. before commenting on a blog or tweeting something out, pause and consider its interpretation if associated with your name out of context. i'm a big fan of free speech, but just as it's not the wisest thing to publicly berate a professor who has shirked you a grade or two, it's also a good idea to keep it clean on the web.

(on another totally separate note, i loved larry's slide deck. that's probably the third or fourth presentation of that kind that i've seen and i desperately want to learn the art form! hundreds of slides over a perfectly choreographed 60-minute speech. kogod should offer a course on this brilliance!)

are you in?

i consider myself a networker by trade. my current role in employer outreach for the au career center leaves me solely responsible for building relationships with employers on behalf of cas, sis, soc, and spa. a lot of what i do stems from who i know, who i meet, and who they know. i live and die by linkedin on a daily basis using it to expand my network, get introduced to new connections, and exploit existing contacts. i also use it to identify alumni currently working within the university's "wish list" of employers and in turn use those alumni to build new relationships.

even someone like me still has a lot to learn about this professional yet social network. to do so, i've participated in several webinars hosted by lyndsay pollak, a gen y career expert, who is currently consulting for linkedin. while the mashable article is a good place to start, i found it a bit out of date and linkedin has made dozens of improvements over the last year to propel your networking capabilities even further. if you're a linkedin newbie or looking to learn more, here are a couple of other articles and resources to check out:

- 5 steps to a fantastic linkedin profile
- linkedin adds new ways to browse connections
- the linkedin blog

i've also jotted out a few helpful tips for the linkedinners looking for a job:

- complete your profile! and be sure to include recommendations. internship supervisors and professors are usually very willing to do this, as are classmates. if you rocked a group project with someone and they can vouch for your teamwork skills, ask them to recommend you.
- visit company profiles and view the most popular profiles. these are often human resources professionals with public email addresses and offer a great "foot in the door."
- use it or lose it. i make it a point to add a linkedin connection to my network at least once per week. i add classmates, professors, professional connections, friends, acquaintances. today's job searcher should not underestimate the power of the social network and should cast a wide net.
- feel free to connect with me! linkedin is a numbers game and i've got over 360 connections. one of them might be your next employer.

unlocking the adventurer badge & more on location based services

i'm a huge fan of location based applications, especially foursquare. the friend-locating, point-earning, city-based app was actually created by an acquaintance in nyc and it's taken the twitter world by storm. essentially, users "check in" to restaurants, retail locations, virtually anywhere to earn points. having checked into one location the most times earns you the title of "mayor" and major bragging rights.

while i use it for fun (and i'm desperately trying to become the mayor at one of the area's sephoras!), a company could quickly track my trends based on the various locations that i check into during a given week. they could then create a model or a "mobile profile" of me to predict where i might go on a particular day of the week or time of day. that has huge implications for companies interested in tapping into mobile advertising since they would know the type of consumer i am and where i frequent.

the future of location based services is also fascinating. (it's something i happen to be researching and presenting in my itec617 class this semester.) mashing it up with something like virtual reality could potentially give incredible competitive advantage to travel companies like lonely planet. location based services are also evolving to be functional inside, in major shopping malls, museums, etc. imagine being able to navigate the louvre 100% on your own for a fully customized tour?

some people raise concerns about who is watching users of lbs and how they could potentially obtain personal information. i'm personally really enjoying where location based services are at the moment and where they're going.

the internet has made me jumpy

i completely identified with nicholas carr's atlantic monthly article. over the last 24 months i've deepened my involvement in social media by creating a google reader that subscribes to 130 unique blogs, launching a twitter account, and two separate blogs of my own. along with these new methods of absorbing and sharing information has come a noticeable impatience and restlessness.

i've noticed my attention span has shrunk considerably and that in order to get through my google reader on a daily basis, i skim posts with great speed often ignoring those without pictures and even going straight to the pictures and grabbing just a few words, enough to grasp the context. i find myself needing to jump from screen to screen, tab to tab, during my work day and have observed a difficulty in sticking to research-based reading (a professional necessity) for any length of time.

i'm not sure whether to find solace or growing concern in carr's arguments. i do know for the time being that i continue to be an avid reader-for-pleasure (currently working my way through kathryn stockett's "the help") and reader-of-textbooks for at least the next year and a half (thanks, kogod!). hopefully that will keep me from any further derailment or loss of brain cells...

the corporate bloggerverse

the way i see it, corporate blogs have two choices: they blog about their expertise spouting out advice and industry secrets or they can opt to have a "personality" blogging about things that parlay into their corporate culture giving potential and existing customers an inside peek into *who* is behind the brand.

i looked at a few corporate blogs this weekend to get a feel for which i might tap into as a fan or customer and which i would leave behind.


i fell hard for the sharpie blog. it's witty and engaging, speaks 100% to the sharpie personality. my favorite feature highlights celebs with their sharpies but i also loved the use of video and the super playful sense you get from browsing through posts. their funny banter and comfortable writing style encourages readers to leave comments which the sharpie writer then responds to. sharpie obviously understands the commitment posting really well thought out and hilarious bits two times a week on average. score: 10-for-10 in obeying the 10 harsh truths about corporate blogging and an add to my google reader (clearly the highest compliment i can offer!).


next i looked at everyone's fave online shoe retailer, zappos. their blog runs the gamut, showcasing everything from open positions at headquarters to an inside peek at how luxe boots are made. so cool! as a customer, i adored the information on their philanthropic efforts sprinkled among interviews with designers from their most popular brands. it's a really interesting take on a corporate blog and i found them to be a bit self indulgent without being obnoxious. score: 9 for 10 and an add to my google reader on a trial basis. i would like to watch this one go by for awhile...


"nuts about southwest" is another really clever corporate blog. they've been doing it for four years and it shows. their posts are a cool balance between exciting updates, new offers, and something called flashback fridays which shows how far they've come. as a southwest customer, i appreciate the opportunity to find a wealth of corporate information in one place. there wasn't one post in five pages that i skipped over because each had its purpose. score: 10 for 10 but no add. i will pop in on occasion to see what's new, though.

i felt all three were excellent examples of rising above the fear and just being yourself.

service in times of social networking

social networking continues to change the game of customer service. gone are the days of writing a complaint letter to higher ups with little hope of receiving a response. today, good experiences are touted on twitter (i myself have complimented the staff at the papersource in tyson's and sephora in chevy chase with an "@" mention to their corporate twitter accounts.) and bad ones are blasted out to the universe through blogs and facebook.

my first job was renting and washing cars in a suit for enterprise rent-a-car. it was there that i learned that even great companies that ingrain service in their culture come under fire for mistakes, both internal and external. i quickly found that a completely satisfied customer might tell one friend but a frustrated one will tell 200.

well, things have evolved since 2004 when i was in my management trainee days, and twitter has facilitated the ability for customers to praise or crucify companies in the service industry. continuing with enterprise as a test case, i ran a quick search on everyone's favorite micro-blogging site and found the following:

@matthewpardon Enterprise rent-a-car is amazing, y'all. Best customer service experience.

@carmiepqfc Never rent a car from Enterprise. Horrible customer service. And they don't really care that they suck so much!

@macpbr98 Had an great customer service experience @ Enterprise Rent A Car. Now that's how it should be done! They'll be doing business w/ me again!

@Shelly1125 Enterprise Rental Car's customer service, especially the Baton Rouge location on Florida Blvd has been impeccable!

@angelaglenn Horrid experience with Enterprise Rent-a-Car. Customer Service has no knowledge of online reservation system. Having a Seinfeld moment.

@lyonshare Enterprise car rental has some of the most pleasant customer service peeps...and I got a free upgrade. Much better than Dollar!

whichever side of the fence they're on, these customers were compelled to communicate their experiences and twitter is where they turned. so while the power may have always belonged to the people in terms of service, do you think the emergence of micro-blogging may force companies to return to the times of "the customer is always right"?