Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Why You Should Hire Me P. 3

I have to thank @Robyrd5 for Reason #125. Reason #124 will also certainly be "because then I'll stop posting these tweets."

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Tuesday, April 27, 2010

WI Supports my Hire Me campaign

Check out this SlideShare Presentation in which I take my "Hire Me" campaign to Wisconsin's most iconic places.

Friday, April 23, 2010

A TwitterOpus, Part I

I've been busy. Then again, I really want to show you why you should hire me:

New Website Design

I first got thinking about a one page web design after viewing this article on impressive, creative personal portfolios.

But this was right after I launched my own portfolio website, and I didn't want to spend another day working out another design in Flash. So I let it be.

And then I saw this website devoted to One Page Love.

While I don't think anything I could do would be in that league of awesomeness, it got me thinking again about how I want to redo my website.

It just felt too clunky, and, really, one page is all you need. All of my work is scattered across the web and/or on various social media sites, and so it's but the work of a minute (don't you just love that phrase?) to set a bunch of buttons linking to my online excellence.

So that's what I did.

Last night, instead of working on my Flash movie for class, I "procrastinated" and redesigned my website. Even in taking time off from work I can't help but be a nerd.

View it here.

PS - I know I should care about web optimization and all that biz, but that's what I do in the real world. In my personal world, I don't so much. As Taylor from Kid Nation would say, "Deal with it."

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Driving in Milwaukee

Today a woman following me in traffic was putting on her makeup while she was driving. At 1 p.m. (I won't go into my theory about why she needed to refresh her makeup after her mid-afternoon delight...er, lunch break).

I was going 27 miles per hour in a school zone (no kiddies were present, don't worry), and stopped at all of the stop signs.

Every time I stopped she gave me the finger.

Yes, I was looking in my rearview from time to time. It's common knowledge that people who are putting on freakin' makeup while they are driving are not the most attentive drivers. I was paying attention for her in case her front end got scarily close to my rear end.

It's called defensive driving.

And as I was the one obeying traffic laws, I'm not sure what the finger was all about.

She gave it to me, again, when we were on the ramp to the highway. I couldn't accelerate very quickly because there was a garbage truck in my grill.

Well, not in my grill, but at least 10 feet in front of me. My acceleration was dictated by his ability to shift gears.

She then sped up and pulled in the lane in front of me.

Just to show me she could.

Then she realized she was in the wrong lane for her exit and veered across the highway.

Seems mascara is distracting.

Why you want to hire me.

Why do you want me on your team? View this Prezi to find out. Take notes, enjoy, and don't be shy. I'd love to tell you all about it in person.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Inappropriate Crisis Communication

Today I was reading this story about an Australian publisher forced to recall a cookbook due to a textual error.

You can read more about the error by clicking the link and reading the story, but my post has more to do with the resulting communication from the company's head of publishing.

In an interview after the story broke, he said it was a silly mistake and "why anyone would be offended, we don't know."

Because confusing black pepper for black people is not an offensive mistake by any means.

This champion of crisis communication also stated that anyone who complained about the mistake was small-minded, but the company would grudgingly, I mean "happily," give them a refund for the book.

I may be off my rocker, but I don't think these comments were the wisest way to handle the issue.

Afterall, we're not talking about a mistake in which a recipe mistakes cumin for coriander. We're talking about a mistake that includes "ground black people" as an ingredient for tagliatelle.

Claiming you don't understand the uproar and think that people who are upset about the mistake are small-minded is probably the wrong tack to take, even if that's how you feel.

Perhaps taking a more humble approach - even if it's pretend ('fake it 'til you make it' is my favorite adage) - might just win you more kudos and customer loyalty.

Especially in an age where brand loyalty is low and competition is fierce.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Festa della Repubblica - Cagli, Italy

The time when I am bored is usually the time I start thinking about all of the things I wanted to share with you and just never got up the gumption.

So here's the latest from my digital storytelling course - a photo essay of a child's perspective of Festa della Repubblica in Cagli, Italy.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

A Love Letter to Crab Fishing

Every year I write a love letter to the makers of Deadliest Catch, the addictive documentary television show on Alaskan crab fishing. You can view past issues here: 2008, 2009.

Season 6 begins with the usual captain's meeting and blessing of the fleet that ends with the crews heading to the crab grounds. This season, however, packs a punch, so to speak, as the captain's meeting ends with Jonathan throwing down on Keith.

Literally.

Throwing him down to the ground.

And then Captain Phil of the Cornelia Marie and Captain Sig of the Northwestern trade Jakes for the season.

This is gonna get interesting.

I used to apologize for my love of this show. I'm an educated, middle class gal who sits behind a desk all day. Surely it's odd that I'm so entranced by this blue collar reality TV.

Not so anymore.

Considering it shows in over 150 countries and is one of cable's most top-rated shows, then I am through with apologies.

I love this show.

You can view Discovery Channel's promo video here. I guarantee you'll love it too.