You Mean There's Rules?

How often should you update your social media profiles? Recently, I did a walk through our offices and reminded the employees that they need to go to LinkedIn and update their profiles. Several looked at me blankly, one even said to me, “Am I supposed to have a profile?” I nodded patiently and said in my normal, playfully acerbic tone, “Yes, you need to have a LinkedIn profile.” She looked at the others around the room as if I had chopped her head off.  I guess the “playful” part of my tone didn’t shine through.

It is easy for me to forget that not everyone has had a profile for five or six years. Not everyone thinks regular updates and profile maintenance are necessary. I do and my co-workers know that I do. In a busy, growing company, LinkedIn and other professional networks have served as a great help in my efforts to recruit for or promote my company, yes – I’m gonna say it: branding.  And personally, I gain an  understanding of my connections’ positions and how I can help them, how they can help me.

LinkedIn is the ultimate professional networking tool, even with its constant updates and changes. I also have profiles on many other networks claiming to be the next LinkedIn.  For instance, years ago Plaxo considered LinkedIn direct competition, but it has evolved from trying to compete to becoming, basically, a cloud-based Rolodex and a great birthday reminder tool, which was always its greatest strength.  I love sending eCards to friends, as well as professional connections; it is a great way to let someone know you are thinking of them and another way to maintain inactive or passive relationships. You never know when an inactive relationship will blossom into a full-blown active one.

And of course, there are other online networking profiles floating around out there. My personal social media philosophy has always been: There are an awful lot of details available about you on the internet- take control of your online persona and have what YOU control be the dominating sources, the highest ranked listings in a Google search about you. I cannot stress enough the importance of knowing what is out there about you. For example: go to pipl.com, type your name into the search bar and see what comes up about you. The listings of personal information are all available on line. Next go to Google and type in your name in the search bar, but search in “images.” Other surprises await you. Not only information you put online about yourself, but also details that your connections post online are all cached somewhere and are retrievable.

Be careful and be in control.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I was always a huge proponent of having an open Facebook. I use it for business and professional networking, so I want people to be able to find me and feel free to contact me. But I also like feeling secure and up until a year ago, I have always felt secure online. That was no longer true after a few harassing emails and messages through Facebook and other networks. I constantly update my privacy settings on Facebook and now avidly block followers on Twitter. Also, like many of my friends, I have closed my Facebook chat function. Why? Because I want to continue to use social media in my work and just like any other tool, there are evolving rules regarding its use.

I choose to continually evolve with the rules.

photo credit 
Rayanne Thorn, @ray_anne is the Marketing Director for the online recruiting software company, Broadbean Technology.  She is also a proud mother of four residing in Laguna Beach, California, and a contributor for Blogging4Jobs.  Connect with her on LinkedIn.  

Worth Saving?

Last summer, I sat in my beach chair, flanked by my two daughters and enjoyed the Sunday afternoon sun as we watched our surfers. The day had started off a bit foggy but the midday heat soon erased the memory of our cooler morning. The sounds of children delighted squealing and mothers’ seagull-like beckoning filled the air as beachgoers surrounded us. We were relaxed and taking note of the unique variety of people that had converged upon our chosen space.

Right in front of us, a young family had gathered, like us, to take advantage of a beautiful seaside afternoon. They sat much closer to the water than we. A father, a mother, a little boy and an even littler girl were all dressed for a day in the park, not necessarily for water play. Nonetheless, they proceeded with their afternoon activities, most importantly building sandcastles. The father intently filled buckets with wet sand and turned them gently to build the larger perimeter. The mother kept the boy at bay, foiling his numerous attempts to squash the father’s efforts. The little girl ran back and forth, filling her bucket with water and dumping it in front of her father. It was a concerted family attempt to create a sand village, a place of imagination and sunshine. And it was delightful to watch.

The tide was on the rise. Our beach was long and flat, so any rising was dually noted immediately. Shortly after the majority of the sand village had been built, a wall of water seemed to come out of nowhere. We watched it, as if in slow motion, make its way to the village. The small family saw it too. The mother grabbed both kids arms and the father threw himself down lengthwise in front of their sand art and, using his body, virtually stopped the flow of destructive water, protecting and saving the village. That is, until a few minutes later, when the next wall made its attack. We applauded his effort and commented on the valiance.

They had built only a temporary work of art, to be sure, but desire to save it was incredibly strong. It was, indeed, sad to see when the last tower was finally washed away. How often do we put too much effort into a project destined to fail and not enough into the tried and true? We see so many around us: colleagues, family members, friends, and even our competition get caught up in the new and shiny objects offered by the latest and greatest technology or the quickest-growing social media plaything.

Some of these distractions may end up being a worthwhile pursuit, but most are just a temporary endeavor – a sandcastle, the latest time investment that crosses our paths. Being able to decipher and discern in which to invest time and effort can become a full-time job in and of itself. And it isn’t easy. Should I learn more about social gaming and how it might benefit our business? Should I join Google+, building my community and network, investing time and effort in a new arena, again? Should I demo this product? Should I get in on the beta testing for that one? We each have to decide for ourselves which sand castles to build and which to save.  Well-place your valiance. The rewards will surprise you.

 
Rayanne Thorn, @ray_anne is the Marketing Director for the online recruiting software company, Broadbean Technology.  She is also a proud mother of four residing in Laguna Beach, California, and a contributor for Blogging4Jobs.  Connect with her on LinkedIn.  

What do you get out of the ride?

Community. It seems to have been the talk of the town for a few years now.  And as of late, the “talent community” talk has quite a few excited but still others baffled that this concept could even subsist, let alone – money be made from it.  For those of us who have worked hard to build our own databases – NOT thought of as communities – it seems silly to consider a “quick money” utilization of the virtual handshake.  Oh sure, I am the first to advocate always getting something for yourself.  But should this be any different than what we have always done?  When I was a PTA President, I hung out with other concerned moms.  When I was very active in theater, I lingered backstage.  When I participated in a church, I spent the majority of my free time with others in that congregation.  We have always created our own communities, just not with dollar signs attached.  So, I guess my individual principles and ideals are challenged by this fairly new idea of a business: talent community.  And in this challenge, I will either learn or I will teach.

Some may disagree with me. There are those who will say that all should be wonderful and perfect in the sandbox. That all the toys should be shared and that no one should go home unhappy. Part of what makes a community tick and thrive is the differences that each of us brings to the table. Not everyone gets a trophy. Like cogs that work together to keep the machinery running, differences of opinion and challenging ideas are what drive innovation and changes of thought.

What a boring world it would be if each of us had the exact same principles and beliefs. If there weren’t arguments or issues that sometimes stand in the way, what kind of progress would we truly see? None. We would continue on, doing the same things, thinking the same thoughts, with no desire to learn more, for why should we?

The reasons we participate in a community are threefold. We simply want to be a part of it all – to keep the heartbeat going.  We want to be heard – to share our ideas and thoughts, to teach.  And we want to listen – to learn – to take away something from a discussion anything that makes our life or job easier or helps us to do it better. Sometimes we give, and sometimes we take. And that’s ok.  Problems arise when it is forgotten that conflict is good for a community. Sparks are needed to start an engine and keep it going. Static status, never changing, never learning – all lead to stunted growth. There is much to learn here, there is much to share. We each provide a different viewpoint, a different spark.

So, with this in mind, are those reasons considered and met by all who participate in talent communities?  Who gains the most from a talent community?  It really is just a pond where only a few fish get fed.  And such ponds do not exist for long.  We don’t need to rethink and rename community, we just need to face reality.  It’s a database.  It’s a rolodex.   It’s a list of names or organizations to draw from and meet your needs.  And occasionally, those names’ and organizations’ needs are met, as well.

Rayanne Thorn, @ray_anne is the Marketing Director for the online recruiting software company, Broadbean Technology.  She is also a proud mother of four residing in Laguna Beach, California, and a contributor for Blogging4Jobs.  Connect with her on LinkedIn.  

What is Social Media? It’s a fusion of sociology and technology, transforming monologues (one to many) into dialogues (many to many) and is the democratization of information, transforming people from content readers into publishers.

Three years ago, this was part of the definition of Social Media given by Answers.com, as stolen from Wikipedia. I find the last part the most interesting: “readers into publishers.”  And I am sure there are industries besides journalism that are still being shaken up.

Sociology, the study of human social behavior, especially the study of the origins, organization, institutions, and development of human society - connected to Technology, the scientific method and material used to achieve a commercial or industrial objective. Whether they occur at a grocery store or in a bar over a martini, connections matter, and more connections than ever are being made with the help of technology - the internet and social media.

In 1991, a man was pulled from his car and beaten by several police officers in Los Angeles.  One year later, three police officers charged in this incident were acquitted and trouble broke out; riots in the streets of Los Angeles ensued. I remember standing in a gas station the morning the riots began. I stood beside my car while a man on the other side of the pump stood beside his. Our eyes met and I couldn’t look away from him, he couldn’t look away from me. We just stared at each other and a moment of clarity occurred. I was not like that. He was not like that. Not all people were like those police officers, not all people were like the rioters. We were not like that. We never said a word, just nodded to each other and drove away. Thousands of arrests were made and over fifty people died during that week of rioting.

Sociology fails because people fail.

There are parts of the world today where you cannot check your friend’s status on Facebook. You cannot connect to Twitter. I heard a story of how a woman’s home was forcefully entered and the satellite dish in her basement was destroyed – you could not watch the news in Iran unless it was propaganda delivered by the Iranian government, the foreign press had been/has been banned. How many have been /will be arrested? How many have died or will die?  We may never know.

Technology fails because people fail.

It doesn’t matter how many friends technology brings you.
It doesn’t matter how social media serves you.
If man cannot serve man, it just doesn’t matter.

Rayanne Thorn, @ray_anne is the US Marketing Director for the online recruiting software company, Broadbean Technology.  She is also a proud mother of four residing in Laguna Beach, California, and a contributor for Blogging4Jobs.  Connect with her on LinkedIn.  

“Everyone who has been in this industry has had a chance to participate in something very exciting. It is kind of like early steam engines or factories or something. The timing was right for the people who got to do it. And that is a lucky thing…” ~Bill Gates

Having spent most of my adult life trying to get ahead, I understand the importance of timing.  Given the time and place in which we now dwell – I am sure you understand the imperative nature of it, as well. Timing is everything.  And the right timing requires a little more than luck.

Playwright David Ives ventured into the world of timing in several short plays that he later combined for a full-length play entitled, All in the Timing. One of the pieces, Words, Words, Words addresses the proposition that, “Three monkeys hitting keys at random on typewriters for an infinite amount of time will almost surely produce Hamlet.”  Now, would that be considered timing or just smart luck?

Sometimes, the timing is just right for a homerun to be hit – it is said that the swing is all about the timing, the pitch is all about throwing the timing of the swing off.

Sometimes, the timing is right for two people to fall in love – sadly, one or the other fails to recognize it or they blow it because their timing is off, they should have zigged instead of zagged. Remember the Seinfeld episode when Elaine fell in love with the guy who felt her gabardine jacket and named the fabric, short-lived as it was (and usually is), George didn’t fare so well in his fabric feeling venture.

Sometimes, the timing is right for a new company to get off the ground, like Twitter – the now, obsessive love of the frenetic pace of microblogging, who knew? Or Words with Friends, Hello Alec Baldwin?

Social Media found the right timing. The top floor-corporate world is starting to embrace it, finally. Unless, of course, that top floor houses Microsoft, Apple or any other company that set up house on the edge of innovation and have stayed there – they embraced social media and communication tech long ago. There were also those who once believed an analog watch or 35-mm film were the only way. Hmmmm.

Web 3.0 has captured its audience and will continue to embed its amenities into our lives.

“If you give people tools, [and they use] their natural ability and their curiosity, they will develop things in ways that will surprise you very much beyond what you might have expected.” ~Bill Gates.  Thanks again, Bill.

Tools? Sometimes, we have to invent our own… Check out this almost unbelievable story from the world of art about someone who created his own timing.  More than meets the eye and timing is everything.

Rayanne Thorn, @ray_anne is the Marketing Director for the online recruiting software company, Broadbean Technology.  She is also a proud mother of four residing in Laguna Beach, California, and a contributor for Blogging4Jobs.  Connect with her on LinkedIn.  

The Art & Practice of the Learning Organization

Several years ago, I sat in front of the CEO of a small company that called itself a start-up for start-ups. I was new to this type of organization, a technology-based company, trying to get off the ground with little funding and big ideas. I had worked for the whole of my career, up until that point, in the dental and health care fields, so technology was a new and welcome twist.  Fred, the CEO, held a book in his hand, The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge, a book about learning organizations and systems’ thinking approach to business, and asked, “Have you read this book?” I looked blankly at the unfamiliar text in his hand and painfully thought, “Oewh… this job is not for me.” I then shook my head and answered truthfully, “Nope.” He said, “You will.”

That was a first step toward my further understanding of business – in general, start-ups, and, really, expanding my horizons beyond cold calling, sales, and recruitment.  I joined this young technology company as the Manager of Recruitment and Retention and I became educated rather quickly that my days of retained and calculated search and taking my sweet time to find the right fit were long over. I also learned an incredibly valuable lesson that has become embedded in my psyche and stays with me still today. I learned to be flexible and recognize that what always worked before may not work any longer. And that’s ok.  Better yet, you can teach an old dog a few new tricks.

I learned the art of executive recruitment from an old-school recruiter who demanded that 60 to 100 cold calls a day were the only way to get a job done and get the word out about a new position, and you had to suffer and suffer hard to garner a slate of only mildly acceptable and rarely perfect candidates. I wanted there to be a better and easier way. I wanted to just be able to go to the database we had built over the last several years and filter, filter, filter… but every new search brought a non-annotated 60-page Access search record dropped on my desk. Equipped with several thousand names and numbers, a pencil and pen, a telephone, came the order to, “Smile and dial.”

The different media available today has changed the face of recruitment.  Human Resources is no longer the organizational function in the basement. Recruiting is no longer the “wicked step child” of HR.  Social media has re-shaped how we interact with the people we do know, why wouldn’t it alter the way we interact with those we don’t?  Recently, the French company Atos eliminated internal email altogether and opted for Facebook messaging as the forum-of-choice for their internal communications.

There really is no such thing as a social media expert.  And I think we are still in the infancy stage of fully grasping its capability and impact. It’s been a crazy ride but I plan on holding on.  If I sat across from that same CEO today, I could say, “Yes, I have read that book.” But then I’d send a tweet stating, “But the system is bigger than ever before.”

Rayanne Thorn, @ray_anne is the Marketing Director for the online recruiting software company, Broadbean Technology.  She is also a proud mother of four residing in Laguna Beach, California, and a contributor for Blogging4Jobs.  Connect with her on LinkedIn.