Keeping Track

What's new in my world? Top 10 most recent developments (in no particular order):

1. I've read nearly a dozen books in the last three months.
   
2. My High School friend is getting married this weekend.
   
3. My house is empty during the day-- The cat is driving me nuts.
   
4. I've been hitting the gym five times a week. I no longer need to check-in at the front desk.
   
5. I experienced my first bachelor party in NYC this past weekend.
6. I've started doing freelance work for a past employer and my neighbor, both involving web and graphic design.
7. I'm writing a song for my-friend-to-soon-be-married and his bride as a wedding present. I have yet to figure out the chorus, but it seems good so far.
8. I have no idea what to be for Halloween. I need suggestions.
9. Some of my friends have been swallowed up by the real world and are currently AWOL.
   
10. I want to buy the new Mike Doughty and Lou Barlow albums that come out on October 6th.
    

Nostradamusings of Social Media

I'm trying harder to become a prognosticator of social media trends. I feel that having a firm grasp and/or opinion on where I think it's going will convey a stronger sense of passion for the medium during interviews. Rather than just being along for the ride, I'll be steerin' this media ship to where I think it's going. That was an homage to "Speak Like a Pirate Day", which was this past Saturday.

However, with everything being so volatile, I have a tough time really pinpointing where social media will be in say, ten years. For me, all signs point to Life-Streaming. Micro-Blogging day-to-day activities may seem mundane and/or meaningless, but if done with the right sense of style and delivery, a valuable (and interesting!) story can be constructed. And I'm a big fan of creating and/or reading cool stories.

On a side note, I think FourSquare is one of the coolest ides yet for a social media network. It's almost like a real-life video game achievement reward system, except it gets you off your couch and meeting people. And from a business perspective? Think of all the cool stuff you could do for your customers if you knew where they went the most, what they liked and perhaps who they went with? I would totally capitalize on this if I owned a business. If you haven't signed up, do it now and friend me. We'll conquer this city of Boston, we will. And maybe Providence too.

Hikes

In an attempt to clear my mind and save some money, I hiked Mt. Monadnock in New Hampshire this weekend with my sis and dad. I kept a comfortable pace between my climb-the-mountain-as-fast-as-you-can sister and my I-thought-the-elliptical-would-train-me-for-this father. It was an enjoyable round-trip hike of roughly three hours and we had a huge Thai dinner afterward.

I hate myself for being hesitant to spend time with the family (it seems like a hindrance on me blazing my own trail in life) because I almost always end up enjoying the excursion in the end. Then I get mad at myself for putting up a fuss in the first place. Stubborn Al.

A Very Frustrating Pickle

My parents tell me to relax. To enjoy not working. "You'll be working the rest of your life," Dad says when I trudge into his artwork studio that is adjacent to my bedroom, voicing my woes about the job search process that is much like a roller-coaster.

The truth is, I can't really enjoy myself unless I know for certain that either a.) I'm being productive to deserve this enjoyment or b.) have something lined up that will, in the long run, be productive. Plus, believe it or not, enjoyment usually involves money and the spending of such.

I suppose my job hunt adventures could fall under category "b," but the uncertainty of actually getting something after every prospect is killing me. I have a bottle of Korbel champagne waiting in my fridge. It was originally supposed to be for my acceptance into the JET (Teaching in Japan) program, but being on the indefinite wait-list has let the alcohol age indefinitely. I bet that on the day I finally get a job offer, the JET program will call up and say that an opening has freed up for me, in which case I will proceed to smash the bottle of champagne over my head and go on an angry Korbel rampage.

Undoubtedly more important than the monetary component of a new job is that I need to meet and interact with people. It's that simple. I fricking love my hometown of Medfield, Massachusetts, but it's like grandparents-- you won't be hanging out after 6 p.m. I would meet up with my high school friends, but they're off doing their own things, whether it be jobs or grad school. And visiting them (especially NYC dwelling pals) really burns a hole in the wallet. See the pickle I'm in?

My Top Secret, Creative Pre-Interview Plan

I'm expanding my job search radius to areas outside of Boston. This weekend I travel to New York to interview at a company I've been following for awhile that does pretty much everything I want to do. It looks like a really cool place to be.

While I was always open for relocation, I really did not apply for jobs outside the Boston/Cambridge area because of commute convenience for interviews. However, now that I have several friends and relatives sprinkled throughout major cities, I can actually interview without blowing through tons of money on lodging.


In all honesty, I wouldn't mind trying to survive on my own for a little bit. If I manage to land a decent gig in New York, I would go apartment/part-time-job searching immediately after leaving the concluding interview. Of course, the part-time job is speculation, but if I need to do it to get by I will. That's not to say that I'll put any less effort into any marketing job that I can get. I'll be extremely motivated to put my all into whatever I land.

After every interview, I've learned a little bit more about what I should do at the next one. Yeah, I learn from my mistakes, but I also think of new creative things I can do before/during/after the interview. For my one on Monday, I've developed a creative plan so cool that I will not even disclose it in this blog. Seriously, it's top secret and wicked cool. So, if you're reading this and happen to be an employee at the company I am interviewing at this coming Monday at 2 p.m., I suggest you buy a pillow to protect your jaw for when it hits the ground. Well, I might be hyping it a little bit, but I think it's cool...

The New Value Proposition

Yeah, I'm changing my employment strategy tactics. I'm shaking things up a bit. Why? First, consider the exact number of interviews I've had. It's put together in this nice little equation:


Three Phone interviews + Five 1st round interviews + Three 2nd round interviews = 11 Interviews

But unlike the Count, I'm not particularly jovial when reciting this number. Despite the fact they've been a valuable experience as my job hunt continues (what doesn't kill me makes me stronger), the daily commute into Boston is really burning a hole in my wallet. Did the Count ever have a segment on subtraction? If not, my MBTA situation would be an ideal theme for it. One, two, THREE ROUND-TRIP TICKETS! I love to subtract!

So Why All the Interviews and No Job?

Even though I haven't landed a job yet, I'm pretty pleased with the way I've interviewed. Besides the two phone interviews (the method I despise), I've made it very far in each face-to-face interview. My phone interview performances have been similar to those times in High School when I called up a girl to go on a date--full of awkward pauses and uncontrolled sweating. The bottom line is that I perform much better with non-verbal cues.

Although I have no evidence to back up this theory, I feel as though I get beat out by the more experienced applicant when I've made it to the second round of interviews. Either that, or the marketing team thinks I'm a complete loser. So, this predicament has led to...

My New Value Proposition

Now that I've got all sorts of interview experience and savvy, I'm really buckling down with new strategies and tactics to really land the job. Once I secure an interview with a company I really want to work for, I'll lay down this:

• Although I can express my ambition to work, I can't overcome someone who has equal ambition but also more experience. So, give me a chance to prove myself. I know I can do some great stuff if you just give me an opportunity.
  
• If it doesn't work out, I'll at least gain some experience (and therefore be better matched up against my interview competition: Mr./Mrs. Ambitiously Experienced).

So look out Mr./Mrs. Ambitiously Experienced. And watch yourself companies-who-want-to-give-me-a-shot. I've got a new value proposition.

Not A Tweet Deal For The NFL

Well it's been decided. In what appears to be an attempt to limit play-by-play disclosure, Roger Goodell has metaphorically killed two birds with one stone-- the first in the form of the light blue avian Twitter mascot and the second (less literal) being my desire to follow NFL players during game-time.

I can see the most logical reasoning behind restricting NFL athletes to Tweetlessness during matches and for a 90-minute window before and after games (i.e. distractions, play-by-play disclosure). But after reading several articles I still can't figure out the main reason for doing this.


My Top Three Theories:

1. Betting: Someone injured and Tweets about it before an injury report? Might sway some bets in Vegas. Gotta draw the line between fan communication and the disclosure of bet-able information.
   
2. Distractions: Although I'm fascinated by what is going through Randy Moss's head before high-stepping into the endzone for a touchdown, other people may find it excessive and distracting.
   
3. Case-By-Case: There have been several issues where someone has been fined over a tweet. Antonio Cromartie from the Chargers complained about Dolphin's stadium food and was punished with a $2,500 fine. By making one rule that bans tweets altogether, it eliminates the need for individual cases, like Cromartie food-slagging.

Those are my three best guesses. I'd like to hear some of your theories, because I can't find an article that explains the reasoning behind it. However, odds are it has something to do with betting. But keep in mind:

• Why is football the exception? Why not other sports like baseball and basketball?
• Why the 90 minute window? Is 90 minutes the official social media buffer time limit?
  

Quick Quiz: Which NFL team has the most active Twitter users?