For my Georgetown students, I used to list some select jobs from Ned Lundquist’s “JOTW” or “Job of the Week.”

I still love you guys, so, what the hell;  here you go.

Mark

About JOTW:

Ned Lundquist’s “Job of the Week” free e-mail networking newsletter and website for professional communicators has a cult following of more than 10,000 readers (the 5-digit milestone was reached October 6, 2006). The job leads are just one reason his faithful followers begin their Mondays (and sometimes Tuesdays through Fridays) with a cuppa and JOTW.

So here’s a few that I found that may be of interest to my peeps in the Washington, DC area — with a big thanks to Ned to keeping this up all those years:

1. Manager of Public Relations, Comcast Eastern Division, Largo, Maryland
2. Publications Manager/Editor, The Partnership for Public Service, Washington, DC
3. Communications Specialist, American Public Health Association, Washington, DC
4. Event Marketing Coordinator, Kaulkin Ginsberg, Rockville, MD
5. Director of Communications, Latin American/Caribbean Region,global financial services organization, Miami (area), FL – contact Susan San Martin of Plan B Communications
   at susan@planbcomms.com (note: Florida?!?!?   Sunshine?!?! I may just apply for this puppy myself).
6. Director of Development and Communications, Center of Concern, Washington D.C.
7. Communications Consultant – World Bank Sustainable Development Network, Washington, D.C. – Appointment Type:  Short Term Consultant
   Qualified candidates should send their resume, cover letter and three writing samples to wbjob@live.com with the subject line “Communications Consultant.”

EXOTIC OPENINGS!!!

1. Butcher, Confidential Employer, Sioux City, IA
2. Baker, Kickass Cupcakes, Boston, MA
3. Candlemaker, Yankee Candle Company, South Deerfield, MA
4. Hard Rock/Metal Band singer, Jenna’s Boneyard, Miami, FL

My caveat – I know nothing about the jobs, the organizations, the salaries, etc., but encourage you to check them out. The job market is not dead, it’s just really tired.

Happy hunting Georgetown grads.

Mark

In yesterday’s post, I promised to become more of my own irasible, smart-ass self.  I didn’t think that it would happen this soon.  But, ah, how fate impacts one’s life.  It didn’t take me long to find something that makes me call people out – big time.  But this is the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Oh, and ABC News.

I am about as far from someone who follows awards shows as possible (I am not sure that I would slow down if I saw Joan and Melissa Rivers at a crosswalk) but apparently, some guy called Kanye West jumped up on a stage, drunk as a skunk the other night and acted like a jerk to some woman.  BFD.

I awaken this morning to read in Politico that President Obama called Kanye West a “jackass.“  And ABC reported it;  Tweeted it actually (tweet above).  But here’s where it gets interesting:

1. The first thing that I taught on the first day of my class was the Rule #1 when you are in the public spotlight is that NOTHING IS EVER — EVER — OFF THE RECORD. Especially when you are, ummm.. the President of the United States.
2. What is equally unfathomable for me is that ABC freakin’ APOLOGIZED:

“In the process of reporting on remarks by President Obama that were made during a CNBC interview, ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview. This was done before our editorial process had been completed. That was wrong. We apologize to the White House and CNBC and are taking steps to ensure that it will not happen again.”

• President Obama:  See Professor Mark’s Rule #1.

• ABC News:  See a doctor about your “premature” problem and grow a pair.  He said it.  You tweeted it.  Stand by it.

How’s that for returning as my irascible self?  I’ve got to have someone to poke besides Lou Capozzi.

Mark

P.S. I first learned of this by reading Lauren Fernandez’s tweet.  Her blog is pretty awesome too.

I am starting to have real fun with #blogmonday.  Since I started it, I have learned about topics as varied as different ways to enjoy bacon (but it sucks that I cannot partake because I am on a diet), social media karma as well as how cool a town Omaha is.  So what more do I need?  I need YOU.

I need you to share some linkey love with some of the “hidden gems” of the blogosphere. Yeah, you gotta write a blog post, but you were going to anyway. But contribute to #blogmonday by blogging about who you like – and why.

Last week, my votes were for:

• Dan York’s Disruptive Conversations
• Kami Huyse’s Communications Overtones
• David Armano’s “Logic+Emotion” blog
• Toby Bloomberg’s “Diva Marketing” blog
• Jim Long’s “Verge New Media”
• James Kotecki’s “Emergency Cheese”

Here are this week’s contributions:

Tried, True and Terrific

• Heavy Bag Media.  I like Jackie Peters’ writing style, but also enjoy her tweets about the wonderful places where she eats in the LA area (see prior note to being on a diet, however).  Jackie’s latest post is writing that I like: direct, concise and slightly snarky: “…too often marketing is approached as an ad-hoc jumble of tactics tossed against the wall in the hopes that one or two pieces will stick.” Bra-vo.
• Shannon Paul’s Very Official Blog.   I love her topics, her thinking, as well as the fact that often offers not just random thoughts and questions, but quite often, very thought-provoking posts.  I love movies that, after which, you have to go for a cup of coffee to think about and say “hmm.”   For me, Shannon’s blog is the online version of that movie.  Have a read if you would like to be enlightened and entertained.
• Digital Street Journal.  I love reading Jonathan Trenn’s blog, because, dammit, I learn something new about every time I cruise over there.  His posts are longer than most, thoughtful and really examine issues.  It’s kind of like the BBC of the blogosphere.

Blogs That Need to Make it Onto Your Blogroll

• The Fail Blog.  Any blog that makes you laugh out loud needs to be part of your weekly reading.  It’s all about typos, people crashing into things and other items that that make you glad that you are not part of Darwin’s Master Plan:

Blogs That You Might Not Read – But Should

• Greenversations.  Yes, Virginia, the federal government CAN spend your tax dollars in meaningful and creative ways.  Jeff Levy of the Environmental Protection Agency does a lot of things right, and the “Greenversations” blog is just one of them.  I am not what you would call a tree hugger, but I sure can recognize good social media outreach when I see it.

Random Blogs of the Week:

• Technosailor.  Aaron Brazell’s blog is informative, like me, he is in the swampland that is the Nation’s Capitol, and, most importantly of all, he is a Red Sox fan. Read the blog.

So like I said, start blogging, Bubbeleh.  Spread the linkey love.  You’ll thank me for it in the morning.

Mark #blogmonday Story

I had my usual blast subbing for Chip Griffin on the Media Bullseye Radio Roundtable today. I always learn something, and today is was from special guest Beth Harte, from The Harte of Marketing blog. Since I am feeling lazy today, I’ve “pirated” (that word is popular these days) the content from the page on Media Bullseye, but you should check it out.

The Roundtable discussed the Domino’s crisis response (or lack thereof) in light of some creative teens, the timing of the rise of social media, and the inadvertent “brandjacking” by capturing publicly-available content.

Click here to listen to the 33-minute discussion.

• First item for discussion was the video of two Domino’s employees, the critcism of the company’s response, and the ensuing fallout: is this a lesson in where social media can head? From crowd-sourcing the detective work on, it’s an interesting case. The Roundtable also covered issues related to this topic, including the roles and responsibilities of the corporation verses the franchises–Beth points out both should be monitoring, each for different reasons–and the increasing importance of an accelerated response time.

• Next, Pandemic Blog had a piece that makes the link between the rise of social media with the decline in the economy, surmising that it was necessary to turn to social media when “bloated” advertising budgets got cut. The Roundtable participants are skeptical of this linkage, and Mark Story points out that Ashton Kutcher being the first person to get 1 million followers on Twitter could be a sign of the Apocolypse.

• Finally, Geoff Livingston had a post about being “brandjacked by Seesmic”–while Geoff clearly was okay with this use, the piece itself raises some interesting questions about our rights to content we post in public spaces. Does the way that our content is reused matter–if it’s positive, it’s okay, if it’s negative, it’s not okay? Beth asks if we’re heading towards the same scenario for images as we’ve seen for music, that all digital content will be protected. Mark manages to compare Geoff’s description of his situation to the Allysa Milano photo controversy a few years back.

Click here to listen to the 33-minute discussion.

Just when you think that public relations-related stupidity has finally abated on Wall Street, you can count on one of the remaining investment houses (or are they “banks?”) to do something REALLY stupid.

First, AIG had their executive retreat even, which I blogged about long before all of Congress got itself all worked up about bonuses paid.  But now, here what the former Wall Street giant is doing:

They are suing a blogger because he says nasty things about them.  Yep.  I know you’ll read it again, so I’ll wait.

I used to counsel clients all the time to calibrate their responses to the threat or situation at hand, so let’s look at the facts.

According to the U.K.-based Telegraph:

The bank has instructed Wall Street law firm Chadbourne & Parke to pursue blogger Mike Morgan, warning him in a recent cease-and-desist letter that he may face legal action if he does not close down his website.

Florida-based Mr Morgan began a blog entitled “Facts about Goldman Sachs” – the web address for which is goldmansachs666.com – just a few weeks ago.

But this blogger is not stupid.  At the VERY top of his Web site, he lists the following disclaimer:

This website has NOT been approved by Goldman Sachs, nor does this website have any affiliation with Goldman Sachs. This website was designed to provide information about Goldman Sachs direct from the public, and NOT from Goldman Sachs’s marketing and public relations departments. You may find the Goldman Sachs website at www.goldmansachs.com.

Sure, the guy is honked off at Goldman.  So is everyone else who has seen their portfolios dwindle away.  And at Bear Stearns.  And at Lehman.  And at Morgan Stanley.  You would think that they are used to it.

When people all over the world have roundly criticized Wall Street for a variety of reasons, some valid and some not, why in hell would Goldman sue a blogger?  Isn’t there someone either insider Goldman or inside the law firm with an ounce of sense?  The talk should go something like this:

Goldman: We want this to stop!!! A blogger is saying unkind things about us.  Fiddlesticks!

Legal counsel: [insert Goldman name] – Bubbleleh, this guy is just some blogger.  But if he’s smart, he’ll leak our cease-and-desist letter to the outside and go from a nothing to Sampson fighting Goliath.

It took me about five minutes to do the research that the law firm should have done.  Here are the “influencer” facts on the anti-Goldman Web site:

1. Technorati has not even indexed it yet.
2. It’s Google page rank is 0/10.
3. Quantcast?  “Not enough data to profile.”
4. Alexa traffic rank?  2,651,391.  Just for a point of comparison, the traffic rank of THIS blog is two times better: 1,474,312.  Goldman’s is 36,323.

While this guy is clearly entitled to his opinion, he is the Web equivalent of a fly on an elephant’s rear end.

I’ve charted above what usually happens when an online rumor or attack Web site hits, but the most important part of all is the last part – you have to decide IF OR WHEN TO REACT. And hiring legal counsel to try to shut down a blog is about the stupidest thing you can do.  It’s killing a fly with a sledgehammer.

I guess the unanswered question of all of this, when Goldman is undergoing intense scrutiny and criticism from many more influential circles, why are they going after some little guy?  And thanks to Chadbourne & Parke, he is about to become a lot bigger.

Mark