What do you think?

Hiring Manager-

I like to make the complex simple.

From explaining to potential clients the benefits of doing business with us to writing newsletters and from creating marketing campaigns to internal communication, my specialty is helping people understand.

As an editor and writer for the last three years for kontakt magazine, I wore a variety of hats. I was responsible for most PR/Publicity duties, which included planning and promoting our yearly design fair (PCDF), hiring, training and supervising writers, developing both regional and national marketing plans in both print and web form, wrote a plethora of stories and was responsible for copyediting, rewriting and proofing the final issue.

During my time with Pearson, an international educational publishing company, I was an integral piece of the process that gave our Account Executives everything they needed to sell products from collateral to help with client events. I also produced the grand opening event at our Chandler office, which was attended by all 600 employees and nearly 200 area business leaders. I also wrote and produced a variety of business videos used for both internal and external communications.

I've also freelanced for nearly five years in a variety of collaborative efforts. I've done mainly PR and promotional work for small businesses, as well as copy and technical writing for small business websites and instructional manuals.

My current endeavor is social media and its ability to break barriers and create a true partnership with clients.

I look forward to speaking with you and showing you what an asset I could be. Thanks for your time.

What would you give up?

I'm training for my very first half marathon (PF Chang's) here in Phoenix in mid January. Now that I'm up to 4.5 miles at 9:15 per, I figured it was time to do a little more than just lift and run.

It's time to adjust my diet. This means getting rid of what's bad for me. Seeing as how I don't eat much fast food (nearly gave it up over a year ago and lost 40 lbs in the process) nor do I eat many high fat foods, something else needed to go.

I eat pretzels and drink Diet Coke like my life depends on it. I have no idea why, they are to me what chocolate and other sweets are to most people. I've been known to polish off a bag of pretzels on a Saturday, and multiple two liters over a weekend.

Sad, yes, and that salt intake, combined with the diuretic properties of soda, account for why I have to drink over a gallon of water a day just to quench my thirst.

So I'm giving them up. Today is my last day. I'll be replacing my snack needs with apples, cranberries and the occasional trail mix with, of course, good ol' fashioned water.

What have YOU given up in order to get healthier? Anything?

Christmas Tree

Today is the day my family brings home our Christmas tree. Do they go to a lot? No. Do they have a plastic tree? No.

They drive 2+ hours into the mountains, cut one down and bring it home, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation style.

For reasons unknown, I've never made this trek in the wilderness, I've either been working, or lately, 1600 miles away. Of all the traditions that I miss around this time of year, this is NOT one of them.

What sort of crazy traditions do you have? Ones you avoid?

Chad’s (@chadarizona) birthday bash!

A little background here…

We know it’s not Friday night, but it’s time to celebrate. Our very own Chad Swaney (that’s @chadarizona for those of you who only know him via Twitter) will be turning 29 again and we’d like to congratulate him on his persistence.

Join us here…

You’ll find the group at Sidebar (review and address) located just above Starbucks and Pei Wei on the southwest corner of 7th Ave and McDowell. Parking is sparse, so be ready to park a little bit down the street.

Feel free to show up at…

We’re planning on being there at 8pm. Feel free to show up earlier or later, but if you miss out on saying Happy Birthday to Chad, he might cry. I don’t want to see Chad cry, so make sure you are there when he is.

Questions?

If you have questions like what do we do at Sidebar or who the hell is Chad Swaney and why is his nickname @chadarizona, I suggest you get out less and learn to drink and/or use the internet. For other questions like is anyone there yet or how’s the tail, feel free to get a hold of @tdhurst. He’s seldom on time to these things, but he’s good at making up stories to get people to show up places.

Presents?

Feel free to bring gifts, but I’m sure Chad would prefer a drink or seven. Maybe 10. He’s had a tough week.

Thanks so much to everyone who helped promote this event. Hope to see you there!

Is it okay to be critical of your current company?

In an age where everything is public, we now have the ability to make our thoughts known to everyone. Publish a picture, write a blog or tweet something negative, rest assured everyone will read it.

As part of an interview, I was asked if I thought it was okay to be critical of my current company here on the internet. My answer?

Yes.

But only to a point.

It's important not to complain, whine or simply bitch. It's also imperative you don't share any company secrets or publish information meant for your eyes only.

That being said, honesty is key here. Be critical. Offer solutions. Back up your points. Stick with what you know.

Ideas, questions, comments, criticism?

More douchebaggery on Twitter...

-who cares how many followers you have? It's not a contest.

-don't call out people who unfollow you. You're either annoying, uninteresting or just don't mesh with everyone. Deal with it.

-stop telling us random stuff that your mom wouldn't even care about. No one cares what you are thinking about on the road you are driving on.

-give us opinions, observations, humor or questions. Don't contribute crap.

Letter to Pearson CEO #3

Third time's a charm.

I took a different approach to this email. Instead of emailing it directly to our International CEO, I included our North American CEO and all the Executive Vice-Presidents that I knew about.

It worked. I've managed to arrange a face-to-face meeting with the Executive VP of Marketing for the first week of December.

Now I just need to make sure I know what I'm talking about.

I edited out the return email from my employer here. My better judgment escaped me for a short time, as it's never a good idea to publish information not intended for public consumption without permission.

Yes, I know this won't erase it from the timeless monster that is the internet and I'm glad to have learned this lesson.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Hurst, Tyler
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2008 3:18 PM
To: O'Connor, David
Cc: Cohen, Peter; Scardino, Marjorie; Ethridge, Will
Subject: Thoughts on Web 2.0 and Social Media offerings



Why doesn’t Pearson have podcasts? Why aren’t we interviewing actual teachers, showing them what we’re working on, and them asking them for input in a transparent, completely public setting? We could ask them their views on teaching initiatives, problems in the classroom and what they would like in order for this to work. Having regular, informal conversations would be a great way to really connect with our clients instead of just marketing to them.

I’ve heard of the projects Corporate Communications has been working on, but over-produced author videos is just another way of using old media techniques in an entirely new realm. With emerging technologies like Twitter and other Social Media applications, it doesn’t seem that Pearson has immersed itself in the real phenomenon, which is a conversation with our prospective clients. After attending PodCampAZ (www.podcampaz.org) I’ve realized there are so many little things that small companies are doing that are making them extremely successful. All of us from large companies (Pearson, Intel, Microsoft) were there only for our own benefit for side projects. There’s such an untapped talent pool there.

How great would it be to have iPhone versions of our products? EnVision Math-lite? Sure, not every student would be able to access it, but it would be a free download. The ability for teachers to upload short quizzes for further review would at the best least be a compelling news story.

It feels that the education market is always about ten years behind the tech world, and I understand we move with that, but why can’t a small portion of what we do be looking ahead? If it’s intimate, conversational and easily accessible, people will listen. Techies will listen. Pearson will be recognized as not only an educational giant, but a forward thinking company capable of setting and influencing policy rather than just making what we have better.



1. Intel, IBM and Mozilla (Firefox) have techs that monitor twitter allowing for nearly real-time feedback for people with questions. That could be an excellent free tool that teachers could use to do the same. Search.twitter.com would be all that is needed. I used this to find out about problems regarding video footage and bloggers at a San Antonio conference earlier this year. People really appreciated it, although I made it clear I could offer them no real solution.

2. iPhone apps would be a great way of accessing extra Pearson content. Teachers could offer mini quizzes and extra learning for those that were interested or had access. Sure, not everyone has an iPhone or iPod Touch, but a ton of kids do. Mobile internet use is sure to supplant the desktop for most users.

3. Podcasts are a great way of getting our message out. Imagining touring out customers, interviewing second grade teachers, high school instructors and college profs about our material? Short, five-minute snippets easily uploadable to iTunes or YouTube and properly tagged. You could even interview our own people, especially designers, programmers and writers about how our products are made and where they come from. Considering we look to many like a faceless company, this could be a huge step in humanizing what it is that we do.

4. I’d love to help with any of this. I see so much potential in Pearson and am disappointed to see that we tend to try to reinvent the wheel (what is Pearsonville supposed to be?) or rely on amateur footage (search YouTube for Pearson, what you see will make you cringe a little). This project wouldn’t take a lot of money, just someone who knows what they’re doing.

Thanks so much for your time!

Plea to Twitter people

Please stop taking Twitter literally.

We don't need to know exactly what you're doing. We don't care what you had for breakfast. We don't care where you're at on your to do list.

We care about what you think, what you emote, and what your opinion is. We care about cool links. We care about funny anecdotes.

So, for the love of god, please don't tell us that you're walking your dog, or that you simply had food.

Be funny. Be insightful. Be amusing. Be opinionated.

Be yourself.

Or please stop. You're annoying.

Lost and FOUND

Found:

One 'G' (alias: 'g')

Good for ending words (ing), making things great (Tony the Tiger would never sound the same without it), pleasuring the ladies (if you don't know where the G-spot is, go ask someone) or randomly added in gangsta--note, NOT gangster--movies (g-money, G, etc.).

Willing to give back to rightful owner or loan out on as-needed basis.

More hilarity from the funniest sister I have. http://ping.fm/g8swh

More tales from my sister...

My sis can't say the letter 'G' very well. She pronounces 'giraffe' as 'draft' and we can't get her to even say 'Geraldo'.

So what happens when they new lady's name starts with a 'G'? Hilarity.

"Who is my new disability management representative at you ask? Well her
name is Sandi, Sandi Grafalo and we both support the same organization
for safety and health issues, so we work together a lot and go to the
same meetings. For most people that's not a problem but for me.....it's
a huge problem! Why? GRAFALO!!!!!

"What's Sandi's last name?"
Grafalo.
"what?".
Grafalo.
"Drafalo?".
No Grafalo.
"Drafalo with a D?".
No Grafalo with a G.
"oh Grafalo!"

That went on of about 5 minutes in one of my meetings today! I'm just
going to spell it instead of saying it. Stupid Grafalo what kind of name
is that any way?"

Tip for employers

Monitoring your employee email without telling thing might be legal, but we hate it, ESPECIALLY when you butt into conversations that we have handled.

There are better ways to manage, people.

Thanksgiving for my family...

Email republished without my sister's permission or knowledge. What is she going to do, sue me?

Besides, it's really funny.

It sounds like there is going to be so many people at Hages for thanksgiving. BOO! I just want to watch TV, eat, watch TV, eat, maybe a movie or TV then bed. No social interaction needed. And especially with people I really don't know nor care about.

I know it is going to be a sit around all gay and merry and talk about all the good things going on in every ones life and how they love every thing and have no problems. I just bought a plane, I just got back from a month long journey to an Italian villa, I'm going on a rhino hunting expedition in Africa in two weeks, I just added 30,00 sq/ft to my house. BULL!! One is an alcoholic, one is a slut, one loves meth, one just got fired, one is addicted to Oreos, one has halitosis. The list goes on! You can't fool me!

Plus I would like to have Thanksgiving dinner in my sweats or in pair of unbuttoned pants. Now we have to sit in something "nice" that restricts our maximum food intake. I think I might go buy "nice" pregnancy pants that have the stretchy front, and I advise you do the same, or wear a long sweater so no one can see your lack of manners in open pants. I also don't want to fight with all of these Hoytie toytie people over the last scoop of mashed potatoes. I have a feeling they are not going to like me after that, trust me that last scoop is going to be mine no matter what gets in my way, a hand, arm, head, whatever, its not going to phase me.

I also don't want to have to pass they food the "right" way, I want the route of least resistance. Just get it to me quickly, do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not stop at the talker with slow scooping abilities. Just pass it and pass it in a timely manner. If there happens to be the person that isn't paying attention and stops the flow of food traffic by letting it sit next to their plate (which there usually is), I may ask them to leave or throw a roll and inform them I don't have time for their inappropriate display of sheer ignorance. Get a move on it, it's getting cold and I'm hungry.

The only positive note is the chance of getting trashed. But even that has a down side. You have to use a little tiny glass that makes it look like you are savoring the flavor of the alcohol and aren't just sucking it down. Then you have to nonchalantly go back for seconds, thirds, fourth, fifth and only god knows how many we can really get down before dinner. Just give me the biggest cup you got, I will even opt out for a vase or mixing bowl if need be. There just might be an up side to our "wonderful thanksgiving dinner" after the drinks have kicked in, I think we need to bull shit the hell out of the people we don't know. Tell them we have a growing nonprofit company where we're taking the fur or the wool from sheep and we turn it into thread for homeless people to sew. And then they make it into cloth, which they, in turn sew it and make little shirts and pants for other homeless people to sell. We will call it Holy Shirts and Pants. And let them know we are always taking donations. What do you think?

All I want to do is eat, sleep and be merry, but by agenda has been interrupted and I'm not happy about it! And the very worst thing during this whole "experience" is we have to slap a stupid smile on our faces and laugh at non funny jokes. Lets revolt!

Sincerely,
The Turkey loving, sweat pants wearing, bull shit telling, arm stabbing, potato hording, nap taking sister,
Logan

Letter to Pearson CEO #2

My first email, sent last week, went unanswered. Here's my second attempt.

1. Intel, IBM and Mozilla (Firefox) have techs that monitor twitter allowing for nearly real-time feedback for people with questions. That could be an excellent free tool that teachers could use to do the same. Search.twitter.com would be all that is needed. I used this to find out about problems regarding video footage and bloggers at a San Antonio conference earlier this year. People really appreciated it, although I made it clear I could offer them no real solution.

2. iPhone apps would be a great way of accessing extra Pearson content. Teachers could offer mini quizzes and extra learning for those that were interested or had access. Sure, not everyone has an iPhone or iPod Touch, but a ton of kids do. Mobile internet use is sure to supplant the desktop for most users.

3. Podcasts are a great way of getting our message out. Imagining touring out customers, interviewing second grade teachers, high school instructors and college profs about our material? Short, five minute snippets easily uploadable to iTunes or YouTube and properly tagged. You could even interview our own people, especially designers, programmers and writers about how our products are made and where they come from. Considering we look to many like a faceless company, this could be a huge step in humanizing what it is that we do.

4. I’d love to help with any of this. I see so much potential in Pearson and am disappointed to see that we tend to try to reinvent the wheel (what is Pearsonville supposed to be?) or rely on amateur footage (search YouTube for Pearson, what you see will make you cringe a little). This project wouldn’t take a lot of money, just someone who knows what they’re doing.

Thanks so much for your time!

NOTE: I'm not sure what worse...getting fired for this or being ignored.

Running

Six weeks ago I could walk a mile

Today I ran three miles in 8:48 per. Booyah!

Samforphoenix.com is coming soon. Get on board.

Thoughts on...

Social Media

1. Don't make every other word in your blog a link. Be funny on your own.

2. Follow people who follow you on twitter ONLY if you find them interesting. If not, who fucking cares?

3. Use SM as a tool, not as a method. Facebook won't get you a job, but talking about more than solely what you're doing on Twitter will.

4. Devise lists from time to time in order to get ideas out of your head.

5. Don't listen when people complain about things like you can't control, like if you talk too much, are too knowing or are too curious.

6. Do something physically challenging once a day. Ever notice how the smartest and most successful people are physically fit?

7. Always thank people, even if you don't have to.

8. Be honest when you post in comments. Complimenting someone else's words and posting a link to your own blog sucks. You should be beaten for doing that.

9. Be transparent. No one is going to steal your best ideas if you actually DO something with them. If you don't, you deserve to have them stolen.

10. Don't think too hard. If you do, you'll miss a chance to act.

Celebrities and their disorders

I just started reading a few Adult ADHD blogs and noticed something many sites like this have in common: they always find some celebrity with the affliction in hopes of making us feel better.

You know what? That doesn't mean shit to me. Celebrities have less in common with us than we think and using them as some sort of measuring stick or therapy is ludicrous. I want to know about more people who work corporate jobs and hate them, people who broke out being bored and did well and those who overcame similar problems than I want to hear about how some celebrity.

Stop the celebrity worship. It's sad. Let's fix ourselves and not look toward some deity to do so.

Griffey back in Seattle?

If I could have one non-championship sport wish the next five years, this would be it:

• Now that Ken Griffey Jr. has filed for free agency, who needs a 39-year-old outfielder who has lost considerable range, suffered a substantial loss in production, and is prone to injury? The Mariners, of course. After losing 101 games despite having a $117 million payroll, Seattle desperately needs to rebuild. But Griffey would make sense, at the right price. For one thing, the team's return to contention appears to be a couple seasons away. The fan base realizes this -- but in the meantime, the return of Griffey would at least give them something to get excited about. And if he consented to a mostly DH role, he also might be able to stay healthy enough to hit 20-30 home runs while filling in occasionally in the outfield or at first base. In some ways, it would be a bit like the Mariners of the early '90s, when you had a couple exciting players and a potential ace (this time Griffey, Ichiro and Felix Hernandez, instead of Griffey, Edgar Martinez and Randy Johnson) to satisfy the fans while management builds the rest of the team around them. True, Griffey is way past his prime (and Ichiro isn't getting any younger), but Seattle fans deserve something fun to watch in return for their money. Plus, the starting rotation could -- cross your fingers and toes -- be pretty decent, perhaps even good enough that the Mariners might surprise people within a season or two. Again, it would have to be the right contract, but signing Griffey sure makes more sense than re-signing Willie Bloomquist.--copied from http://ping.fm/b31me

I will buy jerseys, hats, tickets, MLB.TV packages, whatever. This man created baseball in Seattle for me and will never, ever be forgotten.

Seth Godin's Tribes

If you haven't read Tribes, do so. It's available for free on Audible.com as an audiobook.

Heretics...unite!

How to start a successful business

1. Make a product better and cheaper than anyone else can.
-Nick McKay Sr., inventor of the very first Lint Pic-Up, made a fortune doing this. He designed an easy-to-refill, refillable, sticky tape on a roller product in his basement.
Then he looked overseas, calculated how much it would cost them to ship the inevitable copycats, and realized he could make them cheaper.

2. Enlist your friends for help.
-When Nick received complaints from his neighbors about the racket his self-built production machine made, he did the first thing that came to mind: offer them a cut if they put one in their basement. Never mind that they were loud as all get out, Nick paid four cents per unit and they all thought it to be worth it.

3. Work harder and longer than anyone else you know.
-Nick often comments he is not retired right now, he's just tired. He spent over 40 years inventing, tweaking, improving and distributing his products (1956 to 1999), which now affords him the time to do whatever he likes.

I've never seen a 89 year old man so happy.

What can we all learn from this?

Letter to Pearson CEO #1

...whom I've never met, an unsolicited letter about social media. Here is the email in its entirety.

I figure I'll either get fired or promoted.

Why doesn’t Pearson have podcasts? Why aren’t we interviewing actual teachers, showing them what we’re working on, and them asking them for input in a transparent, completely public setting? We could ask them their views on teaching initiatives, problems in the classroom and what they would like in order for this to work. Having regular, informal conversations would be a great way to really connect with our clients instead of just marketing to them.



I’ve heard of the projects Matt Murphy has been working on, but over-produced author videos is just another way of using old media techniques in an entirely new realm. With emerging technologies like Twitter and other Social Media applications, it doesn’t seem that Pearson has immersed itself in the real phenomenon, which is a conversation with our prospective clients. After attending PodCampAZ (www.podcampaz.org) I’ve realized there are so many little things that small companies are doing that are making them extremely successful. All of us from large companies (Pearson, Intel, Microsoft) were there only for our own benefit for side projects. There’s such an untapped talent pool there.



How cool would it be to have iPhone versions of our products? EnVision Math-lite? Sure, not every student would be able to access it, but it would be a free download. The ability for teachers to upload short quizzes for further review would at the best least be a compelling news story.



It feels that the education market is always about ten years behind the tech world, and I understand we move with that, but why can’t a small portion of what we do be looking ahead? If it’s intimate, conversational and easily accessible, people will listen. Techies will listen. Pearson will be recognized as not only an educational giant, but a forward thinking company capable of setting and influencing policy rather than just making what we have better.

Self Images

I hate getting my picture taken. Seldom will I step in front of the camera. Not sure why, maybe it's because I haven't always liked the way I look, maybe it's because I can't sit still or maybe, just maybe, I'm worried the pic will turn out like this:

http://ping.fm/UiyeD

Ouch. I need a better mirror here at home.

PodCampAZ, Day 1

I can be a bit of a pessimist about Arizona. Maybe it's the heat, maybe it's the fact it's so spread out, or maybe I'm just getting old, but I don't have much hope for this place as a creative hotspot.

There aren't any random places to hang out and meet people, nothing within walking distance that everyone goes to nor any cool place that's open all the time to get feedback on creative projects.

Now, thanks to social media and especially Twitter, all that has changed. PodCampAZ marks the beginning of something real, something substantial; it marks the beginning of AZ residents DOING instead of PLANNING.

We all have great ideas, or at least we think we do. What we don't have is action. To make things happen, we need support. I'm accustomed to needing face to face contact to make that happen, but that's not necessary all the time.

Thanks to all the PodCampAZ presenters (well, most of you. some of you missed the mark, but I sure as hell applaud you for trying) for giving this cynical fellow hope that there's more to this place than I thought.

#podcampaz

Chase bank sucks

There's not much worse than finding out you have no money. Bills to pay, gas to buy, food to purchase and...nothing. This happened to me.

I'm not a rich man. I live mostly paycheck to paycheck, pay my bills on time and don't have credit cards. I do invest in a 401k, but besides that, have no savings. I am the very definition of living within my means.

So when, after trying to pull $60 for a night of drinking, I discovered that I was overdrawn, I was confused. Not angry, not yet.

I called my bank immediately. They informed me of a $1300 charge in Alabama (yes, I live in Arizona) that had posted at 1:45 p.m. on Halloween. I'm fucking irate. IRATE. That charge, coupled with gas, food and some other minor expenses, wiped out my account.

When I was with Bank of America, my card was always shut off after a charge that doubled or tripled my usual charge average. So what did Chase do when a charge appeared on my card that quadrupled my highest transaction to date?

Not a goddamn thing. Nothing whatsoever.

Sure, if I had had fraud protection they would have warned me of this. I thought I signed up for it when I opened an account, but if I didn't, why the hell would they have not included it? I have to ask for my bank to protect me from fraudulent charges? In a time when computers can do nearly anything, this isn't automatic?

Chase sucks. Anyone know a better bank?