Ode to Unemployment

I was on the bus yesterday coming home from Austin. And I started thinking, how would I write a poem about being unemployed. This was the result.

William Tell watched the stars
and in them he found peace.

"My life is in shambles,"
he told me one bright morning.
He had recently lost his wife
to divorce and his job
to India.

We sat on a park bench
sipping coffee from paper cups
with paper sleeves
with plastic lids.

"I feel disposable," he said.
He was unshaven, unkempt.

"I laid here last night," he told me.
"I laid here on this bench
and watched the stars
and went to sleep."

Not Again

As Mia and I have already discussed, twice only makes a coincidence. (Three times makes a pattern and we're really hoping not to find that out.)

What am I talking about? Why, moving to a new place and losing my job.

When we moved to Boston, I got a job at a PR agency and was laid off after 9 months.

When we moved to Austin, I got a job at a Marketing agency and was laid off after 6 months.

We've also very clearly decided that I'm never going to work in an agency-style setting again. Too many differences between agency culture and how I work. It's not a good fit and when I try... well, like I said, we're not going to find out if it's a pattern.

Thanks to everyone who's already been so supportive. We really appreciate everything that people have done for us so far. It's been very uplifting for us to know that we have a support network of friends and family even in this stressful and discouraging time.

One week down

I've finished my first week of school er... work. The timing of this job felt a lot like school, and since the dress code is different (Snowbound was business casual, Bulldog is "No Swimsuits") I had to do some back-to-work clothes shopping. We did this as a family last week, just cruised up to the Round Rock Outlets. Mia and I were both in need of some new athletic and everyday shoes (and have been for a while) and I needed more than one pair of jeans that really fit.
We ended up getting new shoes, some Nike's for both of us -- which we are breaking in now for our trip to Disney -- and some everyday work shoes (that aren't athletic shoes) for me. Mia and I both got some pants as well, and Ethan got a Buzz Lightyear costume for Halloween.

In the end, shopping for clothes is always expensive but we did better at the outlets than we would have anywhere else so we can't complain. They are all things we've been putting off buying for a while, it's our own fault for not spreading out the purchases.

But, enough of the boring stuff. Let's talk about my job.

While my official title is Campaign Manager, that's a fancy title for Project Manager. I keep the pieces moving, preparing for the inevitable launch and trying to make sure that we have as much done as possible before our clients open them up to the world. This is a role I've had before. The daily insanity is similar to what I remember. However, I do have two distinct advantages coming into this role.

1. I understand the marketing. I get what we do, the messaging, the landing pages, the automation, the emails, the marketing side of things I've been doing at Snowbound for 3.5 years. (Also, I really enjoy this kind of stuff.)

2. I understand the chaos. I'm not trying to figure out what Bulldog does while also trying to learn how to juggle projects and keep clients happy. I have a foundation for both of these as well.

But, like I said, this is just a foundation. I still have to learn the intracacies of how Bulldog goes about their process. I still have to learn how to handle my particular clients, and I have plenty to learn about Webinars.

Actually, part of why I took this job (besides not getting an offer for the other one :p ) was so that I could learn more about Webinars. Video is exploding as an online medium and I want to try and get ahead of that wave. This knowledge will definitely be useful to me in future positions.

Bulldog is still a small company. Which means they face an interesting challenge. Any loss of staff makes a big impact on the allocation of resources and work. But, they are also growing so hiring new people means getting them up to speed. Typically for a Campaign Manager they spend a month in training/shadowing on the accounts that will become their clients before getting introduced and taking over the work.

On my first day I was introduced to a client that I'll be taking from one of the CMs that is leaving (I'm pretty much replacing her spot, though they have hired 1 more CM so net gain of 1). In the first week, I have been introduced to 2 more clients, and will be in the kick-off meeting for a brand-spanking-new client next week.  In other words, my training period has been cut a little short. While that makes me a bit nervous, I'm also glad they have confidence that I am able to jump right in and start contributing. This is smart because asking the experienced campaign managers to shoulder too much work will only serve to burn them out, leaving more holes.  (Which no one wants.)

I'll keep you posted on how things progress at Bulldog. But, at the moment, I'm confident that I've found a good place for me to be here in Austin.

My first novel

This is going to be a long post, it's been a busy weekend. In fact, I'm going to call it my first novel.

Prolouge
I have been working with my manager on changing my job role at Snowbound. Where I've been focused on the MarCom, and especially writing, side of marketing I will be moving now towards Web Analytics and using our marketing data to determine where our most efficient campaigns are. About a 2 weeks ago I found out about a conference in DC on Web Analytics and pitched it to my manager and CEO.

Chapter 1 - Airplanes
I had planned to leave around Ethan's nap time because he's not been napping lately. He goes down in the car sometimes. So, Mia drove to the airport and Ethan was very cute saying good-bye. He gave me a kiss, then made sure that I gave Mia a kiss.
Then, I found out that United had actually sub-contracted my flight out to US Airways. I was in Terminal C. US Airways flies out of Terminal B. I saw corridors in the Logan Airport that I didn't know existed. The most interesting was a long hallway with artwork along the wall and windows as the other wall, with white, wooden rocking chairs along the entire way. It was a longer walk to the terminal than I expected.
Once in the right terminal, I had to keep walking to a small, little, teensy counter for the 'shuttle' service. After which, security was another joy. I asked the man working the metal detector if it was mandatory that I remove my shoes. I hate doing that in airports. He said "Pretty much" which I take to mean that he didn't want to go through any hassle on his end to do the special test for my shoes.

Finally, I was at my gate, eating Mike & Ike's and waiting for my flight.

Chapter 2 - Nation's Capitol OF FUN!
I landed early in D.C. I called Tyler. He didn't show up until after I was supposed to have landed and would expect him to arrive. Fortunately, when they did arrive they recognized me because I wasn't expecting them to be driving a new car. As I learned when they arrived, they were late because Tyler and Mags had been in a bike accident. Or, more specifically, Maggie's trailer tipped over and she got scraped up by the restraints and a black eye from hitting something (maybe the tire?). Mags was doing alright but she was a little shy.
We drove back to their new apartment. Any by 'new' I mean they haven't been living there for that long. It's smaller than their place in Boston (upstairs) and more expensive. But... at least it's got hard wood floors? And, they're going to try and buy a house in the next year or two so they'll be getting out of there in as short a time as possible.
But, we didn't stay in the house for long because we had an entire city of culture waiting for us. So, Beth and Tyler pooled their collective knowledge of the city to give me a driving tour. (And by collaboration, I mean that Tyler drove and Beth gave directions.) I got to see most of the important buildings (White House... I'm not looking at you) like the Capitol, Washington Monument, Supreme Court, Library of Congress, office building that Beth worked in, and the up-scale McDonald's that doesn't have the arches out front.

Then we parked along the side of the Potomac. I was very impressed with how beautiful the scenery around the city is. After parking, we walked over to the FDR monument (memorial?). It was quite an interesting one. It was more like the FDR experience. They had waterfalls spread throughout with his terms of presidency demarcating the different sections. Then included quotes from him during the term of the time.

At one point, there was also a park ranger giving a very, very impassioned presentation about how great a president FDR was, even if you didn't agree with his political views. We had to move on because it was a little overwhelming for us.

Next stop was the Lincoln Memorial. I know that I've been there before. Probably about 15 years ago when my own parents took us to D.C. The Memorial is pretty incredible. I didn't realize how high from the ground the actual monument is. You have to climb up two flights of stairs before you are face to face with the giant statue of the president that kept our country together. On the left side was the Gettysburg Address. On the right side was the inaugural address for his second term. Yes, I know that I didn't link either to Wikipedia, that was intentional.

I have to say that standing at the top of the memorial looking outward over the mall towards the Washington Monument and the Capitol behind that was pretty impressive.

We didn't walk all the way up the mall but we did walk along the Vietnam Wall and then over to the Korean War memorial as well. I've been by the Vietnam Wall before but felt inadequate this time as we walked past people that were looking for, or at, specific names on the Wall. I can't even imagine how intimate that must make the thousands of names that are listed there. I'm pretty divorced from the losses of the war but seeing people who were feeling it so closely was sobering.

Chapter 3 - Dinner
Yes, dinner gets it's own chapter. I hadn't really eaten anything since the lunch I had before leaving for the airport. I was hungry and Tyler mentioned that there were plenty of ethnic restaurants in the area. He called his brother to get some recommendations. We decided on Korean BBQ. After driving down there, we discovered that it was in an area with a number of Korean restaurants and suddenly we didn't know which one we were looking for.
Finally deciding on the biggest one with English on the sign (yes, that was a factor) we went inside. The menu only listed noodles and dumplings. That's not what we wanted so we got up to head back out and find the right place. Now, one thing about Korean culture that saved us (foreshadowing) from ourselves was that the waitress didn't just let us go. She saw us through the window and came out to ask why we were leaving.
We told her that we were looking for a place for Korean BBQ. She told us they did have it, just not on their menu. With my (limited) knowledge of Korean food: Pulgogi, Kalbi, Kimch'i, Pibimpap, and Mondoo. We got ourselves an order of Pulgogi and Mondoo.
It was amazing.
This was authentic Korean food (as was evidenced by every other guest in the place was a Korean. It came with Kimch'i, Radish kimch'i, pickled radish, a spicy greens plate, rice, spicy red bean paste, and the lettuce leaves to wrap it all in. And a big plate of beef. It actually took 3 rounds to cook all the meat. Tyler and I didn't think we'd be able to eat it all... but then we did. We wrapped the meat, rice, greens, paste, and garlic in the lettuce and just couldn't stop. When everything was gone, I felt full. Full but not sick, not like when you eat a big meal at an American restaurant.
I even, finally, got up the courage to say "kamsamnida" which means "Thank you." Any of you that know Korean transliteration will have to forgive me if I misspelled that.

Chapter 4 - Triangulating
The next phase of our journey that night was to get some cheesecake to take home to Beth. She looked up a Cheesecake Factory and gave us the directions. Now, normally, I'm pretty useless when it comes to directions. However, 4 years in Boston must be rubbing off on me. We found the Cheesecake Factory through a process of triangulating (read: trial and error). After we realized that the way we were going on a particular road was not inline with the direction we would head back the other way and see if that was any better. After doing this... a few times, we found it. One Key Lime and Chocolate Raspberry Truffle slice later (packed up to go) we headed back out and triangulated our way home. It was an easier process this time.
But, the moral of the story is that having been lost so many times around Boston, I'm no longer afraid of being in an unknown city with no clue about where I am. I was able to participate in the process of getting Tyler back on track. (More foreshadowing.) This is a new skill that I'm going to have to hone.

Chapter 5 - Respecting Triangulation in the Morning
Now, I've known my friend Tyler for a few years now. We lived right next to each other and did quite a bit together. We know each others strengths and weaknesses. With this in mind, when Beth woke up feeling terrible again Sunday morning and said she wasn't coming with us to drop me off at my conference, I expected that we would be doing some more triangulating.
You can see where this is heading. We missed the bridge we were supposed to take into the city because it wasn't named on the signs like it was on Google Maps. We pulled off the highway we were on and broke out the maps. The big map book (which I got lost immediately after opening) went to Tyler and I took the little travel guide with the cartoonish map that didn't label all the street names.
Ironically, I was able to find exactly where we were on that map (or, mostly exact I didn't know if we should turn left or right to get going) and it showed enough of the city to follow the route we needed to get on the street that would take us to the road the hotel was on. We didn't have to triangulate nearly as much this time. Mostly because our turns were through round-abouts so it was fairly easy to keep on track.

Chapter 6 - The Conference
Trust me, this chapter would bore you guys. Let's just say: I came, I learned, I networked.

Chapter 7 - You Can Go Home Again
Ah, home. The dream of weary business travelers everywhere. Alas, my journey to the airport was only the beginning of yet another chapter (pun intended) in my weekend narrative (am I taking this too far?).
Once again I did the ticket counter shuffle down to a tiny little space for the US Airways Shuttle. Fortunately, it was right across the aisle from Legal Seafoods. Not having paid for a meal yet, I decided to use some of my per diem on a good meal before I headed home. In I went and took a seat. Not a seat at the bar, being raised Mormon even sitting at a bar makes me feel awkward, but at a raised table with stools next to the bar. It's a subtle difference, I know.
I sat in the middle to watch the Patriots game and give other people room to sit along the table without pushing past me. I ended up sitting across from a woman who was just coming from Boston (but still traveling before going home). She asked me what was good at Legal and I recommended the Crab Cakes. I had thought about getting them as my meal but coming in at nearly $30 seemed a bit over the top. Since she didn't have any problem with spending her per diem, she ordered a crab cake appetizer and we split it.
Now, for those of you who have not been to the East Coast, there is a split. Further south is crab country. Maryland is famous for its crab. I lived there for a year. Further north is lobster country. Maine is famous for its lobster. I've lived in Boston for 4 years.
But, when it comes to which shellfish I prefer to boil, crack open, and pick the tender flesh from, I will choose crab every time. And the crab cakes at Legal Seafood are excellent.

My flight out of DC ended up being a little late. But not late enough to make me miss my flight to Boston. Good thing too, I was on the last shuttle flight from NY to Boston. And, finally, I wasn't sitting at the window of a full row. I was on the aisle and there was a woman by the window. We were both reading during the delay (yep, again) before take-off and then as we climbed to our cruising height, for our 35 minute flight.
After getting into the air, she put her book away and I asked what she had been reading, highlighting, and writing notes on the blank pages at the front/back. It was "Becoming a Confident Woman through Christ." I on the other hand had been reading "Marketing to the Social Web." We started talking about religion, she was middle-eastern racially but raised Baptist. She had a bunch of questions about Mormons, why we believe in scripture and prophets beyond the Bible and if we believe in Christ. We had a good conversation, I think we both learned some interesting things. She was only 23 but for the last 3 or 4 years had been spending a week each year doing some religious service. I think it's great that other religions get their youth involved in those activities.
Unfortunately, I had given out all my business cards already so didn't have anything on-hand that I could give her. Well, maybe it's a seed anyway.

And then, finally, I arrived home and went to bed.

Epilogue
:'-(

Hard at work

Ethan had to go to work today. His work routine consisted of:

Hiding under his blanket (with me tickling his legs)
Reading a book
Playing with his trucks
Riding on my back (what a killer commute)
Closing his bedroom door as he declared he was going to work

I don't know how he gets his 40 hours in but it must be rough.

Stress

This has been a very stressful week for me. At work I had to finish setting up 2 newsletters and mail them out. It takes a lot of work because I have to set up each of the segmented mailings by hand. We have 8 segments. This is my own fault, I pushed for doing this segmentation but it's still stressful.

I also came into work and discovered some problems. First, we changed some mail settings and had a large number of failures from the newsletter. Second, the scripts tracking our Web site weren't working so we have no data for the month of February.

At home, I also had to finish editing and setting up an issue of WFM, write my editorial, and release two previews for Avlis2.

Last night, I nearly fell asleep at 6:00 while sitting on the couch with Ethan. I'm glad that I made it through everything, hopefully the weekend will be more relaxing.

To Blog or Not to Blog

I read many blogs for work. My reading is focused mostly on SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SEM (Search Engine Marketing), Web 2.0 technology, PR, and Marketing.

The blogosphere is huge. Just in those narrow topic areas, I have lots of content to skim through. (RSS Readers are your friend for this.) Lately, I've been getting more involved with some comments. Which has made me start to wonder if I should start a personal/professional blog.

Ah ha! Typing this up has reminded me of what I wanted to say earlier. I was searching out a few new blogs the other day, and found a few blogs by people that are in more of my position. They are not thought-leaders in the space, but are professionals with a few years experience.

What struck me is that these blogs linked to those thought-leaders. This is, of course, how bloggers get integrated into the blogging community. But, it's also a tactic to try and raise their sites visibility in the search engines and sites like Technorati. Which brings me to the point that I had wanted to make earlier but couldn't remember.

The value of the blogoshere is the creation of content and distribution of information through the network.

When bloggers get too caught up in talking about the blogosphere, they are no longer valuable to me. The bloggers that I respect the most are those that have knowledge of some space and are willing to share that information through their blog. This is also why I'm hesitant to add my voice professionally to the blogosphere. I'm not sure what I would add from my experience that is different from the voices already speaking.
Creating a blog for the purpose of increasing my own visibility might be useful in a future job search, but what value would I add to the conversation?

Maybe one day, maybe one day.

Catching up

I had something that I really wanted to blog about, but I can't remember what it is right now.

However, I've been doing more thinking lately, in fact, I was talking with Mia about it the other day.
I didn't do much reading last year. This would be easy to blame on a lack of time because of Ethan, work, or playing games. Except, that in a moment of self-awareness, I realized and accepted that I was really avoiding reading because I was avoiding writing. That may seem strange, it seemed strange to me when I was talking about it.

But, this did help me achieve another realization. That I am a professional writer. I get paid to write. It's what I do to make a living (though I do have some other duties as well).

The disconnect is that I'm neither a journalist, freelancer, or fiction writer. I don't get much personal recognition for what I'm writing currently. That's fine for me, for now.
From my career perspective, I don't mind continuing to write without attribution because that's just the way it works. However, the skills that I have as a business writer are important to companies. While Marketing is a department that suffers when cuts need to be made, writing is a skill that is always desirable to companies.

So, this year, I'm doing more reading. I'm still writing professionally, for Snowbound and WFM, and personally on my blog. But this year, I'm also going to try writing some more fiction, a genre that I want to polish my skills in as well.