One Louder

Heather Hamilton has left the building!

HeatherLeigh — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:01:00 GMT

Tomorrow, officially. You know I couldn't leave without saying goodbye, my wonderful, invisible interwebz friends.

It's been 12 years of hard work and 7 years of blogging. Seven years! I plan to pick up the blogging again, elsewhere; at least the personal stuff. Yeah, yeah, the Microsoft stuff stays here. And hopefully this blog will remain online; it's been a labor of love. Sorry I won't be able to moderate comments much after mid-day tomorrow. Be excellent to each other.

I'll try to have my personal blog up in the next few weeks. I'f you would like me to send the link to you, please connect with me on LinkedIn (just use heatherhamilton91@marshall.usc.edu as the email address you know me from...my profile will recognize it as me...or something) and then shoot me a message there. I'll leave you with part of the email I sent out to some of my favorite people at Microsoft:

After 12 years at Microsoft, I’m turning my badge in. Which is unfortunate. Because that badge picture is *awesome*. In 1999, I had no idea I was joining a company that would keep me challenged every day. And it’s been over a decade of awesomesauce. I’ve never taken more than two weeks off at a time…and I think I’ve only done that twice. So I am really excited to be able to step away. Full stop.

You are the people that have made my experience full of fun. And so I thought that instead of a dramatic email, I’d tell you what my immediate plans involve:

1) Naps. Lots of them. The kind where you wake up and wonder where your husband is and then you realize that you are totally not married.

2) Cocktails at lunch. The number of cocktails is unclear. I’ll have to let you know.

3) Trapeze. No, I’m not joining the circus. I checked with them and they won’t have me. I’ll be trying to change their minds. Who doesn’t love the smell of sweat and elephants? No, seriously. Who? Or whom?

4) Motorcycle riding. Man, my mid-life crisis just got good. If you see me on the road, I recommend you give me a wide berth. I’ll be the one on the Yamaha wearing lip gloss.

5) Writing. Oh how I miss it. I may try to pry a book out of my puny brain. It’s been rattling around in there. It’s not fun to rattle. It makes dating very difficult.

6) Oversharing.

7) Labeling EVERYTHING. Did you know that those labels are waterproof?

8) Updating Facebook on what I had for lunch. Posting pictures of kitties. Mocking celebrities. Ticking off my family.

9) Blogging…with swear words.

10) Wordament word-offs. Dance-central dance-offs. Taco trucks.

Welp, this is it blog-friends. I am not exaggerating to say that it has truly been my pleasure and I'm thankful that you gifted me with your attention.

Hamilton out!

Nurturing a workplace for creatives...

HeatherLeigh — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:22:09 GMT

This article (or wait, is it a blog post...I'm going with article) kind of trails off into how to manage grown-ups, but the initial premise is something I agree with. If you hire creative people, you need to have a corporate culture that doesn't squeeze every bit of creativity out of them. Now, I consider myself a right-brainer (meaning right-brain-dominant). The article asserts that the creative versus analytical thing isn't about left versus right. I'm no neurologist, so I have no professional opinion. But perhaps a better way to think about it is that we both HAVE and USE both sides of the brain. So trying to pull some of the analytical processing over to the right brain and the creativity into the left brain? I don't know about that. The brain isn't a democracy. I don't need my carburetor to do what my air conditioner does. And I have no idea what a carburetor does, but I am pretty sure I don't need my air conditioner to do that either. Because I have both (well, in my car at least...or so I have been told) and they do what they need to do. At the same time, even.

So creative analytics (which can sometimes lead to financial bail-outs...just sayin), I believe, result from use of both sides of the brain (not a super-charged, artsy-fartsy left brain). So all you lefties out there don't have to worry that the rest of us think you aren't creative and vice versa to all my fellow right brain dominant peeps. And I have some analytical chops as well (though I will tell you that seeing trends in data and telling a story about it IS actually right brained, but I digress). Which is a good thing because...

who has a job that doesn't require both? Not having that would be boring, for sure. Having said that, there are parts of my job that I have to really try harder at. At which I really have to try harder. You know. And nobody is going to give you an MRI and craft the perfect job. This past year, there was a part of my job that I found a lot more challenging and sometimes challenging is a good thing and sometimes challenging is not as awesome as a good thing but you have to get through it. There's a reason why they call it a j-o-b. And my approach is to figure out how to balance out that part with the creative; insert some creativity into that work, sprinkle some of the art in with the science. And because I did that, I am now an even bigger, more annoying know-it-all than I was before. So there's the payoff. Seriously, I learned things I never would have known and the related skills/knowledge now actually frees up more time for the creative stuff. So now I get to focus more time on the kind of work that feeds my spirit. I kind of want to punch myself in the face for using a term like that but it is what it is. And I kind of want to punch my face for saying that too.

I'm not sure why this is, but having the creative stuff play a bigger part in my job right now really opens the flood gates for blogging as well. Like that part of my brain gets fired up. So yay for that.

OK, also from the article, I don't agree that a manager with a busy team, who is not busy him/herself isa good manager. Sometimes it means they are dropping the ball, passing the buck. Face-punch, face-punch. I'm a little more comfortable with the style where, as long as everyone is working hard on the right things, we are all in it together. Manager included. I'm not currently managing people though, so everyone is on their own. Oh, I kid.

Anyway, more importantly, I don't necessarily think that someone would need to write down Todd's rules for managing creatives or fostering a productive work environment; it really depends on so many things. The point (well definitely mine, at least) is that companies need to think about a few things:

assess the role of creativity in the work that needs to be done (again, not which jobs are creative and which aren't, but where creativity fits into each job)
figure out how to establish a culture that values creativity; how to actively value it, not just pay lip-service to the idea. This is the hard part, kids.
understand how to hire people that can show results in all areas of the job that needs to be done (or capacity for growth in some of them). There are plenty of good reasons for it, but the political posturing that results from lack of clarity around the deliverables for creative work as well as the difficulty in measuring it can lead to a lot of things that can really drain the morale of a team, especially creative individuals. OK, now go back up to the first bullet point and do this again.

It's hard to read that article and not think about your own mental capacity, right? I started to question for a second if I am right brained after all (OK, not too seriously, as I don't necessarily assign authority to others easily). And it's not about which is better but about the fact that I felt I had a good handle on who I am and what I am good at and thinking otherwise felt a little threatening (oh, my poor ego...gotta loosen the grip of attachment on my concept of who I am...lighten up Heather!). The whole personalized office thing threw me off. I used to personalize mine, but now I can't be bothered to unpack. Hey, I'm going through a minimalist phase and I work all over the place, not just in the office. And so another thing I want to point out, you know because I have to represent, is that "creative" looks different for different people. I always thought about what "creative" job I should have. But my stuff takes place in the inside of my brain, not on a canvas. And I think that this is something that can be confusing for people too. It's hard to look at a piece of work and point to the creative part if you have a preconception about what creative looks like. People sometimes put it in too small of a box. Creative is artsy and everything else is analytical. Um, no.

Anyway, my ego is recovered. Some good points in the article/blog post thing. Lotsa stuff to think about relative to creating the kind of work environment that results in abundant creativity.

Designing product for women

HeatherLeigh — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 16:07:00 GMT

(FastCompany: Women Are 85% Of The Consumer Market. But How Do You Reach Them?)

The article is interesting, but a little condescending. I am sure it's unintentional and I should point out that the fact that it's written by a woman is beside the point. I am not a bra-burning activist, but I know when something stirs inside me. Yeah, like a wild animal. Ugh. But I loves me some FastCompany. So all is forgiven, as usual. Gawd, I'm dysfunctional.

I like the concept of "transparent design". I'm not a fan of pink and fluffy and dammit if that isn't the route many designers go to create a "female" version of a product; where the male version is generally sleek and utilitarian. When do I get sleek and utilitarian? I do find that I sometimes go the "male product" route. My shoe wardrobe includes ten (yes, ten) pair of Converse Chuck Taylors. I pair them with something more feminine on top because there is no idea that appeals less than looking like a picture in a catalog.

What also caught my attention in this article is the picture because...I just made an offer on a motorcycle. Yep, sure did. I have wanted one forever and soaring gas prices and a commute that was just made more compicated by the looming spectre of bridge tolls got me thinking about something a little...sleeker and utilitarian. Rut-roh.

And just so you don't create a gritty picture of H2 in your head, I am also thinking that the pigtails are the solution to my helmet-head dilemma (and let's hear it for the curly-haired girls). And that helmet visors are made to keep bugs out of your lipgloss.

The moment between photo and video...

HeatherLeigh — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:20:35 GMT

...the animated .gif.

(Read about it at FastCompany)

There's something beautiful about this; more refined than video, in kind of an emotional way. I think it's that the isolation of the movement is compelling; kind of tells a story. I rarely want to crawl inside a video. This photo makes me want a nice glass of red. Or to dash out after dinner to catch a cab because I have someone important I need to see.

Coincidentally, I am currently producing training videos (nothing with any cinematographical significance...lots of screen shots and the sound of my own voice) and I am shopping for more art work for my loft (a frustrating experence to say the least, as it's been pointed out that I am rarely ever finally satisfied). So I guess that these beautiful images fall somewhere in between.

Also, the article that brought me to these photos (are they "photos" or something else?) showed the use of this technique to document the process for making strawberry beer. And the photos include pretty people. But strawberry beer is a crime against strawberries. And beer. Anyway.

The "War for Talent" is status quo.

HeatherLeigh — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 19:29:00 GMT

First, I would like to acknowledge that "war for talent" is a dated phrase; it's just how things are now. No political commentary (only in my head, kids), but the war metaphor is stale. And...poaching talent doesn't exist. People aren't fish. When can the recruiting industry stop talking a la Glengarry Glen Ross? No coffee for you, recruiting industry. And also...'IT Industry'? Argh. Ok, must stop. Grouchypants over here. On the other hand, I loves me a good infographic. Some interesting stuff here if you can look past some of the taxonomy.

Resume funkaliciousness...I like pink.

HeatherLeigh — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 18:36:00 GMT

OK, it's not for everybody. Or even mostlybody. However, this is fun. Bam!

(More info on FastCompany here)

I love novelty, when it doesn't interfere with practicality. What can I say...I am a practical gal. I think novelty and practicality can exist in harmony though. So here's what you need to think about to rock this thing.

Your resume generally gets viewed in one of 2 formats:

1) The .doc version (.docx) you sent it in (or .pdf...whatever)

2) The scanned version in a company resume database (.txt)

Resume databases cannot scan this. To scan most effectively, a document needs to be all text and read left to right. Boring, I know...I didn't invent it. Boring, boring, boring, but true.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't use this. I recommend linking to this from your resume. For the link, use text that would appear in your resume anyway, so it doesn't look out of place in a .txt version. Or you can send it along as an additional attachment in an email. Warning: you risk the recipient not opening it in that case. As a (former) recruiter, I would generally look for the attachment that looks like a resume and open it; at that point I decide if I want to know more and maybe...maybe...open those other attachments. So yeah, think about that.

Also, I could live a perfectly happy life without ever hearing or seeing the word "punked" again, thanks.

If I could do it all again, I'd do something different. But it still wouldn't be that.

HeatherLeigh — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:35:17 GMT

Sometimes I think about what would have happened if I majored in something else besides business in college. I mean, that business degree comes in handy-ish. An actual requirement to do my job? Not so much. I was in a training last week where we were calculating the net present value of a project. And I had the distinct advantage of having studied this in school and then forgetting most of it. Today, I totally CAN NPV my way out of a paper bag. And I need to all the time. Dang paper bag.

If I had selected my major way back in the olden days (and let's not pretend that I got to do too much selecting on account of not having a penny to my name and my scholarships only covering about 2/3 of my tuition), I likely would have chosen English. Now I look back and wished I had studied psychology. How would I have known what topic would capture my interest with such intensity? Not an hour ago I told a co-worker: "technically, it's not paranoia, it's OCD". And after one too many people telling me they were "depressed" after a bad day, I started recommending that they go to the doctor for a diagnosis, because that ain't depression, honey. Yeah, so go the doctor or zip it. One or the other. I'm that well-informed, easily annoyed person. Nice to meet you.

Anyway, I can tell you for certain that I would not have selected a STEM major. Yeah, I am 100% sure. Even if someone told me that a lack of graduates would lead to cash-money and people fighting over you. Fun! I hear people talking about exposing kids to technology early in life; other things too. And I believe that it's part of the answer to how we close the STEM graduation gaps. But definitely not enough. Our linear western culture has an expectation of someone getting from one place to another by way of a very direct path. I think we have it wrong. Under what circumstances is it beneficial for a company to hire a smart individual who doesn't come with the cookie-cutter, obvious-fit resume? Where maybe speed to hire > (training costs +uncertainty of hiring someone not "proven" in a specific role/field)? Hard to believe I don't have a math degree, huh?

Who wants to net present value that out? It's OK, I have had more than my fair share of NPVing lately. It wouldn't be a challenge. You go ahead.

The threat of the false positive by way of stupid pet tricks

HeatherLeigh — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 18:55:06 GMT

I'm always interested in other companies' interview processes. It helps me realize that some of the stuff we do really does feel like innovation to other companies even though it's just part of our regular process. I also realize that some of the things that work at a small company aren't going to hold water elsewhere. And I submit for your approval: the Method interview process.

I love some of the ideas/intent behind this. Shake things up, lose the professional interviews. But. And this is the big but (not jokes, it's "but"...one "t" folks), OK, yeah, all kinds of red flags are hoisted above the good ship Method.

They are swapping out the "professional interviewers" for "professional presenters"; who were basically given an open book test. Which group do you think has the higher potential for being full of it? Fun? Yeah. Amusing. And something that could also be uncovered more appropriately in an interview. You know, where people might not feel so humiliated if they don't get the job.

OK, second. Homework means work. Like it's right there in the word. Give them a real business issue and you are asking them to do work. But they don't "work" for you yet. It's a tenuous legal issue. I'm just saying that I wouldn't go there. The person feels that you used their recommendation in your business and you have a problem. It might be something that was already in the works when they presented it. Them just thinking you used it can tie up your legal team. It hasn't happen to me but it's scary.

And...I don't give a rip if I want to sit next to someone on a 5 hour plane ride. I want them to do the job and not tick people off. I have ear phones. Noise canceling ones. All the charm and stuff? Hey, it's fun. But so not a requirement of the job (unless it's a requirement of the job, in which case, it's called "collaboration", not "being entertaining at 30,000 feet). Reduce their expense account and send them back to coach. Change your seat at the last minute. Or your flight. Or whatever. Jeez, seriously? This is an issue that drives the interview process? Yikes.

So I got 2 more things to say about this:

1) I am starting to worry that I now officially fall into the corporate wonk bucket; where saying "no" to innovative stuff is part of what I do. But in my defense, this interview process is crazypants. Donde esta the Method PR or legal teams. OMG, did I just type that?

2) Why don't people just interview folks for the job? Stop being cute and tooting your millenial horn. Put on your big boy pants (or big girl pants, if we can't talk in generalities) and run your business like a business. I get it...corporate culture, etc. It's stuff that should be assessed via targeted questions related to the qualifications necessary for the job, not via the show the candidates are asked to put on.

Seriously, everything does not have to play out like American Idol.

Holey Resume!

HeatherLeigh — Thu, 26 May 2011 16:57:14 GMT

I love disagreeing. It's like a hobby. When I was a kid, I thought I would be a lawyer when I grew up. As much as I joke about it, the driver for me isn't the need to be right. I just love dialectic; the challenge and discovery. You know, when I am not getting a stern "talking to" about taking some time off.

There are a few people that indulge me when it comes to these kinds of conversations. The kind where they are wrong and I am right. Oops. I mean, the ones where I learn and defend; I'm open to changing my mind. Except about the Hasselhoff/Germany thing. I will always think that is weird.

Nick Corcodillos is one of those people. His opinions are frequently head-scratchers for me. And I like it. He writes things that I never would have thought of and while I think through his "argument", it helps me work through mine. I always learn something. So...if i may submit to the court...

Advice for the Long-Term Unemployed

Oh boy. I'm gonna try to not be a butt about this. But here is the thing. Well, things. First, I am in recruiting, so I know how recruiters think/work. I know how hiring managers think/work. Second, I graduated from a top enterpreneur program. Excuse me for a second while I get a good chuckle out of the ads that were served up when I searched the rankings. For products of the little blue pill variety. It's not irony, it's just, like.yeah, I get it. And i kind of hate myself for referring to my program that way. I recall a ranty blog post about people making those kinds of references. Anyway, my point being that I was taught by some of the besty-bests.I have looked at a bajillion resumes and I have written a business plan. So. Here is the thing. Writing a business plan as a tactic for getting a job is crazypants.I am just here to be the truth-teller. Don't wear the crazypants, friends. I'll break it down:

1) Entrepreneurship 101: You start with the concept. See an opportunity for a product or service and then take advantage of it. But sitting around thinking "what kind of business can I start?' is silly. Yeah. So people that are entrepreneurially (so not a word) inclined might enter a program; and for sure they are keeping their eyes open for that opportunity. But what they don't do is say "Hey, I think I will write a business plan, to get a job" and unless you have that start-up fire, the business plan will be bleh.

2) Writing a business plan is a huge amount of work. Huge. So for the job seeker, investing that much time in an activity like this that is a super-long-shot probably isn't wise. Especially when there are so many other activities that have a higher chance of working.

3) In most situations, you aren't going to get the hiring manager's attention in the first place. Most folks don't spend time reading random unsolicited business plans. The stuff that actually gets to potential investors is the good stuff, written by someone serious about starting something. You're either in or your out. And if i was starting a new business, and someone offered me a job, I'd be all "thanks but I got this thing here I want to do so why don't you just give me some money?" and then I would be all "hmm, self, can *I* fund this because this guy wants a piece of the pie and did you see my awesome idea? I want the pie....I want it all."

So, I don't know, the business plan thing in the context of looking for a job just makes me uncomfortable. Just because it worked for someone once, doesn't mean it's good advice. I don't want to be a dream squasher. So, I'll toss a few things out there. Because, in my opinion, most people (not you of course) really don't know how to effectively look for a new job. I know it's easy for me to say sitting over here. But my point is that there is usually more you can do; stuff you haven't thought of. And I'll be the person to tell you what that is.

First thing you need to know...recruiters don't spend a long time looking at resumes. They just don't . I mean, they spend a lot of time looking at resumeS but not A resume. They usually start out with a keyword search of some type: in a resume database, an online tool, a search engine. They have their business qualifications in mind. And they look at each resume and do the yes/no/maybe thing. Big question marks on the resume are gonna get you a no, possibly a maybe under extreme circumstances. It's a sucky reality of the recruiting business; we have to spend our time pursuing the people that most closely match the position. Almost all of us got into this business because we like people. Or at least that is why we stay in this business. We WANT to help you, but in order to get people jobs, we have to work with the people that we can most likely place. And so my point is that a huge gap in employment doesn't make you the most likely candidate. So, your focus needs to be filling that gap. With something.
Stay active. Duh. But I mean this in the professional sense: user or professional groups. Look, I know going to some of these things could make you want to punch yourself in the face. But just think, someone else in the room wants to punch themselves in the face too. And maybe they can hire you. OK, seriously, you never know who you will meet at those things. You can also do some non-profit work or something with your kids' school. You are making connections and filling the gap. We get it...we know what the economy is like. Just show us that you are doing something. Sheesh, while you were writing that business plan, you could have been filling the gap!
Also, keep in mind that the person that is likely to take a chance on you (so same advice for career changers here) is someone that already knows you. Reach deep into those networks. Work for free if you have to. Do a lesser job than you could be doing. You are filling that gap. Filler up.
And include it on the resume. Don't try to hide stuff with dates. Counter to what some would have you believe, recruiters are, by and large, a pretty smart group. So just include it. Address it in a professional sense, but don't go nuts. "Engaged in non-profit work while on hiatus", "Taking classes toward certification in <whatever>".
Git yo self on LinkedIn. My little tip, that I have shared with many a job seeking friend (and let me tell you something, I know LinkedIn backwards and forwards...just ask) is to engage folks with less experience than you. Find them on LinkedIn, and ask if they will talk to you about how they got into that company. Don't make it all "I need a job so please help me". You are exploring career options. And that company came to your attention. This person with less experience is more likely to spare the time, they can at least give you some scoop on how to best get the attention of the right people. And they know about those more senior level jobs. Flatter them a little (just a little). See where that conversation goes.

I am sure I'll have more ideas to share with you. And please feel free to ask questions. I've been there. I have TOTALLY been there (thanks economy of the early 90s!). I'll pop back as more things come to mind. Maybe a series of posts on using LinkedIn.

Yer hired!

HeatherLeigh — Tue, 24 May 2011 16:24:10 GMT

The best cover letter of all time? Perhaps...if it works.

The best manicure of all time? Nyet.

(PS: the cover letter is a fake, but still adequately funny. And perhaps some good employment branding. If only the company wasn't named "Aviary"...kakaw!)

Now hiring, until you decide to get the band back together

HeatherLeigh — Tue, 03 May 2011 17:50:54 GMT

Once upon a time, I hired consultants and was working a job fair (hey, I said once upon a time and that time was the 90s). And our booth listed the areas for which we were hiring (yay, grammar!) and one of them was "client/server" and someone walked up and said they wanted to be a "client/server" or "client server". It's so hard to tell if those forwarded slashes make a sound. Anyway, this really happened. And so I say that there is a lot of creativity when it comes to posting and applying for jobs. Part of that is the realm of "jobs" versus "careers", because people don't necessarily feel invested in the work. Because isn't it a state of mind, the whole job versus career thing? Far from objective, but I think that it would be a safe bet that these folks are all advertising "jobs" in every sense. I see some humor-as-coping-mechanism here, suggesting that applicants aren't serious (= job, not career). And the rest are just sloppy/silly which means makes me wonder if anyone serious about a "career" would ever consider one of these a "career".

I have so been in one of these jobs before. Thanks a lot recession of the early nineties.

Click into that image for more awesomeness.

Lurker wrongness

HeatherLeigh — Mon, 02 May 2011 20:31:12 GMT

There is something a little ego-boosting (for me, at least) about acknolwedging the fact that the types of things that other people do; the ones that used to make my blood boil, are triggers for sympathy. You know, if you think of all of us as a collection of biology and experience. And if you can also accept that people don't emerge from the womb as A/Hs (and seriously, wouldn't the doctor just put them back in of they did?), then it's not a big leap to the idea that experience leads to D/B-ery. And it's rarely something fun that makes someone a D/B (yeah, I am thinking about whether I want my SEO juju impacted by people searching the actual words).

As a blogger, and sadly someone who relies on Facebook as my main/sole form of people interaction on some days (trying to decide how sad I want to sound right now), I have witnessed, even become the gleeful focus of, people who have remained dormant until an opportunity to correct someone else makes itself available. And it's like some compulsive need resides in these folks to hurriedly point out the error and correct it. And yay for you, "corrector", I'm high fiving your ego.

I think that blogging for as long as I have has allowed me to build up a bit of a resistance. The heart doesn't race anymore at someone daring to display their dysfuntion on my blog or Facebook page. I believe that people have a need to feel acknowledged (oh, a topic that is so inherent in effective social media). And, fine, I acknowledge. And with my own ego issues (for better or worse) have chosen self-deprication as my hobby and art indulgence. So yeah, I don't give a rip about my grammar, spelling or lack of knowledge about something I dared mention. Sometimes I suck at writing, sometimes I am lazy, and perhaps I am a little dumb too.

And I am not even calling someone out. Yeah, someone did something that made me examine this sitch, which I haven't done in a long time. Perhaps it's the time away from the blog. I don't find happiness in pointing out what kind of life events bring people to that place. And I doubt that this is the kind of acknowledgement that they wish for.

What this helps me do (not always-always); and I swear it is not any well-thought-out attempt to "excuse" behavior, is feel a little kinship with the D/Bs (wow...from sympathy to empathy...check me out, beeches!). Hey, I'm middle pathing it folks and I reject the idea of doing the best I can as I do the best I want to, so perhaps I will find another term tomorrow. My point is that anyone who has lived a life holds a wee bit of that D/B-ery inside. Sometimes people decide to spray theirs by way of social media. Everybody duck. And check our inner corrector. Nobody likes a cocky corrector.

(I am posting this without spell-check. )

(cross-posted)

Beep...beep...beep

HeatherLeigh — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:56:44 GMT

Collision: (New content idea + system for organizing + newly identified motivation to keep this going) x I miss you guys

Ugh, did I just write that like a teenage girl?

'Scuse me while I go ponder whether anyone actually kep me in their blog aggregator.

Intense wisdom from my first week of blogging

HeatherLeigh — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:44:11 GMT

I am looking back at what I thought was blog-worthy in March of 2004. Yeah, I am up in the middle of the night with my sick dog, checking mail and facebook and now this. Hey, my cable is out (OK ,on now), and I'm trying to decide when today becomes tomorrow and I can break out the coffee. And I am a little excited because my XBox/Kinect bundle is waiting for me at BestBuy (woohoo, a little Dance Central coming to casa de Hamilton!). In the words of the kid in the Disney commercial: "I'm too excited to sleep." And too scared of Jonas getting sick again. Anyway, back to the blog posts. Yikes. My first several blog posts were...how do I put this?...bad. They were really, really bad. I am not being too self-critical telling you this: I was scared and had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know the kind of attention my blog was going to get; quotes in WSJ, mention in FastCompany, speaking at conferences. Anyway, the first post where I decided to get real (because that is really what this has been about, right?), I offered this glimmering nugget of wisdom that I think you will find very worthwhile today...

"**sometimes, if you think you are getting a headache from staring at your computer screen, you just need to loosen up your pony tail"

No, no. No golf clap necessary. This was just intense insight and a sentence that would change your life. OK, seriously. I didn't mean it at the time and just realized it, but there is some serious symbolism there. I have got to loosen up my pony tail; stop taking things so seriously and just relax and enjoy my life instead of spinning cycles on stuff that won't make me happy. Two more things...why is there an apostrophe in won't?...and also seriously/serious/seriously in one paragraph is editorially cringe-worthy. I'm too tired to mix it up. 3:39 AM, that's the best I can do. Should I care? My loosening pony tail says no. Yes...it speaks. More life-changing wisdom to come.

Metrics bite, content rules

HeatherLeigh — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 20:08:29 GMT

In a Fast Company article about Boing Boing (I haven't read the whole article yet but this jumped out at me and I really need to write about this):

"It isn't that Pescovitz doesn't understand what the blog business has become; he just figures that however it works now is anathema to what's made Boing Boingpopular in the first place. The editorial policy is just what it's always been: The principals post whatever they want, whenever they feel like it. They don't bother to copyedit in advance, let alone vet or discuss one another's contributions. "

People who think like I do (only better, to be sure), and they make money from it. Now if only they wanted to bring me on as partner because they want content on fashion, reality TV and people who are wrong. What? That's not going to happen?

I'm probably going to be more honest than I should right now...

I think things have changed for my blog here (internally here, not "out there") and I'm not really sure that people get why I do this, or care about it right now (no violins folks...I'm just trying to think through priorities at work and in life). It's no longer part of my job description and I have to admit that this makes me a little sad. Yeah, the whole metrics thing...it's really hard to integrate my feelings on content with a metrics driven organization like staffing...<sigh>. It's how it is. Not just here but almost everywhere. I'm not sure my writing here is relevant anymore.

I've been tossing this around in my brain for a while: since I'm blogging less about "careers at Microsoft" and I'm not getting the sanctioned vibe, do I take this offline? I mean, do I take this offline here and put it online elsewhere? Not the Microsoft-specific stuff, by my opinions on things, including career-related topics and dumb stuff other people do. If someone walked into my office right now and told me that I should be doing this for Microsoft, I wouldn't be thinking about this. I'm just wondering if my legacy posts stand on their own (which is great), and I should take my opinions, and writing stuff from the heart, and make it "officially" a personal activity. I love writing, so I wouldn't be going far.

And I am not trying to bait comments. It's just that I am thinking that maybe I have some other priorities to focus on at work that don't really have anything to do with the blog (which requires a little more care and feeding than I have been able to give it lately) so I may need to make this a personal activity. Don't go away though. No final decisions have been made...I don't want to be overly dramatic. I just want to be smart about what I am spending my time on at work and what hole this blog would fill for me personally if I made the change. This has been on my mind for a while...it may be time to get to a decision.

No sugar coating. No whining. Time to get real. Life is about decisions and after 6.5 years of /heatherleigh, this is one I need to make.

Sustainability...

HeatherLeigh — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 20:06:24 GMT

FTW!

Growing pains

HeatherLeigh — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 19:39:00 GMT

Man, I hate medical metaphors. So I apologize for my pseudo-medical blog post title. And I ask Daniel Pink to stop using "sclerosis" unless he decides to get an MD (though I should say that I otherwise find him a very interesting writer).

This article details the maturation of Googleand the resultant move of many of its employees to start-ups. May I officially and rhetorically welcome Google to the club. As we did after the 1999 bubble, I think that we will see a number of very successful start-ups come out of this. We've had our share. Ahh, the growing up process; it comes with more responsibility and complication. But what you give up in making out when your boyfriend drops you off, you make up in...OK, I have to stop this.

Marketing awesomesauce

HeatherLeigh — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 20:31:40 GMT

Hova and Bing.

In the interest of your safety, please move it out of my way

HeatherLeigh — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 20:31:00 GMT

People are seriously wigging out here about some weather. Monday it snowed; a couple inches, now deemed a "storm"...I even saw "blizzard". Ach.

I contend that everyone who insists on driving on a "snowy" day do ten years of snow driving before they even attempt to do it here. Freeways were beyond access for someone impatient as me. And I had somewhere to be...I was scheduled for trapeze class Monday night. My own whining is dwarfed by the wringing of hands here. My complaint is this: I ended up having to drive surface streets. Not because there was imminent danger from conditions, unless by "conditions" you mean people who should not be on the road. At all. I'm thinking even when it's nice out, they should stay home.

So my excursion Tuesday night was one of those zip-zip-zip trips designed to avoid dumb traffic (I see stupid people). Did some alley driving (the alley trolls won't eat you if you stall down there..in fact, if you get stranded, I hear that the restaurants put edible food in their garbage...it's a metropolitan version of Survivor) and admit that I cut off one mini-bus (he was only rolling). Dude was going to block the entrance to my alley!

I'm not going to say that those of us from the midwest feel superior during events like this. Actually, I am going to say that. Totally superior. I am not afraid of this weather, I'm not particularly dramatic and I get to roll my eyes at the complainers (get offa my facebook). And who doesn't like to get a little eye-roll in from time to time? And by the way, my cable is out so I can't work from home. So stuff it, local whiners. It's an adventure. It's good for ya. And you get an excuse to leave work early (yeah, go ahead and call it a "snow day" if you must). Make cookies, take a nap, get drunk, catch up on the Real Housewives of Atlanta. Just stay off my roads.

A couple more driving tips for Seattle-ites (I say in a friendly voice so I can keep my superiority on the inside..it's killing me):

1) Watch the weather report. This so-called "storm" <eye-roll> was anticipated last weekend.

2) If you have not driven on snow before stay home. Did I already mentioned that? Oh yeah. Two words: sick day. Need me to call your boss? Leave his/her number in comments here.

3) Leaving work early to beat the traffic? Leave before three PM. Three freaking PM people! Have you no memory? Have you no laptop?

4) Avoid hills. Leave your car at the bottom. Leaving your car on the side of the road is a tradition here. Hey, you get to tell your kids that you walked 3 miles uphill in the snow. Automatic weather cred, dude.

5) If you are sliding up or down an icy hill (did you not listen to me?), you turn your wheels away from the direction of the slide. The front of your car is going to the left? Turn to the right. It's kind of instinct but evidently not that obvious to some people who may have suppressed all instincts so they don't boot their kids out of their house at 2 months to go fend for themselves.You get in trouble for that.

6) If you have to choose between driving in snow or driving on ice, pick the snow. Sliding on an icy hill (again, listen to me people!) and get enough traction to drive into your neighbors lawn? Do it. If your neighbor isn't a total d-bag, they won't mind. And if they are a total d-bag, then tee-hee. Like the cops don't have anything better to do than write you a ticket. They are at the bottom of the hill watching people slide down and turning on their flashing blue lights. Consider it mood lighting. And see them talking into their radio? They are making fun of you. Yes, the guy with the handlebar mustache is making fun of you. Congratulations.

7) Remember when you actually uttered "I should get a 4 wheel drive car"? Yeah, get that tattooed somewhere so you remember it come spring. Or sooner. Like, maybe next week. Stepping on the gas as hard as you can isn't really going to help. But it makes an awesome whirring noise for the rest of us, who are making fun of you. See those people walking on the streets in the snow? Yeah. They are making fun of you. And they live with their mom. So there's that. Again, congratulations.

8) Freeways will get plowed first, which won't really matter if you are in a 2 hour traffic jam. If you have heeded my other advice and can take surface streets to get home, do. Better yet, go to a bar and then make someone else come to get you because you don't drink and drive. Not that I have ever done that. Much.

9) Stock up on canned goods and powdered milk. Heeheee...just kidding. How about going to the grocery store to buy food before the storm? Don't step on the old lady to get to the dairy case. If you are stranded long enough to go through 3x the amount of milk you normally have in the house, then we have bigger problems than a little snow.

10) If you live walking distance from a Starbux, Tully's, Uptown Espresso, Seattle's Best, etc., put on your boots, grab your bottle of Baileys and go make some new friends. After a few cocktails, you won't have the good sense to be embarrassed when you slide down your driveway on your keester.

This morning, I saw a Department of Transportation worker throwing salt out of a coffee can. Oh, I needed that laugh. They must have run out of salt shakers at Williams Sonoma. And the gal in my building with the snow pants, two coats and facemask? FAIL.

OK, that's all I got kids. You make fun of my accent, I talk really slow when I give you cold weather advice. And yes, I am enjoying it.

Twitter on my TV is much more interesting than the Twitter telling me what you had for lunch

HeatherLeigh — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 19:00:00 GMT

I'm generally a little disintersted in technology when it has a vague reason for existing. LinkedIn was something I couldn't see being important to users because connecting with people they didn't know seemed like an anonymous popularity contest. And the people in the lead were the ones liked least, who excessively lobbied unknowing slutty linkers for clicks. Ew. And then suddenly, an application made sense. For the recruiter, it became the worlds biggest leads database. And for the average user, it became something other than a web of trusted connections; it became more of an information delivery system. Yeah, that changed things for me. Practical application.

Even working for a company like Microsoft, I get more excited about what our technology can mean for a business than how an average user creates a spreadsheet to manage their grocery list. Don't get me wrong; it's all important to me and I'm all about people doing what they want without any judgment about what they deem important. But the impact that we have in the world of business is the part that gives me chills.

And when I saw Twitter, it was new, moderately interesting in it's novelty. I tried it...twice...and found the stream of updates on things that don't matter to me, like the aforementiond lunch menu, very overwhelming and distracting; producing eye-rolling and sometimes an exasperated shut down. And this comes from someone that refers to communications on Facebook as conversations. Good lord, what has happened to me? The value of Twitter in a way that made sense, was a mystery to me. But now that there's more mindshare around Twitter as a communication platform, well...in the words of Frasier Crane, "I'm listening."

The article really paints the current state as more of a "look at how far we have come" where I see it as "look where we can go". I mean, the statement: "Twitter is a democracy" doesn't work for me. Twitter is an election for class president and I want to vote for Superintendent of Schools. What I mean is, Twitter isn't a democracy until its usage permeates demographic segments. Does it represent the people? I mean THE people? No, it sure doesn't. Trending the elections? Only if you are interested solely in the 18-30 year olds. Marketing Mountain Dew? OK, get em hooked on the caffeine bomb early...I get it. But I can't pretend that what we are getting is democratized information. It's not even close. But what we do have is a very interesting platform. It's not everything but it is certainly something. And it's good. The tweets on the jumbotron? Fun! A little chit-chat on the Beebs? OK, kids, have at it, even though it drives me nuts. Even coverage of large scale protests makes sense when we consider that the younger generations are much more active in this kind of event and pictures are pictures no matter the age of the finger on the camera button.

But as geeky as I can get over progress, especially when we are talking about a platform versus an application (case in point...may require password for first few days of publication), I am very wary of the media's tendency to oversell a something (even an awesome something) as everything. So jury is still out on whether the potential of the Twitter platform truly revolutionizes the way that people communicate. I would certainly cast a vote in their favor. But if this is a democracy, I'm not sure that the vote of a 30+ counts yet.

Trapeze progress

HeatherLeigh — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:55:00 GMT

Yes, there is some progress. Not the greatest video quality because the actual catch was real solid, but anyway, here it is...

(Please visit the site to view this video)

Now this is where you have to get out of the binary thinking in your head

HeatherLeigh — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 19:06:00 GMT

Computer Engineer Barbie is making me 1) love the intention and 2) hate the medium. But I 1) love that the kids are excited and am 2) throwing up a little bit. And also 1) this is not the 1950s and 2) can we stop idealizing what it means to be a woman (clearly from the perspective of someone who finds torpedoes and the lack of gender identity, you know...down there, acceptable). Oops, those last 2 kind of go together.

Anyway, I am totally cool with all of these conflicting feelings, especially if the result is that more girls get interested in computer science. I'd be even happier if Barbie was made to look like an actual woman, because being ashamed of your physical qualities isn't cool (and on this note, can we please take a little cue on this from Europe, please?). And I wish I never heard the soundtrack in her guts that said "math is hard". OK, Mattel, you get some points for undoing, but now what you gonna do?

Many Annoyed by Bad Cell Phone Etiquette

HeatherLeigh — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 22:09:12 GMT

As opposed to that good cell phone etiquette that delights. Oh jeez.

OK, it's really just the title that is bad (just sayin since I have been a little critical in this category lately), because this study looked at what behavior people actually participate in themselves (people actually admitted this stuff). Speaking of which, people suck.

Anyway, I want to know who the ten percent are that think it's OK to use a cell phone at a religious service or funeral. I'm not a religion person, but really?And also "really?" I'm guessing someone upstairs wouldn't approve. My dogma says it might come back to bite ya.

Oh how I wish...

HeatherLeigh — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:27:49 GMT

when picking a college major, I had indulged my right brain more than my father. Because I could totally be working here:

This jealousy brought to you by FastCompany. Yeahawesomethanks.

Oh, and speaking of design, someone at FC again (again!) needs to work on their web page design. Those green arrow should be lower so readers can scroll and view the entire picture at the same time. See? Right brain...and left brain.

This survey brought to you by Twitter

HeatherLeigh — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:19:34 GMT

Sometimes I think the Interwebz are dumb. Or suveys are total BS. Someone is jumping to a causality conclusion when perhaps a little commons sense could be employed.

Like maybe comparing the Twitter usage to other media, online and otherwise, than just some random message board. Giving student free reign to utilize any method they deemed appropriate for the task and not requiring that those with suspect web 2.0 social skills be compared to those required to be all "woot, woot, web 1.0 and check out my sweet Walkman, beyotches!" Jebus, at least give them Facebook and an email distribution alias. I got dumber just reading about that survey. And I can't even blame Twitter (which I still contend is totally not for me...I tried).

Oh, to live in that binary bubble. Oil or cream?