Let’s Get Dangerous

I think there’s something to be said for the wisdom hidden just below the surface of childhood cartoons. Today’s edition of Acumen Acquired via Adolescent-Aimed Animation (A^5 for short) comes from my favorite of the Duck spinoff universes, Darkwing Duck (with Duck Tales in a close second).

For those of you too old or too young to appreciate the glory that was Darkwing Duck, picture the lovechild of Donald Duck’s cousin and Batman, with just a dash of Don Quixote.  Our words of wisdom (and the title of this post) come from the titular character’s catchphrase: “Let’s get dangerous.” To clarify, I’m not advocating taking up chainsaw juggling (though if you do, please make more videos like this), but rather that you take a moment to move outside the comfort zone.

Some (I would argue most) of life’s greatest adventures come at those times when we’re a little unsure of what the outcome will be. Seven months ago, I decided that I wanted to play in a band again. One week later, I was the new bassist for Chicago’s Best AC/DC tribute band*, Riff Raff. Was I a great bassist? Absolutely not- I had bought the bass only a few months prior. Did I want to be in a band bad enough to answer a random ad on Craigslist and learn a 5-song set in as many days, not to mention buying a second amp on the way TO the audition (which has, to this day, not seen my apartment)? The short answer, of course, is yes.

How’s that gone so far? We received the honor of having one of the year’s best cover songs; appeared in America’s finest news source, The Onion; and have a summer full of shows lined up months in advance. Most importantly, I’m getting to travel all around Illinois playing kick-ass rock and roll and having an absolute blast.

To continue this trend, I’m making a commitment to myself to do at least one thing outside my comfort zone every week for the next 13 weeks. Why 13, you ask? By selecting a traditionally unlucky number, I’ve already taken the first step in living up to the title of the post. I’m defying superstition, thumbing my nose at the Fates, knocking on wood desparately and begging Destiny to be kind, pulling myself together and standing resolute in my new Devil-May-Care lifestyle.

For posterity’s sake, recaps of exploits to come will follow. Until then, keep it risky my friends.

Some light 2011 Dusting

Well, it’s only been another quarter of a year since I last visited these friendly pages. Not to fall into the New Years’ resolution crowd, but it feels like the time is right to return to regular writing that’s NOT on behalf of a client. Let’s play a little catch-up, shall we?

Work

My work with Weber Shandwick has been focused primarily on the digital side of consumer tech giant Motorola. It was a great win for our agency, and it’s been a lot of fun being on the ground level of a new client. The first few months between an agency and a new client is a lot like a first date, where you’d REALLY like things to go well. So far, I think this date has been pretty splendid. With our work at CTIA, the viral (yes, I mean it- 1 million views in 3 days makes it real) video and most recently our contributions to the CES conference, my time spent at work is never dull.

Play

Like I said, I’m looking forward to some writing that ISN’T client related, and there have been many exciting developments over the past few months. For many, 2011 brings hope of a new year- a better year- and in that regard I’m no different. I can’t wait to begin working with the Audience Development Committee of the Steppenwolf Theatre sometime this or next month; I’ll be working with a team of dedicated individuals who are passionate about the arts to help create a sustainable model to bring more Millenial members into the Steppenwolf family. If that weren’t enough, there are already quite a few exciting gigs lined up for the band.

What band? Oh that’s right- it’s been a while. After attending a concert at the Metro last fall, I made the rash and impulsive decision that I wanted to once again be in a band and perform music. After roughly 10 minutes of Craigslist searching, I happened across a listing for a bassist for an AC/DC tribute band. I thought to myself, “Hell, I like AC/DC. That’d be a lot of fun to play around town!”

Wait, what? When did I get a bass?  My oh my, it HAS been a while. This summer, I decided that I wanted to merge my love of rhythm and drums with my exceptionally mediocre guitar skills and pursue the bass. As fortune would have it, over the weekend of the 4th of July, my friend Ryan both needed a place to stay in Chicago while his band completed their Midwestern tour, but also happened to be selling a Fender J-Bass for a very reasonable price. Fast forward back to late September.

I received a prompt response from the listing and was set to play 5 songs with the band to see if I had what it took. The following Wednesday. Though I had purchased a small practice amp the week before, I knew that it would not have enough juice to be heard over a full band. So I returned to the place that helped me locate my job, my first apartment in Chicago (complete with two lovely roommates), my bass and my potential band: the internet! Roughly 10 minutes of Craigslisting again, I located a very reasonably priced Ampeg 105 watt solid-state 1X15 amplifier. After a few email exchanges, the seller and I agreed on a price and a pick-up date: Wednesday. After purchasing the amp on the way to my audition, I briefly thought to myself, “What the hell am I doing?”

That thought was quickly squashed when precisely one week later I was not only the new bassist of an AC/DC tribute band, but we also had acquired a weekly gig at Lilly’s Bar on Lincoln Avenue. What’s the old Allstate motto, life comes at you fast?

Fast forward three months and you’ll find yourself here. I gotta say, 600+ words later; it feels good to be back.

Since U Been Gone

I’m not only breathing for the first time, I’m screaming at the top of my lungs for joy.

First, I would like to address my loyal readers who may have wondered about my extended absence: sorry Grandma. I hope you still love me as much.

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to get through the daunting task of bringing this blog up to speed on the goings-on of my, at this point, wildly exciting and incredibly optimistic life. For example, I just signed up for my 401k. Not words I really thought about 5 months ago. Let me get down into the nitty gritty.

1. Pardon my French, mais mon emploi c’est foutrement génial! I couldn’t be happier anywhere else. Tomorrow marks my 3 month anniversary working with Weber Shandwick as an AAE, with my 90-day review following on Thursday.

2. I sold my car. While this may not make much sense as to why it falls under the exciting category, it translates to $350 a month in my paycheck, rather than to a car I haven’t seen in nearly 6 months that I get to spend in a city where public transit can get me any/everywhere I need to go.

3. I still live in Chicago. Yes, I know that some of you were worried that in my absence perhaps I had lost my job, sold all my belongings and hitchhiked home to Ohio, or worse… Logan County, and abandoned all hope to ever finding happiness. Though I appreciate your concerns, I assure you- I am fine.

Though it’s late and I’m tired after a long day’s rocking, this post is essentially to mark the joyous occasion of my return to blogging. Though sometimes it’s not easy to work on social media projects all day and still find excitement and joy in telling my story, it’s something that brings me joy and, one day might have a little sentimental value. If nothing else, it helps keep my writing sharp and my ideas alive.

It’s good to be back.

Calling All Interns

I’m taking a stand.

I’m tired of feeling like I have to justify my position to misinformed skeptics.

I’m tired of having to break through misconceptions before people who I talk to about what I do get it.

No, I’m not running to fetch the boss the morning coffee or relegated to menial and pointless tasks because my uncle pulled some strings on my behalf.

Yes, I’m an intern, and I’m damn proud of it.

It’s been one month since I began my journey on the ‘ship at Weber Shandwick in Chicago and there are two thoughts that stand out above all:

1. Holy hell, it’s been a month?! Where have the last 4 1/2 weeks gone? AND
2. This is one of the most rewarding experiences of my young life, and I couldn’t be happier with the places my journey has taken me thus far.

I’m getting to do some incredible things for national brands, join in on brainstorms and, most important, I feel like a valued part of each of my teams. Even better, I’m getting paid to do it! My stance on paid vs. unpaid internships is another post for another day, but my point is this:

The internship has undergone a transformation. Gone are the days where ‘intern’ was synonymous with ‘pawn’. Particularly with the down economy (which is showing signs of recovery), more companies in more industries are using interns as a valued part of the team. Internships are now an integral stepping stone on the path of the young professional in many fields.

Remember, today’s interns are tomorrows CEOs, so take the steps you need to now to find, land, and OWN the internship that steer you in the right direction for your career. Need help? That’s my middle name. Or at least my favorite past time.

CALLING ALL INTERNS!

To help rebrand the rejuvenated internship, I’m asking interns from all walks to stand up and declare, “Yes, #ImAnIntern” on Wednesday, May 12 at 9pm EST/8 c, on Twitter. Let your voice be heard as eager students join the conversation to learn what it means to be an intern. Share the knowledge you’ve accrued in your experience and help be a part of building a better workforce for the future of your industry. If you’re less forward thinking, save yourself the pain of training them on EVERYTHING later when they eventually get hired.

CALLING ALL INTERN WANNABES!

Given the logical way in which we’re taught to read, I’m going to assume that you’ve read the immediately preceding paragraph (if not, it’s right there, go ahead- I’ll wait) and jump to the relevant bit: Send us your questions! What do you want to know about finding, securing and rocking an internship? Get the knowledge straight from the collective horse’s mouth. If you’ve got a great question you’re afraid you’ll lose, head to the new Brazen Careerist network “INTERNal Affairs” (http://brazencareerist.com/network/internalaffairs) and post your queries in advance.

And don’t forget to tell your friends- the more experiences we can draw from, the more everyone benefits.

I can’t wait to hear from you guys!

The Interwebs: and no, I’m not talking about Lolcats

As I begin pre-production and research on a very large, independent project (which I will discuss in great length once the time is right) I’ve been thinking more about the connections that I’ve made over the past four years and the ways in which that network has helped guide me to where I am. I alluded to this phenomenon in my last post when I gave my vague, sweeping gratitudes. But beyond the initial appreciation of how my network has helped me, I’ve been thinking about the broader principal of the way networking helps all of us. For the sake of being cheeky and hip, I’m calling it the interweb-no, I’m not talking about lolcats-an inter-connecting, intertwining web of social connections and interactions.

Think about your social network like a web: when you connect with someone new, that’s an individual thread of webbing. By itself, it’s not likely to catch any flies or even have the visibility to prevent an inadvertent passerby from walking right through and severing the tie. But that’s the beauty of the interweb- when you connect with someone, and I mean really connect, it’s not a linear two-way relationship. You are then granted access to all of the threads of webbing that they have established, greatly enhancing the utility of your web. But if you only have one thread connected to the rest of the web, your chances of catching the fly are again pretty slim.

What you will discover quickly, is that if you have made a connection with anyone outside of that initial thread, you’ve likely already given yourself a stronger place in the web. The whole concept of six degrees of separation is great on a global scale, but in specific industries it shrinks to maybe three. More likely it’s two. And just like a web, if you’re a point from which interlocking threads of like-minded individuals branch out, well my friend you’ll be living large on flies tonight.

Admittedly, the metaphor is not perfect. Whereas most spiderwebs are fairly flat, when built correctly your interweb is more like an interlocking sphere connected points, but you get the idea.

So think about how the things you say, or post, or take pictures of affect the rest of the web and your connection to it. Think about how a vibration on one end of the web informs the spider at the other that dinner has arrived. Now think about what the vibrations and signals you’re sending are saying to the other sides of your web because unlike a spider’s web, your interweb has a memory.

That said, go out and make the connections, build strength from multiple points of contacts and make the best vibration possible. If you do it well and in the right way, the tremors will travel through the web and you’ll be rewarded with a nice, juicy fly. If you make the wrong vibrations, you’re likely to end up on a joggers face with no dinner and no connections.

How do you use social networking to achieve your career and social goals? What advice do you have to help make the best vibrations?