• “What is Social Media?”
• “What is twitter? I see it all over now.” 
• “Why does Social Media matter to me and my company?”
• And my favorite…wait for it…“Why does the world need this exactly?” Answer to this question and many others can be found in an article from Time Magazine, June 15, 2009.

Now, I don’t mind answering these questions, in fact I have been able to buy Tory Burch shoes and stay somewhat fashionable in these troubling times by answering these questions and many others.  BUT, I have yet to find a way to answer the question in 140 characters or less.  So, I have decided that going forward I will hand the curious my business card and direct them to my blog.  It is either that or I will tell them to “Google it”, which by the way is my answer to everything now.  Try it.  When a child asks, “Mommy, why can’t I have 12 pieces of licorice before bed?”  Your answer, “Google it” - I am sure they will.

So YOU don’t have to Google it, I wanted to share this blog/presentation sent to me by Phil Gerbyshak.  It answers the question “What The F**K is Social Media”? – One Year Later”  So friends, family and future clients ENJOY ….and if you have more questions…wait for it…Google it.

The Red Recruiter continued the spirit of the event in his most recent blog post.  It includes thoughts such as:

• Why Social Media is here to stay for recruiters
• How envelope Social Media into your D2D
• Other tools to supplement Social Media

Again, thank you to the speakers, participants and sponsors for making this event AMAZING! Look for another one again in Fall 2009.

I am very excited to announce our Keynote Speaker for BarCamp Recruit. I have heard him speak on several occasions and he is one of the most passionate, dynamic speakers I have ever heard. Don’t be surprised if at the end of his presentation (and this BarCamp) you want to change the way you manage your day or conduct your business…it is that powerful!

Jim Marks calls himself an Internet Anthropologist. An enthusiastic and engaging speaker, he has spent his career studying the habits and expectations of the Internet Consumer. As President of Virtual Results, Jim teaches businesses of all breeds how to maximize their Internet efforts through the use of effective web design, integrated social media, data syndication and data management. He has a reputation for casting aside common misconceptions and using statistical analysis to create successful internet marketing campaigns utilizing Virtual Results web sites, data and content syndication, database management and social media that produce consistent, measurable (and impressive) results.

I am looking forward to seeing you there! Register Today at BarCamp Recruit or Event Brite.

 WHAT SHOULD I EXPECT? Expect nothing and enjoy everything.

BarCamp Recruit will be like no other seminar or conference you have attended.  It is designed to be spontaneous, free flowing and very un-structured.  We know that some of you will have a hard time getting your head around this “un-structured” concept (we certainly did before attending our first BarCamp), but hopefully after the day is done you will have learned a bunch of new stuff, made new contacts and reconnected with old friends.

WHO WILL BE THERE? People who want to experience something different.

We extended invitations to over 200 human resource professionals – but anyone is welcome to attend this event.  The event has been marketed on twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.  We have people flying in from Texas, driving down from LA and taking the train up from San Diego.  As long as there are tickets left – no person will be turned away.

WHAT WILL I LEARN? You will learn if you participate.

The idea being that every person is a subject matter expert in something.  This venue gives anyone who wants to share their knowledge a venue to do so.  Since we don’t know how the agenda will look until the day of the event it is hard to tell you what will be covered.  But it might go something like this:

SOCIAL MEDIA / WEB 2.0

We have invited subject matter experts who want to share their knowledge of Social Media Networking – aka twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.  So you can probably expect a few sessions that will teach the beginning and advanced benefits of these unique tools. 

HR FOR MULTIPLE GENERATIONS

We have invited experts in the field of marketing, recruiting, hiring and managing Baby Boomers, Gen-X’ers, Gen-Y’ers, new millennials and the rest of the bunch.  I am sure they would enjoy and opportunity to share what they know and ask that you share your stories too.

MARKETING & BRANDING YOURSLEF

We have invited experts to talk about how to market yourself in the new economy.  Everyone is asking questions like:  ”Should I have my own webpage?”, “Should I be on twitter?”, “Should my company be on twitter if I want to recruit top talent?” All good questions and there will be people there to share their expertise.

Some of the learning will come during a session, some learning will take place waiting in line for lunch, some of it will happen during happy hour.  But the beauty is that you have spent the day learning what is important to YOU and shared a little bit of your expertise in return. Register Today!!!

Monster has significant image problem – they are like a four letter word.  If you ask a job seeker what they think if Monster they will say, “I hate it, it is like sending my resume into a black hole.”  Now I realize this is NOT the fault of Monster but rather the result of the non-responsive recruiter who receives the resume.  But the job seeker does not see it that way.  It is not unlike the consumer who blames their health insurance carrier for the quality of their medical care.  The quality of care is the result of the doctor – not the insurance company.  The result of the “black hole conspiracy” is the result of the recruiter on the other end…not the job board.  But to the job seeker, Monster still “sucks”.

Monster is the white elephant in the Corporate Recruiting world – it has become the crutch to those who think they need it.  The same caliber (if not better) of candidates can be sourced from Craig’s List, Employee Referral Programs and proficiency in LinkedIn.  These sourcing strategies are significantly cheaper and have more value than the traditional job boards.  In my last two years of corporate recruiting I hired over 100 people and NEVER used Monster to find a candidate. 

Monster changed the way we as a nation searched for work and searched for candidates.  It was revolutionary!  Better customer service and new search technologies are not going to save them.  They need to stop “fixing” things that are broken and instead “re-invent” the way we look for work AGAIN – THAT is what they do well.

• Step1: Establish specific competencies or traits that equal quality in the minds of your hiring managers and use it to assess candidates.
• Step 2: Educate hiring managers.
• Step 3: Investigate and experiment with new tools for screening and selection.

The “time suck” if you will, is that this exercise must be done for each position/hiring manager because a successful pharmaceutical sales representative in New York City is going to have different “Quality Competencies” than a candidate in Atlanta.  But once you establish these competencies and develop a solid relationship with your hiring manager – the search, selection and long term company impact will be much more efficient!

So, here is to you Mom!! and thank God for all your quirky little sayings.  For without them what would we tell our children (or write about)?

You are probably asking yourself “Self, what is a Barcamp?”  Well, I will tell you what it is.  “It is an unstructured, unorganized, FREE “conference” where likeminded passionate people get together and…

• Share ideas
• Learn new things
• Build relationships
• Break old habits
• Get inspired
• Really have fun

Recently I was inspired at a Real Estate Barcamp (#rebcla and #rebcphx) of all things and saw how this type of a conference could have a real impact in the recruiting space.  As I was sharing my excitement with my friend and ex-colleague Chrisa Mott, she saw the value as well and we have decided to do our own Barcamp in Southern California.  The Barcamp will be focused on Social Media/Web 2.0 but we will welcome everyone and anyone who wants to participate and present.  So if you are interested in participating in something new and different feel free to contact me.

Barcamp Recruit Southern California (#bcRsc) coming this Fall!

It can be very frustrating to navigate the terrain of interviewing but Jeff Lipshultz has written a series on Recruiting the Recruiter (Part I) and Recruiting the Recruiter (Part II).  It is one best writings I have read on the “How To” of working with a recruiter; corporate, retained or contingent.

The articles include:

• Hot Buttons: How to keep yourself from being the topic of the next staff meeting
• The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: How to tell the difference
• The Relationship: How to maximize your time together with a messy break-up

So next time you are preparing for an interview, take a minute to familiarize yourself with these articles.  It will provide a tremendous amount of value to you and coupled with company research – you will knock it out of the park!  Good Luck!

In a recent interview with The Today Show’s Matt Lauer Mark Zuckerberg took complete responsibility for the Facebook “Terms of Condition” mishap.  When Matt Lauer asked him about it he simply said, “Frankly, we made a mistake in the last version and issued some unclear language.”  I think Matt was a little stunned, but I was impressed.  Total accountability at the age of 24, who knew?  I instantly became a fan of Mark Zuckerberg.

The following is a great article about how to take accountability when you mess up via social media…or anywhere for that matter. “Save Some Time Learn From My Mistake”.

Enjoy!!