You Know How I Roll
I spent the earlier part of this week at the SHRM conference in Washington, DC.
Check out the pictures here.
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June 30, 2006
June 29, 2006
The King
Board members can do a lot of things.
They can provide advice.
They can open doors.
They can help legitimize a small company to the outside world.
They can also, when your board member is Burger King chairman Brian Swette, inspire your CEO to get Burger King for lunch for the entire office tomorrow.
Man, I hope The King shows up!
Getting "It"
I had mentioned Microsoft's Heather Hamilton as someone who gets "it" when it comes to recruiting. I have a hard time defining "it", but I suppose it's kind of like the old joke about pornography -- you can't really describe it, but you know it when you see it.
At this week's Society for Human Resources Management Annual Conference, we were visited by Dennis Smith, a Talent Acquisition Manager over at T-Mobile. Dennis runs the "Career Builders Blog", which highlights life and open positions at T-Mobile. Why is it called the "Career Builders Blog" when there's another company, CareerBuilder.com, that has everything to do with recruiting, but not necessarily anything to do with T-Mobile?
Well, as Dennis explained it: "We get a ton of traffic from people doing searches for CareerBuilder". Dennis clearly gets "it".
Recruitment blogging is a tiny blip on the recruiting (and more specifically the online recruiting) radar screen, but people like Dennis are doing their best to change that. Well done!
June 27, 2006
Don't Worry, This Won't Hurt a Bit
I live in Stuyvesant Town.
It's a mega-development over the East Village with a lovely park in the middle. It's the only apartment I've had in New York city. I've always gotten what I've felt was a pretty good deal considering that a) there's no doorman, b) I have a three-bedroom apartment with one bathroom, and c) 14th St. down in my neighborhood isn't exactly the Upper East Side.
Oh, and like Wikipedia says "Today, Stuyvesant Town is a sprawling collection of red brick apartment buildings with typical housing project-style architecture". So we're not exactly talking the Trump Towers here.
MetLife bought the place (all 10,000+ units) back in 2005 and has been pumping money (on mostly cosmetic changes) while raising rents significantly.
How significantly you ask? Well, I just got my lease renewal form for next year, and mine is going up TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT. That's 25% for those of you with trouble reading.
25%
25%
25%
Ouch. Oh, plus they want extra security deposit (on top of the 2 months we've already got in there) to cover the difference between the old rent and the new rent.
If you see me walking gingerly in the street, it's 'cause StuyTown just took me behind the woodshed.
June 22, 2006
Woe is Me
Ryan Adams is playing a secret show at Bowery Ballroom Friday night (early Saturday morning) that I can't go to. I'll be in Washington, DC getting ready for a trade show/conference. That stinks.
On the other hand, Tom Petty was an A++++++++++++ (like a really good ebay seller/buyer).
June 20, 2006
Oh my my, oh hell yes!
I leave in an hour for the Tom Petty concert at Madison Square Garden.
Also on the bill -- Trey Anastasio (of Phish fame) and Stevie Nicks (of Fleetwood Mac and solo fame). Notice how I didn't say that Trey is famous for his solo work, because, well, it's just OK.
I've seen Phish a bunch of times (15 or 20 I'd say), and Trey with various incarnations of a band probably another 10. I really liked him with Oysterhead (his band with Les Claypool and Stewart Copeland, which, incidentally, reunited this past weekend at Bonnaroo). He was also pretty good with the first version of the Trey Anastasio Band who I saw back in either 2001 or 2002 (the memory is, ahem, hazy). The last time I saw him at Hammerstein Ballroom last May was underwhelming. I'm not too excited to see him tonight, especially not in an opening slot. The sad truth is that Trey is not Phish.
But oh Tom Petty! The excitement! I recently heard him described as "the guy whose songs you know all the lyrics to but you don't know you know them until you hear the song". Or something like that.
He put out a fantastic live album -- Pack Up The Plantation -- back in 1986, which had Stevie Nicks performing on a bunch of songs (including a fantastic ballad "Insider"). I've read that they are dueting on Nicks' "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" this tour which I am excited to see.
I've seen Petty a few times before. There are just so many songs that are real anthems -- "Free Falling", "Last Dance With Mary Jane", "You Don't Know How It Feels" and "Breakdown" to name just a tiny sample -- that play so well in an arena setting. He's one of the few artists that has put out multiple albums where I can listen to the entire thing straight through without skipping songs, and yes, know every word to every song. Albums like "Full Moon Fever", "Into The Great Wide Open", "Wildflowers" are just classics from beginning to end.
So yes, I'm excited.
Oh, and Guster's new album came out today. Good times...
June 19, 2006
TheLadders.com in the Wall Street Journal
I've been at TheLadders.com for almost 26 months now. We've done a lot of great things, some of which get noticed by the outside world, some of which don't. It's always refreshing to meet people that are subscribed to TheLadders.com -- both jobseekers and recruiters -- because you sometimes forget that people are actually using the site you've put hours and hours and hours into creating (and yes, I know that with 825,000 jobseekers and 18,000 recruiters signed up that may seem a little weird, but trust me).
Well lookie here: The Wall Street Journal says "Move Over, Monster" and leads the story with TheLadders! (The link will work for the next 7 days).
Here's the lead:
Last year, when Craig Lund decided he wanted a new job, the media sales manager chose a common path: He posted his résumé on Internet job boards.In less than a month, he was named Toronto account director for Aquent Marketing Staffing, a division of Boston-based staffing consultants Aquent Inc. But Mr. Lund didn't land the job through one of the giant boards, like Monster.com or its Canadian equivalent, Workopolis.com. He found it on a much smaller site -- one that targets a select group of job seekers based on salary, profession and experience.
On TheLadders.com, a New York-based employment site geared toward professionals earning $100,000 or more, "the caliber of the jobs was far different from Workopolis and Monster," says Mr. Lund. (TheLadders.com recently entered a two-year subscription-sharing partnership with CareerJournal.com, a unit of Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.)
As the online job-listing market matures, niche sites, with their fewer and sometimes more relevant listings, are gaining in popularity. Like Mr. Lund, many job candidates have launched searches on both large and niche sites at the same time and say the niche sites produced faster results that were more targeted to their interests.
My other favorite quote is from an executive at Monster who explains why they shut down ChiefMonster (a competitive site for jobs at the executive level):
Monster.com, the biggest of the big boards, says it tried a more niche-oriented approach some years back with segmented sites such as My.Chief.Monster.com, for executives. But given that "people can only bookmark so many sites," Monster found it more effective to return to one central site, says Doug Klinger, president of Monster Worldwide Inc.'s Monster North America division in Maynard, Mass.
Ummm, yeah...
And if there are any recruiters or hiring managers out there who want to learn more about TheLadders.com, please email me!
Comment Spam...
Looks like I'm starting to get some comment spam...I've upped the spam trigger thing-a-majig, so if your comment doesn't get posted right away, that's why.
Sorry to all two of you this affects...
June 17, 2006
Adventures in getting ready...
When getting ready to go out, it always helps to have a conversation like this:
Ski2Sun: i'm dressing like a frat boy tonight
Ski2Sun: not like i don't normally
MShafron: what does that mean?
Ski2Sun: but its all american eagle
MShafron: god
MShafron: i am wearing a seersucker jacket tonight
MShafron: just cause i can
Ski2Sun: we shoudl take a picture together
MShafron: haha
Ski2Sun: my shirt is pre wrinkled
Bring on the evening!
June 14, 2006
Ummm, I think you forgot something...
So you're on a nice weekend shopping trip with the lady. You know "Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time." That kind of trip...
Anyway, you get home, unpack your stuff, and find two 50-pound bricks of pot and 3 kilos of coke. Instant party!
I've Arrived...Now Get Out Of My Way!
I've made it to Gawker.
OK, so it's not a link to something I wrote, but my picture is up there, snarky comment and all.
Check it out (scroll to the bottom).
June 12, 2006
Online Media, who for art thou?
Took in the DealBreaker launch party tonight at the 21 Club.
The 21Club reminded me of the country club I used to work at...make that, The Country Club I used to work at. The creaky stairs, the tuxedo clad waiters, the random pictures of horses all over the walls, the thinly veiled racism elitism.
Otherwise, it was typical cocktail/launch party fare. The founders gave some speech (everyone clapped awkwardly), there were some canapes and a carving station, and the interns were double-fisting drinks. Even Richard Johnson from Page Six showed up. And, I kid you not, was drinking a mere two weeks after his DUI arrest.
I didn't know anyone so I was forced to mingle. I met the attorney from I'm-sure-it's-a-wonderful-firm-but-I-can't-hear-shit-in-here-LLP who said "No one has launch parties anymore!". He looked younger than me. I met the something and other from something and other, and I exchanged a few business cards. All in all, pretty standard.
And then Charlie Rose walked in.
Launch party where you don't know anyone but the booze is free, the venue is cool, there's a writer from Page Six , and there's some food = good.
Launch party where you don't know anyone but the booze is free, the venue is cool, there's a writer from Page Six , and there's some food...and then you spot a "celebrity" who had heart surgery two months ago but is now at the same party as you, talking to a woman 30 years his junior and drinking some red wine, to boot = ahem, very good.
June 09, 2006
Spreading the Love
Microsoft's Heather Hamilton has some pretty great things to say about us (TheLadders.com) on her blog.
I first contacted Heather almost a year ago and was given (probably deservedly so) a big fat "No thanks, I'm busy" (well, not quite that harsh, but that was about it).
But using a technique we've employed dozens of times over here -- gentle persistence and an undying belief in the value of our product -- I eventually turned her into a user, then a power user, and now an evangelist.
Heather is an asset to the recruiting community. She really gets it, whatever "it" may be at the moment.
So, thanks Heather! And if anyone else reading this would like to know more about TheLadders.com and how we can either help you find your next $100k+ role in life or help your company make its next $100k+ hire (for free), drop me a line...
June 08, 2006
The Misery That Is Life As a Celtics Fan
Life recently as a Celtics fan has been one of false hope, mediocrity, and a bunch of questionable moves by GM Danny Ainge.
Sure, there's Kendrick Perkins (having his second surgery on a dislocated shoulder in the last year), Al Jefferson (who has no concept of defense, took 3 months to recover from a sprained ankle, and can't stay in shape), the explosive Gerald Green (19 years old, and not LeBron James), Paul Pierce (great, but mis-cast as a leader of a young squad). Here's a list of players we've got that really stink: Brian Scalabrine (nickname, Veal), Tony Allen (barely escaped felony assault charges last summer, and had knee surgery), Michael Olowokandi (looks good in his braids), Wally Szczerbiak (he was an All-Star, once, before people realized it's Wally Szczerbiak), and Raef Lafrentz (who would be good as an 8th man making a million a year. Unfortunately, he's a starter and has something like 3 years left on his deal at $10 - $12 million per). Is there a player, besides Pierce you wouldn't trade for someone like Josh Howard on the Mavs (and yes, I would've made that deal before his amazing playoffs)? Delonte West and Ryan Gomes are decent, but both play out of position.
Did I mention they've got no real point guard (unless you count Dan Dickau, and I don't).
At least there's hope in this year's draft...oh wait.
June 05, 2006
Welcome to the 'Hood
Looks like TheLadders.com world headquarters will be getting a new neighbor.
(Cue ominous music)
The Donald!
That's right, Donald Trump announced plans for a 45-story hotel directly across the street from our office (hotel to be built at 246 Spring St.).
Let's see, what do guests of the new hotel have to look forward to?
- Deafening noise from drivers waiting to get into the Holland Tunnel (from 3:30 to 6:30 PM, Monday - Friday)? Check.
- Being directly across the street from a loading dock for a pretty big office building, a loading dock that smells like rotting garbage, coincidentally? Check.
- Being directly across the street from the worst Starbucks I've ever been to, yet continue to go to every morning? Triple venti check!
- 70+ hard working employees of TheLadders.com? Check, check, check (times 70)!
If that's not enough, and really, could it ever be enough, let's have the New York Post sum it up:
The building, which will rise in a fringe area of SoHo - about three blocks from the Holland Tunnel - will tower above the nondescript neighborhood..
Reservations are going fast...
June 04, 2006
Well Lookie Here...
I've played a lot of golf in my time, but I've never, ever, ever had this happen to me.
I'm done discussing this. Thank you.
June 02, 2006
Someday
For as long as I can remember (like 7th grade or so), I've been a Mariah Carey fan. So much so, that my mom, to this day, refers to her as "my girlfriend". I even owned her self-titled debut on tape.
I've stood by Mariah through thick and thin, including her divorce from Tommy Mottola, her infamous meltdown on TRL a few years ago, and her disaster of a movie, Glitter. Her episode of Cribs is a personal life highlight of mine.
And yes, I know that tickets for the Emancipation of Mimi tour went onsale this morning. And yes, I sat long and hard at my computer thinking about buying a pair. But alas, I passed this time. Mariah, we will meet someday soon, Emancipation of Mimi tour or no Emancipation of Mimi tour.