Dear Switchfoot

Update:
On May 13th, Drew Shirley, a guitarist of Switchfoot, replied to one of my tweets about the aftershow and even answered my #ViceVerses question. Pretty awesome:

…..

Dear Reader -

Yes. I’m addressing you first, even though the title of this post states otherwise.

I am of really big fan of Switchfoot. No, really. I’m talking about their music specifically. The guys themselves seem really nice and very dedicated to their work, too, but it’s the messages encrypted within the lyrics that get me coming back to their music every time.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jon Foreman outside of Target Center in October 2008 after the Music Builds tour they were on:

The opportunity of this photo happened by chance.

What I’m asking from you, the reader:
Your help to promote this post to get @Switchfoot’s attention.

Why:
I don’t think Switchfoot has ever done an after show in Minnesota and I’ve never been able to personally experience one either. Foreman and his band mates form a band that finds new meaning in everyday experiences for not only themselves but hundreds of thousands of people and you can feel the emotion in their music. It’s wonderful.

If you’ve never heard of Switchfoot:
These guys live everyday normal lives. If you’re feeling adventurous here’s a clip that explains what each of their roles are in the band and a little bit of what they do they’re not in the studio together.

Using the hashtags #BlaineMN #Switchfoot #AfterShow, you can help me maybe pull this off and potentially get the bands attention.

To the band:

Jon, Tim, Drew, Jerome, Chad -

You’re coming to Minnesota on Friday, June 7 and I’m pumped about the Joyful Noise concert.

I have a few questions for you, only two of which I’m asking in this video. The remainder are below…


1. Vice Verses is quite different from your previous albums; more direct meaning engulfed with heavily saturated metaphors that are extremely rich with dark tones. What can we expect on your next album?

2. BRO-AM seems to mean a lot to the band. Does it mean something different to you guys every year?

3. What is your goal for the ninth annual BRO-AM?

4. Fading West is coming Summer of 2013 and it looks like it’s the journey of the life you’ve discovered over the course of making eight records. Do you have a release date for that yet?

THANK YOU for reading and helping to promote this. :)

Job Fairs: Swap The Business Card, Hello “CheckIn”

I’ve really never been a fan of job fairs, though it’s a great way to see faces of companies, but the biggest hurdle in attending is having a mission. If you do, high-fives to you. Think about job fairs this way: if you attend happy hours and networking events time after time and you don’t have any connections that are helping you to inch closer to the job you’re after, you’re doing it wrong.

If the company you’ve been dying to get your resume in front of is at a job fair you can attend, I’m not sure what the most appropriate way to go about doing this is, but I’d maybe call the company (if they’re a smaller business) and ask to be connected with the human resources department. Briefly explain you have applied (you have applied for this job you want, right?) for “x” job and then mention CheckIn.

I’m sharing this because I’m a connector, but unless your elevator speech perks up my ears, I more than likely will not be able to help you. If you think I can, connect with me here on LinkedIn. My only requirement, however, is that I do not want to see this message if you send me an invite:

Check it. HA!

(h/t) Megan Myers

 

My Socially Shareable Vizcard via Vizify

As I’m writing this, I’ve nearly completed my first digital resume. It’s fun…and not complicated at all. :D

I was browsing on LinkedIn this morning and found this update:

…

I’m a big fan of Sarah Evans and you can find her post about it here. She is a “do-er.”
After I saw this post, I decided instead of saying “ok, this is cool, I’m going to share this on Facebook (which I did) and try this out later,” I actually made one right away.

A couple of things I’ve recognized in the process:

1. My writing skills have come a long way since I last updated my LinkedIn profile (awesome! and…important,) but I’m also more confident is selling my skills, what I’ve done, and how it’s lead to me who I am now.

2. If you’re stuck with your job search, and you’re tired of the run-of-the-mill job application process, do yourself a favor. Take a break, even if you’ve been slacking at it and create your own Vizify resume. You might have one of those “oh my gosh, I think I know what I really want in a job,” moments.

3. (Not related to Vizify) If the business you decided to apply at is in your hood, after applying for it online, put on some nice dress pants, a go-getter top, print off a new copy of your resume you just updated and go introduce yourself in person.

That’s it. Do this. It’s fun. Seriously.

What have you done to make your resume digital? I have attempted at least four times to make a Prezi resume. Do you like it? I, for some reason, get turned off by the process.

I’m going to go finish my Vizify resume.

[Baked in oven for 10 more minutes]

I present to you, my Vizify resume. I’m proud. :)

Being The Best Version Of You

“I want to thrive not just survive.”

And I want to believe I’m here for something bigger than the ‘creative production’ behind these blog posts that before I write them, I do my best to keep my ears and eyes open to things that matter…to me. I hope you’re impacted in some way, too.

When you take your time to read them (thank you in advance,) in the end, I want you to come up with your own perspective of what or why these piece matters. Or, maybe it doesn’t and you just enjoy my writing style.
(Takes a bow.)

For this specific post, I had created at least half a dozen drafts of it in my head. At least. I started writing it two days ago.

[Delete] [Refresh] [...] [Delete] [Refresh] [...]

How I originally planned to share what both of these books (see below) with you and what they offer didn’t feel right for this post, or my blog as a whole. I had to remind myself what The Middle Of In Between is about. It was a personal choice to read these books. One week ago, I was borrowed book No. 1 and ended up starting it while I was three-quarters through book No. 2, which has taken me about three weeks to get to where I’m at in it. I haven’t finished it. I currently don’t have plans to do so. I read book No. 1 in two and a half days.

But, what was the point of this post? What is the connection? I had even taken two pages of notes that I could refer to while writing this post forgetting that these notes were not relevant to the theme of my blog. With that said, originally, I was going to write up a rather lengthy post about these books, but my instincts were telling me I was wasting my time. Now that that’s out of the way:

1.

2. 

The connection of these books is about faith and the reminder that while yes, we’re surrounded by a lot of negative situations where we ask “why?,” if we choose to believe that everything happens for a reason and we work hard, good things happen to those who what have faith no matter what the circumstances are. You have to want to dig for the reasons behind the story and if you do, something bigger takes place. Only you know what that is in the end. Makes for a great story too, right?

Book No. 1: I liked the story behind it, the message it had to offer. It was uplifting and inspirational. However, I read this (after reading it (I did some heavy research on the book I liked it that much,)) and it nearly ruined the whole book for me. I know it’s fiction, but the author doesn’t make it sound that way in the “Foreword” message in the book and it’s very confusing.

Book No. 2: It’s a personal perspective (my opinion) from the author. I learned about Mother Teresa (her upbringing was an eye-opener for me,) and I learned more about the background of the Bible on Page 223 than I ever did in church. In other words Chapter Fifteen was a huge learning curve for me.

Here’s what I’ve learned and what I wish we would all take time to consider:

Paraphrased from book No. 2:
Freedom is not the ability to do whatever you want because we become what we celebrate (or idolize) and what we celebrate is a reflection of our society.
OK. So, I surround myself in real life and in the virtual world by positive people and I’m thankful for the “unfollow” function on Facebook. Peter Shankman gave a wonderful presentation of this at a recent Tedx talk. Shankman hit that nail on the head. Go figure.

From book No. 1, Page 192:
“If I take away the consequences of people’s choice, I destroy the possibility of love. Love that is forced is no love at all.” This is supposedly God talking to Mackenzie Allen Phillips, the main character in the story of this book.

Be you and build what you’re building. They might forget you ever built it, but do what you’re doing as long as you believe in it. Don’t do it for the glitz. Do what you do because it’s helping you become the best version of you. That last sentence is, in a nutshell, is what both of these books are about.

Customer Service Gesture, Email Subject Line: “Kiosks Down”

Hello AirTran and Southwest Airlines -

I am not a frequent flier in the air, but I enjoy getting to my destination fast so I can spend what short time I have for vacations on the land that I am eager to explore.

It had been more than two years since I hopped on a plane to fly away on Friday, April 26 in the early morning and I was looking forward to my short, but very long weekend vacation. My destination was Atlanta, Ga., from the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport and I had not slept at all the night before since I was at work until midnight. I had to be up by 3:30 a.m.

I was going on vacation with a friend and I thought, for some reason, our flight wasn’t until 6:45 a.m. We arrived at the airport with our carry-on bags at 4:55 a.m. (we did not need to check luggage,) and we were headed straight for a kiosk to check-in and then print our boarding passes. It wasn’t until we got in line and talking about our flight that he told me our flight was at 5:45 a.m. and apparently he told me this multiple times. “OK,” I thought, “still enough time,” until what happened next. It was supposed to be a simple process when we walked through the airport doors.

Simple.

Nope. Wrong.

Very. Very wrong.

The kiosks were down.

There was a line of at least 70 people. It was 5 a.m. and when we got to that line, that’s when I discovered we had technically 25 minutes to get through this line and security to be at our gate 20 minutes prior to our flight time. I think that’s FAA regulations for all airlines.

Seventy people…at least. Kiosks down. Short vacation, but just long enough to get out of dodge. We didn’t think there was a chance we would make our flight. We didn’t buy insurance, but then again, we weren’t expecting the kiosks to be down.

At this point, it’s 5:10 a.m. and I’m not happy. Neither are the other customers. That line we were standing in? It doubled within the 15 minutes we had been standing there. I have no idea if any of these customers were first-time fliers with AirTran or in general. My friend at least thought to called AirTran customer service. They couldn’t help us.

The gal in front of us was flying solo and just needed to check-in, too. Her iPhone wasn’t cooperating or allowing her to browse quickly enough to try check-in online. I know you can check-in online 24-hours in advance and up to one-hour prior to your flight time with AirTran. She had five minutes to try make that happen and my friend tried to use his Galaxy GS3 make this happen for her. The process went smoothly, up until the final step on the online check-in process. We had one minute remaining and there was some type of “error.” Was it her fault and ours for waiting the last minute to do this? Yes. Unfortunately, we were just too excited to get out of dodge.

Then, a “miracle” took place. Another lined opened up and it was only for people who needed to check-in (carry-on bags only) or were “A+” frequent fliers. I think that’s the name of your program. The gal who was in front of us who we tried to help allowed us to step ahead of her and check-in.

AirTran, I’m not writing this because I can’t get over what happened. Wait. That’s a lie. I will never forget this experience. I’ve flown with you the last three trips I’ve taken and this had never happened before, but I was livid that morning. I will say, this is not changing the fact that you still remain my “go to” airline when I want to take a vacation. Why? Maybe it’s your brand name, but I’ve always liked the customer service provided and I’m not even a frequent flier. It’s always a pleasure and I feel safe flying with your airline. I’ll say it again: you have not lost me as a customer. Also, this could happen with any airline, but I’ll get to my point in a minute.

I’m writing this from the perspective of every customer who had to stand in that line that morning who just needed a kiosk to check-in. That’s it. As a customer who just wanted a simple and easy process of getting to their destination without much of an issue, that morning was a nightmare.

Here’s what I’ve waited almost a week to write out:
It’s 2013. Is there some way you can notify all your customers who are flying with you within a certain time frame that there are technical check-in issues at “_____ airport,” (where they’re checking in) such as “kiosks are down,” say via email and put that in the subject line, so I (the customer) can make my own educated guess on how much time I see fit to re-arrange my itinerary? Then, it’s completely on me and you’ve done your best to make sure that even first-time fliers have the best experience possible.

If there is not a system in a place, I would highly suggest making this system a priority.

Here’s where things get even worse, but not for me.

Guess who else it was nightmare for? YOUR EMPLOYEE BEHIND THE COUNTER DOING HER BEST TO HELP OUT THE CUSTOMERS WHO CHOSE AirTran TO FLY TO THEIR DESTINATION. I can’t remember her name, but she was an older gal, probably around 50 who was very kind. I was too focused on the situation at hand and I’m kicking myself for not paying closer attention.

I know things happen, but it’s 2013. I know that technology can go haywire. Even the process of checking in with your employee became a hassel at one point because her computer went off-line for about 10 seconds which felt like eternity because the clock was ticking. Again, that happens from time to time.

Here’s the biggest challenge for any company nowadays:
Give your customers a chance to make their experience what they think it should be.

Because of your employee, who remained calm and understanding of that hectic morning, I was able to enjoy this on my vacation before flying back home:

(I love Gnarley Head when chilled just a bit by the pool side. Yes, it was delicious.)

Thank you for listening. I really hope you take all perspectives into consideration here. I have always liked flying with you and I appreciate your employees. They make my flying experience a pretty great one.

 

 

Let It Be And Be

It’s disappointing when you know what you know and the phone never rings.

You didn’t hope for it, but it was in the back of your mind.

Because this time, it wasn’t your choice, it was theirs.

 

 

Identifying What Matters To You In The Work You Do

Each of us struggles at one point in discovering what it is we’re good at when it comes to the type of job we want. It strikes us at the oddest moments, too, doesn’t it? The curve balls of life keep us on our toes and striving to be better, or at least it should. Are you going through your first job searching process? What do you want out of it? Maybe you’re going through a career shift and you’ve made a decision to reduce your hours where you’re at to focus on a path you feel is a better fit, and you’ve made a decision that will allow you to test the waters. What values are you looking for? What matters to you in the work you do? Not only is it a privilege to work, you should value the work you’re doing. If you don’t, something needs to change.

My brother-in-law gave me this exercise (see below) about two years ago. It didn’t exactly help me determine where I’ve applied to for jobs in the last two years, but it made me realize what my thought process was when it comes to the work I do.

It’s a pretty neat exercise. Let today be the day you discover what matters most to you. If you’re not sure you like the results you see today, favorite this post in your bookmarks and mark on your calendar when you would like to do this exercise again. Personally, I would wait three to six months, or until you feel you’ve truly grown within your position at work. You’ll know when the time is right. :)

(Note: When I did this, I decided to make notes along the way and why I chose what values I did over others. I can look at it at any time and understand the thought process I had, which helps everything make sense when I do look back on it.)

 

Paul Tran’s mission trip through Saddleback Church to Rwanda, Africa

My buddy Paul Tran is going on a mission trip though Saddleback Church to Rwanda, Africa to help build a better future for children who don’t have the privileges you and I have had: the opportunity to go to school and learn.

All details can be found here:

http://www.gofundme.com/preschools

Thank you for helping spread the word and for your contributions. I’m excited to see pictures of this project!

 

Peter Shankman’s Tedx Talk, Paraphrased

I haven’t bought his book yet, but I really like his tone of writing and I’m sure I’ll get around to buying it…and then wonder why I waited so long.

Nice Companies Finish First

Below is me paraphrasing what he spoke about. I’m sharing because I like this guy and I learn something from him nearly every time he posts a blog or speaks.

“…
Two types of people who are out there:

Bad People:
They tell you things that you never want to know and do not benefit your life in any way.
An example Shankman gave:
Foursquare check-ins for coffee

Good People:
They talk about fun things that:
– Benfit you
– Help you live your life better
– Make you smile

We spend majority of our time being fed bad news on a regular basis.

Do amazing things for people and get the audience you want by treating the audience you have by being one step better.

Be one level nicer than crap.

Every one of us is a connector. Don’t focus on creating something that will go viral. Good people are hard to find.

Decency is openness. Live your life openly.
…”

Here’s a link to the recording where he comes in around 02:53:00.

He’s one of my favorite speakers. That’s all folks.

Portable and Disposable Rescue Breathing Mask

I didn’t do my homework before I made this video. I wanted to make another fun (informative) video, but in the end, what I’m showing you in this video is neat a little tool that could save a life and costs $2.50.

It occurred to me right after I said “American Red Cross dot com,” that it’s a non-profit and I’m pretty sure all non-profits end in .org. Here the correct link for American Red Cross.

Most importantly, here’s a link to the product.

Any cool, easy portable tools you’ve come across out there when it comes to “safety first,” literally?