The Many Faces of Mike McBride

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Given the (low) cost of storage, is it worth the time/hassle of keeping track of 1GB vs. 15GB? I have no idea what typical volumes of data are for your organization, but as you noted, the client will end up paying more for the larger quantity of data reviewed... does the storage and machine time really make up a large actual cost?

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Agreed- it's all so fascinating and fun! Except when I get anonymous twitter stalkers like @Fox_Sports_ LOL. Anyway, it was a pleasure meeting you and I look forward to seeing you again in the future!

- Cheryl Harrison
http://beingcheryl.com
@CherylHarrison on Twitter

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I heard a story over Christmas vacation, about a voting system that had some problems recently. Apparently someone had neglected to load the right tapes, which meant that not all the voters were listed for the poll workers. The news reported it as.... "a computer error."

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Mike,

Great thoughts! I am writing down my thoughts off the top of my head, as this is often the way I come up with my best ideas.

Why did I create the Career Opportunities Community site?

First, I tend to try a lot of ideas and see what sticks. It can rise or fall on its own, but at least I tried it.

Next, I see the Career-Op readers as a small affinity group that has one major thing in common -- they all read or listen to Career Opportunities. In this case, I don't need the community to be huge, as long as it can achieve my main goal for the group, which is to facilitate communication between fellow readers/listeners, not necessarily the world as a whole.

I think that sometimes conversations are better held in small groups over large. I see this as similar to national groups that have individual chapters. People might want to talk about big ideas, but are simply more comfortable doing it in a somewhat smaller space, even if that space is still virtual.

I would love for large parts of the world to know about Career Opportunities, so I am on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and other social sites, but I also want to look to those most loyal supporters and try to do something that serves them in a very close and special way.

I have just come to this idea as I am writing this, but in one way, the Career Opportunities Community site is my Rewards Card, my VIP program, my customer loyalty program. My readers and listeners have shown that they are interested in what I have to say, so I am making an effort to facilitate communication among themselves as well as with me.

Will it fly? No way to know at this point, but I am a firm believer in "Fail Often, Fail Quickly." (SMILE)

Thanks again for writing this post and linking to the new site!

Douglas

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Thanks for the kind words Mike. You're right about adding some features. Received a lot of good suggestions already.

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Mark, it is BigLaw imploding, but it's also hitting many smaller firms as well. Firms that aren't charging the rates you mention nor up to their armpits in debt are still seeing quite a slow down in revenues, and making cuts. They might not be as drastic, or newsworthy, but they're being made all across the legal industry. As the cost of litigation has risen, and electronic discovery is a part of those costs just as associate salaries, and firm debt are a part as well, clients will adjust their behavior. I think we're seeing that, and that's why all law firms, from solo to BigLaw are going to have to adjust to what the clients are doing.

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No mystery. It's BigLaw imploding.

http://seclaw.blogspot.com/2008/12/biglaw-in-trouble.html

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I also tried/am waiting to see if Mr.Tweet actually gives anything worthwhile. I have gotten several of those A-listers but it hasn't been as revealing as I would hope. I asked Mr.Tweet about it and they reminded me that they are a beta service and "will get better" but how long...?

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Well thanks so much for mentioning it. I think that together we can learn a lot. I will certainly look forward to learning and passing along my experience as I do.

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Joe, as I often say when comparing the way I shoot to the way my wife does, she can afford to be a bit less exacting because she has actual Photoshop-like software skills. I have to be much more careful to get it right because I'm not as good with the software in cleaning them up later! :)

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I love shooting kids events, but I have to admit that I'm not nearly as well organized as are you.

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Dave, thanks for the suggestions. I hadn't thought about setting up a new Twitter account for it, but that's not a bad idea at all. That helps spread the word about some of the content, while still protecting the privacy of posters. Interesting, you've given me something to think about!

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Personally, i don't think it matters, in fact I'd rather see someone willing to use the expertise of a resume service and get the job done right than someone write it themselves and struggle. Unless, of course, I'm hiring for a writer. :)

I also agree about writing it on company time, there isn't much difference between that and the other things you mention, but I think we all know of managers who that would make a huge difference to, and corporate cultures where that would certainly be frowned upon.

Mostly, I was just curious to see if anyone was paying attention to all the things metadata could tell you about a candidate. I might, for example understand completely why any of the things you mentioned would happen, but might be more impressed by the candidate who knew enough to go back and edit that stuff, like Tony does. That shows some real attention to detail. I like that. I don't necessarily rule you out for not doing it and having things like other authors names, or your company's name as the author, but in a job search every little detail counts. If someone else is going to the trouble to check that detail, they're one small thing ahead of you right there.

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Countless people buy resume books, use career web sites, appropriate other peoples resumes etc. Does it really matter ? Also what's the difference between working on a resume on company time vs surfing the net, making personal phone calls, going outside to smoke constantly, or hanging around other co-workers desks to gossip.

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Usual social media methods may not work so well for this sensitive situation as you can't really find people who might be interested in joining by searching or communicating. The only thing you can really do is spread the word any way you can. Here are a couple options:

Create a support group on facebook or if some already exist then join and post on the wall about the community you've created. Make it a group for supporters though as many users will be hesitant to join a group for Child Abuse Survivors due to privacy issues as I'm sure you already realize.

Post about it on Twitter or even create an account for the network where you can post anything you change or add to the community as it grows.

Good Luck!

Dave

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Tony, that's very good, common-sense advice. Of course, my experience with seeing various resume's show up in e-discovery is that hardly anyone even thinks about what the metadata shows about their resume. :)

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I prefer sending them as PDF. Whatever the file format, I examine and edit appropriate metadata. I'll add keywords and description. I don't know if anyone is seeing it, but it doesn't cost anything but a few seconds of editing.

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Mike-

No problem, I just hope I was helpful! Let me know how things turn out!

Cheers,

Cody
Windows Media Outreach Team

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I like it! I always got annoyed by the Blogger comments-on-separate-page interface.

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Thanks Aaron, that looks like it'll do the trick for me!

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Agreed this should be built-in. In the meantime, I think this plugin will take care of your needs:

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/peters-collaboration-e-mails/

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Kyle, I am absolutely planning on that!

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Be sure to post about the results when they get released, a lot of us will be just as interested.

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Badges? We don't need no stinking badges.

Thanks for giving a talk last night. It was a blast. And you are right, the 15 second rule was very challenging.

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I guess I'm lucky no one named George Black has ever done anything worthwhile. I don't expect to break with trdition.

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