The China Syndrome

Published
by
Kristen
on August 18, 2008
in News and Smart Talk
. 1 Comment

The most unexpected photo finish from Beijing last week came from the Olympics Opening Ceremonies.  When two pictures of two girls unveiled that the adorable Lin Miaoke was actually lip-syncing to the voice of “less adorable” Yang Peiyi, the world’s reaction went up a whole octave. 

I overheard the following responses:

1.  WHO DO THE CHINESE THINK THEY ARE!?

2.  HOW COULD CHINA DO SUCH A THING TO CHILDREN? 

3.  THE CHINESE ARE SO DISHONEST!

4.  WHO CARES ABOUT LOOKS!? 

Personally, I find Yang’s round face and wide eyes much cuter than the Lin’s Mouseketeer-like poses but let’s look past their looks for a broader discussion and answer the above questions. 

1.  Who do the Chinese think they are……… AMERICA?!  Lip-syncing was our idea and we can prove it.  Roll back that footage of Ashlee Simpson and Britney Spears.  Hit the archives for Milli Vanilli.

2.  When the games end, challenge yourself.  Go through The Disney Channel, Nickelodeon, etc. and try to find one child that could be deemed flat out ugly (chubby doesn’t qualify).  The only face time America invests into an “ugly child” is for a reality TV makeover.

3.  Yes, China could fill a sky full of lies – and they did with fake fireworks – but I’m pretty sure the American airbrush was going to touch up each star before it hit our newsstands regardless.

4.  After Julia Roberts broke up with Lyle Lovett, did we ever see his face in the mainstream?  How long was it before Clay Aiken was transformed by stylists?  Other than a few stars who defy beauty for their rebel image (i.e. Amy Winehouse), who doesn’t care about looks?

Remember, the world is round. If we point the finger of blame far enough East, it’ll end up coming right back on us.

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Inspired by “1 Song, but 2 Girls.”  By Sky Canaves and Geoffrey A. Fowler.  The Wall Street Journal.  Wednesday, August 13, 2008.

Sub Par

Published
by
Kristen
on August 8, 2008
in Adventures at Entry Level
. 4 Comments

It’s worse than a poppy seed muffin.  It’s more dangerous than garlic.  IT’S THE MEATBALL SUB!

I used to wear a red shirt every second day of the week.  It was my stain saving technique back when Subway ran the “Sub of the Day” special featuring meatball marinara on Tuesdays.

It’s a beautiful sandwich – four plump meatballs lined up and blanketed with a warm, soothing sauce – completely worth matching an outfit to. 

But after yesterday, I might retire my red shirts for good. 

A former co-worker stopped by the office to catch up.  It was the lunch hour and what goes better with good company than good food?  And since he was an extra special friend, it had to be the meatball sub.

He had already eaten, putting me in the lunchlight… and the performance of “me and the meatball marinara” was rotten tomatoes. 

There he was, an aspiring lawyer heading to Harvard Law School in three weeks, telling me about an ultra-elite party he had gone to in Manhattan, going on and on about how classy the women he had met there were.  He termed them “Jackies.”

There I was, a meatball maniac holding a soggy sub roll sabotaged by sauce.  Each bite into one side popped a meatball out of the other side.  Fortunately, I had the wrapper on my lap so it caught the fallouts.  Unfortunately, my friend didn’t know this so it looked like I just picked the meatballs off my pants (and, umm, yeah, put them in my mouth).  The Jackie I resembled was Gleason…

From this day forth, meatball subs are only safe on Saturdays and Sundays.  But there’s more out there – tasty threats to our professionalism await us every lunch hour, five days a week.  Got any on your plate?

So-shall Net-work for Recruiting?

Published
by
Kristen
on August 1, 2008
in News and Smart Talk
. 3 Comments

A blog was recently posted on Fast Company by a job recruiting expert/ Internet skeptic, titled “Can Facebook Really Replace Employment Firms?”   

Well, did Match.com or eHarmony replace your best friend trying to set you up with “someone that would be perrrrrfect!?”  No.

BUT what match.com and eHarmony did do was give us singles a little hope that there is a vast supply of people out there looking for relationships.  Sometimes Internet dating works.  Sometimes it doesn’t.  Most importantly here though is that no commitment is made off of an Internet profile.  Until a social ceremonial site is launched whereby two computer-savvy individuals can walk their alter-egos down a virtual aisle while guests can click on a link to watch the e-wedding, we still have to meet the person who’s behind the screen and go through the process of dating.

It’s the same with employment firms.  Even if Mark Zuckerberg created the SUPER-POKING-JOB-SEEKING-WALL application for Facebook, eventually the candidate has to go into the office and go through the process of applying for the job. 

So shouldn’t we view social networking as a gift to employment firms? Not a threat!  Decision makers who are hiring at non-recruiting companies don’t really want to design their profiles to appease the 20-something job seeker anyway.   They’re more interested in posting pictures of their kids for their long lost friends that they just reconnected with, on Facebook nonetheless, to see.

Employment firms have an opportunity now to explore these Internet tools to better their jobs so that they can better the jobs of their clients and their candidates. 

So far, it’s working for us at EntreQuest.  Our networks on Facebook and LinkedIn have brought in outstanding Truby candidates for our clients. 

No comment on the dating candidates the Internet is bringing us singles though…

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Inspired by “Can Facebook Really Replace Employment Firms?”  By Tom Stern.  Fast Company.  FastCompany.com.

TMR: The Dark Knight

Published
by
Kristen
on July 25, 2008
in Truby Movie Review (TMR)
. 1 Comment

Amateur Afterthoughts:  By now, we’re all aware that its $158.4 million opening weekend earned “The Dark Knight” a record-breaking debut.  And it was deserved.  Between the acting, special effects, and theme of dueling dual human natures, the twisted but intensely interesting plot is highly conducive to audience participation.  We can relate to the characters and their struggles (except Two Face definitely has a unique medical issue).  We can feel the drop when Batman jumps off the top of a Hong Kong skyscraper (seriously, my stomach quivered).  We can assess ourselves for signs of the hero and the villain (The Joker surprisingly makes some good points, and fashion statements too).

Truby Takeaway:  Once upon a time, in a magical city called Gotham, hype was created for something and that something actually lived up to the hype.  Before the rise of publicity, PR and promotions, a show was a “must-see” because your trusted friends and family told you so, not because some Peanut m&m dressed up like the main character and gave it two thumbs up.  Today, “what critics call the best movie of the year” usually tanks at the box office, “the most anticipated new show on TV” ends up being cancelled after one season, and “Hollywood’s newest superstar” becomes a one-hit wonder.  But with or without the hype that resulted from Heath Ledger’s death, “The Dark Knight,” and particularly Heath’s thrilling portrayal of The Joker, delivered a motion picture experience that lived up to the buildup.  Hype is a precious privilege that belongs to masterpieces but has been abused time and time again by flops.  With what we’ll be expected to promote along our career paths, it’s good to know that publicity can go far but a great product in itself has potential to break records.

Read and Rewind

Published
by
Kristen
on July 17, 2008
in Tips and Wisdom
. 2 Comments

More than a million viewers have watched a YouTube video posted by law student Brian Finkelstein, who filmed a Comcast technician who fell asleep on his couch in 2006, waiting on hold for help from the Comcast home office to fix an Internet problem.  This video is now the top result when typing “Comcast” into the search box on YouTube.

Wait!  Before you go to YouTube, what was in your head when you read that excerpt? 

…

When I first read it, I saw a large burly man in a big, bluish-gray zip-up suit, completely reclined on a cheap couch – neck thrown back, mouth slightly ajar, ear to the phone. 

When I read it again to my parents, I could hear his snoring and a female operator listing hold options to the tune of cheesy jazz music.

When I read it a third time to my sister, the Comcast guy also had his hand in a half eaten bag of potato chips.  I guess he had taken it from the law student’s kitchen… 

Then we all went to YouTube.

What a letdown.  The 58 second video was funny like a Shakespearian comedy is funny – the plot was ironic and unexpected.  But it was just a Comcast “expert” wearing a red shirt and sitting on a couch with his eyes closed, while some angry messages from the student to Comcast appear.  That was it.

The sentence on its own though had made for the best comedy sketch in my mind. 

A picture might be worth a thousand words.  A motion picture might be worth millions. But words – words are truly worth an infinite amount of imagination. 

Ever feel like we underestimate that idea these days?

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Excerpt taken from “Groundswell.”  By Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff.  Boston: Harvard Business Press, 2008.