Re-enter re-enters

The Des Moines Register ran an article today about the I-80 Re-entry Job Fair for ex-offenders. It reminded me of re•enter magazine, which we did for The Annie E. Casey Foundation in 2004. So, editors Angela Paneck Dahman and Angela Daunis (and art director Karen Scherer, assistant editors Callie Dunbar and Chandni Jhunjhunwala, photo editor Erika Nortemann, editorial coordinator Betsy Rubiner and a staff of talented writers and designers), take another bow for the continued influence of your work. In my happy version of the world, somebody kept a copy of the magazine and said, "We need to follow this up with something." The job fair was that something. And nobody can talk me out of that happy version.  We were agenda setters of the best kind.

And I didn't realize re•enter magazine lives online, but here it is .

Talkin' 'bout your generation

In her WorkinProgress blog, Bridget Nelson writes about Millennials and asks what changes I have seen in students through the years. I posted a comment there, but also thought I would continue the discussion here.

Some thoughts on students through the years:

Students as a group have always had strengths and weaknesses and I frankly spent little time wondering how to group them. Sociologists make their living doing that and ad people love those demographics. The rest of us, though, see people with broader strokes. My students were generally hard-working, smart, funny, creative, concerned about broader issues, respectful yet spunky, and just nice people. Yes, there were exceptions, but I didn’t worry too much about those folks.

I wonder if the Drake SJMC attracts its own breed, and that does not include the lazy louts and ego-driven brats we read about. We have always expected a great deal out of our students, so people who do not want to commit to that amount of effort and can’t play well with others probably don’t apply to the program or leave early on. Some do stay and are miserable, making the rest of us miserable, but that applies to Boomers as well as Millennials.

The SJMC is big enough for opportunities but small enough that students have to work together, which means some of the crazy Millennial—or Gen X or Gen Y or whatever—traits are smoothed out by rubbing against other students’ personalities.

As many of you may have noticed, I don’t suffer fools gladly, so students who are not up to snuff would probably have stayed away from me, no matter their generation.

When I first started teaching in the 1980s and early 1990s, students were more into following the system than students of the 2000s were. I am not at all sure that is a bad thing, largely because the system has changed so much.

As director and as a professor in recent years, I did get complaints about how students dress, and I think that might be something to take seriously. I got a lot of comments about women’s blouses being too tight or too low cut. I also heard complaints about too casual dress—such as flip-flops in the office. I always hated to pass these comments on to students, but I did, so if I didn’t tell you to keep your breasts from being a focal point, you were fine.

I have lived my entire life with the Boomer stereotype. I wonder if the Millennial generalization will be as enduring.   It gets old, I tell you.  And so have the boomers.

PEP

Sending samples to editors

So, let’s continue the discussion about online portfolios. I chatted with four Drake alums, who provided some great perspective on how to manage samples and queries online.

This discussion is with:
• Amanda Repine (’02), senior producer, BHG.com.
• Samantha Thorpe (’95), editor, Country Gardens magazine.
• Lou Rocco Centrella (’00), designer and writer.
• Catherine Staub (MA '97), founder of Lexicon Consulting.


PEP: If a writer or designer does not have a Web site and wants to approach an editor electronically, how best to do that? Send a representative attachment or two? How many attachments are too many?

AMANDA: I would send a file or two (keep it small or zip it so you don’t clog the person’s inbox) with a note that she can send more samples upon request.

SAM: I request 2–3 clips to be sent as attachments in an e-mail from an editor. I prefer to see one long piece and one short to get a sense of their writing style. That leaves me the option to ask for more. Of course, attaching a resume as well is a good idea. The clips should relate as close as possible to home/garden content in my case.

LOU: Quick advice:
~Keep attachments to a minimum.
~Use a low DPI for email attachments unless printing is a necessity.
~Don't send attachments over 5 megabyte. Under 1 megabyte is ideal to
people you do not know.
~Technical mumbo jumbo: GMail (Google) allows attachments up to 20
megabytes but they're one of the least restrictive. Some email
providers won't allow attachments over 1 megabyte. In these case you
can compress files with a ZIP program and split attachments across
emails, but this means the recipient would have to piece it back
together (not ideal).

CATHERINE: My preference is looking at a Web site. If someone doesn’t have a Web site and approaches me electronically the most I’ll look at is 2 attachments with an initial inquiry. If I like what I see, I may request to see more. But I don’t want unsolicited inquiries with a bunch of attachments.



PEP: Is it time for me to tell folks to get a Web site? New grads, of course, have all kinds of Web goodies. Even people who graduated 6-7 years ago, though, are behind in Web skills. They’re still doing fine in a print world, but who knows if that will continue. (The future of the media, however, is not what I would like to discuss right now.)

AMANDA: While I think it’s very beneficial to have a Web site for potential employers or clients to access (esp. if you’re aiming for potential clients) it could also harm you more to have a poorly constructed web site than to not have a web site at all. If you’re in doubt of your web skills and really want a web site, hire out your professional site. If you want to gain new skills in web design, keep another site where you can play and develop pages.

LOU: I would say yes, a Web site is ideal for everyone. When I send a resume or a sample, people want to know more information about me. I would prefer to point them to my website where I control the content instead of them searching the web for God knows what they'll find. On the website you can put up previous articles, samples and other information about yourself.

SAM:: I think a Web site is a great idea. I need one myself. But I think when you contact an editor, it’s still a good idea to attach one clip and then give the Web address. That way I know the person is trying to make it as easy as possible for me to check them out. The Web site should be easy to use and simple to navigate. The “clips” section should be simple to find.

PEP: Those of you with Web savvy, is there anything on the Internet that is an easy first step for less savvy people who want at least a basic page with some simple samples? Where do these people start?

AMANDA: There are hundreds of sites that will tell you how to create Web pages – do a Google search, find a free place to learn (freewebs.com) and just start playing around. A blog is another great way to learn new technology.

If you’re serious about creating a professional site, surf the web for sites you admire and compile a list or urls. Talk to a web-savvy person and find out what kinds of technology are being utilized for the sites. There may be a basic components you could pull onto your own site with little effort or skill. More complicated code could require hiring a professional developer to create the features you want.

LOU: I recommend Google Pages . It's free and the page builder is easy to use. There are pre-built templates (Think PowerPoint) but it's also flexible enough to get more advanced with HTML code. You get a lot of space (100 megabytes) to post all the documents and photos you desire.

How to post samples online

Tracey (Doyle) Gorrell (’96), asks:

I've noticed more demand in the marketplace for an electronic or online portfolio to show and attract potential employers. Do you (or any other alums) have any suggestions or advice in this area? I work primarily in print, have never been a web designer (and never wanted to be one). Surely, there's a better solution than attaching a bunch of loose and random PDFs to an e-mail.

I asked alums, and their answers are in the next post. Tracey, though, answered her own question pretty well. That’s what I love about Drake grads!  (Tracey is a graphic designer/marketing coordinator for Syngenta Flowers in Lisle, Illinois.)  Her answer:

I did some poking around, stumbling upon coroflot.com and Creativehotlist. I was familiar with Creativehotlist as a job board, but didn't realize designers could post their portfolios there.

Between those two sites, I'm leaning toward Coroflot because I think the site looks a bit more professional and better organized. I posted a question to LinkedIn Answers and got a couple of responses from designers who recommended Coroflot, but I would also be interested to hear from any Drake alums who've used it.

PEP asks: So, has anybody out there used Coroflot? What do you think?

Berit's Pony: A Web site that works

Berit Thorkelson (’95) has ridden her TrustyPony all the way to a cool gig with Budget Living magazine. The pony is Berit’s Web site—trustypony.com, with the tag line “cool stuff for travelers.” It’s a fun and savvy concept—Berit finds travel goods that appeal to her, tries them out, and features those that pass the test on her site. She gives the goods on lots of goods, but my favorite remains this tiny Airstream trailer.
.
The genius of Berit’s site—and where Budget Travel comes in—is in the “For Editors” section. Here, editors can see samples of Berit’s travel-goods columns and order their own package of art and editorial. Berit’s already done the work; the editor just gets to shop.

Budget Travel found TrustyPony and contacted Berit about writing gear-related columns for them. Her first appears in May.

This is a nice example of how to use a Web site to have fun with your own interests and get cool writing assignments to boot. Berit developed the idea based on her travel writing experience for publications like Midwest Living, the Minneappolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, and the Chicago Tribune, She’s the author of “You Know You’re In Minnesota When…: 101 Quintessential Places, People, Events, Customs, Lingo, and Eats of the North Star State.”

How to ask for a raise

The Time Inc blog, “Work In Progress: A Daily look at life on the job,” which I wrote about in my last post, has an excellent piece on how to ask for a raise.

Check it out. Lisa Takeuchi Cullen has some sensible advice for those of us who are clumsy in the give-me-more-money category.

Ask PEP: Paranoid About Blogging

This is a new feature in which PEP answers questions from students and alums. Or anybody who actually asks her.

Tonight I stumbled across an excellent blog. I love everything about it, even this entry on her Aeron chair. (We have one in our office that's been orphaned -- quite the anomaly for an office of seasoned scavengers!) But probably my favorite reads were entries where she actually talked about her own job/employer [Time Inc].  But now I'm perplexed. Since when did blogging about work become an act a journalist need not fear getting fired for? And even more perplexing, when did employers begin not only sanctioning, but also actually sponsoring this type of activity?  As much as I would love to blog about my job, I wouldn't dare. I don't think I'm being overly paranoid, or am I? —Missouri Alum


PEP SAYS:  You are not being paranoid. People have been fired for blogging about their employers. The blog you mention, though, is in its own safe category for a few reasons.

First, The writer, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, writes about workplace and business issues for Time magazine and Time.com, so her blog is a logical extension of her job. The sassy attitude and tone of the blog appeals to the younger readers Time so desperately needs.

Second, and most important, Cullen doesn’t write about Time Inc. all that often, but when she does, she's pretty soft on the company.  Yes, she criticized the SI swimsuit issue, but that is hardly a new complaint.  And in one of her first posts, she wrote about getting sick and having great insurance, then contrasted her experience with that of a friend who didn’t have coverage. Made Time look quite appealing. When she is critical, she usually refers to past jobs.

Employees get into trouble with blogs for the same reason they get into trouble elsewhere on the job: poor judgment and being at odds with the corporate culture. Employer-sanctioned blogs are seldom a problem because the standards and expectations are usually clear on those beforehand. Things can get dicey with a personal blog if you’re not careful, though. Some suggestions for keeping your professional self safe:

• Learn company policy. Blogging is getting common enough that those HR folks are often already there with a handy set of guidelines. If not, by asking about policy, you’re already out in the open, which gives you an edge in the honesty department. HR may try to discourage you, just out of their own sense or corporate conservatism, but assure them that you’ll be the professional online that you are in the office. If that causes them to shudder, you have bigger problems than a blog.

• Do it on your own time. Blogging while you’re supposed to be page editing the issue that closes tomorrow is just not wise, no matter how profound your blog might be. Blog it at home.

• Be professional. Don’t air company dirty laundry, and be careful about the clean stuff. Don’t mock people or policies—in blogs or elsewhere.

• Think twice—at least—before you mention the company name in a blog. Is it really necessary to your point?

• Remember that a blog is a public conversation. You may be sitting in your apartment with the cat on your lap, but folks around the world—and in the corporate suite—can read your words once you hit that “publish” button.

Alumni News: Liz Muhler

Ragan.com, a public relations site, just highlighted Liz Muhler in a story on how she used her magazine experience to make Walgreen World magazine—the Walgreens corporate publication—read like a consumer mag. I’d like to give you a link, but the article is for members only—harumpth.

Liz, a 1998 Drake magazine graduate, was editor of Walgreen World magazine from 2000 to 2006. She left the magazine when husband Abe got a university teaching gig in Brooklyn, where they now live with toddler Daniel. Ragan quotes Liz:

“My background was in magazine journalism, and I brought a lot of consumer magazine experience with me when I came to Walgreens, Knowing what sells on the newsstand helped me tweak Walgreen World so it would be more like a consumer magazine than an internal publication.”

Here’s why Ragan says the magazine works (in a list that lacks parallel construction):

• A concise but conversational tone keeps readers informed and interested.

• Bring readers into the pub through multiple feedback channels and by featuring their editorial talents occasionally.

• Achievement-oriented stories boost support from the front line and the C-suite.

Liz continues to freelance with Walgreens, most recently on their first-ever social responsibility report.

Alumni News: Eric Dahl

On the first day at his new job, Eric Dahl learned that the startup Web site he just joined as editor had been acquired by Monster.com. Affinity Labs, which runs career-oriented sites like GovCentral and ArtBistro, became part of the Monster umbrella on January 4.

Eric’s home is TechCommunity, aimed at…well…the tech community. Eric acknowledges that the name does not exactly sing but he hopes to “do something about that.” His job is to give the site focus: “I'll be generating as much content as I can on my own, making deals to share stories with other sites, highlighting good contributions from community members, and moderating member discussions.”

One appeal of the new position was following a stellar boss, Steve Fox, formerly of Omni, PC World and InfoWorld, who recruited Eric. Since graduating from Drake in 1999, Eric had been at PC World, ending up as senior editor.

“After eight years at my first job out of school, it was probably four years or so past time for a change,” Eric says.

The moral of this story:
• A good boss is well worth following.
• Your career will take you in directions you may never have considered, so be open to new ideas and, especially, new media.
• It pays to be an expert in a content area.

The Blue Pen Special

In my career as a professor at Drake, I think I read somewhere between 8 and 10 gazillion student-generated words. Maybe more. Still, I am amazed at how many student articles are still lodged in my mind. They pop up in my consciousness every now and then. Lately, for example, I have been thinking about Kaelin’s profile on Keno Davis, which she wrote before he was formally considered his dad’s heir. At the time she wrote it, I was snarky about the idea of the son automatically inheriting a cool job. Obviously, Keno earned the position, and as I told Kaelin recently, she was ahead of her time.

Why are these things still in my head? Possibly because weird things like to hang on between my ears. Possibly because students’ writing is a part of them and therefore part of the overall memory package they left behind with me. In sharing their writing, students shared something quite personal with me.

In my editing, I tried to respect that personal connection. When I first started teaching, I edited student papers with a purple pen, but then that seemed too girly and opened me up to “purple prose” comments. I moved to green and finally ended up with Drake blue. I purposely chose anything but red because I wrote a lot of comments and did not want students to panic when they got a paper back that looked like something from ER. Ultimately, I learned, the color did not matter. Comments are comments, no matter if they’re in puce or chartreuse.

I always tried to be careful to write positive as well as critical comments and the positive were often easy. Occasionally, I had trouble coming up with something, so I resorted to “nice idea,” but I at least made the effort, knowing that writing, like all art, can be painful to create. (I must admit that I think I made more of an effort than some students, but those are not the ones I remember.)

Now I am on the other end of the pen, as a writer. And I am often surprised by how often I get no comments at all when I hand in an article. My articles often run much the way I wrote them, so the editors must like them. And they ask me to write more.

My son and I talked about this the other day. He’s also a writer, and he said he seldom gets comments from editors either. They use his pieces, also as he wrote them, and hire him to write more, so they obviously like them as well.

Do editors just assume we know the pieces are good? Didn’t anybody ever tell them what happens when you assume?

Then, yesterday, I handed in a piece, and the editor emailed me immediately. “This looks terrific…it’s in excellent shape…a pleasure to read,” she wrote. This perked me up so much I felt totally pitiful. Another editor recently told me she appreciated all my hard work, and that was good as well; that article--on chemobrain--was hard. And, in saying that, the editor gave me a nod while still not committing herself to any evaluation.

This isn't insecurity or an overactive ego. It's just that writing is largely a solitary profession, and hearing something from an editor is often our only feedback.

At least in the classroom, I knew students got my jokes if they laughed at the right times, and I knew I was losing them if they were looking off wistfully toward Olmsted.

My son and I have taken to sending one another our articles for comments. That’s pretty cool—sort of like Tom and Keno Davis without ESPN. (Drake should hire Josh to replace me—and move Drake to Bulgaria.) I just sent him a piece I wasn’t happy with. He made great comments, and he started with a positive: “This has good information.” And, while that seems forced, I had been worried about how substantive it was, so his note was a step above “nice idea.”

I understand that editors have too little time to get the job done, and that means rushing to get the piece edited and off their desk. In the process, they don’t always think of sending off a simple “good job” or "thanks for doing this" note. Those who do have happy little writers. Pitiful, but happy.

How Does LinkedIn Know That?

LinkedIn continues to be a perplexing little electronic doodad. The LinkedIn folks give me a list of people they think I should know. Most are Drake magazine or graphic design grads, so I see that connection.

Why is my son on this list, though? He has a different last name, he’s not a Drake grad, and as far as I can tell he does not list me as his mother anywhere. What is that all about? How does LinkedIn link us?

More confusing is why the son of my daughter’s Dutch parents is also there. Yes, I’ll back up. Ellen was an exchange student in the Netherlands and was treated quite nicely, so I consider those people her Dutch parents—at least for that year. And they had a son. How and why would Arnoud be on LinkedIn’s list of people I should know?

Anybody have any answers?

Happy Holidays

Like all good academics, PEP is on break during the holidays.

I wish you all the best this holiday season and in the coming new year—health and happiness and the wisdom to appreciate both.

See you next semester.

Martha Cans Blueprint

So, what does it mean that Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia “misjudged the market” for Blueprint, leading to killing the magazine and making the content once again part of Martha Stewart Weddings? The Web site, which includes the Bluelines blog, will continue.

So, how did they misjudge the market? Did they have faulty data on the demographics? Did they interpret the data inaccurately? Middle-aged folks tend to think having magazines for young adults is a real keen idea until they actually see what young adults want. Geez, Maude, those kids aren’t like me at their age.

One message, perhaps: Learn those Web skills. Another: If you have an interest in the business side, you might consider going that direction. It seems magazines need people who understand audiences and the bottom line, not just the latter.

That’s my two-cents worth. Yours?

A Mediabistro blog, FishbowlNY ran a good piece on the death of Blueprint.

Think Before You Link

In her Work in Progress blog, Lexi says LinkedIn is just another nuisance commitment, another thing to do—and a way to hear from people you had hoped you’d left behind.

Ideally, it is a means of connecting with like-minded professionals, which is how the alums in my first post saw it. I can see Lexi’s point, though. LinkedIn could be a grand opportunity for pests to expand their prowess and become even more annoying. And it is another thing to manage. Still, that should be far easier for you Millennials and Gen Y-ers than for this Baby Boomer. My first exposure to YouTube was on Oprah, so I am roughly 576 years behind electronically.

I do think LinkedIn has some flaws, and perhaps those of you with more technological expertise—read: all of you—can help. I can only list one school as an alma mater, so I listed Drake, as that is where I got my Master’s, my last degree. I would like to also add my undergraduate school, but am flummoxed about how to do it. Also, listing previous jobs is confusing. On my profile, you might think I was director of the SJMC since 1984.

And, is there a way to unlink folks eventually? Say I was really pleased my boss invited me to join her network three years ago, but she ended up being a real pill and I now want nothing to do with her. Can I delete that invitation, or is it permanent, because it is on her profile?

Still, any tool properly managed can be helpful. So, how to keep electronic networking in check? Basic common sense usually works in my book. As my dad always said: THINK $%#@!*&%$#@!*! And that was pretty much the way he said it.

A few tips on proper use of LinkedIn—and any other similar sites that might pop up:

• The basic underlying rule here is: Use the same logic and manners online as you would in person.

• When you want someone to be a reference for you, ask them first. Don’t surprise them. They shouldn’t have to learn of their role in your job search when they start getting calls. LinkedIn can be used as a professional reference site, so make sure you’re linking with people who really want you there.

• If you’re asked to join a network of a person you would not have in your physical network, ignore the invitation. You don’t want to be permanently linked in cyberspace to somebody you would do your best to ignore in person. I have read others who disagree with me on this point. For example, Jessica Bennett, writing in Newsweek (November 5, 2007), says this about getting invitations from people you’re unsure about: “On the Web, inaction can speak louder than words, especially if it’s a vague acquaintance who doesn’t know you’ve got better things to do. The safest strategy? Just say yes.” That doesn’t make sense to me, so if any of you can clarify what she means, I would appreciate your perspective.

• LinkedIn might not be the best way to cozy up to the boss, so inviting him to join could be a little too much. That risks getting into annoying territory. Again, you know your boss in actual person, so talk with him about this before you invite him on a middle-of-the-night whim.

• Avoid middle-of-the-night whims. That is one of the huge flaws with online communication—you can send something long before you have thought it through properly. Or, sometimes, at all.

• If your boss invites you to join, join. I would take that invitation, in fact, as a very good sign. This could get dicey if you’re not sure what you think of her or the job. If you ignore her, that could look like an insult or, at the very least, an unprofessional snub. Consider tactfully bringing up the topic in actual physical conversation. How to do that? We’ll cover that in another blog.

• THINK! $%#@!*&%$#@!*