The Guru and the Groupie- I saw Seth Godin in London!
My Pilates Trainer flashed a look of disapproval when I told her I was going to London to meet my Guru. No, I wouldn’t miss any workouts; she took offense to my use of the sacred term, Guru, in reference to someone in the Business World; even worse Marketing!
But in the sense that a Guru is a person who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and who uses these abilities to guide others; Seth Godin is my Guru.
He is the expert I turn to every day seeking enlightenment, and somehow he always manages to deliver. Every day(sometimes twice a day) he posts a thought provoking idea, concept or story on his blog. If this is starting to sound like hero worship, I am only getting started!
When Seth Godin announced that he would be in London, I instinctively knew I had to act fast. Immediately, I called my business partner and booked two tickets. Sure enough, the “London Session” was a sold out event , no advertising required. Luckily, the organizer invited us to a “Meet and Greet” with Seth, which resulted in a front row seat for the day.
Why were we so excited to see Seth Live? First of all, in Seth’s own words, “The real world still matters,”. Reading his blog, his 10 best selling books, and communicating via e-mail are not the same as looking someone in the eye, shaking their hand and seeing how they interact with people in real life. Throughout the day, Seth made himself completely accessible; no signs of ego or diva- like behavior. From the front row, I could imagine why a guy might want to shave his head and start acting like Seth; his character is worth emulating.
What would the other members of Seth’s tribe be like in person? I was curious to meet them too. The crowd of 400+ came from all walks of life; from a major music label to indie musicians, big companies like Shell, Microsoft and IBM to plenty of online marketing types. The non-profit sector was also represented, my favorite was a young Vicar in the Church of England, a testament to the fact that we are all in the business of trying to make our story heard!
More than anything, I wanted to see Seth think; and he did not disappoint. He has a very special gift for quickly turning individual questions into answers that interest and appeal to a broader audience. To illustrate how much Seth values authentic conversation over monologue, he spent 75% of his time with us answering questions and only 25% presenting. (This is an admirable goal for any speaker!)
The intensity of his stage presence combined with the never ending flow of provocative ideas, left us all with a headache. Mission accomplished, Seth! We were on our own in London to recover from Information Overload Hangovers. Luckily there is already a support group for people like us! Have you met your Guru lately?
Every Working Mom’s Wish
When you get the call that your baby girl has plunged down an entire flight of stairs, you are not in your office just around the corner, 100 steps from home, where you have strategically arranged to be on most working days. You are inevitably working across town or even across the country, and undoubtedly meeting with a new client.
You may not recognize the distraught voice on the other end of the phone, but it is your husband or babysitter, still trembling from witnessing the fall in slow motion. You quickly assess the situation and give instructions in a clear and decisive manner. The calmness of your voice is reassuring to the receiver, but it is foreign to you. “Meet you at the hospital,” and then you make a run for it.
It is rush hour and driving is not an option. You run for the tram, and miss it. Pushing through the rush hour crowd at Central Station, you find yourself sitting on a train that is standing still, inevitably delayed. Your new mobile phone is flashing low battery, so you conserve power and wait for news. You forget that you were too busy all day to eat, your stomach is tied in knots.
You don’t think that it would have been different if you had been there, you know it could have happened on your watch. But, you need to be there now. Your only wish is the wish of every Working Mom who tries to do the impossible every day; to be in multiple places at once. We wish that we could fly!
Filed under Women | Comments (2)
How Not to Get the Summer Internship of Your Dreams
Dear Madames:
My name is Hxxxxxx Xxxxxxx. i am a masters student in the Hague. i am looking for a part time job/internship in your esteemed organization.
i will send detials of my educational and professional background as soon as i get your response.
i would appreciate if you could forward your support, may be in linking me with organizations who would fit to my enquiry.
thank you in advance for your prompt and unreserved help.
Sincerely,
Hxxxxxx X.
Dear Hxxxxxx,
We are in fact looking for an intern at the WBII. Unfortunately, due to your decision not to use proper capitalization in your writing, I am unable to consider you for the position or recommend you further.
I would also like to suggest that you take a different approach with your letters of interest. Instead of asking for a favor based on nothing, you might get further stating how you would add value to the organization.
Good luck to you in your search.
Regards,
Suzy Oge
Think my response is a bit harsh? We get a lot of inquiries at the WBII from international students seeking internships and the number of poor quality e-mails and letters we receive is shocking. I don’t always take the time to respond, but lately I’ve been working more often with undergrad students and believe that they really benefit from feedback. This was not a borderline case with a simple typo either.
Here are a few tips for Internship Seekers.
1. Do not wait for your University to hand you a plumb internship. Seriously. What are your chances of receiving the following letter? Dear Billy, Based on your interest in Communications and your good work on the recent group project, we have decided to “assign” you a summer internship handling Public Relations for Queen Beatrix. Keep up the good work!
2. Tell everyone you know that you are looking for an opportunity and what your particular interests are. I was recently able to place a student with a company, only because the Executive I knew had also had trouble finding his first internship and had an unexpected soft spot on the subject. (The student would have gotten nowhere with HR.)
3. Communicate and, even better, demonstrate that you will make a tangible contribution. In these tough economic times, every company is paying closer attention to costs. If you could pick up the slack resulting from reduced headcount, etc., you will be seen as a solution.
4. Research the organization before you contact them. Take a few minutes up to a few hours or days (depending on how much you want a specific opportunity). If you are contacted for an interview, invest even more time to prepare!
5. Proofread! If you are sending an unsolicited e-mail to a stranger, that one e-mail is you! It is the only thing the receiver has to make his first impression about you. Don’t screw it up! Have a native speaker proofread your correspondence. If you don’t want to bother, then don’t bother sending the request.
Finally, remember it could be worse. Just be grateful that you are not graduating imminently and looking for your first “real job”. Invest the time it takes to secure a great internship and it will pay off when you are ready to look for your first job. Hopefully the job market will be much improved too!
Filed under Corporate, In the news, Unsolicited Advice | Comment (1)
Ahold’s stranglehold on Dutch consumers takes the “super” out of supermarket
One of Albert Heijn’s greatest strengths as a company is our ability to understand what it is that the customer wants and to translate that insight into innovative products and services.”
Ahold recently announced their 2008 4th quarter earnings of EUR 6.6 billion, a 12.9% increase over the previous year. Any chance that consumers paid the price for these financial results?
Filed under Corporate, Customer Delight, In the news, Just for fun | Comments (4)
