I just saw this tweet…

…and it reminded me of a story I’ve retold under the right circumstances for years, but never written down.

So a few years ago, I was a Lead Developer at Harte-Hanks Response Management, working on the IBM account. We were in the final stages of a huge project with a Monday morning deadline (well, internal deadline of Monday morning to show it to our IBM account team, Monday afternoon showing to the client).

I had worked 16 hours on Friday, 16 on Saturday, and was planning on an all-nighter Sunday. Other members of the team were pulling long hours, too, as their schedules and families would allow.

Sunday evening about 5:30, our manager, Mike Ortegon (one of the best managers I’ve ever had, and still at Harte-Hanks, by the way), showed up with Pizza Hut pizza for the whole team – everyone of course knows that geeks will work for pizza in a pinch.

Mike: “I figured y’all were hungry, so I got Meat Lover’s. I hope no one here’s a vegetarian.”

Scott Bellware (@bellware): “Actually I am…”

Mike: “Oh damn…”

Scott B.: “…except when I’m really hungry.”

Image credit: Matt McGee

I’ve been watching the news about the situation in Haiti with a heavy heart. The brief blurbs on the network news don’t even begin to do it justice. I strongly urge you to read this article:

Redefining tragedy when everything around you, as bleak as it is, suddenly disappears

I have to say, though, it’s really cool to see how social media and other new technology is making it easier to give, raising awareness, and perhaps most importantly, driving people to action.

One of the coolest and most effective things I’ve seen is the Red Cross 90999 Haiti text campaign, which has already topped $10 million, according to The Washington Post. Pretty simple: text “HAITI” to 90999 on your phone to donate $10 to Haiti relief via the Red Cross. It’ll show up on your next phone bill. Contrary to some claims on Twitter that it’s a scam, yes, it’s legit – you can see the announcement on the Red Cross site.

I also received an email last night from my friend Sean Patrick Simpson (@vpsean), who asked internet & business legend Mark Joyner (@MarkJoyner) to write a couple of letters that people could send out to their email list to encourage giving. I loved his take on it, so I thought I’d share it with you here (with permission):

3 Reasons You Should Help Bail Out Haiti

1.  Stability is good for the market

When countries fall under hardship they can fall prey to a number of unhealthy practices that are bad for legitimate business.

Black markets, looters, warlords …

Doesn’t exactly beckon capitalists to risk their money there.

In my estimation, the more countries we can trade with the better. I’m a believer in the "trade with all, war with none" notion of the framers of the US constitution.

2.  I think it’s a tax write-off (Check with your accountant)

3.  American Airlines is Giving 250 Free Air Miles for your donations over $50. Check it out: http://budurl.com/savehaitinow

So, I’m gonna go do this thing.  Not because someone guilted me into it, but because it’s a good idea for all of us.

Image credit: United Nations Photo

Got an email today from Breanna at Phenix & Phenix that there are 34 pages still available in the verysupercool Austin Makes a Book project. I’ve posted my submission, Untitled #3, here previously. You can view some of the other submissions on the new AMAB Facebook page.

Also, they’re looking for a low-key, Austin-y place for the launch party – needs to be able to handle 200-300 people. If you have any suggestions, contact Breanna at Phenix & Phenix or leave a comment here and I’ll pass it along.

While the rest of the world is experiencing job cuts and hiring freezes, it seems that there’s always an opportunity at Wal*Mart, regardless of your experience:

Image credit: austins_irish_pirate

Yup, the economic news for the new year isn’t what any of us had hoped. U.S. unemployment held at just under 10%, but only because 661,000 workers have “removed themselves from the workforce”, a euphemism meaning they’ve given up looking for a job because they believe none are available. The picture’s not particularly brighter in the rest of the world either.

This hits close to home. Odds are good that you personally know at least 10-20 people who are currently unemployed, or as is increasingly common, under-employed, i.e., they have some part-time work, freelance work, or a full-time position at significantly lower pay than they’re accustomed to.

Sue Connelly wants to do something about that. As founder of KIT List, “an email job posting service where employers and recruiters advertise permanent or consulting job opportunities to over 58,000 high-quality professionals,” she knows that the jobs are there – she sees them come across the list every day.

So what’s her big idea? Simple, really – a “pay it forward wave”, this week – a concentrated effort to be proactive about getting our friends back to work. Here are some suggestions she has for simple ways to help:

• Forward a job lead
• Write a LinkedIn recommendation
• Review a friend’s resume and give objective feedback
• Set a time to meet for coffee or a drink (heck, we all need one these days!). In-person meetings are important, it buoys spirits and sparks ideas and energy – plus it’s fun!
• Make some calls on a friend’s behalf
• Pass on a link to a good job site or a great article on job search
• Make an introduction to a friend in a company he/she is interested in
• Reach out to a colleague who has been laid off from your company to see how he/she is doing and offer to make connections for him/her
• Become a “Job Buddy” – commit to meet on a regular basis to set goals and provide gentle accountability (if you are both looking for jobs, there’s a double benefit)
• Offer to do some role playing for a job interview
• Tell (and write down!) four strengths/qualities you see in your friend
• Review or help write a strong cover letter
• Invite a friend to connect to you on LinkedIn with the purpose of giving them access to your network so he/she can see if you have contacts in companies on their wish list
• Help with career ideas, brainstorm on other ways to use their skills, suggest good companies to target, how to transition into a new industry

And, of course, you can share about this on email lists, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc.

If we each just did 1-2 of these things every day, we may not end unemployment completely, but we might at least help the people we know and care about get back to work sooner rather than later.

Image credit: Photomish Dan

OK, I admit it, I’m signed up with PayPerPost. I would never blog about a topic just to get a few bucks, but if I find the topic interesting enough to post about, I have no problem with a company tossing me a few bucks for the extra attention. If you haven’t read the Forrester report on Sponsored Conversations, you should.

Now as it turns out, I haven’t actually run any PayPerPost posts yet – there hasn’t been an opportunity for any of my blogs that I thought was a good match. But this morning I had an opportunity to post about a new Music Videos site, which also promises lyrics on demand. Being the karaoke junkie that I am, this seemed right up my alley, so I thought, “Hey,this could actually be a fit.” Only a couple of bucks, but all they wanted was a link.

So I went to check out the site, MuVids.com. The site looks great – all the hit songs:

So I thought, “Cool – sure, I’ll write a quick blog about this.”

And then…BAM!

Huh?

I refreshed the screen just to be sure I hadn’t accidentally clicked on an ad or something. Nope. Sure enough, this thing pops up after a few seconds.

OK, a bit user-hostile, but the content is worth it to me to do this…once. Or even once per visit. Fine.

And then…BAM!

WTF??? You gotta be kidding me! You want my cell phone number to view a web site???

Now maybe it’s all on the up-and-up. I could NOT find any fine print anywhere saying that they were going to automatically start charging you a subscription for ringtones, wallpaper, etc., like they do with those IQ and personality quizzes:

That said, though, given how prevalent those things are, and apparently how easy it is to rip people off once you give them your mobile phone number, there’s no way in hell I’m giving out my cell phone number to watch music videos, even with lyrics, or anything else for that matter. I’m not accusing MuVids of dishonesty, just stupidity.

Maybe this is a new site, and maybe they’ll get their head out of their ass and realize that they’re driving hordes of people away with this user-hostile interface, and if so, maybe I’ll go back and visit it, and maybe even post an update about it (for free).

In the meantime, I won’t be back. And this will be a test of just how transparent PayPerPost really is. The requirements for the post are:

Related content with a link to www.muvids.com with anchortext "Music Videos".

I did that. We’ll see if they pay me.

UPDATE: Yup, they did.