Category Archives: Community

Too Much, Too Many, Too Few II

By johnsumser | Published: January 14, 2008

(January 14, 2008) A great strategic plan is animated, rational and showcases the manifestation of a vision. It is a wonderful story with archetypal plot elements. It is a triumph of logic and reason over chaos.

Reality is never like that.

Reality is paradoxical, inconsistent, occasionally flat. It is rarely logical or reasonable. When reality resembles a great story, all of the BS detectors go off like car alarms after a small earthquake.

Seeing the future changes it.

Here are some of the pieces of the paradoxes. Notice the inconsistencies.

  • There is a labor shortage.
  • World population doubled twice in the past 50 years.
  • Population is declining in the top 50 Industrialized countries.
  • The population of the US will grow by 20% over the next 30 years.
  • The nursing shortage is global.

Part of the trouble lies with the old fashioned need to generalize for global media markets. When you watch something like Crossfire or the Daily Show, you come away with the impression that National and Global trends are directly applicable to local conditions. It’s the same paradox as the “Strategic Plan / Reality” problem. Many things that can be generalized at a National or Global level fall apart in a local context.

Pundits have an easier time of it when they sound like a strategic plan. They are more successful if they can persuade you that reality is coherent. When their stories sizzle and swirl, their wallets fatten.

Change is definitely brewing. Today’s daily links on Recruiting.com emphasize ideas that are slightly out of the American mainstream. They seem to be coming our way. In a highly collaborative world, the hierarchy just doesn’t make very much sense.

John Sumser. – © 2008 Two Color Hat, Inc. Santa Rosa, CA

Also posted in All, Issues, John Sumser, Networking, Roadshow Content | Comments closed

Arbita, Charter Underwriter

By johnsumser | Published: January 10, 2008

(January 10, 2008) Yesterday, Don Ramer made a very substantial commitment to the success of the Recruiting Roadshow™. Arbita, his highly successful Minneapolis company has stepped up in several significant ways.

If you’ve been following the story of the Recruiting Roadshow™ from the beginning, you’ll recall that Ramer and Arbita have been buying lunch all the way along. As our first sponsor, they’ve been in on the planning and execution of the Roadshow since before there was a Roadshow. Don has always been there with a word of encouragement or just the right bit of financial support.

Now, however, that commitment is becoming major league.

We’ve organized the Roadshow so that it’s sort of like Public Broadcasting. Free to the audience and supported by Underwriters, Sponsors and Friends. Each of those groupings involves specific resource commitments. (Let me know, by the way, if you’re interested in becoming a supporter.)

Ramer has agreed to be an underwriter for all of the events in 2008. The deal includes an array of other bits of logistics and technical support. Don and his team give us the foundation necessary to really grow the Recruiting Roadshow™ in 2008.

Thank you.

John Sumser. – © 2008 Two Color Hat, Inc. Santa Rosa, CA

Also posted in All, Arbita, Don Ramer, Friends | Comments closed

Facebook 2

By johnsumser | Published: January 4, 2008

(January 04, 2008) Research tool vs connection tool. That’s  the difference between Zoom Info and other social software services, I think. I’m learning a lot about Zoom. That makes my experiments with Facebook all the more interesting.Somewhere in my web reading yesterday, I noticed one of those quotes that gets me going. Roughly, “Experts say that 40% of your hiring should be through referral networks.” I’m not sure that I have any idea what that means. As usual, the experts went unnamed.

A network involves people who you can call to get things arranged. A network is a potentially collaborative web of connections and recommendations. A network is made of people with whom you have connection.

Facebook manages to give the feeling of intimacy and respect in a way that I have not seen in other online communities or social software toolsets. Somehow, the protocols of offline friendship are maintained and the feeling of closeness is fungible.

(I should note that my children are a little less than perfectly happy about my entre. I understand this to be a reflection of the dynamic I am trying to describe. Facebook manages to create a sense of home-iness. It cements networks with a feeling of immediacy.)

There are several interesting applications available to prospective employees. Steven Rothberg’s CollegeRecruiter.com has a number of applications including a search interface and a flow of the latest internships.

Ageneral search on the word “jobs” produces an enormous windfall of opportunity.

I am planning to get to know the Jobster application over the weekend.I

John Sumser. – © 2008 Two Color Hat, Inc. Santa Rosa, CA

Also posted in All, Friends, John Sumser, Recruiting, Roadshow People, Steven Rothberg | Comments closed