alstin communications

Getting noticed on the ‘net is about more than what you say. It’s also what you show.

Whether you’re a member of Generation V (still holding on to a few much-loved VHS tapes), Generation You (forwarding YouTube’s latest and greatest to friends), or Generation “i”(making movies using your personal camcorder or even your phone), you’re part of a worldwide communication community seeing video step into the limelight as the virtual storyteller it was meant to be.

Today, videos can capture the mundane just as creatively as the magnificent.

Rather than being a product of Hollywood, videos can be made by anyone with access to technology that’s smaller and easier to use than ever before. It used to be that videos were done by “professionals” focused primarily on weddings and training pieces for businesses. Charging hefty fees not only for their time and talent but the technology, videographers wore black, toted truckloads of imposing equipment, and wowed clients with perfectly timed fades and dissolves.

Now, most people putting videos out there didn’t go to school for it — they learned by watching them. Since most affordably-priced digital cameras can create a thirty-second clip by pushing a button, videos have become commonplace. In less time than it takes to say, “cheesy-fade-in-of-your-Aunt-and-Uncle-dancing-the-Electric-Slide,” a video shot by an individual can be shared with a link and have nearly-instantaneous exposure to a mass audience.

For those looking for a relatively inexpensive and simple way to communicate a message, image, or idea in a compelling way, video has become a real technological treat. The trick is, deciding the What’s, How’s and Where’s that impact what you’re creating.

Unfortunately, more people making videos does not correlate to an exponential increase in quality. Thanks to the relatively universal access of cameras (and phones) that shoot video, there are plenty of cinematic sins being committed. Whether you decide to create a video on your own, or to partner with a firm with some experience, as with any message, considering and understanding your target audience is first and foremost. Are you entertaining? Or teaching? Informing? Or convincing? Sharing? Or selling? Finding out the best way to get your video in front of them is next. Will you use your own website? Someone else’s? An email with a link? A DVD or flash drive? Or social networking? Since sharing and compression issues can impact the ultimate success of what you create, finding someone who knows something about source quality and frame motion is important. If you decide that the best way to go about creating your video is to partner with someone who’s done some that got noticed for the right reasons (preferably without a “Gone Wild” reference…), then coming up with your concept/hook/plan/story is probably the most exciting part of the process.

With fewer creative limitations than print, video can capture just about anything you have in mind. And though a Matrix-like stunt sequence will definitely set you back in terms of budget, there are myriad ways to set your story apart without scaring the pants off of your Finance Department. Want proof that an effective and entertaining video doesn’t have to cost a lot? Mac — a company known for making the most of technology — has shown again and again that the message is just as important as the medium.

If you’re ready to talk about great careers with a great video out there, contact Alstin Communications about innerviews today. Our team and video partners have the experience and “eye” for video production that will make your experience less of a, well…production!

While today’s news must be taken with a grain of salt, or these days it seems a salt shaker (Hello! Balloon boy?!!), this job posting for a Personal Assistant by a Georgetown University sophomore has created quite the buzz.

Yep. Charley Cooper, age 19, Georgetown sophomore, needs some personal assistance with getting his laundry done, filling up his gas tank and “other random tasks.”

When asked if this was really all just a publicity stunt, the Washington Post reported that Cooper via Facebook (I can already hear the groans.) said that he was completely serious and hopes to start interviews in a few days “after the craziness of midterms has passed.”

Last Friday, the Georgetown Voice blasted him in a post on their blog, noting that Cooper “takes premature self-importance” to a whole new level.

So by now, you must want to take a look at the job posting Cooper’s peers have dubbed “easily the most absurd job posting ever”, right? Here you go:

I am a Georgetown undergrad student and part time employee in the financial services industry. I am looking for someone to take care some of my everyday tasks for 1 hr a day, 5 hrs/ week, $12/hr. I live on campus which would make things very easy convenient for a Georgetown student. The normal pay per week will be $60 ($300/month), even though on occasion it will be possible to work additional hours and/or receive bonuses at my discretion.

The schedule is completely flexible because I do not need to be around when you do the work. You can even spread it out over the course of the day. As my PA you will receive an email once a day by 9:00 am with a task list for that day and a time estimate for each task. Important tasks will be bolded on the list and must be done that day (even though everything on the list should theoretically be finished on a daily basis). At the end of the day you will send me an email telling me what tasks are incomplete or that all tasks have been completed.

Tasks such as doing laundry that involve a lot of waiting around (time when you could be doing other tasks or doing your own stuff) will be counted for the approximate amount of time it would take to do the labor involved. For instance, laundry will be counted for half an hour even though a laundry cycle takes 1.5 hrs to complete.

Job Requirements:

PA example tasks -Organize closet -make bed -Drop off / pick up dry cleaning -Drop me off / pick me up from work -Do laundry -Fill up gas tank -bring car for servicing -schedule appointment for haircut -Pay parking tickets -manage electronic accounts -shopping and running errands -other random tasks.

Preference will be given to applicants who are comfortable with city driving (car will be provided) and who are available when I need to be picked up and dropped off for work. Preference will also be given to Georgetown undergrads for convenience.

If this was Cooper’s attempt for his 15 minutes of fame, in this economy, his job posting just might do more harm than good to his personal brand. Others see no harm, including Corey Sherman, a Georgetown junior, who was quoted in the aforementioned Washington Post article as saying, “Listen, I think if there’s a market for it, and someone wants to do it, all the more power to him.”

So is this job posting a Little Lord Fauntleroy-ish for your taste? The case of another media opportunist striking again? Or are we all picking on a kid who simply should have known better?

The advent of e-mail drastically changed how business was done just a little over a decade ago. The rules of the game changed – the phones stopped ringing, the faxes stopped littering the floor below, and the inbox started piling up. While phones still do ring and faxes do come in, let’s face it – it’s just about all sales calls. And while just about every employed person I know is working less hours yet maintaining a heavier workload due to the economic slowdown and its buddies layoff, attrition, and furlough to name a few, no one has much extra time in the day to field sales calls. And e-mail, while we all still use it to connect, has seen it’s heyday. Logging in and checking your inbox in spurts has given way to the era of instant information. Sometimes your question is answered via status update before you even have the chance to make your inquiry. Enter Facebook, Twitter, and the newest latest – Google Wave - all will reign as the new kings of communication.

What does this mean to your organization? Is your company on the Facebook Fan Page bandwagon and “tweeting” new job opportunities via Twitter? Are you reaching potential job seekers before they even start looking for a job? A Twitter account or Facebook Fan Page may not produce instant results and applicant flow, building your network now will reap benefits years down the road. 

This Wall Street Journal article “Why E-mail No Longer Rules” is a great read on where we are going in the world of communications and why you and your employer should already be on the wagon.

As VP of Client Development for Alstin, I (happily) find myself on the road a lot, talking to clients, prospects, people in the media, etc.–and I attend numerous industry functions each month. On Alstin’s blog, I’ll let you know where I am and what I’m hearing in the wonderful world of recruiting.

Okay folks, our regular “Where’s Tony” segment is pulling off to the side of the road for an important rest stop.

Kanye West, Serena Williams, Joe Wilson, talk show hosts, and many, many others. Okay, so no one says we should take cues on civility and decorum from politicians and celebrities, but recent events do raise some interesting questions about how we conduct ourselves today. I for one am so grateful that I’m part of an organization where passion, creativity and an informal environment are valued, but we treat each other, our customers and our vendors with respect (at least I think so; I don’t remember anyone yelling out, “You lie!” at our last manager’s meeting).

I know people in recruitment are often not so lucky–and we want to hear about it!

Ever have a candidate send a text message during an interview? Been in a meeting where someone said something so inappropriate you still can’t believe it? If you’re reading this, chances are you’re in some way connected with human resources, so I know you have some real doozies when it comes to stories about lack of civility in the workplace.

Share some of your best stories on boorish or unprofessional behavior that may still make you cringe right here on the blog, or send an email to: blog@alstin.com. We’ll share the best of the bunch in a future post while keeping your identity 100% confidential. 

Until next time, see you on the road!

This is not another cautionary tale about cybercrime or identity theft. This is about a loss of another kind. The disappearance of something that we used to value highly and guard closely: our privacy.

In many ways, we are colluding in our own loss.

When I log onto my Facebook account, an empty square beckons. “What’s on your mind?” it asks. What it doesn’t say, but is implicit in its message, is: “Tell the world. And tell them in a way that will leave a digital trail forever.”

This should give anybody pause. Especially those concerned with personal branding. As an advertising and communications professional, I know that real consumer branding is created by a tremendous team. A combination of public relations, advertising, and marketing professionals who shape, finesse, research, and test the “face” that an organization puts in front of the public.

Individuals don’t typically possess that kind of savvy or have access to that kind of staff. They are incapable of researching the reaction to an electronic “post” that will be linked to them in perpetuity. That means that if I can look at the “interests” of an acquaintance’s 18-year old and see that she ” . . . likes to paaaaaaaarty!,” then so can future employers and college admissions professionals. And if I can see that a co-worker has updated their status with “I hate my job,” then so can our mutual boss.

Electronic communications present a unique point in time, and a true cultural shift, in our ability to broadcast who we are and what our personal “brand” is. Professionally, it can be a real opportunity. Personally, it can be a real threat.

A word to the wise: Individuals involved in social media should view every post, every tweet, and every shared photo as a kind of personal tattoo. If it’s not something that you want to stand behind forever, perhaps it’s something that you shouldn’t say at all.

Were you one of the lucky 100,000 to receive an exclusive invite to try out Google Wave the other week? Nah, me either.

Invites are available for the bidding over on eBay, but I went ahead and requested an invite through Google Wave’s sign-up form and you can too.

So what’s all the hype? Its highly likely that Google Wave will be the new email, IM, social networking, blah, blah, blah, all in one tool that will set the standard for how we communicate in the future – “set the standard” being the key words. It’s revolutionary and from what I’ve gathered, the possibilities look pretty darn cool.

Rather than rambling on and on with an endless list of bullet points offering up hilights on Google Wave’s pretty darn cool key features, check out this little video:

In addition to being excited by the possibilities, I also find equally fascinating the back-story of the Austrailian-based Google team – lead by two brothers, Jens and Lars Rasmussen and lead project manager Stephanie Hannon – who together pondered “What would email look like if it were invented today?”

In a blog post titled Went Walkabout. Brought Back Google Wave, Lars wrote:

We started with a set of tough questions:

• Why do we have to live with divides between different types of communication — email versus chat, or conversations versus documents?
• Could a single communications model span all or most of the systems in use on the web today, in one smooth continuum? How simple could we make it?
• What if we tried designing a communications system that took advantage of computers’ current abilities, rather than imitating non-electronic forms?

From available previews and articles, it looks like the team answered and addressed those questions quite well. Before we’re all in with the in-crowd and get an invite (or cave and bid a buck or two for one on eBay) this post, Google Wave: A Complete Guide via Mashable,  offers up a great overview. So get ready – pretty soon it will be surfs up for everyone on Google Wave.

Update: I eventually did get my invite, yay! I’ll be sure to send up a first hand account/review on the Google Wave expereince in a future post.

Web advertising, particularly targeted ads based on behavior, is on the rise. According to Business Week advertisers will spend $960 million on personally targeted ads next year, up from $708 million last year.

Not familiar with the term behavioral targeting? It is a technique used to collect information on an individual’s web browsing habits (pages visited, searches made, etc.) or geography and demographics to display relevant content in the form of online ads. Many of us have pretty much learned to ignore this type of advertising, but behavioral targeting ultimately works by showing content to people who are more likely to take notice and click through.

While behavioral targeting has certain advantages (including a more targeted audience and often times a lower cost) there are some disadvantages. Jon Leibowtz, Federal Trade Commission Chairman and a consumer watchdog, is talking about eliminating – or at least reigning in – behavioral targeting practices. The thought behind his proposed changes is that behaviorally targeted ads can induce a customer to make a purchase or decision that they would not have made if they didn’t see the ad. But wait a minute? Isn’t that the purpose of advertising? The FTC and some consumer advocates however further claim that the general public is not made fully aware of how their information will be used or shared which (let’s admit) can be troubling.

The increase in behavioral targeting may also backfire. Internet users are already saying that they do not like being targeted. A recent survey by the University of California at Berkley and the University of Pennsylvania found that 66% of Americans do not want marketers to tailor online ads according to their interests. Even young adults ages 18 to 24 were more likely to say “no” to behavioral targeting than to accept it. 

While I believe that behavioral targeting is here to stay in some way, shape or form for the long-term, what are your thoughts? Comment here or take this week’s poll.

Last week the Dow closed above 10,000. Google delivered a better than expected earnings report. And last night, the Phillies beat L.A. 11 to zip.

It is nice to start off this work week with some good news. Here’s some more for you. A brand new survey on recruiting in today’s recovering economy by talentRISE found that recovery-related recruiting began in 3Q 2009 and will peak in the first half of 2010. Get the full download here.

Are you ready for the recruiting rebound? Here’s some solid advice from business leaders attending the World Business Forum in New York City:

Here at Alstin we are always looking for great places and delicious things to eat. If we were based in St. Louis, rest assured this would be the water cooler topic of the week. Wondering why healthcare premiums continue to skyrocket? Enter the bacon cheeseburger served between two Krispy Kreme glazed donuts. This, my friends, is a sign of the Apocalypse. I just don’t know what to say here. Yum?

So that print job you just received didn’t look the way you expected it to and you’re wondering who dropped the ball.

Printers are always suspect and that designer you talk to might have been thrown off by the yellow tint in his Buddy Holly glasses, but I have a better guess. Look at your monitor! No, I’m not coyly pointing out your reflection. I’m talking about your screen. Many people don’t know that monitors need to be calibrated to give a decent approximation of what the person on the other end of the job is showing you. You need to set your black point, your white point and your gamma. Then there’s the whole color thing!

Macs come with pretty good monitor calibration software (assuming it’s used), but you may need to step outside of the basic Windows suite in order to straighten out your PC. At the very least, your monitor should be adjusted so that a gradient of black to white, running across your screen, does not clip at either end. If your dark end is pure black for a bit or your light end is pure white, then that means you’re getting clipped and your contrast is probably set too high. Take a look around online. There may be some freeware that can get you in shape.

“Gamma” is the term for where the middle grey falls. One would intuitively think that duh, it falls in the middle. 50% right? Well, here’s a nice little quirk for you. This point is adjustable, making your screen have a lighter or darker feel without clipping your endpoints. On top of that, there’s one gamma that’s used for the web (PCs are set for this point) and another for print media (where Macs are), giving PC screens a darker feel than their Mac counterparts. And hello Mac users, your latest OS (Snow Leopard) now sets it’s gamma to be the same as PCs. Print may not be dead, but the web and video are demanding more and more attention!

Once you do get your monitor calibrated, take notice the next time you send something to your printer. Does it match what’s on screen? If it does, consider yourself lucky! You really need to calibrate and match your entire workflow, from the monitor to cameras, printers, scanners, etc. It’s enough to make you see red! (Or is that orange?)  - j

Are we sometimes forgetting that there are real people behind the resumes?

When I came across this article a while back titled Be Nice to Job Seekers. (They’re Shoppers, Too.) I shared, tweeted and added it to a blog post right away. It’s core message: How an organization treats people “well before any of them become employees, says a lot about it, its brand and its values.”

True dat!

I’ve been mulling over this issue yet again after reading a couple of back-to-back blog posts in recent weeks. The first was titled We Should Be Ashamed (ouch) by Kevin Wheeler. He touched upon some of the real frustrations those in his circle are encountering while on a job hunt:

· Poor quality (and that’s putting it nicely) career sites

· The all too often “tedious process” involved in uploading a resume into an ATS

· A total lack of response – even when the applicant had been referred by an employee (This one makes me sad. So not good!)

Mr. Wheeler is not alone. I am hearing much of the same from my circle and some of this, let’s admit, is not new news.

I’ve had people ask me more than once something along the lines of, “Is it really worth it for me to submit my resume through a company’s career page? Every time I fill out one of those online forms, I get a standard ‘thank you for submitting your resume’ message and that’s about it.”

This post on Laurie Ruettimann’s always entertaining Punk Rock HR blog posed that same question from a reader:

I have had a feeling that all my responses to internal job boards are being sucked into a vast black hole of effort and time. Over the years I can honestly say I have only been contacted by a single company and I have responded to probably more than 100 postings … how else is a candidate supposed to get in touch with the right people?

Even before the advent of today’s social networking websites, HR has benefited tremendously from the network created via employee referrals. Employee Referral Programs, particularly those that are well thought out and executed, continue to be the most productive pipeline for good candidates. My advice to the weary job seeker usually starts with: Let’s take a look at who you know.

Now, let’s consider another question often floated about by job seekers – whether active or passive – to their friends, family and acquaintances: “What do you know about COMPANY X?”

What’s the word on the street about your HR Department? If it’s overwhelmingly negative (“Don’t bother with ‘em, that company’s HR Department is just a black hole!”) you’ve got a real problem.

Take a look at how your organization is managing its flux of resumes (and the people behind them) these days. Be sure that you are implementing the processes that demonstrate courtesy and respect for their time and interest. There are lots more people checking out your job openings and ultimately talking about their experiences.

Recruiting in the digital age is constantly evolving and it’s important to keep pace, stay focused and organized. Building relationships is all about communication. If you create a centralized area where your company, your employees and prospective employees can interact and keep in touch, you’ll remain ahead of the game. Alstin Communications develops Career Network Landing Pages – a destination on the web that engages ‘job browsers’ while centralizing your digital recruiting footprint. Read all about it in this month’s iOnline.

By the looks of this blog, you might think we over here at Alstin eat, breathe and sleep all that is recruitment and retention. Every so often we’ll stray from the HR talk and bring you more on some of our favorite things, places and activities that also populate our daily lives.

One of my favorite things in Alstin’s new location is the large picture window near my desk. I am the lucky AE who sits facing a fabulous view of the city while I work.

I can see from my seat the hustle and bustle of the Center City streets, the neon sign of the restaurant EL Vez – a favorite for happy hour – and I even get to watch a helicopter take off from the launch pad at Jefferson Hospital to save someone’s life.

My fellow AEs and I have developed our department to feel comfortable to us all. We enjoy the natural light beaming in everyday, and will often leave the overhead lights off to let the sunshine fill the space. I believe it is true that sunlight stimulates happiness. On a bright sunny day we will open the window and breathe in the fresh air as opposed to the usual office ventilation. The feng shui of our space seems to give us the energy and enough comfort to enjoy  the day to its fullest.

With the number of well-known healthcare institutions I have worked with, I’ve seen that sunlight is often one of the key factors during renovations and expansions of patient care areas to aid in the speedy recovery of patients.

According to a study in Psychology Today:

Patients in recovery rooms full of natural light take less pain medication, and, days after surgery, they report lower stress levels. Their hastened healing may be due to sunlight’s ability to stimulate serotonin production, which helps regulate mood, sleep, and sex drive.

Now, if the sun can do all of that, think what it can do for employees – let the sunshine in!

In Part One of my blog post on RFPs and Ad Agencies, I made the argument that for many reasons, RFPs are a pretty lousy way to select an ad agency. I also promised that in Part Two I would offer some new ideas on how to select an agency.

My plan was to oh-so stylishly deliver a variety of solutions to you dear reader, and my suave, brilliant insights would change the way clients select agencies forever. I wanted to include both my own fascinating ideas as well as those from leaders in the ad industry–and in doing that research I came upon many great concepts that I feel deserve serious consideration. They include face-to-face interviews instead of RFPs, a client-created sample project sent out to a small number of agencies, a “one and done” where an agency chooses one previous project they believe best represents their talent and experience, and many more.

But the more I worked on this post the more I felt that polished paragraphs of pretty prose just wouldn’t do. Perhaps this is how we got ourselves into trouble in the first place. Both the questions and responses of RFPs are full of brushed-up, layered language of corporate speak that really don’t get either side anywhere.

What did get my attention was how almost every idea I liked had two common themes: honesty in the selection process and a healthy respect for both the agency and the client. With that in mind, I’ve decided instead to list some simple Do’s and Don’ts when shopping for an ad agency:

DO be honest about why you’re searching for an agency.

Are you doing a search because it’s been three years and the Purchasing Department says you have to? Because your Marketing Department is stretched too thin? Because you want an agency with more experience in social networking? Trust me, if you’re up-front about the reasons for your search, you’ll get a higher level of response, and a better shot at finding an agency that will closely match what you’re looking for.

DON’T invite 75 agencies to participate.

I know everyone wants to do their due diligence and show what a thoughtful, colossal process they’ve created (the ol’ CYA methodology), but let’s face it: the last thing in the world you want to do is read 75 RFPs, interview 12 agencies, have a selection committee narrow it down to 4, etc.–and the last thing an agency participating wants is to be one of those 75.

DO tell the agency what you want.

If your employment brand for the last 15 years has been dictated by marketing and you really need an agency just for media strategy and planning, say so. Want someone to deliver a series of microsites and then go away? That’s fine too. Just tell us. Really, it’s okay.

DO be honest and specific on what your organization considers important–even if you don’t agree with it.

If you’re a Silicon Valley software company, and you know that your company strongly prefers its ad agency to be local, just say so. Certainly that bias will eliminate some wonderful agencies (including us!) but I guarantee you that any agency would rather know the “lay of the land” from the outset than pour time, money and more effort than you can imagine into a scenario that has no chance of coming to fruition. Also, if handling one of your top three competitors instantly disqualifies an agency, common business courtesy also says you should let them know right away.

DON’T believe the standard “bigger is better” hype–or believe it at your own risk.

Some of the best work being done today is in the smaller shops where you’re treated like a king, they turn around projects quickly, things don’t get lost in the shuffle and they have the right client service philosophy. Of course, there are terrific national agencies as well, but the fact that an agency has a three person office in Chicago, D.C., Chattanooga and Houston doesn’t really mean much, especially if the research, planning, creative and strategy are all coming out of Boston–and your organization is in Tampa.

 DO your research.

So much of the herculean effort that organizations put into creating, distributing, reading and scoring RFPs could be better used researching agencies. Who’s known for great branding? What do people in the media say about Agency X’s customer service record? Who does the ads for Company ABC that you like so much? etc.

DO work really, really hard to get past the B.S. in any RFP or presentation.

A standard RFP question is: “What makes your agency unique?” It’s a great question, but if you don’t watch out you’ll get seven pages of flowery language from their best copywriter. Be sure to ask for concrete examples of work and results. And those smiling, super-experienced, ultra-bright people sitting across from you doing their polished pitch? Find out if they will be directly involved in your account or if they are just part of a traveling sales show–which means that once they win your account they’ll jettison all the work to someone with one year of experience, and you may never see those smiling faces again.

DON’T ask for confidential or sensitive information from the agency if it isn’t relevant to your search and really don’t ask if you aren’t prepared to tell the agency anything about your organization.

Many RFPs ask for a staggering amount of financial and other proprietary information, but refuse to divulge the most basic facts about their marketing function, recruiting budget, etc. No fair.

DON’T ask for speculative creative, research or media plans.

Demanding detailed, even exhaustive, examples of an agency’s capabilities and experience is okay; asking for free work is not.

DO be respectful of the agencies’ efforts and keep them informed.

Any agency that takes the time and effort to participate in your selection process deserves to be treated professionally and with respect. That includes regular status updates (especially if the process gets stalled, as it often does) as well as a personalized email or phone call thanking them at the end of the process. If that would take too much time or “we’re not allowed to do that,” then your search methodology is seriously flawed and needs to be changed.

The best part of our blog is when our readers write back with their feedback and questions, so please comment. We want to hear what you think!

Ugh. There he was. The most well-known former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, telling the world that the jobless rate is likely “to penetrate the 10% barrier and stay there for a while,” during ABC’s “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos this past Sunday.

He went on to say that unless there is an “increase of more than 100,000 a month, you’ve still got the unemployment rate continuing to rise.”

Couple that with the slower trend for recovery on the job front in recent years, as evidenced by the chart below, what does that mean for all of us engaged in recruitment?

No one is committing to a trend in recruiting yet. Even the article that accompanied this chart in the NY Times noted:

The sharpness of the decline in employment this time could indicate that employers will have to step up hiring more rapidly when the economy does rebound in order to meet rising demand from customers. Otherwise, it could be years before the United States has as many jobs as it did at the end of 2007.

Take our poll – at the top right of this page – and let us know: Is your organization gearing up for increased recruitment in 2010?

Having moved offices with Alstin twice in the past and having just moved myself twice in a six-month period, our relocation to 121 South Broad Street went pretty well!

I’m a big fan of purging stuff every once in a while—and moving is an excellent catalyst for streamlining your life. I think I get the cleaning bug from my mom, (whose nickname—given by me, my brothers and sister—is the “White Tornado” due to her cleaning fury episodes). Going through ten years of accumulated presentations, hand outs, project sheets, internal marketing materials and the tschokes from various vendors, I was astonished at how much I was holding onto in one small office. A few of the items that I came across made me laugh out loud.

· Careerbuilder candy jar – (What happened to our monthly delivery of Twizzlers and bubble gum?)

· HotJobs travel coffee mug with a square bottom that doesn’t fit in any cup holder I’ve come across.

· CD of “lounge music” from eVite.com that I acquired at a SHRM event when the site was first launching (yes, now I really feel old).

· Yahoo! HotJobs Super Recruiter Action Doll complete with brief case, cell phone, glasses and cape!

· Careerbuilder Monkey Ad promo pieces

· Various Trump Monster stuffed animals, coffee mugs, note pads, calendars, stress balls, eye balls, you name it.

After successfully filling many large trash bags with files dating from 2001, I organized six moving boxes, labeled all my items with stickers and hoped for the best.

Now, it’s Day Five and I’m looking back on the progress we’ve all made:

With the help of two co-workers (thanks Steve & Joe!), I successfully put back together my desk on Day Two (the mover’s weren’t able to figure it out). The bruise on my knee (which I got after the desk fell apart on me) is now a faded memory. My Mac was up and running (of course!) and Internet and email access weren’t far behind which was a miracle in itself (thanks Tony R!!!). All of our stuff is finally moved over – no thanks to the rain delay from Tues night…can’t move in the rain! And, when the rain stopped, building rules said, “Can’t move after 11pm.” Go figure.

Things I really love about our new space:

· I can open the window in my office AND I have complete control of my thermostat.

· It’s on Broad Street (so now I can say I work on the Avenue of the Arts!)

· I can still hear the police and fire sirens very clearly.

· The bell at City Hall is much louder (it’s a nice way to ring in each new hour)

· I get better radio station access from our new location (you don’t know how sick I was of listening to 106.1 – not that it’s a bad station or anything…)

· The sun comes into my office window around 3:30 and gives a nice sunny lift to my day.

· When I shout—looking for people—they can hear me!

· The ladies room has three stalls (we have a lot of women in our office) and hot water (if this doesn’t seem like a luxury item to you, consider yourself lucky).

Things I will be getting used to:

· Dialing “9,9” before every call

· Smaller, but greater quantity, of elevators

· Very cold air conditioning

· Everyone’s new location and “phone buzz”

· Walking up Sansom Street instead of Walnut (I’ve headed for our old space three times so far before I realized where I was/wasn’t.)

So even though my office is chaos and filled with boxes and files, I’m looking forward to the future and all that it holds. (This time I won’t accumulate so much stuff!)

Branding was always big. We just didn’t always have a name for it. Brand familiarity started with a typeface a company used. Logos came along. Then advertisements worked to define products, services or — in the case of recruitment advertising — jobs. Whether a brand was big/flashy, clever/cool, or corporate/simple, it was recognizable because you saw it in a magazine or in the newspaper.

The exposure was no accidental occurrence. Organizations paid big money to have public relations firms, advertising agencies and product placement companies “develop” their brand and then to get it “out there”.

But in the last year alone, we’ve seen a momentous shift in marketing priorities and the way a brand gains familiarity.

It’s not, “What are we going to say in our ad?”

It’s, “What are we going to say on Facebook?”

It’s not, “Who will we get to talk about our new product?”

It’s, “Who will we get to Tweet?”

It used to be that the first thing you saw when you went to an organization’s website was its brand. Now, one of the first things you notice is that it has a presence on Facebook. Suddenly, adding one trusty little clickable logo is one of the most important boosts you can give to your homepage. Especially in an economy that’s still on the mend, the number one priority for most organizations — financial companies, universities, health systems, and yes, communications firms like Alstin — is getting noticed by the most people for the least amount of money. And for marketers and employers of all shapes and sizes, social networking is delivering.

Whether you gain “fans” on Facebook, blog about a product you know people are going to be pumped about, or put your best jobs on Twitter, social networking sites are taking over where traditional, overpriced venues left off — and brands are benefitting. For instance, by connecting your brand with Facebook’s, you’re getting a domino effect of exposure that even the most carefully audited subscriber/circulation report (remember those?) couldn’t beat. With Twitter, someone can talk about how impressed they were with your company and your CEO — who saw the “tweet” — can thank the person minutes later (talk about effectiveness tracking)!

It’s a high-priced newspaper’s worst nightmare and a well-developed social networking site’s dream come true. Speaking of the stuff of dreams…has anyone calculated the true cost of all the free advertising Facebook is getting each time a visitor to a website with the “FB” link eyeballs it? We at Alstin are partnering with our clients to develop compelling content for Facebook Fanpages. We’re giving them recommendations on using Twitter to market their career opportunities as well as their top performers. And instead of buying expensive TV time, we’re uploading videos to YouTube.

It’s still Branding.

It’s just brand new.

New can be scary if you’re not in the know. If you’re ready to become part of the social networking movement but aren’t sure where to begin, email me at blog@alstin.com.