Social Media and the Expert Opinion

I run the social media program for a nonprofit in St. Paul. This has been a rewarding experience and I have learned much. But there is one thing I am struggling with and would like some advice on.

My nonprofit deals with some technical and political issues. And because I have been engaging our followers on Twitter, this means I have recently had to provide answers to some questions that are over my head for both technical and political reasons. I'm not going to leave questions unanswered (that's horrible practice), but I'm not going to BS someone. So I go to the appropriate expert staff member for the answer. I've been able to get appropriate responses within about 24 hours, which, when at-replying someone, is fine.

But now that it's the holidays, and now that we are taking some stances on some sensitive issues, I find myself frustrated. Hard questions are being asked (which is exciting!), but I have no expert staff around to help me answer them, because they are taking some much deserved paid time off. Meanwhile, hard questions go unanswered. What is a social media practitioner to do?

My instinct has been to email the appropriate staff with the question (as per usual) and to make a note to myself to follow up later. But I imagine a time will come when the person asking the question simply doesn't care any more.

Dream Workplace

Sort of in response to Conner and then Emily's posts about what sort of bar they'd like to operate, and in light of this morning's commute, I would like to share some of my thoughts about the kind of office I'd run if it were up to me.

Armchairs. I always find I do my best work when I'm sitting in one of my armchairs. I would like to bring this into my work environment.

Bigass windows. I love to look out a window, and that enjoyment is increased with the size of the window. Also, natural light is a natural source of happiness and relaxation. Natural light is important.

Full kitchen. This is for breakfast. You can't buy a decent breakfast for less than $10, and I'm not made of money. (Alternately, since the idea is that perhaps I am the proprietor of this office, I didn't get rich by spending $10 on breakfast.) I will roll into the office 30 minutes early and cook biscuits and gravy for myself and all my coworkers using the full kitchen.

Liquor at 3 pm. Let's not be prudes, here. Sometimes I work better when I have an ounce or two of Scotch in me. Sometimes productivity rises midway into a Guinness. And hey! Why not do like the Red Stag does and put a shot or two of espresso in that Guinness? Relaxing and stimulating. This is what we all need at 3 pm, and it's the prudes and jerks of the world who prevent us from having it.

Downtown. My plan is to stay in the Twin Cities, and the public transit system in the area is exceedingly downtown-centric. So, my office will be directly at or within three blocks of most major bus lines, which my house will also be at or within three blocks of.

This Is Adulthood

I am feeling quite grown up this morning for the following reasons:

• I got out of bed (not just woke up and turned over again and went back to sleep) fully an hour and a twenty minutes before I needed to
• I have washed a few dishes... in the morning!
  
• I am listening to Styx
• I will be getting into work early to set up for a presentation instead of keeping everyone waiting for my fumbling with a projector
• I am on my second cup of stimulant and I haven't even left for work
• I have resisted the urge to play Sim City 4 instead of get to work early

On Living Your Life

There are a lot of articles online that suggest you delete any evidence of having a good time or living your life from all of your social network pages. “If an employer sees a picture of you drunk at a bar, they will fire you!” these articles seem to suggest. “If you mention a hedonistic allowance, if you blog that your favorite movie is Blazing Saddles, if you use a swear on Twitter, kiss your job goodbye.” I reject this sphere of thought.

The Internet blends our personal lives, our professional lives, and our idealistic lives. This is definitely a good thing, but it means that everyone is your audience. On the internet, unlike talking face to face, you can’t have a distinct work persona, bar persona, and family persona. But it doesn’t mean you should pretend to be a flawless, one dimensional person online.

Please, do not read this as a rant against professional responsibility. I understand there is a time to be interesting and a time to be professional. The best of us can exist in the happy grey area between the two most of the time. I try to.

Instead, read this as a suggestion that we all have personal lives, and to sanitize the Internet of our personalities for the sake of seeming flawless to potential clients or employers is ridiculous. If an employer does not want to hire me because I have interesting, honest content on my social network pages, I can conclude one of two things:

1) The hiring manager is holding me to a very harsh double standard

2) The hiring manager is a very boring person

In both cases, I say: who needs ‘em? I want to work with fun people who appreciate personality and a sense of humor.

So I humbly bare to you my presence across the Internet: my website, my Twitter, my Facebook… hell, even my rarely-used MySpace. I have nothing to hide. I embrace my love for Blazing Saddles and Scotch. I (reluctantly) share with you the (mostly unflattering) pictures of me on Facebook. I want you to know that I--like you--am a complex, interesting human being.

I Love Adulthood

Let me just say: I love being a grown up. But, more specifically, I love being a grown up of age 24 with the metabolism that comes with this. Allow me to explain.

This morning I was in the co-op below the office where I work looking at food for breakfast. Normally I either get a yogurt parfait, six deviled eggs (which are expensive but DELICIOUS), or 4-5 stringles.

But not today. I felt like a change. I had a sweet tooth. And in the refrigerator case, between the deviled eggs and the stringles, were all the desserts. More specifically, right there, almost taunting me, was a whole stack of CHOCOLATE CRUMBLE CHEESECAKE. "See you at lunch, sucker. You can't eat me now; it's breakfast time," it seemed to be saying to me.

I stood and stared at the refrigerator case for three full minutes, conflicted. And then, under my breath I retorted, "Shows what you know."

Because You Asked

I have a plant in my cube at work. I have come to really love this plant. But there has been a bit of a problem: the plant had no name. So, a quest for a name began--with the idea that the piece I took from this plant and put in some water at home to turn into a second plant (hooray thrift!) would be [Plantname, Jr.]. Two people suggested I name the plant after myself: one person suggested "Art, Jr. and Art III," while the other was making a mean joke and suggested "Stupid." I also momentarily considered Ralph and Jefferson. None of these seemed right.

But I think I have it now.

The plant at my desk will be known as The 1987 Minnesota Twins.

Which, then, makes the plant at home The 1991 Minnesota Twins.

I'm not sure what kind of plant it is, so don't ask. I will say it looks like this:



(Note: Yes that is my work's only copy of the Chicago Manual of Style, and YES it lives at MY DESK BECAUSE I AM THE GREATEST.)

"Creative Casual"

So I am starting on some project work for a local marketing agency tomorrow. I asked the woman who is bringing me on what the dress code was (so I didn't dress conspicuously up or down), and she said, "Jeans are fine. It's called "creative casual."

Well, I googled "creative casual" and the first  (and only clothing-related) thing I found is how I intend to dress for work tomorrow: