Insight Into Whether or Not Men & Women Can Be "Just Friends"
What do you think?[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_lh5fR4DMA&w=420&h=315]
Cats of All Sizes
I recently watched a TED talk by Beverly + Dereck Joubert about big cats in Africa. They spent 3 years studying a leopard they named Legadema, Setswana for "light from the sky." How beautiful is that? Perhaps my emotions are running high from all the changes I've been experiencing - mostly overwhelmed with happiness, but I teared up many times during their 20 minute talk. I'm not going to ruin the video for you but I will say it was heartbreaking to learn how these big cats are being decimated by poachers and hunters. According to the Joubert's, over the last 50 years: Lions have gone from 450,000 to only 20,000 today.
Tigers from 45,000 to only 3,000
Cheetahs from 50,000 to 12,000
and Leopards from 700,000 to only 50,000.
From global warming to killing animals needlessly, we have lost touch with nature. But this is something we should easily be able to prevent. How could we, as humans, knownigly be responsible for this type of behavior? In the video, they pointed out that killing one lion disrupts an entire ecosystem. The new lion that enters the pride, kills all the cubs and sometimes even the mothers protecting them in order to establish his power. It's interesting to learn how violent nature is, and in this case - as unnecessary as war itself. But humans are causing that added violence.
Before you lose hope completely, there's a beautiful and bright side to nature - specifically an incident of motherly instincts that we see through Legadema. But I'm not going to tell you what happens. You'll just have to watch for yourself and if you're interested in learning more, you can check out this post via Roar Africa, a company that offers guided tours of Africa.
http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf
Small World
I'm on a video/ photography kick. It's been too cold to go into the city specifically to photograph people and I'm usually lugging my computer so I can send off emails in between advertising interviews. Anyway, I thought this was a super cool story and interesting way to connect with someone. I'm inspired and almost want to create a similar video for the lantern I found in my attic that's dated from 1906 but ha, I'm guessing they wouldn't be alive or checking YouTube. Actually, I've found many more interesting objects in my attic that have inspired me to start writing a book which I've been working on for the last two years. I even managed to find the former owners of our house on Facebook. Weird. When social networks first came around, it was really about finding people online that were in your life. Now, the web is about using the online world to connect to the physical world and this video illustrates that perfectly. The film maker Todd Bieber, found a film canister in the physical world, created an online video about the experience and hopes to connect with the owners of the canister in the physical world again. Because I think what most of us have realized is that nothing beats human contact and real connections.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmop7EAY1Zg&w=640&h=390]
Online Professional Persona 101
Last night, I went to a fantastic AWNY event lead by a wonderful, intelligent and informative recruiter Regina Angeles, that was about building your professional reputation online in addition to networking and professional development. It's obviously always good to network even when you have a job. Gone are the days where if one was loyal to a corporation, the corporation would reward them. I constantly see people working incredibly long hours with no real reward in sight who often burn out and quit. Then there are others who achieve the same amount of prestige, salary and position while working perfectly reasonable hours. And they're usually the men! So as Regina recommends, it's important to expand your connections beyond your company and even specific job title. Learn about what others do, what other company cultures are like, etc. etc. She even suggests going to a networking event once a week. Eesh.
So... for those of you who asked me "Molly, how does one network?" here's what Regina suggests. I believe she's going to post her official presentation so check back on her blog or follow her on Twitter.
The basics: Make sure your Facebook profile is work friendly. No obviously inappropriate photos. If you have drunken, idiotic friends, block tagged photos from the public.
LinkedIn, LinkedIn, LinkedIn. As Regina says, if you don't have a LinkedIn profile, you either don't exist or are doing something illegal. Recent statistics reveal that 95% of recruiters use LinkedIn to source new candidates. So highlight and quantify your accomplishments but don't lie! You'll get called out in a New York Minute. Start with your friends, colleagues, former colleagues, college classmates, etc. and build your network from there but don't forget to use the same social graces you would if networking in person. Be polite and don't add people you have no real connection to. I get requests from photographers and photo agencies I've never met, all the time and it's just annoying. And by all means, look for jobs using LinkedIn. Spend minimal time responding to craigslist, monster, etc.
And Twitter. Twitter is a great way to connect with people you've never met. Follow companies you want to work for. For clients, future clients, brands you're interested in working with, etc. Post links to your blog if you have one. Create informative posts about your industry and have an opinion. Develop a short elevator pitch for your online profiles using key words especially if you have a common name.
More advice to come. Happy Friday!
Inspirational Saturday
O.M.G. I'm totally inspired. I just came across this blog That Unreliable Girl, who writes about design, photography, architecture, fashion, art and decorating. She manages to find the most whimsical images that are calming and inspirational. I'd love to create the types of images she finds but I think I'd have to either use film or PhotoShop filters. And move to the country!
Here are some finds that are just gorgeous. They're from all different sources so you'll have to go to her blog to find them. But it's worth checking out.
What Motivates Us
http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf
Just watched this informative and interesting TEDTalk from TED Global 2009 by Daniel Pink, a career analyst. He discusses psychological experiments that show how participant's creativity is stifled when presented with a task that holds a high reward for achievement. Participants have tunnel vision- focusing on the reward itself versus tapping the lateral thinking needed to complete the task. On the flip side, Google or companies like Best Buy, have learned how to break away from older organizational structures and have made gains in productivity. Employees at Google can spend 20% of their "work" time doing anything they want, a time that has resulted in such blockbuster products as gmail. Best Buy doesn't have official 9-5 hours, recognizing that people have a life beyond work but are also dedicated to their jobs. And a better example, good ole Wikipedia, continues to get updated without a single paycheck to its writers.
How can we harness this information to health care reform? Reducing energy and saving the environment? Am I more likely to lose weight and maintain my health if I know doing so will have a direct, positive effect on my fellow health care pool? More so than a decrease in my insurance premium? Am I more likely to motivate others? Am I more likely to turn off the lights because it will save me a whole $3 on my next electricity bill? Or because I know that in the long run, I am contributing to the greater, environmental good.
TED itself (specifically the TED Prize) exemplifies that idea of motivation for the greater good. Thousands of people pay thousands of dollars to not only learn and network, but figure out how they can harness what they've learned for the greater good. These are people that have, for the most part, already found extreme success and wealth but want to give back.
Maybe I'm making too many connections to the study, but it's something to think about. Or maybe, it's those steep bonuses that got us into this financial mess in the first place. Would we be in this place if they thought about the bigger picture, rather than blinded by the greens?