How the change began:

In March of 2009 I was ending a nearly four year run as a contractor for an insurance company as an IT Security associate. I loved the people I worked with and the job was sufficient for getting a paycheck while trying to finish up my degree. The job was ridged and there were rules and confinements and tons of bureaucracy. I’m a creative person by nature and the job left me feeling empty on a daily basis. When it was time for my contract to end I accepted it happily.

Over the summer I looked for jobs but nothing felt like it was for me, so I opted to enroll in school full time for the Fall of 09 and I just pulled out some serious loans. This time I was done playing around, no more taking classes at night while working full time. During the process of researching classes to take, I found that I could do an internship and luckily I caught a tweet from Granada Theater saying they were looking for interns. I direct messaged the theater asking them what the job entailed and it really sounded right up my alley, graphic work, Facebook, Twitter. A creative job at last!

The job was everything I’d been doing casually for the past 10 years. I sent a copy of my resume (via Twitter) and was instantly asked when I could come in for an interview. I thought oh my God, I have nothing to show that I know social media, or graphic work.

What could I do to stand out?

During my time at my job at the insurance company I had a lot of time to read and listen to podcasts on social media and the like. It was time to pull out all of that knowledge of how things worked and put it to use.

Within 24 hours I whipped up a plan and executed it.

The Plan

I wanted to see how many people I could get to follow Granada Theater on Twitter and have them tell Granada Theater why all these people where following them. I crafted a blog that included a link that pre-composed a message to place into Twitter. It was a simple two step process, follow @granadatheater, then tell them why and who told them to follow them.

The message;

“Tell your friends via a tweet that you followed @granadatheater because @got80s told you to.”

After the blog was posted I had to get the word out about my plan.

Facebook:

I created lists of my friends on Facebook using the “lists” feature. The lists where of people I knew had a Twitter account so I could make sure they received the notification of my plans.

I also posted status updates on Facebook to tell people about it just to make sure the message went out to everyone (even the non Twitter users).

Email:

I emailed everyone in my address book that I figured would be willing to help, even some I figured were a long shot. I just copied and pasted the blog posting and told people if they needed help in setting up an account and tweeting I would help them.

Phone:

I contacted people via text messages and actual calls to make sure they had gotten my email and if they needed me to I could help. I had a few people that couldn’t get to Twitter because they were at work so I sent them instructions on how to tweet from their phone and even gave them the message to copy and paste into a new message.

Twitter:

I got in touch with some people who had a lot of followers and asked if they could post about my plans in their streams. I also contacted Mike Orren of Pegasus News because I figured they had a relationship due to the ads I’d seen on their site. Interesting fact; Mike never actually tweeted my message but found out months later that he send the message I had sent to him, to my interviewer.

Timing:

The tweets had to go out the day of the interview. I wanted maximum impact, and it worked. See the impressions my tweet had (warning image is 1200×4000)

The interview:

I have done plenty of interviews, I’ll admit I felt incredibly overdressed. I forgot what it was like to work for non-corporate businesses. We went through the usual interview questions and while sitting in the interview, the interviewer was thumbing his iPhone scrolling through Twitter and said, “I like your little experiment” with a sly smile. I didn’t have a smart phone so I had no clue how far it had gone since I left for the interview. I used Twitter the way it was intended, no barrier to entry, just a simple phone with no web access. Just proving the fact that if you are scrappy and inventive enough, you can stand out no matter what tools you have at hand.

The tweets continued to occur over the following days and I was called in for a second interview with the owner. Proof of my music knowledge was put to the test. The most interesting interview question I’ve had yet. What kind of music do you listen to and what are your favorite bands? Luckily I was one of those people who create lists and had my entire library broken up by months of release on my mp3 player. I pulled it out and rattled off the bands on my most recent playlist. He nodded in approval.

After two interviews I was sent a direct message on Twitter to say I could start whenever. The internship turned into a job when I was sent yet another direct message saying I was hired over Thanksgiving break. Since that time my boss left Granada Theater and after a short time came back to me and we are now working together with another music venue in town. At the time of this posting, I still work for Granada Theater and I’m a contractor through the company my boss and I created. On a daily basis I’m encouraged to tinker and figure out new ways to approach the marketing of music.

I couldn’t imagine my life any different. I’ve satisfied the kid in me as an adult by being allowed to take apart things and figure out how they work and I’m surrounded by creative people on a regular basis.

Hopefully this post gives someone out there an idea that lands them a job somewhere that they truly love. Just remember, stand out from the sea of faces, the resume is just a piece of paper. Actions will always speak louder than words.
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Things to keep in mind, Agent Smith and I are now good friends, not just acquaintances and Mr. Tubbs, well, he is actually pretty nice just, still old school.

Originally posted March 1, 2007

Normally I do not write about anything regarding my coworkers, however, I would say this warrants some fleshing out. Name changes will be used to protect the “innocent”.

Yesterday I decided to go out to lunch with my fellow workers for some very very spicy wings at some place called BW3. Now I had gone out to lunch before with my good bud who we’ll call Agent Smith. However, I had not gone out with Mr. Tubbs. Mr. Tubbs was a contractor and was generally agreeable to speak with on the job, the lunch provided an opportunity to get to know him as he really is.

Dialogue

Mr. Tubbs: What’s with all the Jews and gays on TV lately? I mean every show has either a Jew or a gay person on it.

Me: {in my head: Oh my god, did he just say that out loud? In one sentence he managed to take a swipe at me and my mother! } Verbal response: I’m not sure what you mean?

Mr. Tubbs: I don’t know, why they are always on and why do they have to kiss? It makes my skin crawl. But two women that’s another story.

Agent Smith: So seeing someone like Harvey Fierstein would just make your head explode?

Mr. Tubbs: That show Heroes is the only one I’ve seen lately that doesn’t have a Jew or a gay character on it.

Me: Doesn’t mean it wasn’t created by one. And also, while he wasn’t openly gay on the show, George Takei was on the show recently.

So yeah, the discussion went on from there and sorta fizzled out as we ate our hot wings that were so hot Mr. Tubbs and I were sweating. Then on to the drive back, Agent Smith decided to bring up the guy who got a horse to fuck him up the ass then died because of a ruptured anus and about how the video got out on the net. Then after that he brings up another guy who trained a dolphin to fuck him and he went through he trouble of setting up a website on how to do it….

At this point I’m rolling in laughter in my head at how funny this is. How Mr. Tubbs must be crawling in his skin. Then, right after lunch Agent Smith and I get on IM and the following conversation ensues.

Agent Smith: heh

so what do you think is on Mr. Tubbs’s mind?

(the one by you) complaining about gay guys in shows, seeing gay guys kissing, and then the whole disclaimer about “well I’m not starting at you all day but” on the way in the door just now

hehehehehehheh

s/starting/staring

Me: yeah well, i don’t flow that route…the married one…i respect aging institutions

Agent Smith: hahahaahah

I just think it’s funny that he seems to have his defenses so high

it’s cute

Me: yeah. i mean. insecurities much eh?

Agent Smith: like you’re going to misinterpret something he says and then suddenly he’ll accidentally have gay sex

sorry I can’t stop giggling about this

Me: accidentally is the funniest part

oops it slipped in

Agent Smith: hahahahaaha

Me: well you kept driving the part home…with dolphin sex

and horse sex…

Agent Smith: hey by then I was just trying to change the subject

Me: no wonder they think gay people marrying is gonna lead to man marrying beast

Agent Smith: I mean I can only bait someone for so long with “why girls and not guys” before they snap

hahahahahaha

THIS IS MY WIFE SNOWFLAKE

YEEHAW

Me: she’s got a purdy maine

Agent Smith: you know the second they legalize bestiality every “straight” redneck in Montana is gonna have a herd of fluffy girlfriends and half will be guys and the hicks won’t even know.

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Currently Listening to:

Pansy Division – “Cowboys are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other”