This week’s Tuesday Blogversation is with Albert Maruggi. I’ve known Albert since he called me out of the blue in October of last year to ask if I wanted to go to a Verizon wireless event to show off the then pre-release Droid phone. Obviously I said yes. Since that time I have gotten to know Albert better and respect the work that he does. He probably feels the same way since he invited me to be a guest on his Marketing Edge podcast regarding my Twitter application. You can go to that podcast here.

Albert Maruggi ( blog | twitter ) is a communications and public relations veteran. On the job for 30 years he’s worked as a reporter, anchor and then producer for some local television stations. He has served as a communications adviser to presidential cabinet members and a member of Congress. Before starting Provident Partners he handled global communications for two enterprise technology companies and it wasn’t until his drive home from L.A. immediately after 9/11 that he decided to start his own company. He resides in Saint Paul with his wife, kids, and smiling dog.

———-

How long have you been doing the Marketing Edge Podcast?

I started the Marketing Edge podcast in February 2005.

How do you find your topics?

Deep down I’m a journalist, I enjoy newsworthy topics that are getting traction such as shiny new objects for the latest tool. I also find depth of topics compelling and I think that’s why the Marketing Edge has maintained a following. I have one guest and one topic per show and we keep it to around 20 minutes.

I also like to focus on why companies or people behave they way they do. For example the motivation and research that went into the Ford Fiesta Movment was an episode with Scott Monty, or a recent conversation with Shel Holtz about the state of social media.

I’m not very big on How To type of stuff, there is plenty of that information. While that informaiton is necessary and usually gets traffic I look to deliver information with a unique perspective, an objective eye and some challenging questions.

How much does non-disclosure hinder what you can talk about?

I do not get into such specifics that Non-disclosure comes into play.

How do you use text to support the topics in your podcast?

This is a tough one because it doubles or triples the production of the Marketing Edge podcast. The reason is I try to have the reader walk away from the episode with complete information as well as the listener without giving them the same experience. I’m not big on the transcript approach in part because it takes longer to read and sometimes a transcript is just not as compelling a read as it is to listen to.  That’s why I write a separate post that supplements the audio interviews giving highlights or calling attention to specific parts of the audio interview.

I also may be a bit of a format perfectionist in that I appreciate the unique differences between audio, video, text, and other multimedia formats being explored on the web, interactive video for example. Each has its place and in many cases there is a best format for the specific message.

Where’d you come up with the idea to donate a food item for each comment?

My church collects food items monthly and it dawned on me that instead of incentivizing comments for personal gain, given it’s a social community that putting some tangible community behind the blog is a reflection of my personality.

It’s really easy, I just bring a case of soup, cans of tuna, macaroni & cheese, rice, and baked beans over to the church.

Dez’s Note: For each comment on this post I will give one food item to Albert’s church food collection.

Has it helped you get more comments?

Can’t tell really, if you asked how many people actually say in their comments thanks for donating food to a shelter, then I’d say it has had minimal impact.

Walk us through a typical podcast from conception to publish.

See something interesting, for example I saw Howard Kaushansky, CEO of a company called Umbria Listens, speak at a conference. This was years ago when listening tools were in their infancy. I found his conversation fascinating and interviewed him on the spot. Very shortly after that, Umbria was purchased by JD Power.

So I do new tool interviews, I also will do programs, for example Jennifer Milano is a wonderful social media mind who now leads that area for Kayak.com She did a blog on the Jet Blue “All You Can Jet” Pass which I thought was brilliant, it was that effort that got her noticed by Kayak.

I look at the world through the lens of what’s interesting, what’s emtionally appealing, what needs further examination.

You may have wanted the steps to produce the podcast to which I say, that’s really boring and takes a long time.

How often do you have guests on your podcast?

99% of the time the Marketing Edge podcast has a guest.

Who’s been the biggest ‘celebrity’ guest on your podcast?

Define celebrity? Ok I’m being snarky because I dispise the term and that aspect of social media, but it probably really isn’t social media, it’s human nature that was to make celebrities. No, it’s not human nature, it’s certain cultures that create celebrities.

How about this as you are pondering the above sentence, some people that I have had the pleasure of interviewing that are well known in the social media space include:

• Paula Berg (Southwest Airlines)
• Scott Monty (Ford)
• Shel Holtz (Author, Tactical Transparency)
• Laura Fitton (@Pistachio CEO of www.oneforty.com)
• Brian Solis (Author Putting Public Back in PR)
• Shel Israel (Consultant for SAP and author Twitterville,)
• Lisa Qualls (Developer of Twitterface www.twitterface.com )
• Tristan Walker (Foursquare)

Other podcasts you recommend?

• For Immediate Release
• Six Pixels of Separation
• TWIT with Leo Laporte
• The Chris Pirillo Show
• IT Conversations
• BBC World Service

Anything from BBC World Service
There are plenty more but this is all I have time to recommend for now.

Who do you read everything from?

Notes from my wife and kids – Now I scan a lot of blogs and news feeds. I’d say Chris Brogan, Brian Solis, Liz Strauss, David Erickson, Valeria Maltoni. Also Social Media Today, Media Bullseye, and Mashable.

Also follow me on Disqus for when I comment through that platform.

———-

Tuesday Blogversation is a weekly series on iamdez.com featuring bloggers of all kinds from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis / Saint Paul) area. If you’d like to be considered for an interview please send mail to dez [at] iamdez [dot] com or get ahold of me on twitter.

Nancy Lyons Meghan Wilker

This week’s Tuesday Blogversation is with Nancy Lyons and Meghan Wilker; also known as the Geek Girls. I have known both Megan and Nancy for a few years now. I worked with both of them during my time with Clockwork. They are both everything they claim to be. Super-smart and amazingly personable. I’m really glad they begged accepted my request to be interviewed for this series. I seriously adore these two (in a totally non-creepy way). They are co-authors on Geek Girls Guide (GGG) after having blogged on their own sites for years (psst… Meghan met her husband because of Nancy because of blogging).

Nancy Lyons ( twitter ) is the President and CEO of Clockwork Active Media Systems. She enjoys teaching others about technology and helping to make technology simple and accessible. She was chosen one of the Twin Cities 40 under 40  by City Business in May of 2001 and in 2004 was chosen as one of the Women To Watch by Business Journal. She has served on the multiple local boards of directors and is currently chair of the Rainbow Families/Family Equality Councin’s Midwest Advisory Council. Most of all she enjoys time with her son.

Meghan Wilker ( twitter ) is the Managing Director of Clockwork Active Media Systems. In 2009 she was chosen by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal as one of the 25 Women To Watch. She’s an amazing speaker, listener, and teacher. She’s a big proponent of the “Getting Things Done” (GTD) way of working/living and writes for the GTD Times. When she’s not working or blogging, she enjoys running, Bollywood movies, doing tech support for her parents, and spending time with her husband and two kids.

Geek Girls Guide was started in January of 2008 as a place to publish their perspective on the Interactive industry and demystify technology for non-technical audiences. Their mission is to make web technology accessible and exciting and cultivate a movement of empowered women and men online by hosting safe, welcoming places to ask technology questions online and in real life, educating non-technical audiences on the practical applications of internet technology, creating opportunities for women and men in software and web development to socialize and network, and advocating for their audiences at software and web industry events.

———-

This week’s blogversation is supported by audio.  I received this only today so I don’t have a transcript ready. But here’s the audio for your listening pleasure. Meghan and Nancy are funnier via audio anyways. To prove it check out some of their podcasts.

You can download the mp3 here

Later tonight I’ll get a transcript up with some timestamps for inside the audio.  Maybe even a fancy streaming thing (so you don’t have to download the file).

When did you get started in blogging?
MP3 Timestamp: 1:00

What topics did you focus on?
MP3 Timestamp: 2:30

Why did you stop your personal blogs?
MP3 Timestamp: 5:45

What made you decide to start Geek Girls Guide (GGG)?
MP3 Timestamp: 8:20

How do you stay out of the activism portion of blogging that tends to happen when blogging for a specific demographic?
MP3 Timestamp: 16:45

Are there responsibilities in blogging just like journalism?
MP3 Timestamp: 19:45

What’s been the best unexpected take-away from a post?
MP3 Timestamp: 20:55

Why podcasts?
MP3 Timestamp: 22:42

What kind of process goes into creating a podcast?
MP3 Timestamp: 23:09

What tips do you have for other bloggers regarding writing and topics?
MP3 Timestamp: 24:05

Who’s on your ‘must-read’ list?
MP3 Timestamp: 25:35

———-

Tuesday Blogversation is a weekly series on iamdez.com featuring bloggers of all kinds from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis / Saint Paul) area. If you’d like to be considered for an interview please send mail to dez [at] iamdez [dot] com or get ahold of me on twitter.

This week’s Tuesday Blogversation is with Wendy Berry. I’ve been following Wendy’s tweets and blog posts for quite a while now. Between her regular links posts and updates about the latest rescue dog she’s fostering there is a lot of personality and humor.

Wendy Berry ( blog | twitter ) has been blogging on the same address for 10 years now. She works as a recruiter in the area, but the blog is about herself and her interests ( a lot of saving dogs and boobs). A native of Missouri she moved to the metro in 2002 for a job change. She’s a big sports fan, loves travelling, and Justin Bieber ( dead serious; she wrote that ).

———————

You’ve lived here since 2002, coming from Missouri. Why Minnesota?

I get this question a lot. I lived in the same small town for 22 years. I got fired from my job (totally my bad) and knew that I wasn’t going to be happy staying in the same small town the rest of my life. I ended up applying for jobs in Kansas City, St. Louis, Milwaukee and Minnesota, all places I knew someone. Minnesota made the first job offer (and retracted it on my move up here), so Minnesota wins!

Being both a Red Sox and Twins fan, who did you cheer for on opening day?

Twins. Duh. I love the Red Sox because of their history and their stadium and their city. I love the Twins because they’re hometown boys. I like that more.

So far I count two charitable activities that you participate in ( Dogs and Breast Cancer ) any others?

I’m all about saving dogs and boobs. Who wouldn’t be? We, meaning my friends and I, also participate in the The Aliveness Project’s Holiday Gift Basket Extraordinaire (or whatever it’s called) every year, where we buy holiday gifts for families. It’s a humbling, yet extremely fantastic event.

Was there a specific event that brought you to start doing the 3 Day Breast Cancer walk?

A friend of mine did it the first year it was in the Twin Cities and talked about it non-stop; that same year, a friend of mine in Boston did it, too. Between the two of them, I’d heard enough and joined. I’ve done the walk for three years (one year resulted in a fractured foot and being hooked up to an IV) and this will mark the third year for crewing. My BFF and I are Crew Captains, which is kind of exciting. **Here’s the donation link, but don’t feel obligated to post it!

Dez Says: Obviously I’m going to post it

Your house seems to be a revolving door for rescued pets, how do you manage not keeping ALL OF THEM (I would totally want to).

It is a revolving door! I was worried about wanting to keep them all, too. Our first foster dog was a one-eyed (not kidding) Pekingese. When she showed up, we were all “Who the hell is going to want to adopt this Cyclops-like dust mop?” and then the perfect family came along. It’s been like that with all of the foster dogs we’ve had, which as made it very easy. I wish there was an easier way to keep tabs on the ones we’ve fostered without being creepy and stalkerish about it.

What advice would you give other would be rescuers?

I’ve realized it’s more about people being hesitant they’ll want to keep the dogs or it’ll be hard. But it’s not at all. Even with our two very large dogs, having an extra dog around that you’re really truly helping is just… nice, for lack of a better word. You’re also really helping animals that don’t have a voice and while that might sound a little hippie-dippie, it’s totally true.

Being a part of the local LGBT community, how does the Twin Cities’ community differ from other communities around the country?

I don’t know. I’ve never, since relocating to the Twin Cities, felt like I was in danger or threatened. I would consider Minneapolis gay friendly, but I’m sure there are people that could dispute it. I avoid the suburbs a lot, so there might be a different story there. In my hometown of 20,000, I always get looks while visiting Wal-Mart, but they’re probably just jealous of my hair. My shrink told me it’s obvious I’m a homo, which actually made me feel good that my outside matched my inside. I think that gave me the confidence that I was looking for to not really care what people around me were thinking about my lifestyle. Holy shit, that was a BS answer.

How is the reception towards the community from employers?

I have a deep down feeling that I was fired from my last job for being gay. I got a new manager and he hated me from the get go. People like me, so it was odd for that to happen. I’d just shaved my head (for raising $5000 for The 3 Day!) and I have a feeling that rubbed him the wrong way. I wasn’t fully out at my last job either, though, so it may have had some bearing on things. Or the fact that I played Facebook Scrabble all day long. Either way.

At my current place of employment, the reception is no different than anyone else that works here. I love it. My department is 50% queer. It’s a small company, so I wasn’t expecting that when I started. I feel extremely fortunate and wish other people could have this same experience.

What made you start writing for the world to see?

I always have a lot to say about everything. I started blogging in the late 90s, before I switched over to my own domain in 2000. I’m pretty sure it started out as tales of the previous night’s trip to the bar and kind of evolved from there.

What have you learned?

That I can talk about myself a whole helluva lot. I got busted once at my last job after referring to someone I work with as Fake Tits (it his a family interview? Can I write tits?). To my defense, she did have fake tits and told everyone when she went to have them installed. Someone printed it out, showed her, and then she got angry. I freaked out for about 3 minutes, but it just reminded me of the old adage of don’t blog about anything you wouldn’t say directly to someone’s face.

Your posts are on the personal side, how do you pick what topics are publishable and not?

I won’t write about The Kid when he gets in trouble all the time (I guess I just did…) or about how many times I start the dishes and don’t finish them even though I’ve promised The General I would. I tend to stray away from extended family drama, too, because my parents read my blog, on average, 12 times a day.

What’s your viewpoint on sponsored posts (aka writing about a product/etc. for money)?

I’m down. Obviously. For me, it gives me a writing prompt of some nature and sometimes I need that. It keeps me on tracking to blog regularly, which sometimes I need motivation to do. I’ve been asked to write about plenty of things that I’ve turned down, like dry vagina cream. Even I can’t come up with 100 words about dry vagina cream. Or could I? I smell a challenge.

What blogs do you recommend reading?

Local people I’m a fan of:

• My girlfriend
• My BFF
• My BFF’s boyfriend
• My good friend
• Another good friend

Pretty sure most of the other blogs I would recommend have already been listed at some point!

And recent obsessions/discoveries:

• Fuck Yeah, Tattoos!
• No Smoking in the Metrodome
• Lamebook:
• YesButNoButYes

———————–

Tuesday Blogversation is a weekly series on iamdez.com featuring bloggers of all kinds from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis / Saint Paul) area. If you’d like to be considered for an interview please send mail to dez [at] iamdez [dot] com or get ahold of me on twitter.

This weeks Tuesday Blogversation is with Erik Hare. This is the first published author for this series, and it seems like the perfect fit for Erik to be in that spot.  A local author, blogger, and dad; he decided many years ago that he wanted to be able to pick his kids up from school everyday. Because of that he hires himself out for many things including writing to be able to accomplish that.

Erik Hare ( blog | twitter ) is a Miami native with a Chemical Engineering degree from Carnegie-Mellon University. He has 2 kids that he lives for. In 2003 after a divorce he decided to forgo a 9-5 job so that he could pick his kids up from school everyday. A published author and writer he has one published novel and has had articles published by the Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, The Villager, Daily Planet, Community Reporter, and many other periodicals. He’s constantly looking for work because he’s constantly broke (and doesn’t mind admitting it).

——————

Your first ‘blog’ was named “Columbus Day Riot” why that name?

It’s a statement of how absurd popular culture can get. On October 12, 1944 there was a Frank Sinatra Concert where the fans mobbed Frankie so desperately afterwards that the police had to break it up. It was called the “Columbus Day Riot” in the papers.

Since the word ‘blog’ didn’t really exist yet what did you call what you were doing?

We really didn’t know. Inline links weren’t established yet, so we started out with footnotes, like an academic paper. We moved to a more newspapery format later. It was being invented as we went. What did we call it? Ming ke ming, feichang ming (the name that is is know by is not its true name, the second line of the Tao Te Ching).

Your professional history is varied, what made you choose writing instead of chemical engineering (for example)

First of all, we don’t make stuff in this nation any longer, so engineering jobs are hard to come by – of my class of 40 ChemEs at Carnegie I know of only 12 still working in the field. The biggest issue came when I was divorced and decided that, as a divorced Dad, I wanted to be available to pick my kids up from school every day. My life has been organized around that ever since, making a 9-5er difficult at best.

I read your interview with Tyler Tichelaar in 2005 regarding your book “Downriver” how has your kids getting older affected the topics you write about?

It probably hasn’t much. I do use my kids’ sense of wonder as inspiration, and often play off of their simple questions about complicated subjects as starting points. As they’ve grown, their perspective has naturally gotten deeper, so my I suppose my muse has gotten more intense.

What did it take for you to switch from short piece writing to writing a book?

Discipline! I learned the value of routine, and have written my blog every single MWF for 3 years as a result. I also learned a lot about how to edit my own stuff, which took me from “grossly inadequate” to “barely adequate”. I do think that learning how to edit your own stuff is both very hard and absolutely critical.

You accept pay for some of your writings. What’s the toughest part about finding one of those gigs?

Finding the next one! I’ll do just about anything for pay, in all honesty. I consult with small businesses and nonprofits, do social media work, and even carpetry and bar-back when I can. Struggling to make a living is just what an artist has to do. Phillip Glass drove a cab for many years.

What requirements do you have on your employer for those?

I’ve stopped chasing anything that even smells like a multi-level marketing scheme. I insist on being treated and paid as a professional or else it’s too frustrating. If I can make more money doing something else, I’m better off doing that and writing for myself on my own time.

What’s the toughest part about being a freelance writer besides finding a gig?

Good writing is simply not valued in this culture. I’d love to move to a more coaching / editing role because I do believe that this is a skill that nearly anyone can learn if they want to. But they have to want it and accept that they aren’t as good as they could be. I certainly do. But this view is very unpopular.

You mentioned one of your favorite posts is “Patriot” what makes it one of your favorites?

Because it teaches a new perspective that I believe is very useful. As much as I value Unity, or writing about one thing in any given piece, I allowed this one to drift a bit so that it encompassed the whole scope of my perspective and how I arrived at it. It also has a symmetry which I thinks to the holistic nature of my many odd philosophies.

What did you do to get noticed?

Everything is a desperate cry for attention, it seems. I’m terrible at it, too, reflecting my Plattdeutscher (Amish/Mennonite) ancestry. I hate telling people how great I am, and I do it badly. I’m happy with my progress as a writer and do well promoting other people, but I have a lot to get over when it comes to promoting myself.

What suggestions do you have for other writers regarding blogs?

The same as with any other aspect of life – strive to be a strong half-step back. The best place to be is apart from the messy part of the work just far enough to gain some perspective, but not so far back that you can’t keep your hands dirty. It’s a tricky balance, but worth working towards.

Regarding books?

Learning how to tell a story well is critical. Deep or unusual subjects are often digested best by the guts, not the head. Any fiction that is well written has something to teach a writer, even those that have much harder material to work with.

Where does your inspiration come from?

Every moment that I am alive. Stories are happening all around us constantly – little pieces of life that come our direction from places we don’t really understand at first. Filling those spaces inbetween and making sense of them seems to me to be what writing is all about.

What books do you recommend for reference or inspiration?

All of them. Don Quixote is a favorite, and it’s where Barataria comes from. Ancient texts like the Tao Te Ching always inspire. I think any American writer has to know their Mark Twain well, too. But today’s fiction is bringing in new perspectives that illuminate lives many of us wouldn’t see otherwise – Julia Alvarez is a good example. In the end I think my own writing winds up being a cross between Márquez and Vonnegut.

What other blogs do you read?

Too many to list – I am a lectovore! I scan MinnPost constantly and read Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald the most regularly. I hit up the local places like MNSpeak, Great Divide, and the Deets at least once a week. I really like Field Negro – Field and I are like brothers at times. Jim Kunstler is also a favorite. I do encounter dozens irregularly by following links and simply looking for new perspectives when I have time or my brain needs a little stimulation.

———————–

Tuesday Blogversation is a weekly series on iamdez.com featuring bloggers of all kinds from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis / Saint Paul) area. If you’d like to be considered for an interview please send mail to dez [at] iamdez [dot] com or get ahold of me on twitter.

I recently met Art at the Social Media Underground 2 held at CocoMSP in Downtown Saint Paul. A few people suggested to me that I interview a nonprofit blogger and it seems I’ve found a gem.  Normally I write the bio for Tuesday Blogversation, but Art’s self-written bio was much better than I could have come up with. Thanks Art!

Art Coulson (@UpWithTheMooses and @redbirdmedia) has been blogging since 1984. Only back then they called it writing police briefs at the newspaper. And that web was on a football field-sized Goss Metroliner printing press. Art was a journalist for 23 years and left the Pioneer Press shortly before its sale in 2006. He and his wife own Redbird Media & Design, where they do all manner of communications for local businesses, nonprofits and tribal governments. Art also is communications director for a local government and serves on a South Metro school board. Because he is not busy enough already, Art blogs for and oversees the social media efforts of several Twin Cities nonprofits. He also publishes seven ink-on-paper newsletters for nonprofits for free (yes, free!), supporting them through advertising sales. He likes the printed versions of the newsletters because, well, retro is in. Art and his wife have two daughters and live in Apple Valley.

—————–

How long have you been blogging?

I think I set up my first actual blog on Blogger back in 2005. But before that I was a newspaper writer and editor for 23 years, so I did my share of “blogging” on alternative platforms over the years.

How long with non-profits?

I have been helping nonprofits with their communications, both online and in print, for the past four years, since I left the Pioneer Press.

How many organizations do you blog for currently?

Besides my personal blog, I also oversee or contribute to the blogs of six nonprofits, two government agencies and one tribal government.

Are they all local?

Depends on how you define local. I work on them all from my perch in the Twin Cities, but the tribal blog is based in Northern Minny. We also have clients whose reach extends across several states.

What are some challenges in writing for so many blogs?

I am trying to develop the bench strength of most of these groups and eventually would like them to assume total responsibility for their own blogs and social media channels. For now the challenge is finding the right balance of training them to handle their communications and just doing it myself.

A blog can easily become irrelevant to its established readership, how do you stay relevant?

These blogs have very specific readerships – tribal members, clients or funders of nonprofits, etc. They are connected, engaged and interested in the information we provide. We stay relevant by engaging in the conversation where it is already happening and by writing about topics that are useful, timely and unlikely to be covered anywhere else.

Why nonprofits?

That’s where my heart took me. I serve on several nonprofit boards and often lamented that these groups could not fulfill their promise to stakeholders to update websites and publish newsletters in a timely manner. I figured there must be something I could do to help them, given my experience in media and communications. My company also works for some of the Twin Cities’ larger corporations, which helps to “fund” my work with the nonprofits.

What kind of privacy restraints are put on you by an organization?

None, really. We write posts and share information in other formats in consultation with the groups, so I suppose if they don’t want me to put it out there, they just don’t tell me about it.

How do you get away from constantly asking “Give us money” yet keep the importance of donation in front of readers?

We don’t use the blogs and other media channels for direct solicitation. We will mention fund-raising events, as appropriate. These groups mostly use their blogs to share news, and upcoming events and use other, more established channels for fund-raising.

Since you blog for so many nonprofits, how do you stay on top of the latest news of each organization and verify its accuracy?

We meet regularly to discuss what is happening. Because I also help them with Twitter, Facebook, video and photo sharing and other social media, I stay pretty plugged in to what is happening with the group. Accuracy isn’t a concern – we want to make sure we get details right, but I don’t have to worry about these groups putting out bad information intentionally.

Each nonprofit has a specific audience they want to reach, whether it’s donors or supporters or the general public. How do you ensure the content is geared towards each nonprofit’s specific audience?

I work very closely with the nonprofits and discuss with them their target audiences, their messaging and how to best link the two. We discuss the tools that are available and which are likely to be most effective at carrying particular messages to each intended audience. I show them how to leverage content across platforms and how to write/photograph/videotape each message so that it is most relevant and interesting to the audience.

How do you overcome the challenge of writing in so many styles?

I don’t really try to be Hemingway for one group and Flannery O’Connor for another. I tend to write conversationally and directly for whichever group I’m writing for. The one real variable for me is the group’s tolerance for humor. IRL I tend to be a bit of a smart-azz, so I sometimes have to tone that down when writing for a client with a more serious bent. But I also urge all my clients to be open to a bit of humor and personality in their posts. No one wants to read a bunch of dry pronouncements from the front office.

How much of your content is given to you by an organization’s staff?

Quite a bit is provided, in raw form. Then we “process” it for whichever platform we’re producing content for. We contract with a dozen freelance writers to help us with the various sites we write for, as well as producing stories for print newsletters and videos for YouTube channels we set up. We also do a lot of original reporting to add depth to the information.

How closely do you work with an organization’s staff on a regular basis?

We meet at least monthly, and correspond by email several times a week. We stay in pretty close contact.

How do you build readership without being spammy?

In most cases, we start with built-in audiences and try to grow them organically. The idea isn’t to have a million readers for some of these blogs, it’s to reach as much of the intended audience as possible, whether they number in the hundreds or the thousands. We also make sure that all of our various social media channels are linked together – Facebook and YouTube send out automatic tweets to alert followers to new content, as does the blog. The blog links to all the other channels and features the latest content from them. We try to be very self-referential when we set these social media accounts up. And we like to have as much automation as possible to be sure we don’t miss opportunities to tout new content.

What blogs do you enjoy reading?

The blogs I read run the gamut. My favorite local blog is lazylightning.org by my friend Bill Roehl for its mix of local news, sass and South Metro restaurant reviews. I look at Fark, failblog and peopleofwalmart for a daily chuckle. I read Jim Romenesko’s media news blog for the latest from my former industry. I read indianz.com for news about native communities and issues. I read/listen to Aquarium Drunkard and minneapolisfuckingrocks for new music. Ars Technica, BoingBoing and Mashable help keep me up-to-date with geeky stuff, scifi and related topics. Other daily reads: Politics in Minnesota, BuzzFeed, Consumerist and Macrumors. Some of these are aggregation sites rather than actual blogs, but they all look the same in Google Reader, right?

Which blogs do you help write?

I help with the blogs of the Frogtown Rondo Action Network, Eastside Neighborhood Development Co., North Minneapolis Comprehensive Community Development initiative, Blake Road Community Collaborative, Native American Community Development Initiative, Ramsey County Regional Rail, East Metro Recovery and the Fond du Lac band. I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone. Some of these have been up and running for a while; others are just now getting started.

Here are some that he had sent me earlier

http://aurora.newsletterpartnership.net/
http://theeastsidepride.org/
http://blog.regionalrail.org/
http://www.eastmetrorecovery.org/
http://www.youtube.com/user/MPLSNorthsider

And his personal blog: http://mooses.thecoulsonfamily.net/

—————–

Tuesday Blogversation is a weekly series on iamdez.com featuring bloggers of all kinds from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis / Saint Paul) area. If you’d like to be considered for an interview please send mail to dez [at] iamdez [dot] com or get ahold of me on twitter. Some of the questions for this week’s Blogversation came via Art Allen.

This week’s Tuesday Blogversation is with Andy Sturdevant. He publishes to a blog named South 12th. I’ll admit that I’ve only been reading his posts since January of this year, but he’s been at it for much longer (10/18/2008). It’s a mishmash of items that upon first glance may be hard to follow but if you read back a few pages (or more like me) you can tell that it’s much more than just random. He will also be MC’ing the MNBeardoff on 3/31/2010

Andy Sturdevant ( blog ) works for an artists’ resources organization in Lowertown St. Paul. He’s originally from Louisville, Kentucky but has been a Minneapolis resident since 2005. He’s got a curiosity gene so he’s been involved with the following at different times; arts writing, judging spelling bees, curating, standardized test grading, illustrating, selling art supplies, and radio.

—————–

There’s a lot of randomness to the topics in your posts, is there a hidden theme?

Maybe there is, insofar as there’s a hidden theme in my own interests. There’s definitely things I’m more interested in, and things I’m more likely to want to write about. If you look at everything I’ve put up since January, for example, you see common threads: books, social interactions, South Minneapolis, the 1970s, old pop music, short lists, dubious menswear, urbanism, contemporary art. I am sure all those things relate to each other somehow. My hope is that when you look at it all together there you come away with some sense of who I am, what sort of ideas interest me, and what all of these themes might have to do with one another. Or at least, you’d get an idea of what sort of conversation we might have in the kitchen at a party.

What makes something “bloggable” and not?

If it catches my interest, and it’s something I can write about for an audience.  That could be something I read, or some conversation I overheard, or something going on around the neighborhood. There’s not a whole lot of what you might call confessional writing or, uh, “oversharing” on S. 12th. But if something happens to me, and it seems interesting and seems consistent with the hidden themes, then sure, up it goes up. I suppose you start to get a sense for these things if you do it long enough.

Do you filter yourself even if something seems post worthy to you? aka… what rules do you put in place for the content?

I write using my real, full name, so it’s not hard to track me down. For that reason, I keep a lot of the writing sort of abstract. I also don’t usually write explicitly about other people I know, even pseudonymously, unless they’re somehow also collaborating with me, or they’ve got a well-established presence online. There are people that come up a lot, like Herbach, who even has a tag devoted to him — but he’s got a blog and a novel and radio show, so he’s out there already. A turn-of-the-screw account of my daily social life and its ins-and-outs would be crushingly dull, anyway. Like, have you ever read Andy Warhol’s diaries? They’re fascinating as a historical document, but as straight reading they’re — well, crushingly dull. Just a lot of lists of names, names, names. No one wants a catalog of every person I meet out over the weekend for drinks. I like a little distance.

Also: I try to avoid writing about being drunk. That doesn’t look good in the Google searches.

In your commentaries do you prefer brute force honesty or beating around the bush? What topics cause you to sway one way or another?

I am probably kind of a creampuff. My inclination is if I’m not engaged by something or interested in it, I just don’t write about it. I find people that write continuously about things they seem completely enraged by to be kind of creepy. Like most people, I have strong opinions on art and politics and culture, but most of the time I find it more interesting to ask “Why is this?” instead of “What the hell is wrong with these cretins?” I find it makes for better reading. That’s a lot of it, really: what approach will make for the most entertaining, interesting read?

What got you started?

Reading the New York-based blog This Recording, probably, in 2007-08. I guess TR has a reputation for being terminally insider-y and snarky, and there was a lot about it that put me off even at first, but at the same time they had a whole bunch of good writers that seemed very adept at mixing their own personal writing in with broader cultural commentary, outbound links to related topics, and with images, music and other types of media mixed into the text. Moreover, the writers had a real talent for self-mythologizing. This all seemed like something I could do. It made sense to me that if a blog was going to work, and it was going to be something people would be interested in, you had to tie your own experiences into other things going on around the world at large. It’s not really enough to write, “OK, well, it’s winter in Minneapolis and I am stuck inside and everyone is cold and in a bad mood and gee, doesn’t it suck?” But if you find a way to put that general sentiment together with, say, archival photos of winter of Minneapolis, and songs from your winter playlist, and link to bits of writing from other Minneapolitans whose work you like voicing similar sentiments, and throw in links to whatever’s going on around town, and do all of this in a consistent voice, you start to have a more immersive, complex, and engaging finished product. The reader invests more in it.

The other thing was that all the TR writers used the Tumblr platform, which makes it very easy to mix in other types of media and linking with straight writing. It was a format that made a lot of sense to me. So I used Tumblr, and that made a big difference.

Did you blog before South 12th?

Not really. Or not in any significant way, at least. I’d blog on MySpace sometimes, back when that was a viable option. I had a few start-and-stop personal blogs through WordPress and Blogger and wherever else through the ’00s, but they never amounted to much. It was mostly me complaining about my personal life, which is not something anyone wants to read about, no matter how well written it is. And these were not particularly well-written. They had cool, 22 year old titles, though. “The Boy Looked at Johnny” and “Top 10 Young American Painters” both come to mind. Awesome, Andy!

Has the blog been affected or shaped at all by your professional life?

That’s a funny thing. I’ve only recently started working at a job in the fine arts, and they’re all very creative, engaged people. Before that, I was working very straight-world jobs and trying to do the classic blogger secret-other-life thing. You might say one of the things that shaped S. 12th and drove its content, early on at least, was that I was purposefully writing about the parts of the world I found colorful and lively and funny to counteract the dullness of my 9-5 work. You spend all day collating copies and making coffee, and inevitably you start mulling over idle thoughts like, “Hmm, I wonder what the least popular names for babies in 1970 were?” or “I wonder what those purple things I saw hanging from the trees on 13th Avenue this morning were?” A little Googling, and there’s your post for the day. Then, back to collating those copies. But I have probably said too much. If former bosses are reading: I wrote everything on lunch breaks, nights and weekends.

How did you get the word out?

The usual. Facebook, I suppose. And from other blogs. Tumblr makes it exceptionally easy to link to other people’s work, so it’s easy to amass a lot of like-minded readers relatively quickly. And other local blogs, too — MNSpeak, Eyeteeth, Because Emily Says So, and others have been very generous in referring readers to me in the past.

Besides the social interactions that you gain from posting, is there an ulterior motive?

Ha! Is that a backhanded way of asking if I am trying to get a book deal? I had joked for a while last year that what I really needed to do was turn S. 12th into a stunt memoir-style blog, where I follow the old “I am going to __________ every day for _____ days/weeks/months and write about it every day!” formula, and then land a book deal. But really, I just enjoy writing, and meeting other people whose work I like is my only real motive.

Which blogs outside the TC Metro do you see as ‘required reading’? aka: you read every posts…

A very brief list of other blogs I feel a shared sensibility with are Falling and Laughing, Brainland,Wipe Your Feet, The Ragbag, and Mumblelard. I find Firmuhment beautiful. Nerd Boyfriend is how I plan my wardrobe. Kottke is a good way to find out what is going on around the Internet without having to read all of it. I find Tomorrow Museum and The Masticator consistently challenging, and I find MNFTIU and Unremitting Failure consistently hilarious. And of course The Infrastructurist, because I wish some days I’d been an urban planner.

What local blogs do you recommend?

Off the top of my head, I’d give full and enthusiastic recommendations to Better Matters, Mt. Holly Mayor’s Office, Powderhorn 365, Eyeteeth, Madge World, Twin City Sidewalks, Your Man for Fun in Rapidan, Little Brown Mushroom, Hardland/Heartland, Alright Hamilton, Fambled, and Good Morning Andrew. TC Sidewalks and LBM in particular have a very wide-ranging, multi-disciplinary approach I find very attractive. Take TCS, for example: it’s primarily just about urbanism, but there’s so much video, found art, analysis, theory, local trivia, photography, personal narrative and gossip mixed in there it’s a different experience every time you read it. But I know every time I read it I’m going to enjoy it.

—————–

Tuesday Blogversation is a weekly series on iamdez.com featuring bloggers of all kinds from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis / Saint Paul) area. If you’d like to be considered for an interview please send mail to dez [at] iamdez [dot] com or get ahold of me on twitter.

This week’s Tuesday Blogversation is with Heidi. The whole premise of her blog is the ‘sorta annoying’ things that her boyfriend, Erik, does. She tells the stories of their relationship from an annoyed girlfriend perspective. A request to interview her boyfriend was denied (by him, I think), but she provides insight on that as well. I was happy to cover both her sarcastic and serious side in this interview in both her blogging and personal endeavors.

Heidi ( blog | twitter ) is not new to the blogging scene. She’s been blogging since her mid-teens about mostly relationships, but has put herself out there as well. She’s a budding teacher working on obtaining her teaching license/Masters degree from Augsburg College for Biology. She volunteers in the Minneapolis Public School system and also mentors a 10-year old from NE Minneapolis. She enjoys running, reading, and beer (and also wants you to think she’s only drinking cranberry juice in the picture to the left).

——————————–

Do you remember the single act that made you think “I should start a blog about this!”

I think I said something like, “Nobody knows what I put up with!”, to which he replied, “So let them know!” It seemed appropriate. I had also just stumbled on the blog “My Husband is Annoying” (before she got “famous”) and thought, “Geez, her husband sounds tame compared to what I put up with. And I’m not even legally bound to him!” I also thought I was funnier (because I’m full of myself).

How long had you been dating before becoming sorta annoyed?

Initially, my boyfriend kind of had to step up his game because, while he and I were still friends, I was dating someone else. After that relationship fizzled out, he continued being an ideal candidate. (He made me a potato head picture book out of construction paper!) However, after it was clear that we were dating (maybe a month later), I found him slowly moving stuff into my tiny, on-campus apartment. Pretty soon, I was doing his laundry and feeding him. So…a month?

You mentioned in your first post that you had blogged before… where is that at? What did you blog about then?
(Yes, I read ALL your MBISA posts today, and I just gave you an acronym)

First of all, I’ve always wanted an acronym, so thanks. Although, I was hoping for something a little cooler, I’ll settle for that one because it sounds like an ethnic entree.

My earlier blogs are lost in cyberspace and the URLs have been carefully hidden in the back of my mind. Here’s a breakdown of each one (because there were several):

Early high school blog, age 15: “OH MY GOD I’M SO IN LOVE”, exclamation points, emoticon hearts, copied/pasted instant messenger conversations

Late high school blog’: My “love” was now gone because we broke up (duh), so my new posts were all really vague and attempting to be artsy/intelligent. (“Hey, guys, check out this quote that really moved me from the book ‘Utopia.’”) At this point, I was also aware that several “frenemies” were reading them, so I made every possible attempt to brag about my [actually boring] life.

Mid to Late college: I was out of the blogosphere for awhile, but soon, I realized I simply enjoyed writing. I basically just did the usual and blogged about what I ate for dinner, what I was reading, how cool I thought I was, etc. I guess I can link you to this one. http://redandunruly.vox.com/

That brings us to now!

What do you do when you aren’t being annoyed?

I’m going to assume this question is referring to when we’re together. We basically watch a lot of Seinfeld, drink beer, and go to the YMCA. We also enjoy really long walks (10+ miles) around Minneapolis, Tuesday improv nights at Brave New Workshop, and hanging out with our (his) friends. And when I sense he’s in a good mood, I bother him about letting me get a cat.

Except for the two posts around Valentines day you seem to be generally annoyed with your boyfriend; so I want to know, what isn’t sorta annoying?

Occasionally, he takes out the trash. He also comes home from work with pounds and pounds of coffee and 6-packs of beer. (I make myself sound like an alcoholic by talking about beer so much, but we’re fanatics not addicts. I’m trademarking that phrase right now.) He scratches my back and lets me use his car (because I bus). He lets me read his books. He also kisses me on the forehead before he goes to sleep. (Awww!) I guess the biggest non-annoying thing is that he makes me laugh. And really, every “sort of annoying” thing he does I end up laughing at anyway.

Why does Erik call you cheeks?

I’d like to think it’s because I have a sweet ass, but really it’s because I have a fat face. My cheeks are, apparently, the biggest ones he’s ever seen on such a small gal. He pokes, licks, pinches, and suckles them frequently. As time goes on, though, “cheeks” is turning into “sheeks”. When I call him, he answers with, “Hiya, sheeeeeeks!”

What does Erik think about your posts?

He stopped reading them awhile ago, but I don’t think he minds. All his friends read them and comment on them, so I think he sort of feels famous. He’s also very camera shy and doesn’t let me take his picture very often, so I guess he lets me write about him to make up for that.

Does he have anything to say?

Right now, he’s still kinda…taking in the fact that people are starting to read about him and enjoy his mannerisms. When I asked him if he had anything to say, he kinda just shrugged. (He’s also secretly shy.)

You mentioned to me that you run marathons, read books and drink beer.
You also mentioned that doing all three simultaneously would be awesome.
Are you going to participate in the James Page Blubber Run in September? (to hit 2/3 requirements?)

I did not know this existed! I will definitely be there. With a book.

What marathons have you run in?

I’ve done Twin Cities, Grandma’s, the Minneapolis Half Marathon, and Las Vegas. Up next is Fargo in May, and I’m undecided on a fall 2010 one. (I try to do two a year.)

What are some challenges with mentoring?

By far, the biggest struggle is understanding her mindset. I didn’t come from a rich family, but I still have trouble grasping how hard it is living in a single-parent home in a not-so-nice neighborhood. On top of that, she has very little expectations for the rest of her life. “You mean I can study anything in college?” She brushed this aside as something she wouldn’t be able to do, and I nearly cried. It is also hard explaining things to a ten-year-old, especially things I’ve learned the hard way myself. For example, she has “dated” older boys over the internet. No matter how many times I tell her how wrong that is or how much they don’t actually love her, she shrugs it off because I’m “too old to understand”. In addition to that, she thinks she has to act a certain way around me because of my skin color, which is so heartbreaking, especially since she’s only ten. My favorite moments with her have been times she’s “forgotten” her own rules and let her personality come through.

On a lighter note, no matter how “hip” or up-to-date I am, I’m constantly trying to win her over. “You know who Chris Brown is? Oh, my god.” Yes, I know who Chris Brown is, and, no, I don’t think he’s “cute” because I know a little more about him than you. Also, she was completely at a loss for words when I told her I’ve had more than one boyfriend. However, I’m still uncool.

How will this prepare you for your teaching career?

As a future urban school teacher, I feel mentoring is a view into the life of my average student. Every teacher dreams of knowing her students on a personal level; the mentality behind this is that, “Gosh, if I simply understand where my students are coming from, I can get through to them!” This is nearly impossible, though. With mentoring, I am taking it one kid at a time. I’m also getting back in touch with the age level I may end up teaching. I had forgotten how stubborn kids can be and feel I’m more prepared now. I’ll probably still wait a few years to start teaching, but every little bit of life experience helps.

What other blogs do you enjoy reading?

I find it funny that I often write a lot for my blog entries, but I hate reading long blog entries. Most of the blogs I read are fashion ones, consisting primarily of photos. Some of my favorites are: The Sartorialist (thesartorialist.blogspot.com), The Minneapoline (theminneapoline.blogspot.com), The Midwasteland (www.themidwasteland.com), What I Wore Today (whatiwore2day.blogspot.com), and Style Rookie (tavi-thenewgirlintown.blogspot.com). However, when I’m feeling particularly academic, I’ll read the New Yorker’s Book Bench (www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/). Oh, and MN  Beer (www.mnbeer.com) is a Minneapolis beer drinker’s bible. For humorous purposes: Buzzfeed (www.buzzfeed.com), Boner Party (bonerparty.tumblr.com), Hipster Runoff (www.hipsterrunoff.com), Stuff Hipsters Hate (stuffhipstershate.tumblr.com), Stuff White People Like (www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com), Look At This Fucking Hipster (www.latfh.com), Models Are Smart (modelsaresmart.tumblr.com), and Three Frames (www.threeframes.net). And to drop one last name, Fuck Yeah Tattoos (fuckyeahtattoos.tumblr.com). (I love tattoos.)

So, yeah, there’s a lot. I’m slightly addicted to the internet.

——————-

Tuesday Blogversation is a weekly series on iamdez.com featuring bloggers of all kinds from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis / Saint Paul) area. If you’d like to be considered for an interview please send mail to dez [at] iamdez [dot] com or get ahold of me on twitter.

This week’s Tuesday Blogversation is with Colleen McGuire. I had an inkling that I wanted to interview her for this week, but I received a few recommendations from people specifically mentioning her to do an interview with. She graciously allowed me this opportunity. Thanks Colleen!

Colleen McGuire (blog | twitter) is a communications professional working in the heath insurance industry for the past 11 years. She is a music junkie and relies on City Pages for concert information for the Twin Cities music scene. She has been posting to her blog since August 2009.

How important is it for you to blog?

Blogging is an educational experience for me. I value every element of it. I entitled my blog, “Social Media Journal” because it is just that – documentation of my journey – the good, bad and ugly. I learn from reading others stories, and I hope others get the same value from reading my blog entries.

How does being in the PR industry affect the topics that you write about?

Living and breathing PR means I approach each topic with a human relations story in mind. If the general public is going to not only understand what I’m writing about, but relate at the same time, I need to keep my blog simple and conversational. One of my most successful blog posts to date was “Social Media is Like the State Fair.” It’s just a lighthearted comparison of social media and the Great Minnesota Get Together, but it seemed to strike a cord.

I noticed you’ve had a few guest posts: How do you choose the guests?

In the spirit of my journal, I have asked individuals whom I’ve met on the local social media scene to share their personal social media journey. I find it remarkable how we all come to this same place. I always ask them, “what was your light bulb over the head moment?” The stories fascinate me. And sometimes they morph beyond the “light bulb” moment into “this is what I’ve learned.” Again, education to inspire others. That is truly my mission with online engagement.

How do you use your blog to complement your other online activities?

I am a certified Twitter addict, and sometimes 140 characters isn’t enough space to complete an idea. I think Twitter has actually sharpened my ability to condense thoughts, but the AP Stylebook trained writer in me still has a difficult time expressing thoughts in shortened abbreviations. I need to flesh out conversations from time to time, and my blog has allowed me to do that.

What do you hope to accomplish by writing more than 140 characters at a time?

I work in the health insurance industry, which is strictly regulated. I cannot do social media without being very creative with disclaimers and copy, and even getting to that point took time. I decided I needed to blog personally, for several reasons.

1. Stay ahead in my industry by practicing online what I was preaching in white papers to the CEOs and legal department;

2. Have documentation to use as example when I was ready to approach company executives about corporate blogging; and

3. Create a track record of trust that could demonstrate to the legal department that I was not a radical blogger that would be the demise of the corporation.

Your Twitter bio says “Music geek by night”: What do you enjoy about the local music scene?

I’m a music geek and the Twin Cities are the best kept secret on the national scene, I believe. I thrive off of opening the City Pages on any given night and finding almost 100+ shows to choose from. That is rare in most cities.

What free advice can you give here that you would give to your clients about their blog or other online social activities?

Be real. I have found that when a CEO blogs about what excites them, readership goes up and more comments flow in. People want to engage. Why do celebrities have so many followers on Twitter? It’s about engagement with individuals you might not have access to normally. Plus, blogging is a great way to interact with the community around you. It also keeps a person “in the know” about what is being said about them. In this day and age it can be damaging not to respond to praise or complaints. Be humble. Accept what people say and respond. Engage.

Who inspires you?

My social media inspiration comes from a group of people. Social Media Breakfast in the Twin Cities is an amazing gathering of people from all walks of life. Spend five minutes in a room with them and you’ll realize you among some of the smartest people you’ve ever met.

Which blogs do you suggest others in your field read?

I recommend the super-blogger standards:

Jason Falls at socialmediaexplorer.com

Jay Baer at convinceandconvert.com

For PR rants and raves I recommend Communications Conversations by Arik Hanson at arikhanson.com.

I also recommend people subscribe to SmartBrief on Social Media and Ragan Communications e-blasts.

—————-

Tuesday Blogversation is a weekly series on iamdez.com featuring bloggers of all kinds from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis / Saint Paul) area. If you’d like to be considered for an interview please send mail to dez [at] iamdez [dot] com or get ahold of me on twitter.

As this is the first in what I hope to be a weekly series I thought; Why not find a new blogger?

Cindy Elizabeth Janovitz (blog | twitter) is an HR professional working for Ecolab for the past three years. She’s active in the community through corporate sponsored charity events as well as personal charitable activities. Also, she’s bilingual (Spanish). She loves talking about her profession and hopes to be able to give tips from her experience for job seekers and other HR professionals.

——————-

What was going through your mind the day you setup your blog?

I have been working in the HR industry for almost three years now and I felt it was time to take it to the next level and share my knowledge and learn from those around me. I wanted to create a blog to talk about Human Resources along with my other passions – organizational culture.

Did you post the first day?

I wanted my first post (post is gone now 11/2010) to be very strategic. At the time, I had just finished up three days of intense inclusion training at work and in my first post I talk about this and how a great way to gain trust from an audience or anyone around us is to help them understand who we are. I tried to convey a little bit about who I am in my first post.

What topics and events inspire you to write?

My number one topic that inspires me is recruiting – and more than that, the candidate experience. I also love writing about my involvement in the organizational culture shift going on across many organizations, including my own and lastly, my involvement in the community.

What types of community involvement activities do you participate in?

Since college, I have been involved in the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk each year. I raise money that goes right to the AHA. I also participated in the Big Brother’s Big Sister’s of the Twin Cities “Bowling for Kids’ Sake” for the first time last year. I am really looking forward to it again! I am currently an e-Mentor to a wonderful 8th grader in St. Paul. In March I am going to Volunteer Orientation for the Red Cross. I am hoping to get involved with their multicultural program and use my Spanish skills to give back to the community.

Are those involvements outside of your employer?

The Heart Walk, Bowling for Kids’ Sake and e-Mentor are all through work. So, I am hoping to get involved with the Red Cross in order to expand myself outside of work as it relates to volunteering and giving back.

What won’t you write about and why?

I will never write about myself in a personal manner. This will be hard because I am an open book, but I want this blog to be seen as an addendum to my resume and if I am not going to write about what I do on the weekends on my resume, then I won’t do so in my blog, either.

Your blog is fairly new, what are your plans?

I hope to keep this going! I want to each post to have a take-away. Whether it is resume writing tips (my latest post), making those who read aware of what goes on in the HR industry or what I am doing beyond my work each day to develop myself and those around me. Being young in my career, I am excited to see my blog grow with me.

You wrote about “Wear Red Day” and being a co-chair. How did you find out about E3 and what benefits does the organization bring to the workplace?

E3 is a large affinity group at Ecolab.  The main focus is helping women develop in the workplace. The mission is to provide a resource for female Ecolab associates that encourages personal and career fulfillment through individual mentoring, focused skill set training, community involvement and group camaraderie.

I found out about this organization through my boss when I started, but the cool thing about it is that it is everywhere! It is a very successful organization and it is proof that women are absolutely capable to bringing change to an organization. I am the Co-Chair of the Community Outreach Committee. We planned the Wear Red Day on February 5 to raise awareness around women’s heart health. We also do a mentoring program with Humboldt High School in St. Paul, we do clothing drives and many other activities! It has been a very amazing way to give back to the community.

As far as benefits to the workplace; it is proof that if you give women the opportunity to move a mountain, they WILL. It has helped me realize how rewarding being a Gen Y woman in the workplace is right now. For a long time, women did not have a true place in the workplace and now we do, and it’s great to see executive level support for an organization that encourages development of women in such a large and successful organization.

One of your posts is about candidate experience. How did the later posts by a local recruiter about “Undercover Job Seeker” fit into what you were trying to convey?

Paul DeBettignies hit it on the nose. Recruiting departments are not realizing what the candidate experience is OR, if there roadblocks outside of their control, they are not communicating it back. There are a lot of things out of our control – positions are canceled, put on hold, etc. but we don’t take the time to protect the brands of our companies and consider the perspective of the candidate. So many times, when I meet new hires, they always say, “The recruiting process took so long.” If we are honest and true with our candidates, they would be more understanding.

What ways do you use your interactions online for post ideas?

A lot of times I’ll read a tweet that sparks something, or an article someone posts might have a piece that ignites something in me. That’s why I love social media. Everyone is building on each other and creating a hyperspace of opinions, feelings, and truths around what is going on in the world. It’s really cool to be a part of this movement.

On Twitter, what gets you interested in following and more importantly having a conversation with someone?

A large percentage of those I follow are in the HR field. I am always trying to expand my knowledge base and learn. I am a sponge that way, so I love reading the articles and blogs people post as it relates to HR. I would say just about anything entices me to have a conversation with someone. If they have something to say and I am interested in, I will more than likely respond if I have something to say. There are a lot of amazing people on Twitter who have so many wonderful things to contribute to the Twitterverse: whether it is HR, music, art, healthy eating, information about technology and the list goes on. It’s been a great place so far for me to learn about so many things in one place. But to truly answer your question: If someone says something that triggers an interest in me, I’ll probably reply back or DM them.

What are some other blogs that you read?

Girl Meets Geek
MN Headhunter
HR Minion
Obviously I love your blog, but is it considered brown nosing to list yours?

Dez: No, it’s not

——————-

Thank you for reading this week’s Blogversation on IamDez.com and thank you to Cindy for humoring me.

–dez

Tuesday Blogversation is a weekly series on iamdez.com featuring bloggers of all kinds from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis / Saint Paul) area. If you’d like to be considered for an interview please send mail to dez [at] iamdez [dot] com or get ahold of me on twitter.

Starting tomorrow I will be publishing interviews with Twin Cities bloggers on a weekly basis. Each week will feature one local blogger. The questions will be custom and tailored for that blogger with only a few repeaters that are more for general knowledge.

This is my quest to find more content to read and to hopefully meet new people who are interested in at least one thing that I’m interested in (blogging). I have chosen these bloggers that I interview based on the content they produce in an attempt to highlight them for either helping other bloggers see how someone else does it or to find out for myself.

The bloggers that I’ll be contacting write about a wide variety of topics. I’m not going to limit the topics. The key here is that they are local. The only constraint I have is that they are an active blogger. Active to me is at least bi-weekly posts and something within the last month. This is not limited to word blogs. I am subscribed to a few photoblogs as well (some people have one of each).

There are three ways to see the blogs I’m currently subscribed to (which are the candidates for interviews).

• Google Reader “Personal” folder
• The Twin Cities Bloggers Posts in the sidebar widget
• There is also the Twitter List I have started: @iamdez/minnesota-bloggers
• Also I’ll start an archive page tomorrow that will have each interview done linked.

If you would like to be included on or removed from the  list please email me at dez [at] iamdez [dot] com.

Tuesday Blogversation is a weekly series on iamdez.com featuring bloggers of all kinds from the Twin Cities (Minneapolis / Saint Paul) area. If you’d like to be considered for an interview please send mail to dez [at] iamdez [dot] com or get ahold of me on twitter.