August 15, 2013 • 12:29 pm 0
Part of the Dog Days of Podcasting Challenge
I interview my wife, Dr. Rosanne Welch on her recently published essay, “When White Boys Write Black: Race and Class in the Davies and Moffat Eras” in the collection, Doctor Who and Race published by Intellect.
[powerpress]
Filed under: Audio, Books, Dog Days of Podcasting, New Media, podcast, podcasting
August 13, 2013 • 5:11 pm 0
Career Conversation: Jennifer Oliver O’Connell of Tuesdays with Transitioners
Douglas talks with Jennifer Oliver O’Connell, founder and leader of Tuesdays with Transitioners, a job group in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. We talk about career transition, some misconceptions about transition and even how employers can work with transitioners to find great employees.
More information on Jennifer Oliver O’Connell and Tuesdays with Transitioners:
More career interviews at the Career Opportunities blog and podcast
Filed under: Dog Days of Podcasting, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, Video, YouTube
August 13, 2013 • 5:11 pm 0
Radishes and carrots are starting to sprout and I add a soaker hose connection, with timer, to the container garden and surrounding roses.
* See what was happening in the container garden last year at this time: Container Garden Update 4
Can’t see the video above? Watch “Container Garden Update 37” on YouTube
Watch the “Container Garden Update” Playlist for all related videos
Please like this video and/or subscribe to my channel on YouTube. Your LIKES directly effect how many others will see this video.
Video shot with Canon VIXIA HF R400 HD
Music: “Whiskey on the Mississippi” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) – Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Filed under: Dog Days of Podcasting, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, Video, YouTube
August 13, 2013 • 5:10 pm 0
Time to refurbish some older, non-functional soaker hoses and add another electronic timer to get the water flowing again.
Part of the “Dog Days of Podcasting” 30 Day Challenge – http://dogdaysofpodcasting.com
Watch all past episodes of “In the garden…” in this YouTube Playlist
Please Like this video and/or subscribe to my channel on YouTube.
Your likes and subscriptions directly reflect how many other viewers are suggested this video.
“In the garden…” is a series for A Gardener’s Notebook highlighting what is happening in my garden, my friend’s gardens and California gardens throughout the seasons.
Filed under: Dog Days of Podcasting, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, Video, YouTube
August 13, 2013 • 5:09 pm 0
Part of the “Dog Days of Podcasting” 30 Day Challenge – http://dogdaysofpodcasting.com
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about making your resume into a blog (See Your resume a blog, January 5, 2007) and today I want to go a little deeper into what information you might want to place there. Whether you are creating your new resume blog, or using the more traditional resume and cover letter, you should be specific about your career story. It is these details that will provoke interest in you and your work.
[powerpress]
The bird, the red bird, the red cardinal
Read any book on good writing and nearly all of them will preach the gospel of specific and unique detail. If you want your writing to have power and emotional impact, you need highly detailed sections of description. Where a beginning writer might write, “The bird sat in the tree,” a more experienced writer would write, “The bright red cardinal, with its black mask and pointed cap, sat high in the tall, leafless, maple tree and sang its purdy-purdy-purdy song with gusto.” While this might be a bit of purple prose, it is certainly more engaging than, ‘The bird sat in the tree.” Details in the story make the reader want to know more about the cardinal and his story — details in your resume make the potential employer want to know more about you and your career.
Clearly, the same rules apply for your resumes and cover letter writing. Don’t say the career equivalent of “The bird sat in the tree.” Of course, you don’t simply want to create a laundry list of hardware and software you managed, either. The details need to be wrapped up within a complete story. This is the difference between a telephone book and a novel. One is just information, the other is an engaging tale that can sometimes change the world.
For example, instead of simply saying, “I worked with Windows,” say “One major project included a national rollout (3 sites/1000+ systems) of Windows XP SP2 and MS Office in which I managed 18 staff members of all levels and developed solutions to software issues that prevented employees from accessing a critical, legacy, AS/400 system. These issues were caused by conflicts between our client software (X), network hardware (Y) and connectivity issues using AT&T leased lines. I created a task force with members from all these vendors, and internal staff to resolve the issues while still maintaining the project timeline.”
I am sure your own career stories are much better than this made-up example, but the concept should be clear. Again, as most writing books will tell you, every good story addresses who, what, when, where, why and how. Make sure you get all that information into your career story. Of all of these items, though, I think the most important aspects are the why and the how. Too often, we don’t do enough to expose our thought processes and methods to those around us. Concentrating on “why” shows prospective employers what you think and how you go about the process of setting up a project, while the “how” gives them specific information on how you implemented that project and the hurdles you crossed to complete it.
Pick and choose
Just as you don’t want to overwhelm your reader with laundry lists of hardware and software, you don’t want to try and tell all your stories in one novel-length resume. The traditional 1-page resume form means you have to pick and choose which stories are most important to each employer and which tell the specific story you want to relate to that particular employer. Again, just as a writer considers their audience, so should you. If you are applying for a position as a network manager, you should choose stories that reflect that experience. A different position will naturally require a different set of stories. Overall, I would recommend that you present no more than three individual stories in any resume. More than that could overwhelm the reader. Less than that might not provide enough information. Of course, your resume blog can contain as many stories as you like, since it is being accessed in different fashion. Your end goal, in any situation, is to be invited in for a face-to-face interview. Make sure your resume interests the reader so much that they simply have to meet you in person.
Even though you might not be a writer by trade, you can use the writer’s tools to craft resumes and cover letters that are filled with the specific detailed stories necessary to tell your career story in the best way possible.
***
Filed under: Audio, Dog Days of Podcasting, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show
August 13, 2013 • 5:08 pm 0
Want a great way to find cool books to read? Visit your local library. That’s right, your library. Then locate the “Sorting Shelves.” Ask the librarian, if you can’t find themselves. Sorting shelves contain books which have recently been returned by other patrons and are being sorted by subject, so they can be reshelved in their proper locations.
You are almost sure to find something interesting here via pure serendipity. It only makes sense that those books which have circulated recently might be of interest to you, too. These shelves will be a great mixture of every genre, from cookbooks to philosophy, as well a collection of both new books and old.
Next time you are looking for something interesting to read, check out the sorting shelves at your local library. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Music: “Mining by Moonlight”, Kevin MacLeod, Incompetech.com, Creative Commons License
Filed under: Books, Dog Days of Podcasting, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, Video, YouTube
August 13, 2013 • 5:05 pm 0
[powerpress]
Want a great way to find cool books to read? Visit your local library. That’s right, your library. Then locate the “Sorting Shelves.” Ask the librarian, if you can’t find themselves. Sorting shelves contain books which have recently been returned by other patrons and are being sorted by subject, so they can be reshelved in their proper locations.
You are almost sure to find something interesting here via pure serendipity. It only makes sense that those books which have circulated recently might be of interest to you, too. These shelves will be a great mixture of every genre, from cookbooks to philosophy, as well a collection of both new books and old.
Next time you are looking for something interesting to read, check out the sorting shelves at your local library. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Music: “Mining by Moonlight”, Kevin MacLeod, Incompetech.com, Creative Commons License
Filed under: Audio, Books, Dog Days of Podcasting, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, Video, YouTube
August 7, 2013 • 9:33 am 0
Time to repair an older, but still serviceable, garden hose with some parts from the home improvement store and a little time. So easy anyone — yes even I — can do it! (LAUGH)
Part of the “Dog Days of Podcasting” 30 Day Challenge – http://dogdaysofpodcasting.com
Watch all past episodes of A Gardner’s Notebook in this YouTube Playlist
Please Like this video and/or subscribe to my channel on YouTube.
Your likes and subscriptions directly reflect how many other viewers are suggested this video.
“In the garden…” is a series for A Gardener’s Notebook highlighting what is happening in my garden, my friend’s gardens and California gardens throughout the seasons.
Filed under: Dog Days of Podcasting, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, Tips, Video, YouTube
August 6, 2013 • 8:33 am 0
Part of the “Dog Days of Podcasting” 30 Day Challenge – http://dogdaysofpodcasting.com
I really like panoramic pictures and in this video I take about 8 of them and turn them into an interesting video. This is just another example, for the Dog Days of Podcasting, how many different types of media can be used to create your podcasts. Your show, your audio, your video doesn’t need to be like anyone else’s — and especially like traditional radio or television. Experiment with whatever you have. Re-use media, arrange it differently, mash it up with something else.
You can see the quality differences here between panorama done with my iPhone and those taken — in multiple slices — with my traditional digital camera. The higher quality the photos that come in, the higher quality the video out, so you may want to take some time to shoot and stitch the panorama before using it in your video editor.
Please like this video and/or subscribe to my channel on YouTube. Your LIKES directly effect how many others will see this video.
Video shot with Canon VIXIA HF R400 HD
Music: “Whiskey on the Mississippi” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) – Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Filed under: Dog Days of Podcasting, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, Video, YouTube
August 6, 2013 • 8:32 am 0
Bill Farmer, The Voice of Disney’s Goofy, Talks about “A Career in Voiceover”
Douglas sits down with Bill Farmer, voice actor for Disney’s Goofy and many other well-known animated characters. We talk about a career in voiceover, how to build it, how to sustain it and career potential of becoming a voice actor today.
More information on Bill Farmer:
More career interviews at the Career Opportunities blog and podcast
Filed under: Dog Days of Podcasting, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, Video, YouTube
August 6, 2013 • 8:32 am 0
Part of the “Dog Days of Podcasting” 30 Day Challenge – http://dogdaysofpodcasting.com
I rebuild one of the containers, removing some basil plants into other pots, remixing the soil with worm castings and some organic fertilizer and planting it up with carrots and radish seeds.
* See what was happening in the container garden last year at this time: Container Garden Update 3
Can’t see the video above? Watch “Container Garden Update 36” on YouTube
Watch the “Container Vegetable Garden” Playlist for all related videos
Please like this video and/or subscribe to my channel on YouTube. Your LIKES directly effect how many others will see this video.
Video shot with Canon VIXIA HF R400 HD
Music: “Whiskey on the Mississippi” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) – Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
Filed under: Dog Days of Podcasting, Elsewhere, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, Video, YouTube
August 3, 2013 • 9:39 am 0
A photo montage of the Crape Myrtle blooming in the neighborhood this week.
For full resolution versions of these photos, visit the blog post on A Gardener’s Notebook.
Part of the “Dog Days of Podcasting” 30 Day Challenge – http://dogdaysofpodcasting.com
Watch all past episodes of “In the neighborhood…” in this YouTube Playlist
Please Like this video and/or subscribe to my channel on YouTube.
Your likes and subscriptions directly reflect how many other viewers are suggested this video.
“In the garden…” is a series for A Gardener’s Notebook highlighting what is happening in my garden, my friend’s gardens and California gardens throughout the seasons.
Filed under: Dog Days of Podcasting, New Media, Photos, podcast, podcasting, Show, Video, YouTube
August 3, 2013 • 9:39 am 0
Part of the Dog Days of Podcasting, A 30 Podcast in 30 Days Challenge taken by a wide variety of podcasters including the host of Careers in New Media, Douglas E. Welch.
You’ll find a list of all the Dog Day of Podcasting participants on the web site (http://dogdaysofpodcasting.com)
Visit any business and you will find a host of the employees plodding through their work day. Clearly, they lost all energy and excitement about their work years ago, but instead of seeking a better job elsewhere, they put in their time day after day and wonder when someone will come and save them from the monotony. Truth be told, this is never going to happen. No one is going to come and take them away from their dull and pointless careers.
[powerpress]
Visit any business and you will find a host of the employees plodding through their work day. Clearly, they lost all energy and excitement about their work years ago, but instead of seeking a better job elsewhere, they put in their time day after day and wonder when someone will come and save them from the monotony. Truth be told, this is never going to happen. No one is going to come and take them away from their dull and pointless careers.
The fact is, the only person who cares about your career is you. If you don’t take the initiative to reach out and find something better, no one will. Your managers, your company and your peers can’t care about your career. They are too busy thinking about their own concerns to add yours to the mix. You can’t sit around waiting for the career equivalent of the big lottery jackpot, I can guarantee you that it will never arrive.
Find some energy
Part of the reason people get trapped in unfulfilling jobs is that they allow it to sap their energy and their spirit. They simply feel too tired to pursue anything but the input-only entertainment of television or video games. Energy, though, is exactly what they need to find. They need to conserve one small bit of energy every day so that they can seek out one small, yet fulfilling opportunity or idea. Like exercise, the more you do it, the more you feel like doing it. You just have to locate that small kernel of energy that let’s you start the ball rolling.
Where do you find this energy? In most cases, you simply need to let go. Even when a job is unfulfilling we still carry a certain, inborn sense of responsibility. We still worry about the bureaucracy, the politics, the chances of layoffs or bankruptcy. It is one of the few times when we can care too much about the fate of our company. We allow these worries to drag us down and sap all our energy, even though we might be telling ourselves that we don’t care about our job at all.
So, disconnect from your job to find the energy you need to grow. Now, I am not telling you to stop doing your work. That would be foolish. I want you to disconnect from the petty, childish and demeaning parts of your job that are sapping energy you could be investing elsewhere. Do you and your peers spend your breaks and lunches complaining about the company? Are you carrying around anger, disgust or even hatred of your company? Let it go! You have better things to do with your time.
Investment
Once you start engaging in these damaging behaviors, you will suddenly find that you have more time, more energy for more enjoyable activities. Maybe that news story from today’s paper will entice you out to a new park or store. Perhaps you’ll feel like cooking that new dish you wanted to try. It is in these small ways that you’ll first see improvements. Then, as you gain more and more energy, the effects will spill over into other aspects of your life. Like a snowball rolling downhill, the energy grows and grows of its own accord.
Oddly enough, you might even find yourself enjoying and engaging in your current job more. Once you disconnect from those destructive behaviors, you might find out that your job isn’t quite as bad or quite as hopeless as you might have imagined. Sometimes, you’ll find that your new found energy is best re-invested in making your current job better, instead of moving somewhere else.
***
Filed under: Audio, Dog Days of Podcasting, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, advancement, career, energize, energy, getting out, movement
August 1, 2013 • 7:05 am 0
New Media Answers: Dog Days of Podcasting Kickoff with Kreg Steppe
A 30 Podcast in 30 Days Challenge taken by a wide variety of podcasters including the host of New Media Answers, Douglas E. Welch.
You’ll find a list of all the Dog Day of Podcasting participants on the web site (http://dogdaysofpodcasting.com)
Link: Kreg Steppe’s Web Site – Spyndle.com
Intro/Outro Music: “Slow Burn” by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com) under Creative Commons License.
Filed under: Dog Days of Podcasting, Events, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, Video, YouTube
August 1, 2013 • 7:05 am 0
I add soil to the garden bed to start its transition to a raised bed and transplant some dayflower into a troublesome part of the garden.
Part of the “Dog Days of Podcasting” 30 Day Challenge – http://dogdaysofpodcasting.com
Watch all past episodes of “In the garden…” in this YouTube Playlist
Please Like this video and/or subscribe to my channel on YouTube.
Your likes and subscriptions directly reflect how many other viewers are suggested this video.
“In the garden…” is a series for A Gardener’s Notebook highlighting what is happening in my garden, my friend’s gardens and California gardens throughout the seasons.
Filed under: Dog Days of Podcasting, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, Video, YouTube
July 31, 2013 • 1:02 pm 0
Here is my first, real, entry in the Dog Days of Podcasting Challenge. I’ll post each days podcast here, regardless of what other show it falls under, so you can see them all together — Douglas
A few weeks ago I talked about how to attract work and opportunities to you, instead of constantly begging for your next job. One of the biggest elements of attracting work to you is using social media to share the most interesting aspects of your life and work and show people “what you do and how well you do it.” Of course, it is worth taking some time to think about what you might share on your social media feeds that contribute to this end goal. Here are a few ideas to get you started in sharing the right kind of information.
These aren’t some self-serving stories about how you saved the day, although some may have that aspect about them. Rather you are sharing these stories to help anyone else who might be experiencing the same, or similar, issues in their own line of work. Depending on your work, this could be a post on how you solved a particular tricky accounting problem, solved a difficult problem with a hidden leak (if you are a plumber), made a car run better (if you are a mechanic) or created a great computer system that saved your company tens of thousands of dollars (or even a few.) As you can see, it doesn’t matter what type of work you do. We all have interesting stories to tell that can be tremendously useful to others. By sharing these stories, you not only show people the quality of the work you do, you also help them solve their own, similar problems. This alone could lead to a job or consulting offer down the road. I know it has worked this way for me.
Sometimes, the media we are consuming can be very illuminating about our lives and our work. For myself, I make a point of sharing what books I am reading, what blogs I subscribe to, what videos I am watching and the podcasts I listen to as I drive about on business and pleasure. I think that if people pay attention to these items, they can get a very clear idea about where my interests lie and it can do the same for you. Again, the best thing about this is that you are just sharing what you find interesting, not trying to promote yourself, so it is a nice, soft pedal, way of accomplishing the goal of letting people know you — and your work — better.
While you need to be careful about descending to the level of a “rant” in these posts, working out your job issues in writing can help you discover solutions to solve the problem. Don’t name names, but rather address the deeper issues involved. Create “what if” scenarios of what you might do to solve the problem if you had the power. Tell people how you personally dealt with a problem, even if you couldn’t change the situation yourself. You can, and should, also talk about issues in your industry and how you would address the problem. Again, thinking through these issues helps you in so many ways. You might hit upon a solution that no one has discovered yet. You might find a solution to your own work issues and finally, you might help someone else who is dealing with the same issues. Often people are helped just by knowing that they are not alone in their problems. If you can offer some commiseration with their issues, and perhaps even a helpful solution, you can develop a great reputation as a problem solver that can lead to large opportunities down the road.
Finally, one of the greatest pieces of information that you can offer is the cool things that you discover both online and in your own life. As I read through my RSS feeds each day, I often find 2-3 items that are worth sharing with others. This often results in many ‘Thank you” messages being returned as well as people sharing the information with their readers/followers/Facebook friends.
These items can take several forms. Some might simply be for entertainment (witness all the silly cat pictures out there). Some might be useful answers to business problems such as new smartphone apps, new web services and new online publications. These items also can, and should, be elements from your own life. Interesting pictures you have taken, neat templates you created, interesting architecture, music, writing and friends you encounter in your daily travels. Don’t limit yourself to just sharing things that others create. Create your own “neat things” to share, too.
If you are feeling a bit stuck on what to share via your social media feeds, I hope that these ideas will spur you into action. I believe that it is through softer sharing, rather than blatant promotion, that we can have the biggest impact on our work and careers. Rather than jumping up and down shouting “look at me, look at me”, you can have much more impact instead saying, “Look at this cool thing I found. It helped me and it might help you, too!” That is certainly how I approach my own use of social media and I believe it can be very effective in building the career you deserve.
***
Filed under: Audio, Dog Days of Podcasting, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, career, help, helping, share, sharing, Social Media, what
July 30, 2013 • 8:29 am 0
Here is my kick-off video for the Dog Days of Podcasting event. I am going to use this event as a showcase for all the different ways and methods of podcasting available. You’ll see video shot with camcorders, iPhones and more, audio recorded with my iPhone and high-end audio recorders and even some photo montages and slide shows. There will be interviews, environmental videos (showing a particular location) and all my regular podcasts, too.
Dog Days of Podcasting – 30 Podcasts in 30 Days
For complete information, visit http://dogdaysofpodcasting.com
From the Dog Days of Podcasting Web Site…
“Essentially, it is a challenge to do a podcast for 30 days in a row.
In 2012 Kreg Steppe was looking to give himself a little push in regards to recording his own personal podcast since he wasn’t recording it very often. That turned into a challenge for himself to record a show everyday for 30 days believing that after 30 days it would turn into a habit. Once it was mentioned to Chuck Tomasi he took the challenge too and they decided it would be a great idea to record starting 30 days before Dragon*Con, culminating with the last episode where they would record it together when they saw each other there.
Turns out there were some of our friends that also wanted to get in on the action and took the challenge too. So it grew into a challenge 7 of us took.
This year we are inviting more podcasters to get in on the action. Keep in mind, it’s a fun challenge, and you will not be shamed (too much) if you don’t record every 30 day. It is kind of like the way Drew Carey describes “Whose line is it anyway?”. A fun game were we earn points, but the points don’t matter.
What matters is that we all have fun recording and listening to each other.
Start Date: July 30th, 2013 End Date: August 30th, 2013 Rules: Podcast Once a day for 30 days. Show length is up to you. Most vary from 3 – 5 Min.”
Filed under: Dog Days of Podcasting, Events, iPhone, New Media, podcast, podcasting, Show, Video, YouTube
New Media Interchange 