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So in February, I did the 28-day blogging challenge, courtesy of Mr. Scott Bishop. I figure it’s been over six months since I flooded your readers every day with nonsense, so it’s about that time again. Now, I realize that September has 30 days, but given the amount of activity going on this month, I’m giving myself the opportunity to have two days off. Will I take them? Good question. Regardless, having some sort of plan I can commit to is fun, and, September is going to be a pretty epic month, so naturally, I’ll want to share that with all of you.
I’ve got some big things in the works for this month, the first of which you’ll see after Labor Day weekend. In addition to that super-awesome project, I’ll be the (honorary) coach for the CSC 4-way team at Nationals. I’m pretty sure I’m a glorified water girl since I actually have no idea what coaching a 4-way team involves, but it’s going to be an awesome learning experience, being around so many rockstar skydivers.
After Nationals, a bunch of CSC’ers are road trippin’ it out to SkyVenture Colorado to do some time in the wind tunnel. I fully anticipate coming out of there 100% better than I did going in, and I’m sure there will be some funny video to share of me trying to master new skills.
Shortly after we return from Colorado, we’re having a tattoo party at Twisted Tattoo here in Chicago. Pete is going through AFF right now at CSC, and he’s shutting down the shop for a skydiver inking bonanza. I haven’t totally decided on what I’m getting (sorry Mom) but I have a pretty good idea.
So I anticipate a lot of the posts will be about skydiving, but as some of you have so kindly pointed out – those posts aren’t for everyone. There seems to be a lot of great fodder for Generation-Y discussion lately, so I’m sure there will be a little bit of that, some life stuff (think mindcrushes and the like from earlier this year) and a lot of reflection as season starts to wind down.
What would you like to see? If you’re into the skydiving stuff – do you want more video? More pictures? More of the “wow, skydiving is remarkably similar to _____”-type of posts? If you’re not into the airplane shenanigans, what would you like to see here? Gen-Y? Social media? More about the college to corporate/QLC/OMG what am I doing stuff?
I’d like to thank Andrew McAfee for an inspiring post on Generation Y (and/or Millennials, whatever) in the workplace. The guy is a principal research scientist at MIT and this little article was in the Harvard Business Review blog – he’s kind of a big deal.
That being said – while I can appreciate his ability to call our generation out on two qualities (or, maybe flaws, rather?), I disagree for the most part. Yes, there are a bunch of people in our generation that are “that guy” that McAfee describes, but I am hard-pressed to sit here silently as he generalizes about an entire generation. And to McAfee’s credit, he did write a post about how our sharing habits can help organizations, which is also worth a read.
The first flaw McAfee points out is that we’re all oversharing, all the time: “one of the knocks against Generation Y is that they’ve been encouraged to believe that everything they say and think is interesting, and should be aired and shared.”
I’m going to go out on a limb here and argue that we aren’t the only ones. I don’t disagree that we overshare. We do. But it’s not just Gen-Y, it’s Generation-Internet. This is just one of the ways social media is changing human behavior. Oversharing is not limited to anyone born after 1980 (or whatever year you’ve chosen to represent Gen-Y and Millennials for this article, as it seems to be changing from person to person, but I digress). It’s not just limited to Facebook and Twitter updates, we’re oversharing on location-based services like Foursquare as well. We’re taking pictures of everything we eat, some of us to show how fortunate we are to be eating at awesome hot spots around the world, some of us to show off our culinary creations. As one commenter mentioned, their aunt overshares on Facebook every day. I know colleagues and friends, past and present, younger and significantly older, that do this via Twitter, Facebook, their blog, whatever. It’s not limited to just Gen-Y/Millennials.
The second thing we’re faulted for is believing that everyone in the workplace is equal. I’d like to point back to our SXSW panel on Gen-Y in the Workplace, and recall that by and large, a good portion of our generation is interested in working “with” people, versus “for” them. It’s a new mentality, a new approach to the way we spend the decades of our life spent in the workplace. Take that how you will, some people don’t believe in boundaries, some people don’t believe in titles, but, in some companies, that is becoming more and more accepted as Gen-Y starts to infiltrate these organizations. At the end of the day we want to work with smart people – whether that smart person is an intern, a member of senior management, what have you.
Personally, I’m fortunate enough to work with an organization that provides me with the opportunity to share brain waves with smart people from the top down. Yes, there is a level of organization and hierarchy within these four walls, but I hear on a consistent basis from several members of senior management that we (junior staff) shouldn’t be afraid to utilize the resources (people senior to us) that are available to us. Of course we shouldn’t go prancing into their office and demand that they carve time out right then and there to listen to us, but we shouldn’t be shaking in our boots at the thought of sending them a quick note asking for some time when they have some available, either. At the end of the day, we’re all people. We all have experiences to share. Kum-bah-yah and all that.
It’s been awhile since we did one of these – if you’re Gen-Y, do you respect the hierarchy at your organization? Better yet, does that hierarchy exist or are you working in an organization that is becoming “flat” as opposed to the vertical ways of yesteryear? Are you a member of Generation-Internet, oversharing at every possible moment? Are there flaws that Millennials bring to the workplace that McAfee didn’t cover?
And, for more on Millennials and all that jazz, check out PEW’s massive report: Millennials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change. 149 pages of Digital Native/Millennial/Gen-Y goodness.
Last week, a colleague of mine (Hi, Ali!) shared this article from the New York Times about 20-somethings. I’ll tell you now, it’s a lengthy read. And the back end is really researchy and science-heavy. But it’s a good one, so if you have an hour to spare, give it a gander.
The article talks a lot about milestones and how today’s 20-somethings are less concerned about hitting the milestones the generations before us did, the “transition to adulthood.” Those milestones include completing school, leaving home, becoming financially indpendent, marrying and having a child. It goes on to give some interesting statistics – that in 1960, 77% of women and 65% of men had, by the time they reached 30, passed all five milestones. But in 2000, fewer than half of the women and one-third of the men had done so.
Which, I must say, makes me feel way more secure in my ass-backwards way of approaching life in my 20′s when I compare myself to the expectations that I was surrounded by as a youngster. I grew up in Kansas, where the path was as such: go to college, meet a man, maybe graduate, get married and start having babies. I am not kidding when I say that I am all but one of my HS girlfriends that isn’t married and/or working on their second child. And you know what, that’s totally okay.
Jeffery Jensen Arnett, a psych professor at Clark University calls the phase that I’m in “emerging adulthood.” He’s done a ton of research on this and it turns out that this whole feeling-like-a-grownup-but-not-really thing is not abnormal. He describes this phase of life as coming to realize a “sense of possibilities” and when I read that, I had one of those super-awesome lightbulb moments.
A sense of possibilities. YES! It’s like the grown-up version of the mentality we had when we were kids when our parents told us we could be whatever we wanted to be. Of course, I’m a bit more realistic about it now, realizing that if I decided “oh I really do want to be a doctor” that I wouldn’t be getting started until I was in my late 30′s (not to mention in more debt than I can possibly imagine) – but I am fully aware that I’m 25 – and the rest of my life is not decided.
The article poses an interesting question, is it better for young people to experiment in their 20′s before making choices they’ll have to live with for more than half a century? Or would young people be better off just getting started on something so they aren’t a step behind the early bloomers?
I think that is something we’re all struggling with. I know a lot of our community has landed some wicked awesome first jobs (because we’re all amazing, duh) but is there something to be said for experimenting while we can? I know people will argue that hopping around and taking time off and exploring totally different opportunities makes your resume look like swiss cheese and nobody will take you seriously if you try to come back from that. If life expectancy is extending into the 90′s – is it realistic to think that what we’re doing now is what we’ll be doing for the rest of our lives?
Is it idiotic for me to want to do digital PR, then be a skydiving instructor, then see where life takes me? Is it ridiculous for someone to want to open up their own yoga studio, or restaurant, or start a new company on their own, and then, if it doesn’t work out, come back to a corporate job? What about our colleagues that aren’t looking for new jobs, but opportunities arise, and they realize they’d be stupid not to explore it? A good chunk of our generation is full of star-performers, people companies want to have on board, people who have opportunities coming at them left and right. At what point in time do you shake off the safety net that is your current situation and dive head first into something new? At what point in time do we stop doubting ourselves (even though we have no reason to do so, obviously) and start making a path towards what we think we ultimately want, no matter how crazy it sounds?
At what point in time do we get over the hump that is the “sense of possibilities” and start feeling like grown-ups? More importantly, why would you want to?
Greetings social friends! With more than 2,000 SXSW interactive entries to vote for this year, it’s safe to say that the competition is FIERCE! Sarah Evans, of Sevans Strategy came up with a killer list of panels that everyone should check out. When I saw that both of the panels that I’m lucky to have a hand in were on the list, I was floored! I’ve included Sarah’s list below as well as a couple that I think you should definitely take a look at.
If you aren’t familiar with SXSW or the PanelPicker process, it’s pretty simple. SXSW is a community-driven event (and I think this has become more and more important over the past couple of years). That being said, knowing what kinds of topics the audience wants determines who gets these primo spots. The process to sign up takes maybe 30 seconds, SXSW is really great about not spamming you, and your vote accounts for about 30% of the decision-making process.
Sarah actually has two panels in the running. If you’re interested, you can vote for them here:
- Spin Doctors: PR Best Practices for Social Media, submitted by Nicole Ravlin –> (http://j.mp/voteSE)
- The Global Online Community: Improving Cross-Cultural Relations, submitted by Andrew Kneale –> (http://j.mp/voteSarah)
My colleague, Adam Keats, has also submitted a panel – “Is The Marketing Microsite Dead?” and is sure to be a fantastic discussion. This panel will discuss the pros and cons of the microsite vs. social media platforms and provide educated and experienced POVs for attendees on how to determine which platform is right. There are some big brands who are shying away from the microsite and using Facebook and/or Twitter as their landing page – is that good? Bad? The new norm? Ready, set, discuss!
Two of my favorite mentees, Colby and Patrick, have also submitted a panel called Real Time Life. This nugget of goodness is about all things social slash Digital Native slash living in Real Time.
And here’s Sarah’s list:
- Christine Perkett (@missusP), “The Networking Conundrum”
- Heather Mosley (@mosleyppr), “Dissecting What Really Works in Social Marketing Campaigns”
- Gregory Ferenstein (@ferenstein) “Stand Out: Investigative Journalism for Bloggers”
- Ted Murphy (@tedmurphy), “Check-in, Get Paid: Rise of Cash-sponsored Social Media” (client)
- Heather Whaling (@prtini) Geben Communication, “Big Ideas, Little Budget: Low-Cost Cause Marketing”
- Guy Kawasaki (@GuyKawasaki), “The Art of Enchantment”
- Dave Fleet (@Davefleet), “Personalities, Policies & Problems: Companies and Employees 2.0”
- Sydney Owen (@SydneyOwen), “Road Rules for Mentorship: What’s Appropriate (& What’s Not)”
- (also Sydney Owen) “Generation C: Changing the Future of Business… Forever!”
- Deb Schultz (@Debs), “Dear Miss Manners: WTF with the Social Web?”
- David Armano (@Armano), “Why PR’s Future May Not Look Like PR”
- Damien Basile (@db), “Game On: Can Game Theory transform your app?“ (and be sure to check out DB’s SXSW Panel Wiki, where you can add your panel to the database)
- Paula Berg (@paulaberg), “The Legal Ramifications of Saying ‘I’m Sorry”
- Lucretia Pruitt (@LucretiaPruitt) Social Media Matters, “Killing Clark Kent; When You Outgrow Your AlterEgo”
- Justin Goldsborough (@JGoldsborough), “Building Relationships – and Revenues – Through Twitter”
Voting ends at 11:59 CDT on Friday, August 27.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: This letter is “another” letter to skydiving because the first one was {here} and skydiving is like dating.
Dear Skydiving,
I’m going to tell you a little bit about me.
You know when you get to that place with something new in your life where you kinda shock yourself by how full-steam-ahead you’ve been approaching things? I’ve been there. A lot. It happened with rowing when I jacked up my hip flexor and was out for the rest of the season. It happened when I packed up my car to move to Chicago because, holy shit, this was actually happening. And it totally happened this weekend with us. I was sitting down at a picnic table and heard something about people going back to school. And then it hit me: um, hello August, nice to see you.
So after ground school in June, you took me by the hand and were all “hi Sydney, I’m your new life, let’s do this” and away we went. I haven’t really looked back since I started AFF. Cue my state of shock.
People are starting to talk about their plans for the winter. Which is totally exciting (for them) but makes me totally nervous about what’s going to happen in a couple months when season here wraps up. Nervous mostly because everything that every skydiver has said would happen once I decide that I’m straight up and down batshit crazy about this sport has happened. You’re addicting and I love pretty much everything about you. If it was actually possible, I’d just have my paycheck direct deposited into my account at the drop zone because that is where all of my money goes anyway. And, I’m okay with all of that. Every last bit of it.
But when we get back to the state of shock stuff, historically, in my little world, I’ve dealt with it in one of two ways.
One, I can keep going full steam ahead. In the instance of rowing, I didn’t have this option, my fate was decided for me. In the instance of skydiving, I can keep going. Keep jumping. Keep spending every waking minute between closing time on Friday and the morning drive on Monday at the drop zone, soaking it all in. Breathing in the culture, the people, the lifestyle, the group of people that have started to become my second family. I can keep going at the pace I have, try to turn off my brain about what happens in two months, and just LIVE. Continue to dive (ew, pun) head first into what is single-handedly the best thing to happen to me in a long time. Continue to fall in love with you, and do so with no reins, love this sport like I love anything that I really set my mind to, and figure out the rest when it happens.
Or, option two, I can start to reel it in. I hate this option. This turns into the battle of what my brain thinks is right vs. what my heart says is right. If I know that everything is going to shut down once the hangar closes for the winter, shouldn’t I start preparing myself for that? Shouldn’t I try to start weaning myself off of that lifestyle so it isn’t a complete and total shit show in my brain when I actually have to stay in Chicago on the weekends? Which, side note, I’m definitely not complaining about staying in Chicago, because it’s one of the greatest cities on the planet, but yeah, you know what I mean. The reeling it in option sucks because I’m cheating myself out of two months of awesome. The reeling it in option is usually the one I’ve gone with because I don’t want to deal with the aftermath.
So, skydiving, a couple questions. What do we do once things shut down? Do I chalk this up to the best summer ever and we’ll revisit when season rolls back around, rinse and repeat? Should I save money to plan winter skydiving trips so we can keep this thing alive? I’m new at this, fresh off of student status. What’s the procedure here?
hearts and sparkles,
Sydney