Congratulations to Britt Mauriss, New Social Media Manager at spreecast

Ron Levi, VP of Product and Marketing at spreecast posted a blog post today welcoming Britt Mauriss, as their new Social Media Manager.  I'm really very happy for you and hope you kill it!  The entire spreecast team seems very cool and I love the platform - I know it is going BIG TIME and am glad you are there for the ride!  HUGE Congratulations and best of luck to you.  If I can ever be of any assistance, please do not hesitate to ask.

So You Want to Know About All That Hair ... Guess You Should Know About TheHairFarmer.com

Here's a little spreecast video I made the other day about my hair.  Actually - it is really not about my hair at all, but all about creating awareness of challenges that children face and that we can all help in many different ways. I'd love to hear YOUR thoughts ... and recruit you to become a hair farmer too.

Time to Get Honest: I'm No Social Media Expert, Guru or Diva - I'm Just Unemployed

It was with great humility that I wrote this post about being unemployed (and looking for work) on my new site at TheJoeKennedy.com.



You should know that if you are the one person responsible for helping me secure ongoing employment, I will pay you a referral fee equal to one week salary.  That's right - I will work the first entire week for YOU!

I am NOT a Social Media Expert, Guru or Diva - Just Unemployed

The recent over-proliferation of social media experts, gurus and divas is getting old quickly.  A bad economy and high unemployment rate has caused good people to take some questionable actions.  There are many out there posing as social media experts or even running social media companies who are not even using social media themselves.  I know I've done some things in the past three years that I'm certainly not proud of.  One of them was joining a network marketing opportunity and dragging people to meetings where neither their time nor their common sense was honored. Another was being paid to raise funds for an organization that would not allow me to hold an annual fund drive.  I've also done social media consulting projects for a number of individuals, companies and organizations that I had a pretty good idea did not have the 1) buy in 2) allocated resources or 3) desire to implement or continue the work that I did.  But I could not and would not claim to be a social media expert - there really is no such thing.  Too much to know and too much changing daily for ANYONE to know it all.

Because I decided early on to avoid pushing my services as a "social media consultant" to those who were just throwing their money away, I've found myself doing some more things I'm not proud of.  I've rented out all the rooms in my house, made the family room into a bedroom and rented that out too, while living in a partially finished garage with bits of carpet as flooring.  Even with that I have been delinquent on house payments, utilities and worst of all child support.  (So far I have kept from losing my house - and I intend to keep it that way.)

The occasional odd job has been my only real income for almost three years now and just recently have I started receiving payment for some of my blogging efforts.  Even so, I have been listing non compensated positions on my resume and social media profiles - perhaps in an attempt to trick myself (and others?) into thinking that I actually have a job?  I'm definitely not proud of that and it is time to face the fact:  I have been unemployed for almost three years.

Yes, I've been dreadfully, drearily unemployed for way too long.  It sucks. And much of it is my own fault.

I started out very motivated thinking that since I am known as "The Connector" and have helped so many people over the years that I printed newspapers and published news sites, I would be able to get a great job very quickly.  When I put out the word that I was looking for work, I had a number of people reach out - some sending me listings of positions that they thought were a fit, a couple offering me commission-based sales jobs and a couple people have even recommended me for jobs.

But despite my experience, knowledge and contacts I have been unable to even get a single interview.  NOT ONE SINGLE INTERVIEW.

Sometimes I have to think I pissed off the wrong person, or that EVERYBODY is discriminatory again hair farmers both of which I know are not true.  But eventually I have just been worn down and quit trying to find work.  Oh sure, I have my ads on Craigslist looking for jobs I can do with my truck and the tools that I own - and I have spent a lot of time working on my many websites and trying to figure out how to monetize them.  I still have big plans, dreams and desires for some of them like LuxuryFitnessFun.com and JoeAbs.com, but I need a more immediate income and I need it now.

I'm moving back into my house next week at the risk of losing it.  The income that the vacating renter has been providing may be the difference between having been able to pay "enough" to keep it and not.  I need to make up that lost income and a lot more real quick.  I'd love to not have renters in my house.  I'd love to be able to pay all my bills and obligations - and on time.  I would love to be able to eat on a consistent basis.  I'd love to be able to get my daughter that x-box she wanted last Christmas and the piece of jewelry I wasn't able to buy my girlfriend for Valentine's Day.  I need a job.

My first choice would be to work for a cool company like spreecast, but I am very flexible, extremely motivated and could be a huge asset to almost any company or organization.

I will consider all situations and will pay a bounty/referral fee of the equivalent of one week's salary to anyone who gives me a lead and or referral leading to ongoing employment.  I will work the first week for you and look forward to it.  Until then, I am not a social media expert - I am just unemployed.

The Hair Farmer Project and TheHairFarmer.com - Growing Hair for the Benefit of Children with Medical Challenges

At the suggestion of some friends who think that I may not be getting an interview at spreecast because of my hair, I just recorded a spreecast talking about The Hair Farmer Project, TheHairFarmer.com and my unruly locks for Locks of Love.



I don't think that anyone with a sack (or a conscience) would make hairstyle a major consideration when deciding who to hire, so I don't give a lot of credence to the idea that people don't want to hire a guy with long hair.  In fact, I think it is an asset - I'm definitely A LOT more memorable with long hair than without, I'm a free thinker and I don't give a crap about what other people think.  I am always going to bust my ass for any client, business partner or employee and do a better than expected job - my hair and style of dress have NOTHING to do with that.  :-)  (I'd love to hear YOUR thoughts).

I Love Spreecast! Why I Want to Work for Ron Levi and Spreecast by Joe "The Connector" Kennedy

Just over one week ago I found out about the super cool new social media platform called Spreecast, which allows people to broadcast together.  I took one look at knew that it is going to be a game changer and got really excited about it.  What is even cooler is that they are searching for a social media rock star to join their team, and their VP of Marketing Ron Levi made a Spreecast announcing the search and inviting people to apply via usual channels such as emailing a resume and cover letter, or by using Spreecast and other social media tools.

Although I did eventually send Ron a link to my online resume, along with an email expressing interest in working for him - I first reached out through a number of social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest and a few of my websites.  

Get a Cool New Social Media Tool FREE Right Now - Help Joe "The Connector" Kennedy #HelpRon and #HelpJoeConnect

I just found out about Spreecast a week ago, but I am so excited about it that I feel like I have to tell everyone I know.  For those not yet using it, Spreecast is a cool new social media platform that allows people to broadcast together.  Up to four cameras can be on screen at any given time, other cameras can be rotated in and out, the entire session is broadcast live via the internet, while being recorded and then archived for easy embedding any time in the future.

Joe "The Connector" Kennedy's First Spreecast - #HelpRon #HelpJoeConnect

Wow - today (now yesterday) turned out so exciting.  My Millionairess, Stacia Loo is always showing me cool new stuff, but today she sent me an email about Spreecast - a SUPER COOL cool new application which is a mash up of other technologies, live casting type of video conferencing that is recorded and enbedable.  WOW!

 

It's now past 1am and I cannot sleep.  I had to get going and do my first Spreecast - even though I should have been sleeping around noon ..  Here it is - I'd love to hear what you think - and hope that YOU will connect with me on Spreecast so that I can invite you to upcoming Spreecasts that are going to be pretty cool and stretching the boundaries of technology.  I'm sure that you'll want to be a part of it.

Embedding a Pinterest Pin: Restaurants in Bellevue - Seastar Restaurant Delivery Available Thru ClickEats

This is as much of a test as anything else, but I hope that it gets them some traffic:

Source: seastarrestaurant.com via Joe on Pinterest

It would be really cool if someone saw this an invited us to do a review for the BellevueBusinessJournal.com news site, but even cooler if they would sign their restaurants up for the Eastside Business Directory. I know they have a great raw bar, but I wonder if they have lobster? If I did a lobster review, it would have to be good for my lobster influence on Klout:  http://klout.com/#/KennedyIAm/topics

Source: eastsideentrepreneurs.com via Joe on Pinterest

 

 

Julia May of ClickEats.com

Notes from the Universe: The Need to Criticize

Wow!  There really seems to be a lot going on in my life right now.  I have a very strong feeling that I am getting pushed or pulled in a certain direction (or is it directionS?).

One thing in particular that just happened is that I got an email from "The Universe", which is Mike Dooley's Notes from the Universe.  Everyone on his list gets personalized daily positive and motivational emails, but this email seemed to be written just for me:

Joe, the need to criticize simply belies a longing for recognition, appreciation, and validation. None of which, however, can be obtained through criticism.

I'm sure it's just a phase they're going through.

Wink,
The Universe

I feel like the wink shares with me, that which I already know - the "they're" that is referred to is actually me - and I'm ready to be done with this phase (the first many years of my life?) and stop criticizing people, businesses and organizations.  It never felt good doing it, but now that I know the pathetic reason behind me doing so, I think it will be much easier not to.

Thank you to Michael Dooley and The Universe!