Category Archives: personal

New Year, New Job

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As some of you may know, I switched industries in December and have been working in-house for a financial services company, growing and managing their social media program. This is pretty much my first corporate job (*egads*), and it is a challenge. I’m used to being scrappy and nimble and not having any budget to implement campaigns. Now, I’ve got a budget (yay!), there are processes and infrastructure to build and a few layers of approvals to go through. So that’s the ‘meh’ news. The good news: it’s a challenge I haven’t had an opportunity to tackle in a for-profit before.

Here’s what I like about my new job and the way it’s set up so far:

  1. The program is at level one, which means there’s nowhere to go but up!
  2. I like my new team a lot. Each has a different function that I’ve tried to understand and learn where I could fit in and help and vice versa. On a sidenote: they’re all foodies and can find the best places to eat around the area. Plus!
  3. So far, in my professional life, I’ve struck gold in landing jobs where my direct manager is terrific, supportive and helpful. I can’t believe my continued good luck.
  4. I sit very close to the customer service team. There is precious real estate where my team sits, and so I was moved here. It would be a terrific experiment to place a few people from other departments in the vicinity, and vice versa. I believe there is a bit of learning through osmosis (or sitting near someone who’s not on your department).
  5. Biggest challenge for me: Listening to what our customers are saying about us on social media. It’s been a learning experience, and I think part of the challenge is finding the right voice online. I’m a month in, and I’m still testing.
  6. Second biggest challenge: Federal regulations, legal/compliance rules. This isn’t like a CPG where you can post anything you want on social media. There are some consumer-friendly topics I can’t touch, even if it’s indirect. This is where I struggle a little because I’m so off-the-cuff with my old clients (and it was ok with them).
  7. Biggest challenge company-wide: Connecting the pieces for other departments. I want them to have the “ah ha!” moment. I’m in the process of creating a preso for the company (or those who want free lunch) on why social media is needed here, why I need their help and how we’re going to take this on. I think it’s important to show why I am and will be constantly in their face (customer service and direct marketing) so they understand my needs and how I can help them hit their own department goals. As far as I’m concerned, I’ve attached to everyone in the company with dotted lines.

Well, there you have it. I’ll revisit this in six months to report where I’ve been and whether I still feel the same about the new gig.

When in doubt, I always go back to conversations with my late mentor who always pushed me to try new things to challenge myself, to keep out of my comfort zone.

I’m Still Alive!

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I haven’t been blogging much here because:

  • I’ve been busy with SMCLA and its blog
  • I’ve been writing on my personal blog
  • I tweet more than I blog
  • I recently switched industries and picked up a new job (same field though!)

One of my new year’s resolution is to write a blog post here regularly. It may continue to be once a month… or if I’m really ambitious, perhaps it’ll be once every two weeks or every week!

In the meantime, I wish you a happy new year!

 

What are your Strengths?

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Back in the summer, the firm sent out the Strengthsfinder test to everyone to take. I had taken this test when I was in b-school, and boy, four years has made a difference in answers and strengths!

Four years ago, my strengths were: Communication, Activator, Includer, Empathy and Developer.

Four years later, things have changed a bit. My comments in red:

Positivity
People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

This is an interesting revelation as my #1 strength 3 years ago was Communication. My lovely coworker Clare sees my positivity. I questioned this strength as my #1 because sometimes I don’t think I am. Clare disagrees, and if there’s anyone who will be honest, it’s a Boston broad. I’m positive.

Significance
People who are especially talented in the Significance theme want to be very important in the eyes of others. They are independent and want to be recognized.

Totally agree. After years of trudging behind the scenes, my experiences in life and school have taught me that you have to take credit for your work and not allow others to step over and call your work theirs. This is something I’ve tried to instill in my former interns – be proud of your work and claim it. At the same time, I will give you credit where credit is due. Your brilliant idea should be acknowledged and celebrated!

Input
People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.

Absolutely. I am interested in many things! Aren’t you? Does the thought of learning how to cut a sewing pattern, the politics of foie gras, searching for Greek myths and comparing them to present-day movies and reading about successful social media campaigns apply to you? Me too. I enjoy being a human encyclopedia.

Relator
People who are especially talented in the Relator theme enjoy close relationships with others. They find deep satisfaction in working hard with friends to achieve a goal.

Again, agree.

Activator
People who are especially talented in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

I am impatient with troublemakers. I am impatient with arrogant professionals and colleagues. I am impatient with friends who say, “I wish I could have…” You still can. So do it. You are not dying, right? You made a choice. Make a detour off the path you don’t like and start driving on the “right” path to make that wish happen.

Now that you know what my strengths are, what are yours?

I’m Headed to BlogHer!

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Here’s the requisite BlogHer post. I’ll be updating my personal blog as much as I can this weekend. I anticipate a lot of chaos and downtime.

This is my first time at BlogHer. I’m attending as a blogger, not as a social media pro or PR person, though I’m sure that topic will come up. I’ll be reporting for several outlets that I blog for. Since BlogHer hits nearly every aspect and interest in my life, I can see myself blogging about a lot of sessions. Let’s hope I get to attend the sold out ones as well.

More later or check out my Twitterfeed this weekend.
I'm Going to BlogHer '11

Disclosure Statements Do Not Matter to Some

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Early this morning, I received a forwarded email from my employer with a question mark. This email was written by a literary agent on behalf of an YA (young adult) author whose book I’m actually looking forward to reading.

This email not only chastises my employer but clearly states that I was using my personal Twitter account and posted a link to an illegal download to said book.

“It has been brought to my attention that one of your employees, Christina Lam, has posted a link to an illegal copy of Divergent by Veronica Roth on her personal twitter account. Not only could she get into a lot of trouble for doing this in any capacity (with her name on it, no less!), but this looks awfully bad for a company that specializes in social media.  The misuse of social media here is inexcusable.”

Now, right there, I take this issue seriously. When someone accuses you of stealing, of course, you’d perk up and check your posts and whether your pants are down.

I took a look at what I posted. It was a post that I re-posted (or re-Tumbl’d) on my Tumblr blog about a week ago. My Tumblr blog is sync’d to my Twitterfeed and automatically posts to my Twitter account.

I’m not sure why this lit agent decide to go after me via my employer when clearly, I state here, on Twitter, and on my other blog that no words posted or published by me should reflect anyone but me. I’m reachable practically everywhere online. An @reply on Twitter, an email, or even an in-mail from LinkedIn would have worked. Instead, she reached out to someone who had nothing to do with my re-Tumbl’d post or subsequent tweet.

Point 1: I was in the wrong for re-Tumbling a post with an (unbeknownst to me) illegal download of the book. I believe the original post said, “Free PDF of <BOOK BY AUTHOR>.” At the time, I did not know it was illegal. On my part, I should have looked at the link and checked if it was legit.

Point 2: The tone of the email my employer received was chastising and hostile and I said so in my email. It was unnecessary to send an email to my employer nor have a subject line: “Christina Lam is posting illegal downloads on her personal twitter account.”

Point 3: I re-Tumbl’d the post. This means I was not the originator of the original post or link. No, this doesn’t excuse my RT, and I take responsibility of what I re-Tumbl on my channels. It does make me wonder if this lit agent did her due diligence and researched this further to find the original poster. It is also possible that she is not familiar with Tumblr.

Results:

About my employer: I explained the situation and apologized to my employer for being dragged into this for no reason. I also took responsibility for not checking the link posted for legality. She has seen my blogs and Twitter profile where it states that all posts are my own. My employer even pointed out that the lit agent’s email said it was my personal Twitter account and wondered why the lit agent didn’t just contact me directly.

My reply: I replied back to the lit agent back telling her it was unnecessary to be hostile and chastising and to email my employer. It should also be noted that they have nothing to do with my personal SM accounts. About an hour after I received the forward from my employer, I deleted my tweet and re-Tumbl’d post and said so in my email. I wrote I’d like to extend my apologies to the author. It was not my intention to rip her off or cause her distress. After all, I’m a fan of YA fiction. I sent her my phone number and said I’d be happy to hop on the phone to discuss further.

Her reply: Her email back to me:

“My email was not meant to be hostile or chastising–it was meant to be taken very seriously.”
Good to know. So again, why not contact me directly?

My rebuttal here: Oftentimes, reaching out directly to the offender with a public @ reply via Twitter works a lot better than a hostile email to the offender’s employer who has nothing to do with a personal Twitter account.

I’ve found in my work experience (and quite frankly, in real life) that if you ask nicely, people usually realize their mistake and do as you ask. Ie. You don’t need to throw a hammer (at the wrong people) to find your target. A tap on the shoulder usually will do it. Especially for someone like me. I’m in the business of guest relations.

Final thoughts: Regardless of this lit agent’s communications, I’m still going to read the book by that author – I’ll either buy it for my Kindle or borrow it from the library. It’s been getting great reviews from my favorite YA bloggers. (And no, curious reader, it’s not the Hunger Games – I’ve already read that series!)