Reinke Faces Life

http://linkedinbusinessdiscussionindex.blogspot.com/2007/05
/open-letter-to-linkedin-552007.html

http://tinyurl.com/2p4vq4

Saturday, May 05, 2007
An Open Letter To Linkedin (5.5.2007)

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We’re confused.

Some of us are downright dismayed.

Even some renown evangelists among us have stopped evangelizing. And
others are watching to determine whether or not they should continue
evangelizing.

Still others of us are intensely looking at other networking platforms
to join or to start.

Why?

Because of the indecipherable policies, inconsistent practices, and
unclear procedures that leave us in the dark regarding what IS and
what ISN’T acceptable ways to use Linkedin.

The confusion is compounded by inordinately long dry spells of
communication – coming after we’d been introduced to professionals
whom we expected to hear from on a more frequent basis.

Of course, Linkedin doesn’t owe us a response and doesn’t owe us
regular communication – or anything else.

But, nor do we owe Linkedin anything – beyond abiding by Linkedin’s
policies when on their platform.

Some of us have really championed the name of Linkedin. But, now,
some of us are so desperately looking for a respite from the confusion
of Linkedin’s current behavior that there’s a growing chorus of
“NIDEKNIL”, the opposite of Linkedin. (Think “Oprah and Harpo”.)

{Drop Over To Vincent’s Blog For The Rest}

*** end quote ***

Vincent Wright, the instigator of a bunch of LinkedIn Yahoo Groups to gather like minded people around some aspect (i.e., City; School; Interest), has become really exasperated with the LinkedIn management. He’s been getting conflicting messages from various parts of the LinkedIn hierarchy. Like Yahoo supplanted with Google, LinkedIn could be vulnerable to a competitor.

In the time I’ve known Vincent, which is longer than I’ve been blogging, I’ve never seen him so … … annoyed. He’s got a following, that would follow him to a better service site.

Perhaps the current LinkedIn management is buffing it up for a sale at jugundo prices. But they, or whoever buys it, could be holding an empty bag if all the users take their attention elsewhere. It’s happened before and it can happen again.

Be afraid LinkedIn. Be very afraid.

>I have to give LinkedIn credit for a really excellent solution to this

Well, I would NOT call it excellent. And, I recognize that it LinkedIn’s “ball” and they can take it home any time they want.

However, if I was them, I’d have went at this a little more sensitively. I’ve been on LinkedIn for a long time. If I wasn’t in the first wave, I was in an early one. When they were trying to get recognition, it was “upload your address book and get connections”. Now, like a reformed prostitute, they want to move “upscale”. No more “connection sluts” wanted. (Sorry if this is too graphic.) They are saying “we used you to get our buzz; now buzz off”. I’d have communicated with people, everyone, what was changing, why, and an attempt to build a community agreement of “best practices”.

I get upset with heavy handed approaches. FWIW I have 60 invites left. And, have been rejected for an increase. As an alumni ezine publisher, I have over 2k or active readers and a rolodex of 6k “live” alums. (And, some dead ones too. RIP! Whose families use their email account to keep in touch.) I also have professional rolodex of 10k from my consulting days. I can’t guess at the percent I know personally, but it is high. But LinkedIn doesn’t seem to see that as a legitimate use of their service. But, their “group” group just accepted LinkedInJaspers as a valid group. Like most organizations, policy and procedures aren’t uniform.

Like Digg just learned the hard way, the community can revolt. If LinkedIn doesn’t recognize that they have a tiger by the tail, then they should. Assume that one of the movers ‘n’ shakers gets annoyed at some tactic or other, LinkedIn could be faced with a competitor. If some one had the time and inclination, you could use them as a model. Do it better based on the mistakes they have made. And, poof, NIDEKNIL is born! All the Open Networkers move. Followed shortly by all the Recruiters. Followed shortly by all the JobSeekers. Followed shortly by all those employed but scared. LinkedIn will have its employees, those too lazy to move, the clueless, and the “strawmen”. Since NIDEKNIL is coded from scratch and knows the volumes, it can be better, faster, and cheaper than LinkedIn. Heck, it can even do an export / import from LinkedIn like those bozos at Jigsaw did. They sucked every public source of profiles, turned it into a db, and started selling it. They’re still there so I assume they are making money.

So, gazing into my crystal ball, I see that there is a path that LinkedIn could take to their doom. Hope they don’t take it, but they seem to be very oblivious to just how fickle the marketplace can be.

http://linkedintelligence.com/smart-ways-to-use-linkedin-a-group-blogging-project/

http://tinyurl.com/3dcxo8

Smart Ways to Use LinkedIn – A Group Blogging Project
by Scott Allen on May 1st, 2007

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A step-by-step guide to accomplishing a particular task or career or personal goal using LinkedIn.

*** end quote ***

One Smart Way to Use LinkedIn – Create a granfalloon!

In the parlance of Malcolm Gladwin, I’m a “connector” and a “maven” but not so much of a “salesmen”. LinkedIn gave me an opportunity to help others, as well as myself. First a little background, then the guide.

As a crusty fat old white guy who’s been in IT since the year of the flood, I’ve been fired 4½ times and “transitioned” myself 4 times. (I’ll explain the half. It was when they thought they were nuking me, but I was hanging out waiting for the severance check with a nice opportunity in my back pocket. Technically they nuked me and paid me off. But, in my mind, it was serendipity.) My third transition was a more traumatic one where I didn’t initiate it. It was the first one where I was “surprised” by the axe coming down! Life administered a bitter lesson! Of course, being a life long learner, it didn’t take me more than once to realize “the rules”, and that those “rules” had changed silently right under my very nose. And, as a “turkey”, I did NOT like being in the “soup”. It was during this life lesson that I began reading the National Business Employment Weekly several times a day. That shows how truly clueless I really was, despite being well “educated”. So I was down on my luck and happened to read an article about a “granfalloon”. Huh? Never heard that word before. “A granfalloon is a proud and meaningless association of human beings.” per Kurt Vonnegut, who must have been talking about fans, Hoosiers, Netizens, and the blogging fraternity / sorority / union. I was desperate to make a break. My self-image was rotting from the inside out. So as an alumni of a modest small Catholic college with a big collective ego, that was my granfalloon. I sat down and started to “collect” every alum I could find, remember, talk to, email (yes we had email in those prehistoric times!). First thing you know, I was “networking”. Then, I found opportunities for other people. The rest was history. A “turkey” was hatched!

I have learned over the eons how valuable my fellow alumni can be. If you know who they are, where they are, and how to reach them. So I like to say I am an experienced old turkey. Now, my collection was ugly, error prone, sloppy, messy, and hit ‘n’ miss. But first with Plaxo, I began to clean up my act. And now with LinkedIn, my collection is not only “beautiful”, it is usable by my fellow alums. I have created, with the help of the editorial staff of Jasper Jottings (One fellow alum. Hi Mike!), and 2 alpha testers, LinkedInJaspers. I’m announcing it as open on May 15th, the feast day of Saint John the Baptist De La Salle, the patron saint of Jaspers. I even designed a logo that shamelessly mimics the work of Vincent Wright. With his blessing, I stood on his shoulders to copy what he had done for the different population of people. I don’t know if it will be a great success, but since I have ~1500 readers of my weekly ezine Jasper Jottings, I’m expecting several hundred to join the LinkedInJaspers group on LinkedIn.

You can use LinkedIn to create your own granfalloon and it’ll be much easier than when I did it.

Step by step guide:

(1) Decide if you really want to spend time building a granfalloon. It’s like a vineyard. You don’t harvest before you plant. It’s a strategy not a tactic. It’s a conveyor belt; not a silver bullet.

(2) Get a small sample of your proposed granfalloon together, and talk to them about if and how this interests them. (You can’t have a granfalloon if they feel no affiliation with it.) I had a core group of FOUR people encouraging me when I started. It’s in excess of 1500 now a decade and half later. It’s too big to even be bothered tracking. I’m an injineer; not an accountant. Remember it’s a strategy; not a tactic.

(3) Create a LinkedIn group (It takes weeks to get this done), a Yahoo Group for the underlying website (takes days; less, if you steal mine), and begin “collecting” your granfalloon. So if it’s your alma mater, then begin to find them. Of course as you invite them to the granfalloon, you are allowed to let them know what you’re looking for AFTER asking them what they want (First help; then be helped!).

I hope this helps you understand what a granfalloon is, and how you can use it in your “transition” activities. Remember three things: (1) You are only sure of the last paycheck that cleared your bank. (2) Your “job” is to find your next job without losing the one you have. AND (3) You never “land” until they plant you and put some flowers on you.

See the beauty of creating your granfalloon on LinkedIn is that it will help others. Remember first help; then be helped. And, it will take on a life of its own. Like a phoenix, which you can then “climb aboard and ride”. How’s that for not being a salesman? I didn’t even stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. Smell that sizzle. Wait till you taste the results. Unbelievable.

Now let me tell you about my next project. I am seeking to be the self-declared dean of the “Sacred College of Scared FOWGs” (fat old white guys), where I can say with virtual certainty and absolute confidence, speak ex cathedra, from my belly button, that you will never hear of a bigger turkey than me.

Of course, I am available for consultations and confessions. I do wakes and weddings. And, I’m a notary.