Jerm's Lessons Learned for the Week of 05.25.09

So this is the first installment of my weekly lessons blog segment. At the end of each week I plan to write write a post that details what I learned that week in my personal life as well as work. The interesting part in this will be to see if I can actually keep up with this each week and be sure to post.

So this week's lesson learned is a hard one. I can promise you that these will not always be this deep or thought provoking, but this week's lesson is a good one to start with.

This lesson deals with life, and the decisions that we all make. I always try to life my life to the fullest and never look back on situations wishing that I had done something differently, but something happened this week that really made me think and question how the decisions that we make today, can in some cases come back to haunt us.

For those of you who were not aware, I am applying to my Alma Mater The University of Tampa for my MBA. Part of the admissions process that each applicant must go through is to do a formal interview with the Director of MBA Program, as well as the Director of Graduate Studies in Business. Throughout the interview I was given a difficult line of questioning with regards to my background and the reasons why I wold be a good fit for the program. Midway through the interview, the issue of my transcript is brought with particular emphasis on my lack of quantitive and math based coursework in college, in edition to the grades that I received in my Microeconomics class.

Needless to say, it was a painful reminder of the mindset that I had when I was younger. My thought process was, Economics... when the hell will I ever need that? Or how bout the classic...College Algebra... no one ever uses that stuff, so I proceeded to not care about either area as I figured I would never need them. Hell I don't even think I bought the book for that Econ class! I never thought I would ever use it, so I just wrote it off and either didn't take the coursework, or in the case of Micro Economics, proceeded to half-ass my way to a barely passing grade. Good job Jerm...

Needless to say we continued the interview, and I did get the impression that my lack of math based coursework won't necessarily bar me from admission, but it was indeed food for thought about the decisions that I made when I was younger. Now I won't give you the impression that the entire interview was hopeless, as they still believe that I can come into the program and blend in well with a group of diverse individuals as well as bring something to the table. The issues regarding my background in those aforementioned areas was to make sure that I can in fact, handle the coursework, and not kill myself in the process.

Other than that, I would have to say the interview went extremely well and I am hoping to find out this week if I was indeed admitted. As I walked out of the interview, I did find myself ruing those poor decisions I made back then and cursing myself for not being more focused. On the other hand, I guess it took this particular experience to point this out to me so, I am thankful to the faculty for bringing it up.

You always have to try and find the silver lining and I guess that is mine. Somewhere in all of this I have to recognize the opportunity to right the mistake that I have made in the past. If you leave this blog post with nothing else, then remember that just because you may not perceive something to be of benefit to you at a particular moment, doesn't mean that you shouldn't put forth the effort and take value from it anyway. You never know when you may need to call on experience at a later point in life.

Well, gang, there is my Rev Run moment for this week. Later peeps...

Paying For a Gym Membership...

So I am up early on this beautiful Sunday morning getting ready to head over to the gym to get a quick guest pass workout in and to also inquire about being a member full time. I actually used to have a membership at this gym but I cancelled it when I moved into a place last year that had a pretty decent looking gym setup and I figured I wouldn't need to continue to pay for it. Wrong answer, and probably one of the worst decisions I ever made.

In the last two apartment/condo complexes I have lived, both actually had pretty nice gym setup and state of the art equipment, but I couldn't really bring myself to go as often as I should have.

One thing I have learned about myself in this process is that with regards to working out, I am much more likely to keep up the regimen if I am paying for the workouts. Back when I was giving them money out of pocket each month I was sure to have my ass there 3-5 times a week gettin my buff on, but I think unconsciously I stopped caring about that aspect of my health once there was no financial commitment on my behalf. Needless to say now I am back at that stage where I get winded just walking to the mailbox, so its time to get back on the horse and stop being so damn lazy. That knee injury awhile back didn't help the cause, but I won't continue to make excuses, I just need to get back in there make it happen.

Hopefully having this gym membership won't cost me an arm and a leg each month as I can barely rub two nickels together now, but it wasn't expensive beforehand so I don't expect it to be this go round. Getting back to playing soccer is a must as well as when I remember being at my fittest, there was always a soccer component in there with the regular gym membership visits.

Oh well, enough crying and complaining on my part, time to hit the gym and start working off the McDonalds I had last night. Later peeps...

My Take on the UEFA Champions League Final

So this pill is a little hard to swallow for me, seeing as how I am such a huge Manchester United fan, but Barcelona are the 2009 UEFA Champions League title winners winners. I didn't have the opportunity to watch the game today as I was at work and unable to really get away from my desk. I watched the gamecast though on ESPN Soccernet, and based on that, I really thought that Barca wiped the floor with us based on the commentators words and the random Facebook chatter that was going on during the game. I will be the first to give Barcelona their credit for just being the better team today, but I think it was just as equally a case of United not showing up today.

With the likes of Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Eto'p and others, it was always going to be a difficult game for us. Once I was able to get home today and watch the game for myself, I got to see what Sir Alex Ferguson said in his post game comments, that basically Barca's first goal killed us and we never truly recovered. Those first ten minutes we gave their defense hell and were lucky not to be up one goal off of Cristiano Ronaldo's first free kick. Park wasn't able to reach out and get there fast enough for the rebound before being tackled by a Barca defender. It continued after that with wave after wave of United attack with Ronaldo looking especially lively, until Samuel Eto'o took his goal beautifully well. From that moment on we just were never able to get composed again and the last thing you ever want to do is go down 1-0 to a team like Barca who know how to keep possession well and just knock the ball around.

I look at that first goal though and can't help but think about how much we missed Darren Fletcher tonight. His tireless running, box-to-box mentality and ability to cover well on defense was much needed tonight, as Eto'o did well to beat Vidic on the goal, Carrick was a bit late with the help, allowing the three time African Player of the Year to beat Van Der Sar. In addition to that Fletcher would have been just the energy we needed to pry the ball away from Barca and regain some of that possession as he has done this for us all campaign long. That bogus red card he received against Arsenal in the semi final against Arsenal hurt us tonight as we missed his usual contribution.

I have always said that Michael Carrick is one of our most important players, with his ability to open up defenses with his precision passing, and his good footballing brain, but he did not have his best game tonight. Often his passes were intercepted, or just beyond the reach of the intended target and he never seemed to get into rhythm. It's tough as I wish I could highlight one player who had a good night for us, but I really can't. I also don't make it a habit of questioning Sir Alex and the lineup choices, but I really think we should have started with at least one pure striker in the lineup tonight whether it was Tevez or Berbatov, or both to really test Yaya Toure who was a makeshift center back for Barca in the absence of Rafa Marquez. In his defence though, Sir Alex has so often gotten the team selection right, that I dare not question him on his this one. His record as our manager over the past 22 years and well over 30 medals he has won give him that right, plus the knowledge that he will just work harder to win the trophy next year.

I heard some people say that because of this game Lionel Messi is undoubtedly the best player in the world ahead of Cristiano, and that is rubbish. Outside of his well taken goal inthe 70th minute today I didn't really think he imposed his stamp on the game much today, on or off the ball. For me Barca's best players were Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique (a Manchester United youth team product) as they were the difference between us getting the gaols we needed to take the trophy. Messi's second goal was due in large part to Puyol twice winning the ball in midfied and then dishing to Xavi who crossed the ball to Messi for the second goal. Gerard Pique defended well all evening and did well to stop a few of the good attacks we had, not to mention neutralizing Tevez when he was introduced to the game. I thought Messi gave us more trouble last year in the semi final than he did today. We did a decent job of shackling him up until he got his goal.

All in all, congrats to Barca and Pep Guardiola who had a great first season at the Camp Nou winning three medals and all. We just didn't show up tonight and were beaten by a team who wanted it more.

Maybe next year....

Why I Love Pandora...

So like most people I have an MP3 device of some sort (in my case I have an IPhone), but every now and then my playlists gets a little boring, and you can't really depend on most radio stations because many of them just give you the same playlists time after time. Not sure about you, but I like to have my music on demand, and in most cases, I like to be able to go from genre to genre as my music tastes don't truly reside with one style.

Thank God for Pandora! Where can I just set a playlists from my favorite artists or album and just let it play. Its like those old infomercials used to say..."Set It and Forget It." Just today while I having been relaxing on this fine Memorial Day Holiday, I have just let the Pandora music list play. Right now I have on the old classic Biz Markie playlist, and who doesn't love the Biz right? The man is a genius so you can imagine what his playlist on Pandora will bring you, and if you can't quite imagine it, then see what my Biz Playlist has played for me in the last few minutes:

• Biz Markie - "Friends"
• LL Cool J - "The Boomin' System"
• Beastie Boyz - "Check it Out"
• Special Ed - "I Got It Made"
• Biz Markie - A One Two
• A Tribe Called Quest - "Lyrics to Go"

Plenty of days I am at work and just need to chill out, as sometimes the stresses of an Interactive Marketing Specialist get to me, but when that happens, I know its time to hit up the Pandora, and go to that happy place.

Pandora also gives me the ability to explore my different music tastes without putting a huge dent in my wallet. Lately I have had the urge to reach outside of my norm and try a few different playlists, and with good results I must say, and as a result, I am officially a fan of Queen now. Yeah you heard it, Jerm likes Queen, and how can you not with classics like: "Bohemian Rhapsody, Princes of the Universe, Another One Bites the Dust, and Under Pressure, just to name a few. Can't say that previously I would have discovered Queen while riding down the street with windows down with the Classic Rock station baring.

So in short, thank you to the people over at the Music Genome Project for enriching my life with this service and allowing me to be a more well rounded music lover.

Speaking at the Florida Chapter of Asian American Journalist Association

So a few weeks ago I was asked to speak at the Florida Chapter of Asian American Journalists Association meeting here in Tampa. My topic was, "Alternative Careers for Journalists" with my area of expertise (I use this term loosely) being on jobs in web and internet technology. In addition to myself, there was a panel of speakers whom all spoke for ten minutes across a few different disciplines within the marketing/pr/news realm regarding ways in which journalism professionals can find alternative/supplementary careers in other disciplines. The panel consisted of the following:

• John Heagney - John Heagney Public Relations
  
• Deborah Tamargo - Emotional Connections Marketing
• Kate Sullivan - WordSmitten Quarterly Journal (Gateway to Publishing)
• Eric Deggans - St. Petersburg Times
  
• Debbie Lundberg - Debbie Lundberg, inc.

The event was last night at 6:45 p.m. and at first I wasn't even sure if I was going to make it due to the awful weather that welcomed me on to the road, in addition to the fact that I went to the wrong location at first, and should consider myself fortunate to have even made it on time. Note to self, when you have a speaking engagement or anything of the sort, be sure to pay attention to the address that you are given. In this case, I originally traveled to the John F. Germany Library, only to realize that the event was at the Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library, and if you live in Tampa, you know that South Manhattan street is a decent drive from N. Ashley drive in downtown.

All across the country, newspapers and other traditional media outlets & organizations are falling upon hard times in this tough economic situation that we find ourselves in, and there have been in recent months, large scale lay-offs for journalists. The purpose of this seminar was to provide some insight as to what other careers/opportunities exists outside of the traditional media outlets, and how today's journalists can capitalize on these opportunities using their current skill sets and expertise. It was my job to give the internet/web perspective.

I have done a few similar speaking engagements before, but usually in front of graduate and undergraduate students at USF and UT respectively so the prospect of standing in front of a room full of journalists was a bit intimidating at first, but I eventually settled in.

I really tried to focus my content around two key principles that have always worked well for me and others that I speak to about this subject:

• Don't Be Afraid of Technology: I have people tell me all of the time that they could never do my job because its just too technical with the belief that it requires an extensive IT background. That's not really the case at all. For the most part everything that I do in my job is through the use of web-based software programs that are so simple and easy to use that anyone can pick it up. There are tons of easy to use software that make it easy for you to create and manage your own blogs/websites or just interact with technology fairly simple in general. As a matter of fact I am using one now. Within the past hour and a half I have been able to sign up for a Google account, start a blog, purchase a domain name, setup a Google Analytics profile and write two blog posts. Pretty simple huh? Just don't think that you could never pick it up, because believe me, if I can do it so can you.

• Content Is King: I know a few developers that would kill me for saying this, but in my opinion when it comes to the web, content is king! Computer Programmers, Software Developers, Network Engineers provide the tools to power the web, but what good is it to build all of that stuff if there is no content, and guess what you guys know how to do well...WRITE CONTENT! You have spent the better part of your careers writing and communicating messages to mass audiences of people, and its no different on the web. You can use these tools i mentioned before, plus your writing skills to start your own personal blogs and monetize them (this may take time so don't expect to get rich quick), or you can search the internet for freelance or full time jobs as a blogger, interactive account managers, social media managers, SEO and PPC specialists, just to name a few. All are jobs that require you to be able to write well and communicate a message.
  

That was the bulk of my contributuion in my ten minutes, so I hope everyone took some insight from my words, and that I didn't bore you to death! I am by no means an expert, but my opinion is based on seeing first hand journalism and PR professionals make successful transitions into web related jobs. The content from all of the speakers was very insightful, as they are all extremely knowledgeable in their fields of expertise, and I even learned a few things as a result. Thanks to the AAJA and Chapter President, Valerie Boey for inviting me!

The First Post on the New Blog Site

Well kids, here it is. The first blog entry on Jerm's new blog. Nothing really wrong with the previous one I had setup on my MobileMe account, but I just wanted this one to be able to traffic in Google faster, so I could test out monetizing it.

The plan is to give the same material, albeit more often than I did the last one. The goal is to try and have some new interesting content up here a few times per week. I always tell other people that in order to have a successful blog, you need to contribute content to it on a regular basis. I guess it's time I started to follow my own advice.

Fasten your seat belts and pay attention!