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blog_11.30.09; Why not host a job fair in place of a Holiday Office Party?

11/30/2009 by jackperry

_creating cheer

Last year at this time I blogged about all the press my former boss, Bob Parsons, now of GoDaddy fame, got over throwing a $2 million holiday office party. I came out in support of the notion and stand by that support today. Hey, if you’re making money and having fun, you might as well share it. You should share it. Why take the fun away from the guy smart enough to turn web addresses into a commodity…and make money doing it?

Fast forward to today. Amazingly, this December feels a lot like last December. The good news is at least it doesn’t feel like last March. Ugly. Should companies throw an office party this year? Should employers take time to appreciate their employees for sticking with them through these tough economic times? Yes.

My wife and I had that very discussion last night. Given our modest startup mode here at Madbak, my wife asked me if I’d miss our traditional Holiday Office Party? Miss it? Why would I miss it? She then pointed out that I’d have more options this year because it’d be easier to reserve a table than it would be to reserve a banquet room :-) . And that got me to thinking.

No matter your religion, the Holidays are about giving. Businesses should give back to the very employees who helped them for yet another year, especially a year like we just had. But what about a startup? My wife is right, while Madbak would just barely get hit with a minimum 18% gratuity for the size of our table, we wouldn’t need a dance hall. Still, what about all those people out there that have helped me over the years? What about them? How can I give back to people that no longer work for me? And, then it came to me…

Businesses need people. People need businesses. While our growth path here at Madbak looks bright, it is unlikely I’d hire every great person I’ve ever worked with in 2010. Many? Yes. Most? Eventually. All? I wish. So why not throw a Job Fair Holiday Party right here at Madbak? No reason not to.

This morning I pinged a few local tech leaders to see what they thought. The response has been unanimous. Crazy has been the word used most, i.e. they’d be crazy not to join in… Stay tuned. Oh, and one last thing: Happy Holidays.

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blog_11.29.09; my friend Jarl, For Love of the Game

11/29/2009 by jackperry

_reuniting in real-time

Facebook is an amazing tool. It connects and disconnects, creates and recreates, encourages and discourages, kills time and makes time, and best of all, after everything is said and done, Facebook doesn’t do anything. Nothing. Nada. Zippo. Zilch. Nothing. You do it all. That’s what I like about it. About a year ago I reconnected with an old friend from High School, Jarl Brey. Jarl was a year ahead of me and the kind of guy that most underclassmen thought was pretty cool. Because we were both runners, we kind of knew each other.

The real Jarl Brey

Facebook connected Jarl and I, but it didn’t make us friends…again. It was the content that each of us posted that did.  After all these years, we found out that we actually had more in common today than yesterday.  We both still run. We both have kids…some older, some younger. We both still love our home town of Grand Rapids, MI. No surprises there. What was surprising though, is the favorite movies we both share; For Love of the Game, Glengarry Glen Ross and Rocky Balboa. Three for three. Imagine that.

Jarl and I chatted over FB quite a bit about that strange favorite movie coincidence. We even brought our buddy Steele into the equation and oft times now we ping each other when For Love of the Game is on some obscure cable network. I even Blogged about it back in February, but can’t seem to locate that post.

What Jarl doesn’t know is why I’m so fond of the movie For Love of the Game. Sure, being about the Detroit Tigers helps. It’s actually a bit of a chick-flick, or becomes one at the end when Billy says to Jane after she asks him why he is going to England, “Because you’re there.” That beats suffering through Terms of Endearment :-) . I also love the relationship between Chapel and Gus. People who’ve worked with me would know that.

Jersey signed by Gibby himself

For me, the movie comes down to one pivotal scene in which Billy Chapel signs a baseball, “Tell them I’m through, ‘for love of the game’, Billy Chapel.” Eleven simple words when strung together capture the essence the movie. Billy is all about baseball, yet he discovers during the course of 9 innings that there is more to life than baseball. He discovers that the best way to beat the bad guys was to walk away from the Tigers, from baseball and towards the things that ought to be the center of his life. He leaves the new owners with nothing.

Facebook. Reuniting friends in real time.

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