Millenials

Ok, so in class the other night we talked about millenials.  No idea?  Well, me either.

A 2007 episode of 60 minutes called The Age of the Millenials discussed the idea that millenials are a tech-savvy generation that realize their value in the workforce and have no loyalties to anyone but themselves.

They are the late teens and twenty somethings born roughly between 1980 – 1995.  The gist of the conversation was that bosses in the 2000’s will have to adjust to keep millenials happy, healthy and more importantly employed at their company.  Yea, yea we all get it.  They want what they want, they want it now and they want it at a very inflated salary.  Here is the thing…I am a millennial and frankly, I was not impressed with some of the ideas surrounding this generation.  I get that people do not want to pay their dues anymore and they want to be rewarded constantly, even for mediocrity.  However, I am not one of the people that want kudos unless I deserve them.  I do agree that praise goes a lot farther then reprimand, but did you ever stop to think that if everyone is special…no one is special. 

Nowadays, the show stated that all the kids on the sports team get a trophy just for participating.  Great!  What happens when they get into the real world and think they are amazing just because they exist?  It is not realistic.  On the flip side, how do we every really know if we deserve the praise we are getting from someone or if it is some sort of obligatory response to our generation.

The video we watched mentioned how these young 20 something guys make a ton of money consulting with millenials.  It is pretty simple.  Do your job and do not expect to be the boss after a week.  Mary Crane mentioned in her consultation that you should cover your tattoos for an interview.  I mean really?  Are we giving these people jobs?  I guess in the end it all seems like common sense to me. 

What do you think?

If you manage a millenial or two, you might find this article helpful…

Eye Opening

Ok, so those of you who know me fairly well know that I completely changed my career goals a few years ago.  I went from the full-time pursuit of an opera career to a career in events and PR.  Well, mom and I met for dinner last night and she pointed something out to me.  She said that never once did she see me put as much effort and ambition into my music career as I have into my new career path.  I guess it is true what they say, you put the time and effort into the things you really want.

Have you seen this type of thing in your own life?

Summer is flying by…

Over the last few weeks, I have been reading Message Matters.  It is a pretty interesting book that offers relevant training in the world of strategic messaging.  Wow, I sound like such a nerd these days.  Anyway, I discovered in class last night that many of the ideas expressed in the book are very conceptual and that it may just be that you are good at messaging or not so good at messaging.  For instance, we did an exercise in class that took a crack at writing a strategic message.  Other members of the class wrote excellent messages that covered the topic well.  I had trouble getting through the brainstorming part of things.  Maybe my brain is just a little too detail oriented…  I wanted to include every little thing surrounding the topic when really I could have just focused on one aspect and made that my jumping off point.  What do you think?  Do you think organizations have messages that capture your attention and encourage you to change or alter your actions?

On a lighter note, my stomach has recently revolted against the rest of my body.  It has been eye opening to say the least.  Regardless of how hungry I feel, my stomach has little interest in food.  Weird huh?  Oh well, I will be giving food another try this evening after thesis orientation with my gang from Italy.  Yippee.  I feel like we developed a small family over there.  Steve is still in Alaska and Carolina is in Spain, so we will have to reunite a few more times to get the whole group together.  AND, the option of a Spritz (aperol and Prosecco on ice) is not available in the states.  Maybe I will just have to have a house party J   

Narrative

Yesterday in my class, Adam Conner of Facebook came and spoke to us about the power of narrative.  His early 2006 article concerning Hilary Clinton’s lack of narrative is very eye opening and as my professor, Scott Talan mentioned, possibly prophetic.  This idea raises many interesting questions.  Did Clinton shy away from developing a narrative because she felt her target audiences already knew her story?  Or, did she want to focus strictly on policy issues and not herself?  Either way, as Conner pointed out, her missing narrative may have been her campaign downfall. 

Really?

I ran across this post this morning, and I ended up pretty offended.  I understand the idea that highways and such are named after people like Martin Luther King Jr., but why can’t we have a road named after Tim Russet?  Are there road naming rules I missed somewhere?  I think it is a kind gesture and other governmental officials obviously agree.  And, how does naming a road after a media personality make the mainstream media a government puppet?  You will have to connect those two a little better for me to agree.

Craziness

So, I started a new class last week, and it is a crazy amount of reading and work, but I feel like I am learning all of the things I thought I still would not know how to do even after I finished my masters.  I’m pretty psyched about that. 

I’m still recovering from Italy, and surprisingly still very jet lagged.  I don’t get it.  oh well. 

I’ve been reading all of these articles about framing this week.  I have to admit that I really didn’t get it until recently.  Framing is all about language choice and how you choose words to effect people’s impressions of what you are talking about.  For instance, one article talks about the use of the words “tax relief”.  Ok, big deal.  Well, it is.  The word relief implies that there is something oppressive happening that needs relief.  I honestly never even thought about it.  Cool huh?  Do you have any frame examples that surprised you?

And, I have been having a lot of “what if” moments that have taken me a ways down the road in my thinking process.  Ok, it scared me.  I have decided to live the day I have now, and worry about the “what ifs” another time.  Is that naive?

And, check out the next cover of The New Yorker…I mean really.