Allowing colleagues and co-workers to view your Facebook and MySpace page has been a conflict my friends and I have struggled with since graduating from college. Is it appropriate to allow your workplace access to your college pictures? And more importantly, will we be judged based upon these pictures? This argument has plagued my generation. When the following question came across our ASAE listserv, I couldn’t wait to see what other people thought. The original post was from a communications company looking to hire an assistant. While the employer was browsing applicants’ Facebook pages, they found “stuff that was disturbing and raises questions about the suitability for a couple of the candidates.” The employer wanted to know if it was appropriate to mention/question an applicant about his or her Facebook profile, and was “looking for tips on how to navigate this situation.” The listserv took off like rapid fire as my inbox proceeded to be inundated with opinions and tips from all over the map!

Some people felt the candidates should have cleaned up their Facebook page and that my generation is too open with social networking. One woman stated, “Bottom line: I think job seekers should be savvy enough to know their stuff is out there and self-censor, or not, as they feel is appropriate. A friend of mine de-activated her totally tame profile for a while during a federal hiring process, and I think that’s wise in this climate.” This really made me think: De-activate my profile over a frat party in college? Get real?!?!

The beauty of Facebook is being able to keep in touch with numerous people, as you can send messages, write on their wall, and even tag pictures of events you have participated in. In a day and age where time is valuable, it makes keeping in touch easy. I immediately knew there would be one person who could relate to me on this issue. “Pat you have to come in here. I can’t believe this,” I yelled to Pat Cauley, whose office is across the hall from mine. He was in shock too, “Do they even know how Facebook started?” he asked. “Obviously not, we have to set the record straight.” Pat and I collaborated and came up with this Listserv response, “I joined Facebook in the fall of 2004 as a college junior. At the time you needed an .edu e-mail address to even join the site, as it was an online social diary/interactive yearbook. As the place where we like to connect with and keep in touch with college and high school friends, this should not represent a young professional’s work ethic or ability. Imagine if your employment qualifications were based upon your pictures from Woodstock that suddenly surfaced online.” Again, my inbox was like rapid fire—e-mail, e-mail, e-mail, I couldn’t believe how many responses. Some responses agreed with my view while others didn’t. However, I found the most surprising post came from a CAE (certified association executive). He has hired two people in the past six to eight months and actually passed on dozens of applicants who had no findable Internet content. Why? He felt just because questionable behavior wasn’t on Facebook, doesn’t mean the applicant didn’t partake. He decided he knew more about those applicants who were engaged on the social web than those who weren’t.

So, I guess you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t? I welcome you to check out my page and let me know what you think. Or better yet, why doesn’t everyone relax and enjoy this humorous infomercial parody video of Facebook.

Katie White is ERA’s retailer relations manager.

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ERA and Electronic Retailer were on the road last week attending Internet Retailer, DM Days, Mobile Marketing Forum and the INPEX show. We also managed to have an awesome reception in Times Square at the offices of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP. ERA would like to thank its reception sponsors: Manatt, Litle & Co., O’Currance Teleservices, Dream Team Direct Inc. and Media Funding Corporation. Below are some photos from the various events. Enjoy!

ERA’s Katie White awaits the guests…

InfoTech’s Cole Van Heel, Dream Team’s Mike Moreau and SF Video’s Steve Feinberg

The goods…

ERA’s Robin Greenspan with Andrea Rose

Networking…

Power Direct’s Bret Butterfield, Liquid Focus’ Ken Osborn and MFLS’s Scott Swanson

INPEX took place at Pittsburgh’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center- the largest green building in the world.

Inventors were able to pitch their products for possible inclusion on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”

Electronic Retailer’s Pat Cauley with PurBlu’s Eva Lorini

C Spot Run Productions’ Wendi Cooper with Product Strategies’ Michael Planit

Save the date: ERA Santa Monica reception on July 16th! Email Katie White at kwhite@retailing.org for more information!

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The following are a few photo highlights from ERA’s recent Government Affairs Fly-In in Washington.

Upcoming ERA Networking Receptions:

June 10: NYC

July 16: Santa Monica

Email Katie White for more information at kwhite@retailing.org

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It was supposed to be perfect. It was my birthday week and I had friends flying into D.C. so that we could go see Radiohead live at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia. The concert was Sunday, May 11 and I had Monday off. Nothing could go wrong…until Mother Nature stepped in. Cell phone rings. “Are you guys even still going?” Claudia asks cautiously as I maneuver my way around the grocery store picking up last-minute tailgating items. “Of course we’re still going,” I say, somewhat irritated at the mere suggestion of skipping out. Sure, I had heard rumors of some rain, but I was fully prepared with my hooded sweatshirt—it was May!

Flash-forward two hours. We’re situated in lot B. Our other friends are over in lot A. No one in my car wants to get out. People in the cars around us are not getting out. “But Leikin flew here from Cleveland,” I plead, trying to motivate my peers. We finally manage to open the trunk door of Josh’s Toyota 4Runner. We’re happier once the beers start flowing, but it’s imperative to stay underneath the trunk door unless your drink of choice happens to be half Coors Light/half acid rain. It was at this point that things began to get delusional, yet laughable.

“Oh my God! It is seriously raining harder now,” Amber stammers as we watch the rain grow thicker and hear the pounding on the roof grow louder. Another concertgoer runs over to our car. “Can I make a quick call under here?” Yes, it was THAT bad. I begin to think about different products that would make the scenario easier. That’s the beauty of the direct response industry, solving a common problem that a consumer doesn’t typically think about. There was an extreme need for ponchos. What about an invention to protect your beer from the rain so you could still enjoy it? I couldn’t help but remember the umbrella hat I saw last September at ERA’s annual convention. I kind of mocked it then, but I would love having it right now! As we packed up our things to walk to lot A, we decide to leave all electronic items in Josh’s car. No cameras anymore, no cell phones, no iPods—only a credit card and license are deemed reasonable. Josh makes his last phone call, informing our friends that we’re on our way before closing and locking the doors.

During the walk, the sky only gets darker, the rain harder and the temperature colder. We’re literally soaked from head to toe. Amber’s umbrella breaks because of the wind’s severity. As we approach lot A, we realize we can’t keep walking straight because a river has begun to flow right in front of our walking path. We manage to work our way around the river. Walking in jeans becomes arduous as the denim plasters itself to our thighs and calves. Where are our friends? We couldn’t call or text. We just had to keep searching.

“What the hell am I doing here? I don’t belong here…” ~ Creep, Radiohead

“Why didn’t you guys buy ponchos?” our friends in lot A scream, alarmed that we’re so drenched. “They haven’t made it over our way yet,” Josh explains, sounding like a movie line straight from a disaster flick. Byron lights a cigarette under their car roof, which they too were all huddled under. As soon as he steps out to greet me, the rain pounds his cigarette off of its filter and onto the ground. Jokes about Vietnam begin to seem appropriate. We’re now shivering. My entire body begins to shake. Then, out of nowhere, I hear Claudia’s voice. She approaches the group, umbrella in hand, raincoat on. “I have plastic bags wrapped around my feet under my boots and I also have a change of clothes in the car for the ride home,” she says. We all stare at her with jealousy. Some of the girls express interest in just going home. No way. We paid a lot of money and we’ve come this far. The worst of it had to be over, right? Let’s just hear one song and decide.

Onward towards will-call we go. We try to walk faster, but our legs are like liquorice in our soaked jeans. Toby tries to take his ticket out, only to realize his printed ticket is ruined—unrecognizable. Only those in sealed plastic bags will work. Our group unintentionally splits up. We can’t see anything in front of us. “Bruce?! Claudia?!” They’re nowhere to be found, but Bruce has my ticket! Even if someone around me does have their BlackBerry or iPhone, it is no help; no one else has their phones. Byron luckily has an extra ticket, so I make it inside the gates. Off to the lawn we go. People are falling down the lawn’s sloped hill left and right. Radiohead begins playing. The large screens are turned off for electrical reasons, obviously. Shiver, dance, shiver, dance, shiver, dance…

Back at the car everyone strips to their underwear, turning the heat up full blast in an effort to thaw out. What the hell just happened for the past six hours? Was this the worst concert experience ever? Was it the best? It was memorable none-the-less. I began to think of the concert in terms of being a product we bought. It was marketed to us as a rain or shine event, after all. The band had to be fully aware of the conditions outside. As they played one hit after the next, it seemed to me like they were simply using an age-old direct response format: But wait, there’s more!

It’s ironic that the same band that broke technology and industry barriers last year by allowing its new album “In Rainbows” to be downloaded for free on the Internet held a concert that reduced us back to the 1980s technology-wise. Without Byron’s extra ticket, I would have been wandering back to the car before hearing one song. We were all thrown for a loop without the gadgets we’ve become so dependent on. However, for as much as my generation is sometimes too reliant on technology, elements of our parent’s generation were clearly evident as we continued the simple pursuit of live music, much to the detriment of our comfort and health.

“For a minute there, I lost myself…” ~ Karma Police, Radiohead

Pat Cauley is Electronic Retailer magazine’s eMedia Editor

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Here’s a few photo highlights from parties held during ERA’s recent eRetailer Summit in Miami. Check back often, your mug shot may be up next!

Click here for more information about upcoming events!

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Never would I have thought that something in my office would happen today that would be more entertaining than what the guys at CollegeHumor.com came up with in the post below. But, here’s my story…

As you may know, Electronic Retailer magazine is based in Southern California. However, I work out of ERA’s D.C. office. I often get mail for my California co-workers at the ERA address and I simply put it in another envelope and send it on. Earlier today, my co-worker Stephanie came into my office and placed a FedEx box on my desk addressed to our executive editor, Tom Dellner. I e-mailed Tom and told him I had a package here and asked him if he wanted me to open it and see what it was, or simply send it along in another FedEx box. Tom told me he wasn’t expecting any mail, that it was probably a press kit, and that I should just open it and make a judgment call.

As I’m opening the FedEx box, I hear my co-workers chatting down the hall. I walk into Robin Greenspan’s noisy office while slowly opening up the box. As I look inside, I see a red bag with hearts all over it. I realize it’s a personal item and my face begins to blush a bit. Everyone in the room starts asking me what it is, as my co-worker Stephanie blurts out, “It’s for Tom.” That’s where the trouble begins.

“It’s a gift!”

“Tom sent you a gift?”

“Tom Dellner??”

“Is Tom gay?! I thought he was married??”

“Is Tom having an affair?!”

Avoiding the awkward questions, I rush back to my office with Stephanie to look up Tom’s home address and ship it out ASAP. While trying to move the contents from one FedEx box to another, I see an order form that reads “Fuzzy Handcuffs,” right as Stephanie pulls them out to place in the new box. Not being able to fathom that things had escalated to handcuffs, our co-worker Christy walks by, sees our astonishment, and demands that we tell her what else was in the bag.

Acknowledging that things couldn’t get much worse, I pull out the order form and much to my surprise, a note was attached to it from a company called Quova. “Hello Tom. Relax. Don’t panic. It’s just a joke. We at Quova just wanted to send you a nice little Valentine’s Day surprise we knew would grab your attention.” The note goes on to talk about Quova’s expertise in online data security and privacy. Congratulations to Quova—your guerilla marketing tactics mortified me and certainly got our attention and disrupted our entire office.

Oh, and don’t think I wasn’t above putting the gift bag on Barbara Tulipane’s desk while she was out to lunch with a note that read, “From Your Office Crush- XOXO.”

Pat Cauley, eMedia editor, Electronic Retailer Magazine

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Were you at Electronic Retailer’s LiveEdit Lab in Santa Monica on January 30th? If not, you missed out! Enjoy a slide show from the event.

Save the date! Electronic Retailer LiveEdit Lab New York: April 30, 2008

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Growing up I had the pleasure of attending both public and Catholic school. I went to public school for kindergarten through third grade, and switched to Catholic school from third grade through high school. In second grade, I recall crystal-clear memories of coloring in pictures of dreidels and menorahs for Hanukkah along with Christmas trees and stars. What a difference a year makes.

It’s 1993 and I’m sitting in an uncomfortable desk as Sister Mary Clifford commands attention from the front of the classroom. “Sparkle Season,” is all she could muster from her mouth as a tight grimace formed across her face. She took a deep breath, and then explained to us that she was disgusted with the city of Pittsburgh for its crusade against Christmas with the marketing campaign for Sparkle Season. My holiday run-ins didn’t stop there. I still remember being on student council in 8th grade, planning for the big school dance. Since it was in October, one would think that a Halloween theme was an obvious route. Well, not for our bishop. That year, I had a great time dancing to the Macarena at our “Fall Harvest.” Avoiding Halloween decorations like the plague at Party City became somewhat of a laborious task. It seemed fickle to me that they’d want to control the marketing messages of retailers for one holiday, while completely striking another from the record books.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved my Catholic school upbringing as much as the next guilty-conscious Catholic you know, but all these debates about how retailers should configure their December marketing tactics are getting old. The statement “Happy Holidays” does not personally offend me much like “Merry Christmas” does not offend my good Jewish friend Molly. When groups like the American Family Association and the Catholic League decided to boycott Wal-Mart when it changed its greeting to Happy Holidays, one can see the economic impact these decisions can have on a retailer’s bottom line. The following year, Wal-Mart’s advertising was back touting the “reason for the season,” as it switched to Merry Christmas. Could everyone just lighten up and enjoy the CHRISTMAS YouTube video at the top of this post?

Do you think it’s fair that marketers must walk the tight rope of including all Americans while trying not to offend Bill O’Reilly?

-Pat

Electronic Retailer’s eMedia editor Pat Cauley gets in the holiday spirit with his Jewish friend Molly.

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