ResearchGoddess

Some days, I really feel like John Nash….rifling through news, magazines (online, of course) and networks trying to find the spy code hidden amongst all the words

Thanks go out to my new co-worker and fellow researcher, Bob Cooper, for the heads-up on this one!

Apparently, LinkedIn is now going to start allowing its users to upload their photos to their profiles.

“LinkedIn Corp. has long resisted photos, seeing itself as a site for professional networking and job-seeking and desiring to set itself apart from social-oriented hangouts like News Corp.’s MySpace and Facebook…But Adam Nash, LinkedIn’s senior director of products, said photos remain one of the most requested features, and the site will start allowing them this Friday — with limits.”

Read the rest here!

When Jim brought this campaign to my attention, I immediately decided that I wanted to participate. I could not think of a better charitable cause that addresses abuse than Mercy Ministries. Mercy Ministries is a cause I have gladly supported for the past five years, and I am excited to share a little information about what they do today:

Since 1983, Mercy Ministries has served thousands of young women from all over the world with varied cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Young women who come to Mercy Ministries are often facing a combination of difficult circumstances such as:

• Abuse
• Self-Harm
• Depression
• Addictions
• Unplanned Pregnancy
• Eating Disorders

Many of these girls have sought treatment before with unsuccessful long-term results. Residents are in the program an average of six months and Mercy’s services reflect their diverse needs. The residents are young women who want to change and move beyond their difficult circumstances, yet have never found a source for help before Mercy Ministries. Young women who have graduated from the Mercy Ministries program are truly transformed. They are found in universities, corporations, ministries, the mission field, and raising families. Mercy Ministries’ goal is to have each young woman not only complete the program but also discover the purpose for her life and bring value to her community as a productive citizen.

The girls and young women who come to Mercy Ministries are people not unlike some that you probably know. Here are some testimonies of some of the young women who have graduated from Mercy Ministries:

• Lisa – sexually abused, raped, and tried to commit suicide
• Michelle – physically, sexually and emotionally abused by an alcoholic father
• Monica – abused by an alcoholic father and struggled with cocaine addiction

Suzy’s been talked about a lot recently, and she is a fabulous researcher. However, her awesome-ness goes way beyond just research, as I found out after spending the weekend with her in the mountains!

I’d never been to the West Coast of the US until joining Waggener Edstrom earlier this month. I knew my friend Suzy lived somewhere in Oregon, however I didn’t know that she was a good 3 hours from where I’d be! So coming back to Portland again, we were finally able to connect when I went camping with her and her husband Ron last weekend in the Cascade Mountains.

For anyone who is like me and thought that all of Oregon was luscious evergreen, I was surprised to hear that our campground was considered high desert. Apparently, on the east side of the mountain range, there is very little rain and therefore the climate is more desert-like. Driving out there, I passed absolutely beautiful evergreens, crystal clear lakes, and postcard-esque landscapes that just simply took my breath away. When I reached Bend, I noticed the sharp contrast with the desert-like landscape from what I’d just driven through, even though at nearly 4,000 ft. above sea-level, you can see various mountain ranges all around you in Bend. What a cute town – the downtown area is how I would picture Aspen, CO to be.

I arrived on Friday night and Ron was preparing some beef kabobs – yum! Those who know me well know how much I appreciate a good home-cooked meal since most of my meals come from either a box or a can. Suzy showed me a scrapbook of some of the things she’s done throughout her life, and in that scrapbook were photos of her with some pretty famous people, not the least of who were Sting, Aaron Neville, and Janet Jackson. I feel so boring compared to the things she has experienced, and it was cool to get to know some of the former lives of Suzy before she became an internet researcher.

Saturday Suzy and I had breakfast at one of her favorite local cafés and then we packed up my car and headed up to Lava Lake. The temperature was about 70 when we left and it stayed that way until the sun started to go down, and it got cold really quick. We set up camp, and Ron put some Cornish game hens and red potatoes on the campfire for dinner. We bundled up for a freezing night – I think the temperature may have actually dipped below freezing at some point during the night.

I have to say that Suzy’s husband, Ron, is so entertaining! He is quite the Renaissance man – he builds tables, hikes, bikes, whittles wood, cooks, and sets up a nice campsite. He and Suzy are just adorable together.

When I left on Sunday, Suzy encouraged me to take a different route home and go right past Mt. Hood and I was very pleased that I did so! I got the opportunity to see one of the tallest mountains in North America looming right in front of me. I will admit that my heart beat faster as I was driving through the valleys in Mt. Hood National Forest. I kept trying to find pull-off points on the road to get a good shot of Mt. Hood but there simply were none available. Majestic is the only word that comes to mind when I try to explain what it looked like.

Suzy and I really didn’t have a schedule for our trip. In all honesty, some might find what we did to be rather dull, but it was great for me. We ate campfire-cooked meals, toasted marshmallows (OK, that was almost all just me), and just sat around talking about all kinds of stuff. I was so pleased to be able to get to know my research colleague on a more personal level. I value all of the relationships I have formed with my research, sourcing, and recruiting colleagues, but I think it’s extra special when you have the opportunity to get to know someone on a deeper level than just work.

I think Suzy and I would both agree that one of the best parts of the weekend was just being able to leave the computers and cell phones behind and completely unplug from our “normal lives”. There’s nothing like peeing in the woods and smelling like a smoky campfire to refresh and renew Enjoy the slideshow of some of the things we got to experience last weekend!

I am in my hotel room in Portland, OR. I just took a (much needed) bath and shower after a weekend in the DIRT (more on that later!), and I am reflecting back on this week, post-SourceCon and also my first week with Waggener Edstrom Worldwide.

Public relations is relatively new to me, so first order of business was flying out to Seattle on Tuesday evening for account training on Wednesday. I learned a ton about the PR industry which will be quite helpful! As a researcher, it is imperative that you understand the industries in which you are searching. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, it doesn’t really matter what you do to find it. I think the Cheshire Cat said something to that effect to Alice in Alice in Wonderland….
“Which road should I take?” she asked the cat.
“Where do you want to get to?” the cat asked helpfully.
“I don’t know,” admitted Alice.
“Then,” advised the cat, “any road will take you there.”

Having basically one industry in which to search is going to be wonderful. I have always firmly believed in specialization for researchers, NOT JUST recruiters. Researchers who are stretched too thin by having to search in lots of industries cannot be expected to be effective in their efforts. It’s like trying to put your two hands into 5 buckets of water simultaneously – it can’t be done.

Thursday I spent the day in Seattle learning about some of the practice areas in which I will be researching. I also started getting to know the best ways in which to work with the staffing and HR folks I am connected to. As a researcher, I think it is essential to develop good relationships with the people who you will be supporting. Learn how to best communicate with each other, and make sure you communicate often. As a recruiter, not communicating with your researcher means that they may be searching in a direction that will not get you the best results possible, so do it often. And if you are a researcher supporting a recruiter who has some challenges communicating with you, take the matter into your own hands and forge those lines of correspondence yourself. The door swings both ways!

Thursday evening, I flew back to Portland where I will be until the end of September. After work on Friday, I threw some clothes into my rental car and drove east to Bend, OR to spend the weekend with my research buddy Suzy Tonini! She invited me to her home and she and her husband Ron took me camping up at Lava Lake in the Cascade Mountains.

Next week will be more acclimation to the staffing team in Portland and getting some goals set. I will be able to return to Cincinnati at the end of the month with lots of tangibles to dig my heels in and get going with my new position. Even though I have enjoyed all the new information I have learned and the new friends I have made over the last 3 weeks, I am looking forward to going home next weekend.