We all know the economy has been a bit rough lately. Lots of people are losing their jobs and none of us are really immune, particularly if things continue the way they've been for the last few months. One thing that has surprised me however, is the caliber of people being let go. In the social management space in particular I know of a number of people who have a ton of experience in operational roles but also understand the new media and marketing worlds. This makes them rare and valuable given the direction business will need to go to keep up with changing expectations of communications and transparency.
One thing that is generally true of the people I know in this situation is that they are not the types that spend a lot of time talking about themselves and that makes them 1) Unique 2) Refreshing 3) Exactly what kind of management is needed in a distributed, interconnected community-based world. These are people who care deeply about the others around them, are dedicated and thorough, and who have a lot of respect from others I know.
I don't think the people I know will be side-lined for long but I wanted to profile them so others got a sense for the talent that is currently available - both for short term and long term initiatives. I'm starting a series of blog posts (thanks to Aaron Strout for the idea!) that profiles individuals in my personal network who I think are great but who have recently been laid off. I'm calling it "The Deep Bench Series"(on Twitter #deepbench).
If you would like to contribute, please consider cross-posting these profiles to your blog and sharing them via Facebook or Twitter with your network. And if you know of anyone who should be included, please let me know!
Err... you're actually the first person I think of
Posted by: Matt Searles | February 17, 2009 at 02:33 PM
That means I actually have the time to help out some very well deserving friends ;)
Posted by: Rachel Happe | February 17, 2009 at 02:42 PM
Love this. Looking forward to seeing who you profile and what they have to say.
Posted by: Alexa | February 17, 2009 at 08:51 PM
Rachel - very cool idea. Glad to have loosely inspired the series although yours is definitely heavier hitting than my #45in45 series. I look forward to tracking the series!
Best,
Aaron | @aaronstrout
Posted by: Aaron Strout | February 17, 2009 at 09:22 PM
Hi Alexa/Aaron - thanks!
While the #45in45 may not have the same gravitas because of the context, I'm really enjoying it!
Posted by: Rachel Happe | February 17, 2009 at 09:43 PM
Wow Rachel, what a great way of keeping valuable and talented people in play and engaged when other organizations had lacked the where-with-all to do so on their own.
Posted by: Marc Meyer | March 02, 2009 at 01:06 PM