The annual Challenge calls for workplace teams to pocket their car keys and rely on bike transportation for an entire month. Individual mileage is logged by each rider, and it’s then fed into a live leaderboard displaying the teams that have the highest percentage of commutes done by bike.

For us, the challenge is fun, it’s competitive, and it’s a great way to encourage colleagues, partners and clients to practice healthy and sustainable living. As CMD’s team captain Sharon Huber puts it, “It’s all-around more rewarding to ride a bike to work than to sit in traffic in your car. Who gets the reward? The planet, the car drivers, and your ass.”

Are you riding in the Bike Commute Challenge? Be sure to leave a comment on this post with how many miles you log each way, and if you happen to see any of the earned media team members pictured below riding our bikes around, be sure to give us a wave! Safe riding. =)

We really want to emphasize taking a fresh look at your resume and ensuring it communicates what you do, and perhaps more importantly, who you are. Your accomplishments and identity simply need to jump off the page at hiring managers if you want yours to stand out among the flood of cover letters.

Here are a few choice examples, taken from real-life resumes that have passed through my inbox.

“… experience including writing, content creation, media outreach”

OK, that’s a good start describing the basic skills that I may be seeking for a job opening, but I really want to know what the outcomes and successes have been as a result of doing these things in the business world, or in blogging life. Here’s what catches my eye a bit more:

“Writing for client pitches in a variety of voices from a ‘playah’ to a women’s rights activist.”

Now that tells me this is a skilled writer who can research and adopt the appropriate tone for various target audiences and then get down to the business of networking with them online. What would make this event stronger would be to articulate the outcome, such as, “secured a client interview with top-tier blogger reaching an audience of thousands.”

Here’s another example of going beyond “event planning.”

“Grew audience from a forty-person gathering in a crépe shop to sold-out theater crowds.”

Now that, I like. Who doesn’t want to bring on a team member with this kind of gumption? This is also the type of detail that helps you get the interview and builds up an identity–the perception of who you are–prior to that interview taking place.

Do you need a translation service for your resume? If you have a quick description that needs a brushup, post it in the comments below and we’ll throw you a few thoughts by return.

And given the volume of job seekers out there, it must feel like swimming upstream. Our recent job posting at CMD drew many candidates, but only two made the final cut for interviews at the agency. And of course, there can be only one who is hired.

These days, it seems like the planets have to align in order for both parties to find the right fit. Are you feeling that way, too?

This happens to be on my mind because Melissa Lion and I are going to speak to bloggers at Portland’s WordCamp in September about translating their skills into the workplace. It occurred to us that we shouldn’t work from our assumptions about job hunting in this environment. We need help from you—the bloggers and job hunters of Portland—so that we can directly address your very real concerns.

If you’re in job search mode, what’s weighing on your mind? We want your burning questions, especially the ones from bloggers.

• What did you really want to ask that hiring manager, but didn’t bring up for fear of objections?
• Have you been in a situation where you and the hiring manager had very different expectations?
• Have you had a good experience lately? What made it good?

Leave your question in the comments section here, or if you can fit it in 140 characters or less, we’ll take it on Twitter too. The really juicy questions we’ll take with us to the WordCamp discussion this fall. We’ll also let you know where to catch the live stream of our Wordcamp session if you’re not able to attend in person.

OK, let’s have it. We want to hear your top questions for hiring managers.

As @juliey and I gear up for our Wordcamp Portland presentation in September, we’re focusing equally on the quality of our information and the quality of our presentation. Here are some tips we’re keeping in mind as we prepare:

1)      Dump the notes.

Granted, reading notes is a great way to avoid the audience, but it does not make for a dynamic speaker. If you must have notes, just write out a few bullet points and leave that paper on the podium.

2)      Know your ending.

The worst thing a speaker can do is go on too long. Know where you’re going to end, and end it there.

3)      End before the time limit.

See above.

4)      If you mess up, say, “Oh, I messed up.” Or, “I forgot to tell you this.”

The audience wants you to be human. Even though you’re the expert, they still want you to be real. They want a connection. Nothing makes you seem more human than humility.

5)      Listen to the audience.

Pay attention not just to what they’re saying, but also how they’re acting. Are they shifting in their seats? Gathering up papers? Chatting to one another? These are all signs that you’ve lost them. Time to change tacks. Try asking for questions or begin wrapping up.

6)      Have fun.

Smile, relax and enjoy yourself and the audience.

Are you ready to get on the mic? If so, leave a comment and let us know some of your favorite speaking tips or some great speaking opportunities in your community.

Here in Portland, we have some terrific opportunities for users of social media to meet up. My favorite is the weekly Beer and Blog that happens every Friday from 4 to 6 at the Green Dragon. This ostensibly began as an opportunity for people to get help with their blogs, but it’s transitioned into a group of people getting together and chatting. They have guest speakers and often people sponsor that day’s beer and french fries (bless those fine people). New people are always welcome and for old-timers like me, it’s a great place to catch up with friends.

We also have Ignite Portland, and any number of un-conference-camp camps. The faces become familiar, and over time, the people walking into these events must feel like Norm felt walking into Cheers.

People aren’t using social media just to meet casual friends. According to Marta Kagan’s deck, What the F**k is Social Media NOW?, one in six marriages last year were between people who met through social media. Conversely, the London Telegraph says that one in five petitions for divorce cited Facebook. Social media hath given, social media hath taken away.

I love the variety of people you can meet through social media. As a kid growing up in San Diego, I listened to radio station 91X. Robin Roth was the voice of 91X and my personal hero. While helping a client grow his Twitter following, I stumbled upon Robin’s Twitter profile, added her as my friend and before I knew it, we were making plans to hang out when she comes to Portland. Robin Roth was the closest thing San Diego had to Siouxsie Sioux. I still freak out when Robin @replies me.

As social media becomes more prevalent, our personal and professional networks will expand. We’ll have the opportunity to meet more people, make more friends and broaden our own interests.

Oh, and get married. Though I’m not married yet, when the day happens for my boyfriend and me, we’ll comfortably fit into that one in six that Kagan’s talking about. Thanks, Twitter!

What about you? What real life relationships have happened thanks to social media?

When contemplating a job search, most people naturally take an inventory of their professional experience, acquired skills and natural talents. That’s the right place to start, but to really impress a hiring manager, you have to dig deeper.

Just saying that you’re a great writer doesn’t distinguish you from the other writers in the job market. Ask yourself: “What am I really good at?” Is it telling personal stories in a compelling way? What results have you experienced from doing this? Exercising a skill and demonstrating the outcomes is what will set you apart and provide the conceptual path for translating blogging skills into the business world.

Once a job candidate has passed muster and comes in for an interview, a key element that I’m looking for is if this person can play well with others. Although experiences vary, blogging can often be a solitary endeavor, and we need job candidates with the full package of experience and the ability to work well as part of a team of 10.

Highlight your collaborative projects, or seek some out during your job search. There are certainly tons of nonprofits and events that can benefit from having a blogger on board!

Finally, ask yourself: “Is this a grass is greener situation?” Income potential aside, it’s important for job candidates to determine if they will be happy in a new environment, especially if it’s a change from a flexible home office to a nine-to-five workday in a cubicle.

Are you a blogger who’s looking for a full-time job? Was this discussion helpful to you, or are you at a different place in your search?

This post is the first in a series leading up to the talk, “From Personal Blogger to Professional Marketer” by Melissa Lion and Julie Yamamoto at Wordcamp Portland.

The roar of the crowd
Rising thunderous and bold
A nation’s pride, GOOOAAAAAL!!!!!

Congratulations to Back Deck blog reader Doug Shipley on his creative entry. For his efforts, Doug will receive a USA Soccer jersey to proudly wear as a reminder of his victory.

Thank you to all who submitted entries in the CMD World Cup Haiku Contest and voted on the five finalists. We had a lot of fun and look forward to 2014.

I can hear some collective virtual gasps now as there are certain social media “purists” who only see a hard line when it comes to complete transparency, no matter what. But, the truth is that to blindly publish anything and everything is not necessarily best practice in all cases. And in some instances, it can be downright foolish.

Before the naysayers cry foul, make no mistake. I wholeheartedly believe that transparency and authenticity has to be at the core of all social media for it to be effective. The reason social is so powerful is due to open discourse, transparency and differences of opinion that can and do occur, giving companies extremely valuable insight into what their audiences are thinking and feeling. Yes, getting a rude comment via social media is tough to take, no doubt, but it’s the best way to learn, improve and create deeper relationships based on trust.

So why didn’t we publish the comment? For the curious, the gist of the response was basically this: “You suck and don’t know anything about anything.” Since we’re sharing anyway, why didn’t we go ahead and post? A couple of factors played into our decision: Firstly, honest public discourse is one thing, but vindictive, nasty, non-helpful comments are quite another. Had the author disagreed with our point of view, offered an opinion or insight of his or her own relevant to the topic, or been able to make his or her own compelling case that would have been one thing. But comments made out of sheer spite without any context are, again, quite another.

Secondly, although the comment was posted anonymously, anyone who operates within the digital space knows it is relatively easy to determine where the source originated. In this case, the comment was made from a competitor in town with an obvious axe to grind—certainly a social media taboo no matter what your viewpoint.

Thick skin is an absolute necessity when dealing in social media. If you can’t take the heat, it’s definitely not the kitchen for you. But it shouldn’t stop you from cooking. As potentially hurtful as negative comments can be, perhaps these suggestions will help put salve on the occasional potshots you may receive:

- Realize you’re always going to have people who don’t like you. Sad, but true. But there are people who don’t like your point of view or ideas based on solid perspective and rationale who have legitimate concerns which can give you excellent insight and an ability to respond directly. Then there are others who simply want to be vindictive and attack you, for whatever reason. Recognize the difference and have guidelines for how to handle each situation. In this case, our reaction was to not post the comment, but use it as an opportunity to explain why and shed some light on how we reached that decision for others who may face a similar situation.

- You don’t need to give your competitors a platform. If someone taped a “kick me” sign on your back, would you wear it just because someone put it there? Just because you’re using a social tool, does that mean you have to give the stage to anyone who wants to publicly humiliate you and say anything, no matter how unsubstantiated or biased the comment? No. But you do need to plan to be as open and transparent as you can be, which includes addressing and responding to constructive comments—positive or negative.

- Play fair and expect others to, too. Social media isn’t a curtain to hide behind and call out others without being held accountable or revealing your identity. Transparency isn’t a one-way street. You should not feel obligated to give a stage to others who are not forthright enough to leave a name and some other way to contact them directly. You can only do that with people who are willing to play fair.

- Recognize the dog that only wants to fight. Unfortunately, there are some who simply want to pick a fight and no matter how you respond, it only adds fuel to the fire. For these folks, it’s all about getting a reaction. Watch out, because these distractions can potentially lead you off course, cause doubts and a loss of focus. Instead, forgo the fight—let your work, fans, results and your success speak for themselves.

To help our clients keep up-to-date on Twitter best practices, the CMD Earned Media team has presented numerous Twitter how-to seminars over the past year, guiding and showing how to use the channel strategically and addressing the basics of getting started. (See our earlier blog post on our Twitter 101 session for local Portland media.) We recently held a seminar for our CMD colleagues to offer insight and best practices to those who wanted to learn more and get started. The session was spirited and full of interesting questions, including these five:

Q: I’ve set up a Twitter account, but really, why should I be on it?
A: We all use social media to communicate in various ways. Some people use it to keep in touch with family and friends. For business-savvy users, you can listen to what is being said about your clients, research your competition, find recent news pertaining to an industry and connect with media and people who share common interests. If you’re interested in what others are interested in, then Twitter is for you.

Q: What type of information should I list in my profile?
A: It’s important to note that all information on your Twitter profile is searchable, which means that what you tweet will show up in real-time search results based on keywords that you use. Make it easy for people to find you by listing the company you work for, your current location, occupation and interests. Now that Twitter search results show up on Google and general Web search, it’s more important than ever to ensure that what you’re twittering is relevant and interesting, and not just a space-filler, i.e. “I’m eating lunch.”

Q: How do I develop followers or find people to follow?
A: There are many ways to develop followers. For example: using Twitter’s search bar, doing a Google search, or using one of our favorite free tools, www.twellow.com. Twellow is like the Yellow Pages of Twitter – with over 12.5 million profiles listed, you can harness your following/followers by looking up your favorite hobby, the industry you work in, location and more.

Q: What if I accidently share something on Twitter that I did not want to?
A: As we like to remind our clients, once you send a tweet, it technically lives forever in the “twittersphere.” Sure, Twitter offers the ability to delete a tweet (when you hover over your update when viewing your home or profile page, you’ll see a trash can at the end of the update), but there is no way to prevent it from ever not turning up in search results. When in doubt, re-read what you’re about to tweet to make sure you’re comfortable with the message.

Q: Can I update multiple social media channels at once?
A: Yes. We are busy people, and managing different social media profiles takes time. If you are interested in integrating both your Facebook and Twitter profiles simultaneously, visit: http://www.ping.fm/ (another favorite tool of ours). Also, LinkedIn has recently been enabled for Twitter updates, so your tweets can appear in your network updates section.

Questions? Tweet us @CMDPortland. We’re here to help.

These awards showcase the reasons behind why we’ve transitioned from CMD’s Public Relations team to the CMD Earned Media team, which better describes our approach for seamlessly leveraging both social and traditional PR practices. To us, earned media is the attention, reputation, credibility and awareness that is earned organically by non-paid means through the value of the information and the merit of the interaction you have with the audience/public. That includes a strong combination of solid PR thinking and the ability to tap the latest opportunities social media presents. It embodies our commitment to remain on the forefront of emerging trends in communication while continuing to deliver great results.

Thanks go to our clients who work day-in and day-out as our partners in these campaigns and allow us the freedom to concept solutions to meet their business objectives. Here’s a brief recap of CMD’s work that received 2009 Spotlight Awards:

JELD-WEN Contest Scares up Terrifying Utility Bills – Spotlight Award

Situation
With rising energy costs and a growing interest in environmental concerns, energy efficiency is top of mind with homeowners.

Strategy
The CMD team created the JELD-WEN Scariest Utility Bills Contest to tout the importance of home energy efficiency and find a real-life example to prove that efficient windows and doors can help homeowners save money.

Results
The contest was wildly successful, nearly doubling the contest objectives and earning placements in publications including the Chicago Sun Times and Houston Chronicle. The U.S. Department of Energy even expressed interest in using JELD-WEN’s contest winner as a case study of its own, positioning JELD-WEN as the expert on reducing energy costs.

Be sure to check out this year’s Utility Bill Bailout Contest. It just might win you new JELD-WEN ENERGY STAR qualified windows and doors and an appearance on an upcoming episode of the nationally syndicated show, “Today’s Homeowner with Danny Lipford.”
http://www.jeld-wen.com/bailout/

JELD-WEN Lighthouse Campaign – Spotlight Award

Situation
JELD-WEN Windows and Doors needed to raise awareness and directly link its products with reliability, a crucial factor for homeowners, builders and remodelers when considering which windows and doors to purchase.

Strategy
The CMD team created a campaign that helped JELD-WEN walk its reliability talk and prove product performance by helping restore highly visible landmarks, America’s lighthouses, which also face some of the toughest climate conditions in the world.

Results
The campaign has helped build JELD-WEN’s image of reliability, created strong product performance proof points, and generated millions of media impressions, all while fostering tremendous goodwill.

The CMD Earned Media team also received two Award of Merit honors for “An Exploration into the Digital Frontier for Intel and Lenovo” and “Building the HealthCareGoesMobile.com Virtual Community.”