Me: Can the company pay for my MBA?

My Boss: um, you know what the owner thinks MBA stands for?

Me: (thinking, “I’ll take this as a no”) No, what?

My Boss: More Bad Answers.

That was a no. I paid for it on my own anyway. I wasn’t going to let bosses decide that an MBA was useless.  They had the right last name and will be set for life in the company.  My last name, however, wasn’t on that list.

Was it worth it? Sure – and I’m glad I did it (if for nothing else, at least now I’m not wondering if I should go back to get it!).

So a couple of days ago I am on a chat with Phil801 and Matthew Reinbold (I’m the only one who can call him Matt without him getting upset – consider yourself warned) and we are talking about the possibility of getting Godin to come to Utah. It’s a huge challenge – we essentially have 3 days (more or less) to cut a check for $25,000 – then he’ll schedule us in (the hopeful date is May 24th).

I’d like to take credit for this but I can’t. I was “invited” into the discussion, had a couple of thoughts/ideas, and then said that I was pretty swamped this weekend (um, where’s my W-2??).

It will be successful – there is a ton of online and offline buzz right now. The soldiers involved in contacting their networks have great networks, have been on the phone a good part of the day, and have even been looking for (and getting) corporate sponsors.

It’s uber-cool how a couple of guys have been able to tap into their network, and have them mobilize to get 25k put together. Seth knows about it, and even commented of a 4-series post on why we should raise the money but donate it to a worthy cause (microloans). Man, I’ve been waiting for him to comment on my blog, actually, blog about JibberJobber (!), so to see that he even comments on other people’s blogs is pretty cool.

Here is the page to pledge, which will help get to the $25k mark. Basically, if he comes then you pay $50. If he doesn’t come then maybe pay $50 and you can shave Phil801’s head. Maybe if we pool our money we can pay $2,500 and shave Kelly King Anderson’s head? Ash says he’ll shave his head for Seth but that’s because he is one of the biggest Seth-lovers out there. And he would look good with a shaved head (I can totally see Ash and Seth – bald buddies). I bet he would shave his kids heads, too.

Kidding aside, here are the other blog posts about this. Networking is making this happen – word of mouth/e-mail/blog. It’s a cool testament to having relationships built BEFORE you need them. Don’t you think now is a good time to get your free JibberJobber account?

Official Utah site to get the latest info: WordMob.com

Phil801: first, second, third

Matthew Reinbold

Janet Meiners

Kelly King

Ash Buckles

Steve Spencer

Thom Allen

Paul Allen

Paul Wilson: first, second, third

Blake Snow

Sponsors? I am seeing a nice list of potential sponsors… right now I know of only one – Twelve Horses – Good on ya Twelve Horses!

Twelve Horses, an interactive messaging and marketing company, has committed $2,000 to help bring Seth Godin to Utah. Steve Spencer, President of Twelve Horses stated, “I know that Wordmob, and the grass roots technology community here in Utah are making huge efforts to ensure that Utah has all of the exposure and opportunities of any other city. Twelve Horses not only fully supports and applauds this, but puts a call out to the rest of the business community. We cannot be passive in the exciting efforts that are happening right now in the valley. We are standing behind those who selflessly commit so many hours, and so much work to ensure that Utah can be a technology and information growth space. So please, join me in welcoming Seth Godin to Utah, and in helping us all learn from the knowledge and exposure he brings.”

If you’re looking to build a home in the west, you should look into purchasing a manufactured home in Utah.  Buying a new manufactured house is much cheaper than building a conventional house, and it can be done in a fraction of the time.  Brand new manufactured homes are well designed homes that are perfect for someone looking to get into their first house.

I have a Mexican heritage – in fact, my father was born in Mexico. I was even born in Mexico (well, New Mexico). At Alba family reunions there is a lot of Spanish spoken, and we have quite a family that is in Mexico still (although all of my aunts and uncles are in the U.S.). You’d think that it would be easy to get a recipe for tortillas – but alas, it is all done by how the masa feels, no measuring. So I had to get this recipe from a white lady in Idaho – go figure. But they are the bomb.

• 4 cups flour (we mix 1/2 wheat, and have done 1/4 masa)
• 1 1/3 cups warm water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup oil

Mix it all up, make little balls, roll them out, and cook on medium+ heat (no oil, no-stick, etc.) until they are the right color.

Delicious.

Signatures in e-mails are underutilized by most people. Here is one of my favorites that I just saw this morning:

Nadine Turner
——————————-
Latest Achievement: Named Time Magazine’s 2006 Person of The Year

Read my blog: http://nadineblogs.wordpress.com/

See how we’re connected: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nadineturner

Why is this a fav? The latest achievement. Priceless. I should steal that.

There is only one real reason: because he’s Seth, and Seth writes about whatever the heck he wants.

And so maybe the title should really be “Why Seth Godin should write about JibberJobber” …

Seth blogs to people that like marketing, want to learn more about it, or just like reading about common sense. What he talks about is not rocket science, and its not gimmick – its so simple and obvious that most everyone overlooks his points until he brings them out. Anyway…

Seth should write about JibberJobber because it fits right into what his messages are. He talks about obvious things that marketings and managers should do and consider. I present JibberJobber as a tool that professionals should use to manage their relationships – it’s so obvious that most people don’t consider it. “I can manage my relationships without software,” “I don’t need to write names and numbers down to have strong relationships,” or any of the other obvious things.

Seth talks about career things. He talks about the power of referrals (isn’t this a networking thing?). He talks about the place of education in career management. Seth spoke to 8th graders about their futures and careers. I’m all about career management and JibberJobber is a super-powerful tool to help manage the rest of your career!

Seth talks about owning your own business and taking risks. His own story is super-inspiring. I know I’ll get lots of “no’s.” I already have. So if he says “no”to writing about this, that’s okay – I’m moving forward!

Seth likes cool technology. He talks about mashups – JibberJobber is full of mash ups (Google Maps, Skype, LinkedIn, Anagram… when does the fun end?) and other cool things like Jott. Jott is cool – JibberJobber is cool.

Seth even talks about a personal CRM tool… one that he “wishes he had.” This tool is really cool and forward thinking – JibberJobber is to a personal career what this CRM tool is to a small business.

But unlike a company CRM tool, JibberJobber stays with you as long as you want it – no matter what transitions you go through – no matter where you work – no matter how many relationships you are nurturing. Its your tool. It’s obvious. It’s clever.

Seth Godin could write about JibberJobber because it totally fits into what he writes about. And his readers would benefit from knowing about what might be the only career management tool that they need to start using right now.

And if you want to know why I think it’s so cool, check out some of the premium features that I’m highlighting. Of course, 90% of JibberJobber is free for life – so there’s no reason to not get started right now. But the $99 lifetime upgrade ends on April 9th… you have just a few days left to get this amazing 80% off deal!

Your head has to be really heavy. Or you must have neck problems. Better yet, maybe a combination. Nonetheless, you can tell from these pictures that it is really in style right now to have to hold your head up with your hand! Go check out the original post (with a nice write-up and comments). Hat tip to Kent Blumberg for shooting this over to me :p

At a recent bloggers dinner Ash asked all of us “when has a blogger arrived?” I’ve been intrigued by this question ever since, even though I gave a very flowery response (which I can’t totally remember now). But really, doesn’t it all come down to money? When the blog is worth something? So here’s my JibberJobber blog‘s worth, according to Dane and Technorati:

My blog is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?

I obviously HAVE NOT arrived.

I got an e-mail today from a buddy in Texas:

I am glad to hear your business is doing well. I wish I had your skills to go out and start my own business, but I am too big of a chicken.

So here is my formula for “going out and starting your own business:

1. Focus 150% on your career, give your life and time and thoughts to “the company.”
2. Get laid off because of any lame reason.
3. Work 60 hours a week looking for a job.
4. Have a great looking resume that has some ghost problem (something that is a problem but you can’t find).
5. Have an aha moment that is “wow, this would be really cool!!”
6. Continue to not be able to get a job (much less a couple of interviews)
7. Figure that going forward on your own business is going to be more fruitful than spinning the job search window (this was months into the job search)
8. Being okay with giving up all of the corporate perks (steady paycheck, bonus, holidays, sick leave, “cheap” health insurance, etc.)

There you go. There’s my guts. Where are yours?