A really important piece of advice. I completely agree that no matter how icy or how welcoming an office environment may be, there is always an opportunity to learn and grow as long as you put in the effort. Probably the best counsel a young job seeker can get. Thanks, Steve.

Couldn't agree more, Nick and Laura. I associate Jazz with creativity and the freedom to explore music free from its traditional structure. The genre certainly does not get due credit for "birthing" and inspiring an impressively broad range of artists over the years. My question (to the both of you): Which artist is your ideal client? And thanks for the post. It reminded me that I need to make a Jazz playlist on Spotify.

Terrific stuff. I love nicknames and dole them out in similar fashion that you do. Although, I think that I give nicknames to people I am indifferent about as well. Also, when I refer to people (that I know or don't know) I like to shorten their first name and add a 'y' to it an then only use the first letter of their last name. So, when talking about Hillary Clinton, I would say something like. "Did you know Hilly C. was in town? She is giving a speech at NYU." Here are a few examples of other choice nicknames: - My brother, Kevin is known as 'Special K.' - My cousin's husband is universally known as 'SteGold', I am sure that people think it is his actual name. - A random friend of a friend of a friend (I don't know his real name) once was drunk and dropped a bagel in a bodega so I only refer to him as 'Bagel Dropper.' - A super fashionable homeless man who chilled on my old block in NoLita is referred to as 'Little Bitta Help' because thats all he said. - A former roommate was dubbed 'The Bro' for his overuse of the word and his bro-like activities. - My roommate's father has a friend whose last name I cannot ever remember but I know it sounds like paella so he is known as 'Alan Paella.' - 'Clueless' refers to my roommates former co-worker. I think it is self-explanatory. - My roommate's sister has a boyfriend named Axel, that is just too close to excel. Thus, he is called 'Spreadsheet.'

Allow me to play sociologist for a moment and shift some of the blame to the Boomers (this is what the Millennials do best). Perhaps, in the rush to adopt and fully embrace the technological revolution, the Boomers failed to adopt the story telling and communication skills that lead to information sharing between themselves and the Greatest Generation. The Boomers seem to be caught in the precarious position of riding the internet and technological wave while holding onto the traditional values and simplicities that shaped their generation. It seems reasonable to believe that this could result in a breakdown in communication with Millennials as well as a lack of understanding of events, people, places, and things (nouns in general). Of course, there are breakdowns in family structure, over-prescription of behavior correcting drugs, increased acceptance of individuality, and other potential causes that I could address, but I have text messages to respond to, links to share via Twitter, and people to stalk on Facebook...

Thanks and I couldn't agree more, Julie. Social media must be used as a strategic communications tool for a company/brand/individual and is less of a stream of consciousness than people think. Unless, of course, you do not care about the consequences...

Only time will tell if firing the agency, its employee, and Gilbert Gottfried will allow Aflac and Chrylser to slink back into the darkness while licking their wounds relatively unharmed. Note the reference to a smart and capable crisis PR team above. I think the larger point is to use these examples as a cautionary tale of how one seemingly harmless social media slip up could potentially tarnish your brand beyond repair.

Well said. Perhaps, Gilbert wore his Sunday best to the meeting and presented a well thought out strategy to enhance the brand through insensitive treatment of a natural disaster? Or maybe my suspicions have been confirmed, and his "voice" is a carefully executed component of his image that is rarely, if ever used in a business setting?

A good question. Tough to speculate what led to this incident but I think that underscores the message of the post, quality control. Clearly, there was a break in the system or lack of a system that knocked over the first domino...

Thanks for getting the discussion going, Brad. While I agree, I wonder if his/her sloppy attempt at producing "buzz worthy" content has generated the desired effect. Are you more aware of Chrysler's social media platforms and ongoing PR/branding efforts now? Dare I ask if you now count yourself as one of their 8.853 followers?