Every day I meet new folks.  What this means is several times a day, I listen to someone’s life story (in abbreviated form) and I reciprocate.

In short, we are giving each other our own personal elevator pitches.

Lately, I’ve noticed people who are seemingly unaware of how "their story" is playing with me, or others that I’m meeting with.  Sometimes 20% or more of the time is spent listening to background.

I think everyone needs to practice their elevator pitch.  Have several versions – the short one (30 seconds or less,) a one or two minute version and then the long version.  Most importantly, err on the side of the shorter version and let a person ask you questions about what interests them. 

I keep hearing "to make a long story short" and then 5-10 minutes later the person is done.  That is actually making a really really long story still long, in my opinion.

It’s not that I don’t want to get to know people, rather, a short summary is just as effective and we can explore what interests us most as the conversation naturally takes us.  Plus you don’t risk losing my attention (or others who are there) which really isn’t an exciting way to start a relationship.

I’m going to take my own advice here, too.  So if any of you catch me not heeding it, call me out.

My friend Geoffrey Manne pointed out that Sesame Street is the funkiest kids show of all time.

This is simply awesome.  I feel sorry for kids today – they have nothing like this.  Stevie Freakin’ Wonder!  Instead, they get the Wiggles and Hannah Montana.

Thank God I grew up in the 70′s and was privy to such wonderful grooves. 

When is a layoff not a layoff?  Simple.  When your firm basically says "you suck – find another career."  But we don’t do layoffs. 

Sounds crazy, but this is exactly what Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr is doing.  But don’t call it layoffs.  They’ve, instead, decided that they have a material amount of folks on payroll who don’t meet their standards.  Maybe they should tell their recruiting department to find another career, as well. 

From Jeff Jeffrey of The Blog of Legal Times:

William Perlstein, co-managing partner of the firm, tells the BLT that some associates and counsel have been told that they won’t have jobs at the firm after this coming fall. Perlstein acknowledges that at least some of the cuts are tied to the economic downturn, though he stresses that the firm isn’t having layoffs.

“There is certainly an economic component in situations where you have someone who is doing OK and who would otherwise be kept. But with less work, and if they’re not making the progress they should, they are being told they should start looking for another position,” Perlstein says. “Nobody is being handed a check and told that they have to leave tomorrow. They’re being told they have a number of months to find other work.”

Perlstein says that the reductions for senior associates and counsel come as a result of a new career advancement program that the firm implemented late last year. Under the new program, associates and counsel are either promoted within specified time frames, or told to “pursue other careers” if they aren’t likely to be recommended for advancement. With promotions scheduled for later this year, Perlstein says that for the first time, the firm is issuing advanced warnings to those unlikely to make the cut.

“This isn’t anything formal. It’s is more of a heads up,” Perlstein says.

As I’ve written before about layoffs, different firms take different approaches.  Some are straight forward and honest about their layoffs, while others try to hide them in stealth.  This strategy by Wilmer, however, is new to me.  Wow. 

If you are curious about hat’s up during the first week of Techstars, here is a great video following three of the teams.  This year, there will be a video chronicling the entire journey of the Boulder version of the program. 

The teams featured are The Next Big Sound, Everlater and ReTel and their founders Alex White, David Hoffman, Samir Rayani, Natty Zola, Nate Abbott, Adam Rodnitzky, Scott Roberts and George Aspland.  Coincidentally, the first two teams are teams that I’m mentoring this summer. (That probably means that I should get a haircut as I’ll be in future segments).   Enjoy. 

I spend plenty of time poking fun at service professionals on my blog, so it’s time to poke fun at myself – the client.

My friend Eric Jensen sent this video to me today.  Imagine if you attempted to treat everyone the same way that you treat your service professionals and vendors.  It’s hilarious.