The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century

[via Seth Godin’s blog] The Ronald McHummer Sign-O-Matic site is more than just a sign generator in the same vein as the Colbert Report “On Notice Board” Generator, the Church Sign Generator or the Tombstone Generator. There’s also a cause behind it:

This month McDonald’s is giving away toy Hummers — 42 million of them, in eight models and colors — with every Happy Meal or Mighty Kids Meal. That’s right: The fast-food chain that helped make our kids the fattest on Earth is now selling future car buyers on the fun of driving a supersized, smog-spewing, gas-guzzling SUV originally built for the military. Use the Ronald McHummer Sign-O-Matic™ to tell us what you think of this misguided marriage of two icons of American excess.

Here’s my current favourite:

Here’s a t-shirt design that your non-computer-science pals won’t understand, but at the same time is weird enough and obscure enough for hipster cred:

Want one? It’s available here.

(No idea who Donald Knuth is? Check here, here, here and here. That’s how he rolls, yo.)

Courtesy of Miss Fipi Lele, a photo of the “Sure / Safe / Easy” humane poultry killer. Its usage is depicted on the box:

I’m reminded of the “Head Crusher” character from The Kids in the Hall:

(P.S.: Someone please tell me they got the joke in the title of this entry…)

Job Title: Marketing Manager, Communications

If you look at the Tucows Jobs page for Toronto, you’ll notice that we have a number of job openings. If you’re a blogger, you might take note of the one titled Marketing Manager, Communications, which has the description “Establish Tucows as a thought leader in the Internet services industry/community”.

It seems pretty plain until you follow the link to the full job description for that position. The first items in the “Key Responsibilities” list is Chief Blogger.

In Case You Thought I Was Tucows’ Chief Blogger…

You might ask “Well, isn’t that what Joey is?”. I’ve been told that even some people within the company asked that exact question. The answer is “no”. I just happen to be the company’s highest-profile blogger. My job as Tech Evangelist certainly includes blogging, but it’s blogging primarily in the service of making sure that developers and techies out there know what services Tucows offers and how to best make use of them, and to act as a goodwill ambassador to the tech community. I sometimes do some non-technical blogging and podcasting on the company’s behalf, but that’s because I’ve got the blogging rep and the podcasting know-how.

The Tech Evangelist job keeps me busy as it is — much of what I write has to be backed up by actual working examples, which means that I’m not only writing, but also setting up services either manually or by writing code. The Chief Blogger — whomever he or she may be — will have to blog about the company from a “higher altitude” and write to a larger audience. He or she will have to address more than just the techies, but our customers, partners, investors, press and the public at large. That’s a much wider scope than mine.

This is an unusual position where blogging is going to be more than just a “nice-to-have”; it’s practically a requirement. If you’re looking to fill this position, you really should be an experienced blogger; in fact, you need to provide the URL of your blog with your cover letter. In the interview, you’ll be expected be able to demonstrate an understanding of the blogosphere and what works and doesn’t work in it.

Other Aspects of the Position

In addition to the blogging, the other responsibilities are:

• Content Creator & Manager: Creation and management of all non-product web site content. You effectively “own” the information on the web site in terms of accuracy, compellingness, quality, integration with overall strategy, etc. Includes home page, all “about” areas, general service information, etc. Also responsible for corporate domain portfolio (managing all domains used for marketing and internal purposes).
• Media Relations: React to requests by the media, deal with public relations issues, and assist in crisis management as they arise. Proactively look for media opportunities to highlight Tucows products and our position as thought leaders in the industry and on Internet matters in general. Includes preparing press releases.
• Investor Relations: Oversee web content, press releases and other material related to earnings and investor relations issues. Manage the investor relations functions on the web site.
• Event Organizer: Plan and coordinate Tucows’ presence at industry events and/or company-specific events. Look for speaking opportunities and manage speaking requests.

Whoever gets this job will report directly to Ken Schafer, the VP of Marketing (and my boss). We’re not big on micromanagement here; you’ll be given wide latitude to determine how you want to go about your job as long as you meet the goals. This is not a job for people who are content to take orders and then meet the minimum requirement; it’s for someone who given a set of goals will take the initiative and formulate their own action plan.

If you’d like to know more about the responsibilities and requirements for the position, go see the full job description.

Interested?

If this job sounds interesting to you, email your resume and cover letter to:

hrdept@tucows.com

and refer to

[Exe-2006-08-11-257] Marketing Manager, Communications

in the subject line.

If you’ve got any questions about this job, feel free to ask in the comments or email me.