Seth's Summer Intern Project

Alignment

When there's a gap between someone doing her job and doing the right thing, then management has failed.

Plenty of customer service people would like to do the right thing. They'd like to fix the problem that's presented to them. But frustration hits when the policies and procedures and metrics they've been given to work with won't let them.

For the last two weeks, the audio version of The Dip has been for sale at the iTunes music store. And for many iPods, it doesn't work. I know because hundreds of people have written to me and let me know. These hundreds of people have written to Apple, too, and they've shared their notes with me.

In general, the responses from Apple are respectful and straightforward. But none of them have addressed the problem. Apple could easily take the product down. Or they could change the description in the store with a note that says, "sorry, but it doesn't work on some iPods, we're working on it", or they could email everyone who had bought one and let them know what the plans are. And, yes, they could fix it.

The amazing thing is that except for the last choice, each item is free, quick and relatively easy. If the head of the iTunes store focused on this for ten seconds, the problem would go away. The problem is a lack of alignment. For a service rep in this particular situation, "doing my job" means making the person go away, while "doing the right thing" means taking initiative and actually solving the problem.

Getting your team in alignment is perhaps the first job a marketer has to do.

file

Download Restaurants.pdf

We're all set!

thanks to everyone who applied.

the slots are filled.

have a great summer

H E L P W A N T E D

I’ve got an idea and maybe you can help.

Yes, summer is almost here, so it must be time to post a summer project. I need your help in finding three or four extraordinary people who want to be involved in an important and engaging project over the summer.

Last summer, a team I put together built changethis.com. It was designed as a proof of concept, something that could change the way ideas spread online. It worked in a big way, with millions of downloads and passalongs.

This time, I’ve got a neat idea for a new business that (hopefully) will turn a profit as it changes the way hundreds of thousands of people influence the very shape of the web. The concept is pretty robust and we’re going to launch it… fast.

WHO WE SEEK:
Previous work experience isn’t important. What matters is domain knowledge and passion. We’re looking for people with some combination of the following skills:
  User interface design
  Online graphic design
  RSS, CSS and structured HTML
  Wide knowledge of what’s interesting and new online

You don't have to be all of these things. Slightly unbalanced but remarkable is far better, in fact.

It’s the kind of person who has strong opinions about RSS readers, or who can talk intelligently about different search algorithms and feels strongly about the difference between Wordpress and Typepad. This is someone who is personally offended when tables are used incorrectly in HTML.

Perhaps you can set up a wiki in three minutes, have posted corrections to the wikipedia just because you can, and use Linux to prove a point. Of course, you’ve got a blog, and maybe even a podcast.

We’re going to outsource the heavy duty coding, so insightful conceptual thinking is the thing I need the most.

No, I can't tell you what we're doing before we start. That's part of the excitement, though, isn't it?

Here's how it works

From June 20th to June 23rd, 2005, the group will meet in my offices outside of New York City (Irvington, NY.). Over this three or four day period, we’ll get to know each other and I’ll outline the project. We’ll brainstorm as a group and then disperse.

Over July, we’ll work independently, for wherever you like, creating stuff and exchanging ideas online. It’s fine with me if you’ve got a day job, as long as you can spend at least 40 hours each week on it.

We reconvene in person in NY in early August to hash out what’s left and to finalize the project before handing it over to tech folks for integration and launch.

There's a cash stipend of $4,000, payable half in mid-July and half at the end of August.

How to Apply

Send me a web site. A blog. An online showcase.

A link.

Or an HTML file I can open in Firefox.

The page should contain:
Your name and a brief educational and work history.

But way more important, it should show me what you want to show. Your enthusiasm. The depth of your skills and knowledge. Pointers to work you've done or sites you love. Insights. Stuff I don't know already.

If you're uncomfortable posting it on the live web, password protect it or just send the html directly to me.

If it's just a resume, don't bother...

Can't wait to see it. sethgodin@yahoo.com

The $1,000 Bounty

No, not this kind of Bounty - The Quilted Quicker Picker-Upper.

Every person hired tells me who referred her (or him). A job board, a blogger, or even an email with the listing. That person gets a check for $1,000 in August. One bounty per person successfully hired, naturally.

My references

This isn't the first time I've set up a team to create stuff online. In the early 1990s, I started Yoyodyne, which was acquired by Yahoo! in 1998. My bio is here: About Me.

Last summer, a team of interns worked with me to create ChangeThis.

A few years ago, my friends Red Maxwell and Eve Yohalem worked with me to create aworthycause.org, a non-profit fundraising tool.

This time around, I'm working with Tom Cohen, who has a long history helping emerging organizations make things happen. And helping big ones like Rolling Stone.

And while we haven't taken any venture money, some of my favorite VCs (who might even vouch for me) are Jerry Colonna, Brad Feld and Fred Wilson.

And here's an article you might enjoy: Jerry Yang: Yahoo! and Yoyodyne.

I can't promise much this summer, except that you will be challenged and you'll get to see how at least one person (me) thinks about marketing and storytelling and the Net.