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Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Personal Branding IRL: Steven Slater of Jet Blue Fame
8:19 PM | Posted by
Nicole Martin |
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| Picture courtesy of CBSnews.com |
What a way to quit your job! For anyone outside of the tri-state area, has this news story traveled your way? Read on, this one’s very interesting!
Ever have a day where one thing after another seems to go wrong at work? After one of those days, Jet Blue flight attendant Steven Slater quit his job, and not too subtly.
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| Picture courtesy of CBSnews.com |
It all started when two passengers got into an argument about the overhead bin space. As someone who only carries her luggage on, I understand how precious this space is. However, this argument escalated, and when Slater stepped in to ask one passenger to check their bag at the gate, he was accidentally clocked on the head by said bag. Well, that stinks… great start to your day! (Sarcasm here folks ;)
But it didn’t end there. Once the plane landed at JFK, the passenger who was forced to check her bag at the gate became very upset that she could not get the bag back immediately. Because Slater was the one who checked it for her, she took her anger out on him, very loudly and with many f-bombs. Wow, the poor guy was just doing his job, cut him a break!
Here’s where the story gets juicy… Slater walked away from the woman (good) and got onto the intercom to announce his resignation (bad). He allegedly said, “Those of you who have shown dignity and respect these last 20 years, thanks for a great ride.” Slater then proceeded to activate the emergency exit slide, toss down his bags, pop open a couple beers, and hop down the slide himself.
Depending on what your reaction is, you can file this reaction under either off-his-rocker-crazy or wow-I-wish-I-was-that-ballsy.
Let’s take a step back here for a moment to take a look at Slater’s personal brand before this incident. Before, the public knew nothing about this guy. According to a variety of new stories, his parents both worked in the airline industry and Slater was very passionate about his job. To some, he was a friend, co-worker, helpful flight attendant. Slater was by all means an Average Joe.
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| Picture courtesy of CBSnews.com |
Afterwards, however, Steven Slater is now known as that Jet Blue flight attendant who quit his job by jumping out of the emergency exit. Quite the change, thanks to the media. Keep in mind that once your actions are broadcasted to the public, they will trigger a variety of reactions. These reactions will then be your personal brand to those people, like it or not. That’s why it’s so important to think before you, ah-hem, leap. (cracking myself up over here! ;)
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| Picture courtesy of CBSnews.com |
How do you view Slater? Is he a hero who was brave enough to speak his mind and represent abused flight attendants everywhere? Or is he an idiot who will have issues getting a job in future due his jail time and clear anger management issues?
All I know is that I wish I could exit some days with a slide :)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Personal Branding IRL: Toy Story Faux Pas
8:20 PM | Posted by
Nicole Martin |
Happy Thursday! The weekend is almost here, and I am so ready for it! So it appears that my trend here on EP will be about 3 pretty outfit posts a week and one thought-provoking post. After all, I’m tying my outfits into personal branding, but my closet can only take us so far ;) What do you guys think? I’d love your feedback!
Last week, I was watching a local news station while working out at my gym. One spot caught my eye: activists were protesting in front of the Times Square Toys R Us because of the use of PVC plastic in Toy Story 3 toys. The rally was made up by folks from the Teamsters Union, the Center for Health, Environment & Justice, Clean New York, WEACT for Environmental Justice, and more. The small group of demonstrators wanted to bring awareness to buyers and hopes to phase out the use of PVC’s in all children’s toys.
As I watched, I took notice of who was part of the protestors. There was this guy:
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| Picture courtesy of Zimbo.com |
Mr. Mike Schade from the Center for Health, Environment and Justice. Very official looking in his suit and black framed glasses. He definitely looked the part of the expert. I'm listening, tell me more...
Then there was this group:
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| Picture courtesy of Zimbio.com |
NYC school students – innocent children who are sad that the toys from their favorite movie will poison them and their siblings. Well played, protestors… pull at our heartstrings and remind us that we’re doing this for the children. At this point, I’m totally on board.
But then, this guy gets some airtime:
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| Picture courtesy of Zimbio.com |
Mr. Mateo Columbi, a Teamsters union representative. Yes, he’s dressed up as Woody from Toy Story!!! Suddenly, the protest seems… silly. And funny, but this is no laughing matter. The Woody costume is hokey and quite unnecessary. What does dressing like this accomplish exactly? Mateo, your passion is obvious just by the fact that you’re there. Why not wear a Teamsters shirt to represent their support in all this?
On the other hand, this was a small, controlled group of demonstrators. Crazy stuff happens in NYC everyday, but most of it doesn’t end up on the evening news. So did they get media attention because of Mateo’s outlandish costume? Or is it just the fact that they were in Times Square , where they were certain to get noticed?
What do YOU think?
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