DJ Waldow IS connected
Going through this guy’s web page #DJWaldow and Project Awesome, I couldn’t help but think he had really proven that he’s got some great ideas to promote himself and show how he did it for other companies he worked for. It struck me that he was sincere and talked about how he was getting bored not working directly for someone.
Being a graphic designer I appreciated that he let the videos and interactive resume speak for themselves. The resume I thought was a bit too long though. You could lose people if they have to do so much scrolling. But it was daring to jump off and try something so different within this new digital age. (Seems like companies might reject this boldness, but then again maybe he wouldn’t want to work for them.)
DJ Waldow was working at Blue Sky Factory when they merged with another company and he got the short end of the digital stick and was relieved of his duties.At 35 being a pretty prolific blogger, speaker, and social media forerunner, he took this as an opportunity to reflect and then jump back in, trying for a CEO position.
Asking friends and people who know his work to make a 30 second video as to why you should hire him was a great creative way for people to hear first hand accounts of endorsement. It was real and authentic. Someone even doing it for him while being on vacation in Maine.
Because he used a blog site it had all the links right at the top for people to share via: Facebook, Twitter, G+, and LinkedIn. He utilized video linked from YouTube of Why Hire DJ, video clips of him being on the news, video of his presentation, interactive resume on Slideshare, a voice-over of interactive resume with Slideshare (showing his knowledge of ADA compliance or some people might want to listen while doing something else), links to blog posts, writing samples, and I’m probably forgetting something. I liked that he even put some positive feedback he received from some of his events.
As someone who has experienced her husband getting laid-off twice in the 90’s because of outsourcing I can feel for this guy. Even more so now when the economy is even worse than it was back when it all started to go downhill. We were living large and we had to REALLY cut back, reevaluate and ended up selling our home and moving to the sticks. It was rough but like DJ we just kept looking forward and stayed positive. You reinvent yourself or take what you are really good at and focus those energies. We have pulled through and DJ will to.
My question to @DJWALDOW is what is your status just about a year out? Are you doing freelance work in the meantime? From my friends who work in marketing design it seems like the market is picking up. How is the digital marketing world feeling to you? Working for a small college it seems hard to get people in the decision seats to realize the importance of social media. Do you find this is the same for the larger companies or just midsize and smaller? I’d love to know.
Thanks.
Digital Distressed 
As a funny side note: as I started writing this post, I almost put in #DJAwesome which brings up a VERY different guy! LOL glad I didn’t do that.
Hi Heidi, I found out that you can edit WordPress posts and delete Tweets, thank god! I think that your summary of Project Awesome is insightful and I like that you added a personal twist too. My husband and I have been through some tough times as well. I replied to your comment on my post, and I hope to hear from you soon. Take care, ronna
Thanks Ronna ill checkout your blog. It’s a tough economy out there.