First I asked them what they thought was the funniest you tube video out there. Then we would watch part of it together. I got some interesting responses, oddly of all the videos I had only seen one before. Then I would ask them if they played guitar, only one taker there but he played Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time” which was inspirational, he was actually a pretty good singer.

Then came the art project test. I had them look at my website (the prepared ones had already studied it beforehand) and draw me a new one with a blank piece of legal size paper and a bag of markers provided by me. I wasn’t judging their artistic ability, but rather their ability to have fun with something new and stand behind their ideas.

After that it was pretty much a discussion of their schedule and if they were a fit for the company. Good times. Today I let the lucky winner know they will be a part of Parker Planners and thank the rest for applying. It’s been really hard to decide because everyone is so qualified for the position. We got mostly PR majors this time.

The biggest thing we need help with right now is contacting college bookstore buyers in preparation for the trade show we’re attending in Houston at the end of the month.

Good ole Ford. I think school is a great place to meet cool people. The more quality the institution, the cooler the people. It’s too bad you have take the occasional beating from a small-minded professor as a trade-off.

Who’s excited for the new year?! I really am. I love throwing things away. Taking down last year’s goals, reevaluating, and setting new ones breathes all kinds of good into my soul.

This is the year my hobby becomes a profession.

I’ve been working on Parker Planners for a while now. You can look at it so many ways. Our percentage growth has been great since we started but some would scoff (and have! ) at the dollar amounts. I’ve had it on the side all through school at BYU since my mission. I figured I had to finish school because that is a regret a lot of people carry. I have to say that it brought some relief to graduate but not tons and tons. Don’t be a “grass is greener” person. It’s never that green, guys. Progress brings happiness, not handouts or dumb luck (misfortune disguised as fortune).

BYU is a fabulous place and I’m glad I went there. I wish I had known what ivy leagues were before my senior year of high school though. A classmate of mine went to Princeton and used to tell me about the private concerts from nationally acclaimed artists, how his roomate was the prince of Spain, and stuff like that. Even if it takes me another 10 years, I want to be at an ivy league for my MBA. Hey you who wants to be in the Stanford GSB class of 2017, let’s be friends and I’ll SEE YOU THERE!!

Today I also met with my partner in crime Nick. He and I are working for Zappedy, inc. out of Palo Alto, CA on a deal-of-the-day kind of website. It’s like Groupon.com for mid-size cities. The idea is to have one krushingly good deal per day where you get a big discount on a restaurant, recreational thing, etc. We’re still in the super early stages of it all- wish us some luck!

Here’s a video glimpse of fire fun.

In the early 20th century women were discriminated against in the classical music scene. It was thought that they didn’t have the lung capacity for brass nor the hand strength for strings. Less than 5 percent of musicians were women. Then something very simple but profound happened; they did blind auditions. The performer would walk on stage via carpet (so heels wouldn’t clink) behind a sheet so those listening could only hear the music, not see distractions. By the end of the century about 50% of those performing in the nation’s major symphonies were women.

Cool, huh! How you sound should be, after all, the only determining factor in a symphony orchestra. If you’re singing pop you should probably be a hottie with a body who can shake it all over, but if you can wear black and be still then hey classical is for you!

Gladwell spoke at Harvard Law about 2 years ago and proposed we practice criminal law using this principle. Surprisingly he was well received. The author was trying to correct the injustice of racial prejudice in sentences. It’s a fact that black convicts are 27 to 54 times more likely to get jail time for drug offenses than equivalent white offenders. Great idea I say. Why not level the playing field?

Ahhh, pomp and circumstance. Enough to inspire some, bore most.

i took this at convocation for the Marriott school.

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On self determination

I posted this eight years ago (!) but a reader asked for an encore.

…are we stuck in High School?

I had two brushes with higher education this week.

The first was at a speech I gave in New York. There were several Harvard Business School students there, invited because of their interest in marketing and exceptional promise (that’s what I was told… I think they came because they had heard that Maury Rubin would make a great lunch!).

Anyway, they asked for my advice in finding marketing jobs. When I shared my views (go to a small company, work for the CEO, get a job where you actually get to make mistakes and do something) one woman professed to agree with me, but then explained, “But those companies don’t interview on campus.”

Those companies don’t interview on campus. Hmmm. She has just spent $100,000 in cash and another $150,000 in opportunity cost to get an MBA, but…

The second occurred today at Yale. As I drove through the amazingly beautiful campus, I passed the center for Asian Studies. It reminded me of my days as an undergrad (at a lesser school, natch), browsing through the catalog, realizing I could learn whatever I wanted. That not only could I take classes but I could start a business, organize a protest movement, live in a garret off campus, whatever. It was a tremendous gift, this ability to choose.

Yet most of my classmates refused to choose. Instead, they treated college like an extension of high school. They took the most mainstream courses, did the minimum amount they needed to get an A, tried not to get into “trouble” with the professor or face the uncertainty of the unknowable. They were the ones who spent six hours a day in the library, reading their textbooks.

The best part of college is that you could become whatever you wanted to become, but most people just do what they think they must.

Is this a metaphor? Sure. But it’s a worthwhile one. You have more freedom at work than you think (hey, you’re reading this on company time!) but most people do nothing with that freedom but try to get an A.

Do you work with people who are still in high school? Job seekers only willing to interview with the folks who come on campus? Executives who are trying to make their boss happy above all else? It’s pretty clear that the thing that’s wrong with this system is high school, not the rest of the world.

Cut class. Take a seminar on french literature. Interview off campus. Safe is risky.

-Seth Godin

“

GoOd GravY!?!? Those companies don’t interview on campus?! Every heard of a phone book? Ever heard of doing something because you want to? I’ll probably never go to Harvard Business school nor have nearly the GPA that person does, but they can have it! I’ll gladly, enthusiastically give someone my high GPA, test scores, and perfect attendance for a shred of creativity and passionate pursuit of something I choose to learn.

once again, Mick helped