Category Archives: General Thoughts

The Best Company I’ve Ever Worked For

By Mark Stelzner | Published: September 28, 2010
It was 95 degrees in the shade when we arrived. The picnic area boasted the usual grouping of wooden tables surrounding a central grill, all (thankfully) shaded by a long-faded overhang. Greeting us were the warm smiles of colleagues I haven’t seen in well over ten years. Sure, the lines on our faces were a [...]
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Sorting Through The Noise

By Mark Stelzner | Published: September 21, 2010
A few months ago I spoke to a group of ~250 white collar careerists. They asked me to come and talk about the job market, how the nature of employment is changing and what I see for the future. The conversation was generally upbeat and about half of the attendees were currently employed and thinking [...]
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The Conference Economy

By Mark Stelzner | Published: September 13, 2010
My watch doesn’t boast a ton of features but I was still able to confirm the exact amount of time he spent vacuuming our 10′ x 16′ carpet — 1 minute, 14 seconds. The bill? $52.80. That equals an hourly rate of over $2,500… for vacuuming… from a guy that probably makes $15 an hour [...]
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Why Morons Win

By Mark Stelzner | Published: September 2, 2010
In the fall of 1997 we were working on final negotiations with a Fortune 1000 firm. This was an extremely large opportunity and the relationship was absolutely critical to our success. As a condition of closing we had to brief their president and I was extremely nervous. Did we have all our ducks in a [...]
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They Don’t Make Nets For Sidelines

By Mark Stelzner | Published: August 25, 2010
A few weeks ago Laurie Ruettimann, Yasha Stelzner and I began our grand experiment called New Media Services. Sure, we spent a lot of time thinking about the markets we’ll serve, the needs of our future clients and how we’ll add value. But at the end there was a critical point where we just had [...]
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A Means To An End

By Mark Stelzner | Published: August 18, 2010
It happened every single night. I’d finish up my shift at the Cookie Factory by tossing the unsold product into a brown bag, the butter-soaked goodies sweating through the thin paper and threatening to break free at any moment. Lights turned off, door locked and cage pulled, I’d begin the midnight slog back to my [...]
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The Art of Saying No

By Mark Stelzner | Published: July 31, 2010
“I did not ASK your opinion Stelzner. Just do it and get the hell out of my office!!” He was spitting mad and kicked at the air, accidentally crashing his toes into the edge of his desk. So I did two things – 1) I got the hell out of his office; and 2) I [...]
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The Definitive Response

By Mark Stelzner | Published: June 14, 2010
My inane ability to shut down a conversation by providing the definitive response has become a bit of a joke in our industry. Now referred to as “pulling a Stelzner” (not my invention, I promise), it’s invoked anytime someone states their opinion with such confidence and false gravitas that the listener is either stunned into [...]
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Why Twitter Matters

By Mark Stelzner | Published: May 20, 2010
When I first joined Twitter I had no idea how it would change my life. If you’re not a fan, I understand (and even respect) your decision to avoid jumping into the fray. It’s not for everyone and frankly that’s okay. I can only account for my experiences and one could argue that the resulting [...]
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How To Live Tweet A Conference

By Mark Stelzner | Published: May 13, 2010
I received an email on Monday from a respected colleague who asked - “I’ve followed you on Twitter for some time now and always find your live conference coverage to be extremely helpful. How exactly do you go about live tweeting? Is there a protocol? Do other conference attendees find it annoying? Give me a [...]
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