My wife @slackmistress just told me to take off my shoes because I was eating salsa.
— Will Stegemann (@BeTheBoy) September 4, 2012
I am nothing if not helpful.
And on that note...THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET ON TWITTER...
...just kidding. This is about one person you meet on the Twitter.
This is about Tara Dublin.
Tara is a DJ (and a voiceover artist) who lost her job three years ago. Like a lot of people out of work, you think you're going to bounce back. It's not going to be one year. Or two years. Or three years.
She's been hustling new jobs. Like a lot of us. And like a lot of us, she's getting tired of starting over somewhere new. The story, unfortunately, is not unique.
Tara, in-between her multiple gigs, is making an effort to get her old job back. You might think it's crazy, but why not? Traditional means of getting a job haven't been working for a lot of people. Why not try something different?
In italics, is the note from Tara, and below is a template you can copy and paste and email. They've already told her no. And we could take no for an answer. But we won't. Maybe it won't work. But maybe it'll get Tara's story out there. Maybe it'll get someone to hire her.
Asking for help is hard. Helping someone is easy. (And in this case, free.)
So if you've got thirty seconds to spare, help. Send the email. Share her story. Follow her on Twitter.
Let's all not be dicks, together!
TARA'S EMAIL:
Hello, my dear friends who want to help me get rehired. I love you.
Three men stand in the way of me getting back on the air at KNRK: General Manager Tim McNamara (tmcnamara@entercom.com), Vice President Clark Ryan (cryan@entercom.com) and KNRK Program Director Mark Hamilton (mhamilton@entercom.com). Hit all three umailto:tmcnamara@entercom.comp in one email, send them separate emails, the
choice is yours depending on how much time and effort you want to
devote to what may end up being a fruitless endeavor. But we won’t know
if we don’t try. So here’s a little template for you to copy &
paste, in the interest of saving time, but please feel free to jazz it
up with your own special mojo. If we could get enough people doing this,
they’ll see the power of Twitter at its absolute best. Plus also, I
promise to give you a personal shout-out on the air should this actually
work.
Big sloppy wet tongue kisses of deepest appreciation and love! Now...let’s get to work.
EDIT:
I’ve gotten a report that Tim McNamara replied to someone, and it was
one word: “No.” This is how people in radio do business, I guess. Thanks
for trying, everyone. I guess now I’ll find out what going into
foreclosure is like. Maybe Tim would like to tell my sons “no” when they
ask can they still live in their house, too. FML.
THE LETTER:
“Dear Mr. McNamara, Mr. Hamilton, and Mr. Ryan,
I’m
a friend, fan, and Twitter follower of Tara Dublin, and I’m writing to
you to plead for her return to the KNRK airwaves. Tara is (INSERT YOUR
OWN NICE THING) and her passion for Portland and radio is something she
tweets about often. I’m not sure if you’re aware of how powerful Twitter
is, but Tara has more followers than the KNRK account and its DJs
combined, and that is something you should be capitalizing on. I’m just
one of thousands of people who would listen to her show over the
internet stream, and I’m sure she’s still got a devoted local audience
as well who would tune in. More famous people follow her than I could
list, and that’s a testament to how connected Tara is to the
entertainment world. Her tweets show a lot of humor and knowledge about
music, but also a lot of sadness about being gone from her dream job. It
doesn’t make much sense to those of us who know and love her as to why
you wouldn’t want to have her back where she belongs. We would all
support her efforts on the air, and you would gain listeners and
advertisers as a result. Everybody wins!
I
hope you’ll consider rehiring Tara as soon as possible. Three years is
far too long for someone so talented to be out of work. She is
struggling financially and is in danger of losing her home. She’s
doesn’t want a hand out, she wants only to return to the job she loved
more than anything. That just doesn’t seem like a lot to ask for. Thank
you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to hearing Tara
back on the air soon.
Best regards,”
