The Perfect Song Blog

I just discovered a new social site, Kickstart, that Yahoo is developing for recent college graduates and alumni of all ages. It’s been described as a cross between Facebook and LinkedIn. It’s designed to connect alumni of all ages to help young graduates contacts kick start their careers.

I love the concept and I think it has great potential. It goes a long way to helping recent graduates with that frustrating Catch 22: “They want someone with experience but how can I get experience if no one gives me a chance?” This is a good, practical way to network and help our own alumni with job availability information, advice, etc.

It also has the potential to link up college classmates from all classes. It will also be interesting to folks like me to see where other graduates are working. I’m interested in this for a couple of reasons.

1. I graduated from Mansfield in 1971.

2. I’ve served as PR director at Mansfield since 1980 so I know a lot of graduates.

I also like the clean, practical approach. I’ll be interested in watching the site’s growth.

Joining is easy. I registered and completed my profile in about 10 minutes.

Yahoo is offering the incentive: a $25,000 donation to the college with the most alumni registered on Kickstart by the end of the year. I would love to win that contribution for MU.

So, if you’re a Mansfield grad of any age, check out the site, register, and let other MU grads know about it.

You can see my profile here.

I’m sitting in Barnes & Noble Cafe with my son, Nathan, sipping Chinese Flower tea which has a delicate aroma and flavor. He’s drinking a latte which is too sweet and strong for me. We talk about the pros and cons of Facebook and Myspace. He likes Myspace. I like Facebook, though I don’t use it much.

“I went to your blog site and you haven’t posted anything in a long time,” he says.

I nod.

When September hits at Mansfield University where I’m the PR director, my life isn’t my own. Watching school open is like staring at an oncoming train rushing forward at 80 mph. I reach out, grab it and hang on for dear life and get dropped off the following May. One of the most time consuming things for me is the Fabulous 1890s Weekend, which I cochair. The first night football game in the world was played at Mansfield by Mansfield University in downtown on September 28, 1892.

The event was lit by General Electric which was then six months old. When I found this out in 1990, I contacted GE officials and told them they lit the first night football game. They didn’t believe me. Later they called me back and said I was right. We worked together for the next two years. GE produced a very lavish and expensive commercial about their role in night football. Mansfield University nearly disappeared in all the edits, but we did get a mention at the beginning of the spot.

We’re also celebrating the 150th anniversary of the university and the borough. I’m one of the cochairs. Coordinating all the events, the website, and publishing two books has also taken a lot of time.

And I’m creating a five-year strategic marketing plan.

So,for the first time in a long time other things got in the way of my blog.

Nathan brought me back to blog reality.

Thanks, son.