Bees Been Dying...Confirmation & Re-branding

Work History...
Mowing lawns and shoveling sidewalks as a kid was not all that uncommon for those who needed cash.  By the time I was 14 I was a beekeeper.  My mother had to drive me.  Hopefully I'll keep plugging away at this until someone has to drive me again.  It's been fifty years.  For the past 20 years mites have been a challenge, weakening colonies and introducing both chemical and more holistic approaches to manage insects living on insects.

Starting in 2008 I started to lose colonies mid-summer.  Historically that occurred it someone was spraying apple trees or ditch herbicides.  It was made clear by the bees that made it back to the colony and died en mass.  The more recent losses were different.  The colonies were simply absent of bees, dead or alive.  Virtually all corn in the US is genetically modified.  It's also a major source of protein for bee colonies.  It seemed that my losses coincided with adjacent corn fields.  More research indicated that a new class of pesticides, neonicotinoids, could be suspect.  Bounded to corn seed it was an effective deterrent to corn borers.  Unfortunately it was also effective on honey bees.  This past week the EPA released confirming research.

In junior high we had to do a 'vocational notebook' identifying three occupations that we might pursue.  I can only remember two of the three; fire protection engineer and beekeeper.  The instructor was not supportive of the beekeeper route.  As a kid it was unusual.  I did not make much money.  As a sixth generation adult it's a bit less unusual than it was, actually growing in popularity.  I still don't make much money.

Personal Brand...
A number of years ago I attended a BOMA convention.  At the Building Owners and Managers Association meeting all the men looked alike.  Haircuts, jackets, ties, shoes, etc., all fit a standard.  While it was probably before personal branding on the internet, they all had the standard look.

During my time with the outplacement company I attended a number of seminars and webinars on establishing your personal brand.  Hiring managers go to the internet to find out who you are.  Undoubtedly it gives a better impression of your interests, abilities and experience than the nicely done resume.  Some people go down the route of staying off social media or operating under a pseudonym name.  As an early Facebook and Twitter person I simply used my name.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.  Really, what did I have to hide.  

As LinkedIn emerged as the goto place for business networking it was logical to use your name.  Having written hundreds or thousands of Twitter or Facebook posts I'm working on broadening my LinkedIn brand, commenting on articles or other posts of interest and writing some of my own.  Knowing your way around 'properties,' 'categories', hashtags, etc., is helpful.

Right now there's far more personal stuff about me than there is professional.  That's the project for JAN & FEB.  JUN is the new employment goal date.

When hiring I always tried to learn something of the personal interests of my tech hires.  Musicians were a good choice in tech, except those of the angry heavy metal persuasion. 

If I saw this in a candidates social media footsteps I'd probably ask about it but I'm not sure exactly what I'd ask.  In my case I'm in the process of re-branding.  We'll see where this leads.  Sixth-decade re-imaging, re-branding, etc.

Personal Brand