Want to Come Work With Me in Product Development at T-Mobile?

The Product Development team at T-Mobile is hiring and I agreed to post the most recent job openings here on TeresaCentric. We currently have four positions open:

• Product Manager, MyFaves
• Director, Product Management, Groups
• Senior Product Manager, Location and Availability Services
• Director, Community Products

If any of these look interesting to you, pop on over and have a look.

The fine print: Keep in mind that this blog belongs to me, not T-Mobile. The opinions mentioned here are those of their authors. I’m posting these as a courtesy to my employer, not as an official representative of T-Mobile, USA or any affiliated organizations.

My Career Move: Why I’m Going to T-Mobile

I’m very excited to announce that I’ll soon be making a career transition. I’ve accepted a role as a Product Planner with the product development team at T-Mobile, USA.

I’m grateful to Steve Broback and the amazing team at The Parnassus Group. I’ve had unparalleled opportunities to develop as a Web geek at Parnassus over the past two and a half years. I think the world of Parnassus as an organization, and I can’t wait to see what they do with their Sentimine technology in the coming year. I’m going to miss the people there just as much as they say they’ll miss me.

But there come times in every career when it becomes apparent that you need to try something new–and maybe even a little bit scary–in order to grow as a professional.

So why T-Mobile?

When I began thinking about my next opportunity, many people advised me to go into business for myself as a social media consultant. Many agencies have tried to hire me. But–at least for the time being–I’ve had my fill of telling other organizations how to leverage the social Web. I want to actually do it.

T-Mobile is uniquely positioned–both because of our brand and our participation in the Open Handset Alliance–to play a major role in what Mike Arrington has long called, “the future of social networking.”

In my new role with the product development team, I’ll be a part of that future. I’ll look at market requirements and the results of our R&D efforts, and synthesize them with my social media knowledge. I get to mix bleeding edge ideas with market realities to create the products of tomorrow. Needless to say, I’m psyched!

Most importantly, T-Mobile is an organization that invests in, challenges, and rewards great people. The human beings I’ve encountered at T-Mobile are some of the best and the brightest in their fields. Many of them have spent nearly all their professional lives with the organization. I look forward to engaging with those people while facing new challenges and growing new skills.

What does this mean for my Web presence?

As many of you know, the mobile industry is one of the most competitive spaces in technology. I’ll be working on some top-secret stuff. There are some things that I just won’t be able to talk about. Getting fired for blogging is not on my list of things to do before I die–so you’ll have to forgive me if I can’t discuss certain aspects of my professional life.

That said, I’ll still be offering up my thoughts on technology, politics, and other exciting topics on a regular basis. I’ll just be doing it here at TeresaCentric instead of at Parnassus’ blogs. I know that the Web Community Forum and Blog Business Summit blogs will be in great hands with the team at Parnassus.

What’s next?

My last day at Parnassus will be April 29, 2008. After that, I’ll take some time off to travel, read, and get ready for my next big career adventure. I’ll do tons of yoga and rock climbing, visit family and friends, and celebrate my 25th birthday by performing with my good friend, online reporter Mónica Guzmán at the Seattle PI’s “Battle of the Bands.” I might even sleep in once or twice. Then, I’ll start my new job on May 12.

I want to take the time to thank everyone I have come to know these past few years. You are too numerous to mention here by name, but chances are that if we’re connected on one social network or another, I’m thinking of you when I say that I’m honored to know you and be a part of your community. I can’t wait to see what you all do next.

Wish me luck, or rather as my favorite math teacher in high school used to say, “wish me skills!”

The Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives Social Networking Event Was Awesome

Many thanks again to Wendy Beecham, Kim Moeller and all the awesome women of the FWE&E for having me, and to Jeremiah Owyang for recommending me to speak. Here are the videos from the event. The panel I was on along with Erika Brown, Katie Jacobs Stanton and Karen Appleton (Lena West couldn’t make it :() starts at the beginning of the second one.

Some Updates on my Speaking Schedule

For those of you who follow this blog because you like my insights on social media, I’m truly sorry. All I’ve been talking about lately is Barack Obama.

If you want to hear me talk about something other than Barack Obama, you’re in luck. I’ve got a couple of appearances coming up where I’ll be talking about Web stuff.

The first one is coming up tomorrow, where my boss and I will be giving a presentation to the Seattle Direct Marketing Association about using social media to meet direct marketing goals. Click here for more details.

Then, on the 25th, I’ll be on a panel with Karen Appleton from Box.net, Katie Jacobs Stanton from Google, and Lena West from xynoMedia Technology at the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs & Executives’ Business Applications of Social Networking conference in Mountain View, CA. Click here for more details.

Video From the “It Wont’ Stay in Vegas” Blogger Party

Tom Foremski of Silicon Valley Watcher has a video up of the party that includes great footage of the bloggers talking and some footage of me singing. Check it out:

Update: Tom Foremski posted some more video of me singing from the party. Here it is:

A roundup of party coverage can be found here.

Some Photos from Last Night’s Blogger Party

The “It Won’t Stay in Vegas” Blogger Party last night was a lot of fun. We had a good crowd of bloggers, an awesome band, tasty food and tons of fun. I even got to sing a few songs. If you’re interested in seeing what I’m up to at CES, here’s the photoset:

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

In Las Vegas for CES, Lusting After Virgin America Tickets

I’m down in Las Vegas with the Parnassus Group team getting ready for the second annual “It Won’t Stay in Vegas” Blogger Bash at CES. It’s going to be a really neat party. I’m particularly excited because my piano teacher and long-time buddy Dehner Franks will be playing the show with his trio. If enough bloggers pester me to do so, I might even sing a couple of tunes with the band for old time’s sake.

I’m also really excited to announce that Virgin America airlines — which just recently opened up routes to and from Seattle — will be giving away 80 free round-trip tickets anywhere they fly at the party. I know that if I were lucky enough to snag one, I’d go to Washington, DC to play catch up with some of my good buddies from college and my days with Dean for America.

If my posting is light or sporadic over the next few days, chances are that I’m working my ass off or spending quality time with my team. Hope you’re all doing well out there in blog-o-land!

Hanging out at the Local Vine

The kickoff party for the first Web Community Forum takes place tonight at The Local Vine in Belltown.

Stop by and say hey if you’re in the neighborhood!

Being a Conference Co-Chair

Today I sat down with my boss and we talked about our conference coming up this week. I’ve been deep into editorial development for the past several months and enjoying every minute of putting this event together.

Steve told me that he thinks I’ve earned the title conference co-chair. I was just so proud of myself that I felt I had to post about it here. Putting together conferences isn’t easy. I have a whole new brand of respect for the people that put on huge trade shows and events. Ours is pretty intimate with around 130 people coming and it’s been a lot of work.

So there you have it. I’m a co-chair. I’m proud of myself and really excited for this conference.

Slides from my Webcom Montreal Presentation

What a whirlwind the last few days have been! I left very early Tuesday morning for Montréal and came back this afternoon. In the past few weeks, I’ve logged over 20 hours of flight time traveling on business and I’m quite exhausted.

But this year’s webcom Montréal was really worth it. I got to meet Debbie Weil and Thomas Vander Wal, both of whom I’ve admired for some time. I got to spend some quality time with Robyn Tippins and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting our French Canadian hosts in person. I can’t speak for my own session, but I thought the rest of the conference editorial was superb.

If you’re interested, you can download a copy of my presentation and see for yourself.

Videos should be up on the webcom site over the next few days.

Heading to Webcom Montreal

I’m writing this in the Detroit Metro airport as I wait to board my flight for Montreal. I’ll be speaking tomorrow about the power of Facebook. If you’re interested, you can read more about my session here.

Text me if you’re going to be at Webcom and we’ll say hey. My cell is (206)-229-9335.

We Have a Schedule Live at Web Community Forum

Just to let you guys know, we have a schedule live at Web Community Forum. We have three sessions up right now, one is about Facebook Curmudgeons which I will be sure to speak on.

On Launching the Web Community Forum

It’s been a hectic past week. Last week, my company circled the wagons and decided to pull the plug on an event that we’d been working relentlessly on for months. It was a tough decision, but ultimately an exciting one because we’re now launching a conference we’ve all wanted to do for some time:

The first meeting of the Web Community Forum this December will focus on Facebook: its strengths, its weaknesses and its applications as a tool for community building. We hope to come away with some tentative best practices to propose to the larger community for discussion, debate and thorough criticism.

I’m very excited to be involved with this event. The other day, Steve turned to me and said, “we’re actually doing it. We’re doing a Facebook conference!” and it finally sunk in for me that we were doing what we’d been discussing for months. It was a giddy moment.

I’m sad to say goodbye to the Blog Business Summit, at least for now. There were a lot of speakers and sessions that had me incredibly excited. I could use a lot of terribly cliché images to describe the relationship between endings and beginnings. But I’ll skip those platitudes. I’ve got a LOT of work to do.

I’ve Been Working Insanely Hard Lately, How About You?

Maybe it’s the first week back from vacation (photos here), or maybe it’s just the Blog Business Summit conference that I’m preparing like mad for. But whatever it is, I’ve just put in back to back 10-hour days and I’m super exhausted!

I’m off to go rock climbing and blow off some steam with Andy and Mark and Megan now, but before I go I have to ask:

What’s your work life like these days? Humming along? Slow? Are you happy with what you’re doing?

Very Cranky Today

I’m still not feeling well, but I put in a full 8 hours of work anyway.

One thing I’m particularly proud of can be found here. I figured this out all on my own, without any help from anyone. Not too bad for a sick kid with a headache.

The Queen, the Demolition of the Barrier Between Public and Private, and The New Web

Andy and I watched Helen Mirren’s impeccable performance in The Queen (iTunes) this evening. He wasn’t as enthusiastic to see the film as I was, but we both wound up enjoying it.

The film got me thinking about issues of transparency and how far our culture has moved from Her Majesty’s heyday. Technology — first the television, now the “personal” Web — has brought human flaws and struggles to the forefront and pushed institutions into the background. Corporations whose goal was once to preserve brands now use new media to humanize themselves. The same must be true of the monarchy if it is to survive in Britain.

Never was this gap in the generational understanding of the public/private divide made more clear than in the days after Princess Diana’s death. As the movie illustrates, Her Majesty was never brought up to wear her heart on her sleeve. “Duty first, self second,” she states primly to Prime Minister Tony Blair as the film nears its end.

What she didn’t understand was that her duty changed as technology changed her people. Diana was so beloved in England because she put a human face on an institution that has sought to submerge humanity beneath layers of protocol since its inception. Her great physical beauty and poise, and her compassion for ordinary people only made her foibles more endearing. She was photographed — quite literally — to death. The exposure of her every move cemented her role as “the people’s princess.”

The newest phenomenon of people using the Web — it has been variously styled as “Web 2.0,” “emerging media,” “new media,” and “consumer generated content” — to tell their personal stories is a natural extension of the global culture that lauded Princess Diana and decried the Queen for her lack of public empathy with the people. Companies, and corporate communicators in particular need to understand that.

I’m in Business Week!!!

I never stop getting a kick out of being considered an expert on this business blogging stuff.

I love my job.

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