dirtyDogStink

I am Karma's bitch

Monday, August 07 2006

My Name Is Earl is my hands-down favorite show on TV right now. Yeah, I realize we're in the off season, but I'll even sit down and watch the re-runs because they're so damn funny. I also like the show because I see several elements of truth...if you're Christian [the golden rule], Buddhist [path of moderation] or just believe in Karma. Actions and consequences in a simple, entertaining format.

As often happens when I'm reading a blog post, I click an interesting link then another one catches my eye and I finally end up nowhere even near where I started. I suppose that's the way of the web, but that's not my point.

My point is why did John Sumser [who I have never heard of by the way] feel it was necessary to attack Heather Hamilton for sharing her thoughts on metrics? He calls her a "Pollyanna" inferring her naiveté. He states that she "destroys HR's credibility over and over again." He equates her to "spoiled children." He says that she's "not [a] good example[s] to follow."

I say "what a fucking load of crap!"

I realize this happened four months ago, but this is the first I've heard of it and I'm a bit irritated at the moment. Jim Durbin says in his post at Recruting.com that he "won't deal with [the]….personal attacks" so I will. First of all, let me share what I know about Heather:

• Heather has replied to each and every single comment I have ever left on her blog. I read the blogs of several successful/popular software developers and NONE of them do this! Her sincerity shines through in her posts and the subsequent dialog she fosters in the comments. Note that Mr. Sumser's articles do not allow for ANY comments which completely kills any possibility of further discussion.
• Heather and I have communicated via email several times, but we have never met in person or even worked together inside Microsoft. The first time I contacted her with the typical "you don't know me, but I read your blog and have a question" opening statement. She replied almost immediately with several details that really helped me through a PR situation. Not only that , but she was so sincere and nice that after our initial email conversation I felt comfortable enough to drop her a line every now and then with random questions or bits that I thought might interest her. Hopefully she doesn't think I'm a stalker. :-)
• Heather has a positive attitude, but a firm grip on reality [as seen in the comments to this post where she and I discuss knowing a dog's personality for what it really is]. Studies have shown that positive/optimistic people are more likely to succeed in life…period.

Suffice it to say that I like Heather and even though she's too nice to say anything to or about John on her blog I don't suffer from that type of personal filter. Mr. Sumser does attempt an apology in his post Come Back, Heather, but it reads like he's standing high on a pulpit with white clouds and angels floating around him preaching to a child-like Heather sitting cross-legged on the floor far below his godly level. Yes, I'm saying that he is a pompous ass. He says that his "criticism was strong but never personal" and he does "not engage in personal attacks" which is another load of that stuff my Doberman drops in my backyard every day.

I have ranted about Sumser's pompous attitude towards Heather, but I really don't want this post to be all about attacking him. I don't make it a habit of writing personal attacks and in this case I simply consider myself defending Heather by responding to Sumser's accusations. Which leads me to my theory. I believe his accusations are grounded in an elitist, egotistical attitude driven by his own popularity. What I didn't realize until participating in the Big Bad Recruiting Blog Swap is that John Sumser is an icon in the recruiting industry. I'm happy for his success, but does that give him the right to be an asshole? Umm, not in my book. So here's my theory [in a nice, easy to read graph]:

Trust me, this attitude is not limited to John Sumser or the online world of recruiting. I regularly read the blogs of several extremely popular people in the software industry for their pertinent, intelligent discourses. But in my personal opinion a few of them are arrogant, elitist and pretty much act like their shit doesn't stink. I have tried emailng a few of them [yes, even internally at Microsoft] and never received a response. They often act like they are 'blessing us with their presence' by simply posting anything at all, let alone responding to email or comments on their own posts. I'm not going to name names because that would just turn me into an asshole, which I already have enough problems with. ;-)

My point is that you can be a popular blogger without being an asshole! Here are a few examples of people that I consider to be very popular bloggers and yet I have had cordial personal interaction with them... Heather Hamilton, Scott Hanselman, Omar Shahine, Mark Russinovich, Gretchen Ledgard, Eric Gunnerson and yes, even Robert Scoble.

In conclusion, this post is a bit mean-spirited and I might pay the price for it, but in the words of my prophet, Earl Hickey, "I am Karma's bitch." ;-) A few other people out there need to be reminded of this because Karma will eventually take what's rightfully hers.

~tod

tags: karma popular+bloggers