A little bit Wonka
When Willy Wonka knew he needed help running his chocolate factory, he started the Golden Ticket contest. Those who found the 5 winning tickets would, he thought, be his best customers, the people who bought often and in quantity, the people who were the most passionate (and critical and delighted and genuine) about his candy. Unfortunately, people who couldn’t care less about candy gamed the system just to snag a ticket (and perhaps fortune), leaving Wonka with only 1 worthwhile candidate in the group of winners.
That’s how most organizations hire… they look among strangers and hope for someone amazing.
At Squidoo, when we decided it was time to bring on a Community Organizer, we did a reverse-Wonka. Over the past year and a half we’ve had the privilege of hearing from and watching a few hundred passionate lensmasters as they’ve used and evaluated and championed and criticized and grown and talked about our site. We’ve taken their comments to mind, and their support to heart.
So we didn’t have to look among unknown faces and unproven talent to find someone for the job. We had her right in front of us, in the SquidU forums, in our inboxes, on lenses, and on other sites around the web talking about Squidoo. Who better to hire than a lensmaster who has been on the site since beta, seen our ups and downs, and has never failed in her enthusiasm for trying new ideas, mentoring other lensmasters, pushing the platform just a little harder, and bringing new people in.
I’m delighted to announce that Kimberly Dawn Wells is joining the SquidTeam as Community Organizer, working with us a few days a week to keep Squidoo a fascinating, rich, growing community of passionate people.
It seems to me that we’re the ones who found a golden ticket.
