Announcing defiant – a social media book project

By Rajesh Setty on Sun 30 Aug 2009, 10:30 PM – 6 Comments

Today we are announcing the launch of

defiant: Practical Tips for Thriving in Tough Times

This 90-page eBook that was made possible  because of the power of social media. The entire project was conceived, created and implemented using the power of social media. The key tools used were LinkedIn Answers, blog, Facebook, Twitter and of course my mailing list.

Social Media and a few months of work, we have a 90 page eBook titled:

defiant!

Practical Tips for Thriving in Tough Times

It is a collection of more than 80 tips from 50+ smart people who were kind enough to contribute for this project.

More information about the book is given below. The page is not public yet but wanted to give you a sneak preview before we announce it on Monday.



ActiveGarage – defiant: A social media project

I am pleased with the outcome and I hope you will be pleased with it too. I request you to download the book (there is no registration and no strings attached as I want MORE people to benefit from the collective insights from more than 50 smart people) below:

ActiveGarage – defiant: A social media project

Now, this is for those who are curious about how and why this book was created. The following section also appears as Appendix IV in the book.

Story behind defiant!

The bulk of the social media engagement happened over 30 days and here is a day-by-day account of what happened.

Day 1: Over the last few weeks, I met a number of people who were laid off and numberof people who were in the fear of facing a layoff. While the people who were laid off were disappointed, I found that people who were facing a layoff were more disturbed because of the uncertainty. I decided to look back in the last four years and see whether I can create an eBook that will offer some specific help to people who are facing a layoff

Day 2 – Day 5: I wrote about 10,000 words based on my last four years of writing on my blog “Life Beyond Code”

Day 2: I sent an email request to about twenty people that I respect to ask them to share ONE tip that will help people who are facing a layoff. This is the text of that letter:

Dear <<Name>>,

Hope you are doing well.

Being in Silicon Valley, I see people getting laid off almost everyday. Actually, I see more people who are in the “fear of a layoff” everyday. Talking to them in the last couple of months, I think the “living in the fear of facing a layoff” is worse than being laid off. Why?

Because both the employee and the employer lose in that game.

So, I have embarked on a journey to write an eBook titled:

Facing A Layoff AND Doing It Anyway

I am almost complete with the first draft and want to include a few tips from people that I

respect.

Would you be willing to share just ONE tip for people who are facing a layoff.

You can, of course send me more than ONE tip but being respectful of your time, I am

requesting one tip.

Thanks in advance.

Best,

Raj

Over the next few days I received responses from a number of people who offered wonderful tips that are included in Appendix II

Day 3: I tweeted a request and requested a retweet to spread the message and ask for help from people on Twitter. Here are the two tweets:

1. Help me with my eBook:”Facing a Layoff AND Doing it Anyway” Share 1 tip to help people who are facing a layoff. Please Retweet

2 . Have a tip to help people facing a layoff? Please share and please retweet

The message was retweeted by a few friends and I got a few good responses that have been included in Appendix III.

Day 3: I have connected by Twitter account to my Facebook account and my tweets are updated as status messages. I have a few thoughtful friends on Twitter who responded with a few tips over the next two days. I have included those tips in Appendix III.

Day 4: Changed the name of the book to

defiant!

Practical Tips to Thrive in Tough Times

(Inspired by the movie “Defiance”)

Day 5: Posted a request on my blog Life Beyond Code

After the Twitter experiment, I wanted to get help from my readers at Life Beyond Code. I posted this request as a blog post on Day 5

Have a tip for someone facing a layoff?

Being in Silicon Valley, I see people getting laid off almost everyday. Actually, I see more people

who are in the “fear of a layoff” everyday. Talking to them in the last couple of months, I think

the “living in the fear of facing a layoff” is worse than being laid off.

Why?

Because both the employee and the employer lose in that game. The employee loses because

he is NOT giving his or her best. The employer loses actually for the same reason,

So, I embarked on a journey to write an eBook titled:

defiant!

Practical Tips to Thrive in Tough Times

(Yes, the title is inspired by the movie “Defiance”)

The book is now complete. This time around, I have added an Appendix where I will include specific tips contributed by thoughtful people. I have got thirty of them so far and am lookin for twenty more tips. Please make it original and something that others might have not thought about. Tips like “Update your LinkedIn profile,” “Update your resume” are important but

common. I am looking for something more innovative and your help is appreciated.

Do you have one SPECIFIC tip for people who are facing a layoff?

You can write a comment here or send me an email directly. My contact details are at http://

www.rajeshsetty.com/about/contact/

If I select the tip to include in the eBook, I will include a link to your website along with your tip. If someone else has already submitted the tip, I will let you know as well.

Thanks again in advance.

My hope was that I will get some gems in the comments or in my email.

Day 6 -9 : Nothing significant to report except continuing to write the book. I also used this time to respond to all the people who contributed with a tip and/or insight.

Day 10: Posted a question on LinkedIn Q&A requesting a tip or insight for people who are facing a layoff.

Day 11 – 16: Responses from several people from LinkedIn poured in. I was amazed by the quality of responses. I spent the next few days in email exchanges with clarifications on the responses. Finally I included most of the contributions from LinkedIn into this eBook

Day 17 and Beyond: The next few weeks was spent writing, editing (with the help of Bill Sherman) and designing (with the help of James Wondrack)

Today: The book is in your hands.

 

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