Jason Unger

My New Gig (in Press Release Form)

Posted by junger - 11/24/09 at 06:11:13 pm

This went out on Monday:

AE Ventures Names Jason Unger Director of Digital & Editorial Services
Responsibilities include developing and managing editorial programs and e-media properties

November 23 – AE Ventures, producers of the Electronic Security Expo (ESX) and CE Pro 100 Integrators Summit, has named Jason Unger to the newly created position of Director of Digital & Editorial Services.

In this capacity, Unger will be responsible for developing, maintaining and growing e-media properties produced by AE Ventures. He will also manage communications, editorial programs and technology solutions.

"Jason is a key hire as AE Ventures expands its role in helping associations, companies and other groups grow their influence online," says John Galante, president, AE Ventures.

"His expertise in online media and journalism qualify him uniquely to both generate and deploy content for our products and services."

Prior to joining AE Ventures, Unger was the Website Publisher, CE Brands for EH Publishing, where he managed cepro.com and electronichouse.com. He has worked with high-profile Web sites, including Penelope Trunk's Brazen Careerist and Ray Carney's Cassavetes.com.

He graduated cum laude from Boston University with a degree in Broadcast Journalism.

He can be reached by email at junger@ae-ventures.com or by phone at 301-238-5960.

3 Observations About Seemingly Unrelated Items

Posted by junger - 11/19/09 at 06:11:00 pm

I haven't blogged for, what, a few weeks now? That's not a total shocker, per se, since I've always tended to go through peaks and valleys of creativity.

But as my life has started getting into a new routine (did I mention I started a new job? Press release coming soon), I've realized a few things about my priorities.

I don't need to stay as connected to the news as I thought
I've talked about selective ignorance before, but for the past few weeks, I've lived it. I've spent a total of about 5 minutes in my Google Reader over the past 2 weeks. And boy, a lot of stuff happens. And most of it is useless.

How much time are you wasting trying to know everything?

It's way easier to be productive to music than to podcasts
I love podcasts. But I only have a certain amount of time in my day to half-pay attention to them. And that's OK, since my time is probably the most valuable thing I have (after my family).

Rather than trying to listen to what all of my podcasts are talking about, playing music in the background is way more conducive to getting things done.

And, PS, I love Pandora.

There's only so many things you can do at a time
I haven't done jack with Automatic Finances in the past few weeks. I just haven't had the time, and that bothers me. Part of me thinks that it should be merged into this site, but I don't want to be pegged solely as the personal finance guy.

But since I started the new job, am now recording two podcasts a week — Tech Blab and This Week in This Week in Tech (TwiTwit) — and thoroughly enjoy it all, prioritization becomes even more important.

There's only so much lifehacking you can do (I already killed my commute) to make all this happen.

One More Thought On Personal Branding

Posted by junger - 10/28/09 at 05:10:45 pm

Apparently, my post on personal branding caused quite a storm. Which is definitely a nice reaction, even though it wasn't really my intention.

The funny thing about my description of all of the brands that make me up is that I missed one of the biggest ones.

Last Saturday night, I'm playing in a poker game when Phil Bak, author of the great Boras Blog, asks me why I didn't list "personal finance blogger" among my brands.

Duh. I can't believe I forgot that.

I've been running personal finance blogs for the past 3+ years, and I didn't even remember to list it.

But it proves my point. It's impossible to have one brand that you can apply to every context of your life — unless your brand is simply your name.

When it comes to the brand that is Jason Unger, I rule Google. And that's pretty much all that matters.

Why Personal Branding Doesn't Really Work

Posted by junger - 10/20/09 at 07:10:06 am

Let me just say this up front: I think personal branding is a sham. The idea that you can have one thing that consistently defines you in all contexts of your life is ridiculous.

It's impossible to have one marketable brand that you can apply to every community you belong to. You can be "that guy" in specific circles — the rugby guy to your sports friends, or the photoshop guy to your tech friends — but the only thing you can be across group lines is yourself.

So if you have any depth of character whatsoever, you can't honestly say that only one thing defines you.

You may love playing poker, but unless you're a professional, what you do for a living also defines you. You may be Catholic, but if you blog about food, you've got more than one brand.

Since out of everyone in the world, the person I know the best is myself, take a look at how I could be defined:

• web guy
• tech/gadgets guy
• writer/blogger/journalist
• jewish guy
• orioles/ravens fan
• husband/dad/son/brother/uncle
• wordpress guru
• podcaster/video talent
• music lover
• tv/movies/entertainment fan
• and probably more. For sure more.

(Marci Alboher explains this best with her slash mentality; we are not just one thing, we are bloggers/speakers/consultants/ …)

So, the question becomes: how you combine all of the things that make you up into one brand?

You can't. Except to say that you are your brand.

Jason Unger is my brand. But that doesn't define me in a "personal branding" sense, which would rather me be the "wordpress guy" or the "lover of 24." It simply says that I am the sum of my parts. Which is true.

While it is also true that I am a "wordpress guy" and "lover of 24," these stereotypes don't matter out of context.

But that doesn't mean they can't connect. In fact, it's when the your multiple brands collide that you have the opportunity to benefit.

And when that happens, your branding simply becomes your name. Not your area of expertise or passion. You.

So don't try and define yourself by one brand that doesn't fit all of your contexts. The only universal personal brand is your name.

Keeping Clean In Order to Get Things Done

Posted by junger - 10/12/09 at 06:10:01 pm

As I've been realizing my changing priorities and outlook for the future, I've been coming back to one word that defines my nature: clean.

I like things clean. Not just free from dirt clean, but simple clean, too.

For this blog, as I looked over themes galore to find one that I really liked — and would continue to like in the future — I needed it to be clean. The design had to be simple. Not overwhelming. Nice use of colors, but not too much.

(FYI, I'm using a self-enhanced version of the GimpStyle theme.)

At home, I tend to clean up a lot. Not because the place is overly messy, but because I like it to be clean. In fact — and you can ask Debbie this — whenever I'm in a bad mood or mad about something, I tend to clean. Don't ask me why. I just do it.

My desk is normally pretty clean. I have a great glass tabletop desk, with my iMac, all-in-one printer, cordless phone and pen tray. But then there's my big-ass laptop sitting there, which doesn't really belong on the desk. But I always end up using it for something.

Penelope says that having a messy desk can hurt your career — and points to FBI data that says "people with messy offices are less efficient, less organized and less imaginative then people with clean desks."

I think I need to be clean in order to get things done. That seems like common sense, though, right? The less you're distracted by all the stuff out of place, the more you can do.

Maybe that's why I'm sitting in the dark right now. So I can't see the mess in my office while I write this.