Boycott Over! Thanks to Everyone, the Face(s) of Caring

WOW! It was a long 4 days. I didn’t realize how foolish a stunt I pulled, until I started emailing some A-List bloggers. They all thought that I was nuts, and you know what, I think that they were right. I was like a little kid who is so young and inexperienced that he just doesn’t know what is impossible. That was me, a young kid (in terms of blogging) with the inexperience and audacity to do something that I should have known better.

But due the the kind spirit of a number of super folks in the blogosphere, the impossible was accomplished. See this little blog doesn’t have enough readership to get more than 4 comments on a post, even if the post was a map to a pot of gold. (Which is one of the reasons that I wanted other bloggers to join the campaign.) So to the rescue came a lot of people that I really didn’t know well, some not at all. They have shared the stories, their hearts, their pain, their joy, and their time. They have posted about personal tragedy and triumphs of loved ones and friends. I want to thank them one and all.

I’m not creative enough to weave links to everyone in and out of some inspiring prose; so I thought that what I would do is post a little blurb about each blog and author (as much as I know or can gather from their site) and give my readers an opportunity to go make some new friends or bookmark some interesting blogs. I’m not going to post in any particular order because alphabetizing is not my favorite thing and the chronology of all the posts would be impossible to sort out. So take a look at these guys’ sites, I promise you will enjoy them.

Julian and Shannon Seery Gude of Exceler8ion – EXCELER8ion is Julian and Shannon Seery Gude’s take on the world of social media and online recruitment marketing. They were nice enough to post an announcement on all of their blogs – Exceler8ion, Localna8ion, That’s Wet, Cute Little Bastards, and julians.name. I think if I had given them advance warning, they might have single-handedly gotten me over the hump by creating enough blogs to get the job done. 😉

Amitai Givertz’s Recruitomatic Blog – Ami not only posted on the breast cancer story on his own blog before I was even on boycott, but spread the word to a number of sites (recruiting.com and recruitingbloggers.com) with a story comparing me to Gandhi going on a hunger strike. Ami is a funny guy and talented blogger. He has a huge heart. He showed it here in helping with this cause.

Jason Alba of JibberJobber – Jason has become a good friend and confidant. He posted on his blog and he posted that I was bowing out of blogging until people took up the cause. Jason has developed an awesome set career tools, an they are FREE! Go sign up, they aren’t just for jobseekers.

Dave Mendoza of Six Degrees from Dave – even though Dave was out of town when all this started, the first thing he did when he got back was post the story and call for help. Dave is a great guy and the king of networking. You can check out more about him on my Up in Lights page.

(Recruiting Animal) of The Recruiting Animal – The recruiting animal was not only the first person to welcome me into the Recruiting Blogosphere, and to get me started with Linked In networking, but also he was the first to bring attention to the story beyond my blog by posting it to recruiting.com and voting for it. Thanks animal, I appreciate your help.

Liz Strauss of Successful ^and Outstanding Blog(gers) – Wow! Liz really answered the call. Jason Alba introduced me to her a few days before I started my breast cancer campaign. Liz is definitely an A list blogger, she knows everyone. She is all about building relationships. And talk about writing, boy can she do that! Check out her blog “Letting me be . . . random wondering and philosophy.” Without Liz, I wouldn’t be blogging now. In fact, I would probably never blog again. She was kind and generous and hooked me into her personal network of friends who pushed us past our goal. Liz even posted (against her own policy) about the boycott on her own site. Thanks Liz, you have no idea how much that meant. And also thanks for awarding me the SOB award. We are hardly worthy, but deeply appreciative. 

Hsien-Hsien Lei of GeneticsAndHealth.com, AHeartyLife.com, PlayLibrary.com
and Cotton Pickin’ Days – Just like Liz, Hsien opened up her network and put out the call to everyone in an effort to help. I can’t wait until I have more time to get to know her. She is a PhD, and I’m sure that she can teach me a lot. Even though there aren’t a lot of words here next to Hsien’s picture, I hope she knows that just like Liz, she was insturmental in the success of this campaign. Many, many, many thanks.

Karen Weideman of Thrifty Mom – Karen was kind enough to post about my boycott. Thankfully she doesn’t have a personal connection to breast cancer. With more research, we hope she never does.

Robyn Tippins of Inside Motherhood – Robyn wrote on of the most touching entries in tribute to Granny Jane. As a big strong man, I know that I’m not supposed to cry, but I did shed a tear while reading her poignant remembrance of Granny Jane. Because the memory is painful she doesn’t often participate in breast cancer awareness. I am honored that she did this time. I know that she misses Granny Jane, and I am glad that she has such wonderful memories of her to treasure. I know that she has a huge and caring heart read her post and bout Granny Jane and Mourning For Canon’s Family and you will find out what I mean. Thanks Robyn, and God’s love to you.

Ruth Schaffer of Eating Fabulous – Ruth’s post actually put us over the top this morning. I appreciate her making the effort and taking the time and space to work for such a worthy cause. I don’t know Ruth, but am looking forward to reading more of her stuff. Check out Ruth here. (What a cutie!)

Christina Zola of Solo Mother – Wrote a piece about her Grandmother (a breast cancer survivor) and her aunt who is dying of terminal cancer. I will pray for Christina and her aunt. Thanks for sharing. May God’s grace and mercy comfort you, your family, and your aunt.

Cathy Spalding of Chocolate Bytes – posted this morning and pushed us well past our goal. I haven’t had time to get acquainted with Cathy’s blog, but based upon the title, it should be a delicious experience.

So thanks to all who have helped and continue to help. Bless you all! And please let me know if there is ever anything I can do to help you.

-author: Carl Chapman. Carl is the founder of CEC Search – Executive Restaurant Recruiters. He has 20+ years of restaurant industry experience, spent 5 awarding winning years as an executive recruiter with a top 25 MRI franchise office. Carl graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1980.