I have been VERY quiet lately. Call me superstitious, but I didn’t want to spill beans until it was official (I have been burned before). Yet, alas, here it is… I will be moving to Alabama and will be heading the internal social media efforts for NASA. Ya.
I have been consulting and have been having a great time. Having a family with a few children, stability was nice, so I casually looked for full time work, but hoping that the consulting could continue on.
A couple months ago I saw a tweet come through from @SocialMediaJob for NASA. I applied and got a phone interview. Then, two weeks ago, in talking with them, they mentioned that they were having Gartner come out and go through a workshop. I flew out last week and joined them, had a two day working interview, finalized the job this week and I start next week! (Yet, at the same time, I will still continue on with the clients that I have and even look for more to build up Engaged Learning.)
They have been VERY flexible and great to work with, seeing that I live across the country. So, for the next two months I will live in Alabama for two weeks, and fly back on those weekends until we have moved the family out there.
The Marshall Space Flight Center part of NASA lives in Huntsville, Alabama and has about 10,000 employees. They are in the PERFECT spot for internal social media. I will be working for the office of the CIO. This is where the interest is coming from – from the top. The CIO is leading this, but they don’t know where to go or how to tackle it. That is what I will be leading. You see, right now when people come to them because they want a wiki or other technologies, they give them it, but there isn’t a game plan.
This is the sweet spot for any company. They are getting the requests. They fulfill them, but realize that if they continue they it will become an unwieldy mess. Then they are stuck because they don’t know what to do. And this is where this part of NASA is at. So, my job will be to create a vision and strategy for moving forward, define and implement the overall and individual strategies and grow social media within NASA.
I have helped other companies do this, but they are at different levels of wanting internal social media. Others have a reluctant executive management. Some don’t have a nuturing culture. NASA has the perfect blend of both and could not be in a better situation.
So, ALABAMA, here we come!
Yet, at the same time, we are VERY sad to leave. Lots of family, good friends, a wonderful local professional group, perfect climate and an incredible outdoors recreational life will all be left behind for….? We are not sure. It is a very emotional time for my family. But know this is right for us, as unknown as it may be.
We hear great things about Alabama, but just don’t know what to expect. The cost of living is 20% less. Ya, I can handle that. The first thing others say is “humidity.” True, but if others can handle it, so can we.
Overall, we are excited for this new chapter. As we go along, I will blog about the progress we make at NASA, how we make progress, roadblocks, challenges and triumphs. Stay tuned and enjoy the ride with me!
