A Great Big Blog Bundle

I am an absolute slacker in keeping up the blogroll on this site.

But, I am constantly finding and adding blogs to my subscriptions in Google Reader.  So while the 'links' on this site may list 10 or so blogs, I probably subscribe to 100 HR and Recruiting related blogs in Reader.

Thankfully, Google Reader now has an easy way to package feeds into a 'bundle' that can be easily shared in Reader, as well as emailed, or embedded in a blog or website.

This is also a great way to get co-workers, friends, or students started on reading blogs by creating for them an easy way to subscribe to a large number of blogs all at once.

The process is incredibly easy. 

1. In Google Reader, simply click on the link in the left sidebar titled 'Browse for Stuff'

2. Over on the right side of the screen click the 'Create a Bundle' button

3. Add a Title and Description for the Bundle

4. Then drag and drop feeds from your subscription pane over into the Bundle box, you can select individual feeds, or entire folders

5. When finished check 'Add to my Shared Items' to share this bundle inside Google Reader, then click 'Save'

6. Once saved, you can now share the bundle outside of Reader via e-mail, embedding, sharing the link directly, or via an OPML file.

7. To embed the file in your own blog, click the 'Create a Bundle Clip' link, then grab the embed code to copy/paste to your blog or website

Here is a Blog Bundle I set up from the Guests and Callers of the HR Happy Hour Show - Episode 10:

Anyone can now click on the 'Subscribe' link in the clip to be taken to Google Reader to subscribe to the bundle.

I have also set up a 'Great Big HR Blog Bundle' of all the HR Blogs in my Reader that can be found by clicking the 'Blogroll' link on the top of this site.  Now any time I add a new feed to the bundle in Reader, this site will also be automatically updated.

Feed Bundles are a great little feature in Reader and I hope you found this little tutorial helpful.

One discusson, three platforms, twenty peeps

Ok, so that was a bad title, this is really just a little story of how some social media tools facilitated some fantastic dialog and ongoing discussion on real business and Human Resources issues.

Last Friday night Shauna and I did a HR Happy Hour Show about Tattoos, Piercings, and Diversity in the workplace. The show was really a discussion on company culture, and how culture is developed and perpetuated in the workplace.  It was a really fun show, and I encourage you to listen to the archive here:

 Also since there is no live show tonight, this should give you your HR Happy Hour fix until next week.

The next morning, Saturday, the culture discussion continued on Twitter among myself, The HR Maven, and Tammi Colson. We kicked around the idea of culture being a top-down, leadership driven construct versus the notion of company culture really begin driven and enforced so to speak by employees themselves. It was a pretty interesting exchange to have early on a Saturday morning, but definitely very interesting and informative

On Tuesday I blogged here about Technology and Company Culture, mostly riffing the conversation from the show and form the impromptu Twitter chat on Saturday morning. The basic question I asked was can the application of collaboration technology actually drive a change in company culture.  There was some excellent comments and discussion on the post.

And of course the debate carried over to Twitter on Tuesday night, where Beth Carvin, Kevin Grossman, Robin Schooling and I debated the whole Technology and culture issue some more.

So by my count the final tally was one radio show with about ten active participants, one blog post with about eight commenters, and two separate twitter chats involving five more people.

All great discussions, all happening in 'off hours' (heck on Tuesday night I was grilling ribeyes and having a beer during the chat), and all enabled by various social media tools.

And by the way, just some of the 'titles' represented in the various discussions - CEO, VP of HR, HR Director, and VP of Marketing among others. Look the titles don't really mean all that much to me, but I mention them to underscore the point that social media in general and Twitter in particular is not all about inane blather about what people had for lunch.

I probably learned more about company culture in the last few days, from this diverse group of people that I had in the last five years.

Carnival Time - Training Time Style

The latest edition of the often imitated, never bettered Carnival of HR is up at the Training Time blog.

Lots of great contributions as usual, some of my favorites this time are:

Your HR Guy advises not to underestimate your social media connections

The HR Bartender on why some people get desperate when faced with failure.

and Sakib Khan, of HR with Sakib Khan, on how Google Wave can improve collaboration and HR.

And thanks to Training Time for including my post on the conditions necessary for collaboration environments to thrive - Care to Share

Great job as usual on the Carnival and happy reading!

News from the HR Blogosphere

Some great Human Resources Bloggers have recently moved their blogs, and some others have jumped into the HR blogosphere for the first time.

There were a few of these this week, so I thought it good to summarize them here:

Blogs that moved

Human RaceHorses - Michael VanDervort's blog is now at www.thehumanracehorses.com, and in addition to a new web address, has a great new look.  Michael does a great job with the HR and Social Media space, and his blog is a must read.

PsuedoHR - April Dowling's blog has a new look and a new home, at www.pseudohr.com and I love her tag line 'Because HR can fake it too'. April also was a great sport and hosted a post from one of my students, Downsizing Blues.

New HR Blogs that you have to put in your Reader:

Do the Work - the new blog from Franny Oxford has a great premise, '50 Memos to the Universe'.  Franny is off to a great start, and I bet the Universe will want more than the promised 50 memos before it is all over.

HRWhisperer - The HR Whisperer is Heather Vogel, and her new blog can be found at www.hrwhisperer.com. Heather will be sharing her perspectives on the world of work and people with the vision of an experienced Organizational Development consultant.

And one more thing...

The fantastic Lisa Rosendahl is thinking of re-naming the HR Thoughts blog, pay her a visit and share some of your HR Thoughts with her. Also, it was her Birthday yesterday, so please give her a shout-out if you haven't already.

Oh, and one more thing - Shauna and I have been working on a new home for the HR Happy Hour Show, once it is ready, I will be sure to post that information here.

Did I miss any new additions or changes? If I did, let me know in the comments.

Good luck to everyone with the new homes and blogs!

I'm an HR Rock Star? Really?

Well, the Creative Chaos Consultant seems to think so. Flickr - themechanism

Head over the the CCC blog to see my interview on HR Technology, teaching HR, The HR Happy Hour Show, with a bit of barbecue mixed in.

Thanks, CCC for the interview and for putting me the the 'Rock Star' category.

Hmm, maybe I need to don the costume and makeup like Gene here from now on....