Completely Conspicuous 172: Crossroads

Part 2 of my podcast conversation with special guest Tom Salemi as we discuss career shifts. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

- Recorded at Choate Bridge Pub in Ipswich, Mass.

- Tom moved from local daily newspaper to Boston Business Journal

- Transition was smooth

- After a year, moved on to work at private equity newsletter

- Ready for a steady job with good pay, as opposed to a newspaper job

- Around the same time, Jay left healthcare writing gig for a dotcom

- Had stock in the company, hoped for good payoff but didn't happen

- Now you see the companies who had the best ideas: Apple, Netflix, Pandora, TiVo

- Went back to old job in fall of '01, right before dotcom went under

- Owner of Tom's company had the sense to sell at right time

- Another company tried to hire Tom for eight months

- Finally, he gave in; now writes about medical devices

- Tom has his own office in Newburyport, works by himself

- Jay now has a cube instead of an office

- Jay: Miss covering election nights at paper, court trials

- Don't miss covering night meetings

- Jay: Write a column about running for local paper

- Non-newspaper jobs offer more flexibility

- Tom writes blog about Newburyport

- Neither of us could do PR

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

My Morning Jacket - Circuital

Maritime - Paraphernalia

The Smoking Popes - Wish You Were

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The show is sponsored by Budget, the country's premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to Budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.

The My Morning Jacket song is on the forthcoming album Circuital on ATO Records. Download the song for free at the band's website.

The Maritime song is on the album Human Hearts on Dangerbird Records. Download the song for free from Dangerbird (right click and "save as").

The Smoking Popes song is from the album This is Only a Test on Asian Man Records. Download the song for free courtesy of IODA Promonet:

Smoking Popes "Wish We Were" (mp3) from "This Is Only a Test" (Asian Man Records)
Buy at iTunes Music Store Buy at Amazon MP3 More On This Album

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 171: Right Turn

Part 1 of my podcast conversation with special guest Tom Salemi as we discuss what happens when your career takes a different turn. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

- Recorded at Choate Bridge Pub in Ipswich, Mass.

- Old newspaper reporters from back in the day

- Tom toured the Boston Herald newsroom as a high schooler

- Went to BU, worked at the Daily Free Press

- Saw journalism as a public service/crusade

- Looked down on journalists who left the fold

- When you're a young reporter, you work crazy hours and don't mind

- Tom started working at small weekly on Cape Cod

- Jay and Tom worked for daily papers in the same chain

- Tom worked at three papers before arriving at Newburyport Daily News

- Eventually, Tom burned out on community journalism

- Jay: Similar burnout story happened a few years earlier

- Weird adjustment to 9 to 5 gig

- Tom was miserable at first non-newspaper job

- Some reporters can't handle the transition to a "regular" job

- Enjoying the casual aspects of the job

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Art Brut - Lost Weekend

Sloan - Unkind

Low - Especially Me

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.

The Art Brut song is on the forthcoming album Brilliant! Tragic! on Cooking Vinyl Records. Download the song for free at Pitchfork.

The Sloan song is on the forthcoming album The Double Cross on Yep Roc Records. Download the song for free at Epitonic (right click and "save as").

The Low song is from the album C'mon on Sub Pop Records, where you can download the song for free.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site PodGeek. Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.