"I got sh*t running through my brain
So intense that I can't explain
All alone in my white boy pain
Shake your booty while the band complains
I'm rocking the suburbs
Just like michael jackson did
I'm rocking the suburbs
Except that he was talented"
Those are select lyrics to "Rockin the Suburbs" by Ben Folds Five. They're also my setup to introducing what today means to me.
Today is Tim Sackett day. Tim Sackett IS HR. He's done HR for a hospital and Applebees. He runs a recruiting shop now. He's got a blog that's aptly named The Tim Sackett Project. Problem is he can't make a list of the most influential people in HR. So a bunch of bloggers are getting together and dedicating this Monday to him. It's kind of like the SOPA protest, except the stakes are incredibly low. We just want the world to know that Tim counts.
Tim's wife sent me a photo of him awhile back for a post on his birthday. Let's examine the photo to the right and break down why Tim has influence in the world of HR:
Hair - Tim's gone to the buzz cut. He's clearly given up, like my late Grandpa Harry, who used to take a nap on the floor during a lunch break from work due to his bad back. I used to rub that hair as he tried to sleep on the floor and I would marvel at how bristle-ly it was. If I ever meet Tim face to face, I'll be reminded of Grandpa Harry. Cool.
Travel Preference- Let's just say Tim's not cosmo enough to have a Eurorail pass. He's in Vegas in this picture, like every other 40 year-old you know, so that's not Paris in the background. If we swung the camera to the right, we'd probably see his Entourage-like posse, except the recruiters who work for him would be standing in for Eric, Johnny Drama and Turtle. They didn't have a choice, Tim made them come, and he calls the shots at HRU. That's what you do when you're old, Gex X style. You find some Gen Y types to boss around; that and wonder when boomers Bill Kutik, John Sumser and John Hollon are going to retire so you can take your rightful place in the talent world's Hall of Superheros.
Camera-Strap - Seriously, can you get any more white, 40 and midwestern? Again, he's given up. Why even bother to hide you're a tourist when you are 40+ and visiting the Strip? He'll have the strap in the same place when he hits the $5 tables downtown later. He'll tell you that's the "real" Vegas, to show his Mikey from Swingers sensibility. He'll soon be playing alone at those tables, since he'll repeat the six Oceans 11 quotes he knows repeatedly, even driving off the grandmas who think he looks like their son.
Buffet-Pass- Look at his left hand. He's bought a 3-day buffet pass so he doesn't have to deal with the stress of trying to get comped at the $5 tables downtown. Not before he went to check out the buffet visually, however, just to make sure there was banana pudding on the bar. He's adamant about that. That's why he's the boss.
Happy Tim Sackett day, Timmy. God bless the saint known to the world as Kim Sackett.
Uncle John Sumser: Please end our national nightmare and make Tim Sackett #25 on a future list. We beg you.
Like a boss...
Posted by: William | January 23, 2012 at 10:36 AM
I'm so happy to call you a "friend"...
Posted by: Tim Sackett | January 23, 2012 at 10:51 AM
Hey, I'll retire and get out of the way for Tim Sackett as soon as Kris Dunn hires me to be a partner in his new business/HR consulting company ...
Posted by: Joihn Hollon | January 23, 2012 at 10:52 AM
"Metro enough to have a Eurorail pass."
Laughing along and saying "hey wait, I think I have one of those somewhere?"
Posted by: Johnnny Nyk | January 23, 2012 at 01:36 PM
Love this. From now on any Sackett RTs will have #HRSWAG at the end of them.
Posted by: twitter.com/onthe10brink | January 30, 2012 at 01:20 PM