Nonsensical LinkedIn Allegations about Gov. Palin

Over the past few days, mainstream media reports have been circulating that Governor Palin "posted her resume on LinkedIn," "is looking for work," and still using her gubernatorial title. These reports -- as usual are aimed at discrediting Governor Palin. Fay delineated these reports in detail in her prior post.

What is LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a social network for professional networking. Think of LinkedIn as an online equivalent to a business conference where you meet new contacts and give them your business card. Anyone who joins must fill out an extensive profile, and the profile is not complete until three recommendations are secured. That profile is in essence your resume, and that is a logical expectation for this type of social network. Governor Palin indeed "posted her resume" on LinkedIn, because the resume is the basis of a LinkedIn user profile. Her LinkedIn profile is several months old.

LinkedIn is not just for people looking for work. In fact, LinkedIn is most frequently used by colleagues, vendors and contractors staying in touch with their clients and associates. There are no "friends" or "buddies" on LinkedIn. Everyone is a "connection."

I have two LinkedIn accounts, a personal one and one through my job. Being happily employed, I am most decidedly not looking for work with either of my accounts. The work account is used for on-the-job colleague, vendor and contractor contact; the personal account is used for colleagues, both on the job and in my work related to advancing Governor Palin's interests. Several classmates from my old MBA courses are connections of mine at LinkedIn.

And...saving the best for last: I am proud to have Governor Palin as one of my connections -- since March 31, 2009 at 1531 EST. I am humbled and grateful that she accepted me to be one of her connections -- an honor indeed.

Governor Palin and LinkedIn

Governor Palin's LinkedIn account has been posted on her Facebook page since time immemorial. It is a well-known professional courtesy that someone who has held an office retains honorary use of the title until the next office is held. This is why, we still refer to her as "Governor Palin."

When Governor Palin and I connected on LinkedIn, she had a little over 100 connections. Now, that number is well over 500.

Because LinkedIn is demanding to setup, its user base is considerably smaller than Facebook.

Governor Palin -- Pure Energy and Always on the Move

In case the reporters covering this matter missed the memo, Governor Palin is:

1. a highly probable 2012 GOP POTUS candidate


2. a book author


3. a professional speaker


4. CEO of a Political Action Committee (PAC)


5. In the process of starting a new political issues organization that will complement aforementioned PAC


6. an employee on her husband's commercial fishing boat

Her expected income this year including seven months of gubernatorial pay is expected to be well into the seven digits.

She is working very hard, and never tires. Her hours are likely the same as they were before: 3 AM to Midnight, seven days a week.

The insinuation that she is using LinkedIn for a job hunt is patently absurd and asinine.

Sarah Palin Was LinkedIn Months Before Leaving the Governor's Office

As I write, the liberal media is having a feeding frenzy over the fact that Sarah Palin has a LinkedIn account and is spinning it to imply that she is job hunting throught LinkedIn.

On October 19, CNN trumpeted:

Sarah Palin has placed her resume on LinkedIn.

Known as the “Facebook for professionals,” LinkedIn is a social media
site that displays more than 50 million people’s resumes and allows for virtual
business networking for those interested in keeping in touch or finding a job.
Palin’s resume includes her position as “Vice Presidential Candidate” for the
2008 election and goes back to 1992 where she was the Council Member for the
Wasilla City Council.

George Stephanopolous opined:

How do you go about changing careers in the modern, digital age? Is it any
different for politicians? If former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is an example,
perhaps not.

First, you resign from your current job. Check.

Next, you make yourself visible to potential new employers. Check,
check.

Mr. Stephanopolous should have checked his facts. Governor Palin had a LinkedIn account months before she left office and possibly longer.


The Examiner chimed in:

Sarah Palin joined the social media site LinkedIn over the weekend, posting her resume online. She
posts that she is looking for "job inquiries" and "business deals."

Did it ever occur to anyone that "job inquiries" could be aimed at potential employees?

As with all things Sarah Palin, the "news" spread like wildfire and even reached foreign papers such as the Telegraph, Yeni Safak, and the Hindustan Times.

Late Friday night (11:36 PM EST, to be exact), I added a link to Governor Palin's LinkedIn account to her contact information on the Sarah Palin Information Blog. Due to the timing, I suspect that a Palin distractor discovered the link and passed it on. This may or may not be the case, but the fact remains that my well-intended post may have been misused by those who do not have Governor Palin's best interest at heart.

One clue that this story may have started with a Sarah Palin distractor is that the Huffington Post was one of the first - possibly the first - to post the story. Authors at the Huffington Post habitually write disparaging articles about Sarah Palin.

HuffPo writes (emphasis mine):

Sarah Palin has joined LinkedIn. And guess what? She's interested in "job
inquiries."

The former Alaska governor has posted her resume on the professional
social-networking web site LinkedIn. The service boasts over 45 million users
who connect and refer colleagues. Instead of using the Facebook term "friends,"
LinkedIn users have "connections." Palin had over 500 connections as of
Saturday evening.

The URL for Palin's LinkedIn profile uses "/governorpalin" despite the
fact that Palin resigned from her job as Alaska's governor in July 2009.

CNN also posted the story on October 18. That article has been removed from the CNN site and replaced by one dated October 19.

I first became aware that Sarah Palin had a LinkedIn account on August 18, when a friend on Twitter asked me if I was LinkedIn to Governor Palin and subsequently tweeted me the URL for her LinkedIn account. At that time, I was not familiar with LinkedIn. However, my friend and colleague Ron Devito has been LinkedIn with Sarah Palin since March of this year. That is well before she left the Governor's office.

Obviously, she was still Governor when she set up the LinkedIn account - hence the URL. But as a former Governor, she retains the right to use the title. In fact, she does so on her Facebook page. She also lists the URLs for SarahPAC as well as her LinkedIn page on the Info page of her Facebook account.

This is just another example of how misinformation about Sarah Palin starts with a distractor and spreads through the mainstream media as if it is factual. This blog is an attempt to set the record straight on this one media brush fire.


References:

Palin looking for a job on LinkedIn?
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Palin-looking-for-a-job-on-LinkedIn/H1-Article1-466801.aspx#

Rujlu pitbull internette iş arıyor http://yenisafak.com.tr/Aktuel/Default.aspx?t=21.10.2009&c=5&area=6&i=218033

Sarah Palin is job networking, joins LinkedIn
http://www.examiner.com/x-25310-Little-Rock-Pop-Culture-Examiner~y2009m10d19-Sarah-Palin-is-job-networking-joins-LinkedIn

Sarah Palin joins LinkedIn (October 19 story on CNN site)
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/19/sarah-palin-joins-linkedin/

Sarah Palin joins LinkedIn (October 18 story - removed from CNN site)
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/10/18/sarah-palin-joins-linkedin/

Sarah Palin Linked In
http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2009/10/sarah-palin-gets-linked-in.html#

Sarah Palin LinkedIn: Palin Posts Resume On Social-Networking Site LinkedIn
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/18/sarah-palin-linkedin-pali_n_325381.html

Sarah Palin 'posts CV' on website LinkedIn
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/6383742/Sarah-Palin-posts-CV-on-website-LinkedIn.html

(Pre-Order) Palin Nation: How Sarah Can Win The White House in 2012

A new book about Sarah Palin and how she can win The White House will be available October 31st.  It is available for pre-order from Patriot Depot.  I posted the short synopsis of the new book written by Dr. David L. Geotsch and Dr Archie P. Jones.  

Barack Obama is setting the stage for a conservative tidal wave in politics.  Jimmy Carter’s weakness in foreign relations and failed economic policies paved the way for the Republican revolution led by Ronald Reagan.  Now Barack Obama’s timid foreign policy and socialist economic policies are paving the way for a new conservative revolution in politics.  This new revolution can be led by Sarah Palin if she will capitalize on the mistakes and missteps of the Obama administration.   This book presents six broad strategies that will help Sarah Palin take full advantage of the reasons President Obama’s approval rating fell so precipitously following the traditional post-election honeymoon.  These strategies will allow Sarah Palin to do what Ronald Reagan did when running against Jimmy Carter: take full advantage of her broad grassroots appeal to restore America’s confidence, get government out of the pockets of taxpayers, reinvigorate the free market, encourage entrepreneurship and the traditional work ethic, restore America’s position as leader of the free world, command the respect of our allies and enemies, eliminate America’s new entitlement mentality, and remind American’s that government is the problem not the solution. 

About the Authors:

Dr. David L. Goetsch spent more than 30 years as a dual-professor of business and political science and as a college vice-president.  He is also a business consultant and corporate trainer.  Dr. Goetsch is the author of more than 60 books on leadership, business, management, economic development, and political commentary.  Four of his books are best sellers and two have been translated into foreign languages (Korean, Indonesian, and Malaysian).  Dr. Goetsch is a nationally-known speaker on the subjects of leadership, global competitiveness, and organizational excellence.  He is the recipient of the “Spirit of Freedom Award” from Freedom Newspapers.

Dr. Archie P. Jones is a teacher and librarian who has taught various subjects in Christian schools, and Political Science, American History, and Literature/writing in several colleges and universities for moe than 20 years.  He is the author of eight mini-books on Christianity and early American society, our early state Constitutions, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution.  His dissertation, “Christianity in the Constitution: The Intended Meaning of the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment and the Intended Role of Religion in American Life,” and two mini-books are devoted to recovering the truth about the First Amendment.  Hardback, 210 Pages

Pre-Order At:

Patriot Depot’s Palin Nation

Retailers Look To Sarah Palin’s New Book For Healthy Bottom Line. Amazon And Wal-Mart Locked In Price War

Sarah Palin’s new book, Going Rogue, An American Life continues unprecedented success, so much so, many of the nation’s top retailers are counting on it to beef up their bottom lines this year.



From the Wall Street Journal:

Sarah Palin's memoir, "Going Rogue: An American Life" will likely be a mega-seller when it hits bookshelves next month, a shot in the arm for the book business and perhaps also for the former Alaska governor's unorthodox political career.

Harper, an imprint of News Corp.'s HarperCollins Publishers, said it has received media inquiries from major TV and radio talk shows and is teeing up a major promotional schedule. "Going Rogue" has an initial print run of 1.5 million copies, the same number at the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's memoir, "True Compass."

"Right now it's our top preorder online," said Kathryn Popoff, vice president of trade books at Borders Group Inc.

As you know, Sarah’s book was number one in sales at Barnes & Noble less than 24 hours after they started taking pre-sale orders, and number one at Amazon, who came to the party late, less than 12 hours after that. Immediately sales of w her book were called unprecedented and speculation was, the first printing of 1.5 million would not last long.



More from the Journal:

Fascination with Ms. Palin could turn her into a gold mine for retailers. In a season crowded with new books from leading authors, many stores expect "Going Rogue" to be a hit, tapping into the conservative book-buying audience that catapulted Michelle Malkin's "Culture of Corruption" and Glenn Beck's "Arguing with Idiots" to the top of the lists.

Tom Nissley, senior books editor at Amazon.com Inc., said the online retailer has seen "very high sustained interest in books on the right from popular media figures this year, and I expect the same for Palin's book."

"It's going to be a No. 1 best-seller, the hottest book in the country when it comes out," said Edward Ash-Milby, a buyer for Barnes & Noble Inc. "She has a lot to say, and a lot of people will want to hear it."

Tina Andreadis, a spokeswoman for HarperCollins, said the publishing house is still formulating its marketing plans for the book. She said Ms. Palin is likely to make numerous bookstore appearances.

Also, it seems that Going Rogue is not just the title of the book, but truly how Sarah is doing things:

As the book title suggests, Ms. Palin seems to be trying to manage her own political image.

According to supporters, she has a tiny circle of advisers—mainly her husband, Todd Palin, and former gubernatorial press secretary, Meghan Stapleton. Ms. Palin relies heavily on social media Web sites such as Facebook to get her message out to fans directly.

"There is not a big political staff here working on her schedule, her future or anything else," said Fred Malek, Sen. John McCain's former national finance chairman, who remains friendly with Ms. Palin. "This is pure Sarah."

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart and Amazon are looked in a huge battle for customers and have started a good old fashioned price war!



From the Baltimore Sun:

Walmart, Amazon in online price war

Walmart's aggressive discounting of upcoming books by Sarah Palin, Stephen King and others has triggered a full-scale, online price war. As we noted yesterday, Walmart dropped prices on the Top 10 pre-selling books -- including Palin's "Going Rogue" and King's "Under the Dome" -- to $10, and threw in free shipping. Amazon quickly matched that price, leading Walmart to drop to $9. By this morning, Amazon also had priced the books at $9.

The new prices even undercut e-books, which Amazon sells for $9.99 -- a price that some publishers have complained about as unrealistically low. The price war puts more pressure on competitors such as Borders, Barnes & Noble and independents, too. But it's a sudden, welcome windfall for consumers.

Obviously this is great news for consumers who want to buy Going Rogue, but hate to pay retail for anything! At this price, I imagine a lot of stockings will be stuffed with Sarah’s book this Christmas.

Amazon.com has the book for $9 and free shipping is available on orders over $25. Order here.

Wal-Mart offers the book for $8.99 and picks up the freight as well! Order here.

I know I can’t wait to get my copy of Sarah’s book, it is certain to be a fascinating read. And if you are ordering from Amazon, and need another order to hit the $25 free freight plateau, you should check out Glenn Becks Book: Arguing With Idiots, How To Stop Small Minds And Big Government. It’s a must read book full of incredible information about our nation. In fact, I believe it would be the perfect textbook for all ages!