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Balancing the New Parent and Demanding Career Combo

Posted August 19th, 2009 By ChrisH  | 4 Comments

My son, August Henry, enjoys breakfast

My son, August Henry, enjoys breakfast

Working at an ambitious company that feels like a start-up in all the right ways can be demanding. You’re getting pulled in a hundred different directions, so you need to be incredibly efficient with your time. I’m involved in every aspect of daily life here in the Philadelphia office, from logistics, to sales, to management and people development.

Balancing all that is tough enough, but throw a family into the mix and you have to be really sharp to keep it all together. My wife and I had our first son 14 months ago. He is…

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→ 4 Comments Category: Career Reflections

 

Pump-Up Soundtrack

Posted July 27th, 2009 By ChrisH  | 13 Comments

Have you ever thought about making a soundtrack from your life?

We’re a pretty energetic crowd, so we like to keep the music going during the workday. Since no one sits alone in a cubicle, this can make for a pretty interesting atmosphere.

Hence the creation of a solid pump up mix. Laugh if you will, but all of us have songs that get the blood flowing and back in the mood to do business…

And if you know what we’re talking about…please submit your own lists through the Comment button.

Chris’ pump-up mix

Any Way You Want It – Journey
Final Countdown — Europe
Your Love — The…

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→ 13 Comments Category: Meltwater Culture

 

What does it take to move a Meltwater office?

Posted June 16th, 2009 By ChrisH  | 2 Comments

In January 2007, when I first started at Meltwater News Philadelphia, we were in a cozy office in the Curtis Center off Washington Square Park  (just a block from the Liberty Bell). It had huge windows, a nice lobby, and good restaurants nearby…but always felt temporary. Even the memories of office Bandana Ball and Ping Pong with Scott were not enough: we knew we needed a new space.

view-from-old-office-225x3001

View from the old office

We set the move-in day for the first Monday in May.  It was hectic.  We had to move into our new office space and then finish up recruitment phone interviews…

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→ 2 Comments Category: Career Reflections

 

Sales: My Career, Distilled

Posted June 3rd, 2009 By ChrisH  | No Comments

On a hot summer night in June 2007, my wife and I were dancing like frogs (seriously) on a roof-deck topiary, singing Sma Grodorna with some friends from the office. This diverse company is full of Swedes, and they were teaching us how to properly celebrate Mid-Summer’s day.

Pre-Sma Grodorna festivities with Hanna, Sara, and wife Micha

Pre-Sma Grodorna festivities with Hanna, Sara, and wife Micha

I’ve had the opportunity to work under some great managers at Meltwater. Those managers included Nick, who left to open offices in NYC and Buenos Aires; Sara who left to head up Meltwater Drive in London; and Hanna who now runs Global Client Relations. These guys were the reason…

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→ No Comments Category: Career Reflections

 

Has anyone ever told you that you’re pompous?

Posted May 19th, 2009 By ChrisH  | No Comments

I was sooo close to ditching the Meltwater interview. Standing in a hallway high in a center city Philadelphia hotel, I was pretty sure I didn’t want to work for anyone who made me wait around for 20 minutes—I didn’t even know why I was there in the first place.

After graduating from Cornell in 2002, I bounced around a little, but had most recently worked as a Project Manager for a pharmaceutical start-up. My desired career path was typical of any highly ambitious, but maybe a little clueless, guy in his mid-20s. I wanted to come in off the street,…

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→ No Comments Category: Career Reflections