No, the thing with Brazen Careerist is the idea of…well…ideas. Brazen Careerist is a community that started for bloggers to share but has quickly become one of the most useful career-management tools for next-generation workers out there.

Why? Because the people you “meet” there, the posts you read and the dialogues opened are all things that are happening and experiences occurring RIGHT NOW to people just like you. They aren’t something someone is writing about of “remembering when” or how “they wished,” it’s current and real and scary and great and probably one of my favorite websites out there (in case I haven’t mentioned that enough!)

In honor of their launch of their new design and the fact that many of my favorite blogs and former #BlogCrushes are touting their praises, I’ve decided to launch the first contest ever on my site, with the help of Ryan Paugh, Ryan Healy and Penelope Trunk (Co-Founders of Brazen Careerist.)

Thus was born the #BrazenBlogCrush Contest

The contest is based on the #BlogCrush series that is so popular here on the Webb (you can get more info from the #BlogCrush guide or recent FAQ post.) My hope from the beginning of the series was that as I posted #BlogCrushes and gave people the idea, more and more of my blogging colleagues would share theirs and the concept would take off. Sound familiar, like a community of ideas and writers?

Rules
1. Write your own #BrazenBlogCrush post of your favorite blogger in the Brazen Careerist community* by 5 PM EST on Wednesday, Setpember 2nd.
2. Email me with the link to include below AND make sure to Tweet a link to your post with the hashtag #BrazenBlogCrush

Prizes
Three #BrazenBlogCrush entries will be chosen at random** in the evening of Wednesday, September 2nd to receive signed copies of Penelope’s book Brazen Careerist – The New Rules For Success

UPDATE!!! Check out all the entries in the #BrazenBlogCrush contest here

* Not a member of the Brazen Careerist community, or your favorite blogger isn’t on there yet? Join or invite them to join today – it will be a decision that won’t be regretted!
** Whomever you select as your #BrazenBlogCrush blogger will not have any impact on the selection of the prize winners.

Want some ideas from former #BlogCrush posts? Check them out here, especially the most recent on the original Brazen Careerist herself, Penelope Trunk. And most importantly, have fun with the contest and good luck!!!

~ Elisa

I’ve spent the past couple weeks fielding questions about the gushing and sweetness of the #BlogCrush series. Which is not ever what I wanted. While many of the people featured have become online “friends,” it is mostly because of the collaborative work we do together, the Twitter conversations that we have and the admiration we have for each other’s work.

That is why I was so very excited to start researching for and reading about my #BlogCrush this week. I have never been very quiet about my discontent with Penelope Trunk’s blog, Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist (herein after referred to as PTBC.) It’s a site that many in the blogosphere followed, told me I should follow, and spoke so well of. Frequently when I logged on, however, I came across posts that I didn’t like and disagreed with. But it’s kinda like when my parents told me I HAD to eat onions in my dinners and I fought and screamed and went to bed many a time without dessert. In my wise old age, I’ve actually learned to like onions and the taste and diversity they offer to many a dish. Course sometimes they’re still gross…

Penelope writes about career advice. But not your average everyday “What Color is Your Parachute” career advice. Penelope has made her career following one of the most brazen of paths (get it…she’s a Brazen Careerist?!) and her ideas are rogue at best. One cannot argue, however, with that career path that she has made for herself. A former professional beach volleyball player, turned marketing executive in the software industry, turned columnist at a magazine, turned blogger, turned syndicated columnist in over 200 newspapers, turned entrepreneur of one of my favorite start-ups out there – Brazen Careerist. You know the old phrase, how can something so wrong feel so right? Yeah, Penelope OOZES it!

The brazen and beautiful and bad and bold thing about Penelope’s posts is that she isn’t afraid to write what she thinks and put out there what she feels. It makes you angry cause she writes so matter of factly and some people blindly follow “because Penelope said so.” I don’t know Penelope, but I’m pretty sure she would say you are full of it if you are going to do stuff just cause ANYONE told you to. In fact her book, Brazen Careerist, is centered around the idea of “the new rules for success.” Her start-up website, Brazen Careerist launched an awesome new look today (8/25) where the premise is that “ideas are your resume” and that community is one of the greatest tools you can use to be successful as a “next generation worker.” No longer does “business as usual” apply to the modern workplace.

Perhaps one of the most engaging things about PTBC is not only the career advice that she offers, but the extremely open and transparent way in which she shares her life. Someone once described her personal posts as reality TV…even if you are horrified by what’s going on and feel like there’s no way you could ever agree with it, you still can’t bring yourself to change the channel. You continue watching, you want to see what happens.

So, I guess what I’m saying is Penelope (aka Adrienne Greenheart aka Adrienne Roston) is my “onion blogger.” And if you aren’t eating this blog with the mac & cheese and steak & potatoes you’ve come to love in your Google Reader, then you are SERIOUSLY missing out on some of the most thought-provoking, push you outside of your box, make you laugh/cry/throw your computer across the room in frustration writing available on the world wide web. And my Mom would be horribly disappointed in you.

Who is your #BlogCrush in the blogosphere? Make sure to check out the upcoming #BrazenBlogCrush contest to win a signed copy of Penelope’s book, Brazen Careerist, and be featured in the #BlogCrush series.

I suppose amazing to me cause it’s been so much fun to do AND has taken off so much more than I ever anticipated. This week marks not only my biggest #BlogCrush personality so far, it also marks the first contest on the Webb and the first guest post by one of my former #BlogCrushes (first guest post ever on the Webb in fact!)

With so much stuff going on, I figured I would answer some of the most Frequently Asked Questions on the #BlogCrush. Sure, there’s already a handy definition and guide to writing a #BlogCrush on here, but there are still a lot of things my readers still ponder. And though the #BlogCrush seems to break every rule that cool bloggers follow, it’s something I love so here goes.

• How do you find blogs to feature in the #BlogCrush series I find blogs to feature in lots of places. My favorite stomping ground is definitely the Brazen Careerist site, because for me bloggers that I would have a BlogCrush on are the pure definition of a Brazen blogger. Additionally I’m always floating around the blogosphere checking out commenters, RT’s and recommendations from people who’s opinion I trust.
• How many blogs do you read daily? Well, it varies depending on how much people are updating and if I don’t get a chance to get onto my Google Reader on a particular day. I follow between 100-125 blogs at any one time and try to comment on the ones I find most interesting. Usually I don’t have more than 30-50 blogs that are updated daily.
• What are the requirements to become a #BlogCrush? There aren’t really any “requirements.” I like to see your site updated at least weekly, with good quality content, and an engagement with your community. In other words if you just throw up words and never comment, dialogue, etc then I probably won’t be writing about you. The BlogCrush series has absolutely nothing to do with what a blogger looks like, what topics they write about, or how much your beg and/or suck up.
• Do you really have a “crush” on each of your BlogCrushes? I guess you could call it that, but it isn’t in the sense of the word that most people use the word “crush.” I admire and respect them, enjoy interacting with them, and am excited to spread the word and get other people reading their blogs. Am I ready to pack up and move to where they are to set up shop and life? Highly unlikely!
• How long does it take you to write a new #BlogCrush? Each post takes probably about 1.5-2 hours of writing time. I do a lot of research and get to know the blog before I actually write up the post. I’m usually crafting a new post in my head about 2 weeks before I actually sit down to type it. There’s a lot of links and reading to do on each person and I like to make sure I do people whom I respect so much justice.
• Isn’t the #BlogCrush just a way for you to get new readers and traffic to your blog using link-baiting? I really wish I were that brilliant and crafty. I won’t lie, a lot of new people come based on promotion by the BlogCrushes, but I guess I didn’t realize that would be a result of the posts. When I started the series I just wanted a way to let people know how great their blogs were and that I appreciated the efforts they put in. As a blogger you can get a lot of crap from people, I thought it would be good to let good bloggers know that there were folks out there that thought their blogs were great.
• Why don’t you ever feature any “big name” blogs like Mashable or Seth Godin? It isn’t that I don’t have huge respect for their blogs (both are in my Reader.) I just feel that they have a LOT of people already singing their praises across the internet. The BlogCrush series is kinda the smaller blogger paradise, a place for some of the lesser known folks. That isn’t to say that occasionally a big name blog doesn’t make it’s way in.
• Why do you call it a #BlogCrush sometimes and a BlogCrush other times? Again, I wish there was a way to make this sound cooler than the real answer. Sometimes I remember to put a hashtag in front to remind folks to look for “#BlogCrush” posts on Twitter. Sometimes, I’m just a little spacey and forget to put the hashtag in or don’t want to fill my post with lots of little “#”s!

There are many more questions, but these tend to be the ones that most often make their way into comments or emails. Hope that offers a little more insight into the BlogCrush series.

Make sure to check out the Webb all week for information on the upcoming #BrazenBlogCrush contest that I’m doing to help promote my friends over at Brazen Careerist as they launch the new look of their fantastic site! The prizes alone are worth the anticipation building for you!

Plus, I think it’s high time some of my colleagues in the blogosphere showed some BlogCrush love to their favorites. As anyone who has been a BlogCrush so far can attest (at least I assume they can attest from their comments, emails, messages) it’s an honor to be featured as a blogger that is respected to such a degree that they get written about.

Appreciation is as tough to receive as it is to give.

The truth is that as much as we need to give appreciation to those in our lives, we also need to accept it graciously and happily. Like any compliment or praise, we are conditioned to blow everything off with a shrug or excuse. Perhaps it is because we are shy or embarrassed, don’t feel worthy of the thanks, or maybe it is just simply because we do not know how to properly handle appreciation.

Ladies, I have an unfortunate truth as well. We are the worst offenders. Like any conversation that begins with the phrase, “do these jeans make my butt look big,” appreciation is a dangerous place for our guys to venture. Sure, they know when they do something wrong that flowers are in order…if they do something REALLY wrong, then it should be something pretty and shiny.

Yet with appreciation, they just can’t seem to “do it right.” If they say something nice, we frequently question their motives. If they make a gesture, then it isn’t the right gesture or big enough. Guys are not always the romantic sentimental grand scheming leading men we see on Girls Night Out at the movies. Sometimes they show appreciation by doing things you don’t even REALIZE is appreciation, like folding your laundry the exact way you want it while watching a news show that drives you up a wall.

I should also note that “Dinner tonight was good…so much better than the last time you tried to make *insert culinary masterpiece that would make Julia envious here*” is their way of saying, “This dinner was amazing, thank you for all the work you put into it, and I am so lucky to have a girl as creative and talented and hot as you.”

Of course, there is the notion that maybe guys should learn to GIVE appreciation better. However, after millions of years of genetic conditioning, I have a feeling that we might need to learn to co-exist with our male counterparts in the same way that we needed to adapt to other species of life, or that really weird Goth chick we somehow ended up roommates with our freshman year of college.

We’ve been telling guys for years that they need to get more in touch with their feminine side, perhaps it is time for us to get more in touch with our masculine side. Most of the guys I surveyed, in fact, wished that they could just catch a break when they were trying to be nice!

So, the next time a guy is trying to show his love/thanks/appreciation, here are some quick and easy ways to say “thank you” graciously:

• “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
• “That means a lot to me.”
• “I’m flattered you think so.”

There is also my personal favorite that works for either gender, but it’s super difficult and complicated. Ready? This is earth shattering…

When someone shows you appreciation, smile and genuinely say, “Thank you.”

How do you receive appreciation in your life? Is it gracious, back-handed or a downright act of Congress?

Photo Credit: Medioimages

Appreciative Revolutionary: Elisa Doucette

Bio: Elisa is a not-so-average girl next door who writes various musings and ramblings about the beautiful disaster that is her life over at Ophelia’s Webb. If she’s not out having really good conversation with friends over cups of coffee or pints at the local pub, she’s most likely curled up with a book listening to jazz or catching the latest Pats/Sox/Celtics/*Insert Kick Ass Sporting Team* game.

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Hood Red Sox “Peanut Butter Nation”

I appreciate Elisa’s BlogCrush series for her beautifully written tributes and the recognition she gives to deserving bloggers, and of course, her dedication to the best sports teams around!

Don’t forget to check out Life Is Like A Box of Chocolates!!!

You know that scene where Elle Woods brings Brooke Taylor Windham a care package in jail and she includes a copy of Cosmo magazine “cause it’s the Bible.” Well, this week’s #BlogCrush is like a brunette Elle Woods, and her site (Life After College) is like the young professional’s Bible. I first “met” Jenny Blake after I saw my (at least) 25th friend on Twitter tell me that I should be following her. Not even kidding, everyone on the bluebird network seems to love this girl and I wanted to find out if all the hype was worth it.

I can say, without a doubt, that it totally IS worth it. Aside from the fact that Life After College is one of my favorite designed blog sites on the web, Jenny offers graduates and young professionals tips and resources to use in matters of life, work, money, happiness, personal growth and more. Considering the content and posts that come from her site, you’d expect her to be one of those uber-pretentious super sophisticated wicked smart women that you are uber-intimidated by. However by the second or third sentence of her posts, you realize that she is a down-to-earth cupcake loving girl who has figured out a lot, continues to figure out more, and is willing to expose herself and share for the progression of her readers. Really, how can you not love that

Even though we learn a lot about how to do our job or pursue our interests in college, no one is really teaching us how to navigate the rest of it. Jenny’s writes about the real life applications of things that should be simple, like how to divide up your paycheck or how to stay organized. She is always showing how to use different programs, services or books to change our own lives and understand a little more. She is also expanding to include some great guest posts from more regular folks who have figured some things out and want to share. Basically, Life After College is like a huge learning forum, but SO much more fun!! (And filled with emoticons and exclamation points, yet another reason I adore Jenny!)

If you are looking for a Bible or blueprint of sorts on navigating this “growned-up” post-graduate young professional life from a cupcake loving brunette Elle Woods, check out Life After College.

Who is your #BlogCrush in the blogosphere? Make sure to update it on your blog on Tuesdays! Wanna learn how #BlogCrush works? Check out the guide.

The scruff, rippling muscles, those eyes…oh, he writes really well, too! The girls all seem to go crazy over this week’s #BlogCrush, David Stehle. Really, can you blame them? Like so many other fantastic bloggers, I first learned about David’s blog when one of his posts was featured on the Brazen Careerist site. I knew I was hooked though when he wrote about sneaking away to Europe after I had JUST described that same situation to a friend. He became the first blogger I ever emailed. He was also the first person I ever unfollowed on Twitter (no worries, I followed again eventually…) Self-proclaimed as “not a writer” I was surprised to discover that The Rest Is Still Unwritten is actually written amazingly.

With the exception of my first #BlogCrush, David’s blog is probably the most awarded and recognized that I’ve featured thus far. I’ve described his blog design as strong and “total guy” steel grey/black/orange with some vulnerability thrown in with his Scriptina blog title scrawled across the top of the page. Technology is obviously a passion of his, and when he isn’t writing those things that make you go “Hmmm” or “WTF?!?!” he’s working on network security company, founded in the midst of the fall of the dotCom burst of 2005. One of the best things about David? He’s got to be one of the only other people I’ve met in the blogosphere that loves Post Secret as much as I do (hrmm…maybe that should be a #BlogCrush)

Sure, he occasionally writes some posts that raise the hackles on a delicate ladies neck, but then he sucks them back in with his sweet sentimental side. Which really begs the question, how can any guy read TRISU? Don’t worry, David always has stuff for his boys as well. His posts can be a bit long and wordy, but you can always find something worthwhile and somehow stay glued through the extra paragraphs. He has some cute short ones thrown in as well.

So if you are looking for a blog by a 20-something bachelor living with an adorable English Bulldog who will boldly say what few date, check out The Rest Is Still Unwritten.

EDIT: Wow, check out David’s response to our #BlogCrush here: Me? BlogCrush Worthy?

Who is your #BlogCrush in the blogosphere? Make sure to update it on your blog on Tuesdays! Wanna learn how #BlogCrush works? Check out the guide.

I don’t know if it’s her crazy Twitter hashtags and Tweets or intersected blog posts, but Jamie Varon was among the first people I started following in the blogosphere. That”s why when I was looking for a GREAT blog to splash back into the #BlogCrush after a hiatus I knew that she was going to be it. I “met” Jamie through Brazen Careerist but like the rest of the world learned what an amazing woman she is when she created the website twitter should hire me – @jamievaron. The girl’s skills not only landed her an luncheon interview at one of the hottest social media companies right now, but attracted the attention of national commentaries.

Twitter missed out on a fantastic opportunity, but in turn Jamie was able to venture out and follow her passions to an entrepreneurial graphic design company, Shatterboxx Media. Her design work is both clean and captivating, she actually designed a recent #BlogCrush’s site. Most importantly, she is a fan of coffee shop blogging and cupcakes. How can ANYONE not have the hugest crush EVER on someone who loves cupcakes? It’s downright inhumane! Add a sprinkled ice cream cone…San Fran is totally the place for girl on girl love, right?!

As if taking on Twitter weren’t enough for Jamie, she is never one to let fear or complacency settle her in any one place. Whether it is calling her own bluff and buying a one-way ticket to Italy or venting because someone has to, posts on intersected promise a frank and engaging insight into life from someone living it to the fullest. Don’t get too caught up thinking this girl must walk on water though. One of the best parts of her blog is that through all the risks and career moves and audacious statements, she is still very down to Earth. Jamie is willing to admit that on the battlefield of love she rarely ventures to the front lines and worried that one day everyone will catch on to the fact that she may, in fact, be an imposter.

If you are looking for a post from a hilariously funny, goofy and super amazing young woman walking the delicate line between blowing the world away and trying to figure things out herself, then check out intersected.

Who is your #BlogCrush in the blogosphere? Make sure to update it on your blog on Tuesdays! Wanna learn how #BlogCrush works? Check out the guide.

They always say that opposites attract and that is definitely the case for this week’s #BlogCrush. From the first post I read on Owl Sparks, I knew that Carlos Miceli was a person who would challenge my thoughts and beliefs in a way that would make me a better person in the end. Lately, whenever I am commenting on other blogs the conversations I have had with Carlos spring to mind and I find myself dissenting from popular opinion and pre-empting many thoughts with “Blame Carlos, he’s been making me think outside the box on his blog!”

I started following CarlosMic on Twitter mostly because one of my other #BlogCrushes told me to. I started reading his blog when he Tweeted that he had a post to guest write for someone that didn’t quite fit the model of his blog. While the Webb didn’t win the honor of hosting Carlos’ first guest post, I did win the honor of adding his Owl Sparks to my Google Reader.

The first and most astonishing thing that you will take from Carlos’ about section (cunningly titled “The Owl” perhaps by his blog designer) is that English is not his first language. An Argentinian hat lover, occasionally a thread of Spanish meanders it’s way into his comments and I’m amazed by his dexterity at switching between languages. Most importantly, as his Twitter profile states, “It’s all about Respect.”

For all the long and paragraphy posts that you find here on the Webb, Owl Sparks puts up short and insightful posts designed to draw his readers in as he questions a variety of topics from social media to change to philosophy and people in general. While I am a bit particular and uber-competitive, Carlos is more laid back and focused. There are points we will probably never agree on, and then there are compromises and middle grounds that we find that teach both of us about life outside the blog.

If you are looking for a quick read that will make you think for hours after your browser has closed by a pretty amazing “English as a second language” writer, then Owl Sparks is one you should definitely add to your reader.

Who is your #BlogCrush in the blogosphere? Make sure to update it on your blog on Tuesdays! Wanna learn how #BlogCrush works? Check out the guide.

I first learned about Life Is Like A Box Of Chocolates when Sam Karol was featured on the front page of Brazen Careerist with her post about men defying gender stereotypes in the online community. I was quite taken aback to look thru her archives and realize it has only been since the middle of May that I’ve been attentively following, it feels like Life’s Chocolates and I should go back to diapers and pacifiers. Like any good box of chocolate’s the great thing with Sam’s blog is that you can’t open it and read just one. You want to keep opening new posts, testing what’s inside and trying to determine your favorite.

I have never referred to Sam by her full name (Samantha) because she says on her About section that all her friends call her Sam. By the inherent personal and open nature of her posts you feel like you are her friend after the first paragraph. Sam isn’t afraid to let people know her beliefs and strong faith as a young Jewish woman, and to be confident enough to make a statement about this taboo topics in the world of Gen Y is an accomplishment in and of itself. Most importantly, however, she routes for the right teams (a huge Pats fan and New England girl at heart, our Twitters can be dually aflutter during any important sporting events.)

The reason for naming her blog is obvious to anyone who had a pulse in the 1990′s, from Forrest Gump “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” Sam has been through quite a lot in the past year, and has learned the all too pertinent lesson that you never know what life might toss at you but you still have to find time to appreciate the important things. Aside from being my newest #BlogCrush, Sam was also recently profiled by Jun Loayza for the Viralogy blog as one of their Awesome Bloggers.

If you are looking for an open and frank blog with touches of humor and heart thrown in, then check out Life is Like a Box of Chocolates.

Who is your #BlogCrush in the blogosphere? Make sure to update it on your blog on Tuesdays! Wanna learn how #BlogCrush works? Check out the guide.

Anyone who follows me on Twitter(*) has got to know my #BlogCrush this week, considering I ReTweet and @reply him on an almost daily basis. I learned about Life Without Pants when one of Matt Cheuvront’s posts was featured on the front page of the Brazen Careerist. He had an entire week worth of posts about Green Week (centered around Earth Hour and gearing up for Earth Day) and issued a challenge to his readers to contribute the “greeness” from their own lives. As a corporate raider who still has the dirty little hippie from college living somewhere deep within, I was immediately intrigued. A few posts later, I was hooked.

Matt will be heading off into many Pantless adventures (hrmm…maybe that’s a little ill worded!) as he follows his dreams and pursues a new chapter in his life with his beautiful fiance in the Windy City. He has been outspoken towards some of the most prominent writers on the web, written about the great responsibility that comes with great power (hey, who’s that @lilaclupin chic?! Feels familiar to the Webb…) and explored the pressure of trying to find a work/life balance as a young professional. We can even forgive him for being a Bears fan who hates lima beans because he loves Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game.

So, how does one live Life Without Pants you may ask? Well, as Matt explains in his About section (an epiphany he came to while sitting in his Snuggie) “Life would be so much easier if no one wore pants; no restraints (literally), cost efficient, and there wouldn’t be all these games and drama, you’re fully exposed at the moment you meet someone, and I think that lack of inhibition and structure is something that might make the world a better place.“

And make the world a better place Matt has. LWOP is well regarded by many Gen Y bloggers as a gathering place for insightful, thought-provoking posts that have incited and sparked conversations and debates that have made many readers re-evaluate and grow both professionally and personally. I was honored when Matt asked for Ophelia’s Webb to contribute to “The Inconvenience of Change” series, and was the 10th person to “blog for change.” While we all realized that this could be something big, I don’t think any of the nearly 50 contributors realized the impact the series would have (that’s right, he mobilized half a centurion amount of writers to create a community about something bigger than themselves.) For the month of May people came in droves to LWOP to help build the revolution, pen their own stories for an upcoming FREE (e)book, and make Matt the #1 choice in June for The Top 10 Gen Y Blogs.

If you are looking to read an amazing blog about everything and nothing, wrapped up into one fantastic conversation with an entire community and one of the most engaged bloggers on the web (heck, he’s even engaged as a commenter on the Webb!) then check out Life Without Pants.

(*) I would be remiss to note to those that DO follow me on Twitter that although there was a pretty flattering Tweet last week from Matt about being my next #BlogCrush, unbeknownst to him was this post half written and already scheduled for this week!

Who is your #BlogCrush in the blogosphere? Make sure to update it on your blog on Tuesdays! Wanna learn how #BlogCrush works? Check out the guide.