Back in 2011, Jodi Ordioni of Brandemix wrote an article for ERE claiming that Facebook was going to destroy Linkedin in 2013. That was an attention grabber (for shure) so I expressed an interest and she sent her alter ego, Jason Ginsburg, to represent her on The Recruiting Animal Show.

He's the Director of Interactive Branding at Brandemix and you can find his appearance from August 17, 2011 here. We had fun. But there's one rule that most people who make predictions follow. Don't be too specific.

But Jodi was specific. She was as specific as you can be. She included a date and that was a key part of the article's appeal. But now it's 2013 and Linkedin is still here. In fact, it's going strong so we thought we'd have Jason back to defend his claims -- or apologize for them. And he came. That takes some guts, doesn't it? But the big topic didn't turn out to be Facebook or Linkedin; it was the relationship between recruiting and recruitment marketing.

The Animal Crew got the impression that Jason believes that an employment branding company like Brandemix could totally replace recruiters. And, of course, no one likes to be told they're useless so just before the show ended this became the subject of a heated debate.

My poor guest! In the middle of the argument he was prevented from defending himself because the guest is not allowed on the AfterShow which was led yesterday by his main opponent, @AlaRecruiter, herself. And, in her battle with Jason, darling Amy had lots help because everyone else just piled on. They didn't like that guy. But I did.

I love the Animal Aftershow because I like venting my feelings and I hate sitting through sermons I don't agree with without being able to say anything. So, why should my audience have to do that? They shouldn't. So, I have the only show around that pays the audience real respect. But, of course, there are some negatives.

They could speak up during the show when the guest is there to defend himself but, often, they don't. Instead, they wait for Jerry to come on and help them express their angry feelings in a safe environment. And, I often disagree with what they say.

Yesterday, I enjoyed the huffing and puffing but I didn't really understand what all the fuss was about. Jason works for an advertising company.  Most people in most companies are not the kind they pay headhunters to go after so they depend on advertising and referrals to bring those people in. And that, I believe, is the focus of recruitment marketing firms.

For the hard guys, managers come to recruiters. But not for everybody. That's why Amy's company has a Pinterest page and hired her as well. And I don't remember Jason saying that his ads are going to replace us -- but, in fact, they do act in our stead for a lot of jobs.

In the end, the battle focused on a tweet Jason made after the show. It read: "@Microsoft recruiter mocks Pinterest recruiting on @Animal show. It turns out that Microsoft recruits on Pinterest." And he offered a link to prove it.

Well, this tweet drove Amy wild. But why? It was the perfect rejoinder and in his position I would have happily made it myself.

So, here's where I have to go into my standard lesson. The Recruiting Animal Show is supposed to be fun! I know it's not for everyone. It's for people who like rough-housing and horsing around and being fairly blunt. To really participate you've got to be willing to have someone point out your faults. And you've got to be willing to have people criticize you who are wrong.

But, here's the thing. Criticism isn't fatal. It's not going to hurt you. So, every week we dish out a few rounds of disagreement and the next week we come back and do it again. Of course, people can go overboard. But it didn't happen in this tweet. That guy took a beating on the aftershow and this was a mild and intelligent response.

So, Jodi, I'm sorry I kind of called you a dominatrix at the start of the show (I'm not really sorry). And Jason, I already said you seem like an okay kinda guy. And, Amy, you're the guest next week. You'll be able to direct all of your anger towards me. So, let's not kiss and make up but let's put a reasonable cap on the passion we feel about employment branding. Okay? 

And, readers, if you want to hear what this long lecture is about, be my guest. But, PS: I have to confess: I used an old picture of Ginsburg. In the last two years, he's become tall and stringy and he doesn't look that sympathetic anymore.

DOWNLOAD MP3

LISTEN ONLINE

Bonus: Mike and Jerry