Meet Kris Dunn - Benefits Buzz Editor, Referee and Agitator...

Back in the day (December 2006 - what's the definition of "back in the day" again?) I started a blog called The HR Capitalist.  The psycho-like pledge was to write to it every business day for a year and see what happened.  I made it past that goal, mainly due to the interaction with the people who stopped by to read and comment, or at times blast me.  I've learned so much from that experience that I wanted to do it again, but this time with friends. 

With that in mind, we launched Fistful of Talent (FOT) in March of 2008, which was/is an opinionated group of pros from Recruiting practices, HR shops and Consulting firms across the nation.  The center of the conversation is talent - which includes recruiting as well as everything you do with the talent once you've got it in the door. 

I'm using the same model for Benefits Buzz, as we're attempting to cover the crazy world of benefits from a practitioner's point of view.  With that in mind, we've got a mixture of pro's who are embedded as benefits practitioners within companies of various sizes, as well as subject matter experts from areas like wellness, ultilization, retirement plans, etc.  We're not policy wonks, we're people living with the challenges of rising costs and tough choices on a daily basis.

Thanks for stopping by... If that's not enough KD for you (and I'm sure it is), you can check out my about page from the Capitalist or check out the profile below.  Make sure you check out the profiles of the other contributors as well.  Where else are you going to get videos of theme music someone would play as their arch-rival walked into a conference room?

See my riffs and rants on Benefits Buzz here...

Talk to KD at:

kris.dunn@sourcemed.net
www.hrcapitalist.com
http://twitter.com/kris_dunn
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/1/252/9bb

(Note: The views expressed on www.benefitsbuzz.net, www.fistfuloftalent.com and www.hrcapitalist.com are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.  Come to think of it, since Benefits Buzz is a team affair, the views expressed may not even reflect my views...)

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10.5 QUESTIONS WITH KRIS DUNN

1.  The elevator just closed and you've got 30 seconds to pitch the random reader on who you are and why they should read your rants.  Go..

Have you seen the new Jordans?  Nice, but a little pricey...

<then I'd probably break into some Christopher Walken.  Imagine the impromptu cadence breaks that Walken does where you see a "....">

Look....My friends....at Benefits Buzz, they love to write....Look, your manager's uptight, there's nothing you can do to stop us, we're a mass....What are you going to do at work, listen to music?....Forget about it....you own the album....You own that record, put the headphones down, point your browser to Benefits Buzz....A peaceful assembly of benefits pros, consultants and experts...there's many in a bag...lemon, strawberry, watermelon...

2.  Now for the mundane - break down your location, title, company/firm and what you do for a living..

I'm a HR Generalist by trade.  By day, I'm a VP of HR at SourceMedical, a cool software firm dedicated to providing solutions to the outpatient surgery and therapy industries.  By night and on the weekends I'm still that, but I'm also a blogger at The HR Capitalist and Fistful of Talent.  I'm also working with the groovy team at www.workforce.com as a Contributing Editor for their community-based projects.

3.  One more question that everyone expects.  What's the reason you're in this game? (why do you do what you do?)

It's all about money, ain't a D#@* thing funny... Whoops, I was channeling a little Grandmaster Flash there... Must have picked that up off Sirius on the way in... What's the question again?  Why am I in the game?  Opening.... Sourcing.... Interview... BOOM!!! ... Great Match...  There's nowhere else you get that feeling... I'm a HR Pro by trade, but matching talent with an open slot is really the intellectual pursuit that charges my batteries and gets me through the aspects of the job that aren't as thrilling... One of the things that's critical to that match is the perceived value of our benefits package, thus the interest in Benefits Buzz.

4.  If you've ever been to a professional baseball game, you know batters from the home team get to pick their own theme music as they walk from the dugout to the plate.  If we ever have a FOT convention, what theme music will you come out to to pump the crowd up and why?

My theme music varies a lot based on what I've heard recently on my iPod that helped me get a long run complete.  Couple of things come to mind recently, followed by some classics I can always call up if I need the energy...

1. "Mono" by Courtney Love
2.  "Send the Pain Below" by Chevelle
3.  "So Far" by BuckCherry

1. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana
2. "Spoonman" by Soundgarden
3. "Machinehead" by Bush

Oddly enough, all I need is the first 30 seconds of intro for each song - no lyrics necessary... The attraction is in the 30 Second hook at the beginning....

5.  Let's stick with the baseball theme.  If you've ever been to a pro game, you also know that the visitor doesn't get to pick their own music.  The home team picks that for them, and it's usually less than stellar, as a means of attempting to crush them.  If you could pick theme music for your arch-rival to walk into a conference room to, what would it be and why?

It's gotta be "Loser" by Beck...

"In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey, butane in my veins so I'm out to get the junkie with the plastic eyeballs, spraypaint the vegetables, dog food stalls with the beefcake pantyhose..."

Official gibberish like that is a sure way to kill momentum...

6.  Finish the following sentence - "When I'm interviewing, I can tell within one minute that this thing isn't going to work out because _________..."

There's no eye contact whatsoever.  It's like candidate repellent to me.  Also, I've had a "close-talker" or two on the way in from the lobby, and that can be a deal-breaker...

7.  Name the actor/actress who will portray you in the movie about you.  Why the heck is that a fit?

I'll go with Jason Bateman from Arrested Development and more recently, Kingdom.  I think he's got a style that most approaches mine...

8.  List three of your favorite books to pander to the educated segment of our readership...

My top three from the last 2-3 years....

-JPOD by Doug Copeland - technology and generational stuff mixed together in fiction - what can go wrong?

-7 Seconds or Less by Jack McCallam - I'm a non-fiction and hoops fan, this one combines them best...

-The World is Flat by Tom Friedman - This thing is going global, baby.  Might as well have a kind soul, like Friedman, ease you into it....

9.  List three of your favorite movies to connect with the segment of our readership that doesn't like to read...

I'm going with the all-time list and not sell out to the most recent ones I've seen.  Here's the breakdown:

-Caddyshack - Judge Smails alone makes it worth buying this classic and protecting it for future generations of your family.

-The Matrix (the first one) - Even though they spit on the original with the other two, the combo of technology taking over the world with embedded spirituality themes makes this a classic.  Now I want my money back for the other two...

-Blazing Saddles - Candygram for Mongo and Sheriff Bart.  That's just money, baby...

10.  Let's reach out to what remains of our readership.  Who's your favorite Old-School Rapper and why?

I'm reading a lot of 2Pac on the other profiles, and needless to say I'm kicking it a lot more old school than that. 

Three Names....Run....DMC.....Jam Master Jay....

Run DMC - enough strength to bring rap mainstream and save the careers of Steven Tyler and Joe Perry... Need I say more?

10.5.  My first car was a <blank> and here's how it defined who I am....

Soft top Orange Jeep CJ5, with no heater in the Midwest.  Let's just say gloves weren't optional in the winter.  It defined me by making me never buy the premium model of anything.  You have three packages?  I'm taking the middle one... I'm thrilled to have it after driving a machine of death with no heater through Midwest winters.... 

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See my riffs and rants on Benefits Buzz here...

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