myJambi Blog

Babysitters and Apple Pie: Part of the American Fabric

2009-08-06T13:34:00.000-07:00

I just came across this interview in the New Yorker of Miriam Forman-Brunell, the author of “Babysitter: An American History” which I thought you would all enjoy:

"The expansion of suburban communities, the influence of feminist ideals, and a rising divorce rate that drew more women into the formal economy also played a role. Unlike house cleaners, grandparents, and others who had historically provided childcare, teen-age girls became more readily available. While the rise of a commodity-based youth culture provided girls with a financial incentive to babysit, the expectation that, as females, girls are naturally maternal diminished parent-employers’ apprehensions about hiring teen-age girls."

Also, since I know we talked about the role of male babysitters in light of Lisa Belkin's comments, I thought this point was worth highlighting:

"I was surprised to learn of the number of boy babysitters before the nineteen-sixties, and that they were depicted as more competent, reliable, and responsible than girls at babysitting. From the Great Depression to the New Millennium, Henry Aldrich, Donald Duck, Archie Andrews, Tom & Jerry, Carl the Dog, and numerous other males who babysat on radio and TV shows, in cartoons, and in children’s books, were unfailingly portrayed as helpful heroes. As such, they bolstered the more unfavorable view of teen-age girls as irresponsible, irrational, and unreliable, despite the fact that, in reality, teen-age girls are the least likely to perpetrate crimes against children in their care."

Enjoy the rest of the article here!

Or go ahead and buy a copy of her book:
Babysitter: An American History

What texting while driving can teach us? Get some help!

2009-07-28T23:51:00.000-07:00

We know that many of our users fit into the category of people who are just trying to fit a little too much into their every day schedule. And if you're like me, you end having to continuously multitask--which often includes the popular technique of texting while driving.

Well, our friends at the New York Times just put out a a little game so we can all better understand just how bad a driver we become when we start trying to get those text messages sent off while we're still behind the wheel. If you haven't seen it yet, you should definitely check it out.

Once you have, if you're like me (and apparently like the average user having tried it out before me), you'll be feeling as though their point was made pretty clearly... Maybe we should all take the hint and get some help.

So before you get in your car again with a million things on your mind that you just have to get done, hire one of our great personal assistants and get him/her to take a few things off your plate so you can at least wait until you get out of the car to start texting again.

Going abroad? Don't let food allergies stop you

2009-07-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

For those of you planning on going abroad in the next few months, we hope you'll take advantage of one of our great language tutors. Whether you want to learn the basics or you need a quick refresher, nothing better than a few one-on-one sessions to get you prepared before your trip.

For those of you learning the basics, we know it's not easy. And we definitely know how stressful it can be if you have a food allergy and you're still not quite confident in your skills (or at least confident enough to always get the wording exactly right). So we thought you'd be interested in maybe getting some help from the people at selectwisely.com. They can get you a food card in more than few languages so you can let anyone know what it is that you can or can't eat and that way you can focus on more important vocabulary with your tutor.

Happy travels to all!

Modern day babysitting (it's for everyone)

2009-07-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

So we're back after having spent the last few months putting together some new plans for myJambi that we will be releasing over the next 8 weeks. We are incredibly excited about them and hope you will enjoy them too!

In the meantime, we'll be sure to highlight items we come across that we hope will help you more easily and efficiently buy and sell services. As always, please keep the feedback coming and don't hesitate to let us know if you'd be interested in contributing a piece or if there is something you think we should be talking about.

To get things started again, I thought you'd enjoy Lisa Belkin's piece from last week on her recent adventures in childcare (hopefully next time Lisa needs some childcare help, she'll check out our NY babysitter booker:)). The new economy definitely seems to be leading more and more people to consider part-time work--we hear it every day from our users.

Men Answering My Childcare Ad
By LISA BELKIN

I posted an ad on Craigslist this week and found myself in the new economy.

With my older son leaving for college soon, I need to hire afternoon help, someone to drive my younger son from school and to activities, and to do cleaning and shopping and errands to round out the job. It has been more than a year since I last looked to hire for a position like this, and I expected many of the changes out there — more people answering the ad, willing to work for less money, bringing experience that far exceeds the job requirements.

What I didn’t expect was the number of men who’ve applied.

See the rest of the article

Guest blog: Anita S. interviews myJambi user Jennifer

2009-02-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

Things have been crazy in a good way around here. From a plane landing in the Hudson River here in NYC, to the estimated 2+ million people who attended the inauguration of President Barack Obama (we get to call him that now!) there certainly is a special feeling in the air. Not a single person was arrested during the entire procession. I am still amazed and so proud of the message that people are sending across the world.

As we move forward as a nation, I'm reminded that we all need to stay active to make a small difference to help our country and our people. Jennifer, a myJambi user from my hometown of Milwaukee, WI is an ambitious spirit. She is our featured user of the month. For more information, check out her profile.

So Jennifer, tell us a bit about yourself.
I am 24 years old, currently living in Milwaukee, WI. I am a single mom to a 9 month old girl. I am going back to school for nursing. I
eventually want to get into medical school. I have a variety of skills and interests from music to art to photography.

How did you find out about myJambi?
I had been trying to find jobs in where I can work at home and during my own hours because of my newborn. While on Facebook, I
stumbled onto a link for myJambi and the rest was history.

What inspired you to join?
Seeing how unique and inventive it was compared to other sites. I've seen sites like Craiglist, etc.. but I never heard replies from people
and I never found something I could do. myJambi was a great place to connect with others as well as to help one another out.
I have a variety of services. Why did I chose so many? I honestly love helping people. I love meeting new people. All the
services that I have chosen meets both of those. I love being a part of something important to someone else. Make someones life a little bit easier.

Have you hired myJambi users in the past?
No, I haven't yet. It seems like a lot of people using myJambi are around the New York area. So that makes things a bit difficult. I would love to see myJambi more nationwide. I think others will highly benefit from the services from the site.

What other sites besides myJambi do frequent?
Well I am frequently on facebook. I also use gonannies.com. I just recently got into blogger.com. I just love blogging.

Anything else you'd like us to know?
I am still looking to help anyone who doesn't mind a long distance service. I've done CDs and made a cheese list for people in New York. I am willing to work something out and I am very creative.

In the spirit of change and giving, I'm curious to hear what activities you are up to. How do you plan to stay active and involved in 2009? Comment below!

Want to be featured on the myJambi blog? Got a cool service you want to promote? Talk to use below in the comments! You can also just say hello. We love to hear from you.

-Anita

Searching for myJambi

2009-01-28T06:00:00.000-08:00

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can make a big difference to the success of a young site like ours. We've been looking for ways to increase our own search engine performance, but like many start-ups, we wanted to find an affordable way to do it. Of course, we could always buy help ourselves out by buying key words on Google searches via AdWords, but that can get pricey, particularly as you go for highly competitive keywords, such as "babysitters New York" or "SAT Tutoring." We also didn't want to go the Black Hat SEO route and engage in any frowned-upon search engine tactics: that doesn't seem like an effective long-term solution.

So what can a start-up like myJambi with limited resources do? We identified a few steps to take.

First, at a tech networking event here in New York, we met John Murch of SEODrop. The site is still in stealth mode, but John was kind enough to come to our office and run us through what he does. That initial presentation was very helpful and John has continued to be a valuable resource for the myJambi marketing team along the way. We've also integrated the SEODrop reporting into our weekly metrics update.

As an easy second step, we signed up to Google Webmaster. This allowed us to get a better idea of how Google viewed us and gave us the opportunity to submit a site map. That definitely seems like an easy and obvious step in the quest for search engine domination (yeah, right –- but hey! We're trying).

Inbound links from other websites to ours can be incredibly valuable in improving PageRank and search engine standing, so we've been working on getting listed on various directories. Here, our rookie mistake was to (wrongly) assume that commenting on blogs and forums would count in terms of boosting the number of inbound links Google would recognize. We soon learned that this was not the case - these are known as "no follow" links, and they do not help you page ranking. An apology is in order here to our spectacular intern Daphne for wasting her precious work hours.

We started paying attention to the keywords we use in the meta data section of the major pages on myJambi. Not only did we take a good look at the keywords we're choosing for own site, but we also did a rudimentary analysis of other interesting sites in our space. Simply by clicking View and then View Page Source, we identified keyword patterns, such as whether there was an average number of keywords we should aim for, whether we should worry about misspellings, which words to emphasize. We found that there are no rules -- we saw a whole variety of approaches. Some had many keywords, some were more restricted. Some anticipated visitors typing in the wrong name, some did not. We decided to go for a middle ground - we would include some misspellings in the future and increase the number of keywords.

Another trick we picked up on is that the first keywords always have the most value and that their value diminishes the more keywords you add. So if you have 10 keywords, the first is much more powerful than the last. That means that we tried to figure out ways to move the most important or relevant words for that page to the top of the list. This would involve some restructuring, some of which is still to come, but we think it's probably worth it.

There's some controversy over the extent to which relevant key words in your meta tags influence your search engine standings. (In general, there is a wealth of literature out there on search engine optimization and not seldom does one renowned author contradict another, leaving newcomers somewhat bewildered.) However, it's also pretty widely acknowledged that spending some time on your meta tag keywords won't ever hurt your site and can only help. Yahoo, for instance, is reported to still pay attention to key words.

This is particularly true if key words featured in the meta tags are repeated on the actual web page, which brings us to what we think is going to be our most important SEO initiative by far: relevant landing pages. Currently, myJambi does not have many landing pages that are focused by location and service category – rather, most of our search and browse pages to date are general results pages that are then filtered down by our users according to what they are specifically looking for. However, in the future we will be introducing a number of targeted landing pages for people looking for child care in New York or language tutoring in the Bay Area. It's going to be a good chunk of work, but we think this will help us a lot when it comes to optimizing our site for search engines.

In sum, there is a ton to learn in this field and we have only scratched the surface. However, the golden rules seem to be to have relevant content, choose your keywords carefully, and try and get inbound links from trusted, relevant sites. If you follow these, even broadly, you'll be on the right track. We're not SEO experts, but we know a lot more now than we did when we started.

Explore myJambi in a new way: See what's out there and get inspired

2009-01-17T15:28:00.000-08:00

As the year gets started, we're offering our users a new way to explore myJambi.

Click on the explore link in the top nav and you'll get taken to the new standard view of all our listings. This new view will provide you with the basic information (price, location and BIGGER photos which seem to be a #1 request) so you can get an easy feel for all the different opportunities in your area and in your network in a simple and structured way.

Once you've narrowed things down a bit you can then hop over to the advanced view and find the perfect match by taking advantage of the advanced filters; maybe you're looking for a specific price, a user with a certain rating, or you just need to make sure that the person you want to work with can make it on a specific day.

We've also tried to help you out a bit by creating some pages that we hope will inspire you as you try to make the most of myJambi. Are you a parent looking to get some help around the house? Take a look at our 'For parents' page. Need to get a gift for a loved one? Visit our 'Gift Ideas' page. Need a break? Treat yourself to the one of the services on the 'Just for me' page.

As you know, we try to make changes to the myJambi site every week or two to build the site that fits your needs but we can only stick to that promise by getting your honest feedback on a regular basis so be sure to keep it coming.

Happy exploring and happy new year from the entire myJambi team!

Finding help you can trust

2009-01-15T12:24:00.000-08:00

As you probably know by now, myJambi helps you tap into your trusted network of friends and colleagues to buy and sell services. We understand that it's hard to find reliable people. If you're like us, you've probably tried using other sites and had some weird experiences. Sometimes that doesn't matter too much - if you're buying a hat from a myJambi service provider and it comes in a slightly different color than you ask for, it's annoying but nobody got hurt. If you hire a babysitter to look after your kids and they don't show up at the right time, it probably will matter quite a lot.

Every week, more of our users get rated by other users. You can read those ratings and see who you can trust. We at the myJambi team also like to keep an eye out to make sure that our users are matched up with each other. If you have something in mind that you'd like to get done or a service you'd like to offer but you haven't found someone appropriate, let us know - we're happy to help you by reaching out on your behalf. You can email us at kristina@myjambi.com.

JAMBI 2009!

2008-12-31T11:53:00.000-08:00

Holiday Joy from Ai

2008-12-29T12:34:00.000-08:00

We got a holiday card from our favorite dev team! How cute are they?

Interviewing Susan

2008-12-29T08:56:00.000-08:00

Hey myJambi Readers!

Yes, yes! Slush season in NYC has actually turned into winter over the past weeks and we couldn't be more grateful. The holiday spirit is in the air, the trains are half empty and the office seems a little lonely. It almost makes us want to savor this pace of life in New York City…almost. We are headed off on a bit of vacation and you probably are too so kick back and check out our latest interview with myJambi user Susan.

So tell us, how did you find out about myJambi?

Through exploring the "inter-webs" on downtime from schoolwork. It may have been been through an article I read online (possibly TechCrunch) that mentioned it.

What inspired you to join?

The concept behind myjambi was so intriguing, how conveniently it was set up (the aesthetic appeal of the user interface was also a definite plus). It was mostly out of curiosity and wanting to play an active role in building a professional network and gaining experience. The whole package was just so neat! :)

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I'm working on a 3D animation/VFX degree in San Francisco. I like that it merges technology with traditional art. I also enjoy piano. Moved here from Alaska a few years ago (big change) where I grew up. Miss the snow, but not enough to live with it 6 months out of the year, lol. It's certainly a more pleasant experience not worrying about falling on sidewalks layered with ice. Other random information: I've had moose jump in the backyard and eat my plants; currently live in a seedy apartment in the Tenderloin surrounded by the "living out of a cardboard box" community (along with other eccentric personalities). It makes for interesting dinner conversation, lol.

I noticed you currently a mixed bag of different services. Why did you chose these services?

I wanted to broaden the spectrum of skills offered. I didn't want to have limitations because of the single-track emphasis of my major. I have a variety of hobbies, and wanted to pursue those interests outside of school. I also wanted to gain as much professional experience as possible before going out into the working world.

Have or would you hire others on myJambi?

It was a great experience working with fellow myJambi . Based on such a personable and friendly environment the myJambi community is, I would definitely hire a provider from the site!

What other sites besides myJambi are you frequenting these days?

Let's see- Craigslist, Lifehacker, thesixtyone, and SF0 are a few.

What do you think of the myJambi mascot?

It's quite whimsical :)

Anything else you want to include or let us know about?

Please don't hesitate to check out my website if you have the time(a W.I.P.) susatron.com

P.S.- We don't all have Palin's accent (it's just her) :)

Success with myJambi

2008-12-26T06:28:00.000-08:00

Sometimes we hear about how myJambi has changed our user's lives for the better. Whether they're the thirsty show presenter parched-no-more due to a nifty coffee delivery, or the formerly cold-headed urbanite now warmed up from a hat knitted by a myJambi user, we love finding out about how the site has made a difference to you.

We were particularly excited to hear back from Elisa V., a myJambi user based out in Los Angeles, CA. A few months ago, Elisa had posted a few wants on myJambi. She was looking for multiple talents – a personal chef to rustle up tasty meals for her family, a nanny to help take care of her kids, and some help around the house. The myJambi Team decided to play matchmaker and reached out to myJambi users and other friends to find someone who could help Elisa. But we couldn't choose just anyone. The person had to be reliable enough to be trusted with her kids, and talented enough to make enticing meals, not to mention the helping around the house part. One of the people we reached out to was Hailey Messina. Hailey had listed her services on the site and there was an overlap – she had posted an offer as a personal chef and was great with kids.

Hailey went along to meet Elisa and they got on famously. Hailey was delighted to be able to leave her job at Starbucks to help out Elisa and her family. They've been working together for over 6-months and everything has worked out great.

This was just one of many success stories from myJambi. If you have had a positive experience on the site, let us know. We'd love to hear about it and maybe even share it with the world.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOUNDER KRISTINA!

2008-12-11T13:31:00.001-08:00

How to plan a (holiday) party

2008-12-08T15:13:00.000-08:00

Holiday season is upon us and many of you might be wondering how you're going to celebrate, particularly when costs are being cut left, right, and center. If you're in the mood for a party but your office has decided not to throw one, or you'd like to plan one but don't want all the effort, think again. myJambi has put together a step-by-step guide on how to throw a great party...for cheap. We haven't perfected the art but we think we do a pretty good job.

Step 1. What do you want to achieve?

Write down your goals. Is this a get together and you just want people to have fun? Are you trying to market a product? If so, how will throwing a party help you? Do you want to find a great place where your friends can dance, or you want some karaoke and mingling? Deciding what you want to achieve will help you to plan the rest of your event.

Step 2. Establish a budget

Attempting to budget is money, particularly for larger parties. It's a good idea to set yourself targets. You should sub-categorize food & drink, entertainment, transport (if applicable) and any other relevant categories or costs you might incur. You're likely to find that things pop up out of nowhere, so if you're concerned about keeping the budget on truck, make sure to project your expenses conservatively.

Step 3. Choose a date

It's hard to plan anything unless you have a date. Think about the kind of event you want vis-a-vis a night of the week. If you're doing a work networking event, you might not want to drag your co-workers out on a Saturday or Sunday night. They probably have better things to do (even if you don't). Likewise, you probably don't want to have a boozefest or a late night gig in the middle of the week or on an uncool night like Monday or Wednesday (Thursday is great, Tuesday is second best). It never hurts to reach out to one or two of the people you would like to invite and get their feedback.

Step 4. Choose a venue

Price and availability will likely be the two main factors in determining your venue (tell me some more and we might send some kind of award). Book early to ensure you get the right choice. If you're serving drinks somewhere other than a bar, make sure that's ok with the owner. You also need to check that you can have enough set-up and clean up time before and after the event. Try and visit at least three venues so you can get some perspective about the costs involved. Once you have settled on one place, why not see if you can move the price in your favor? It's always worth asking. Any money knockedd off can either be saved or re-allocated towards other costs.

Step 5. The details

As you have probably figured out by now, there are many details that need to be arranged for any party, and these will vary widely depending on what type of event you organize. You can hire a planner, like one of those listed on myJambi or do everything yourself. If you can, visit the venue and mentally map out where everything will be. Thank about how much help you'll need before, during, and after the event. Write a list of everything and work backwards from the event date in order to establish deadlines of what needs to be done when. Some elements of planning need longer lead-time than others. The more planning done in advance, the less stressful everything will be on the day of the event. You might decide to order food. We used a great chef named Paul Chisholm. Then there's the music - you can use itunes and make your own list, try Pandora if you have a laptop around, or even try hiring a music expert to make the mixtape for you. Do you need waiters?

Step 6. The guests

Try and get invites out early. One month is a necessary timeline for many busy people. If you can, send out both email and mail invitations. An experienced organizer from the conference industry once told me that the average no-show rate is 10% on the day, so you should invite at least 10% more people than you have capacity for. If you know your guests (and the weather isn't terrible on the day) you can follow that rule, but if you don't know them, expect the "attending" rate to be a lot lower and you should consider inviting up to 30% more people than capacity allows. Follow up as often as is necessary and make sure to set the RSVP date to give you enough time to plan.

Step 7. The day of the event

Try and have a plan of action for set-up, taking into account how much help you have. If you're having anything delivered to the venue, make sure someone is on-site to receive the deliveries. It's good to try and arrive at the venue as soon as you are allowed to in order to check out everything is as agreed. If you have people helping you, make sure you communicate clearly what you need them to achieve so that everyone is used efficiently.

Step 8. The party

Have fun. Assign someone to keep an eye on everything (or do it yourself): are there enough drinks? Plentiful food? etc

Step 9. The cleanup

At the end of the night, when every one has gone home, the last thing you're going to want to do is clean up. If you've rented out a bar or some other venues, you probably can join your guests and slip away. If you're not that lucky, you're going to have to de-trash the venue. You can get assistance from hired help. You can minimize after the party by being strategic throughout the night with bin placement and keeping everything neat and tidy.

Step 10. Follow-up

If your event was in any way business related, it's always great to follow up afterwards. Thank everyone for coming via email.

4 ways to bring costs down:

1. Negotiate everything: the venue, any vendor costs. Do your research, compare costs, then fight for a great price
2. Get sponsors. Don't pay for alcohol/food/music when some companies will provide you with free materials in order to demo their product
3. Create a good budget - look at where your spending ahead of time and make sure your priorities are right
4. Do things ahead of time. The later you leave everything, the more expensive it gets.

Friday Serenade for Daphne

2008-12-05T12:44:00.000-08:00

We had quite the Friday afternoon. We celebrated Daphne, our unbelievable intern, every way we knew how. First, there was Tiffin Wallah, then there was cupcakes, and then there was this:

myJambi Song from Nellwyn Thomas on Vimeo.

Ethan, a songwriter (among many other things), wrote this lovely myJambi song. Can you match his style? Send us a video with your rendition of Ethan's lyrics. The best video wins $50 and a spot in our heart (or at least Nell's Vimeo account). Hop to it!

myJambi is for scrubbing floors and busting rhymes
myJambi is for fixing kitchen sinks on time
myJambi is for witty ads with puns or guided tours
Learning French or math or harpsichord
So much help for you to find

If the rat race is sucking the life out of you
Sign up here to show the world what you can do
myJambi connects freelancers with people who expect
To pay for help with all types of projects
And you'll work on your own time

If you're worried that business here might be unsound
Don't be worried since cheaters here don't stick around
myJambi ensures buyer get at least what they paid for
It's a place that you should not ignore
myJambi dot com online

Congratulations to our iPod Winner!

2008-12-02T11:43:00.000-08:00

myJambi congratulates Jillian on winning a brand new iPod Nano as part of our Fall promotion. Here's a picture of Jillian enjoying her prize. Sign up today and you could win $250 worth of JetBlue Gift Cards to jet off somewhere sunny this winter.

Army of Darkness

2008-11-24T14:24:00.001-08:00

Last month, Josh Cain was featured as the Xbox Expert in residence at our launch party. He was so happy with the poster we made for him, he decided to frame it. Here it is alongside one of his proudest possessions, a signed Bruce Campbell photograph from cult movie Army of Darkness.

myJambi is very proud to be featured alongside a true cinematic classic.

"This holiday season, give the gift of"... learning!

2008-11-19T11:37:00.000-08:00

Subsequent to my previous post, our eagle-eye colleague Nell spotted another interesting post in this week's New York Magazine. Turns out that out of 182 random people interviewed on their choice of holiday gift, 13 wanted to be given lessons as a present for Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa... or just because. I quote:

"They asked for classes in: modeling, Spanish, dance, surfing, cooking, tap-dancing, kayaking, photography, computers, Web design, driving, yoga, Pilates, printmaking, sculpture, and painting."

Well, for all of you starting to think about gifts right now, myJambi can sure help out on this one. We have Spanish tutors, dance instructors, cooking instructors, surfing coaches, photography teachers, yoga instructors, web design gurus, computer tutors and art instructors ... and many more. So, if you're looking to surprise someone with a creative and useful present, look no further than the myJambi lessons section!

myJambi gets a mention in NY Mag...

2008-11-19T11:27:00.000-08:00

...it's a very, very tiny note indeed, but we're still thrilled, as NY Mag just happens to be several of our staffers' favorite magazine. Sorry for the blurry picture -- iPhone cameras aren't the greatest.

xoxo,

the myJambi team

PS: by popular demand: here is the link to the original post, which talks about to keep up a New York lifestyle on a budget (hint: personal trainers, cleaners, babysitters on myJambi charge very reasonable rates), and here to the comment mentioning myJambi, posted by a NY Mag reader.

Guest post: Blogger Anita interviews...herself!

2008-11-17T21:31:00.000-08:00

Hey myJambi blog readers! This week's post is a bit of a departure from our usual user interviews. I am sort of going to interview myself, which is a bit odd I realize. It's more of a long overdue introduction, but better late than never! Thanks to Kristina for suggesting I do a post from my perspective. So here it goes...

Hello. My name is Anita and this is a little bit about me.

How did you find out about myJambi?

I had been searching for job postings on Facebook, a section I have never been able to find since. (Does anyone know if they still have this feature?) During my search, myJambi popped up so I hopped over to their site to see what they were about.

What inspired you to join?

When I got to the myJambi site, I liked the visual appeal and also how easy to was to sign up. From there I keep surfing around, checking out other service providers and I learned a bit more about the company. I updated my profile with things I love to do and figured why not offer them as a service. Since I was career shifting, I figured it could help me make a little extra money.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Let's see. My life has been exciting in the twenty some years I've been around – well to me at least and I feel there is so much more to go! I grew up in the Midwest, went to college and majored in Biology. I didn't really like it much, so I tacked on a Sociology major, which I loved. I got an undergraduate job that really opened my eyes to the social issues on my campus and inspired me to join Teach for America. I moved out to New York City and taught Biology for the last few years. It gave me an appreciation for the sciences and for kids that I didn't have before. My post college identity has been pretty much been defined by my career as a teacher. Now that I am not in the classroom, I am trying to find a new way.

I am currently working in new media and mobile marketing. I love that it matches up with my passion for technology. All this transitioning has given me some real time to think about the future and make some long term goals. I even started a bike culture site, Brooklyn By Bike that I hope to grow into more of a collaborative bike touring site over time.

I noticed you currently offer different services. Why did you choose these services?

I have a lot of different hobbies and passions and I feel like I want to do hundreds of things with my life. MyJambi is great because I picked a few things that I love to do and offered them as services on the site - dog walking because I have a shelter dog that I've been working really hard to train and I am actually seeing progress - food guru because I love to cook and learn more about local ingredients.

You could list your services on other website, why choose myJambi?

I love myJambi because the people who run the site really care. They are so excited about you joining and about making sure you have a great experience. Like I mentioned in a previous post, one of the first things I do when I learn about a new site is find out about the people who run it. It's important for me to have some type of relationship with the people I interact with online and I feel like myJambi provides just that.

Have or would you hire others on myJambi?

Well, I have obviously worked for the folks at myJambi and I definitely will use other providers on the site as needs arise.

What do you think of the myJambi mascot?

I put this question in here because the mascot is possible the cutest ever.

So that's me, Anita, in a snapshot, the person who might interview you in the future. Nice to meet you.

Want to be featured on the myJambi blog? Got a cool service you want to promote? Talk to use below in the comments! You can also just say hello. We love to hear from you. Until next time….

-Anita

A few Awesome features for Autumn

2008-11-11T13:23:00.000-08:00

Over the last couple weeks we've been making changes to give you the ability to more easily create offers and wants and to more easily find content on myJambi. This is just a first step--in the coming weeks we will be retooling your home and profile and providing a more user-friendly browse view. But enough with what's coming down the road, let's tell you a bit about some of the changes that you can already take full advantage of...

We heard you asking for easier ways to see all the services people are offering or wanting in any given location and took a first step in that direction by adding "ALL OFFERS" and "ALL WANTS" links to the main browse pages.

So you now can see all those talented providers who are near you or scroll through all the jobs that are currently being sought on myJambi.

In addition to providing you with easier ways to find content, we also wanted to help you create content. With the new create widget (which is at the top of all your offers and wants, as well as your profile and home), you can just start typing the name of the service you want to list and an auto-complete list will pop down to help you appropriately categorize the service.

Need some inspiration? You can now try out our new "All Categories" page and see all the possible categories that one can choose from on myJambi. After we launched the widget and this new page, I randomly stumbled upon the wine instructor category browsing through all the categories. I had completely forgotten about it and am looking forward to posting a want for an instructor in the near future.

And before I conclude and give you a chance to try out some of these tools (if you haven't already), the other thing we added to the create widget and that I want to be sure to highlight is the "Availability" tab. As its name suggests, this will make it even easier for you to update your calendar on myJambi to more efficiently tell potential clients when you might be free any given week.

Enjoy and, as always, don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions, feature requests, or feedback!

myJambi Party, Part Deux – Parte Due – Parte Dos – Parte Dois

2008-11-09T22:36:00.000-08:00

As you’ve already heard, myJambi threw a party a little while ago, and while we don’t like tooting our own horn too much, we think the event was pretty fun. Thanks to the crowd that turned out despite the ugly NYC autumn weather. The invite-only shindig took place in a fabulous Union Square loft. A shout-out to Kelly K. and Janine D., the owners, is in order here. They were fabulous to work with and endured our many recurring pre-event visits to ideate, envision, measure, allocate, … -- thanks!

I just received the party photos from our event photographer, Sarah B., who did a wonderful job capturing the spirit of the evening. The event truly showcased what myJambi is all about – what’s gotten us excited and thrilled to work here for the last two years, and what still gets us up every morning.

A number of incredibly talented, friendly and professional service providers showed off their skills in a variety of different workshops that were offered throughout the evening. We made funky jewelry with Galina K. and learned how to knit mittens with Loretta M., just in time for winter.

Mari an ne L. and Samuel A. co-taught us how to stay out of trouble in Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Adrienne O’Keefe, yoga instructor, instructed us in the art of the downward dog (although my personal favorite remains the corpse pose -- lying flat). The two Joshes taught us how to whip up delicious lychee martinis and look “super-cool” doing it and started us on our quest to become true guitar heroes.

With all of this activity, we sure worked up an appetite, but fortunately, master personal chef Paul C. was on hand displaying his crepe-making skills and supplying us with the delicious by-products of his demonstration. The caramelized apple and whipped creme fraiche crepe was our personal favorite! Last not but least, Barbara U., babysitter extraordinaire with an Italian accent to die for, took care of any little ones in attendance.

All night long, our “matchmaker wall” matched up service buyers looking for trustworthy help and talented service providers looking to share and sell their skills. Among our attendees, matches were made in Photoshop tutoring, handyman services, office assistance, love letter writing and guided bike tours.

In short, it was a very fun evening. We re-connected with good friends and made new ones in the talented and interesting people who attended.

A special thanks to our sponsor, Christiania Vodka – and an extra, extra special thanks to the great team who made it all happen.

Kristina

Guest post: Anita S. interviews Jasmine L., woman of many hats

2008-11-08T14:41:00.000-08:00

Hey myJambi blog readers! Between the nice weather and the leaves changing in Prospect Park here in NYC, I forgot all about my computer screen for the last few days. I encourage all of you to do a bit of the same, but not before you read our latest user interview!

We are back this week with an interview from myJambi user Jasmine Lovelstzy, a myJambi user with many interesting service offers and wants. She's a filmmaker, a designer, and a chef. She's also looking for someone to help her with her expense reports and with the video game she's developing. Talk about wearing many hats! Jasmine commented on our last interview piece with such enthusiasm that we just had to know more.

So tell us, how did you find out about myJambi?

Being an extremely visual person, I love clicking on interesting and innovative ads that catch my eye. When the myJambi ad popped up on Facebook, I was diving into all the different pages myJambi had to offer.

What inspired you to join?

I would say two main things – one, myJambi account was very easy and fast to set up. And two, I can see photos of friends and people that I may be doing business with instead of the usual dry information.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Actually, this is why I adore myJambi. As a multi-dimensional person, I love doing many different things - something my former education never supported. I realized this when I was nine years old. I came home from my last day of school and told my mother I did not want to go to school anymore. I wanted to be an artist who designed and made films. But being born into a family of engineers, lawyers and professors, I received zero support. Eventually, though, I made a commitment to revolutionize education by creating a university for visual people. That’s what I’m working on right now. You can check the pre-alpha site at www.LightSourceUniversity.org. In any case, myJambi supports my desire to showcase the multiple dimensions of who I am and what I can do.

I noticed you currently a mixed bag of different services. Why did you choose these services?

Right now I have lots of different things that I have done. It is a great way to share services and to meet different people. Later I will narrow it down and focus it more on film, design, publishing and my signature smoothie.

You could list your services on other website, why choose myJambi?

It feels like a family here. I've had the pleasure of meeting the founders, who are very down to earth, and they all have open hearts and are willing to help. It makes a difference to me. I like the sense of a community and I can easily see using myJambi as my daily/weekly calendar so people can see what I am currently doing.

Have or would you hire others on myJambi?

I have, and it was of great help. Robin Wyllie came and took care of some office tasks I had sitting in the corner for months. I love that it's no longer occupying my mind. I'm looking forward to finding more ways we can all help each other with our projects and can keep things moving forward.

What do you think of the myJambi mascot?

Awww, so cute… wanna fly?

Big thanks to Jasmine for her time and enthusiasm! Want to be featured on the myJambi blog? Got a cool service you want to promote? Talk to use below in the comments! You can just say hello as well! Until next time….

-Anita

myJambi's Halloween Pumpkin

2008-11-03T11:37:00.000-08:00

Hope you all had a great Halloween weekend!
(thanks vidugiris for this pumpkin carving tool--I apparently need to work on my carving skills)

myJambi Celebrates Halloween & Mourns the Loss of One of Our Own

2008-11-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Halloween. It was also Evan's last day in the office.

This is a sad day for myJambi: We are losing one of the best developers, and people, we know. There isn't a part of the site that Evan hasn't touched and improved, and there isn't a YouTube video he hasn't sent us. He leaves myJambi a better website, and for that, we thank him.

So, yesterday, we sent him out the only way we could -- in style.

We wish Evan all the best on his new path. Good luck on Tuesday, Mrs. Palin, and beyond.

We'll miss you Evan.