Help Wanted: C&EN Audience Engagement Editor

Hello, intrepid readers. Hope those of you living above the Tropic of Cancer are enjoying the start of Summer.

Though this usually falls into the Chemjobber camp, an inside source asks whether I can recommend an engaged, excited, passionate web-denizen for a newly-created role at the newsmagazine. From the horse's mouth (emphasis mine):

"We're hiring for someone to act as the 'voice of the magazine' on our social accounts, writing our newsletters, and helping us shape overall social and engagement strategies. Important would be to have someone who is comfortable with social and loves chemistry."

Wow, that sounds like the exact job I would have wanted coming out of grad school! However, I can't keep pace with the ever-changing landscape of social media* and iPhone apps. It's best left to someone, methinks, with an "always-on" mentality and a quicker set of thumbs than yours truly.

If you or someone you know are interested, please apply here.
Look forward to crossing paths with you in the Great Social Experiment.

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*Get off my lawn, you kids with yer Tencent and Snapchat and Baidu and Twitterz and Hipstergram and Skype and Facebook and Yelp and hi5 and Qzone and Friendster!

Invisibly Important

Who does more important work: The scene-stealing front man, or the patient show-runner backstage?

Sumac in Fall, 2014

Writing at the New York Times "Motherlode" blog, author David Zweig posits that, in an era of attention-grabbing occupations - Internet whiz-kids, Wall Street financiers, American Idols - the real winners may be those who select the quiet, thoughtful "enabler" roles behind the scenes. He claims that, though they may not get the glory, such "Invisibles" end up better paid and more highly satisfied with their chosen stations.

Though Zweig volunteers occupations like structural engineers or quantitative analysts, I'd offer that most important roles in scientific research belong equally on his list: Spectroscopists. Molecular modelers. Patent examiners. Grant writers. Purification staff. Procurement. Health and Safety. Administrative assistants. Graduate students.

If you get a chance today, think about the Invisibles that help your science to succeed.
And buy that mass-spec guy a beer, already!