I need to post something about recruiters: They’re helpful people who can not only do a lot of leg work for you, but also give you insight into your industry and inform you of trends, analysis and hopefully salary data.

The reason I need to post something is because we’ve received a great deal of inquiries from this profession on our UX Professionals group on LinkedIn. The inquiries range from membership to sales to actual recruiting. Some are up-front, courteous folks who, faced with a direct question, will answer to their intentions; others are not at all as honest.

The UX Professionals group on LinkedIn doesn’t currently accept membership from recruiting because many, many (85%) members have asked that we don’t allow any direct contact via the list in regards to sales or recruiting. I hope that the people in these two industries understand that the entire group is using the majority rule here and, while not to some people’s liking, is going to be in place until next quarter so that we can establish a baseline membership and collect content for an industry site.

I’d love to hear from these two audiences so that they may have their free speech heard in a public forum.

Visual Activity is now accepting submissions for a new industry site dealing directly with all UX Professionals.

We’ll consider pieces that include:

• a clear and concise topic dealing with a UX problem / resolution
• a prospective that is in your own voice (it’s not nice to “borrow without permission”)
• usable examples and tested results (regardless of their outcome)

How to Submit

Please send an e-mail with your proposed article to: uxpATvisualactivityDOTcom. Our editor will get in touch with you once she’s had a chance to review the submission and let you know whether we’ll be using your piece. If we do use it, we’ll let you know the process for publishing and get to work!

Thank you in advance and have fun with it!

After working with so many incredibly talented user experience professionals (both freelance and full-time), we decided to fully manage a for-profit professional organization called UX Professionals.

We’re excited with the opportunity that exists as UX peers assist one another through different disciplines by producing content, networking and advice to one another.

Our immediate goal is to edit our existing inaugural content for the launch of the official site on 15 August, 2008.

Meanwhile, we welcome all UX Professionals to join us on either Facebook or LinkedIn by visiting the group online.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=6651010457

http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/38178/624E5215018E

Please join us!

- Keith

I am a dog person. I like dogs because they actually tend to fare better when given commands and they’re slightly much less manipulative than felines.

In my life right now I have a very odd relationship with my two PDAs. On the one hand, I have my dog. We’ll call him BlackBerry. On the other is my cat. Let’s call her iPhone. Sound ridiculous? Hardly.

Characteristics of my dog, BlackBerry

• Reliable (thank you, Verizon).
• Loud enough to tell me that something is happening, sometimes obnoxiously so to the chagrin of officemates.
• Can keep up with my hectic schedule and willing to go where I go (again, thank you, Verizon).
• Gives off the impression that it wants to be touched and managed.

Characteristics of my cat, iPhone

• Reliable when it wants to be…
• Can not stand to be touched when it’s not in the mood.
• Never available when someone calls it; not even the owner.
• Gives off the sleek impression of something sexy that wants to be touched only to leave user frustrated.
• Can’t handle the data I try to give it, then whines when it’s not being managed well.

With the launch of the iPhone 2.0 / 3G today, I hold hope that the iPhone, which is downright fun to have, becomes more reliable and able to handle the workload. It’s not the iPhone’s fault, mind you; they’re just made that way and they’ve been partnered up with a dog of a network. (Trouble from the get-go).

AT&T needs to understand that the 3G service will only go so far to tackle the true shortcomings of any device on their network. More bars in more places? Not anywhere I’ve been in the past 3 months. Most reliable network? That goes, hands down, to Verizon.

If I were able to whisper in the ear of one Mr. Jobs, my broken record approach would be to force AT&T to look into the coverage grid as a follow-up to their recently touted 3G upgrades.

Enhanced data speed is great (and sexy), but I just missed a call from my client.

C’mon, BlackBerry, let’s get to work.

iPhone? We can play later. If you’re in the mood.