January 23, 2012 my friends made that day forever be known as Tim Sackett Day!  By January 23, 2013, those same friends thought I couldn’t take another day of celebration and honor, and decided to honor another individual but still call it Tim Sackett Day! Last year on Tim Sackett Day we honored the great Victorio Milian! So, welcome to the 5th Annual Tim Sackett Day celebration!

This year we are celebrating our first Canadian on Tim Sackett Day, the Recruiting Animal, Michael Kelemen.

I have to say when the Tim Sackett Day committee first brought up Animal’s name, I wasn’t very happy.  I think Animal is basically an asshole.  That’s when the committee reminded me that I’m basically an asshole, and it’s why I was honored to begin with.  They had a very good point.

For those who don’t know Animal, he’s original to say the least.  He took recruiting and a morning zoo radio show schtick and pushed the recruiting conversation into areas no one else would ever take it.  Not me. Not Punk Rock, Laurie Ruettimann. Not anyone in our space. He says what we all think, but are afraid to say.

So, why do I think he’s an asshole?

Animal invited me on his radio show and warned me, he doesn’t pull any punches.  He was going to come at me and challenge me about how I thought about recruiting, and wanted me to back up how I thought with very specific examples.  It ended up being Animal yelling at me for thirty minutes. Here’s the show – take a listen for yourself.

In hindsight, I wasn’t ready for the Animal show.  Animal wants controversy and conflict. It makes good radio. I didn’t bring that. I also didn’t bring a set of boobs which would have helped since Animal yells way less at the ladies on his show! He’ll disagree with that last statement, which is Animal he mostly disagrees with all statements. Laurie Ruettimann claims he’s a Teddy Bear, but she has boobs, so I discount her opinion on Animal.

Why do I think Animal is the perfect person to honor on Tim Sackett Day?

Animal loves the recruiting industry. Agree with him, disagree with him, he has an extreme passion for our profession. You have to respect that! He’s been doing this since 2004!  I didn’t even start writing for Fistful of Talent until 2008!  He basically paved the way for all of us that write and speak about recruiting in the social space.

Animal calls a spade a spade.  What he really wants is for our industry to share the great stuff, and call out the bullshit. He’s like a bullshit cop. When all these people were out three or four years ago talking about how great talent communities were, he was the first to call them out and ask them to prove it. You know what you don’t hear about anymore? Talent communities.

I think my friend John Nykolaiszyn said it best the very first time I met him (to his defense it was after a few glasses of wine):

“Tim Sackett!? Fuck you! Fuck You! Fuck You!…I love you!”

John hated that my writing challenged things he truly believed in, but also loved the fact that I made him think about things in a different way. 

That, in a nutshell, is Animal. He challenges everyone to think about what we are truly doing and saying.

Please join me in celebrating the Recruiting Animal, Michael Kelemen today! Catch him on Twitter @Animal (getting “Animal” as your twitter name also shows how far in front of the game he is!), also his website and radio show: Recruiting Animal