Cheezhead is Dead. Long Live Cheezhead.

I have a friend named Joel Cheesman. Do you know him? He used to write a blog called Cheezhead, which was described as the TMZ of the recruiting industry. That’s right. Everyone has a niche on the internet.

Joel left his blogging days behind and went to work for a company Jobing.

• What does Joel do for a living now that he isn’t writing on a regular basis?
• I’m not sure. We play Wordscraper and he beats me. Repeatedly.

I’ve known Joel for a few years but we met for the first time — in person — at SHRM 2008. I was a relatively new & naive writer. Joel sat me down at an impromptu booth and asked, “So, uh, you’re a human resources blogger, huh?”

I’m pretty sure he rolled his eyes and I said, “Don’t be so impressed.”

When I asked Joel what he did for a living, besides play games on Facebook, he said, “I’m kind of a big deal.”

…and so it began.

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Joel continues to be a great friend. He offers support, constructive feedback, and advice. When I first started attending these conferences, we talked at length about how to develop my brand. He also introduced me to industry professionals, and his ‘access’ helped to expand my audience.

I owe Joel big-time.

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Cheezhead is no longer covering industry gossip and TMZ-like shenanigans. Joel is doing real work that is irrelevant and boring to almost everyone in America — and thank goodness he is doing it. Someone needs to work, and I like to celebrate the fact that a fellow writer has been hired in this economy. Joel is a Senior VP who owns a few ties and wears Lacoste. He is very, very corporate. He is no longer one of us (i.e., an external influencer) and is now committed to influencing the valuation of his new company, Jobing.

So I’m putting my foot down and proclaiming the era of Cheezhead to be over. Done. Played out.

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Now that the era is over, I hope our recruiting and HR community can start to move forward and recognize new talent. We can actively support new bloggers while maintaining relationships with old friends. We can champion the cool new things that might emerge from Joel’s new gig while developing the next generation of disruptive social media experts.

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Furthermore, if I could have one Christmas wish, I’d ask Baby Jesus to make Joel very busy with his new job. I never want him to sleep. I want him to be busy, productive, and successful — and I want him super-distracted and preoccupied with recruitment technology so I can start winning some Wordscraper games, again.

I am sick of losing to a Lacoste-wearing executive. It’s humiliating.