Lindsay J. Westley

I wrote three short pieces on up-and-coming designers for the Now 99 issue of Dwell, published in May 2012. Click here for digital version; pdf of pages available here.

It’s easy to see Twitter as merely a source of amusement—especially if your feed is bogged down with inane, minute-by-minute updates from friends and celebrities. After all, who cares what Nick Nolte had for breakfast or that your cousin lost her keys again?      

But Twitter can be so much more than a workday distraction. It can be a powerful career tool. More and more recruiters are turning to social media powerhouses such as LinkedIn and Twitter to find candidates and communicate open positions. Plus, with a little savvy, Twitter can be great for building your network, gaining industry know-how, and uncovering unofficial job leads.     

Before you start tweeting your beak off, though, be sure you’re up to date on Twitter etiquette.

1. Be a Pro
Your Twitter profile will be one of the first things a recruiter finds when he Googles you, so from the moment you create an account you should make sure to put your professional face forward.

The Fleming Museum, University of Vermont • Burlington, VT • www.uvm.edu/fleming • Through May 20, 2012

By turns abstract, edgy, and haunting, the photographs in Persian Visions: Contemporary Photographs from Iran fully transcend the geographic boundaries imposed by the exhibition title. These are not the images that have flashed across American television screens for the past ten years; they’re far subtler than that, muting everyday violence with digital multimedia, blurred focus, and the ever-present veil motif.

Subject matter simmers just beneath the surface, at times brought to a rolling boil by Fleming curator Aimee Marcereau DeGalan’s decision to juxtapose the contemporary prints of the traveling exhibition (toured by International Art & Artists, Washington, D.C.) with nineteenth-century photographs of the Middle East in a complementary show.

Originally appeared in the print version of Seven Days on Feb. 1, 2012.

At first glance, the 2-foot clay model doesn’t look like much. Its diamond-shaped, gridlike exterior gives it an odd, Epcot-esque quality; inside the structure’s hollowed-out core, a puzzle piece rests on a pedestal.

“It’s called ‘Inner Piece,’” explains Burlington sculptor Michael Nedell with a self-effacing grin.

Ah, that explains everything. By the end of next week, if all goes well, this visual pun will be recreated as a 12-foot-high snow sculpture in the national snow-sculpting championships at Lake Geneva, Wis. There Nedell and his two teammates, Alex Dostie and Brooke Monte, will represent Vermont and compete for the title of best snow sculptors in the country.

This will be the team’s seventh trip to the national championships. The Vermonters took home second prize in 2005 and 2007, and have consistently ranked among the top six teams. They’ve also paid two visits to the (invitation-only) international championships in Breckinridge, Colo., in 2008 and 2011.