Fame-seekers need not apply

I was off the grid for a few days doing real world things that can't be done online, like helping my youngest check out colleges. I noticed an errant tweet about someone named Steve Slater, but didn't hear the whole story about the JetBlue flight attendant who made a dramatic exit, complete with inflatable slide and beer-in-hand, after a confrontation with a passenger, until I returned to work and heard the water cooler buzz. My immediate thought was not that Slater was at a personal breaking point or that this was a sign of how unpleasant air travel has become (JetBlue is one of the better airlines for comfort, in my humble opinion as a frequent traveler). It was that Slater probably is planning his next career in the world of reality TV.  Sure enough, some of the coverage of the incident describes the feeding frenzy of journalists trying to get an interview with the rebel flight attendant. My assumption is that after he does his rounds of the interview programs, Slater will write a book or join the cast of some reality TV program or other. Maybe he can do a guest spot on Saturday Night Live spoofing the Seinfeldesque scene that he actually created, although I'm not sure how they can make it more zany than it was.

I also had read about the resignation of HP CEO Mark Hurd which was tied to expense reports which did not properly classify payments made to contractor Jodie Fisher who also recently settled a sexual harassment case against him and the company.  Although Fisher is only moderately participating in the lower wattage media frenzy about this story so far, she is a B-movie actress who did hire a very high profile, TV-loving attorney, Gloria Allred, to handle her sexual harassment suit.  As one of the articles noted, publicity of any kind typically helps a struggling actress. Stay tuned to see if she cashes in on her new-found fame, despite her public statements that she did not want Hurd to lose her job over this.

And then there is Michaele Salahi, who gate-crashed a White House reception with her husband in the fall and seemingly has been rewarded for her indiscretion by landing a starring role in the currently running "Real Housewives of D.C."  And now she's had a public dust-up with Whoopi Goldberg of The View and is garnering more publicity. What's next -- a mud wrestling match with Kelly Ripa?

Publicity stunts and bad behavior attached to high profile individuals seem to lead to publicity and lucrative offers and possibly even new careers. Andy Warhol had it wrong. He said everyone would eventually have their 15 minutes of fame. These people want 15 episodes of fame, it seems. In this type of crazy society, it seems wise for public companies to be more discriminating about the people they bring into the fold. Psychological testing is something large companies do as a matter of course when screening job candidates. It's not something I'm particularly fond of, but I can understand the reasons behind this approach. It certainly behooves savvy HR departments to screen not only Facebook, but also Twitter and other social media channels when assessing a job candidate or contractor who will be interacting with the public or working directly with top spokespeople. It also probably makes sense to check out their interest in reality TV when doing the type of behavioral interviewing that helps screeners get a good feel for how candidates will operate once they are part of a company. It may be completely harmless that someone's ambition is to be part of an Amazing Race team at some point in their lives, but it also may signal that they crave the limelight and just might pull some crazy stunt that helps get them there.