Tuesday January 13 was an amazing day!

Tuesday January 13, 2009, I started my computer at work and got ready for the usual workday. I am an Admission Counselor for a small Public Liberal Arts College in Durango, Colorado. Before I start working each day I browse through the news highlights. That morning I saw, like I figure everyone across the globe saw, that Tourism Queensland was advertising a new position in the Whitsunday Islands. They said it would be “the best job in the world”, an Island caretaker that would live on Hamilton Island, one of the Whitsundays, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The caretaker would be chosen through a 60 second video application.
As I read through the job description, live on the island, explore them and occasionally feed the fish, I started to get excited. This was the perfect job for me! I love the ocean, it’s the place where I feel the most at peace. Being paid to snorkel, dive and enjoy everything that the islands afford, yeah, I think I could manage to do that job.

After I read the news blurb, I tried, like most the rest of the world, to get on the Website and read more about the job. To no avail, the site would not open for me. Wednesday, I read a news line that reported the site wouldn’t open for anyone else either. Tourism Queensland has done a great job promoting the Whitsunday Islands, just by launching this job search. I read something like 13,000 visitors every 3 seconds, Tuesday, wanted to learn about the job. So I went home, with only a brief job description in-hand.

I spent Tuesday night reading the job description over and over. The thought, “this is my dream job, I have all of the skills and passion for this job, I have to apply”, kept running through my mind. My sister called me that night, after having read the email I sent her about the job. I think she was more excited than I was, she kept saying “this is perfect for you! You have to get this! I can’t wait to come and visit you in Australia!”. I went to bed Tuesday night, my head spinning over all of the ideas I had for my application video.

Wednesday, I woke up exhausted but, charged with excitement. I didn’t sleep very well Tuesday night, too many ideas and a little too excited at the possibility. Can you guess the first thing I did Wednesday? That’s right, even before starting up my Outlook, I tried to bring up “Islandreefjob.com”. Success, the site was running! I spent that first half hour of Wednesday, pouring over everything the site had to offer. FAQ’s, Job Description, Pay…that’s right, Tourism Queensland is going to pay the successful applicant $150 thousand Australian, which is something like $100 thousand US. One Hundred Thousand, for the chance to live on the islands for six months? Yeah, I think I would even consider doing it for free? No, not really, I need the money too, haven’t you heard, the economy isn’t so strong right now. So, after numerous visits to the site Wednesday, I started to think about my application. Handy I think, that at my present job, making promotional videos is something that I pioneered. The thought that keeps running through my mind is “how am I gonna effectively show Tourism Queensland and the rest of the world that I have all of the qualifications for this job and that they should choose me, in only 60 seconds?” I have some ideas on how I will make a convincing 60 second video. Subscribe to this blog and you can follow along as I turn those ideas into reality. Right now, I’m writing this from my couch in Durango, Colorado. Who knows though, with your help, in a few months, I might be writing this from the beach on Hamilton Island?