Mission Statement, Posting Guidelines & Other General Info

[ModSammy]

Posting Guidelines

We're happy to have you visit us and want you to know that we appreciate your contribution and your participation in the forums of mikeroweWORKS.com.

We kindly ask that you review the "FAQ" on the shaded bar near the top of your screen, as well as the Terms & Conditions of the website. Please understand that we reserve the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread as deemed necessary.

We'd like to specifically point out that any material deemed to be defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, harassing, threatening, obscene, sexually-oriented, and invasive of a person's privacy or violates any laws will be removed.

Thank you and enjoy the mikeroweWORKS Water Cooler!



List of Careers in the Trades
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• Agriculture/agricultural sciences
• Air transportation services
• Animal training
• Aquaculture operations and production management
• Architectural drafting
• Auto/automotive body repair
• Building/property maintenance and management
• Business machine repair
• Cabinet making and millworking
• Carpentry
• Civil/structural drafting
• Clothing, apparel, and textile work and management
• Commercial garment and apparel services
• Commercial photography
• Communication systems installation and repair
• Computer installation and repair
• Conservation and renewable natural resources
• Construction trades
• Cosmetology
• Crop production operations and management
• Custodial services
• Dietician assistance
• Diving (Professional)
• Drafting
• Dry cleaning and laundering (Commercial)
• Electrician
• Engineering
• Fire protection
• Fishing technology/commercial fishing
• Food services/Hospitality
• Forestry
• Graphic and printing equipment operation
• Greenhouse operations and management
• Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration
• Home furnishings and equipment installation and consultation
• Horticulture services operations and management
• Industrial design
• Industrial machinery maintenance and repair
• Instrument calibration and repair
• Landscaping operations and management
• Locksmithing and safe repair
• Machinist/machine technology
• Major appliance installation and repair
• Marine maintenance and ship repair
• Masonry and tile setting
• Mechanical drafting
• Nursery operations and management
• Ornamental horticulture operations and management
• Painting and wall covering
• Plumbing and pipe fitting
• Precision metal working
• Roofing
• Sheet metal working
• Shoe, boot, and leather repair
• Small engine mechanical and repair services
• Stationary energy sources installation and operation
• Tool and die making/technology
• Transportation and materials moving
• Vehicle and equipment operation
• Vehicle and mobile equipment mechanical and repair services
• Watch, clock, and jewelry repair
• Water transportation services
• Welding
• Window treatment making and installation
• Woodworking
• Any trade we've inadvertently missed

[ModSammy]

My name is Mike Rowe and I'm the creator and executive producer of a TV show on The Discovery Channel called Dirty Jobs. Dirty Jobs is a show about hard work. It has no plot, no script, and no actors. Its central figure is an untrained apprentice (me) who travels the country, looking for people who aren't afraid to get dirty. Turns out, the list is longer than I thought.

I've poured steel in St. Louis, cut timber in Tennessee, and hauled garbage in Chinatown. I've mined for coal in Pennsylvania, and drilled for oil in Louisiana. I've fished for crab on The Bering Sea, and raised maggots in Idaho. I've painted the tops of our highest bridges, and plumbed the depths of our lowest sewers. I've paved highways, resurfaced runways, and helped rebuild a railroad. Now, after five years and 200+ apprenticeships, I've come to the undeniable conclusion that people with dirty jobs are holding this country together, and in the process, are having a lot more fun than the rest of us.

As lessons go, it's not the only one I've learned from Dirty Jobs, but it's definitely the most relevant, especially today. The traditional notions of Hard Work are under siege. Hollywood gives us one-dimensional stereotypes and American Idols. Madison Avenue tells us every few minutes that happiness and leisure go hand in hand. And Silicon Valley has provided a shiny new toolbox that has no need for shovels or hammers. As manufacturing jobs vanish into thin air, we tell our kids that the toll on the road to prosperity is nothing short of a four-year degree, and now, we've become so accustomed to seeing manual labor portrayed as drudgery, that the sight of people working their butts off while actually enjoying themselves is almost confusing. Unfortunately, in redefining the meaning of a “good job,” we've simultaneously marginalized the very occupations that make polite society possible, and the fallout from this nonsense is serious.

Trade school enrollments are chronically down. Our infrastructure is crumbling around us. Welders, carpenters, pipe fitters, plumbers, steamfitters, and concrete workers are all in short supply, in spite of the fact that these occupations are no less critical today than they were fifty years ago. In fact, if rebuilding our infrastructure becomes a true priority, skilled labor will become more important than ever, and our society's collective attitude toward dirty work will simply have to change.

On Labor Day, September 1, 2008, www.mikeroweWORKS.com was launched along with a video introduction where I described what I had in mind. Like Dirty Jobs, its purpose is to make a fun, but deliberate, case for skilled labor, and challenge the notion that a four-year degree is the only path to a worthwhile career. The site is taking shape quickly, transparently, and with great promise. At the end of October, we put up a public forum and a call for help. Thanks mostly to the hard work of dedicated Dirty Jobs fans and others who've otherwise heard about the site, the forum has taken shape with literally thousands of links to trade resources, scholarships, apprenticeships, fellowships, and vocational schools (and more) that will benefit anyone wanting to explore a career in the construction or technical trades. We are now in the process of launching a revised site that will contain a real, functioning, informative and interactive resource center for people in, or looking to explore, the trades.

In a modest way, Dirty Jobs has reminded people of a time when Hard Work was not seen as a thing to avoid - when craftsmanship was lauded, and Master Tradesmen were seen a role models. In a bigger way, mikeroweWORKS will function as a PR Campaign for Hard Work and Skilled Labor - a deliberate attempt to make sure the jobs we need, are jobs that people actually desire.

Like the infrastructure, mikeroweWORKS is under construction, and always will be. Come by and check us out. And if you have something to contribute or suggest, please let us know either by posting in the Water Cooler, commenting on the site itself or email us at info@mikeroweworks.com. I hope to see you around and help us get America back to work. You have my thanks.

[ModShari]

While The mikeroweWORKS Foundation has been formed and is quite official, we’re still in the early stages in selecting what specific organizations the money will go to. We’ve talked to the folks at The AED Foundation about all sorts of opportunities there are for us to help them create and distribute training materials and other educational tools to career and technical schools around the Country. We will also be talking to a variety of organizations and associations to explore similar opportunities in the coming weeks.

Where should I send my donation, you’re thinking. We’ve got that covered too. You can address it to: The mikeroweWORKS Foundation, 429 Santa Monica Boulevard, #710, Santa Monica, CA 90401.

Bottom line, all monies collected by The mikeroweWORKS Foundation will go to further the mission of mikeroweWORKS – and that is to promote the skilled trades in areas of public awareness, reducing stigmas, education, career planning and job opportunities as well as support organizations that get us there.

Visit "Giving Back & Mike's Foundation" in The Office - HERE