David Armano is a senior partner at Dachis Group. This is my personal blog where I share thoughts + opinions that are solely my own. Logic+Emotion exists at the intersection of business, design + the social web.
"You can tell who the pioneers are from the arrows sticking out of their backs"
This may be the one-liner that stood out for me most during my stay in Austin at SXSW. Hugh Mcleod told me this over breakfast, as we casually chatted about the state of affairs somewhere between art, business, marketing and this thing we're calling the social web. As most people will tell you, SXSW doesn't happen in the panels or keynotes, it happens in the hallways and the getaways (getting away from the crowds into more intimate settings where you can spend quality time with your peers). For me, this is how the event started and ended. On my last day there, a couple of us invited Hugh Mcleod (Gapingvoid) out for a last cocktail and as we sat in the sun with our drinks, Kathy Sierra also well known in her own right came out of nowhere and sat down with us.
Now, this was simply a magical moment for me—two of my influencers and people I'd consider to be pioneers in killer blogging were sitting at the same table. And what was better was that we all knew each other. Kathy gobbled up a few of my cards which had graphics on them, Hugh and I exchanged drawings and we sat around and talked about where things have been and where they are going.
As I sat and marveled at the company I was spending time with, I could't help but think about what Hugh had told me just 2 days prior. About pioneers and arrows. Kathy had stopped blogging because of an incident that left her feeling vulnerable and Hugh is spending more time on his art as well as his book on creativity which is coming out very soon (more on that later). These are the true trailblazers, they are constantly evolving and moving, they pave the way for the rest of us while we bring up the rear.
There's something about people like Hugh and Kathy that's different. While folks like Jeremiah Owyang and Chris Brogan do an outstanding job of helping the world understand and execute interactive strategies, it's the Sierra's and Mcleod's of the world that did things so differently that they are difficult to replicate. There is still not a blog remotely like Creating Passionate Users, and Hugh's cartoons are unique to him only. As Kathy and Hugh sat there, I couldn't help but think that I was looking at two pioneers (at least to me) and the arrows they've taken in their careers. Yet, as the photos prove, they've survived to tell the tales and I'm glad they did—so thank you Kathy, Hugh and the rest of you pioneers for all you do.
Fresh start and I feel like getting back to basics. While some of us may have woken up with a slight hangover on New Years Day, I feel like I've got a nasty Social Media Hangover from 2008. So here's a potential remedy and I need your help. I'd like to put a list together of GREAT blogs that have almost NO mention of social media. Seriously, they should be nearly devoid of the topic in all forms. Just leave a comment with the url(s) and I will begin looking through them. My favorites will go into a shortlist that I'll publish and Tweet.
Two rules: 1. You can't submit your own blog 2. The content should be quality and appropriate for a business audience
I'll be doing some updates to the blog design. Tweaks, iterations—trying this and that. It's been long overdue. Right now if you come to the site, you'll notice an updated header with a slightly new visual. The header is less deep so you can see more content above the fold. To the right, I've embedded the video to "brand u.o" as a speaking sample that will be at the top of the page permanently. The width of the page has been expanded to make use of newer resolutions with a wider center column so I will be able to upload visuals at a larger size. The background is lighter and less blue (hey—tastes change).
Next steps will include adding some sections and a basic navigation bar over to the left. As for the rest—we'll see. I'll probably play around with some widgets in the sidebars and maybe even update the blogroll (which is ancient).
If you are coming here out of a feed, be sure to do a browser refresh every once in a while just to make sure you are seeing things right. Long gone are the days that a site goes under construction. We're building airplanes in the sky. :-)
Here's the thing you already know about this space. If you're not consistently evolving, growing, learning and experimenting, than you might as well go work in another industry. In the spirit if everything I just said—I've launched a new pet project called "Brand U.0". It's not a blog (well, this link will take you to one). But it's an idea.
The idea is this:
Personal brands matter—we're creating them each time we create a profile online, reinforcing them each time we have an interaction and if we get fired or move on in our careers—it's the one thing we are allowed to take with us. That can never be taken away.
And consider this. Successful personal brands are REALLY HARD to build and maintain. And that's why there are so few examples of people who have cultivated huge followings and actually live up to the brand they have built.
Chris Brogan is one of these people, and he's my first interview . Join me in this experiment—you never know where it will end up.
Several years ago, I gave this presentation at a blogging conference. I wanted to help people become better at blogging and I made a point which may or may not have been fully understood at the time. I suggested that we stop calling ourselves "bloggers". My broader message was that unless the act of blogging itself was indeed your core passion—you should identify yourself more closely with what your true passion is—whether that be writing, sports, design, marketing or perhaps being a parent. Here's some more food for thought on the subject matter. A bit tongue-in-cheek, but maybe it can get us all thinking. Here's 10 reasons to stop calling yourself a "blogger":
1. People are only nice to bloggers because now, they have to be. 2. Blogger sounds like "booger". Ew. 3. Bloggers are so 2006. "Microbloggers" are the new bloggers. 4, Most successful bloggers have written a book. That makes you an author. 5. If you haven't written a book, you're just a blogger. 6. No one really wants you to blog about what they did at last night's party. 7. Blondes have more fun. Bloggers have more fights. 8. Bloggers are now respectable, like journalists and lawyers. Except no one trusts journalists and lawyers. 9. The word blogger rhymes with "jogger"—subliminally recalling images of head bands, knee highs and short shorts. 10. Bloggers only talk about blogging. You're more interesting than that.
My last great post was The Novelty Curve. Sadly, it went up over a month ago. Everything else since then has been marginal—filler. I'm sorry. It's the price you pay for serving more than one master. Work demands, family demands, life demands. Can you relate?
"the death of the hobbyist blogger - good, passion-based
bloggers have all got more professional jobs or speaking gigs in their
respective fields meaning more time with clients, internal stuff and
consequently, less time, energy and in some cases, candour in
researching, conceptualizing and writing their blogs"
Here's what Sean recommends:
"Somebody like TED needs to create an "Ideaosphere"
that includes blogs at all levels of the social media caste system that
are putting forward great ideas and content. Hopefully, a link and
traffic-agnostic blog portal would be able to create the 'Atlantic Monthly" of the blog world - a place where discriminating minds could go and be inspired by fresh and progressive voice."
Sean could be on to something. But whether it's a blogger version of TED or something else, I think his take is spot on. Ask yourself when your last great post was. Or maybe ask yourself why you started blogging in the first place. Or maybe, just maybe ask yourself how you can add value without running yourself into the ground. That's the question I need to ask myself...
The Chicago Tribune just put out a list of blogs they consider to be the best in Town—just found out I'm on it next to some fine company such as 37 Signals and Todd Andrlik. Check out the full list here. And you can leave comments with your own picks. Yay Chi-town!
I often get e-mails that ask me about blogging and sharing what I know.
There's no need for private e-mails. It's all here. Everything that's
worked for me on this blog is in this presentation. You can even download it from here. Good luck designing your own conversations. It's hard work, but worth it.
The simple fact is that many people I know—yes even in the "digital" space still don't use RSS feeds. Instead, they do e-mail subscriptions, bookmarking and even manual site visits sporadically when the mood strikes their fancy. While the popularity of feeds and readers will likely continue as an upward trend—for those of you who can't be bothered with it, but want to peruse the blogs of some distinct voices on the internet, there's Alltop.
Alltop aggregates content from folks like Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Jason Calcanis, John Maeda—and yeah I'm on the list too (somewhere near the bottom).
Of course, the creators know we'll blog about it—but more importantly, this fits my agenda nicely. My agenda, by the way is to get you to read these blogs. RSS feeds shouldn't stand in the way. So, go ahead and bookmark it. And happy reading. Knowledge is power.
I really need to update my blogroll—it's been frozen in time due to my inability to do twenty things at once. But I've always admired Grant McCracken's blogroll which assembles some of the most interesting blogs in one place. If you are looking for new sources of inspiration—consider Grant's list a resource.
I got married young—age 24 to be precise. In a couple of weeks, we'll raise a glass to toast year 12 of our time spent as husband and wife. But it might have never been if we didn't spend a little time apart. Not that we broke up—but we did spend a summer in different states. By the end of that summer, after substituting e-mail for touch—we realized that distance had indeed made out hearts grow fonder.
And sometimes I feel the same way with blogs I read regularly. Those who leave blogging for a while only to come back to it with a passion make me realize how much I missed it while it was gone. Some choose to get others to fill in for them while they are gone (it's not the same thing). Nothing wrong with this—but there's something about a favorite blog that goes away—only to come back bigger and better that makes me realize how much I appreciated it in the first place.
No one can replace the personal brand of you. If it's valuable—we'll come back with stronger feelings than ever. If it was a relationship of convenience, chances are we'll forget about each other and find something else to fill the void. Distance can make the heart grow fonder—or it can end the relationship. Either way, it's a road-test on a street named loyalty. And that's a two-way road to everywhere.
In the last 4 months I've seen nearly everyone I know flock to Facebook. They are now actively participating in a form of Social Media. But almost none of them are blogging. That's because blogging requires entirely different investments and commitments. Providing a steady stream of valuable content is one of the most difficult things an individual or company can do in this space.
When starting a blog, the first thing you must realize is that a gap exists between you and the community you wish to engage. In order to bridge that gap and you must first provide value and then act as both facilitator and curator. One of the reasons I wrote the incomplete "Thankful Experiences" post on Experience Matters was to proactively bridge the gap. Nearly 90 comments later—the blog had nudged the needle closer to not only providing value, but doing it in a personal, meaningful and conversational way.
If you're new to blogging and want to make meaningful connections with the community you are cultivating—think about ways you can bridge that gap. It's hard work. But worth it.
Update: It's been less than 24 hours since posting "Thankful Experiences" on the Critical Mass blog. I'm a bit overwhelmed at the nature of the 62 comments. They are personal, genuine, thought provoking, funny and some reveal the vulnerability we all feel as human beings. You really owe it to yourself to read through the comments there. You'll be inspired—I guarantee it.
I think the thing that's always drawn me to the digital medium is how human it really is. Warts and all—it's a reflection of who we are. It captures our best and worst moments and is sometimes utterly unpredictable. In the case of "Thankful Experiences" it was delightfully unpredictable. I want to thank each and every one of you who participated, and I'll leave you with an excerpt from my contribution to the Age of Conversation. I think it's ironically appropriate:
"But are we also seeing another Renaissance unfold before our very eyes? A Renaissance built off of us discovering each other? A Renaissance composed of a human Web woven through shared knowledge, interests, creativity, and yes conversation? Is it simply a resurgence of connectedness and an answer to this question: Am I alone?
The answer is no. You are not alone. "
Happy Thanksgiving.
If you're a regular reader of L+E, then you know I like to shake things up when possible. For the past couple of months we've been giving the Critical Mass blog a good effort—posting relevant short essays that are related to the the industry in some shape or way. We've gotten our share of comments and links—the blog is doing OK.
But I think something is missing. And it's your voice—not just commenting on something we said, but sharing something about yourself. So I'm asking people about the experiences they are thankful for. If you have a moment, please do come over and share. I've shared one of mine—and we want to hear about yours. And I'll be honest with you—this may help prove a point. That sometimes in order to "join the conversation" you need to be willing to strike one up. And that begins with sharing something of yourself.
A couple of weeks ago, I asked a simple question. Should digital agencies be blogging? I mean, we are out there advising clients on "social media" and how it's evolving the way we interact with brands and each other. Some folks felt that the question was silly. Isn't this a no brainer? Well, not exactly. The best part of the post came in the comments (no surprise) and the post itself got picked up by several agencies who use internal blogs to discuss issues like this. This means that they are having conversations in private vs. publicly. And there's nothing wrong with that. But wouldn't you like to be fly on that agency's wall? I would.
My POV comes from a personal perspective as most things do. Blogging has given me a better grasp of the nuances of social media—how it works and what it means to get involved. It's made me a better writer, a better thinker and more "strategic" at creative problem solving. For me, it is "intellectual prototyping" as Roger Martin put it. I use my blog and other social media tools as "digital ethnography". I watch what people do online. I study it and connect the dots. I look for patterns in behavior. I take comments on my blog to heart—even when I don't respond. I soak it all in. And it most definitely creeps into my work. You can be sure of that. So should agencies be blogging? My answer comes in the form of a challenge:
Yes, I believe agencies should be blogging. Blogging with a purpose. I believe they should invest the time and energy it takes and align the effort around their agency's culture, beliefs and perspectives. I believe it's an opportunity to participate openly. But if an agency doesn't see a purpose—then maybe it is better not to do it at all (I'm with you Cynthia). As I said in my comment, it's less about having a "social media strategy" and more about having a vision. My vision or "purpose" was to prove to myself that a blog could indeed be an "engaging experience"—but I didn't know how I was going to do this. Then I did my first meaningful visual and the rest was history. But enough about me—here's what some of you had to say:
"Sounds
like a big question. Perhaps we should also ask what they would blog
about? How often? Would their blog be public / internal or private (for
the clients only?)" ~Daniel
"I think many of the very large
digital agencies are stuck in guarding the dynasties that they created
in Web 1.0. Unless you are immersed in and actively participating in
social media how can you really advise clients? You have the bias of
the 'pet rock' comment above clouding your vision.
It's all about control. Blogging is about giving up control to
conversation. Look at the popularity of Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, et
al - the social web is taking over and this is hard to handle for the
mega consultancies and, especially, the multi-national advertising
agencies.
...I would take conversation and community over Flash and glitz anyday." ~Tim
"For
me it comes up to this: Will you take advice of an accountant or a
lawyer that only read some articles but never done any work themselves?
So why take advice from a marketer that never blogged before. (You all
know about Coke Zero and Sony psp flogs). I believe you have to
practice what you preach. The first thing I've done in FRANk was to
start a company blog. It's not much and we didn't "find our voice" yet
but I think all this will come. The critical thing is to be part of the
conversation as soon as you can. Because if you're not, well, you're
talking to yourself." ~Tamir
"Blogging for the sake of blogging will produce no value.
If an organization has ideas, points of view or expertise they wish to share and explore they should consider blogging.
I think it is risky for an agency to initiate blogging to prove
credibility in social media. When Ogilvy authored books he was
motivated by his message not the form it took." ~Kelly
"When I think things go wrong is when an agency has a blog that's a bit
too branded. Or one where there are too many people posting....One
where the blog loses the style and personality, due to the fact that
its more a blog by committee. The best blogs in my opinion are those
either run by one person or a small specific core group. "Don't lose
the unique style & personality." ~Eric
"An agency should have a blog (like its clients) only if there is a
strong business case for it. I love blogs and blogging But I don't see
any arguments here that convince me any given agency should have a
blog. Having the expertise in-house does not necessarily equate to
having an agency blog." ~Challis
"This one you all missed. It's bloody good fun. It has galvanised people
within the agency (both creators and readers) and provides a collective
focus.
We like that." ~Simon
"If you're a digital agency claiming to participate in social media and
conversational marketing, you should have a blog before you have a
site. How can you claim to be a marathon runner if you never ran in
your life?" ~Uwe
"I honestly think the reason more companies aren't doing this is time.
No one has it. And they have no idea who to designate to maintain and
write for their blogs." ~Beth
"If the agency blog has a purpose, then more power to them. But if they
blog for the mere sake of saying they do to clients, that rings more
insincere than not doing it at all." ~Cynthia
You can view full comments in the original post here:
I originally wrote the "4 C's of blogging" back in June of 2006. I expanded upon them in my "Conversation By Design" presentation and most recently referenced them in an interview with Crains. So I thought it might be a good idea to put together a post with the highlights for what it takes to create a great blog experience (in my opinion). They are:
Anyway, that's what's worked for me. And the tactics evolve—for example, I use Twitter these days for keeping up with my community. So what works for you?
9. TWITTER
AND ITS MICROBLOGGING ILK. "What could be more annoying and less useful than a site where thousands
of people are given 140 characters to shout out about what they're
doing at every moment of the day? The amazing thing is that enough
people out there think this mindless stream of ephemera ("I'm eating a
tangerine," "I'm waiting for a plane," "I want a Big Mac") is
interesting enough to serve as the basis for a viable advertising
platform." Mark Simon, Advertising Age: The 10 Most Asinine Trends And Why You Should Avoid Them
No Mark, you've missed the point. We don't think it's a viable advertising platform—we think "microblogging" is a viable communications/conversation platform. The media seems to think so too—and so do a few brands. Call us crazy. Oh wait—you already did.
Wonder what your answers would be to these 10 questions?
Came across a blog recently titled Everything is Design. What I liked about it right off the bat was that it consolidated some fantastic links related to design/user experience etc. This is value. Valuable to me because it's all in one place and saves me time and effort.
I'll eventually be adding many of these to my blogroll. And I think this supports the theory of "community clusters" which I use in my visual above. Blogs are connectors—they have the ability to connect communities of both similar and different interests. Sometimes the communities are closely linked as is the case here—and sometimes the communities are vastly diverse in content and perspective. Back to "community clusters" imagine if we erased the lines in this visual which connect them? How boring would that be?
The bad news is that Creating Passionate Users is still MIA. The Good news is that Advergirl is blogging again—new design and everything. Just thought you should know.
The headline of this post is borrowed from my good friend Mike Wagner who I felt captured the significance of the business blogging event also known as SOBCon 07. Here's the presentation I gave which can be downloaded from Slideshare. As mentioned in a previous entry—I stressed that blogging is a commodity. Anyone can do it. There are over 75 million blogs out there—that's a lot of noise. But I went farther in my presentation. I said this:
Stop calling yourself a blogger.
Why did I say this? Well, here are the notes I wrote for that particular slide:
"Blogging is a commodity. Anyone can do it. We are human beings with passions and interests that come out in our blogs—not the other way around. Stop calling yourself a blogger. You are a… (designer, businessperson, marketer, artist, baker, mother, grandfather, etc). Calling ourselves bloggers takes away from what makes us unique."
After I made the statement I clarified my intent to the audience. I said something along the lines of "we don't need to abolish the word blogger from our vocabulary—especially in meetings like this, but we should be careful how we refer to ourselves to the outside world". I was calling for a shift in mindset more than anything else—my theory is that focusing on the passion more so than the medium will lead to a better personal brand.
What it all boils down to is this: Being a blogger doesn't make us unique. Our individual talents, passions and personality does. This is the stuff brands are built from—and blogs, despite all of the baggage that comes along with the word is an extension of our brands, whether it be personal or business. My presentation was at the core about building a unique brand enabled by personal publishing on the Web, and then delivering a great experience. As we discusses at the event—many folks who come across our blogs may not even know that it's a blog they are reading—what they are interested is in value.
Here's another set of notes from my deck:
"Our passions should drive what we do—what we write about. Find your passion and you will find your voice. ...Make your message an experience. Curate conversations. Facilitate relationships. This will lead to affinity and passionate communities."
You get the point. Anyway, it was a really great day for me. I finally met some good folks that I've been in touch with over the past few months. In addition to Mike Wagner, I got to meet (and spend time with) Drew McLellen as well as Mike Sansone, Director Tom, Liz Strauss and a whole lot more. It was an energetic mix of business and relationships (and laptops) ;)
Additionally, Jason Alba has pulled off some of the best note taking I have ever seen and posted them over on his site. You can view the notes as organized by speaker:
In summary, SOBCon07 went well past the free sample. We got to taste the real thing—live and in person. My favorite part? Dinner and drinks after the whirlwind of activities. It was terrific to unwind in good company—and proof that business, brands and community do indeed go hand-in-hand.
SOBCon '07 is this Saturday! I'm putting the finishing touches on my presentation. Here's what you can expect. I talk a bit about the need for blogs to be unique—to take on the attributes of desirable brands. Since the audience is almost exclusively composed of individuals who actively blog, I focus on the WHAT and WHY. Specifically, what worked for me and why. I go into the 4 C's of blogging in detail and provide some personal examples. I also talk about using design to create not just a blog—but an engaging blog experience that is as unique as you are.
If there is a theme in my presentation it's this:
Anyone can blog. Anyone can call themselves a blogger. Blogging is a commodity. Heck, there are how many millions of blogs out there? But how many get noticed? How many are fortunate enough to have passionate communities which sprout around them? How many make an impact?
I guess I could have done lots of theoretical research to support my POV, but in the end—I'm choosing to talk about what I know best. And since I've had a lot of good fortune enabled through personal publishing—it's seems only right that I share what I know.
Technorati has updated the way they display blog ranking by swapping "authority" in place of sites linking back to your blog.
Also looks like some of the numbers are changing as well—they must be tweaking their measurement methods. Here's the issue on the table. I don't think this is newbie friendly. For someone who is trying to figure out the world of Technorati and what perceived influence translates to— the words authority and rank numbers don't really mean anything.
I'm not sure if this is a good user experience—especially for first time users. There is an opportunity to simplify and clarify here. The number of sites linking back is a concrete idea in the context of "easy to understand". Ranking numbers and concepts like authority are more abstract ideas. The same rules apply to Technorati as they do for any brand—provide a good experience, don't make your users work so hard to get what they want/need and desire. Speak in their language, not yours.
I started looking at Technorati just over a year ago—so it's still somewhat fresh in my memory. I still remember the concepts of sites linking back being one of the few measurements I could initially wrap my head around. If today were my first day visiting the site, I would be mystified. Not a great first impression for any brand. Even a 2.0 one.
Of course, I could be wrong. Anyone else have thoughts on this?
Update: Now at 23. Isn't that Michael Jordan's number? Update: Now at 17. I can still remember when I was 17. Sort of. OK, not really. Update: Well, we've gone from 0 to 9 votes. Not bad. Seth is at 46. Doh! :)
Sara Cantor of The Curious Shopper recently gave me a heads up that she nominated me for a Blogger's Choice Award. But look how lonely this little guy looks here—with no votes and all. Don't you feel bad for him/her/it? I mean, it's bad enough that he/she/it has no facial features or fingers, but no votes? Please don't let this travesty of justice continue. You can make a difference. For less than the price of a cup of coffee a day. Vote here. :)
Well, Mark Cuban the Blog Maverick himself fought dirty against our good friend the Servant of Chaos via Jaffe's MVB competition. And even with his resorting to biting and scratching—he barely took Gavin out. ;)
But payback is a you-know-what...
So, now I face the giant billionaire media maven with nothing but a handful of RSS feeds and my trusty sling. Who will prevail? VOTE NOW
And congrats to Roger von Oech for making it to the sweet sixteen. He's up against Brand Autopsy. Go Creative Think! Here's the rest of the lineup.
Heavyweight Matchup 1: Seth vs Rubel
Brand Autopsy vs Creative Think
Wired vs Why Business People Speak Like Idiots
Heavyweight Matchup 2: Russel Davies vs Hugh Macleod (Gaping Void)
I was a fool today. But maybe you were too? No, I'm not quitting blogging—I was just having some fun with the
day. A day of fools. The nice thing about April Fools Day is that it's an open invitation to not take ourselves too seriously. It's an opportunity to pull a prank or be a good sport about it if you were on the receiving end. There were quite a fewpranksgoing ontoday including Techorati's jumbling of letters which made for some interesting word combinations.
So how did you react to the day? Were you a good sport? Did you play along? Did you pull a prank? Did you laugh? Or maybe you were just annoyed? Humor is a touchy subject as it's fickle. What's humorous in one culture or individual is often times offensive to another. Whenever we attempt a moment of levity we risk offending someone. So the question is when do we take the risk and why?
I think we take the risk when we're pretty sure that no one's going to get hurt and we have a chance at giving people the gift of something unexpected. Fact is that most of us enjoy being fooled. It's why we go to movies, read fiction and seek adventure. We want something unexpected to happen every once in a while to make our everyday lives interesting. Take a look at how the notion of Suspension of Disbelief is defined.
Today we payed homage to Sir Tom Foolery. Some of you probably figured out my "trick" from the beginning (Ann Handley!). Others fell for it and experienced something unexpected followed by a "punchline". Some of your comments made me laugh, and I suspect you may have had a good chuckle as well. At least that was my hope!
So, thanks for being such good sports. The conversation will continue here—right where it left off. :)
So I'm kind of liking this "blog tournament" idea Joseph Jaffe started recently. I think what I like about it is that it's kind of random. Basically Jaffe posed the question "what are some of the most valuable blogs in your opinion?" and used the comments on his blog to cultivate some of the entries. He then took these and placed them into a list which can be voted upon.
So why do I think this is interesting?
Couple of reasons. First off, like I said it's kind of random and by soliciting from his readers—Jaffe bypasses the "conventional" blog success indicators such as Technorati, RSS subscriptions, Alexa rankings etc. If you threw up a link that you found "valuable"—it was thrown into the ring. Of course we need to realize that the blogs are mostly skewed to the marketing-related space due to Jaffe's audience, but that's kind of a given.
But something else caught my attention. BusinessWeek's Nussbaum On Design made the list and Bruce writes about being honored by being featured alongside some of his favorite bloggers. Let's take a moment to digest this nuance. A member of the mainstream media takes pride in being included in a list created and composed of "bloggers". Has it not traditionally not been the other way around? As I've stated in many ways before—the relationship between the MSM and content creating citizens is becoming more open—more like a dialogue. It's still slow going but it does appear to be happening. This doesn't mean that lines are blurred in my opinion—but it does show subtle signs of mutual respect and credibility. And maybe a new kind of "media collaboration". See visuals below:
Anyway, it's more of an observation than anything else. I just wonder if it's something we'll see more of. What do you think? PS, there are some really good blogs on the list. If you see one you haven't checked out before—take a moment to do so:
Thought this might be a nice controversial way to start a quick post. I recently checked my feed stats. This is something I don't do on a regular basis, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that I am fast approaching the 2K mark of subscriptions to L+E's feed. This does not include the e-mail subscriptions—just the RSS feed as measured by Feedburner.
Couple of thoughts on this.
1. THANK YOU. I'm humbled that so many of you are willing to incorporate the content here in your daily routine. 2. Subscriptions = perceived value (in my opinion). I think that subscriptions are becoming an increasingly important "metric" to evaluate if you're doing something right. 3. The combination of subscriptions, comments, and other various rankings may become more important than page views as dialogue becomes increasingly significant to how brands relate to consumers. 4. There really isn't a sure-fire way to measure relationships, but subscriptions at least show a willingness to "commit". And relationships tend to be about commitment in some form. 5. The most important metric is the "are we having fun?" metric. :)
So, to point number 5, yes—I'm still having fun here and I hope you are too. For those of you who have decided that you liked what you saw here enough to stick around—thanks, I really take this to heart.
So what's becoming an increasingly important metric to you?
I was recently introduced to Tom Haskin's blog called growing changing learning creating. Not sure how this one skipped my radar, but Tom's been on a roll. Here he breaks down blogs into four types and the value they provide to the blogger. I think it's pretty darn interesting—but I'm having a hard time putting L+E into any one of these. Is it possible to exhibit multiple combinations?
Here's an excerpt from the post:
"Distraction blogging: Sometimes our motives are purely self indulgent. "It's all about me". We are inherently narcissistic
and alarming to the observers of social media. We are driven to blog
for selfish reasons by our troubled situation. Our "real life" is
bringing us down or trapping us in oppressive obligations. I explored
these motivations in my post about the popularity of Twitter."
Check out what Tom's been up to. It's interesting stuff.
How do you know when you really, really like a blog? How can you tell what's special vs. what's just OK? How do you decide what should stay on your feedlist, in your bookmarks or inbox?
Little butterflies.
I've noticed lately that each time I see there is a new post from a blog I have an affinity for —especially if the blog hasn't been updated in a bit, I FEEL something. Maybe it's not quite butterflies—but it's SOMETHING, I actually experience a micro-sensation. There's something about seeing an unread post—anticipating what it's about just before you click on it and taking a moment to savor that feeling before clicking on it. It's like unwrapping a tiny little gift—the feeling you get before you have the gift in your hands is sometimes just as powerful as after you've unwrapped it.
That makes a blog really special. That's how you know. Question is, what do you have to do to get others feeling like this about your blog?
Well, here's another treasure I found while rummaging through my junk e-mail folder recently. Actually, more like a Turd. And the same guys link to the Z-list, which I don't think does it any favors. This is why I don't like overt Buzz Marketing efforts. Yuck, I need to take a shower. Delete.
I've made some significant updates to the blog if you haven't noticed. In addition to the Twitter Widget (sorry Asi), I've extended the width of the Template to cater to those of us who have moved beyond 800x600. It had to be done. But with this change comes a huge benefit of the experience here. You will be able to see thumbnails of my visuals and slideshows at a much bigger size (see last post).
I've also trimmed back both my categories and the number of links to post in the right rail.
Lastly, but not leastly for the uber-observant, I have updated what I say in my header. Creativity, innovation, design has been replaced with:
creativity. insights. ideas.
At first glance this seems trivial, but I put some considerable thought into it and realized that it better reflects the things we talk about here. While I still view design in a very broad sense, I think what's covered here is more about ideas, and how we get to them. And of course it's always been about creativity. Have no fear, design is still in my blood and you can be sure it will come through in the writing.
So when you have a moment, leave your aggregator and come to the site. Then do a hard refresh on your browser. That's it. You'll be good to go.
Special thanks to Ray for help with the CSS. Ray, you are the man!
Look. The rules have changed. Anyone can blog. Anyone can have a voice. But having a voice and being heard are two different things. You have a blog—but is it "remarkable"? Is it breaking through the clutter? You want to take it to the next level. You want to break through. You want conversations to convert into relationships. You want to bring your business or brand closer to the people who matter.
SOBCon 07 is happening in Chicago on May 11-12 and I'm speaking at it. It's the brainchild of Successful Blogger Liz Strauss and a few of her friends. Here's how it's billed: Overview An evening and a day of community, strategy, and information about the art, technology, and science of relationship blogging for 250 experienced bloggers.
Purpose We will demonstrate to 250 bloggers how to take their existing blogs to the next level through interactive presentations on publishing, design and branding, tools, analytics, social networking, marketing, and coaching, from the perspectives of the blogger and the audience.
Attendees Attendees are bloggers with a serious intent to improve their blogs. Seating is limited to 250 sold seats, plus guests.
You'll learn the secrets of success from professionals who have made their blogs "remarkable". Liz Strauss has dubbed us the Brat Pack of the blogging world. We're not Seth, Scoble, Steve, Sierra, Searls or any other big time bloggers with an "S" in their name. OK, fine we do have Sansone, Strauss and Starbucker—cut me some slack will ya? :)
Point is, we made our own rules—and blogged by them. Here's who's speaking:
Now here's where it gets pretty cool. On Friday night there will be an open mic and live performance by singer/songwriter Christine Kane and Rumor has it that Sansone is bringing the likes of Mike Wagner and Drew McLellen among others. I'll FINALLY get to meet some of you.
And here's a shout out to my friends in the Design & User Experience worlds who only go to AIGA and IA conferences. Get out of your sandbox and mix it up with people who don't do what you do. I come across plenty of design/UX blogs out there that seem "dead". No signs of life. Nada. Skip the AIGA event and try something different for a change. Find out how developing relationships both inside and outside your discipline can help amplify the contributions you make to your profession.
If we only talk to our peers, then it's like talking to ourselves. And talking to ourselves is a one way conversation.
"If you're a blogger and you got an Nseries “multimedia computer” in the
mail what would you do with it? How would you feel about it? Obligated?
Bribed? Important? Valued?"
I'm going to answer this question as honestly as I can:
First off, I would disclose that I know Karl who happens to work at Nokia—we've been in touch over the past year.
So now let's go through Karl's question in more depth:
Obligated? Yes, I would feel obligated to write about using the device simply because I've been given something of value. I think that's the least thing I could do. However, I would not feel obliged to say positive things unless they were true. I would express honest opinions because that's worth more to me than any gadget. Also, since I'm not a professional reviewer and this is not Consumer Reports, I would probably talk about what I know and avoid things I don't know enough about. I know a thing or two about product and user interface design, so if anyone were to send me a tech gadget, this is what I would talk about most.
Bribed? No, I would not feel bribed unless there was some condition that came along with it that implied that I had to say only nice things. That's how bribes work. You don't pay someone unless you know for sure that they will do what you want. If I'm sent a product, there is no guarantee that I might not critique it.
Important? I'm going to be very honest here. Yes, absolutely it would make me feel important. I am after all only human and sometimes having a blog with steady readership goes straight to my big head. The good news is that it doesn't stay there too long because I've lived long enough to know that although I enjoy this—there are much more precious and important things in life. But yes, I think receiving something of value would make me feel special.
Valued? No , I would not feel valued. If I were sent a product from a large company—I know it's all business and not because I'm being sent something because the company "likes" me. That said, I have received some very thoughtful items recently including A Whole New Mind which was sent to me from Kevin and a signed copy of Mavericks at Work which Valeria sent my way. I felt really valued when Tom sent me his book Sandbox Wisdom because it was like he was talking to me through it. I felt valued because in all cases they read this blog and knew I would appreciate the books. This is different than getting a freebie from a company.
Lastly I would add this for any company with a formal seeding program. I for one would be happy to accept an item with full disclosures, but I would ask you to ask yourself if this is the right forum or not. If it were Nokia to use Karl's example—I would say yes because they are a design-driven organization who's products deliver a user experience. This is something I talk about here.
OK Karl, all that said you can now have Nokia send me an Internet tablet since I'm probably not buying an iPhone and wouldn't mind moblogging on something other than my Sidekick. :)
February 12th, 2006: My wife had taken the kids to Michigan to visit family. I had the weekend to myself and decided this was going to be the time and place that I would launch my blog. I had no idea what the heck I was doing—but a little voice inside my head said “why not?—let’s see what happens...” What I did next is the same thing that over 55 million people now do on a regular basis. I clicked this innocent-looking button:
Over time, this seemingly insignificant action would alter what I do for a living as well as how I live. If I were asked to come up with a slogan for blogging, it would be this: Blogging is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.
In many ways I approached personal publishing the way Forrest Gump approached living. I didn’t do a lot of research studying the space other than reading a handful of blogs—and I certainly didn't overthink things. At the time, I didn’t subscribe to feeds or even know what Technorati was. I had never heard of the Cluetrain Manifesto, Naked Conversations or Creating Passionate Users. I began blogging with what Roger von Oech calls a “Beginners Mind”. And perhaps this is what has served me most faithfully over the past year.
Blogging, much like life—is a big box of assorted chocolates. An international collection of different shapes, sizes and flavors ready to be sampled at any given moment. We’re sharing ideas, creating, co-creating, mixing, mashing, interacting and even forming lots of chocolatey communities along the way. I didn’t expect this part of blogging, but have been very pleasantly surprised that true community exists and is a tangible thing. I’ve connected with many of you over the past year. Some I’ve metinperson and othersthroughe-mail and even overthephone.
But there was another take-away for me through this whole experience. A validation of a theory which I had no idea would go this far. To be frank—I’m shocked (and delighted) that Logic + Emotion has picked up this much momentum in such little time. I thought I would be communicating primarily to creative/design professionals but what ended up happening was that the audience here began defining itself. Planners, Librarians, Marketers, Anthropologists, Technologists, Businesspeople, Entrepreneurs,—folks from all different kinds of bakgrounds (and countries) which I never expected would care about the content here started showing up and coming back. Below is a simple visual which summarizes the current state of L+E if you go by the “numbers”:
Though it’s not just about numbers of course. My theory was that the social network just might be the ultimate manifestation of a “free market of ideas” meaning that anyone had a shot at being heard. But with 55+ million blogs out there, chances are still slim that you will be "heard" by a sizable audience. However, as I’ve said before—something funny happened on the way to the blogoshpere. An average Joe like me—someone who has never written a formal whitepaper, nevermind a book can also have a say in things. And neither permission nor a PHD is required. This in my opinion is the true power of social media. If you have something valuable to add to the conversation—you will be heard. It's that simple. And once you are heard—it then becomes your choice to either stay connected to the communities who live in this space, or participate from afar.
To some extent, I’ve chosen to stay connected because it feels right. It’s meaningful and adds value to my life. Though it doesn’t replace physical relationships—our digital interactions are all still very human. And speaking of humanity, blogging has been a very human experience—at least for me it has.
No doubt many of you can relate to the story I am telling on this “birthday post”. That’s the glue which holds participatory media together—we all go through similar phases though maybe at different times. If you are reading this story as an “observer” rather than participant, you may only be grasping what I'm saying here with your head. I’m confident you are an intelligent individual, so none of this is news to you. But the core distinction between observation and participation is this:
Unless you experience something for yourself, you will only understand with your head and not your heart.
That’s the impact of participation through experience, and this brings me to the irony of the blog title—Logic + Emotion. Initially, the title came from a blurb on my personal site. I used that blurb as broad statement which applies to good design principals. The hammer on my personal site represents an object which functions very effectively but is also appealing at the emotional level. Logic + Emotion now has a entirely new meaning to me—as I’ve been influenced, educated, inspired, and touched in significant if not emotional ways through participation in this thing we call Social Media.
In short,2006 hasbeen a monumental year in many ways. I can only say thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to read my words (and pictures), while sharing both their thoughts and hearts.
Gump was right. I never knew what I was gonna get.
So if it's is a Birthday Party, here’s a little party favor. I’ve gone through the bulk of my visuals and put them on PowerPoint slides which you can download here. They’re ready to use in your presentations. I only ask that you do the right thing in return, and provide a credit in some way that you deem appropriate. And a special thank you to everyone who has used a visual and linked back here.
I have no definitive plans for 2007. If the past year has taught me
anything, it’s reminded me that blogging, like life has a way of
working out differently from how you plan it. It’s always good to
plan, but you also need to improvise. The magic happens somewhere in the middle.
"Bloggers think of themselves as rebels against mainstream society, but
that rebellion is mostly confined to cyberspace, which makes blogging
as melancholic and illusionary as Don Quixote tilting at windmills,"
the author says."
I saw the article a few days back and didn't think much of it until I read CK's take on it. First off, let me say that the good professor gets one thing right. Bloggers ARE a lonely bunch. That's because ALL human beings are. We all feel lonely at times and we're all are hired-wired for companionship and meaningful connectivity in some capacity. You don't need a textbook to know that. Bloggers are human beings the last time I checked—so the same rules apply.
Rather than going on a rant about the article, I'm going to share one simple link to provide some food for thought here.
It's a growing list of executives and CEO's who just happen to blog. Real people. People with lives. People who manage other people and work for very real companies with very real results. Many of which you have heard of—some are household names. This is a list of people who are tapped to inspire, lead, negotiate and interact with others on a daily basis. Many of the names on the list are people who are actively driving change both inside and outside of their organizations.
This is but one example to add another dimension to this discussion. So if you like, go ahead and believe that human beings who choose to express their views through personal publishing are oddities. But do so at your own risk.
A funny thing happened on the way to the World Economic Forum. OK, actually it didn’t happen until the end. The Assistant Managing Editor of BusinessWeek’s innovation coverage became friends with a couple of bloggers. From Nussbaum On Design:
“The soiree was swell I have now gone over to the dark side--to bloggers in the battle with MainStream Media. Of course, not all MSM folks refuse to get the idea of community, collaboration and conversation. My own boss at BW totally gets it. But there were so many at Davos who didn't.
I chatted up Jeff J. and Ariana H. and Jimmy W. (wikipedia) this trip out and found myself in alignment with them, more so than old pals at newspapers and magazines.”
Why is this significant? It’s significant because it may capture a key theme we could be seeing more of in the near future. Bloggers have become respectable. Well, not all bloggers to be fair. And while some think that Social Media and Mainstream Media have blurred all together—I think the relationship illustrated in Bruce’s post shows both division and alignment, if not a relationship—a relationship that appears to be turning into—gasp...
mutual respect.
OK, I’m taking some liberties with this post. I’m editorializing you could say. Of course I am. That’s because I’m not a reporter. I don’t have to be objective. You don't come here for objectivity right? You want to hear opinions—another distinction between the MSM and Social Media content generators (though let’s be honest—we all have opinions which can seep into what we do). Here’s another interesting tidbit from Nussbaum’s recent post:
“Something important is happening and we have to be part of it and evolve with it. So Jeff and Ariana, let's get more user generated content on our blogs and deepen our conversation with our own communities.”
One could argue that the last bit seems almost cliché. “Conversation”—and “community” are fast becoming near-buzzwords in this space. But consider the source—a veteran journalist reaching out to those who sit on the other side of the “Media Scale”. In short, we may not be moving along as quickly as the hype suggests (see Second Life), but personal publishing (AKA, blogging) and the broader Social Media movement just might be gaining credibility. I’ll end on a thought I brought up during my “Blog’sEyeView” presentations:
"Social media, according to Wikipedia,
includes "the online tools and platforms that people use to share
opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives with each other." This
includes blogs, message boards, podcasts, wikis, vlogs and so on. For
the last few years this was all considered related to, but separate
from mainstream media. That point of differentiation is now gone."
OK, Karl here is my 2 cents:
No, I don't think that the lines will blur to the point that the labels of Social Media and Mainstream Media (MSM) become pointless or moot. What my visual shows above is a clear separation between the two—however there exists a level of interaction that hasn't happened before in the past. They now openly feed off of each other. Mainstream media seems to no longer be ignoring the Social Media movement. They are, in fact working in tandem with Social Media content generators—getting scoops, watching, reading, subscribing. I know this because several MSM'ers have subscribed to my blog.
But does this mean that the lines blur and the distinction goes away? Steve Rubel is a bright guy and he knows this space way better than I do, so he maybe taking a provocative position (or a long term visionary one)—but in my opinion we've got a long way to go before MSM and Social Media are indistinguishable.
Here's a few anecdotal first hand experiences to help illustrate the points I am making.
1. When I watch the news/listen to the radio, I still hear journalists speaking skeptically of Social Media even though they now openly reference it in their stories. Plus, I’ve worked in Newsrooms in both print and broadcast years ago, many of the same people still remain in power at the top.
2. Most of the people I work with are vaguely familiar with my blog (some not at all) and usually only perk up when they hear about the BusinessWeek/Boston Globe mentions. In fact, even though this blog has moved very quickly in a short amount of time, my actual work responsibilities haven't changed much since before I started the blog.
3. Many mainstream media outlets have their own versions of blogs, podcats etc. but this isn't Social Media—it's the MSM using technologies such as Podcasting, personal publishing or RSS to distribute content in new ways. They are using the techology to innovate how their content is shared or even interacted with.
4. Whether we like it or not, us content creators are still fighting for credibility. It's getting better—but we don't have the clout of a New York Times/WSJ piece etc. There's a distinction there. Sorry. And lots of bloggers are in the midst of writing good old-fashioned books (Godin, Jaffe, Shel) etc. Why? Credibility—and exposure to those who still aren't participating (or even consuming user generated content). Yes, for some if it's not in a book—it's not real.
So if I were to make a prediction for the next year or two, it wouldn’t be that the line between the two would dissolve and that Social Media as we know it dies (or the MSM for that matter) however, I think a more probable scenario is that Social Media steadily begins to establish more mainstream credibility. The MSM continues to be more open about leveraging their Social Media sources—we see more Vincent Ferarri's taking on AOL's and more video taping of Comcasts etc.
And here's a sign of the times. Lately on the evening news I have noticed a new phenomina. Many of the video clips that are being featured are pulled straight off of YouTube. You see the logo and everything. Is that blurring of the lines? Well, it's getting closer to it—but it's not. When we see Amanda Congden replace Katie Couric—well then MAYBE the lines have completely blurred.
OK, I apologize for the cryptic headline. But basically what I'm trying to say is that Seth Godin created a Squidoo page for Mack Collier's "Z-list meme". I'm still not exactly sure how Squidoo works though I did sign up for it a while ago. All I know is that I started getting page referrals from this Squidoo "lens" and checked it out (as any blogger would).
On it was a list of blogs under the heading "The Z List". Directly above that it says this:
"Blogs you might want to check out, but haven't heard of
Worth a look! There is no A list, so there can't be a Z list. There's just good blogs."
What does this all mean? Well, I'll provide a personal perspective. When I first registered with Squidoo many months ago, I did so purely out of buzz—meaning I'd seen it on Typepad and heard about it, so I signed up. But I'd never actually used the service since setting it up. So, this serves as an interesting reminder of the service and how it actually works in context.
One of the features on this page is that you can vote (up or down) for each blog (but you have to be a registered Squidoo user). So this could be a very interesting marketing move on Seth's part.
Well, that's my 2 cents. The "Z-meme" that Mack started has certainly spread in some unique ways—ironically it's become "the gift that keeps giving". :)
Well it's bad enough that I have dealines, but now I've got "Bloglines"—all this meme stuff was spreading around and I couldn't get to my blog until the end of the day.
Well thanks to Tom Asacker, Gavin Heaton and "almost" Ann Handley, I now am obliged to spread this meme which requires me to share 5 things about myself before assigning it to some fellow victims... erm, bloggers.
So here goes. 5 Things about meme:
1. I'm a recovering Leo I was born on July 28th, 1971 in Brooklyn NY. This makes me a Leo. A Leo with an attitude. I refer to myself as a recovering Leo because I work very hard at suppressing the less desirable Leo traits while letting the more positive ones thrive. Leo's are natural leaders, we don't shy away from challenges and we can be highly motivated. We're also very loyal, generous and affectionate. But we can sometimes get carried away with ourselves, enjoying the limelight just a little too much and we can tend to wear our lion hearts on our sleeves. Yup, I'm a Leo—I just happen to be one with a conscience.
2. I worked a “rolling bar” at age 16 Ever go to a wedding where the Bartenders rolled their bars over to your table? Yeah—that was me. At age sixteen no less. On weekends between high school days, I could be found at the “Imperial Manor” serving Whiskey Sours and Sex on the Beach to an assortment of patrons out on Long Island. Need a visual? Think “The Wedding Singer”—that about sums it up.
3. I was a “Kid in the Hall” When I was younger, I mostly stayed out of serious trouble—but I did drive my teachers nuts. I was the guy with random outbursts, classroom pranks and would even spontaneously get out of my desk, throw my arm around my teacher's shoulder and say “you’re the greatest”. That usually resulted in my ending up in the hallway for the rest of the class.
4. I was “king of the fire roads” In my early work years, friends and I would drive up to Vermont in the summer, take ski lifts up the mountains and ride our mountain bikes at full speed down the mountain. The fastest trails were called “fire roads”. One time I was blazing down one and wiped out in spectacular fashion, doing a “summersault”—bike and all. Somehow I ended up on my feet and was crowned “king of the fire roads”.
5. I wasn’t supposed to succeed In the fourth grade I was berated by a teacher (Mrs. Sharkey), during a school performance. We all dressed up as our heroes and recited something (I was Teddy Roosevelt). I can’t remember what I recited. All I can remember was her yelling at me, calling me a lazy slob and pointing out that my shirt was untucked and how stupid I looked—all in front of the class. Funny how things like that stick with you.
So those are my five things. Now I get to pass this on to five other blogger-victims of my choosing. Have fun!
Karl Long - One of my original blogoshphere friends and tour guides Roger von Oech - Roger's gotta have some good ones Paul McEnany - Paul will probably drop some F-bombs Mindblob - Because it's the mysterious Mindblob! Leisa Reichelt - Only fitting for a blog titled "Disambiguity"
Charlene Li from Forrester is back at blogging after over a month-long hiatus. Her latest post provides a profound insight of what can happen when blogging and life collide and the perils of second guessing yourself—or in Charlene's own words, analysis paralysis:
"I realized this past week that I'm suffering from analysis paralysis -- I've been holding myself to a level of analysis and writing that is simply unreasonable given what I want this blog to be. My last substantial post was on the YouTube acquisition by Google, which was quite the event. But those kind of blog post opportunities come roughly about once a year, and for some reason, I've been trying to write similar posts for the past month with no success.
So I've vowed to follow Nike's mantra and "just do it", or in this case, to "just blog it". Damn the idea of quality and depth of analysis -- I'm better off getting something out there and getting your reactions to it. So here I am, writing a stream of consciousness and finding my voice again."
Charlene's post provides a deep insight into the nature of social media (and maybe life). It's less about perfection and more about being an individual—strengths, flaws and all. Charlene's blog provides an opportunity to understand how she sees things and expresses her opinions in voice that is uniquely hers. She says it best:
"I'm often told by readers that my blog has an interesting voice which
always I find so curious -- because it's not something that I
consciously do"
So maybe that's part of the appeal to personal publishing. The opportunity to be personal. Having access to someone's subconscious in addition to their conscious—and the freedom to be creative without being "perfect". Go check out the rest of the post. And welcome back Charlene. Both to you, and your voice.
I recently found my way to d.news a news blog from the Institute of Design at Stanford. I like the content on the blog. I found my way via Diego Rodriguez's metacool. I like the content on his blog as well. Here's what I don't understand. What is the downside to having comments enabled on either of these blogs? There's good content in both places and I would like to engage in a discussion, but can't.
Don't take this the wrong way. I am not imposing a view that all blogs should have comments. Yes, it's my own bias that comments are a great thing because it supports my personal philosophy of transforming passive behavior to active participation. But for some reason—people are still choosing to pass up what I personally see as an opportunity.
Are these decisions wrong? Are they right? Are they convenient? I have no idea. All I know is that every once in a while I come across a good blog, and I can't do much more than simply read the content.
So I ask this. Why? What is the downside to activating comments? I'm being genuine in my intent here—I really want to understand this better.
As I looked through the description of the d.news blog, I came across this:
"We believe the d.school is more than a place. It's a community of
people and a state of mind. We believe there's something special about
this design thinking thing. ...The d.news broadcasts what's happening in the world of design
thinking--at the d.school or well beyond. We bring you to ideas, events
and people that are pushing the borders of this revolutionary way of
doing and being."
Two thoughts stood out for me here. The first is that the community they reference is being limited in scope by not using the blog to facilitate discussion. Also, it becomes an inwardly focused community. The other is the use of the word broadcast. Ironically, the blog is a more like a broadcast model in that it pushes content for us to digest. And for a School focused on innovation, the Broadcast model isn't.
I'll say it again. It's your blog, so you decide how you want to engage—but what's the downside to conversation via comments? Take a good look at the photo above. It's a group of students engaged in some type of activity. I'd love to feel like I could be a part of this virtually—but without comments it's as if I'm a stranger peering through a window into their world, a world I might like to know more about from the students themselves.
Such read the handwritten note enclosed with my review copy of Citizen Marketers. Ben McConnell from Church of the Customer was referencing a joke I had made earlier when he offered me a copy of the book and I initially said something like "sure—I always need paper for the fireplace".
But this is one book you'll most likely burn through as opposed to burn. I just started reading the book tonight and I'm nearly half way through it. Ben and Jackie describe the different kinds of Citizen Marketers through their snappy "four F's":
They reference a bunch of real-world of case studies throughout the book to help make their points, and from what I can tell the book has cross appeal both for those already participating as well as those grappling with the gi-normous changes in marketing. Here is one of my favorite excerpts so far:
"The 1 Perecenters is an apt analogy to describe citizen marketers. They, too are outlaws of culture. What they do is well beyond the norm, but with innate talent and a lot of passion, citizen marketers are building considerable audiences. Like the outlaw motorcycle clubs, citizen marketers usually work outside the boundaries of a corporation or sanctioning body. Sometimes there is little recognition for it, but they are dedicated to and protective of their work and the community they create."
OK, they had me at outlaw motorcycle clubs.
Seriously, I'm enjoying the read so far and can't wait to take it with me on my trip back home next week. That is, if I don't finish it before then.
Meet Nadine. Nadine is a friend. Nadine is a co-worker. Nadine is currently recovering from a broken neck which has left her in a Halo—you know, that cage looking thing with the screws and all. Apparently she has the designer Gucci model which comes in "black steel".
Nadine has started a blog where she tells all about the experience she is going through. She's an amazing person and writer—you should do yourself a favor and take some time out of your weekend to give it a read. You'll be glued to your screen as Nadine vividly describes her account from the accident to the emergency room to "Dr. McDreamy". Here's a sample:
"There I am, with one foot on the ladder and one foot on the sill. You’d
think I would stop while I’m ahead, but I am pretty nimble, so I take
my other foot off the ladder and try bringing it to the windowsill as
well. At this point, I have to arch my back to balance myself on the
windowsill, flush against the wall. This doesn’t go so well. In an
instant, I start to wobble and fall backwards. It is a crazy sensation.
I’ve lost my balance many times in the past, but have always been able
to regain it and recover. Not this time, Chico. I am completely out of
control."
You'll have to visit the blog to see the rest of the story. Luckily, Nadine didn't end up in a worse situation. All of us here at the office are extremely thankful for this as I am sure her family is also. So, check out her riveting story and amazing writing. And leave a comment. I'm sure you'd appreciate if someone did that for you. :)
In a recent post I wrote about my dislike of the word elite in the context of describing Technorati's top percentile of blogs. Some of you agreed, some didn't. It's all good.
But here's the thing. As a professional focused on creating good experiences, I'm always encouraging clients to use words on their sites that are less jargony, less corporate, more straight-forward, accurate and dare I say it—conversational (you can be both conversational and professional by the way).
"I'm not sure I would consider a lot of the Technorati top 100 to be
authorities on their subject matter. Popular, yes. To me, "popularity"
would be more suitable than "authority."
Ben's comment stuck with me. So I put it to the test:
What if we talked to each other the same way Technorati talks to us?
That's right. People would think we were a little off. Who uses words like authority in simple, direct conversation? And is the word authority even accurate used in this context? Aren't there more authoritative blogs not in the top 100—that are just less popular?
Now let's try this:
There's nothing wrong with admitting your blog is popular (if it is). It's how people talk. It's accurate and provides a frame of reference. And my guess is that the person on the other end might be curious—"why is your blog popular" "how did it get that way" "how do you know it is"?
Anyway, I could be looking way too deeply in to this. But I do like to ask the question "what if"? (On a related note, Ann Handley has a great article up at the Daily Fix talking about happy hour or something—go check it out.)
I'll leave you with this final pearl of wisdom from Ben's comment:
"What does Cartman say on Southpark? "Respect my author-i-tie!"
Those crazy kids at Forrester at at it again. Another conference, another blog. This time, it's even branded—taking liberties with the traditional Forrester brand and pushing it toward more of a theme for the event.
Forrester is doing what a lot of other companies should be. They are displaying some agility. Now, don't mistake this for being on the bleeding edge—I don't think that is Forrester's forte. But as an organization who places an emphasis on data, facts, figures and proven case studies—they are not afraid to tap the medium and use it to help grow their brand.
Conference looks interesting. Here are the authors behind the blog:
Seems like forever that the blogosphere has been abuzz with Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics. I personally never purchased the book, though I have been a comic fan in since I was a little kid. And though I don't currently collect comics I do re-live my youth with my boys.
So when I would read about the book through blogs and user experience professionals singing it's praises—I thought, "that's great—people are picking up on visual storytelling". But I have to be honest, I value practice even more than I do a synopsis of a good book.
Guy Kawasaki scores huge points for me by simply PRACTICING some of these principals in his recent post. Rather than show pictures with written commentary, Guy told the story of his trip to Phoenix via a "graphic novel" format. And it's quite effective (and entertaining).
Amanda Congdon ends weeks of "speculation" today by officially making it official that she's officially working for both ABC+HBO (is this official enough for you)?. BusinessWeek has a nice Q+A with the new prime-time star:
"Congdon, 25, will regularly appear on ABC's online news channel, ABC
News Now, and will host a weekly five-minute video blog appearing on
ABC.com. Congdon, who will primarily provide news analysis and
commentary through the network's online channels, says she also expects
to occasionally pop up on Good Morning America, Nightline, and other ABC news television programs.
Congdon also found an outlet for the comedy chops she developed on
Rocketboom. She's working to develop a show for HBO's on-air and
on-demand channels. The subject of the show is still in the works, but
Congdon plans to both write and star in the series."
In response to the final question about this new age of celebrity, Amanda says:
"A celebrity used to be someone you could never get near and never
touch…. Now, if you look at MySpace—Nicole Richie has a MySpace page.
Celebrities are seeing, or their managers are telling them about, the
benefits of getting involved online and [interacting with the
audience]. Radio personalities are having Web chat sessions with fans,
and the viewers are becoming a part of the shows, which is so terrific
because it isn't television putting out information that viewers
passively receive. There's a give and take now."
Now the big question is how Amanda's talents will translate over into the mainstream. Will it be watered down? Will it still feel "real"? Or will Amanda, just be... Amanda. Time will tell.
I must have been under a rock since Nov 06, when David Sifry launched his state of the Blogoshphere. One thing stood out in particular for me was this:
"The Very High Authority Group (500 or more blogs linking in the last 6 months)
In the final group we see what might be considered the blogging
elite. This group, which represents more than 4,000 blogs, exhibits a
radical shift in post frequency as well as blog age. Bloggers of this
type have been at it longer – a year and a half on average – and post
nearly twice a day, an increase in posting volume of over 100% from the
previous group. Many of the blogs in this category, in fact, are about
as old as Technorati and we’ve grown up together. Some of these are
full-fledge professional enterprises that post many, many times per day
and behave increasingly like our friends in the mainstream media. As
has been widely reported, the impact of these bloggers on our cultures
and democracies is increasingly dramatic."
Full disclosure—according to Technorati, I currently have 430 blogs linking back to me. So technically, I am fast approaching this "elite" status according to the report.
Only one problem. I have a serious issue with the word ELITE. Now I'm about to get into a mini-rant that probably has nothing to do with how David intended to use that word and more with how we interpret it. You've been warned. :)
Here's my beef with elitism. Considering yourself an elite means that you feel like you are superior to others. Once you begin to feel superior, you begin to dismiss the validity that others can bring to the table. You desire to surround yourself with people "just like you". It becomes increasingly important to be accepted by these people who's opinions matter to you. The opinions of the "non-elite" begin to matter less to you even though you say the opposite.
Being elite means you see yourself as set apart. As special. As "gifted" or "intelligent". Being elite means you value mostly yourself and others in the "elite" class—even though you say you look out for the "little people".
Bloggers who find themselves in this position might actually want to view themselves more as "leaders". True leaders sacrifice themselves for the people they lead. They look out for their people. They influence as opposed to leading by force or dictation. They earn loyalty vs. demanding it. They are just as flawed as the rest of us and are willing to embrace their flaws—and share this with others. They may be charismatic, but they also struggle to keep themselves grounded. And most importantly, they mix it up with the everyday people—genuinely, because they know in their heart they are merely human, as we all are.
So, there may be truth an emerging class of bloggers which enjoys more exposure than most. There is nothing wrong with this. It's reality. But if we find ourselves to be that fortunate—let us never think of ourselves as "smart", "sophisticated", "in-the-know", "special" or in other words—elite.
And lastly as person who creates, I view elitism as one of the true enemies of creativity next to ego. The minute we feel elite, we lose our child-like curiosity. We forget to do silly things that others might find embarrassing. We don't feel the need to take chances as much. And we don't think we can learn from others who think and live differently. And that's when creativity dies.
End of rant. It's just an opinion. I could be wrong.
It's all about control. Blogging is about giving up control to conversation. Look at the popularity of Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, et al - the social web is taking over and this is hard to handle for the mega consultancies and, especially, the multi-national advertising agencies.
...I would take conversation and community over Flash and glitz anyday."
~Tim