Category: Culture

i said something a while ago that i thought had some value. so, i put it up on my tumblr.

we live in an economy where the currencies of attention and network often need to be spent before the currency of cold hard cash is.

i repeated this idea in an article that i recently submitted to the pursuit group to be published in one of their upcoming newsletters (not sure exactly when it’s coming out).

we’ve experienced a redefinition of value and a realignment of the engagement cycle. value comes in education and legitimization and engagement starts far before purchase, at least for those who are winning meaningful work and building sustainable relationships.

an educated buyer dictates engagement and has more access than ever before. a value transaction must begin immediately as your targets assemble profiles and self-educate, removing a portion of your previous contact [in-person opportunity] with them.

i know i refer to seth’s blog a lot, but his post today validated my position on all of this. i echo his sentiment when he says that we need to begin building trust and permission before we can ask for money.

digital is one (very important) medium when it comes to a) this broader continuum of engagement and b) the marketplace in which these newly important currencies are spent.

This morning as I began to juggle the 1023913249 things I do on a given day, I had to listen to a voicemail left on our office phone. I knew when it had been left - last night at 7:30pm - because I was still in the office but was head down working and not answering the phone at that time on a Thursday night.

So, I took the time to listen this morning. JOY! It was a recorded message from Mary Jo Kilroy inviting us to come talk about how to create jobs in Ohio, talk about our dependence on foreign oil and green technologies. (Side note - funny she wants to talk about job creation as my city - Columbus - is about to pass an income tax hike which REALLY PUMPS US UP to continue to locate and grow our business downtown. Smell the sarcasm? No, but it’d be cool if you could, right?)

Ok, seriously?

1) A recorded message mass distributed via phone (and a voicemail at that!) is F’ING stupid. Apparently she and her staff/consultants are not being exposed to the new rules of engagement and best practices that are getting just a little bit of coverage these days - personal, new media, social web, etc etc. Oh wait, Pres. Obama has been… so you’d think Kilroy’s camp would too. No?

How do I, and most people, add things to their calendar? There is a digital invite and we have the ability to explore it and add it if we want to. If Kilroy’s crew is doing this (Facebook/Email/Twitter/Meetup/other), then I’m not aware… and I tend to have a decent finger on the pulse of such things in this city.

2) Our number is on the DO NOT CALL listing. Funny how these politicians passed that act…. but left a loophole for themselves.

So, the culmination of the medium (phone), the timing (7:30pm), the fact that we aren’t supposed to be contacted like this, the completely generic impersonal effort, and the fact that she wasted my time has left me a bit put off this morning.

I, like many others, get sick of hearing the (at this point) age-old quip “but I don’t care what you had for breakfast” specifically in reference to Twitter, but also to the use of social tools and social web behaviors in general.

So, for all of you naysayers, let me paint a picture for you…

Tehran, Iran - circa June 2009

Let me explain.

There are many questions to be asked regarding the “election”, not the least of which may be whether or not it matters who is president in a supreme-power theocracy. However, it is the events surrounding the recent happenings which are intriguing - a convergence of global social behaviors, technology, now-web and modern web application development practices and theory. In short, the techy geeky “stuff” which you presume to be a fad, isn’t. It is communication now; it is communication of the future. The results are profound.

Ingredients:

Global Social Behaviors - We live in a global economy and society. If you don’t believe that, please crawl back under your rock. It’s not just about multi-hemisphere conglomerates and international relations anymore, though. As is the common theme these days, it’s about the individual. Social technologies have connected the Common Joes of the world and they are genuinely interested in listening, talking, sharing, teaching, helping and learning from each other. From Bengal to New Hampshire they are participating in each others’ daily lives and having trivial(?) conversations.

Technology - It’s cheaper, more powerful, more accessible and better mastered than ever in history. We all know a computer as powerful as my iPhone used to be the size of an entire room… blah…blah…blah. The amazing capabilities of technology today, IMHO, are not so much computational, but connective combined with the ease by which they can be applied. You can connect almost anywhere. You can connect with almost anything… and that’s the point… YOU can do it.

The mobility of technology is also a key component. Mobile phones and smart-phones are of the utmost importance.

Modern Web Application Development Practices and Theory - Non-technicals stick with me here… there are a few crucial aspects of how people and companies develop web applications these days. Namely, the primary focus is on the engine - the core functionality. Many developers build and release Software Development Kits (SDKs), most commonly Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), for their applications. These tools, libraries, protocols and services allow other developers to leverage the engine in unique ways - pulling, pushing and mashing up data and interfaces. If you’ve ever seen a Google Map with unique data or elements in it, you’re seeing the result of an API. Users and developers find new uses for applications and engines all the time. Google is releasing it’s APIs for it’s new project - WAVE - to developers around the world long before the application will be accessible to the public. The idea is that thousands of progressive and diverse minds will help to finish the product, find new uses and  make it better. So, applications are being released “unfinished” and “wide open”. *Note -Ownership and monetization are another story!

Still shrugging and saying ’so what?’, huh? -

Tehran - People are trying to mobilize, trying to tell the world what is happening, but communications are being shut down. Traditional media are being banned. Sites are being blocked. But remember - people around the world are watching, people around the world want to help, people around the world care. Technology is accessible, connective and collaborative and our good friends at Twitter are aligned with the API-empowered web community.

What does this mean?

This means that because Twitter has an API, Twitter.com is not the only access point to the engine. It means that there exist 1000s of 3rd party applications through which people can read and publish tweets. Tehran can’t block them all, they don’t even know about them all. Fantastic! The masses with their mobile phones can be anywhere, communicate with each other, organize, assemble, and keep the rest of the world up-to-date while foreign journalists are being “controlled” and mass media is dropping the ball (have a look here too).

Well, what about connectivity? Internet access? If you can’t connect, you can’t tweet. Tehran certainly has control over access, right? Yes and no. Enter software engineer in Oklahoma who is interested in the situation and wants to contribute. He configures his laptop as a proxy and whala - people in Tehran can connect to TwitterFall through his computer and communications resume. That is, until Tehran finds him, and blocks his proxy. But then, another pops up in the UK, in Florida, in Singapore… you get the picture.

So let’s summarize that. People in Iran can communicate with each other and with the rest of the world while their government is scrambling to block things as quickly as they can because they have mobile technology, the global community cares, is interested, can facilitate connectivity, and because modern web applications focus on the what, not the how/when/where.

Does it matter? I sure think so. A major geopolitical occurence was consumable in real-time and not only that… but it was MADE POSSIBLE in real time because of this convergence. Still not convinced it matters? Well, the State Department decided it did too… they contacted the crew over at Twitter - a small group in a loft in SOMA - and asked them not to go offline for scheduled maintenance because… well… Twitter was contributing to democracy.

How da ya like DEM apples?

GI Generation - The Silent Generation - Baby Boomers - Generation X….

to my peers:

I say we just keep killin’ it, & let them define our generation by our results, not by our ‘childhood’ & default uncontrollable environment.

-Nick

[Originally Posted on the dynamIt Blog 3, October, 2008]

Is there a Social Media Dress Code? Should there be? Is it situational? Does it matter? Should it?

I say no. If I’m heading down to a big law firm, a big company or walking into a half-century-old PR firm who buttons up, ya, I pull on the suit and rope on the tie. While I do dress according to my day, I can’t wait to stop. I understand that traditional business is suited up, dressed to the 9s and perhaps a bit more conservative and structured. However, Social Media is about channels of connection, it’s about brand championing, it’s about reaction-engagement-participation. Social Media is about common language communication and time and space shift*.

I contend that dressing Social Media in a suit actually inhibits it. Think about it like this - are you more apt to give a real answer in a focus group observation room with 1 way mirrors and a camera or in a cafe, at your home or somewhere you feel comfortable? Is your conversation and thought process more natural when you’ve ironed your shirt and lint-brushed your trousers or when you’ve pulled on the sweats and are sitting in a more ergonomic chair not worrying about wrinkles and dog hair? The point is, for Social Media to be effective [read: gain valuable insight, true connection, trust and reliance] it needs to be second nature, unobtrusive and comfortable.

To that end, were I heading a large company/department looking to at least explore and hopefully implement a Social Media campaign, I would actually feel more comfortable talking with someone “dressed down”. 1. Social Media is trendy - I expect domain experts and thought leaders to reflect this 2. Successful Social Media implementation is not a toe in the water, it is commitment. As described above, someone consulting on this and coaching my people toward a positive result and experience should fully embrace the realm and “personality”. I’m pretty sure clients/customers would rather be talking to someone “like them” horizontally than a suit from above. As Cone points out, 93% of Americans expect companies to have a Social Media presence. 93% of Americans (all of us consumers of something and clients of someone) do not wear suits.

Again to the time and space shift* - Social Media pieces aren’t used in a conference room or in a board meeting (well, some are getting tweeted out!) but on breaks, on the run, on the road, after hours. Social Media is used/produced around life. If that life happens to be a business professional meeting, then by all means rock the double-breasted. However, just because you’re used to seeing a suit doesn’t mean that your clients and customers want to talk to you in it = your SM campaign doesn’t need to wear one = the thought leaders, domain experts consultants and participants in the field probably won’t be wearing them… at least not all the time.

*(time and space shift is Dave Berkus language)

What do you think? Should big corporate get used to seeing backwards hats, jeans and sneaks when they’re learning about the world of Social Media and how it can and will connect them more intimately with their clients, industry and (the way things are heading) the world?