Servant of Chaos

Ten Questions to Mark 3000

Some time ago I made a deal with myself – that when my blog hit the 3000 comment mark, I would ask the person who contributed comment 3000 to write a blog post. That “lucky person” was Angus.

But rather than do a guest post, Angus suggested that we play battleships and chat. But between client meetings, late nights and general busy-ness, we have not been able to get together -  so the next best thing – this list of questions was sent through. And I am only just now getting around to posting it – sorry Angus! But somehow, I have ended up writing my own guest post (note to self: find other guest bloggers):

1.  What have you learned about people from communicating with them on Twitter?

People share surprisingly intimate details of their lives via Twitter. I don’t know whether this is a genuine desire to connect, a symptom of our culture of self-performance or a confession – but it is definitely fascinating. As a result, I have learned that people are far more generous and more open online than they often allow themselves to be in “real life”.

2.  Why do people try and tell me how to use twitter?  No-one told me how to use Facebook - I could decide to have as many or as few friends as I wanted and share whatever information I wanted.  Why do people seem to think you should use twitter 'their' way? 

I think there are two aspects to this. First, there are people who think they might make some money from providing advice or consultancy (or just drive traffic to their website). Second, it is human nature – we become so caught up in our own lives and interests that we think everyone should think the way we do. This also happens with new babies and with holiday snaps.

3.  Do you think 'ambient intimacy' could breed laziness or complacency, or is it enriching relationships?

I think we are already experience laziness in our relationships anyway. We can blame our work schedules or our commitments or a million other things, but this trend towards personal isolation has been happening since the 50s. Like any relationship we only get out what we put in and online relationships are no different to offline relationships.

4.  Do you think online relationships have made us more or less tolerant offline? 

Because online relationships are traceable (ie you can’t hide), I think this is driving some change in our tolerance levels. If we are horrible to work with, but “nice” online, it eventually catches up with us (and vice versa). Thanks to Google our reputation precedes us.

5.  Do you think the nature of online conversation is ever different in Australia to other parts of the world and why?

People from different cultures experience online identity and conversation in different ways. Australians, for example, participate in ways which are different from Americans, which is different from folks from India, China or Germany. This is not really unexpected – we would scarcely arrive in another country and expect it to be the same as home (why else after all would we travel?).

6.  Name three people who inspire you at the moment.

I have been very fortunate over the last year to fall into a circle of friends who inspire me with their generosity and the simple way that they care for each other. Jye Smith, Julian Cole and Scott Drummond make me optimistic for the future.

7.  What gets your goat the most at the moment?

People who tell others how to use Twitter.

8.  What's the biggest benefit of storytelling in your view?

A good story connects us with the emotion of life. Or as Kafka wrote, it is “the axe for the frozen sea inside us”. When hit with the axe, all pretence falls away. We cannot hide. I love that.

9.  Does Twitter help or hinder with storytelling?

Having access to pens and paper doesn’t make us a great writer – so too with Twitter. In the hands of a great storyteller, Twitter can be a marvel.

10.  When are you going to visit Marcus in Germany and will you help him steal Armano's cowboy hat? 

I was hoping to have visited Marcus by now. I really expected to visit Germany for work last year – but it never happened. And while I don’t mind travelling for work, I also feel guilty about having a carbon footprint the size of a small European country. We may need to maintain our ambient intimacy for the foreseeable future.

As to Dave’s hat, I believe it is under constant security. But given the chance, I will snaffle it!

Stepping into the Spotlight

Plucking up the courage to start a blog or joining a conversation by commenting is not easy. For many of us, it means stepping out of our comfort zones – comments and blogs are, after all, easily found by the all seeing eye of Google; and you never know whether you might face a backlash or become embroiled in a heated discussion. But while it’s easy to sit in the shadows and read a blog – there really are great rewards for those who step into the spotlight.

Some time ago, Todd Andrlik suggested that I read Step into the Spotlight by Tsufit. The book appealed to me because of my background in theatre – so when Tsufit asked me to share a personal story about stepping into the spotlight, I couldn’t resist. In this guest post I share the trepidation I had when first commenting on Russell Davies’ blog.

I am sure you know what it’s like … “am I smart enough”, “is this witty”, “will I get flamed?” … all ran through my head. But in the end, it was the best thing I could have done.

Five in the Morning 012909

Steve Woodruff entertains the marketing blogosphere with a 5am shot of good reading each and every day. Today, to give him a sleep-in, I have volunteered to deliver a 5-shot steaming good blogosphere reading. Enjoy!

1. I care and I think you do too. By Bretienbach and Brown. Social media commentators talk a lot about community. I know I do. But what happens when real life community fails us? What happens when we feel isolated, alone, broken? And can a simple act of caring – a blog post, a picture – change one person’s outlook on life? This is YOUR chance to find out.

2. Trend Blend 2009+. By Jen Stumbles. In case you haven’t seen Richard Watson’s excellent trend map, Jen reminds us where to find it.

3. So Easy, A 7-Year-Old Can Do It. By Mike Wagner. Want to think about your customers in a new way? Mike takes a lesson in customer experience from his seven-year-old grandson.

4. How to be an Exciting Brand without Offending Anyone. By Mike Arauz. Think it’s possible? Mike (another Mike), sets us all straight. Damn straight.

5. My Biggest Fear in Life. By Mark Pollard. Mark shares. Now go back to shot 1 and start again! Thanks for reading.

Party at Todd's House

Starting Thursday, Todd Andrlik has asked a few of us to do some guest posting. Here is the line-up ... so make sure you get along and see what damage/contribution we all make to Todd's already successful blog.

The line-up is:

// Thu / Leo Bottary of Client Service Insights
// Fri / Kami Huyse of Communication Overtones
// Mon / Gavin Heaton of Servant of Chaos
// Tue / Drew McLellan of Drew’s Marketing Minute
// Wed / Darryl Ohrt of Brand Flakes for Breakfast

From Community to Family

  Capt Drew McLellan 
  Originally uploaded by servantofchaos

So, Blogger Social 08 is over. It was a blur. A joy. A great assault of emotion and excitement. An amazing experience.

And despite gathering some of the most articulate and creative marketing folks from around the world, the common consensus is that words are not sufficient to explain the impact of this extraordinary meetup on all of us participants. And I think this is as it should be.

But I will ponder one point. I have been writing, reading, commenting, discussing, emailing and collaborating with most of the 80-odd folks who trekked to New York for over two years. In that time much has changed. We fell into a community together. We saw it grow and expand, prosper even. We had fun and we had hard times. The community that grew out of our shared interest was surprisingly strong and extraordinarily supportive. But this has changed for me.

In making a commitment to come together -- to share an experience called "blogger social" -- we each had to forego something. There was a real cost -- be it financial, time or energy (or all three). But in the binding of that experience there was also a transformation. For me, meeting these old friends in person made me realise that our connection goes somewhat deeper than the word "community" allows. It is far more personal and much more expansive -- humbling and invigorating. Thanks to you all!

Susan Bird Tim Brunelle Katie Chatfield Matt Dickman Luc Debaisieux Gianandrea Facchini Mark Goren Gavin Heaton Sean Howard CK Valeria Maltoni Drew McLellan Doug Meacham Marilyn Pratt Steve Roesler Greg Verdino CB Whittemore Steve Woodruff Paul McEnany Ann Handley David Reich Tangerine Toad Kristin Gorski Mack Collier David Armano Ryan Barrett Lori Magno Tim McHale Gene DeWitt Mario Vellandi Arun Rajagopal Joseph Jaffe Rohit Bhargava Anna Farmery Marianne Richmond Thomas Clifford Lewis Green Geoff Livingston Kris Hoet Connie Reece CeCe Lee Toby Bloomberg Seni Thomas Darryl Ohrt Joe Kutchera Paul Dunay Marshall Sponder Chris Kieff Tara Anderson Jason Falls Paul Soldera Roberta Rosenberg Saul Colt Todd Andrlik Nathan Snell Ryan Karpeles Mike Sansone Jennifer Laycock Neil Vineberg Cam Beck Mike Arauz Matthew Bailey Heather Gorringe John Rosen Cathleen Rittereiser Tamar Weinberg Rita Perea Linda Sherman Matthew McDonald Kaitlyn Wilkins Terry Starbucker
Jennifer Berk Jane Quigley John Wall Scott Monty Kevin Horne Virginia Miracle Amanda Gravel Susan Reynolds David Polinchock Shashi Bellamkonda David Berkowitz Vahe Habeshian

Scared to Blog? Here's Your Chance

Peeking through fingers
Originally uploaded by Mazin melanie

I have been thinking over the experiment that John Moore at Brand Autopsy has been running. While he was away, John left a masked marketer at the helm -- Skyon, the master marketing pick-up artist. And while Skyons posts were great ... he kept his mask firmly intact.

So, here's what I am thinking. There must be some readers of this blog who would like to write some stuff. Maybe you just haven't had the time to put together your own blog. Maybe you don't want to ... or maybe you just haven't made it public yet.

What if you could post here ... say once a week for a month. That's right ... four posts over a month. You can choose your name/identity or you can come out of the shadows completely. Up to you. If you are interested, send me an email and let me know. I can only take one at the moment ... but if this works, I may do it again.

Go on, what have you got to lose?

Personal Branding Has Bred a New Culture of Extroverts

Guest post by Dan Schawbel.  Dan is the lead personal branding expert for Generation Y.  He commands the world famous Personal Branding Blog, publishes Personal Branding Magazine, directs Personal Branding TV, and is the head judge for the 2008 Personal Brand Awards.

Never before has the web been such a friendly place.   Web 2.0 has opened a gateway for individuals to come together, in unison and speak to each other using platforms such as blogs, Facebook and even Google talk.  Those that used to be introverted, now have a safe place to express themselves and their point of view.  They even have the privilege of networking with others who share similar insight, demographic or geographic. 

Personal branding has paved the way for people to gain confidence in themselves and their abilities to deliver value, whether by expertise or content.  Why take a job that you aren’t interested in and doesn’t fit who you are as a person?  There’s no point, especially when you have tools ready and available to you to convey your passions, goals and subject matter knowledge. 

A lot of this new direction comes from people’s comfort and freedom to express their appearance, competencies and personality.  Personality can be clearly communicated through podcasting, either using YouTube, Google Video or hosting it on your own website.  Either way, you can attract others to your brand by displaying the person behind the brand.  The great part about the web now is that everyone has a voice, but still not everyone is treated equally.  Those that have superior brand names, will get their email read faster, their articles published quicker and larger scale opportunities.

The good news is that anyone can achieve success by developing their brand.  The bad news is that if you fail to bask in the greatness of web 2.0, you will lose your personal freedom and the ability to connect and reach hundreds of millions of people around the world.  Whether you are 18 or 56, or black or white, you can all be a part of this growing community and develop your skills to match new job requirements that are spawning as we speak.  Step out of your comfort zone and into a world where you can be recognized for YOU!