I’m currently at the airport in Las Vegas, awaiting a flight that starts boarding in 45 minutes or so. I figured I would take the time to write this now, because if I don’t then I’ll just say “forget it” like I always do, and then literally forget everything.
While I was in Las Vegas this weekend, I visited Blog World Expo. I don’t even really know what Blog World Expo is. I mean, I know what it’s supposed to be, but I’m not really convinced that it is what it purports.
I wouldn’t be so bold as to say that social media is an illusion. That’s very much not true, but I do think that people are prospecting in this space, not really knowing how to organize the people who are involved. Largely, they’re preaching to the choir, or they’re so paradoxically self-involved that they can’t even see the “social” aspect of the industry that they’re trying to form.
Anyway, I’ll summarize some of my thoughts quickly here, which I may hopefully expound upon in future editions.
First off, there are too many players to two specific markets right now. Market one: hosted comment networks. Market two: topical link trade networks. I think that both of these ideas are useful to the community of bloggers, but I have serous doubts as to how any company can offer an exchange of value (aka “get paid”) for the work they do. Right now, it seems they’re all funded by dad or a VC, and nobody has a clear idea of how they’re going to stay in business when that funding dries up. Guys, nobody invests money to throw it away, even if they were foolish enough to throw money at you without a plan for getting them some increased return.
What I think, from my perspective as a platform developer, is that a creative protocol, like what identi.ca is doing for microblogging, could eliminate the need for server-based solutions like these entirely. And if Habari (to name an excellent platform off the top of my head) can provide that protocol, whether in core or via plugin, then that’s where the future will be.
On another topic, Twitter is not God. As I told a couple of guys at breakfast this morning, if I hear another person imply that Twitter is the end-all of social interaction online, I just might strangle them.
In a panel I attended about creating loyalty with social media, there were 4 people who used Twitter as part of their solution. Unfortunately, that was the only solution they seemed to have. From this I have a few basic questions. First, how lousy does your traditional customer service have to be that Twitter works better? I mean, most people don’t use Twitter, so are all of those peple out of luck? Second, if Twitter isn’t working or isn’t where your customers are, or for some reason folds, where are you left if that’s the core of your customer service offering? Third, ideally you would not be using these avenues for exclusively doing customer support, after all, loyalty isn’t just about customer support. So what other social media tools are you using explicitly to connect with your customers even when they’re already happy?
And this was unfortunately the consistency of most of the sessions. I think the blogging world has moved beyond “Twitter is good” and “You should do SEO” and “Put Ads on your blog to make money”. In fact, there should be a n00b track in which we can isolate all of that crap so that people who’ve been writing blogs online (and I admit here that this blog is just for me, and I care not to apply any of the techniques I talk about to my own blog) for 10 years can determine at a glance if it’s worth dropping $300 on your conference. No reall, get some speakers with topics about which I’ll give a damn.
I did get some good ideas from - as stupid as this is - Alex Hillman’s presentation on taking risks with your online identity. There are some good, obvious ideas there that I can apply, and am surprised i’ve gotten this far without. It just blows my mind that I can basically see Alex anytime back at home, and get him to chat about anything with a beer. Am I right? I feel like I’m an Alex fanboy, but he’s one of those guys that’s very likeable, enjoys what he does, and is actually pretty informed for what topics he’s passionate about. I can think of worse role models that are ten years younger than me. Man, that’s depressing.
Speaking of Alex and his haunts, here’s something I learned while sitting in IndyHall on Friday. Before I get there, actually, I should mention that IndyHall has changed significantly in the few months I’ve been away. I have always liked the idea, but I definitely get a different vibe from the place these days, where it seems they’re working more toward signing up permanent members than the occasional visitor like myself. I wonder if it’s an economic evolution or if it’s a cultural evolution. In any case, my memories of the days spent in old city with a bunch of like-minded, like-dressed geek guys seem to be just that - memories. The only guy down there Friday not wearing pants and a polo shirt was Johnny, and I think hell would freeze over, if you know what I mean.
Anyway, it’s not a bad thing to evolve a business, I just wonder if I can still fit in, or where I fit in, and what the community is evolving naturally into.
Getting back to my original thought, the question I’ve been thinking of a lot lately was actually posed to me, even if not in so many words. I’ve obviously had thoughts before about being “defined” by a project or work I do. And certainly, Habari is a good way for me to be defined. I’m passionate about it, and think about way too much. If I could work exclusively on Habari full-time - if I had that opportunity, which basically means being paid to do it - I wonder how much I would hesitate.
I think back to when Matt was forming Automattic, and the few conversations we had, where looking back, it seemed like I might have been on track for recruiting. And I wonder how different my life, my philosophy on life even, would be if I had quit Kruse right then and told him I wanted in.
So when Bart asked on Friday about Habari, I was disturbed to have no great answer. I think I want to be the person that Bart assumed I was, and I think I’d like to play that role. That’s why I’m in Vegas, right? I’m not here to learn things for my blog, I’m here to make connections for Habari. I’m here to figure out how to make Habari work as my full-time passion.
I’m probably going to have to have some clean-up conversation with Nate about all this, because if it wasn’t obvious, I love working with RRS, and if Habari never happens in the way I’d love it to, I’d be happy right where I am for the foreseeable future. Having the opportunity to explore Habari is one of the many things I treasure about the work.
Yes, so Habari + brand + me. I need to see some of the lessons learned about online identities and build one for Habari. I’m getting used to the “I’ve never heard of that” response when talking to vendors, but it does sting a little. I’m sure other salespeople (is that what I’ve become? I don’t know how to feel about that) deal with the same issue before their product comes about. I really, really need to talk with people who are smarter than me about building Habari’s value and getting it out there for people to appreciate.
Other smaller lessons learned include: Don’t hard-sell to people you don’t know. A couple of guys did this at the event party yesterday evening, and it was one of the more annoying (practically the only annoying thing, apart form the Vegas price raping) things that I experienced so far this trip.
Also, don’t discount the occasional chance meeting at lunch. I met Peter while sitting by myself at lunch in the exhibit hall, and talking with and hanging out with him made the rest of the expo bearable. I won’t do another conference unless I know I’ll have someone to talk to, just because the ability to bounce ideas/process the content of sessions with some other living, intelligent person is downright invaluable. So expect that I’ll be draging someone from the Habari crew down here next year, if i go at all.
So that’s not the extent of the trip, but probably most of the important points that are on-topic. There’s quite a bit that I probably won’t write about here. “What happens in Vegas” and all, right?
I hear we’re going to start boarding soon. I’m on my way to Seattle to visit Pat. By the way, if you see Berta, please tell her to call me, because I haven’t heard her voice in far, far, too long, and I can’t seem to find her anywhere.
