Deborah Schultz

This week's links from around the net

Stuff I found interesting this week

peterme.com » Alan Cooper Told The Audience What They Wanted To Hear, Not What They Needed To Hear

the dichotomy between design and business in a post-industrial economy - bridges must be built between craft and commerce - this can be done.

I totally agree - just as better bridges and mechanisms need to be built between tech and business to forge relevant relationships between companies and customers in a post-industrial/social web world.

Anil Dash: Not Rude, Familiar

Exactly - New Yorkers are not rude - actually , after living in Sf for over three years - I am more convinced than ever that we are indeed quite friendly and helpful. MOre than most - we have to be as a survival tactic. [yes, "we" - you can take the girl out of NY....]

Customer service via Twitter works for unpopular people too | Webware : Cool Web apps for everyone

Comcast is using Twitter to monitor customer service. And it works!

Dancing With Gorillas: The New Web Era - ReadWriteWeb

The new Web era is about the mainstream. This is when millions of small businesses and digital free agents make a good living by providing better products to ...

Pause for self-promotion

I have been chastised by friends, colleagues and confidants for not posting about recent talks past and future, so without further adieu here is some info on an upcoming talk.  Of course, with my reader's time in mind - it is only fair to also include some additional food for thought.....

I will be speaking at The Cluetrain at 10 with Doc Searls, Thor Muller and others on May 29th in Palo Alto at an event hosted by The Conversation Group, SAP, and Forrester. 

Should be an interesting day focused on both ""you've come a long way baby" and how far we still need to go.

Little did I know when I signed the Cluetrain Manifesto ten [ gulp ] years ago that I would end up being one of its' loudest mouthpieces. 

I took a look at what I posted to the site in prep for this post and I have to say I love my quote from back then and my philosophy still holds.  Good to see I am consistent.

Deborah Schultz, Manager, EC|Solutions, AnswerThink Consulting Group - "Amen! I refer to this as the Dr. Seuss metaphor - 'Revenge of the Whos.'  Gone are the days when all the little Whos in Who-ville have to shout to be heard.  The Web empowers all the Whos...er humans!

It is great to see that ten years later  we now have many new tools and technologies that have moved the Relationship Economy forward.  It is fantabulous that many have jumped aboard - but I also think many have reduced the concepts to mere "new marketing" drivel. At the risk of sounding like a broken record - this is  BIG change stuff not just "chatting with your customers".  It is also frustrating to see how much farther we still need to go.  Today, I feel less like ranting and more about discussing the good stuff, so here are a few good examples: 

• Edgeconomy - the cool, interesting stuff is indeed happening at the edges - are you paying attention?

• Project VRM   - Energy around the power of the individual
  

• Acknowledgement of the importance of both design, craft and [dare I say]  humanity in the post industrial age - ya know the not so concrete stuff around DNA, Whoofie, Culture - call it what you will!

• And for further reading see Brian's nice list

This week's links from around the net

Stuff I found interesting this week

The Social Customer Manifesto: Reaching Out: Four Retail Companies That Are Reaching Out with Blogs and Social Media

Four nice mini case studies on retailers who are trying

twitter.zappos.com

so simple, so easy....putting it all out there.

May 1st - a popular day for the people

It's a popular day this year

[OK - it is probably a popular day every year, but this year I thought to write a post about it, so I could get my lat post with the weekly links image not found off the screen]

Today is RSS Awareness Day - who knew?!   It is also ALL of these days as well [thanks to 10k for doing the linking so I did not have to]

Lastly, it is also Yom Hashoah - or  Holocaust Memorial Day.  This video clip shows how they commemorate in Israel.  I have always wished the US could actually do this for 9/11.  You can fast forward to 1' 35"  - and still get the idea.

Workers of the Web unite

In an effort to allude to the Workers May Day theme, here are some recent Soylent green posts on my favorite theme - IT's PEOPLE, PEOPLE 

[via Chris  - yeah i copied tho whole darn chunk cause I was lazy and did not think Chris would mind]

1) The "networks don't have people...people have networks" concept floated here has become a full-fledged snowball.

• Ross Mayfield - "Here's some related Soylent Green."
• Demian Entrekin - "Individuals create value for organizations through the impact of their Project Network, not through their position in the organization chart."
• David Wallace - "It's about the people, people."
• David Cushman - "When you aggregate personal data in profiles (eg facebook) you risk imposing structural limitations on the conversation and on the way groups form. This leads to severe restrictions on value and growth creation in your network."
• Marshall Lager - "It's why Facebook (for example) has been having trouble - it takes ownership of pieces of you."

2) A point of caution on the "social media divide" from Francine Hardaway (with more here) - "Fellow geeks, we live in a dream world -- a world of Twitter - Twhirl - Friendfeed - AlertThingy - Seesmic. And if you think most people reading this can identify any of those things, think again. Moreover, if you think there's a chance of any of those crossing the real chasm in the next ten years, think again."

This week's links from around the net

Stuff I found interesting this week

Just-enough, a new trend in the works (or, why Paul Allen's Octopus is really an Albatross)

I love Grant's blog - always a new take. Here he points out the new "just enough" trend - whether it be money, fame or goods.

Harvard Business Online's The Groundswell Effect

Understanding the contradiction between social web, authenticity, your business and scale

Seriously, we can do MORE

Update 5/5: - Umair has a nice discussion going on over here that started right after I spoted this - it must be in the air! I promise to do a follow-on post as my post seems to have struck a nerve, basedo n all the comments below - yeah!]

Confession: For the past few months I have been growing increasingly bored and frustrated with the shortsightedness of many on the power and impact of social software for business and connectedness between people and ideas.  Yes, I am oft too earnest and impatient on this stuff - but I mean - why settle?

The last few weeks have really driven that feeling home. Time to reflect on long airplane trips, meeting with folks doing BIG stuff around the world, taking a pause from the echo chamber and some inspiring conversations with some really smart folks, have emboldened me to finally write some of this down. Many overheard conversations at Web2Expo yesterday further added to my feeling of malaise.  I am dropping this rant quickly but promise to focus more in these topics in the coming weeks and months:

• The social web and web2.0  - c'mon, this is so much more than throwing sheep and twittering that we are stuck in airports.  As I have ranted on this before, in various ways, if you *only* look at these tools as a bigger megaphone for communication you are not looking hard enough! Think real innovation, business and cultural transformation!

• Back in September, I was sitting with a friend at a conference  and he said it best: "never before have so many done so little with so much" [I will provide attribution once/if I get approval from him]

• The power of tech to bring people together is REAL and VITAL [my trip to Israel reminded me of this]

• This is only the beginning of some really cool stuff - the beginning. Per Clay's point yesterday: "the size of our collective cognitive surplus is so large that just 1% participation can bring about HUGE change. 

• How do we encourage and nurture greater participation and develop an "architecture of participation" [nice turn of phrase clay - more on this to come] that benefits business, cultural and political innovation.

• O'reilly yesterday finally discussed using this stuff to solve big problems - as the pied piper for many developers - I thank you for leading them to a higher cause -  hope they hear you.

Now, I am not saying we have all the answers or even know how any of this will pan out.  Existing infrastructures [technical, financial, organizational and cultural] mean certain changes will be slow while others will circumvent the roadblocks that stand in their way. 

What I do know is that if you do not ask the right questions up front and reach for the sky - well - you just ain't gonna get very far.

---------------

This post is a nod to Greg and my work designing and launching the Info Center - the project that is still my touchstone for the power and promise of integrating the physical with the digital at the intersection of technology, people and business -  "saving lives, baby, saving lives"]

[Addendum: As I was writing this I noticed Umair's post.  Lately, we are channeling each other on this stuff - I nod to his eloquence and ability to lay out the issues].

TravelingGeeks: Israel through the eyes of first timers

This weeks has been a whirlwind of interesting, absurd and hysterical moments as the TravelingGeeks have bumped around the country and the tech scene in Israel. It has been exhausting and amazing to watch these two worlds that I live in come together in such a unique fashion. I definitely have more thoughtful posts rolling around in my brain - for now here are some Snackbytes to whet your appetite:

• Picture a mini van with all of us smushed together three across with laptops open, evdo cards humming while twitters ricocheted amongst ourselves and folks and around the world

• Craig's intro to twitter by Scoble- perfect medium for a guy with the coolest driest sense of humor of anyone I know

• Lunch with local women bloggers at Nanoushka -gossiping about the difference between Israeli geek guys  and SF geek guys - yeah - I know you are dieing to hear all about it - but this Lunch was strictly off the record


• Amazing afternoon coffee stop with Ishmael Khaldi's family - where I got to be an interpreter between Jeff's wife Eileen and Ish's mother and sister that was both touching and endearing.

• The graciousness of Scoble - he has an amazing ability to focus and listen for hours - and always knows just the right questions to ask - never get to really see him in action till now

• The sheer enthusiasm of Sarah, not to mention our all too brief shopping trip in Neveh Zedek [tel aviv's hip little Soho-esque neighborhood] Glad it was not longer or more pocketbook damage would have ensued.

• The photography skills of Renee, Cathy's wit and Susan's joy at meeting Israeli women bloggers

Just got word that the day in Jerusalem was,  as expected - amazing and emotional.  I am sure there will be some heartfelt posts to come.  One more day to go..tomorrow should bring some more interesting experiences - including a meeting at Rogozin HS and the Peres Center for Peace.

This week's links from around the net

Stuff I found interesting this week

Traveling Geeks

SF Bay Area bloggers travel the world, starting with Israel

Our aggregated blog - of trip to Israel

Gary the Great: Vaynerchuk sets the example of how to succeed in business today - (37signals)

Tis true - not to pile on the accolades - but Gary is emblematic of how and what works in selling a product today - whether it is a person, brand or soap. 37 signals sums it up nicely. A great example of how the right DNA combined with A LOT of hard work wins.

BuzzMachine » Blog Archive » Competing with open - and free

Yup - free wins - adding true value the tough nut to crack - the marketplace will yet again prove this out...

Joho the Blog » Managed by expectations, irked by messages

Good distinctions here by Dave - have always had a negative knee jerk reaction to the word messages., perhaps not fair - to me the word has always felt very contrived. Ideally one does not create messages but converses or tells stories

AttentionMax » Blog Archive » When The Social-Networking Craze Damages Your Reputation

Social networking fatigue

Greetings from Heathrow - en route to Israel

I am en route to my annual jaunt to Israel and of course stuck in Heathrow, so what better to do than  tap into blog land.

Last year I was lucky enough to spend an entire month in Israel - visiting with companies and great people - it always energizes me.  This year the trip will "only" be 10 days but will be jam packed. It will include participating in Kinnernet [Yossi Vardi's Israeli version of FOO Camp meets a Jerry Michalski retreat], then The Marker conference and then courtesy of the Israeli consulate in SF, I will be touring the country with a group of blogger buddies [including Scoble, Cathy Brooks,  Renee Blodget, Sue Mernit, JD Lasica, Sarah Lacy and Craig Newmark ].   I will be both blogger and digital ambassador to the Israeli tech & cultural scene I know and love. The bus rides alone will be interesting in and of themselves.

There is a lot happening in the Israeli tech scene today - mostly around video and mobile.  There is noway we will be able to cover it all- but I am sure we will try.   We will be posting from the road - so stay tuned here on twitter , flickr and a group blog to be named later..;)

Of course, when it rains, it pours and I am also launching the private [for now] community for the P&G Social Media Lab that I have been working so hard on the past few months and hinting at here for an equal amount of time! I promise to share more on this in the coming weeks and months - it is truly an exciting program that I hope will raise the dialog on new business models for the social web that benefit both company and customer/user.

In the meantime, here are some photos from previous trips to Israel to pique your interest. 

      

 

For background on Israel tech scene, check out this  link to the latest 15 page article from the Economist on "Silicon Wadi" [tho I do not agree with their assessment].

Snackbyte: So simple so true

That Jarvis has a way with words:

"Before the public can learn to trust the powerful, the powerful must learn to trust the public."

Amen, Jeff! Looking forward to the new book!

A moment in time aka "our little web is growing up"

[Note: this post was originally written on wed evening when I was a bit sleep deprived.  I could have sworn I hit publish - but, oops I guess I did not]

========

SXSW interactive is winding down and I am sitting in a hotel room working on a presentation about the Web world I know and love. But I can't focus.  My mind keeps racing around with a flurry of thoughts.  Most importantly I have this one thought I must get 'down on paper' to clear my brain.

We are at a seminal moment in the the world of the Social Web - we are growing up. 

My hope is that this year's SXSW is not remembered for chaos, tribal fighting or as the year "thought leaders" [heh]  outnumbered innovators but for a moment in time that the enthusiasm, excitement and energy of the innovators, entrepreneurs and designers, individuals and companies has led to a rich,  unique and viable industry. 

Where else but on the web can geeks, designers, artist coders, gamers etc all share a space.   I was drawn to this this industry over 15 years ago because it empowered me as an individual and enabled me to connect with others and exercise my creative side.  I was in college at the time and ran a business where I published a Guide to NY using Pagemaker 1.0.  I flipped on a Mac and voila I was a publisher.  It was and still is a place where even a dabbler has a voice.  As someone who loves to create and connect but does not want to get bogged down in coding - this is powerful stuff! 

The web is a place where creative minds who choose to "opt-out" can mix with "business types", where geeks and techies and graphic designers, developers and storytellers can all mash together to use whatever tools suit their needs.  Whether they are 23 year old "billionaires" [heavy on the quotes] , grown-up companies that gave birth to an industry or newbies who have taken the tools and built a new life for themselves. 

Emblematic of this diversity as I hung out with old friends and met new ones, I was struck over and over by how many people had multiple business cards -- i.e. multiple lives and multiple identities. How many people could not define themselves in a niche and how many people took vacation time to attend SXSW - even if the web is part of their day job.  This is because SXSW [and by extension the Web]  is something very personal to them. 

I had not been to SXSW in years [not sure why exactly - but probably because I had lost touch with that creative, developer side of myself].  So the jump to the grown up SXSW was indeed sharp.  Part of me misses the smaller community aspects of the Web - "back in the day". 

The Web has entered its adolescence [at least as far as SXSW is concerned].  And as it grows and  the community breaks into every increasingly larger and diverse smaller tribes, my hope is we focus on creating even better tools to empower more people to experience that same incredible aHA moment I had when I first got a taste of the power and possibility that is The Web.

[note: the Earnestness of this post is dedicated to Heather Gold and Molly Steensen..;)]

On the road again

Yup -traveling again this week.  Just got back from eTech where I got to do a fun Ignite chat - brain still popping from smart folks.  Now I am off to SXSW - aka -  "geek spring break", where I will do the panel thing and look forward to some awesome conversations over beers, BBQ, music  and  geek comedy. 

Catch ya on the flip side.

The Economics of Brands

I absolutely love the conversation that Umair has started over at his new HBS blog on the Economics of Brands.  Umair and I have had numerous discussions on this topic as we are both pretty passionate about the subject and working on the challenges and issues from related spaces.  He even mentions P&G in the discussion - [perhaps a veiled allusion to the Social Media Lab I am developing with P&G...;) ]

What I love about this discussion is that it puts the topic in logical economic terms.  At the core of why brands do not control the message is the fact that they no longer control the medium - as the world flattens and the cost of communication disintegrates it is indeed the customer who can increasingly compare notes and attitudes and create the value.

As Umair points out:

In fact, when interaction is cheap, the very economic rationale for orthodox brands actually begins to implode: information about expected costs and benefits doesn’t have to be compressed into logos, slogans, ad-spots or column-inches – instead, consumers can debate and discuss expected costs and benefits in incredibly rich detail.

I love to quote Scott Cook on this one:

“A brand is no longer what we tell the consumer it is - it is what consumers tell each other it is.”

I would even argue that was to a certain degree - always the case - it is just that today we are all connected - you can't snow me anymore.  This is SO much bigger than mere branding - it lies at the core of your business model.

So what are the new brand building models? I think many of them have yet to be worked out  but I know it is NOT traditional advertising.  I also know that what it DOES involve is empowering your customers, listening to them and putting the aggregated feedback into action. 

The larger questions of scale and financial models that work are the tough nuts to crack,the large advertising industry with its vested interests and deeply entrenched silos is gonna need some prying apart. 

What is  the culture of your company? [copy paste wrong window]

[UPDATE - missed these related links from Brian & Tara ]

A view of the flattening world

[click on image for full size view]

Thank you Le Monde.  A nice reminder of the cultural variances across community.

Round-up posts from the week

Some smart posts from smart people this week - all centered around innovative thinking.

JP Rangaswami - his take on "weaving" dubbed "capillary conversations" - love it.

Doc on defining & describing the social graph in english.  [Doc you read my mind - this was exactly the session I ran at SGFoo! - more on this later]

Josh Bernoff on Cluetrain revisited

Umair on the DNA of Advantage

Valeria on Questions & Innovation

Brian on  when hacking hardware or when data flows everywhere [something i think about a lot]

Armano on the "application economy" aka useful = value [amen brother!]

Susan Mernit on amplification of our lives online

Sean Bohan on Listening & blogging

Chris Carfi on KK's new book  -thanks for summary -  can't wait till it comes out!

Sometimes it only takes ONE word

Setting:

A recent geek dinner - in attendance, myself, my friend Jerry Michalski [a brilliant thinker in the social software/relationship economy space] and some other digerati [can u say Scoble, Dyson etc]

Topic of table Conversation: The impact of the SocialWeb on business

When describing the impact of Social Technologies on business  I take pains to not use specific language - pr, marketing, advertising as it seems that everyone has different [and often wrong] ideas of what any of these disciplines are.

So, I am feeling very smug, cause I always describe my current project's objective {A Social Media Innovation Lab for P&G] as "exploring the future of how companies and customer will communicate and connect". 

However, with a few glasses of wine in me, my standard spiel came out as "how companies will talk to their customers in the future" [ugh].

Without missing a beat Jerry said, "not TO their customers AMONGST their customers". 

Brilliant.  I really like the idea of AMONGST - it changes the lens instantly.  Sometimes it takes just ONE word to re-frame the conversation.

You can learn more about Jerry on his blog.

[photo credit evilnick]

Control +Need = Value

I have never been a fan of  the banner ad [understatement] nor understood why this niche advertising vehicle took off the way it did.  Why did the online world settled for such an old model applied to such a potentially rich environment like the web.  In a recent conversation with my buddy Scott Kraft we even argued that we can "thank" the IAB's banner ad standardization for the lack of innovation in online marketing over the past ten years.  I wholeheartedly agree.  Such an old media model applied to such a rich medium - makes NO sense.

Today - things ARE different - the social web is rich with opportunities for companies & customers to connect and exchange REAL VALUE.

In this week's WSJ editorial , entitled The "Coming Ad Revolution" Esther Dyson sums it up brilliantly:

"This does not mean that traditional online advertising will go away, just that it will become less effective. Value is being created in users' own walled gardens, which they will cultivate for themselves in real estate owned by the social networks. The new value creators are companies -- like Facebook and Dopplr -- that know how to build and support online communities."

I would argue that the real value creators will be companies and applications that actually cross and integrate walled gardens - free and open is where it's at.  However, Esther's point is well made.  The crux of it is - I am in control of my data and my network and I CHOOSE and GESTURE who I want to connect with when and where.  Search was the first step in assisting the customer in finding what they want - but now information overload means that I am inundated with data. However, if I am in control and gesture to my community what I need when - value is created for both sides! 

In this universe, I am no longer an anonymous surfer glommed together into a bucket of other searchers, I am an INDIVIDUAL gesturing a very specific need and desire - for a car, travel, real estate, a great pair of shows or an event - to the community  [people and companies] who take  the time to KNOW me.

It is indeed a relationship economy - and I am in control!

Snackbyte: the fabric of our lives

Metaphors are nice to jump start the conversation, but - careful - they can result in narrow thinking.

Follow me here....

Web pages are NOT pages - they never were and they certainly are not today

Facebook friends are NOT [necessarily] friends - I am connected to my mailman he is NOT my friend

Social Media is NOT just a marketing channel - remember back in '95 when the web was just a marketing brochure [blue background = bank, black background = music label] - then people woke up and realized - ooh - eCommerce.

The Social Web [aka the Social Cloud]  is radically, fundamentally shifting the cultural & business fabric of our lives - yeah, like Cotton!

To put this in business terms - this is about Innovation - and touches ALL aspects of your business.

Think narrow and suffer the consequences.

[check out more of gi's gorgeous photos]

The Social Cloud

Kevin Marks did a great job of defining the social cloud as oxygen at the recent Lift conference.  Nice way to look at the complexity of the Social Web, and yet another reminder of the behaviors driving innovation online.

The video is about 20 minutes - and well worth it. He will be putting up text on his blog shortly.

Snackbyte: Sometimes ya just gotta repost

This morning I took a break from being in execution mode to catch-up on some of my favorite feeds - sharing these great ones with y'all. 

Fluidity of the Web - Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for posting some notes on  Anil's recent talk at WebDirectionsNorth on Web tools and business. Many of these point are relevant beyond enterprise - and are just plain relevant to web tools. Once again , I nod to Anil for not getting caught up in 'shiny bling' - but what is always at the root of why we love these technologies - the way they facilitate relationships between people & businesses [if we let them]. Particularly love these points - always seem obvious to me - but not to everyone -

• We have so much potential with this technology; we have responsibilities that come with that & we need to use these tools of change wisely. They have real world impact.
• The Web tools enable relationships.  This is new for business tools.  Relationships (esp. reciprocal) are never mentioned.
• We aren’t different people at work & home. [that's right and current enterprise security measures are making it really hard to be fluid like the web]
• Don't talk jargon
• We are moving from a focus on words to gestures [LOVE this SO true]
• The Web is in motion  - [yup, this is alpha days - pretty exciting tho if you have the stying power and can live in flux land]

Let's rethink the word content, people: Content is a media industry term - 

"As far as I am concerned there are only two platforms - the individual user and the web"   -

Brilliantly stated Adriana!

The social evolution has just begun - Things are starting to get really exciting around managing our digiltal lives and social connections - opensocial, dataportability, actions streams etc etc.  But let's not believe we can solve it all with open platforms alone - things are going to get way more complicated before they get simpler.  We need to have a better understanding of how people share and connect online.  We are in our infancy on this one.  Heck, we are still using the "web pages" metaphor for stuff that frankly is not a page and we are using the "friend" metaphor for all our loosely joined connections online.   As Stowe points out and I completely concur  -

"we need a "new fusion of the concepts of social media reflected in real social context and the nature of the current web".....or we are at risk of "bleed[ing] out all the social subtleties" of how we interact in the real world.    [great term Stowe!]

I just love smart people.

Snackbyte: A small rant on doing better

My brain has been popping with random bits and bytes over the past few days.  I have also been stuck in front of the keyboard A L0T.  So this may come out as more of a rant than intended, just think of me as channeling Andy Rooney. 

• I have looked at so many social media/web2.0 community sites in the last week that my brain hurts from seeing so many faces boxed into little 50x50 squares.  Where are the designers/UE folks who can think outside the box? There has got to be a new way to look at this. A grid of small faces is not organic and feels flat. Think about how Etsy reinvented the way we interact with items when shopping -- I want more of THAT.

• I am afraid that people - how they live and what they need - is getting lost in all the noise and geek speak around technology, media & social ads these days.  Let's put the social back in social software.  What do people want and need? And it ain't another bite on the neck or yet another place to "express, share and connect" with friends.

• We have reached a key moment in social media - I am now smarter about you my friends/connections/colleagues. This is fun and informative. Now, I would like to be smarter about me and you together.  Great - I know that you are stuck in traffic or eating a pizza or getting on a plane - but how about we take all this data and do a bit of analytic magic to tell me which of my friends I connect to the most and share the most with [no not just a simple graph]? Which are experts on X and which on Y? I crave a deeper mapping of my network and how I can use it better. 

If we are to live in a world  that is flatter, more expansive and more loosely joined - we can do better.  We have to, or all we will end up with is a lot of noise.

Please stand by...

   I know it has been awhile.

   I have not forgotten you.

   I could make up some lame excuse but truth is

   'Doing' has taken front seat to writing of late.

   No excuses.   No resolutions.

   I still love ya.

   

I continue to be humbled by every person who  chooses to subscribe to this feed

So,

Organized thoughts coming soon...Please stand by. 

In the meantime, my stream of consciousness is readily available over on twitter to prove that I am alive.

[photocredit: Voidmstr]

Snackbyte - It's about respect, people

There was a little brouhaha this week regarding  Lane Hartwell's copyrighted photography being used without permission in a recent YouTube video by an acapella group called the Richter Scales. Derek Powazek has a great rational write-up explaining all the details. 

The important takeaway for me is that as the community of folks creating collaborative media [i really like that term, Derek], has gotten larger and the tools that enable distribution get easier to use and more widely distributed, it is less likely that the originator of the work will actually know the person who is 'sampling it'.  As a result they may just not feel as beholden or even think about the original creator.  Not acceptable.  Additionally, we live not only in an increasing era of collaboration but in an environment of curation as well.  For a safe environment of curation and collaboration to flourish it is critical to maintain respect for the individual who created the original work.  This respect can come in many forms [ from payment to link love] depending on the nature of the work [copyright, CC, free- flowing ideas off a blog post or presentation or speech]. 

In the old days, you may not have cared if you were 'stealing' from the big bad media guys - heck they are making a fortune and there seems to be no individual person with skin in the game [whether or not what you might be doing is illegal].  Well, in the era of social media there is often an individual person affected. They may be trying to eek out a living directly from the sale of their work or building a reputation based on their ideas.  It definitely ups the ante on the rules of reciprocity and respect.

I have to say, I am a stickler for this stuff whether copyrighted material, Creative Commons or whatever.  I do my best to link and cite and stick to the use originally intended and identified by the original creator.  This is not to say I don't sometimes make mistakes as well [please call me on it], but I am conscious that we do indeed live in a collaborative environment.   [I am also the daughter of a librarian and think proper footnoting is embedded in my DNA].   I often go so far on my preso's to put an "inspired by" note on the bottom of any slide that uses a single bullet or even idea [graphic or text] from something I read on some one else's blog or website.  Not so hard and the effort goes a loooong way.  It's about reciprocity and respect for another individual's work.

And, if that is too touchy feely for ya--well--if nothing else there is the practical knowledge that this stuff travels! It is just good internet karma.

[Update: I forgot that I myself am guilty of having linked to the disputed video, until I had this needling in my head and went back and looked at it.  Amazing. This even further proves the point of how important it is for the original collaborator to just 'do the right thing'. Even those of us who should know better don't often catch this stuff. There is just too much info out there and it travels  really fast!]

Don't tell me you love me, show me

Monday morning, en route to catch a pre-dawn flight to Cincinnati, as I hovered between coffee induced alertness and the fog of sleep deprivation, it dawned on me that a great metaphor for old marketing versus new relationship economy communication is the death of the "Grand Gesture".

You know what I mean; the Grand Gesture is represented by the roses you send on Valentines Day or the present you buy on holidays or anniversaries to make up for all the times you did not hold your weight in a relationship.  We have all been either on the giving or receiving end of such gestures and we know that they don't make up for consistent listening and support.  The mark of a deep relationship is being there consistently - even when it is not convenient.  It is often about putting the other person first.

The Grand Gesture is all about the "gesturer" and not at all about the receiver.  The "gesturer" is thinking only about themselves, is being reactive and hoping it makes up for lack of attention or a big mistake. Well, the truth is, it never really does. 

The company equivalent of the Grand Gesture can take many forms - a major press announcement or briefing, a product/feature launch, a special price break or an insufficient rebate when there has been a screw-up. Those are all well and good but if they are not backed up with taking out the trash at 2am, staying up late when I am sick and listening to me bitch late at night - well then those grand gestures don't add up to much. It is the small consistent gestures that are often inconvenient that make up the core of a trusted relationship. 

Companies need to understand that punctuating bad behavior with the occasional grand gesture just is not going to cut it anymore.  We demand more.

That's why I am really excited to participate in Satisfaction's  upcoming Customer Service is the New Marketing" conference. The gang at Satisfaction understand that the future is about consistency and respect and  "grand gestures"  can't make up for consistently great customer service.   They have assembled a great group of experts on community and customer service --folks who really live the mantra of putting the customer first.

I'll be leading a round table on the important first step - the cultural shift required to succeed in the relationship economy. If you are interested in attending I've got a special 25% discount for anyone I send along.  So register here or enter the PANL discount code when registering.  I look forward to seeing you there.

[check out Paulo's other photos on flickr]

I just couldnt resist

[Update: There has since been a bit of a firestorm around this video, which is why it is no longer available.]

The link to Nat Torkington's post on communication is still mucho interesting and worth a second look. 

Watch this, then when you are done smiling (and feeling all superior),  go read this [make sure to read the comments].  There is plenty of non "me-too" thinking out there, you just need to know where to look.  Enjoy!

[Link crumbs: Thanks to Brian via Nat Torkington]