Brian Wynne Williams

“Right” and “So” are the new “Um”

Brian Wynne Williams — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 06:26:55 +0000

If you’ve talked with techies lately, you’ve probably noticed that they start every sentence with “so” and they end every sentence with “right?” Not a heavy “right?!” — more of a rhetorical “right” that strikes an odd balance between confident authority and transparent self-doubt, both mashed together with a yearning for support and acceptance. It’s like leading and following with a single inflection. It always makes me want to interrupt and say “are you asking me or telling me?”

This isn’t new, but I used to think it was isolated to a few people I know. It seems to have now spread to everyone on earth. Is this just because someone told them to stop saying “um” all the time?

So, don’t get me wrong, right, because I do it too. Even worse, I still say “um” all the time to boot.

Hello, World.

Brian Wynne Williams — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 03:44:38 +0000

I’ve been blogging for a while in various places on various topics, and I’ve found it to be personally rewarding. So, I decided to spend 10 minutes tonight setting up wordpress, with no real plan beyond that. Maybe I’ll get bored tomorrow and never write here again. Maybe I’ll really want to blog here, but I’ll decide that the million other things I try to do each day are more important. Maybe I’ll find documenting my random thoughts of the day so fulfilling that I’ll write reams (or the digital equivalent) of commentary and develop a massive following.

Only time will tell, and my gut tells me that the best way to start is to not really care.

About

Brian Wynne Williams — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 03:23:19 +0000

About This Site

There are a lot of Brian Williams’ out there. Always have been. Over the past few years there’s even been one doing the national nightly news, which would be exciting if anyone really watched the nightly news anymore.

I remember in 1997 I considered buying brianwilliams.com, but decided that $20 was better spent on beers with my friends. I was probably right, but sometimes I do wish I had it. Alas, I had to go for my middle name.

About Wynne Williams

Wynne Williams (R. G. Wynne Williams III, to be exact) was my dad. He helped my brother and me get our company started back in 1999. You can read about Pop here. He gave me my middle name, which I now use to distinguish myself from all those other Brian Williams’ out there. I also use it as “brand” for this site (in terms of the URL). I feel a bit funny about it, to be honest, because I think my dad would have been a much better blogger than me right in this spot if he were still around. I’ll try to do him proud.

About Brian Wynne Williams

I’m the CEO of Viget Labs, a web consulting / design / development / marketing firm based just outside of Washington, DC. I’m also a partner / co-founder of a networking / events / publishing company called ExecutiveBiz. Since Viget takes up the vast majority of my time, my time with ExecutiveBiz is limited, with an emphasis on our annual web conference.

I’ve written a private (to friends and family) blog about my family for a while (if you know me and care about what my kids are up to, just ask and I’ll send you an invite), and blog “professionally” at Viget. I decided to launch this blog as an outlet for my thoughts, ideas, reactions, and commentary about topics that don’t really fit in either of the other blogs. I’m not really sure how committed to it I’ll be, but there’s no harm in trying.

How Do You Say “Wynne?”

Like “win.” Thanks for caring.