Mr. Solis has release his new book, “Engage” so I thought this might be the perfect time to revisit his last book which still sits on my desk alongside a number of other books – not as  reference but simply as a reminder – of a lot of things.

At a minimum I can get this post out of my draft folder.

Twice I read this book
I’ve read “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations” twice.  The first time was simply because I wanted to read it. As a professor and practitioner I enjoy reading about public relations, communications, etc. I have followed Brian for the last few years, reading his blog and his other books. It was a no brainer to make the purchase.

I expected the book to be good. It was.

I expected to toss it in the pile of other good books. I didn’t.

I didn’t expect to consider its use as a text book. I did and do.

A bit of history
I developed and teach a social media course at Oklahoma State University and for more than two years have been reviewing “social media” books for use in the course. Most were tactical in nature but didn’t do a good job explaining the true value of the tactics or how to use them as part of an overarching strategy which will ultimately support the objectives of an organization.  Kind of like buying a book about tools you might use to build a house, interesting but doesn’t get you any closer to having shelter.

Books I found which focused more on strategy seemed to miss the mark on the theoretical and philosophical difference of social media compared to traditional communication methods. They also reeked of an almost advertorial tone – how to market yourself kind of late night infomercial.

My review – not much more to say than what has already been said
As you can imagine and have probably heard, the book is good, very good in fact. If I wasn’t using it for my social media class I would make it required reading for at least one of the other PR courses I teach. I would go so far as recommend to all PR professors to make this book required reading – for themselves and their students.  Please note, I am not saying this should replace the text books we already use. This is simply an addition to. In fact I would argue (and it has been discussed) you could find most everything in this book already outlined in other text books. What “Putting” does it puts it all in a bit of context with the current state of affairs in our industry and makes a lot of old topics fresh again and offers up some new topics in a format which is easy to digest and enjoyable to read.

Simply put, for those of you who have never been trained in PR you will read the book and be amazed at the revelations, a proverbial fire hose to drink from. For those of you who have been formally trained you will be reminded of a few things you have forgotten and, if you are open to some of the topics, be energized to tackle… whatever it is you have needed to tackle but, but from a different perspective.

My favorite parts
If you wanted to know my favorite part(s) it might be easier to simply send you my book, with my personal markings of underlined passages, dog-eared pages, stars, highlights and side notes included.  Yes, I destroy my print books with my personal edits. It’s my book, leave me alone.

My favorite part, quite honestly, is what came after reading a few pages or chapter – the ability to really think through the theoretical and practical elements of what was being discussed. I admit while reading this book I spent a lot of time in front of the computer doing additional research. The mention sociological implications led me down a path of research which expanded to include biological research, influence on decision making models, etc.  (that’s the nice thing about being a professor, an almost unlimited supply of research articles supplied by the University Library)

If I had to write a jacket review it would simply say, “This book should be required reading for every public relations student and practitioner for the benefit of their future and their client’s future.” Yes, I puffed it up a bit for consideration but I couldn’t say the same, even with a little puffing for any other “social media” book out there. I hope to see my comment right under Seth Godin’s review for the final printing.

Bottom line – I finally have a single social media book with a balance of strategy and tactics intertwined with a philosophical overview of what makes social media so different than traditionally (some would say archaic, I would say ineffective) used communication and marketing models. The book isn’t mandatory reading but is part of a reading list which includes a number of other articles, blogs, etc.

Bottom line regarding “Putting”
If you haven’t yet read the book I would encourage you to do so, even before you read Engage if you had planned to purchase it.  Although I haven’t yet read this new book (It is sitting on my desk as I type) I am sure the foundation “Putting” will create will be of value. Who knows, perhaps with the royalties Mr. Solis will travel to Oklahoma and speak to my students. If you have already read “Putting” I would encourage you to pull it out again and page through it as a good refresher, especially since I am sure you sold back all your text books.

The bigger picture – why academics should read this book!
Finally, the heart of my post. I think I will check back with Mr. Solis and see if he is still interested in a guest blogger. I promise not to take a year this time.

In the mean time stay tuned for my review of “Cluetrain Manifesto”.

When I saw the tweet pointed out to me by a friend I joked that Chris Brogan will do anything to get me to follow him. Truth be known, he won’t and his tweet is just part of who he is, a very cool guy. Full disclosure, that @mattgalloway put him up to the tweet but that’s the kind of guy Chris is, really would do just about anything for his audience, especially someone right in front of him.

In a continuation of my full disclosure, I don’t follow @chrisbrogan and he doesn’t follow me, not on twitter at least and that, snarky headline aside, is what this post is about.

I stopped following Chris about the same time I stopped following a lot of other folks on Twitter. My reasons for the mass un-following of a few social media stars and a few hundred other folks are my own so I won’t bore bother you with the finer details but let me just say every time I looked up, my entire twitter stream was Chris and a few others. That’s the way he rolls and when someone has tweeted 62,340 times you have to expect… domination of your feed. Multiply that by all the other A-listers and I was loosing contact with the folks I wanted to stay in contact with.

Let me assure you though, I still follow Chris Brogan. My weapon of choice? The old fashioned RSS feed. Chris is on my weekly reading tab for folks I follow but don’t read on a daily basis. I should also point out that Chris is also listed in my social media syllabus as a follow and three of his articles are part of a must read before the students start blogging. I also encourage anyone starting out to follow Chris in some fashion, not just his new stuff, but go back to some of his sage advice over the years.

I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that his tweets still come across my stream by way of those I follow. I let them do the dirty work of filtering out the best of the best and do click those links.

A few other points:
The first time I ever twalked to Chris was when I was in a “discussion” with my sister regarding cloud computing and whether any large organization was actually using the cloud for all their needs. I asked the question on Twitter and Chris was the first and only to respond to the question including a follow up question – all on a Saturday night at 9 p.m. Like I said, that’s the way Chris rolls and That interaction left an indelible mark on my opinion of social media and how some of the best use it.

A lot has changed since then, two years later Chris has 125,514 followers (Chris, size will be the demise of your community… oh wait, never mind) and I don’t. And I’m happy about that – both stats.

Chris’s tweet immediately generated a number of followers.  For you new followers (and for you long timers) stay tuned, I am about to take a major shift on this site and my presence on the web. I hope you enjoy but more important I hope you learn.

Finally, I’ve never met Chris but I plan to chat with him soon – Chris, you want to meet my social media class and share some of your wisdom?  Oh, and if you keep tweeting that I am the greatest prof in Oklahoma I might just follow you again…

p.s. Why the snarky headline? I learned that from Chris.

First let me welcome you to Stillwater Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University and thank you for having me tonight.

A few months ago I became an honorary member of the Golden Key Hounoure Society.

I was one of two inducted this year at Oklahoma State University, the other being Dr. K.D. Berlin who, among other achievements, led a team to develop new treatments for a variety of cancers, particularly ovarian and cervical cancers

Me? I help people talk pretty so, needless to say, I was very humbled to share the stage.

I will admit that helping people talk pretty is an understatement especially when I consider some of the great leaders in my industry of strategic communications. On the grand scale I/we help organizations achieve success through thought, word and deed. I remind them, as I will remind you this evening that all those elements – thought, word and deed – must support your objectives – what you are truly trying to accomplish. Otherwise it’s just a lot of thinking, talking and doing with no real value.

I was asked to speak tonight to help kick things off, to energize and motivate you and time allowing tips on how to make the most of this conference. I also have some tips for after you leave.

Before I begin I want to talk about you for a moment. Golden Key is the world’s premier collegiate honor society. You are the elite of the elite. You have been invited into this organization which is a gift. There are others in the world with as much God given talent but they aren’t here.  There is something which has held them back, some element possibly out of their control which stopped them from being invited into such an awesome organization and being given the opportunity to be here at this conference. That is why your presence here should be considered a gift – circumstance and opportunity were in your favor and so here you are.

I am always reminded by my wife and even my mom (yes, my mom – even at 42 you never stop being a son or daughter) that to whom much is given much is expected in return. This is a huge responsibility and one that should not be taken lightly so I hope you wont.

Golden Key’s Mission is to enable members to realize their potential. As a member, this should also be your mission – to realize your potential.

Let’s talk about why you are here. You are here to develop your leadership skills and to get ideas, renew enthusiasm and to collaborate. By the way, your actions to be here are simply a tactical step toward achieving your potential. Going to every session in and of itself won’t help you accomplish that. It is what you do with the knowledge and experience gained from these sessions that will move you toward achieving your potential.

True achievements in life come from something deeper than mere actions such as being inducted into an honor society and attending conferences.  They come from additional efforts and new ways of doing “things” which create a mindset, knowledge and ultimately wisdom.

By embracing not only the opportunities that are afforded to you but also truly engaging in the experiences, discussing, challenging, debating you will build knowledge, yours as well those around you.  Hopefully through this engagement of knowledge you will create a viable wisdom. Applying and sharing this wisdom to make the world a better place is the moment you will have reached your potential.

So what do you need to do to do today, this weekend and every day hereafter?

Make friends. Network, network and network some more. I will warn you, this isn’t a numbers game. It doesn’t matter if you have 100, 1,000 or 1 M friends on your Facebook page or followers on your Twitter account. I remind people that in social media size matters, inversely.  Simply put, when you are friends with everyone, you run the risk of being friends with no one. What matters online and in real life are the relationships and the depth of those relationships.  Not just acquaintances or “friends” but meaningful relationships. What would they do for you in a time of need and what would you be willing to do for them?

You might be thinking this seems easy and it is pretty easy to make friends with folks who are just like you.  And there is huge value to these relationships.  But, here is my challenge to you: make friends with those who wouldn’t normally be in your circle.  Or at least seek them out and talk to them. We can talk all day long about how great something is, when it is something on which we all agree but that doesn’t move the marker. We haven’t reached a new audience or extended our message, our knowledge or our viewpoint on an issue. To do this we have to jump out of our own echo chamber.

Let me also share some advice which I can’t take credit for.  It comes from Stephen Covey, the author of Seven Habits. He says “seek first to understand and then to be understood.” Walk a mile in another person’s shoes; try to understand where they are coming from and how this might affect your perspective. This is sage advice and at times might not be the easiest to heed.  However, I would argue that if you follow this advice, you will reap rewards which will be immeasurable.

When we meet others who are not like minded, we tend to participate in conversations where we just share our view point but close ourselves to considering opposing views. This not only leads to conflict in some situations, but also prevents us from growing our knowledge. There is no value to yourself or our society. If you are open – who knows, you might be the one whom is persuaded to think differently.

Finally, as you seek out others, look for those who are more intelligent than you, more artistic than you, more astute than you and learn from them. You will benefit immeasurably and they will appreciate your thanks – so don’t forget to say it.

Take on leadership roles. Stretch yourself and challenge yourself to try new opportunities.

In every organization, there are all types of positions for all types of skill levels and personalities. Know your own strengths, skill sets and limitations. Take on leadership opportunities because you believe you are a good leader and are willing to do the hard work necessary to be an effective leader.  Don’t take on those roles just because it would look good on your resume, because you were asked or because it is an ego boost.  Good effective leadership is hard work and traditional leadership roles aren’t for everyone.

Remember also there are amazing people in this world who may not be considered typical leaders but who have made an enormous impact on the lives of others.  A few examples: Mother Theresa, Randy Pausch a professor from MIT who continued to teach while dying from cancer. You may recognize the book he wrote, “The Last Lecture”. Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and I would be remiss not to mention each and every Olympic athlete. These people not only had the courage to face adversity but also inspired others to do the same. That is a form of leadership in and of itself.  You don’t have to be president of an organization to be a leader or make a difference – you just have to work hard and leave the world a better place than you found it.

This leads me to my next point.

Leave a legacy everywhere you go. Leave everything you touch a bit better than the way you found it.

Give back to your community. Each and every one of us is fortunate.  I’m not saying that we have all led picture perfect lives without adversity, with an endless supply of cash and have never had to work hard a day in our lives.  However, we all have had people in our lives who encouraged, supported and loved us, and we have had opportunities that many other people have not had.  For that reason, we have a personal responsibility to give back and I challenge each of you to do just that.

The greatest legacy you can leave your community or organization to which you belong such as Golden Key or your college or worthy cause is volunteering your time. This is your chance to pay it forward and give back to those who aren’t as fortunate.

Don’t judge – not much more to say on this topic.

Work is hard and not always fun – I remember lying on a couch as a young man and telling my mom I didn’t want to go to work one day because it wasn’t fun. She told me, in only a tone a mother can have, that work wasn’t fun. If it was fun we would get up every day and say, “I’m going to fun today, see you when I get home.” Regardless, work hard and strive for excellence even if the going gets tough. It is very rare anyone reaches their potential when the going is easy.

Readers are leaders and leaders are readers – This advice was shared to me by an executive at State Farm Insurance where I started my corporate life. As I looked around the offices of those I admired both professionally and personally, I noticed the large number of books in each of their offices and the fact that they weren’t perched on a shelf but were sitting on their desks.  Every day those people spent time reading and making notes.

We live in a society which scans. Our newest communication devices demand it. But scanning, as we know, has no depth and if you scan neither will you.

While you are looking for books, look up the name Peter Drucker. His philosophy and his words are timeless and now more than ever resonate in the real world. If I had to generalize one of his most important contributions to the business world, it is that making the world a better place is a viable business model.

Be business savvy, understand how businesses work – It doesn’t matter what profession you are in, whether you are a chemist, a professor or employee of a large corporation, business will dominate your every move. So understand it so that it can work to your advantage.

Regarding your future – look to the future to find your future. Meaning – don’t focus on what is happening right now, focus on what is about to happen in the future of your degree or industry you want to work in. Read what industry leaders say the future will be.  They are right because they are normally the ones who are defining the future. A side benefit to focusing on the future is that the candidate pool is much smaller than it is in an area everyone is focused and therefore it affords more opportunity.

Use good judgment and don’t judge others.

I am near the end so let me recap.

Develop your skills

Learn

Meet new people and diversify

Listen, engage, repeat as necessary

Know yourself and find your place

Give Back

Work Hard

Read

Read Drucker

Know Business

Look to the future.

I didn’t mention this but it is equally important. Have fun!

And now my final piece of advice, which I shared at my induction and was asked to share here, involves an indecisive squirrel which I will tell you now the outcome isn’t in favor of the squirrel. I was driving down a virtually empty road with one of my colleague and now best friends and a squirrel started to cross. It got about half way and as I sped toward it I new it would make it across if I hit the brakes which I did. He wasn’t so sure and turned around but about half way back he decided to try to make it across after all and promptly turned around again and made its way back across my path. Even with my effort to slow down I ran over the squirrel – there was nothing I could do. Had he followed is first inclination, to cross the road, he would have survived but he was indecisive. The lesson from this is simply and probably obvious. In life don’t be the indecisive squirrel for he is the one which always gets run over.

Oklahoma State Alumnus, Energy Entrepreneur and Philanthropist T. Boone Pickens Announces $100 Million Challenge Gift to Fund Student Scholarships

Oklahoma State President V. Burns Hargis Announces $537 Million Raised in 26 Months for
“Branding Success: The Campaign for Oklahoma State University”

(STILLWATER, OK – February 26, 2010) – Before an orange-clad crowd in the packed atrium of the Student Union on the campus of Oklahoma State University (OSU), the president of OSU, V. Burns Hargis, announced a $1 billion campaign to raise private funds to strengthen student scholarships and aid, endowments for faculty support, as well as fund advanced research and academic initiatives, and upgrade teaching and research facilities, including renovations to the Student Union and the construction of additional essential facilities, such as the Spears School of Business and a new Performing Arts Center.

“This campaign marks the most ambitious fundraising initiative in the history of Oklahoma State University,” noted Hargis, who is also an OSU alumnus. “The incredible generosity of graduates and friends around the world who believe in our land-grant mission and embrace our vision to make OSU a leader in education, public service, and research has inspired and encouraged us to move forward with this historic campaign at this time.”

Hargis continued, “The need has never been greater at Oklahoma State, and now is the time for us to seek significant private funds so we can serve our students, support our faculty and fund vital research at a much higher level than ever before. This campaign will secure OSU’s place as one of America’s premier public universities and a leader among land-grant universities.”
The $ 1 billion campaign, called ‘Branding Success: The Campaign for Oklahoma State University,’ is chaired by OSU graduates Ross and Billie McKnight of Throckmorton, Texas. The McKnights, who founded and now operate several successful business enterprises in banking, energy and ranching, met at OSU in 1969. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Billie and me to give back in a big way to the university that means so much to both of us. We are honored to lead this campaign,” Ross McKnight said. “We credit a lot of our success to the education and experiences we gained as students at OSU, and we know the lasting benefits of this campaign on OSU are incalculable.”

Though the campaign is being publicly launched today, the “quiet phase” of the campaign has been underway since President Hargis’ appointment in Dec. 2007. More than $437 million has been committed in conjunction with this campaign, President Hargis reported.

Pickens Announces Surprise $100 Million Challenge Gift – Pushes Total Raised to $537 Million

As President Hargis unveiled the $437 million amount, OSU alumnus, entrepreneur and philanthropist T. Boone Pickens joined him at the podium for a surprise announcement. The curious crowd watched as Pickens announced a $100 million testamentary challenge gift to fund a major endowment for scholarships to not only attract more students to OSU, but also provide financial assistance to students who are eager to attend a major research university but are unable to do so because of personal financial limitations.

“You know me – I want us to be the best in everything we do at Oklahoma State. We are not going to be second to anyone, either academically or athletically. I know the leadership now in place at OSU with Ann and Burns has been a game-changer. We are on the move in ways I could have never imagined a few years ago. These are exciting times at OSU, and the possibilities are limitless. I was amazed at the sheer number of people who stepped up to support the stadium project and the $100 million match to endowed chairs and professorships. There is no doubt in my mind we will succeed again,” Pickens said.

“We are extraordinarily grateful to Boone for his continued generosity to Oklahoma State. Boone’s astounding gift, combined with the many other advance gifts we have already received, puts us in a strong position to meet and even exceed our billion dollar goal before Dec. 31, 2014–the target date for the completion of the campaign,” Hargis said.

In his remarks, President Hargis outlined how the one billion dollars would be used to address pressing, immediate needs as well as emerging opportunities. He said $500 million will be used to endow scholarships and fellowships for students; $200 million will be used to attract and retain top-flight professors and researchers; $200 million to construct and upgrade educational and research facilities; and $100 million to create and sustain programs and provide services that will benefit the citizens, communities and economic well-being of Oklahoma.

“We have a responsibility to build on the momentum we have established today,” Hargis said. “This campaign is indeed audacious and historic in its scope and magnitude. The money we will raise through ‘Branding Success: The Campaign for Oklahoma State University’ will have a tremendous impact on OSU, our faculty, and students as well as our state and beyond, benefitting generations to come. This is our time to redefine the future of OSU, raise expectations, seize opportunities and do something truly purposeful and exceptional.”

To learn more about ‘Branding Success: The Campaign for Oklahoma State University,’ visit www.OSUgiving.com.

The OSU Foundation serves as the private fundraising organization for OSU, as designated by the OSU Regents. Its mission is to unite donor and university passions and priorities to achieve excellence.

Oklahoma State University is a five-campus, public land-grant educational system that improves the lives of people in Oklahoma, the nation, and the world through integrated, high-quality teaching, research and outreach. More than 32,000 students attend OSU with nearly 21,000 on the main campus in Stillwater. Students are from all 50 states and around 110 nations. Established in 1890, OSU has graduated more than 200,000 students. Today, OSU graduates are making a lasting difference in Oklahoma, the nation and the world.

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ATTN: Radio Stations following mp3, WAV and AIFF audio cuts available. To listen, copy and paste the link with the format of your choice to your browser.

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My preference is to have comments and questions posted on the youtube page. Obviously if you don’t have your own account you can post your comments below…. or you can (finally) get a youtube account… there free!

Virtual Reality (specifically Second life but we should also include IMVU and really any virtual reality site/application) has crossed my radar more than once with legit value and realistic/purposeful uses to all involved. I’m not talking promotional social media (i.e. twitter, etc.) but true value for both ends of an interaction/transaction. My statements that this is the future is based on a variety of resources including Gartner and KZERO (which reports there are almost 580 million virtual reality users in the world and the numbers are growing rapidly – almost 40% in 2009) but to me it just simply seems intuitive to current evolution of technology and our culture. Yep, Second Life has been around a while much like many of the social applications we have had at our disposal for the last ten years but what makes it unique is it is still here and continues to grow in size unlike other platforms or methods which have leveled out or declined in users.

I would agree that second life was a bit early to the game but with many of the tech breakthroughs and improvements and cultural shifts there seems to be an acceptance of virtual worlds (during some recent interviews with prospective employees two separate candidates mentioned they like to play World of Warcraft as a hobby and, hey, if Mr. T can be a spokesperson…) and I believe now (or sometime near now) is the time we will see large scale uses of VR.

Random thoughts in no particular order:
Do you really think the future is all about text based social tools? Personally I would love it if I could stop typing! Youtube and other video providers continue to grow (I personally plan to use more video in 2010) and Google is experimenting with 3d video and just shared some amazing augmented reality tools and augmented-reality mapping technology from Microsoft was shared during the recent TED event.

New tech isn’t so new anymore – We are seeing breakthroughs in 3d browsing and Google (once again) is experimenting with 3d browsers and others are creating browser overlays which allow for 3d walkthroughs on websites even if they aren’t set up as a 3d site (I took a walk through OKState.edu a while back and can assure you it was actually more enjoyable than traditional browsing), etc.

Current uses - Holographic technology is currently being used in the medical profession and, wait for it…, Disney. Yep, they are creating virtual reality theme parks, “5 floors of cutting-edge technology, virtual reality and 3D encounters fueled by Disney innovation and imagination.” By the way, do you remember the professor who gave, “the last lecture“? He was a prof at Carnigie Mellon (visit the Human-Computer Interaction Inst) and this was his area of expertise which he writes about it in his book.  You might also want to check out Metaio which is doing some cool stuff mixing virtual, augmented and real life. By the way, they have their eyes set on android technology – hmmm.

A report estimate there are more than 1,400 US companies (including IBM and our Federal Government to name a few) which are using second life for collaborative meetings. Ebay, Gap, Barns and Noble, Amazon, etc. are currently experimenting with 3D/virtual shopping, etc. which you can use right now if you download the software.

But it won’t work on cell phones - Augmented reality applications are hitting the iPhone and Andriod (for all you who argued no future in vr because you couldn’t integrate into phone… ahem) as well as the integration of voice translations to different language (again, visit Carnigie Mellon for this one) so speaking a different language in a virtual reality which uses your phone as the portal isn’t a problem. Theoretically I can engage in conversation with someone from anywhere in the world who speaks any language.

Other misc thoughts - Avatar – need I say more? Okay, I will. Movies often are predictive of  culture shift

Harvard, Yale, MIT, more than 300 other universities including Oklahoma State University. Heck, even grade schools are using virtual reality to teach. Personally, I’m teaching part of my JB4520 social media class in Second Life this semester and the students are pumped about it.

Tech is better and more realistic/life like (think video games three years ago and what we have available today) and offers a greater ability to physically engage online than ever before. To this I add, don’t think VR/SL today, think VR/SL in three years. I would love to meet many of you face to face and will admit VR/SL isn’t the norm for many and can feel a bit klunky at times… just like facebook and other social media tools weren’t our norm five years ago and were a bit klunky.

Studies show we can’t determine the difference between virtual reality. A group of young children visited a VR Seaworld and got to swim with the dolphins. A few weeks later they were asked if they had been doing any travel and they truly believed they had. The same is applicable to adults and the military is currently experimenting with VR to offset the effects of stress disorders. Studies have also been done on quitting smoking as well and were positive.

I will say it again – VR is the way future tech engagement. Not as it is now but as it will be then. Watching television with your family, wherever they live, walking around the set of your favorite show, while they are acting, visiting your the most amazing museums (like I have) without ever leaving your house. It’s on its way and you need to wrap your arms around this now.

I could go on but would like to turn it over to you guys. Tell me what you think, post links to other sites/information you have found. Let’s build some knowledge (also more on that topic later).

Links of interest: (will update as they are posted)

Okay, not really virtual but kinda 3d and I like the interface. http://search.spacetime.com/#/hl=en&n=0&q=bill%20handy%20osu&i=google_web

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I was given the opportunity to interview David Weinberger for KOSU, the State’s NPR station and I jumped at the chance. The kind folks at KOSU asked simply because they thought I might have some good questions. Little did they know Dr. Weinberger has had a direct influence on my engagement of online communications.

David is a fellow at Harvard University’s prestigious Berkman Center and is considered one of the nation’s foremost interpreters of technology’s impact on business and society – although when I mentioned that during the interview he kind of chuckled. I would argue he is also very modest.

I should point out all this came about because h0e will also be at Oklahoma State University for our annual Research Week where he will be a guest lecturer.

His latest book, Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder, discusses how the new rules for organizing ideas and information are transforming our culture and business. Its not just a rehash of Technology Determinism Theory but a full blown evaluation of how we try to create order in a digital world using tactile world techniques. This book, by the way, greatly impacted my outlook of organizational communications and really cemented my philosophy regarding a centralized vs. decentralized web presence – something I have been trying to wrap my arms around and apply in practice not just theory. More on that later.

I should also mention Dr. Weinberger co-authored The Cluetrain Manifesto. If you haven’t read it I would strongly suggest you do so. It is still timely even though it was written eleven years ago. And, as I shared with Dr. Weinberger, it really shaped my perceptions and approach toward digital communications, pushing me down a path which led me to where I am today. Today many might not consider it groundbreaking but we sure did way back then.

The point of this post
I thought I would share my questions for Dr. Weinberger. I can’t provide you the answers, at least not yet. I will as soon as the story airs but I am sharing them here in the hopes you will ask yourself the same questions – and answer them. I know I did a million times over and each time I worked through a bit more where technology is leading us.

If you wish, post your answers below or start a conversation on your own site and post a link below. Even better, if after giving it some thought you have a question of your own for Dr. Weinberger, post it! I will have another opportunity to interview him while he is here.

I look forward to your thoughts.

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Okay gang, those are the questions. Tell me your answers, post your own, take the conversation elsewhere (be sure to link to it) and I will be sure to keep you posted when his answers are available to listen to.

Have a Seat

(What follows is an updated post based on feedback from my good friend Matt Galloway.)

With the Superbowl upon us I thought I might touch on the topic of armchair quarterbacking  - a person who offers advice or an opinion on something in which they have no expertise or involvement the process. I’ve seen this for a while on the blogosphere and now see it emerging in traditional media sites. In my opinion it just has a feel of bad form but the reality is, in the communications industry, badmouthing the efforts or lack of effort by others in our field verges on violating the high ethical standards all our respective organizations have set (PRSA, IABC, AC, etc.).

Let’s visit some reasons why being an armchair quarterback is a bad practice in general:

You don’t know the reasons why decisions were made (the basic premise) - I will be the first to tell you after attending a client meeting the tactical decisions which emerge might be nothing like what I would have suggested going into the meeting. Research, finance, human resources, audience profile, tech knowledge, culture and more all come into play making even the smallest strategic and tactical decisions. It is impossible for anyone outside the room to know all this. If you weren’t at the table you really just don’t know the real reasons.

There is a better format to review criticize - I had an old boss who had a practice of always praising in public and criticizing in private. People loved him and the best managers at this company learned from him. You can too. If you have a suggestion regarding how an organization might have done something different, send them an email. Trust me it will be easier to write and they will most likely appreciate your thoughts even more.

Regarding the “advice”, wise men don’t need it and fools won’t heed it - Nuff said, don’t waste your time. Better yet, go do something more productive.

Who asked you for your opinion? – Unless it was the company I say keep it to yourself. Better yet, write a review about an effort which totally rocks!

Who would you hire? - Think about it who would you rather hang with at a party, the bore in the middle with nothing good to say or the nice guy off to the side who talks about all the great things in the world?

What goes around comes around - Trust me on this one, I believe in Karma and see it all the time. To be honest, when I see an article of the armchair quarterback nature it makes me want to go out of my way and call all your work into question in a very public forum. I would never do this but trust me, someday someone will probably for the same reasons you are.

End-run
Okay, so you really, really want to be an armchair quarterback and write a blog post about what was wrong with someone’s efforts then go ahead. But let me offer some suggestions – don’t include names and talk about the topic from a theoretical point of view. Be sure your comments are grounded in fact and not simply conjecture and if you must write that blog post do some research. To be clear, there isn’t anything wrong with saying the emperor has no clothes but make sure you find out why he’s naked before telling him he’s doing it all wrong. Maybe all his clothes are simply in the laundry.

Peace.

There is one thing about being in the education field I dislike – a simple saying, “those who can, do and those who can’t, teach.” Even I’ve been guilty of uttering these words adding my own fresh, snarky commentary, “those who can’t teach teach gym and those who can’t teach gym become… fill in your job title here.” Like many sayings, nothing could be further from the truth.

The reality is I’ve known and know some amazing teachers/professors. Their titles are varied; Tenured, Adjunct, Visiting, Clinical, Assistant, etc. but regardless of title they teach because they love teaching – the same reason I teach. We have a passion for the field of study and hope to leave an indelible mark on our respective industry by shaping and teaching its future, not because of any limitations in ability.

The topic of what I “make” came up in class the other day. For many, salary is an immediate roadblock to teaching. Most professors (especially the non-tenure) earn very little, receive limited benefits and all with no long term commitment from the Universities they work for. But, again, that’s not why we teach – at least that’s not why I teach. There are moments I wish I earned more – and then I talk with a student or meet with a group and am reminded that the compensation I receive, what I make, can’t always be measured in dollars.

Taylor Mali said it best (warning, language):

gapingvoid 2.0: Why I’ll no longer be blogging new cartoons.

1. In May, 2001, I blogged my first cartoon on gapingvoid.com. This is my TENTH year doing it.

Back then, it was like the dawn of a new era. The idea that I could doodle at night, and have the entire world see the work the next morning, was amazing and liberating to me. Cheap, Easy, Global Media.

Blogging changed my life. It also allowed me to share my work with people who understood and valued it. For the longest time, I felt as if gapingvoid was almost a “club” of like-minded, passionate, smart people. And wherever I traveled, blogging allowed me to meet lovely, smart, fun people who shared the same worldview. The blogosphere felt like a group who were going to change the world. And you know what? In our own way, we did.

2. But like a lot of the folk who have been blogging for a long time, I’ve started to feel that over the last few years, that the blogosphere has just gotten too big, noisy and anonymous. I’ve started longing for the days when things were ’smaller’, ‘clubbier’, intimate and, well, human. When the people I met were truly like-minded. This was one of the reasons why I originally started the “CDF” newsletter last year. I wanted that feeling back.

Though I’ve not emailed you guys consistently, we consistently get new sign-ups and I get emails daily that reinforce the idea that we are into the same stuff, whether we’re “artists” or not. We understand that what is gibberish to most people, is actually cool, powerful stuff to us- and somehow fits into the weird, existential angst of work, AND relationships, AND 21st Century life.

3. So, I’ve decided that I really only want to share my new work (cartoons) with ‘us’ i.e. Y’all. The folks that really dig and support what I do. Call it “Getting back to my roots” or whatever. But starting immediately, my new cartoons will be going out first to this email list, which will really be “Hugh’s Daily Cartoon”- a new cartoon emailed first thing out every day, so y’all can start with a bit of a chuckle when you open your Inbox. Simple. Easy.

Also, by making the cartoons available by sign-up, I hope that we can build this group and maybe do more together- Tweetups, conferences, geek dinners, drunken nights out, whatever.

4. These are still early days- there’s still a lot to figure out. But “Phase Two” of gapingvoid is now beginning, and it’s all very, very exciting stuff!

5. Feel free to blog, tweet, forward along these new e-mail cartoons at your leisure, make a friend smile etc…. and yeah, if you find something that inspires you enough to want it hanging on your wall, you can buy the print (Yes, every cartoon will come with a link to the gapingvoid gallery, where you can buy the print version if you wish). Regardless, the same Creative Commons terms still apply.

6. Feel free to opt out and unsubscribe at any time. I think it would be cool if one day there were 100,00 like-minded people who get the cartoons every morning. So again, feel free to share etc.

Wish me luck with gapingvoid 2.0,