I build a lot of walls. And sometimes, I let them down just enough to let someone in. Other times, I break them entirely. And sometimes, you build walls because you don’t believe in the “impossible.” But, what happens when the impossible becomes possible? What happens when you want something (or someone) so badly, that you’re willing to let down all the walls? Usually, when that happens you end up with a broken heart and a tattoo And no, my June 19th tattoo won’t be of a brick wall. You’ll just have to wait, but suffice it to say it’ll have many lessons behind it. And yes, it’ll hurt like hell. More than my first one.
This whole year, all I’ve done is turn a corner only to be dragged down into the abyss again. When will the rip tide let go? When is it my turn for things to go as planned or wanted? I hope it’s soon, because there’s only so long someone can fight a rip tide.
Just like the White House and Pope are kicking butt and taking names in the interactive space, so is Coca-Cola. When such a large brand can think about social media in these four, simple and real ways, it makes me wonder, “Why can’t we all?”
At a Blogger Outreach presentation, Coke talked about four “truths”:
They don’t own their brands – people do
Every day is election day – woo the audience constantly
Fish where the fish are – be where you should be
Success revolves around genuine and compelling content
At iMedia’s Agency Summit this past week, one of the speakers talked about 3M’s motto since the 1940′s being, “Hire good people and leave them alone.” I love that idea. I wholeheartedly agree with that idea. Give people goals, encouragement and enough thought-provoking questions to take them to the next level, but on a day-to-day, project-to-project basis, leave ‘em alone!
While long, the below video, What Motivates Us (You and I) is a fun example of just that. While a bit counter-intuitive, it’s a good reminder that us crazy humans (to an extent) are more motivated by social rewards like recognition vs. cold, hard cash. If you want your team to bring you to the next level, start thinking about how you can leave them alone more often
I had the pleasure of sitting in a “special” presentation today. It was one where the presenters had intimate knowledge of some key audience members and yet, structured their deck to go above every one’s head. They talked social and search. They threw in “scary” graphs with steep trends both up and down. And, they threw out names of people that no one in the room understood the connotations of. Except me. The wild card of the presentation. My favorite part was when their Executive VP of Social Strategy said, “I live and breathe Mashable.” Clearly, it was true. Everything he spewed out in the presentation was a direct thought or idea from Mashable.
The comments got me thinking… the easy way to tell if someone’s full of social BS? They mention Mashable in a bow-down-to-the-all-seeing-all-knowing-god. Yes, I read Mashable. But, I sure as hell don’t live and breath by the thoughts in that BLOG. In fact, I take most of the articles with a grain of salt.
Think about it.
Sadly, even today, an easy gauge on how much someone knows about interactive can be based on whether they use the term “hits” or “visits”. While the terms seem to mean the same thing, they are in fact drastically different.
I’ve long said I don’t trust anyone who uses the term “hits” in the wrong context. Today, I’ve added to that philosophy. Today, I still wouldn’t hire an interactive person who uses the term “hits” when really meaning “visitors”. But, I also have no intention of turning my social media strategy over to someone who “lives and breaths Mashable.”
I look at my “blogging” from the past few months and I have to wonder, Where Am I? I can always look back at my posts and frequency and see patterns – patterns when I was busy, unhappy, ecstatic, loving it all, reflecting, etc. To me, it’s a pretty cool representation of the “ups-and-downs and sides-to-sides” of my life.
To me, looking back at the pattern of the last two months speaks volumes.
And I have to wonder, why am I torturing myself? When and why did I compromise the one promise I ever made to myself? Both personally and professionally I feel like I’m right below the surface, not drowning, but right below. A bit like a perfect storm between the two parts of my life. And, no matter how hard I try, struggle and fight, I just can’t seem to break the surface for more than a few seconds.
I hope I start blogging again soon. Not these lame picture posts, but real ones, with real opinions. I know that when I do, it’ll mean that everything’s okay again.
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I build a lot of walls. And sometimes, I let them down just enough to let someone in. Other times, I break them entirely. And sometimes, you build walls because you don’t believe in the “impossible.” But, what happens when the impossible becomes possible? What happens when you want something (or someone) so badly, that you’re willing to let down all the walls? Usually, when that happens you end up with a broken heart and a tattoo 
And no, my June 19th tattoo won’t be of a brick wall. You’ll just have to wait, but suffice it to say it’ll have many lessons behind it. And yes, it’ll hurt like hell. More than my first one.
Themocracy