In the last few months, I’ve been amazed at some of the innovative ways companies are aggregating and using information from social networks. From Bravo’s use of Foursquare to We’re All Fans, wow. It seems like the economy has slowed the innovation of “new” and allowed marketers to really harness what’s out there. And, harness it quicker than ever before.
Surprisingly, tonight’s Grammy’s was the first event that twitter both spoiled and enhanced for me. Everything online, from the MSN homepage to twitter was reporting and commenting on the Grammy’s in real time. The comments made me excited and frustrated. I wanted to see the outfits and performances my “friends” were commenting on. But alas, being on the West Coast, I was three hours behind. For me, it was an interesting and new experience. And yes, it made me wish I was living on the East Coast that much more
One of the coolest parts of the Grammy’s was their use of social media. An institution that’s been around for 52 years continues to innovate and stay relevant. From an iPhone app to We’re All Fans, kudos to the marketers behind the show… We’re All Fans was one wicked cool and beautifully done aggregater of what fans we’re saying.
Looking back on my posts from last January, I stumbled on this one. I thought it might be fun to update the project with my tweets from 2009. So, here it is, with @replies removed again. Thanks to TweetScan and Wordle for the fun and insights!
Lighthearted video that reminds us to ignore the critics. Everyone’s a critic. Everyone will see things differently. Everyone will find something to complain and nitpick about. Screw ‘em. Don’t let team members try to bulletproof the project so much so that it ultimately ruins the original objective.
Personally, all I have to say is, “Waaaaaaahhhhh, Waaaaahhhhh, Waaaaahhhh.” There’s so many good arguments here, but I’ll just focus on the main one – spec work vs. no spec work.
From a Client’s perspective? You refuse to do spec work? That’s cool. In turn, I refuse to sign a contract with you. I’ll take the BDA that DID do spec work that I LIKED and fit well with my brand. I’m choosing them because I TRUST that in the short time they had, they already start to get my brand. The on-board process will be easier. I (hopefully) won’t have to babysit so much. And most importantly, the final process will be significantly shorter.
From a Freelancer’s perspective? Hell yea! I started freelancing when I was 14. I busted my ass, turned out spec work on a daily basis and offered to undercut any price in return for additional work, recommendations and “real” work to put in my portfolio. And you know what I got for all my spec work? I got the front page of the Miami Herald. I got a FULL TIMEjob as a designer. Oh yea, and I had a ton of fun getting the opportunity to design some pretty cool ads and launch some kick ass products.
So, get over it. Do the spec work. Personally, I think you’ll go further and receive more opportunities.
This post is totally plagiarized, but I love it so much, I’m re-posting. Thanks to Russell Davies:
Twitter feels like conversation, ephemeral, written on water, designed to fade away. Blogging feels like notes, writing as thinking and rehearsing, to be kept and remembered, written on paper. And actually writing on paper, that’s still the best.
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