Communicators Anonymous

Gov 2.0 Camp Mind Map

Last month, I attended the first Government 2.0 Camp. It was a brilliant experience! Approximately 500 peers, thought leaders, social media pioneers and the occasional government 2.0 carpetbagger addressed the opportunities and challenges of new media in government functions. The break-out groups were relatively small in comparison to the massive audience sizes of SxSWi sessions.

It was invigorating to see other agencies putting new practices into play and to rub shoulders with those on the Beltway that I do not get to interact with much because our DoD agency, AAFES, is located in Dallas, Texas. Unfortunately, over two days and 110 sessions, I heard more than my fair share of tool buzz versus execution and policy questioning, but that was expected.

I think it is important to stress that government does not need social media for greater transparency...what we need is re-evaluation of policy hindering transparency (who, what, when, where, why - How do we collaborate and share internally? Think Enterprise 2.0.) then use the tools to spread the word and further collaborate externally.

As promised, instead of taking linear notes, I mind-mapped the camp! Never before have I taken notes like this...and I am still learning. I need to incorporate more images...but here is my stab at the buzz of Gov 2.0 Camp:

(Please note: I did not list specific tools/applications/platforms like Twitter, FB, etc.)

Will the real Lauren Vargas please stand up?

"Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of - for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again. The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear." -Socrates

With the release of Me 2.0, the conversation surrounding the term "personal brand" is plenty. Too much. Unfortunately, the term has stuck and is here to stay. So rather than avoid the vocabulary, let's get to the root of why there is a clear divide between the lovers and haters of personal branding.

Tiffany Monhollon, states in her comment to Valeria Maltoni's post (Will Brands be "in" in Web 3.0?), "I guess one thing that's always rung a little odd in my ears just about the term "personal brand" is that a brand, in marketing, has one very clear purpose: sales." Bingo. Dare I say disingenuous?

There will be no slamming of the book by Dan Schwabel, but I am a member of the Gen Y tribe too, also a part of the larger conversation of how this discussion affects those in the communications industry, and I am disturbed by the direction of personal branding.

I shiver when I say 'Me 2.0.' For so long (in the big corporate world as a twenty-something), I have been told to banish 'I' and use the term 'We.' I do not think this is old-school thought and have found this advice to be helpful when forming relationships/partnerships. So why now the 'I'? Leveraging my friends and relationships sounds dirty. Yes, it is about give and take, but in this world of me, me, me, I feel like more is being taken or leveraged without my consent or with those I have built relationships. For so long I have functioned with the "me" as priority in a relationship and the results are not pretty. 

As does curating my personal brand on every platform. Is that truly authentic? To have a strategy for each platform? Will the real ME please stand up?

Honestly, I do hope that those who are curating their brands on each platform truly do endeavor to be what they desire to appear. When it comes down to bare bones, reputation is all we have. Yes, to some extent it is about the sales/money, but cast off those layers and for me it is integrity at the foundation.

For those that are younger and/or those who have a lot of time left to make an impact in the industry, beware of who you mold yourself to be today. You may not leave enough wiggle room for an evolution. Revolutions are bloody.

The "Me 2.0" of Lauren Vargas is not through calculated posts, tweets or posting pictures with the who's who of social media...it is through my work. My execution. No shame in tooting my own horn once in a while, but for those doing it all the time, doesn't it appear to be analogous to the story of the boy who cried wolf?

I see the benefits and understand both sides of the argument, but I think we need to look past the digital mirror of our own reflection and see how our digital crumbs have truly helped or hindered those we claim to have as "friends."

SxSWi09: Wrap-Up

Thank you for the feedback received about which panels/sessions to attend. The conference this year was lackluster for me. I was disappointed with the limited or no experience of those leading panels/sessions and more intrigued by the ad-hoc conversations occurring in the halls. Of course, limited conversation happened at the parties...a see to be seen environment, not my style.

What I want to see next year is the elimination of guru, ninja or expert besides a person's name. I want to know what experience these people have to talk about their chosen subject. What have they done? Proof is in the pudding.

Also, can we follow what Kathy Sierra said and "rethink deadness?" Please, no more death and dying in titles. It is what it is.

Will I attend next year?

Yes. Let me tell you why.

I won't just rant, but participate next year. I have two panels/sessions I will propose...and yes, I will be more than happy to transparently show you my creds.

(Some people drank at SxSWi...I got a tattoo. I am ok with my personal brand... ;) Now scannable! Photo courtesy scripsi_sciptum.)

SxSwi09: Building Strong Online Communities

Panel:

• Ken Fisher - Ars Technica
• Alexis Ohanian - reddit.com
• Drew Curtis - Fark.com
• Erin Kotecki Vest - BlogHer Inc

Take-aways:

• Balance what you want versus what community wants by listing to community circle, use intuition, let users have tools to make changes on their own, act on feedback.
• Be wary of tyranny of organized minorities.
• Have and enforce detailed guidelines with a firm community manager.
• A "nark" function puts policing power on community.
• Trolling is a constant arms race.
• Communities fail when: tell-rather than ask, don't let people know about change in advance, trolling own users, don't listen to community.
• Share results of solicited feedback.
• Anonymity is no longer acceptable.
• have more impact by putting your community and evangelists to work.

SxSWi09: Kathy Sierra rocked it!

It may be a couple of weeks after Sx, but I am still talking about Kathy Sierra's SxSWi 2009 presentation, Change Your World in 50 Minutes: How to Make Breakthroughs Happen! This was the event I was most excited to attend. Kathy Sierra was one of my original inspirations to begin participating in social media in 2006 and later blogging in 2007.

And how does she begin her preso?

With a big f'ng wall between you and your goal.

Does this sound familiar? Is the struggle between incremental and breakthrough exhausting you?

When incremental doesn't work, you have to be drastic. Sierra gave us the steps to make that leap...

1. What super powers do you want to give your users? Now imagine that superpower on a shirt. How will these powers change what you do? Let these answers guide you in your decisions.
2. Play the superset game. Look at the big picture instead of the narrow lens of what you do in comparison to your competitor. Always focus on that bigger, more motivating and interesting thing.
3. Learn the patterns and shorten duration. According to the Malcolm Gladwell book Outliers: The Story of Success, it takes 10,000 hours to be amazing. Focus on your strengths.
4. Deliberate practice. There is no sell-by date for solutions. Work on your strengths. Experience after a couple of years becomes stale. Find ways to enhance your performance and kick ass in less than 1,000 hours!
5. Make the right things easy and the wrong things hard. Put things that need your attention front and center. Kathy used a treadmill gathering cobwebs as an example. It's not in the corner because you don't use it, you don't use it because it's in the corner.
6. Get better gear, and offer it to your users. help them justify spending money by bumping them to the next level.
7. Think clueless. What would it be like if you didn't know how it was supposed to be? Play dumb.
8. Participate in total immersion jams. Meet regularly with other people who do what you do and share practices. Less camp and more jam. Examples include, 48 Hour Film Project and the Ad Lib Game Development Society. Always be closing.
9. Change Your perspective. Don't make a better X, make a better user of X.
10. What movie your users are in? What role do you play? And find out what movie they'd rather be in. This is the User's Journey (i.e. Lord of Rings or Star Wars). Include all the characters, the heroes and mentors and the villains. And don't forget the soundtrack.
11. Don't ask your users. If you want incremental improvements ask your users. If you want to make breakthroughs, ignore everybody. And ask other people's users. What they say versus what they want is different!
12. Be brave. This is the idea of the concept car versus actual car. Go for the things that are difficult and challenging for your users, or tasks that reward them for thinking. Do not let the ease of use police or zone of mediocrity interfere with brining brilliant and dynamic change.
13. Rethink deadness. This is the best place to look for new ideas and inspiration! For example, if Ford would have asked what customers wanted, they would have said faster horses.
14. Change the EQ. Don't change the orignal mixer, add new sliders. Sierra brought Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV onstage to illustrate this point; how he changed haughty wine industry to an area of excitement and color.
15. Don’t mistake narrow for shallow. Sierra directed audience to sites/blogs like Passive Aggressive Notes and the "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks. Niche adds depth of character.
16. Be amazed. Sierra played a clip of comic Louis CK appearing on Conan, which had the audience in stitches...now each time when I am on the plane I crack myself up about being seated in a chair in the sky. Great perspective. Who is amazing? You are!

(Photo courtesy alexdecarvalho.)

SxSWi09: Are PR Agencies a Dying Breed?

Another panel about the death of something. I am exhausted with the old versus new media debates. It is what it is and communications should now be integrated with common goal and strategy. Period.

Panel:

• Karly Hand - Karly Hand
• Erin Portman - Erin Portman PR
• Brian Solis - PR 2.0
• Peter Shankman - HARO

Take-aways:

• Talent and resources will keep agencies alive.
• Gatekeeper control mentality will die.
• Cannot apply old-school methodology to social media tools.
• Drive what it is you want to measure; design around a destination.
• Every conversation requires a unique response, so build/train ambassadors to answer scalability issue.
• Traditional media is still valued, but you must adopt.
• PR job is redefined: Go with flow and build on being a central hub, traffic cop and curate the greatest focus group.
• Build new types of programs and services; sell blogger relations; shift/steer messages in social media platforms.
• Don't be afraid to build internal (corporate) community management because outsourcing does not always work.
• Learn how to swim and where you are swimming to before you jump into the water.

Additional Reading:

• Rebecca Caroe, Creative Agency Secrets: posted transcript of this session.
• Valeria Maltoni, Conversation Agent: Changing Role of PR
• Valeria asks the most important question (in my humble opinion): A big question that still remains open is why are many clients so afraid of budgeting a social media strategy? And on the other side, why do PR practitioners have to characterize social media as little or low cost?

Zany: Wondertime Magazine Casualty of Current Times

It is with a heavy heart that I say good-bye to my beloved Disney parenting magazine, Wondertime. Disney has ceased publication of this magazine. How did I find out? Direct mail. I was also informed I would begin receiving Family Fun Magazine in place of Wondertime. The new subscription was confirmed via email.

The news saddens me because this was one of the few magazine subscriptions I have kept. The past two years, I have given a gift subscription to my friends who are mothers. I will miss the stories about teaching children how to volunteer, appreciate the environment and the reality of parenting. I enjoyed the Wondertime blogs, though they have been dormant for three months. Not even a mention of the magazine folding.

Like the purple cow egg? This and other great craft ideas are available on the Family Fun site. Crafts are awesome, but I will miss the stories and connections I made with Wondertime...to me, they were the purple cow magazine.