Jumping Through Hoops

On a recent trip to Vermont, I started to realize how isolated a lot of people and places are.  Living in the heart of the “Boswash” corridor, it’s easy to forget how much of America does not live adjacent to I-95.

Vermont is one of the most beautiful places I’ve been.  It’s gorgeous- mountains and skies that are simply breathtaking. Cities, towns and villages are far away from each other, and the population of the whole state- 679,000, is less than that of Delaware, yet its landmass is much larger by far.  There’s not a lot of cell signal in many places, and the roadside rest stops actually provide free wifi to travelers.

While in Vermont,  I spent time trying to geolocate businesses on Foursquare and Gowalla, in part so I remembered them as well as had the ability to share them with other friends.  Some places, like Weston VT, home of the quirky and fun Vermont Country Store, have no signal whatsoever for AT&T down in this valley between mountains.  As far as cool geolocation tools like foursquare are concerned, places like the Vermont Country Store becomes “unplottable”- sort of like Hogwarts… Yet other places, like the Ben & Jerry’s factory, actually have deals available on Foursquare if you check in there.

Small and unique places like those in small town Vermont depend on tourism mixed with locals.  They have to have a locally viable business, because Vermont has a good case of “you can’t get there from here”, meaning it’s a bit of a drive and a haul to get from one town to another, and if you’re off the beaten path, you have to really work to get people to come to your establishment.  We accidentally happened upon the Brandon Inn, a turn of the century Inn/Bed & Breakfast, featuring the oldest elevator in the State of Vermont (No Joking), mostly because the more natural places to choose to stay, such as a chain hotel, were booked for the evening.  We had an awesome time at the Brandon Inn, but I never would have chosen that naturally, just being on the road and looking for accommodations for the night.  And I would have missed out on a great experience as a result.

Part of the charm of places like the Adirondacks, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and other places is the remoteness itself.  While there’s probably money to be made by encouraging tourists to come, there’s many more logistical hoops to go through to get to places like Stowe, VT than there are getting to Boston or even Cape Cod.  People are lazy and like convenience and instant gratification.  We like predictable and comfortable.  But we’re missing out on some really amazing experiences by not hopping in the car and exploring places that aren’t easy to get to and convenient.

As I think about how connected we all are on the ‘net, it’s a wonderful thing.  It’s even better when we can meet up with folks who we’ve met on line, and really get to know them as friends.  This becomes more challenging as people live in more rural and isolated communities, and finding out where the online and offline can merge takes greater dedication and effort than around here, where our biggest challenge to holding a tweetup is to find an establishment willing to have 150 people come in for a night.

I think it means more to people who don’t have the same ease and geographic closeness when they do get together.  I think there’s a greater appreciation for the meeting, and that everyone is there by intention and not by default.  I’m just hoping I can figure out how to bring this intentionality to “regular” events without requiring people to do advanced gymnastics to get there, so that they appreciate the experience more.

The more effort you have to expend- whether its time, money or convenience- to do something or go somewhere, the more you heighten the experience, both good and bad.  If it’s awful, it will become magnified as the worst experience ever, but if things are good, the effort will enhance  your perception and you will remember the whole experience more fondly than you would have otherwise.  We appreciate things more when we have to work for them, and I’m not sure that’s ever going to change.

So for me, despite the time, the long drive and the inconvenience, I’ll continue to make these efforts, because in the end, the heightened sense of value on the end experience is almost always worth while.

Tags: access, foursquare, geolocation, gowalla, rural, tools, vermont

Using the Tools at Hand

Chris Penn had an interesting post on his blog today that boils down to this point:  It’s in the way that you use it.  Just like the Eric Clapton song says:

It’s in the way that you use it,
It comes and it goes.
It’s in the way that you use it,
Boy don’t you know.

And if you lie you will lose it,
Feelings will show.
So don’t you ever abuse it,
Don’t let it go.

Nobody’s right till somebody’s wrong.
Nobody’s weak till somebody’s strong.
No one gets lucky till luck comes along.
Nobody’s lonely till somebody’s gone.

Almost everything we use, from the most basic tool to pencils to computers and communication tools can be used skillfully or crudely.  They can be good or bad. They’re just tools.  It’s in the way that the tools are used that determines whether you have artwork or scribbles,  commercial success or failure, a masterpiece or mere scrap.

Whenever I run across someone who says “computers are bad for kids” or “social media tools are useless” or any other blanket statement against what i consider a tool, I try to get them to consider it’s not so much the tool, but the deployment of that tool that makes the difference in the end product.  For example, you can use a pencil to write the great american novel, or send a ransom note.  It’s not the pencil’s fault- it’s what the user does with it that determines the outcome.

Likewise, in the world of Social Media, there are many tools available.  For those who want to be truly overwhelmed, just go and look at the list on Go To Web 20- it’s a seemingly endless list of Web 2.0 tools that are being developed and deployed, used by communities all over the world.  All of these tools are meant for different purposes, have different features, and are adopted by different communities as their own.  Some will take off and become the next Twitter, and others will meld into obscurity.

Deciding which tools to use requires some knowledge about each of them, their communities, and how they might fit in your overall marketing or community outreach strategy.  The thing that currently separates Social Media Experts and novices on the web is that the Experts have more experience and have been using the tools at hand longer than most.  They have a good sense of what is possible and worth the time, and what may not be.

While no one yet (and this is about to change) has a college degree in Social Media Marketing, there are clearly people out there who have the most experience, have a deeper knowledge of the possibility of the tools, and a willingness to explore new tools, always looking for a better way to accomplish the task at hand.  Just like a master craftsman, the real social media experts have a pretty deep toolbox and are looking not to use every tool in the drawer, but use only the ones that will accomplish the job at hand.

The big social media tools like Twitter and Facebook are like a hammer and a screwdriver- they’ll get a lot of jobs accomplished for you.  They are utilitarian.  They are great, and you might not want to live without them.  But a good homeowner knows that sometimes, simple tools like duct tape, or more complicated tools, like a drill or power saw, are required to get the job done.  You also can’t use them all interchangeably- a hammer doesn’t make a good saw, for example, and you need the right sized wrench for the job, or you just don’t get the torque you need.

Whether you are using  more prosaic tools like email and newsletters, or the shiny new tools like Facebook, Mahalo, Friendfeed, or other social tools to communicate with others, the results you get will be determined by how the tool is used, not what it is.

It’s a simple concept, but still one a lot of people seem to miss.

Tags: chris penn, mastery, tools

The Twitterati

Twitter can be very useful, but I think we have to start to get over the “New! Shiny!” and get down to the fact that this is one of many tools in your social media kit, not the only one.

If all of the social media mavens are really disciples of the Church of Cluetrain, we should simply admit that Twitter is the equivalent of an ongoing Cocktail Party.

The conversations on Twitter tend to  be:

• the news of the day
• Current happenings in your life
• casual business conversation
• advice, solicited or not
• opinions
• referrals to professionals
• friends catching up
• casual business leads
• snarky gradeschool comments

and more, just like any cocktail party.    Serious business and connections can come out of a great cocktail party.  You can have a lot of small conversations amid a rather noisy room.  People can overhear things, like hot stock tips or gossip, causing a cascade through the room.  You can let your friends know about the latest treasure or find.

But in the end, let’s just accept that Twitter is not really about intimacy, the strength of friendship or getting business done any more than a phone is.  It’s a tool.  It’s not a miracle worker, it’s not magic, and in the end, your successis going to be in the skillful use (or lack thereof) of the tool for your own purposes.

Okay, rant over.  Go about your business, nothing more to see here.

Tags: cluetrain, cocktail party, social media, tools, twitter