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anigoThe blog topic for tonight's class can be found here.
Funny. The first time I watched the video I though... "Boring."
Then I watched it again.
The video itself is about two gentlemen, a 32 year old and a 44 year old, who have completely different idea when it comes to marketing themselves and their organizations. The 32 year old believes that the "interwebs" is the way to go. Chatting on line. Social Media. The cutting edge of the cutting edge. The 44 year old believes, of course, that humanity is starting to lose its humanity and that by including the personal touch from a communications point of view he's able to gain a personal edge over the hype of the e-noise.
At first blush it's the age old argument - the horse vs. the steam engine; hand knitting vs. store bought. But let's consider that a moment. To be clear, I'm older than the "old guy" in this video. I still use Facebook. (My daughter tells me Facebook isn't cool anymore.) Am I a horse person or a steam engine person? Think of where you'd be right this second if the world decided that the steam engine wasn't an advancement at all, but was really truly evil. Bringing corruption into cities across the world. Poof! No steam engines. Just a lot of horses. Would you live where you do? Would you work where you do? Would you do what you do? Would you enjoy what you're enjoying right now? There's no way you're going to get whatever it was you just had for supper sent to you in the middle of winter with a horse.
But I digress. A lot actually. Let me get back on track.
Today's technology is the steam engine. Sure, you may have to give up your door to door mail because your email has made your postman all but redundant, but did you know we've just discovered the first new antibiotic since 1987? That's pretty cool. And no, Twitter didn't bring it to us, but I'm pretty sure somebody tweeted about it. That's technology, baby.
(Darn, there I go digressing again. But I'm getting somewhere, I promise.)
As far as connectivity for business is concerned, I know for a fact that there are still a lot of people out there who prefer a good handshake and lunch to seal the deal, but I also know that a lot of the "top 30 under 30" don't have time for lunch or a handshake. It's BBM, man. (Actually, it's not BBM. That's so 2010.)
I have no doubt whatsoever that the human touch is the most effective means of communication emotionally, but if the business world today (and more importantly, tomorrow) is focused on the fast, unemotional, will the hand written thank you letter soon go the way of the dinosaur - more of an oddity than a differentiator?
Sadly, while I'm older than the "Luddite", I'm more on the side of technology here. I can't help it. Happiness to me is swapping out memory on my computer. (Yes, I need to get out more.) Handshakes scare me. Text me your A/S/L and we'll be best of friends. And the sad truth is a lot of successful business people just don't have time for the cultural rituals of the last millennium, however, as they say in blogspeak, ymmv.
On that note, I'll bid you bonsoir. If anybody's looking for me I'll be over in an IRC Chatroom looking for a friend.
Cheers!
(or as they say in binary: 01100011 01101000 01100101 01100101 01110010 01110011!)
Funny. The first time I watched the video I though... "Boring."
Then I watched it again.
The video itself is about two gentlemen, a 32 year old and a 44 year old, who have completely different idea when it comes to marketing themselves and their organizations. The 32 year old believes that the "interwebs" is the way to go. Chatting on line. Social Media. The cutting edge of the cutting edge. The 44 year old believes, of course, that humanity is starting to lose its humanity and that by including the personal touch from a communications point of view he's able to gain a personal edge over the hype of the e-noise.
At first blush it's the age old argument - the horse vs. the steam engine; hand knitting vs. store bought. But let's consider that a moment. To be clear, I'm older than the "old guy" in this video. I still use Facebook. (My daughter tells me Facebook isn't cool anymore.) Am I a horse person or a steam engine person? Think of where you'd be right this second if the world decided that the steam engine wasn't an advancement at all, but was really truly evil. Bringing corruption into cities across the world. Poof! No steam engines. Just a lot of horses. Would you live where you do? Would you work where you do? Would you do what you do? Would you enjoy what you're enjoying right now? There's no way you're going to get whatever it was you just had for supper sent to you in the middle of winter with a horse.
But I digress. A lot actually. Let me get back on track.
Today's technology is the steam engine. Sure, you may have to give up your door to door mail because your email has made your postman all but redundant, but did you know we've just discovered the first new antibiotic since 1987? That's pretty cool. And no, Twitter didn't bring it to us, but I'm pretty sure somebody tweeted about it. That's technology, baby.
(Darn, there I go digressing again. But I'm getting somewhere, I promise.)
As far as connectivity for business is concerned, I know for a fact that there are still a lot of people out there who prefer a good handshake and lunch to seal the deal, but I also know that a lot of the "top 30 under 30" don't have time for lunch or a handshake. It's BBM, man. (Actually, it's not BBM. That's so 2010.)
I have no doubt whatsoever that the human touch is the most effective means of communication emotionally, but if the business world today (and more importantly, tomorrow) is focused on the fast, unemotional, will the hand written thank you letter soon go the way of the dinosaur - more of an oddity than a differentiator?
Sadly, while I'm older than the "Luddite", I'm more on the side of technology here. I can't help it. Happiness to me is swapping out memory on my computer. (Yes, I need to get out more.) Handshakes scare me. Text me your A/S/L and we'll be best of friends. And the sad truth is a lot of successful business people just don't have time for the cultural rituals of the last millennium, however, as they say in blogspeak, ymmv.
On that note, I'll bid you bonsoir. If anybody's looking for me I'll be over in an IRC Chatroom looking for a friend.
Cheers!
(or as they say in binary: 01100011 01101000 01100101 01100101 01110010 01110011!)