Been on the road over the last week visiting partners, customers, more customers and speaking at the PRSA technology conference in New York City. Thanks to Eric over at iPressroom for the invite. Also managed to catch-up with a few of my team that are now ex-Nortel. Was great to see them doing so well.
I'm not sure why I don't post as much while on the road - no reason other than the frantic pace of running between this airport and that. Here are a couple of posts that I enjoyed along the way...
- The People Formerly Known As The Audience: Right on. Audiences are for people that transmit. For people that choose to engage, we are people as well (think complete humans, not body parts (aka, "eyeballs"), often living in tribes or communities.
- The New Analysts: Nice post from James. It occurred to me that calling "the new analysts" analysts is kind of stupid. Ok, the analyze, but the moniker has such an overhang that it is limiting.
- And, this piece on the power of the recommenders and conversationalists. "But as angry clients increasingly turn to the Internet to settle scores, companies, independent retailers and everyday wrongdoers are learning that consumers can have the last word -- and often the last laugh. The Web has turned into a place where shame and humiliation are sometimes the strongest weapons in fighting scams and unfairness."
On the flight home this all got me to thinking that we are in an age in which a power shift is occurring from specifiers to recommenders. Specifiers speak from a position of authority and exclusivity. Recommenders speak from a position of experience and participation. I picked-up a copy of PC Magazine - it is getting pretty thin. Once the power specifier in the consumer tech space it really is little more than a catalog. If I really want reviews and insight, I head to Cnet, Engadget, Amazon, Gizmodo... I look at what real users are saying and rating. I read the informed opinions of Redmonk and Alex. Then I filter.
(For those looking for my presentation slides, I'll post them tonight).