TheWayoftheWeb
Content and Digital Marketing Specialists
Really nice talk at TEDx Youth in Manchester by Jonathan MacDonald – someone who is always interesting and has a talent for provoking thought…
Pretty inspirational in terms of the questions he’s asking, as well as the one he’s answering…
Remember – Technology is rarely the answer.
I’m obviously a huge fan of technology, but when I’ve been explaining what interests me most, the key aspect of it is how technology has an effect on the people and business that use it. And that effect is always about the interaction with other humans as much as with the technology itself.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently, as I’ve found myself running a freelance business, and three+ websites all on a six-year-old computer running the free open-source Ubuntu operating system (and an older version at that), and a smartphone which isn’t the latest or coolest on the market (although it’s one I really like).
And while I wouldn’t turn down the latest technology if anyone wants to send me some to test or keep, and I certainly wouldn’t mind more people hiring me so I can pay to upgrade – none of it is an excuse for not getting on with things, particularly now that my output is directly related to the amount of money I earn.
There’s plenty of other examples around me. The gamers I regularly meet on Xbox Live are planning to get together in-person, despite chatting online every night (and that’s something which happened with the last two groups of gamers which I’ve hung out with).
I still regularly use a handful of forums – they’re some of the best places for the interaction and information I need, regardless of the fact I’ve been using forums for the last decade.
And my experience of applications and mobiles/tablets suggest that if people weren’t happy paying a fixed amount every month for your content in print (for example), or online on the fixed internet, that the current rush to replicate the print experience pretty closely on a new device isn’t going to be sustainable for long.
The things that really matter are connecting, creating, sharing, and all the other things which technology allows us to do more easily, but which we were all able to do before it existed.
Need an example? In 1911, The Times sent a telegram around the world, with the message travelling 28,000 miles and being relayed by 16 operators. Total time: 16.5 minutes. So what’s the excuse as we’re about to start 2011?
There’s an interesting presentation, post and comment thread on Mashable at the moment regarding the idea of a new job role within companies – Chief Marketing Technologist.
Scott Brinker, president and CTO of ion interactive, presented the idea at the Pivot Conference, and although I often think there are far too many titles and buzzwords already in existence, there may well be a compelling enough case for this one…
The three missions Brinker outlines for the CMT are:
There are already people doing these jobs, and plenty of comments to that effect on the Mashable post. It’s similar in some ways to the roles I’ve had, except this example places much more emphasis on the technical and engineering skills of the CMT – I’ve tended to learn as much as I can, and do as much as I can manage without breaking things, but ultimately leave the heavy lifting to people far more talented on the technical side. Plus in my case, there’s probably the need for an additional letter, becoming CMCT – Chief Marketing and Content Technologist, to include my skills and experience in creating content in a way which hopefully engages people, but also works for SEO etc.
Plus I don’t think choreographing data and infusing technology should be limited to just the Marketing Dept unless you’re in one of the biggest global companies. You need to be able to work with all departments, and infuse the value of data, technology and integration throughout the company for it to work effectively. Otherwise you’ll have powerful marketing with no backbone…
But I do think there should be a recognition of the need for digital and technical skills in marketing which bridge the gap between traditional marketing, social media/co-creation, data and analytics, and internal collaboration. Certainly more than being seen as ‘the geeky one’ by the rest of the marketing team.
The other argument would be to do away with traditional titles altogether, and either just learn what everyone does (As practised by Gore), or just letting people call themselves whatever is simplest and most descriptive. In my case, the best I’ve come up with so far is Digital Content Creation and Distribution Specialist, which isn’t ideal, but at least encapsulates some of the fact I can go from sourcing and creating content to ensuring it’s published on the right type of platform, appears on the right screens, and is given the best chance of popularity via social media, search, advertising etc. CMT might be a better alternative than the world’s largest business card.
One of the very brightest and best people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing, working with, and becoming friends with, had some news to share yesterday. He and his great wife are now parents of a beautiful child…
And it summed up how things have changed – even in the short time since my own son was born. The last update before birth was via Skype, the news and images appeared first on Facebook, and rather than everyone heading to a pub to wet the babies head, we all shared congratulations via Xbox Live.
It’s a great time to be a parent. Despite how much of politics and the media can try and achieve their aims by propagating scare stories and propping up things they shouldn’t with cash that really should be used elsewhere, the rapidly changing nature of the world means I have no idea what job or life my son will have. I’m not going to be hoping he’ll become an indentured servant to a feudal Lord, or go into an apprenticeship to have a lifelong career in one role which will never change.
Instead I’m hoping to pass on the ideas which not only seem to be increasingly important in terms of working but also living – embracing change, constantly learning, being willing to take some risks but with the knowledge of how to minimise the danger where it makes sense, connecting to trusted global networks of people with brilliance in a huge variety of ways, and helping others to achieve their aims and ambitions. To be able to effectively share knowledge and wisdom for the good of others and of yourself. To strive to make some kind of positive change for those around us, whether it’s one individual or a whole network. To always work towards doing cool stuff. To experiment. And to take advantage of the fact more information, conversation, connections and progress are enabled by new technology even as it raises new challenges to privacy, security and existing business.
And lastly – to encourage him to tinker with technology and particularly code. If only I’d made the link between my small natural ability in maths and the creativity that can be achieved with it, I might have continued with it far more, and had more of a balance with the more traditional creative outlet of writing (Which I still adore, and don’t regret pursuing – and it’s never to late to start playing around more!)
I’m immensely happy for my my friends and their new child, immensely proud of my family (for which I can take little credit), and I’m looking forward to a new era of evenings of Call of Duty accompanied by more discussion of nappies, toys, learning to crawl, walk, talk and all that comes after…
Quite intrigued by the new video of Nokia Mixed Reality:
I’ve been following Augmented Reality pretty closely, and how it links with wearable computing, and particularly smartphone usage – hence inventing the term ‘Moborg‘. The idea being that ‘wearable computing’ in the past always required wearing half a laptop strapped to your arm, and that we’re now at the point where a device in my pocket gives me the same benefits.
Nokia’s video could show AR starting to move into a more useful and integrated future – but there’s a long way to go yet, and as excited as I am by the possibilities, I’m also aware that unless there are real practical advantages of an Augmented Reality interface over something more simple and 2-dimensional, then the current hype will soon fade.