Article posted on May 28
This a a post that I have actually been meaning to make for some time… so hopefully I am able to put to text what I am thinking 
The landscape of communications is changing. But it has always been changing. Something that is new about this change however, is that it is fragmenting and picking up speed. It used to be easy to be “pretty darned knowledgeable (PDK)” about various aspects of communication. Let’s take a web site as an example:
6 years ago it wasn’t very hard to be PDK about the elements of a website. How to do your HTML. How to put in pictures, and have buttons and links.
Then email became more than a communications tool. It became part of your marketing strategy. It “tied into” your website. Add analytics so your can track patterns between the two.
Enter search engines (ya, I know they were around before 6 years ago… but people didn’t start working to manipulate their rankings way back then nearly as much.) Everyone is after “google juice”. So now you have to know meta tags, the importance of domain names. Link structures. The best CMS. How flash or video relates to overall SEO.
Add mobile to the mix.
Then Social. Twitter. Myspace. Facebook. Freindfeed. Blogs.
Each one of these little fragments is a huge topic in and of itself. Now you might be able to reach the PDK level in Facebook… but guess what? You fell behind a bit in SEO, twitter, and something else in the meantime because they are continuing to fragment and advance as well.
It can all be a bit overwhelming.
But does it need to be? Perhaps our real problem is the feeling that we really need to know everything.
It reminds me of when object oriented programming really started to catch on. Old-school programmers hated it. They were used to programming in languages where they know how everything worked and why. Now they were being told, “don’t worry about it. Just call the method. It works. You don’t need to know why.”
They were so sued to being grounded. So used to knowing and feeling the landscape, that when they had to work with objects that they didn’t understand they felt they were drowning.
Perhaps we are the last generation with a hangup on needing to be PDK at so many things. Perhaps we need o come to grips with not being grounded, and instead learn to swim. When you swim you don’t need to know exactly where you are. you don’t need to know the landscape or footing. Just figure out what direction you need to head, and take the necessary actions to get there.
Instant access of data. Power of search. This things allows us to be smarter without having to know the information until we need it.
It may sound vague, but is this the future? Are the best swimmers going to be the people best able to determine the current situation and navigate a course, even if they had perhaps missed out on being completely “up to speed” on a few elements of it for a few months?
I don’t know for sure… but food for though.
Article posted on May 26
For anyone who really wants to see entrepreneurialism at work, and ways that folks in Utah are helping to facilitate it, there are a couple of upcoming events that are not to be missed:
Launchup #2 presents “Today’s Mama” and “Amber Alerts GPS”
A couple of really exciting companies will be showcased at this, the second Launchup event. I had the pleasure of getting a chance to meet with both of this companies last week, and I think we will all find ourselves intrigued and impressed. Also, there are some reat opportunities for both of these companies, and great opportunities for us to all get involved and help.
After all, that’s what Launchup is really all about. Come to see what cool stuff is going on in Utah, but also come to learn and to contribute. This is a team effort, not just a sales pitch.
Event details:
Date: Wednesday May 27th
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Utah Association of Counties Building – 5397 S. Vine Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84017 (or online)
RSVP: If attending in person, PLEASE RSVP. If on Twitter, tweet: I’m going to #LaunchUp, are you? If not on Twitter, email jeremy @ jeremyhanks . com and let me know you’re coming.
Event URL: http://doba.acrobat.com/launchup2/
The second event to take note of is the Funding Universe Livepitch Event. I have to say, that as big a fan as I am of the speed pitch events that Brock and Funding Universe put on, I am an even bigger fan of the Live Pitch events. This allows you a chance to see other entrepreneurs pitch their ideas. But it also gives you a chance to see how investors react. Want to know what an investors thinks? Want to see what you need to be prepared for? Want to see cool ideas being pitched by local teams?
If so, don’t miss this:
When: Tuesday, June 9th 11:00 – 1:00
Where: Omniture Headquarters
Article posted on May 06
One of the things that I try to do here at the Tech Spotlight is to share my experiences about what events in Utah I have found real value in. What’s “worth attending”.
A group that I ahve found to have very interesting events, not to mention an unmatched cross-section of various social media personalities, PR and Marketing people, and a bit of everything else is the Utah Social Media Club (SMCSLC).
This group has a couple of lunches coming up that I wanted to be sure to make everyone aware of:
May 13th:
Join Social Media Club of Salt Lake City program director, Pete
Codella, APR at this month’s Public Relations Society of America
luncheon for a discussion of how social media has forever changed the
role of public relations practitioners.
ur msg in 140 characters or less: How Social Media Has Changed Your Job
Date: Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Time: 11:45 a.m.
Place: Squatter’s at 147 West Broadway, SLC
RSVP and more information: http://slcprsa.org
May 19th:
Join IABC for a discussion with Dave Allred, whose experience spans
work with the Utah Jazz and one of Salt Lake City’s largest agencies.
Lessons From the Field with Dave Allred
Date: Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Time: 12 pm
Place: Biaggi’s at 194 South 400 West, SLC
RSVP and more information: at http://Utah.IABC.com
