People blog for all sorts of reasons; the discipline of daily writing, the joy of self expression, the fleeting sensation of relevance when a couple hundred people read a post. Over the past two years, I’ve blogged every weekday for all those reasons and one far more important: to keep up. Or perhaps more accurately, to catch up.
I’ve enjoyed a terrific career making advertising but three years ago, when my prior agency’s fortunes changed suddenly and radically, I looked up and realized the world had changed while I was busy making TV campaigns. I had largely ignored the biggest revolution in marketing: the pervasiveness of digital screens, the stunningly-swift adoption of social networks and the increasing presence of mobile marketing.
I started blogging everyday to force myself to explore all these emerging platforms and immerse myself in the new reality. As Facebook continued to work it’s way every deeper into our lives, I started to recognize how social networks can provide savvy brands with crowdsourced PR. I was amazed how transparent and public people had become, sharing remarkable details of their personal lives. I learned about search and geo-tagging and the seamy creepiness behind unchecked online tracking. And I probably saw more than my fair share of virals and flashmobs and public self-destruction at the hand of Twitter.
I learned a lot, both by actively searching for subjects to discuss and happily, by reading comments posted and emailed from smart people offering their own points of view. It’s been wonderful catching up.
But I gotta cut back. We’re doing lots of interesting things up here in Minneapolis, expanding the agency as we build and activate all sorts of brand communities for a wide range of clients. And I need to dedicate more time to that process.
So thanks for reading, thanks for your attention, thanks for your help. Going forward, I’ll post every now and then–habits can be tough to break–but my pace is definitely gonna slow.
Because advertising’s pace certainly isn’t.
Don’t stay away too long Dennis! Always an interesting read. Good luck with your day job.
Keep creating cues and queues. And come back soon…
So let me get this right–in order to create new ways to connect with people you have to disconnect. Who thought this up, the government?
In all seriousness, for three years it’s been a gas and a giggle. Thanks for a ton of good reads.
I learned about search and geo-tagging and the seamy creepiness behind unchecked online tracking. And I probably saw more than my fair share of virals and flashmobs and public self-destruction at the hand of Twitter.
That’s too bad!
I recently started reading your blog just within the week, yet, ironically, have not had the time to respond until now.
I just started blogging on two different sites, but as a recent ad-school grad, it’s a necessity for me. It’s one thing for someone in my position to have their traditional book, but everyone has to have something unique to say, a place to truly voice their opinions and talk about their interests. For me, I don’t even care as much about who reads it as I care about being able to vent and comment on stuff.
That’s just me!