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June 20, 2005
Missing the Point at Supernova?
Posted by Stowe Boyd
[Update: Kevin Werbach points out that the dinnner that Suw attended was not a Supernova session: "we invited Supernova attendees and friends to attend as our pre-conference dinner." I also want to note that Kevin did in fact invite me back to speak at Supernova, despite the hue-and-cry that followed my 'email blows' session. I think that shows that Kevin understands the value of dissent, and as a result is interested in a diverse range of viewpoints. Thank you, Kevin.]
Suw Charman attended the Supernova kick-off dinner, and she suggests that folks attending are missing the point about the collision between social media and the mainstream:
[...] the crowd there (and half the panel) didn't really seem to grasp the issues, and there was quite a bit of hostility and opinionated voices without much in the way of displays of deeper understanding. Maybe I felt that way because I have been thinking about and talking about blogging and its impact on the media for a while, so such a shallow and unfocused discussion is always going to leave me wondering why I bothered.
As the social media meme begins to diffuse, all sorts of odd things happen. One that I have seen a lot in the past year -- in over 10 conferences I have attended -- where the dreaded panel session format (see Death To All Panel Sessions) throws up all sorts of characters onto the podium. Especially those that attempt to occupy some sort of surreal middleground, stating that blogs are "just another medium" that can be used "to push messages" and so on, but that the same old techniques have to be applied to get maximum return on whatever buzzword. Gah.
I guess I have had some reservations about the Supernova show, too, but it's moot since I will only be here a few hours. I am doing a True Voice seminar this morning, and then heading east to NYC for the CTC 2005 conference. I look forward to hearing Suw's take on the conference. I was almost lynched here last year for saying that "email blows" when I was heading a session on the future of email. I wonder what the tenor of the conference will be this year, now that Wharton is involved. Last year, I definitely felt that the neck-to-necktie ratio had moved in the wrong direction: not enough fringe lunatics, and too many folks in $400 shoes.
Comments (8)
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1. Arieanna on June 20, 2005 11:56 AM writes...
Agreed - death to the panel. I can see this one I'm sitting through right now missing the point completely. People are being far too polite - I'd like to see people disagree - contrast leads to learning!
Permalink to Comment2. Randy on June 20, 2005 04:44 PM writes...
I'd like to know how you feel about using the panel not for information sharing but for education purposes. More specifically with the new Death to the Panel' approach how do you feel the NVHA program worked? Was if effective for what it aimed to accomplish?
Permalink to Comment3. tracy cohen on June 21, 2005 02:05 PM writes...
actually stowe, to be quite frank, i found yours to be the least interesting of all the workshop sessions at supernova yesterday. true, the panel can be a bore, but you talking for 90 minutes with a self described "i don't know where this is going and i haven't really planned anything" had to have been the most ungracious sentiment ever stated to an audience, especially those of us that had saved our $400 pennies, our favors or our sick days just to attend the workshop. in addition, you made arrogant outdated comments. the fact that you call blogging for the corporation an oxymoron is not even vaguely libertarian, it is ludicrous. that's like saying email should only be for notes between friends, or IM for anecdotes, or evites should only be for birthday parties. it's a medium for god's sake. it has an intrinsic format and it is preposterous to tell people what they can and can't use it for. for reference, i was the person who spoke up when you described how you laughed at your clients who were interested in blogs but didn't even read them(to which you found it necessary to add that they paid you lots of money for this service too.) well guess what, not only is the amount of content in the blogosphere overwhelming as i pointed out, but once you get there, like your session at supernova, the content is often underwhelming too.
Permalink to Comment4. Max on June 21, 2005 02:14 PM writes...
Sir, I must most emphatically defend my self-identify as a fringe lunatic in $400 shoes.
Permalink to Comment5. Stowe Boyd on June 21, 2005 03:15 PM writes...
Max - Good to meet you. I knew it was possible!
Permalink to Comment6. Stowe Boyd on June 21, 2005 03:27 PM writes...
Tracy -
I believe that companies that want to be successful with blogging should start by reading them; in particular, I related the example of a journalist who wondered -- on one hand -- why his blog had few readers, but when I asked him what blogs he read, he said "I am too busy to read blogs." That's why I suggest that enterprise blogging is/might be an oxymoron. I was relating my experiences with a variety of companies that have invested time and energy but failed to succeed.
I don't agree that it's 'just a medium' if in fact you mean that the techniques that have been used in broadcast media can be repurposed.
Let me know if you'd like a copy of the slides. When I said I didn't know exactly what I would say, instead of reading off bullets. Sorry you were underwhelmed.
Permalink to Comment7. tracy cohen on June 21, 2005 05:22 PM writes...
okay, so i'm happy to retract blogs as a medium and more as an enabling/conversational technology. back to the point of corporate blogs as an oxymoron, i would hate to be the enabler off such a seperatist distinction. the value we can provide to the corporation at this point is to promote the idea of integrating the conversations internally and externally, of eliminating the you vs. us mentality and closing the gap between who i am in public vs. who i am at work. By holding onto the notion that the techniques of non-corporate blogging are somewhat proprietary we are doing both our clients and our culture a disservice. Relevantly, Suw Charman's notes from Jonathan Schwartz's talk at Supernova today points to his concept of dissolving the distinction between intranet and extranet.
its a vision i'd be far more excited about working toward than the other.
Permalink to Comment8. tracy cohen on June 21, 2005 05:25 PM writes...
sorry, that link didn't show, here is the url to Suw's notes http://www.corante.com/strange/archives/2005/06/21/supernova_jonathan_schwartz_sun_microsystems.php
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