While we aren’t quite living in the society envisioned by Aldous Huxley in his 1932 novel, I don’t think too many of us could have possibly imagined the technological advancements we’ve achieved and how they would affect our daily lives. Being snowed in today during a major blizzard, this seemed like an appropriate time to reflect for a minute and share some vignettes from the past few weeks meshing personal and professional interests. I’ll bounce around a little giving a few examples of things I have found interesting or cool that could only happen in today’s society while also talking a quick look at where I’m at personally as we embark on another year.
Golden Voice = Golden Ticket
One particularly uplifting story from the last two weeks that also perfectly illustrated the power of social media was the saga of homeless man Ted Williams. What began on January 3rd with a Columbus (OH) Dispatch employee posting a video of Williams begging for money on the side of a highway in exchange for showcasing his tremendous pipes on the paper’s website quickly transformed into a national phenomenon. Within days, the man who had become known as “The Golden Voice” was making appearances on The Today Show, The Jimmy Fallon Show and countless others. He even secured a voiceover job from Kraft Foods and voiced a Kraft Macaroni & Cheese spot that aired on January 9th during the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on ESPN. Adam Schweigert (@aschweig) used a website called Storify to create a timeline of the story, which can be viewed here. It’s incredible to see how quickly this story progressed. It was a year’s worth of developments packed into the span of a week, but I suppose that’s par for the course these days.
There are two important takeaways from this story that I’d like to quickly discuss.
1. In this fast-paced 24 hour news cycle world in which we are all operating, it’s essential to think and act quickly to capitalize on an opportunity. The good folks at the Cavaliers/Quicken Loans (same owner) recognized the potential of this story at an early stage and garnered a tremendous amount of positive PR by offering Williams a job and a mortgage, even going so far as to create a “We Want Ted Williams” website in a matter of hours. I was equally impressed by Kraft’s quick strike to sign him, record the ad and leverage his popularity along with their sponsorship of the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl by airing the spot on ESPN during the game.
2. One problem with stories like this developing so quickly is that journalists and marketers alike don’t have the time to do the sort of due diligence that would normally occur prior to such high profile media appearances and brands paying to align themselves with a person. Unfortunately, in this instance, that led to problems when Mr. Williams ran into difficulties with Police and his daughter and allegedly lapsed back into his old alcoholic ways (see the end of Schweigert’s timeline for some details). Nonetheless, for as long as it lasted, Ted Williams provided some heartwarming moments for the nation at the outset of a new year.
Mystery Solved
Sometimes Twitter can really shrink the world in fun ways. It can grant you access to people you wouldn’t otherwise have a means of contacting. One of my favorite authors, Joseph Finder, is an avid tweeter (@JoeFinder) and often graciously fields questions from fans. My brother recently purchased a Kindle and having remembered me recommend Finder’s books awhile back asked if I had a suggestion regarding which one he should read first. I passed the question along to Finder via Twitter and he quickly tweeted a response. Could my brother have begun reading Finder’s books without insight from the author himself as to where he should begin? Absolutely. However, it’s a fun little quirk of Twitter that we are able to pose the question directly to the source and get an immediate response.
Toddler Tales
My 2 year-old son has been mastering the art of positive reinforcement. This is extremely comical because of the accomplishments he chooses to applaud. A few times this week he wandered into my room as I got ready for work and said, “Daddy finished showering? Good job daddy!” He generally adds shortly thereafter as I’m on the way out the door, “Have a good busy day at work daddy!” If only I could bring him to the office with me to excitedly lavish me with praise for completing some of the more mundane and menial tasks of my day.
The Quora Quandary
Like most people I know, I feel as though there aren’t enough hours in the day. I have two kids, two dogs, a job and a losing battle against an expanding waistline to contend with every day. It’s easy for things to get lost in the shuffle. That being said, I, like everyone else these days, fear missing the boat on the next big thing and being left behind. I have many friends and colleagues still steadfastly refusing to even try Twitter to their personal and professional detriment (in my humble opinion) and I’m therefore more inclined to explore something once others have vetted it and given their seal of approval. Therefore, despite having serious reservations about adding another time drain to my life, I succumbed to the wave of enthusiasm about Quora and signed up. The question and answer site has been a frequent topic of conversation both online and in person.
As for my review of the site, I personally didn’t find it particularly interesting or useful, but I seem to be somewhat in the minority in that respect. It seems with everyone hungry to discover the next online craze, I’ll feel compelled at least to dip my toes into the water of anything generating as much buzz factor as Quora has been, even if that’s as far as I go with it.
Groupon Resolution
I decided to combine a new year’s resolution with my first Groupon purchase. A local gym offered 5 group classes for $20. It seemed like a worthwhile purchase since I could work a one hour class into my schedule, feeling confident that I’d get a great workout and knowing that I’d feel an obligation to attend the classes having already paid for them. Thus, last week was my first experience with Boxing Boot Camp. Getting changed into workout gear and throwing on a pair of sneakers of course elicited a “Daddy go exercise? Good job daddy!” response from my son which was encouraging. We’ll see how week two goes. Maybe I’ll bring my son and give him the trainer’s headset to keep everyone’s spirit up.
Leave a Reply