Ian M Rountree

Copywriter, Project Manager, Digital Marketing

  • Copywriting
    • Content Marketing
    • SEO
  • About
  • Contact

Trench Notes: Engagement

April 22, 2011 by Ian Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for better observation on social media, look no further than Margie Clayman.

Margie’s a blogger, twitter fanatic, and marketer whom I first encountered in #blogchat more than a year ago. Since, she’s founded #tweetdiner, worked her way onto just about everyone’s radar, and produced some truly awesome stuff. Most recently, she’s been writing about engagement – one of the key issues in Social Media.

In the vein of Chris Brogan, who wrote 100 posts about using social media for business in 2007, Margie set out to write 100 posts about Engagement as a study of social media itself, among other things. As of this writing, she’s into the 30s, and still going strong.

Read through from the start, before the backlog gets overwhelming; there’s gold here.

The series starts with “The Engagement Series is Go for Launch“.

Find the archive at Margie Clayman – The Engagement Series.

Filed Under: Social Media Tagged With: challenge, chris brogan, engagement, links, margie clayman, series

The Power of Observation

July 28, 2010 by Nic Wirtz 6 Comments

Desde la ventana | FlickrThis is a guest post from the brilliant Nic Wirtz – if you’re not familiar with Nic, you’re missing out.

If you have ever tried to learn a foreign language you will know the frustration of reaching a level of comprehension where what you understand is greater than what you can say.

After five years experience of both French and German it was one of those cruel twists of fate that at 17 I decided Spanish was a step too far and being trilingual was sufficient. Trilingual being defined as getting good exam marks but having the grand total of two weeks’ worth of in-country experience. Clearly my crystal ball was out of order that day as 13 years later I found myself on a Spanish-speaking island, engaged to a thankfully bilingual native Spanish speaker. Hindsight’s smug, contemptuous wave reinforced thoughts that the decision to ditch Spanish was not the greatest I’d made.

In a position where the normal skills you possess were fairly useless, base instinct and observation proved a fine alternative.

It seems oxymoronic that a passive skill like observation can have power. We are constantly bombarded by demands for activity. Social media enthusiasts are keen on “ENGAGEMENT”, chanting it like a deranged, but social media aware, Dalek. Engagement is the key to success, everyone from an individual through small businesses to multinationals should be engaging people to progress. The ENGAGEMENTdb report claims that engagement is directly linked to financial success.

Taking a step back and creating time to reflect is akin to dropping out and leading an alternative lifestyle and this is where proponents of engagement miss out. Where is the analysis? Where is the relaxation time where we are at our most creative? Where is the chance to reflect on a problem rather than outsourcing it to our network?

We learn more when we our taken out of our comfort zone than when we are enmeshed in it. The computer screen for many of us is our comfort zone, perhaps to the extent of creating different off/online personas in some. I am happy to describe myself as a homebody but leaving England and living in a foreign land has been the biggest confidence boost I’ve experienced.

Actual living, not location independence living with weeks here and there, generally at a tourist trap, but actually living. Seeing the day-to-day struggles of a country where 56% of the population live in poverty and 17% on less than a dollar a day. Observing basic life where getting to the next day is a triumph in itself is humbling.

Doing business in a foreign land is a race to understand culture, language, history and more. The empowerment occurs when you don’t have a fancy command of a language, all the latest electronic toys and whatever business trend is all the rage. Observation is empowerment, when you and your gut is the only thing you can rely on.

Having spent five years with a gradually increasing command of Spanish, I’m happy to report that I rely much more on my observation and instincts than I do what people are saying to me. Although there have been moves to debunk the 93% of communication is non-verbal myth, the myth originated from a UCLA study that said up to 93% of communication effectiveness is determined by non-verbal cues. Another study concluded that non-verbal communication was closer to 55%.

How often do you test that theory?

Why are we so hooked up on what people say or write? Adults train themselves for years on how to lie verbally, whether it is in business, to their spouses or to their kids.

Observing gives many advantages to those that do it well. A better understanding of our relationships, improved decision-making skills, problem solving and problem awareness. Arguably the greatest skill to have in any customer service business is the ability to listen. From listening we can find the best ways to help and influence our clients. If you see your role as a blogger or manager as a facilitator or knowledge steward, observing is imperative. Collaboration is another keyword in progressive business and if this is to continue, an observer is necessary to collate and dispense shared knowledge.

Two of the most passive skills we have are incredibly important to our continued success. Coincidentally one benefit of passive skills that most bloggers practice regularly is an observational one – recognizing and emulating successful behaviour. The influence that the high profile bloggers have rubs off on others, so in our rush to engage we are also absorbing

Has my reliance on observation been a success? Perhaps personally more than business-wise, although that is coming now social media is filtering out of the North America/Asia/European bastions. More and more business are asking what is this Twitter or Facebook thing and how can it help us? Currently I am aiding a UNESCO city of culture in its attempt to re-establish itself as a tourist destination.  This has been a detour from my past experiences but a fascinating opportunity for highlighting social media.

In future, if it gets to a stage where I am going to have to take a more active part in meetings, I will be using a colleague to just sit in on them. No participation, little if any note taking, just observing.

Now over to you. Is your business actively promoting passive skills? What success stories have you had from doing so?

Image by cvander.

If you have read this post and still want to connect with Nic, he’s currently camped out on Twitter @nicwirtz.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: communication, daleks, engagement, guest post, language, Nic Wirtz, observation, personas, UNESCO

What BT’s These Hopeful Machines can teach us about anticipation.

February 2, 2010 by Ian 1 Comment

These Hopeful MachinesI’ve been waiting for These Hopeful Machines since – well, since This Binary Universe came out in 2006! I’m always waiting for new BT. ‘m waiting for nis next album now, and I’ve owned These Hopeful Machines just long enough to have listened through the whole thing, #tweetreview-ed it, and loaded up to write this!

Normally, this much anticipation would sour the experience, but it doesn’t. Why? Because the state of technology, and BT’s involvement in it – and my interaction with his personal broadcast – adds so much value that it’s impossible to ignore, but doesn’t remain static enough to be disappointing.

I get excited about things. I’m also a big fan of BT’s – I’ve been listening to him for more than a decade, since before Movement in Still Life came out. Massive portions of The Dowager Shadow have been written while listening to his music, along with a very short list of others. So it’s perfectly natural that I’m also following him on Twitter, grabbed his Tumblr feed for Google Reader, and hit that damned Fan button on Facebook. You’d think I’m either stalking him, or that his feed would eventually overwhelm my needs, and I’d unsubscribe.

Not so much.

BT’s personal style is a perfect extension of his music. He’s a high energy guy, very inspired, moves with his feelings, and it shows. With that kind of genuine energy, how could you not be interested – if you’re already interested in his music?

BT’s been hyping the new album for well over six months. Rose of Jericho came out on iTunes in June of 2009, followed eventually by Every Other Way and Suddenly – and the album itself couldn’t come soon enough. True to his style, THM is a fantastic blend of natural music, super-produced lyric and assorted synthesized sound. There is of course the plethora of jump-beats and echoing, vocal overlay and stutter-editing. This stuff almost has to be taken as read; with six albums and countless other projects under his belt, BT without a stutter is like bread without grain. The technique itself has morphed from being a gimmick to being a form of procedural instrument. Shortly before the album dropped, BT even ran a contest on Facebook to see which fan could do the best imitation of the stutter edit. There’s nothing inherently surprising in THM as an album, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing new.

Let’s not kid ourselves. Brian Transeau is a geeky dude. This is a geeky album. But with his background in orchestral composition, the numerous film scores he’s produced, and his long history of working with other similarly stunning artists, you can’t expect anything to be as simple as “just another album from a great musician” – there’s always more than meets the ears here. No stranger to collaboration, this album features some giants; Jes Breiden, Rob Dickinson, and even Stewart Copeland from The Police to name some of the top ones I recognized. One of Transeau’s great strengths is his ability to use not just instruments, but people, as part of composition. Voices can produce lyric music, but the edit and blend techniques BT applies are stunning, especially in the album’s leading tune, Suddenly, with Christian Burns playing digital beat box beautifully.

So what does this have to do with anticipation?

Everything.

One of the things I love about BT’s music – something any DJ worth his decks loves – is the breathtaking buildups he’s known for. One of his classics, Flaming June, has one of the best and most played buildups in electronica, second in recognition only, but not back by much, to Energy 52’s Cafe Del Mar. Track 2 of THM, The Emergency, has one of this stunning buildups which sees BT himself layered in standard SATB chorale combination. Again, digital tools providing an entirely new way to make music.

But this is about the wait, right?

If you’re looking, you can see the build-ups in BT’s manner. Everything from a thirty second spot for Facebook fans, right through the twelve minute long epic that is track 7 on disc 1, A Million Stars. He’s the absolute master of suspense-in-motion.

Why else release Rose of Jericho eight months before its album, with no hints about the album itself?

Why else spend countless hours on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and who knows where else building hype and interest and energy?

Why else invest all of this time instigating a near riot that drove These Hopeful Machines to spot #8 on the iTunes chart within two hours of the album’s launch?

Because – and this is true for everyone, so pay attention if you want to do this right – the end is worth it. That hour and a half I just spent listening to These Hopeful Machines was worth every penny I dropped into Apple’s – and by extension BT’s – pockets for it. And every letter of this blog entry. And every moment of your time reading it.

Anticipation always worth it when the pay off is this good.

Go buy the album. Maybe we can wait together for the next one.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: amazon, BT, engagement, Facebook, itunes, music review, these hopeful machines, twitter

Categories

  • Announcements
    • Event Notices
  • Blog
  • Communication
  • Content Strategy
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Personal
  • Reviews
  • Social Media
  • Technology

Archive

  • January 2016
  • June 2015
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • July 2008
  • February 2004
  • Copywriting
  • Blog
  • Reading Lists
  • Colophon

© Copyright 2023 Ian M Rountree · All Rights Reserved