A Seat at the Table
A seat at the table… that’s what most people want. The boardroom table? The kitchen table? Maybe the Café table? I recently read a great blog post by Chris Brogan entitled, “Cafe-Shaped Conversations.”
The post describes Social Media’s place at the marketing table. The post asks provocative questions about big business and social media… and why or why not big business (or little for that matter) should be interested.
I’m a novice compared to a guy like Brogan, but I’m learning. I’m experimenting. I’m pulling up a chair in the social media café. Why – because this is a wave worth riding. This is a blend worth brewing.
I’m going to stop here… read this post… add to Chris’ 60 comments or stop back here and leave your 2 cents. I’ll put the coffee on…
December 1st, 2008 at 11:34 pm
i definitely am intrigued by his picture of cafe conversations. not sure whether or not it’s as clearly defined as he seems to insinuate, though. @tonysteward, for example, used social media in a big business sort of way…following 2000+ on twitter. no longer very personal, but doesn’t mean it’s not useful.
and much of social media, for as much as it’s being embraced, is also being ignored. even for Facebook’s massive use, it’s still not being used by even more people. and it’s probably the most widespread of the tools out there.
in some ways, maybe i’d like to suggest that social media’s best use is in influencing the influencers. seth godin is maybe the best example of this i can think of. he has mass appeal within a certain group, but a personal touch (he’s responded to emails i’ve sent him). and maybe this is what Brogan would describe as a cafe conversation, with Godin’s cafe being marketing. but i think of Godin more as the flavor of coffee or brewing style…and baristas all over the world serve up his flavor/style because they enjoy its unique taste. and others add their piece in different ways, to different drinks. and they end up being the centerpiece of all these cafe’s everywhere, but most people don’t even know it…they just know they like showing up @ certain place for a drink. will everyone ever be intimately involved in coffee making…unlikely. but social media’s place is to be a platform from which to influence the influencers.
not sure if that was all coherent…sort of stream of consciousness.