Archive for March, 2009
Random Thoughts on Anonymity on the Web
So – my roommates just had a dance party/lip synching party on UStream.tv. It was pretty funny – although an hours worth of it kind of got annoying. It was pretty funny some of the comments that were in the chat. This was the second UStream we’ve done recently and the anonymous chats are pretty interesting. That, of course, lead me to start really thinking about anonymity on the web. I know I’m not the first person to think about this topic – nor do I expect to come up with any new observations – so I won’t go into too much detail about my thoughts. Still, it is something strange to think that people will revert to ugly behavior when they can not be identified. The socialization of the Internet – whether through OpenID, Facebook Connect, or the next form that develops – will help alleviate some of those concerns. You can start to see it now – with people wanting real pictures, real names, and no hidden identities on the various platforms that develop. Hopefully this will bring about the best behavior from web citizens, but it probably won’t change everything. And while I know the anonymous people on the UStream line were friends just teasing – these thoughts still came up.
Kegs and Kites
The snow is falling hard on the Denver/Boulder area. It almost feels like upstate NY. Perhaps this is an omen, with the Orange playing tomorrow night for the right to go to the Elite Eight. Still, it puts a little bit of a damper on the unofficial start of Spring here in Boulder: AKA Kegs and Kites. See – with the snow falling like it has been, it will be somewhat tough to really enjoy flying a kite – if it’s even possible. I still want to meet up with people, drink some kegs, and just celebrate living here in Boulder. I guess, in a way, I was hoping this fun, somewhat childish event would be a great way to get together with friends new and old and try to do something big. I’ve been in Boulder for just under 2 years now and I’m finally hitting my groove – with my career, my social life, and everything in between. That’s a good feeling. I wish I could celebrate by flying a kite…
What is Culture?
As I mentioned in my previous post, the keynote address at SXSW by Tony Hseih really struck a chord with me. Zappos is able to use customer service and they follow through on that – discounting typical metrics of time spent on calls, encouraging their people put their personality into helping customers, rewarding their employees for their behavior. From the top down, Zappos can say that they legitimately focus on the key to their corporate culture: customer service.
To a certain extent, that’s easy for them. They are a service provider – not a manufacturer, not a design team, not all the things that go into so many other companies. So how does one create a culture within an organization? Like the Zappos culture book, I think the best (and really only) way to go about it is to talk to the people that work there. Find out what is important to them. I don’t just mean the creative types, or the sales people, or the outgoing employees – but everyone. From accounting to customer service, the mail room to the board room – talking to people and attempting to identify the unifying factors within an organization will shed light to the personality of the company as a whole. Personality is important to culture – but that still isn’t culture. Understanding the personality of the people that make up the company will give you insight to their values.
Values. That’s an interesting concept. People often discuss their “values” in abstract forms. When people describe their values it’s almost an idealized version of how they see the world. Individuals may not always live up to their values – but they inherently use them to judge themselves. That is why a collective’s values – in this case a company – is the most important variable when discussing culture.
To create a true culture, you have to take the values that already exist within your company and set a lofty – yet achievable goal – that everyone can strive for. It doesn’t have to center around a marketing plan, or a specific lifestyle, or even a look or feel – it merely has to be a value that everyone understands and respects. From there, it’s management’s job to make sure that those values and the goals they create are integrated into every phase of the company. Like Tony says, that means making sure that each person you bring on fits in with the culture that is created. Zappos has illustrated their commitment to their culture and it’s become a rallying cry, marketing message, and overall business model that they live by. Other companies need to learn that culture isn’t something made in a meeting or with clever, creative slogans but rather through the crucible of the people that create the company’s wares every day.
Arctic Monkeys
I can’t help it, it’s funny.
What is Culture?
I’ve been thinking a lot about Culture since Zappo’s Tony Hsieh’s keynote address at South By Southwest. In my career, having worked at a bunch of different companies in different regions of the country, corporate culture is a topic that intrigues me. Afterall, most people spend the majority of their days ingrained into their corporate culture so therefore it has to be an important aspect of our society to understand. I am brainstorming a blog post on this subject and I just wanted to throw up the keynote address from Tony and ask you this question: “What is culture?”
SXSW: Is Spec Work Evil?
As someone who isn’t a designer, I attended this panel because a few people I knew were passionate about the issue. I don’t want to offer up my amateur opinion as anything of consequence, but I do tend to side toward the designers on this issue. Still, in a SXSW that was full of great panels that are of importance to myself and my profession – this panel stood out as one of the most memorable – and I didn’t even stick around for some of the drama when the panel got a little heated. Check out the embed below and catch most of the panel – again, without the ending.
SXSW: Talk Social News
On Day One, I was Ustreamed on Talk Social News with Wayne Sutton and Kipp Bodnar. It’s funny to watch this because little did I know that I would spend most of my time with the two of them and that a solid foundation for friendship would form. The video is below. I appear around the 36 minute mark. The volume seems to peak a bit – shoot Kipp a tweet and yell at him for that – but it was a good show. Even gave a shout out to the Boulder Tech Scene and the people that live here in town that inspire me daily. I plan on pinch hitting from time to time on their show whenever they need it, or just call in for a few laughs. Anyway – here’s the video:
SXSW: Chris Brogan Flash Panel – Conversations on Conversations
At SXSW, I was able to be on a flash panel hosted by Chris Brogan at the Pepsi Podcast Playground about Brands that blog. As a brand, it was an honor to be a part of the panel with some people who I truly admire – people from Jetblue, GM, AMD, Best Buy Pepsi, and myself (Crocs). It was somewhat of a last minute thing – an email arrived the morning of, but I wasn’t quite sure exactly what the panel would entail. In fact, it was somewhat weird that we were all there because we were from so many different industries. And, as I looked around the conference, there were just so few brands really engaging. Thanks to Kipp Bodnar from TalkSocialNews.com for the video. Audio only is also included after the cut.
The panel was great – even if Chris called our Crocs Mammoth the “Shoe-pei.” There was some great reception afterward, as I connected with people who were really interested in the things that we’re doing, our new diverse product lines, and the way we want to engage the consumer. At the end of the day – the benefit is being able to serve what our consumer needs as much as we can.
SXSW Flash Panel: Corporations & Social Media from Kipp Bodnar on Vimeo.
For those audio only people – the link from Blog Talk Radio is after the cut:
SXSW: Blog World Expo Radio
On the 15th, I was interviewed by Jim Turner (@genuine) on Blog World Expo Radio. It was a great experience – even if my voice is a bit raspy and I tend to ramble on. Jim was running a great give away on the show and in the Blogger’s Lounge throughout the weekend – offering up some Crocs-o-dials to randomly selected winners. Our Interview lasts about 17 minutes and was part of a much larger block of interviews during the day.
I find it funny that I talk about the energy. That was early in the conference. I was wrong. I’m exhausted. I’ll pull it all together and make the right contacts and hopefully work some things out at some point. It was definitely worth every second and all the overtired crankiness that I’m experiencing. Hopefully, I get some video from the Chris Brogan flash panel because that was a really exciting part of the event.
SXSW: Bogusky Podcast
SXSW.com has some podcasts from the Interactive portion up. First up is the Bogusky panel on Bike Sharing. One of my favorite panels of the week, hence me rocking the BCycle shirt today even though I’m not much of a cyclist.
