(Okay, you want the real scoop? The naked scoop? Secretly, a while back, when I knew the book was being released, I'd hoped that I'd receive a copy in my mailbox -- exactly how I don't know, I was thinking Maryam might have slipped one out of Robert's hands -- signed by Robert and Shel, saying how much I'd inspired them with my talk of nakedity, conversation, and public relations over these oh-so many years. Suggesting that I start a GonzoEngaged-Type group blog for Naked Conversations, like I did for Gonzo Marketing back in 2001, where practitioners and hecklers can get together in one place and jam til they sweat, take it out, WAY out, and bring it back home again.)
But then I woke up and giggled, realizing they must have mistook Steve Rubel for me. Obviously the hair. ;- )
What I MEAN to say is that I'm excited there is finally a "legitimate" and representative work (which I think it is from reading the blog evolution of the book) that we can point clients to, those interested in blogging and those who don't yet understand, that echoes the cluetrainian school of thought. That underscores the importance of talking with people, and how companies might actually GET there.
I hope this book gives the good business people ammunition and the bad business people acid reflux.
I hope that the message to companies is that you can (yay--cost savings and revenue gains!) and must (wooo, scary: risk) strip down to engage us in our own land.
And to lend proof that we've been naked here for a long time, consider:
2002, blogging is opening the door:
It's nice to close the door sometimes, to hide within walls you can see and touch. But as the hours, days pass, you find yourself looking at that door, staring at the knob, wondering what would happen if you unlocked it. You wonder, is it hot out or cold? Who's driving by? Did I get any mail? Well, maybe I'll just peek out the door and see. Stick a finger out there, find out what the weather's like. That's all. Then I'll come back in.
No sooner is the door open than you're running through the grass with your shoes off, half naked, grabbing leaves from the trees and flowers from the earthy, celebrating the unending expanse that is the blog universe. See me? Hear Me? I'm here!
2002: When you think of bloggers you would describe as "generous," several come to mind--to my mind anyway. They are the bloggers who dare to get personal: Golby, Halley, Marek, Locke, Shelley. They are generous because they dare to lay themselves down naked in front of us: "Here I am. Fuck with me if you want. Or decide you love me. I'm laying down either way."
2002, about Blogsprogs: This is a moving and intimate extension of the human experience -- these guys are blogging about as close to naked as you can get. There is huge vulnerability and risk here.
2003: ByeBye BigPR
You tell me.... Why would anyone pay it in a tight economy when they can get smart, senior level people out on their own for around $100 an hour. And thanks to the Web, the same clients who are paying inflated rates to BigPR can tap into an entire network of loosely joined ex-agency talent that shares leads, news, and really cool gossip I wouldn't even tell you about here. We're self organizing, and it ought to scare the pants off of them.2003:
But it doesn't.
Because they can't afford to see that the emperor is walking around butt naked.
With no camouflage left
Naked I stand shaking
Waiting for rebirth.
