"If corporations underwrote externally-produced [[sites]] and were careful to preserve site independence, the resulting sites could be far more credible attractors than are most current corporate web pages. This sort of enlightened patronage first appeared in the Renaissance when the Medici banking family supported artists like Botticelli, Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. Strangely perhaps, it could work again today, financially rewarding quality site producers and enabling companies to better connect with nascent web micromarkets."
-- (C) 2001, Gonzo Marketing, Christopher Locke, AKA: RageBoy
This most recent quote from Gonzo Marketing is one I've used on my new disclaimer-sort-of page, now linked off my sidebar.
It should answer any questions you may have about who I'm working with online and how I view those relationships as they relate to my writing and this blog. Although I don't say in the disclaimer that I love these folks more than Thai food (i was trying to keep it sort of authoritative sounding, so i left food analogies out of it), the truth is that I do--except for Thai Coconut Noodle Soup at Mamasans in Rochester, NY, but nothing beats that.
These people-organized-as-businesses that I have met and come to work with online are amazing. Passionate, smart, fast, inspired, and most importantly, funny as hell.
Fitting those precise qualities I am proud to tell you about my newest relationship with the folks at Qumana, who've stepped up as our SASW corporate sponsor--JEEEEAAAAAH BOY!!!! That means we get to go to SXSW and pay the health insurance premiums that keep little Jenna in Albuterol vials for the nebby. Can I hear a w00t!
The best part of this new relationship is that it's with clued people who understand that what I write here is what I write here. My complete independence is content-wise is as important to them as it is to me. And you. And I'm not just saying that. Jon Husband of Wirearchy is massively clued. He and I have been corresponding for many months on Qumana, what I like, what I see that could help me be more productive, creative, fast.
In other words, this is no new thing, as you see I've been posting using Qumana -- which makes it a heck of a lot easier to blog, and can I just say has the ONLY blog-related spell checker I've come across so far that knows that "blog" is a WORD. Not to mention, you can turn on the little doohicky (which, in comparison, is not a word) that underlines in red as you type so you don't need to spell check when you're done writing a post. You see your own illiteracy as you type! I know all of my grammatically-obsessed readers will appreciate that. Let's face it--I move right along here and don't take much time to, uh, check my work.
NOW add on Qumana's tagging abilities and you've got something very cool. That's what I first couldn't live without. Believe it or not, I never understood how all these people were doing tags, and I never wanted to put the effort in to find out, because people writing about tags were talking about "taxonomies" and such. ew. But with Qumana I started tagging a month or two ago, and now I'm seeing what other interesting things I can do with tags. ;-)
The bottom line is this: I get to continue helping Qumana by continuing to understand and communicating what writers-cum-bloggers need most to erase the boundaries between "think" and "publish." I'll continue to write about technology that makes blogging easier, better. I say "continue" because nothing has really changing as far as what I do here. What has changed is that I can now tell you there are real, live Gonzofied folks out there who GET how valuable it is to support us in doing what we do here. Qumana is walking the talk. And you all should know--it's the right time to start looking for companies who share your passion to invest in what you're doing too.
Tags: Qumana, writing, blogging, tech, web2.0, gonzo marketing, cluetrain, blog editors, cool
Powered by
