Okay, before we get started, a warning: this one is scattered. I mean more scattered than usual. With a little luck, it may end up coming around to some kind of point by the time we finish.
I may end up getting a complex about January. Over the years it has been a time of a lot of death. No joke. Too many friends and family have shuffled off this mortal coil in the first month of the year than any other. And this year was unfortunately no exception.
In the space of just two weeks, right around NAMM I lost a couple of people who were really close to me. Julie Prince was someone who hung around my bands when I was a teenager and learned to mix on the basic desk we had. Lost touch for 30 years and hooked back up here in Vegas where she played, did sound and various IATSE calls.
Randy Holland knew pretty much zero about audio, but I dedicated the Live Sound Fundamentals book to him cuz he taught me much else while showing me how to trudge the road of happy destiny.
But, believe it or not, I am not really writing about either of those people now. Except for one big thing. They both ALWAYS said what they thought. They did not go out of their way to be mean or hurt feelings, but if something needed to be said, they said it.
Which leads me to the hedline and the real subject. Randy taught me that line above when we were working together on some online projects. His point was that the brave new world of mobile media and social networks is really no different than any other kind of real-world networking. There is a process one goes through before they can make a sale.
If someone sees you around and likes your vibe and sees that others like you, you have made it past stage one. Next, the person needs to get to know you some. It does not have to be a deep and intimate connection, but it has to be a connection. Next, they have to see how you act and treat others. If you pass this test and are liked, known and trusted only then can you expect this new person to listen if you are trying to sell them something, or follow you or whatever it is you are trying to achieve.
Not every leader type follows this path. But the ones who do are generally very successful and no one even thinks of them as a weasel. They are just someone the other likes, knows and trusts, and who has made it to the "pay me, lay me, follow me, whatever" point.
So what does this have to do with anything? The world is changing fast. We are so inundated by advertising messages that the bulk of them are flat-out ignored. It is one thing to pick up a mag like FOH that covers something you care about (in this case, live audio) and see the messages from companies who supply tools and services that help you do your job. That is not intrusive. It is quite another to see banners on every school bus, signs flashing at you as you walk through the mall and products being blatantly placed in places they do not belong in an attempt to influence your buying decisions.
The latest rage among weasels looking to separate as many people as possible from the contents of their wallets has been joining social networks and inundating their followers with spam. And part of it is the whole "If you can't beat them, join them" thing. Latest studies show that fewer than 20 percent of people admit to believing advertising. But 75 percent will listen closely to opinions of people they know and trust. And the latest way to communicate with those people is via social networks.
But in the never-ending chase for yet another easy buck, some of the big networks – including FaceBook – are allowing advertising than is flat-out spam. I got a direct message for a pro soccer league the other day, and I have not been to a soccer game since the early 1980s. On the other side of the coin, Twitter – the network where people tend to tell each other what they had for lunch – told the government to stuff it over a "I thought this stuff ended with the Bush Administration" info "request" about some of their users, and they also cracked down hard on people using the network in overtly commercial ways. In other words, no spam.
They have no problem with people using their network to spread a commercial message. What they have an issue with is people following others indiscriminately and sending them random commercial messages – often automated.
So, surprise, people tried this. Scammers tend to take over every useful technology and make it useless. How much e-mail spam do YOU get? It is one reason that ProAudioSpace continues to grow. We really make an effort to cull out overtly sales-oriented posts, and have even kicked a few people off who did not "get it."
It's okay to try to sell me something. But first I need to like you, know you and trust you. Then, MAYBE, I'll pay you.
