Twitter Experiment #1: My “Twittercation”

Twitter is exciting. It’s trendy. It’s unique. But is it useful? Or, is it just another Internet time drain? That depends solely on how you use it. Twitter is about the here and how. It’s a snapshot of one’s immediate present. On Twitter, you’re only as relevant as your last Tweet.

I joined Twitter in October last year and immediately I didn’t intuitively understand what I was supposed to do. I kept asking the question, “Who cares?”

Then, in January, when a US Airways plane crash landed in the Hudson River, Twitter suddenly became both relevant and a lot more ubiquitous. Almost as suddenly as the plane made an emergency landing in the river, a snapshot of that frightening incident was sent around the globe via Twitter. It was almost an hour after the impact before the “traditional” news media was able to capture the amazing scene on film. The plane crash and Twitter made the news that day. It was time to take notice and see what I was missing.

I revisited my life without Twitter. But, the question still nagged: How do I make Twitter relevant for me? As I tell my DePaul students repeatedly: experimentation is the key to understanding Web 2.0.

So last week, my kids were off school and we decided to take a last minute family vacation to Florida. Road trip. 21 hours one way from Chicago to Clearwater Beach, FL. Using my Facebook status, I asked people to follow our vacation via Twitter. I called it a “Twittercation.” (The term has been used to suggest taking a break from Twitter and blogging in general, but I was hoping to coin a new definition).

I was giddy with excitement and posted updates every few hours as we set off. As each new “follower” joined the journey, I felt compelled to keep my Twittercation tweets coming. I gained 15 new followers. I installed Twitterberry on my Crackberry. I even used Twitter to get help along the way on how to load photos using Twitpics. Each response – or re-tweet (RT) – I received made me feel connected; like my journey was relevant. I was connected and connecting.

Eventually, we arrived at our destination and for me it was as though the “event” I had created was over. I no longer wanted to tweet my status. I was tired. I wanted to relax and stay away from technology. Ironically, I wanted a Twittercation.

What I learned about Twitter:

1. You need a camera phone. My camera is broken. My event would have been so much more interesting with photos (although I did load one of a sunset in Indianapolis, more on that in # 3). Twitpics is a great application and I just saw a Tweet from Michael Kantrow that Tweetdeck now includes 12 seconds of video recording. The opportunity to capture and share a moment is relevant and cool. I saw amazing road signs with outrageous messages juxtaposed to one another. We went snorkeling with Manatee in the Crystal River. Or kayaking in the bay in search of dolphins. These moments in time would have made great Tweets, but sadly, I could not capture them.
   
   
2. Facts are useful. Progress is boring. As I was being followed, I was also a follower. I have noticed after a week of active Twittering that some folks share useful information. Like this one from Philip Greenfield who was attending the GSMA Mobile Congress in Barcelona, “Josh Silverman. 350 K new users on Skype every day. 8% of all international minutes are on Skype.” Useful information that makes me want to learn more about the Skype growth figures. On the other hand, I don’t care that someone just pulled into the parking lot at Tesco or just went through security at the airport. I am not convinced this is the appropriate medium for communicating with your partner about the progress of your day. That’s what IM and email and phone calls are for.
   
   
3. Tags work. As I mentioned, I uploaded a photo when we passed through Indianapolis. I tagged that photo “Indianapolis” and I got a response to my Tweet from brainiac@hughru “Eat, sleep, breath, walk, talk INDY at CircleCity.org. Sign-up for a free account and start sharing with and about Indy!” Clever application for promoting a business. Marketers can make these applications relevant.
   
   
4. Tweets vs Status. Personally, I prefer to keep my Facebook status separate from the Tweets. For me, a Tweet best captures a single thought, experience or moment in time. It’s more immediate. It’s connective, but boasts a sharper, more factual response to the question “What are you doing?” A Status reflects what “is” about you and more often than not, it is emotionally descriptive and personally connective.
   
   
5. Twitter is a mobile application. This is the most exciting part. Twitter is made for mobile and where it is the most interesting. Mobile is where the big opportunity lies in the future for web 2.0. Facebook, and most other social networking sites, are significantly stronger when viewed on a browser, not a mobile device. That’s ok, as there is room for both.

There is plenty more to explore. I encourage you to conduct your own experiments with Twitter, Skype, FriendFeed, well, the list just keeps going and growing. Bottom line, experimentation is the key to understanding web 2.0.

Job Status: “Overqualified”

If you’ve got 20 years or more of professional work experience and you’re looking for a job these days, no doubt you have been told more than once that you’re “overqualified.”

I will use a friend and former colleague as an example. Lisa, like so many people I know, myself included, is a seasoned marketing professional. She has dedicated her career to advertising agencies and corporate clients. She has sacrificed so much of her life helping others make money. No doubt, she’s been able to provide for her family, but not without a significant personal toll.

Like so many of us “ex” agency people, what Lisa brings to any professional environment is deep communications experience: strategic, integrated marketing insights, multi-channel creative management, results based business acumen. Experience that goes deep: managing individuals and teams, managing budgets, managing “up,” managing under pressure, solving problems, initiative. Plus, she’s nice AND smart.

So yesterday she learns, after her seventh (7^th) job interview with company A, that she is a great candidate, but she’s considered “overqualified.”

What does that mean, overqualified?

• Perhaps it is a euphemism for “we can’t afford to pay you what you used to earn.” Let me just clarify that most of us would just be happy with a paycheck and some health insurance.

• Perhaps the concern then becomes that if this overqualified individual takes the job for a lesser salary that they’ll be happy today, but by 2010, when the economy supposedly starts to turn around, they will want more money or leave. Mr. Prospective Employer, you could have worse problems. Take the experience at a reduced rate while you can get it. Think of it as a trial run. If they are that good, then they will have made you enough money so you can afford to pay them what they deserve. If not, let them go.

• Perhaps the concern – and this is valid – is that this person isn’t a “doer” because they are so senior. I share this concern, but I think in this economy you will find plenty of very senior level people that will happily take on project management roles and do them with great skill and efficiency (which means happier clients and improved profitability). Remember that point about a paycheck and health insurance?

• Perhaps the problem is that the “overqualified” employee will report to an “under qualified” manager. Now we’re getting somewhere. Good, smart people apparently ruffle the tenure structure.

The point I want to stress is that the term “overqualified” is relative to something or someone else. If an organization passes over really great talent because of formidable qualifications, what does that say about the organization? What message does it send to clients?

Sure, we need structure, and sometimes even hierarchy, but brains and experience tend to develop better strategies and solutions for success.

David Ogilvy would have loved today’s hiring environment. He would have embraced the tremendous pool of talent available today and I imagine he would use the opportunity to clean house. I learned early on in my career at Ogilvy about the Russian Dolls. Every so often, Ogilvy would send each of his directors a set of Russian nesting dolls, where inside the largest doll would be a small one, and then a smaller one, and so on. In the smallest doll, he would place a piece of paper that read: “If we hire people who are smaller than we are, we will become a company of dwarfs. If we hire people who are larger than we are, we’ll become a company of giants.”

Now, I am off to my therapy group. “Hi, my name is Hugh Allspaugh and I am overqualified.” Please hire me.

A Super Bowl Advertising Point of View for Change

I think everyone agrees the commercials in this year’s Super Bowl were below expectations. I blame it all on Obama. (It’s time to start blaming Obama for something, right?). Let’s face it. Barack Obama has set the bar so high that the most watched television event in this country was, well, lackluster. At least the commercials were. The GAME, thankfully, was stupendous. Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers for their Lombardi trophy. And congratulations to Barack Obama for being generally awesome.

Now, what about those commercials? I want to start with 3-D. It sucks if you don’t have glasses and it’s an outdated gimmick in this world of technology (Coca Cola ran a 3-D ad in 1989). Who approves this stuff? Even worse, why are advertising agencies even presenting this stuff? It works in a movie theatre. It works at Disneyland. It’s not a great tactic for 100 million + people drinking beer and watching a football game. Unless of course we could see the whole game in 3-D. Hmmmm.

Nope, this Recession Bowl’s showing was a disappointment because in times like these, even animals don’t make us feel great. Budweiser’s romance between a Clydesdale and a circus horse touched many female heartstrings. It was a beacon of hope in a sea of failed attempts at humor. Times are hard. We all want to laugh. But let’s be honest about it: the message that stuck over the last year has been about CHANGE. I think Madison Avenue missed the finer points of the current mood. There was nothing new about the 40+ commercials. There was little in the way of innovation. It felt like every other spot used a celebrity or an animal. In the ad business, we call that SAFE.

I quote President Obama from his inauguration,

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America’s decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

“Lower its sights.” Perhaps that is what Madison Avenue and its clients did on Superbowl Sunday. We’re not stupid. Doritos and Denny’s are bad for you. Our kids are getting fat from colas. So when Pepsi delivered what I thought was a lovely spot featuring Bob Dylan’s Forever Young – while very connective with multiple generations – it was equally confounding.

I tried to like the work. Honestly. I did laugh, along with my 11 year old. The Pepsi Max “I’m Good” spot was funny, stupid male humor.

The new Priceline spot was extremely well executed. Shatner is great.

Coca Cola delivered a lovely creative spot with the bugs making off with the guy’s Coke.

Even Bridgestone with Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head connected with me. My wife, you see, is a terrible back seat driver.

Finally, I thought NBC came out well. The Heroes commercial with a John Elway Cameo was savvy. “Laughing your butt off” was funny too.

But what this country needs is not an injection of subjective humor. We need examples. We have a great new one in the White House. Let’s hope we can all follow his lead.