I still don't know the answer. The reason I am posing this question is because I met one last night at a sxsw party and this person was the biggest asshole / everything wrong with nouveau tech person that I have ever met. That made me think, how can you be a "social media coach" if your real world social skills make people think you're a jerk?
Look, I brag, we all do. The only difference is that when I meet other people who work in my same industry, I don't try to play the "I know more than you because I work with a big client and have a somewhat popular blog," type game.
I realize that everyone has their own special gift in the SEO world and I try to look at other people in my industry as learning opportunities.
So why am I wasting my time writing about someone who doesn't have a real job? Well its symptomatic of everything wrong with the Tech 2.0 world ... egotistical, arrogant people shoving business cards and I-take-all-the-credit success stories down your throat.
"I'm a social media coach for musicians. This band I work with got signed by Atlantic Records."
That was the introduction I received when meeting this so called social media coach. I had been talking to her friend about a startup she was involved with that connects volunteers with volunteer opportunities and contrasting it with a site I have helped out in the past.
Then she introduces me her to friend who gives me the line above and things continue to go downhill.
W: "Oh cool. I work somewhat on the social media presence for the band that's playing. What do you do as a social media coach?"
SMC: "I encourage bands to use social media" (aka I don't have a real job)
W: "Okay so do you help them optimize their online presence and manage their Myspace ..."
SMC: "MYSPACE IS DEAD. NO ONE USES IT."
W: "Well for music it tends to work well. Myspace tends to get indexed better than Facebook fan pages."
SMC: "YEAH WELL MYSPACE IS DEAD."
W: "You think that even with their new management team? I think they might turn it around."
SMC: "THEY WON'T I DON'T KNOW WHY BANDS STILL USE IT"
W: "Well I think its better for fan acquisition because its easier to use."
(SMC then walked away)
At that point I wanted to laugh and tell her the truth ... the band she supposedly works with got signed because their music is good, not because some self-important person told them to get a Twitter account.
I wish I could say this was an anomaly but I had similar conversations this weekend with someone who edits video and a guy who runs an outsourcing firm. Don't get me wrong, there are some really friendly people in the Tech 2.0 world. I've had some great conversations with people simply because neither of us try to shove business cards and self-congratulatory elevator speeches down each other's throats. But sadly, things tend to be trending more towards the social media coaches than people interested in developing friendships over common occupations.
If you want further proof of just how bad the tech world has gotten, check out http://rsvp-sbysw.eventbrite.com where you can pay $38.92 to have someone overseas rsvp for 75 parties for you. Let me run that by you again, if you're too busy blowing startup funding on pinball machines and tweeting @ replies to people about how airports suck then you can hire someone foreign to put your name on party lists.
Seriously techies ... get over yourselves.
What is a social media coach? (sxsw rant alert)
I still don't know the answer. The reason I am posing this question is because I met one last night at a sxsw party and this person was the biggest asshole / everything wrong with nouveau tech person that I have ever met. That made me think, how can you be a "social media coach" if your real world social skills make people think you're a jerk?
Look, I brag, we all do. The only difference is that when I meet other people who work in my same industry, I don't try to play the "I know more than you because I work with a big client and have a somewhat popular blog," type game.
I realize that everyone has their own special gift in the SEO world and I try to look at other people in my industry as learning opportunities.
So why am I wasting my time writing about someone who doesn't have a real job? Well its symptomatic of everything wrong with the Tech 2.0 world ... egotistical, arrogant people shoving business cards and I-take-all-the-credit success stories down your throat.
"I'm a social media coach for musicians. This band I work with got signed by Atlantic Records."
That was the introduction I received when meeting this so called social media coach. I had been talking to her friend about a startup she was involved with that connects volunteers with volunteer opportunities and contrasting it with a site I have helped out in the past.
Then she introduces me her to friend who gives me the line above and things continue to go downhill.
W: "Oh cool. I work somewhat on the social media presence for the band that's playing. What do you do as a social media coach?"
SMC: "I encourage bands to use social media" (aka I don't have a real job)
W: "Okay so do you help them optimize their online presence and manage their Myspace ..."
SMC: "MYSPACE IS DEAD. NO ONE USES IT."
W: "Well for music it tends to work well. Myspace tends to get indexed better than Facebook fan pages."
SMC: "YEAH WELL MYSPACE IS DEAD."
W: "You think that even with their new management team? I think they might turn it around."
SMC: "THEY WON'T I DON'T KNOW WHY BANDS STILL USE IT"
W: "Well I think its better for fan acquisition because its easier to use."
(SMC then walked away)
At that point I wanted to laugh and tell her the truth ... the band she supposedly works with got signed because their music is good, not because some self-important person told them to get a Twitter account.
I wish I could say this was an anomaly but I had similar conversations this weekend with someone who edits video and a guy who runs an outsourcing firm. Don't get me wrong, there are some really friendly people in the Tech 2.0 world. I've had some great conversations with people simply because neither of us try to shove business cards and self-congratulatory elevator speeches down each other's throats. But sadly, things tend to be trending more towards the social media coaches than people interested in developing friendships over common occupations.
If you want further proof of just how bad the tech world has gotten, check out http://rsvp-sbysw.eventbrite.com where you can pay $38.92 to have someone overseas rsvp for 75 parties for you. Let me run that by you again, if you're too busy blowing startup funding on pinball machines and tweeting @ replies to people about how airports suck then you can hire someone foreign to put your name on party lists.
Seriously techies ... get over yourselves.