“We’re here to get each other through this thing, whatever it is.”
– Mark Vonnegut

"Don't worry about a thing, because every little thing is gonna be all right..."

Anyone who tells you to not worry about what other people think (and means it as a serious piece of advice), should probably be shunned and ignored — and if you’re feeling really uppity (and don’t shy away from “being crazy“) dragged out into view of the public eye and flogged mercilessly (at least metaphorically).

The thing is that we’re social creatures. We exist in community vacuums (some how, some way), and anyone who tries to lead you to believe otherwise is a self-destructive misanthrope and pariah — and should be treated like one.

We rely on the support and consensus of other to get by. That’s our competitive advantage over all the other poor, miserable beasts in this world that would’ve otherwise had our ancestors for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

I mean, yes, of course it’s important to not go through life worrying only (or mostly) about what other people think. It’s like the man said: If you try to make everyone happy, you’ll end up making no one happy (especially yourself).

But like another man said: “You gotta serve somebody.”

The fact of the matter is that we all have heroes and allies, and these are the people whose thoughts we have to worry about. They are the people we bond with and look up to, and without them, we are nothing — we’d become lone rocks and islands, and even the tide that wears us down won’t remember us.

So while you can’t make everyone happy, and while you shouldn’t worry about what everyone thinks, you have to worry about what some people think, because those are the people we throw our lot in with and rely on when we need someone.

This is where heroes come in: heroes are worth having not because you’re supposed to follow in their footsteps, but because when you don’t know what, you can always ask yourself what they would do if they were in your shoes.

So while you shouldn’t worry about what everyone thinks (because you can’t and if you did, you’d just disappoint everyone — including yourself), you should worry about what the people close to you think — your close friends, the family you admire, your comrades, and your business partners. Because these are the people you’ve thrown your lot in with, and you’ve done that because you kinda see eye-to-eye with them on a lot of things and you kinda trust them and you kinda admire them.

The people close to you, they’re your barometer, your canary in the coal mine, and without them, you’d be alone and lost. So if you’ve really chosen these people to be part of your tribe, be cognizant of how they might receive your next move or decision. Because if you’ve chosen them as your tribe, then their opinions and perspectives and friendship means something to you, and that should mean something. And if it doesn’t, then you need to really re-evaluate your choice of friend, families, and lovers…

Credit: Esinem via Wikipedia

About six months ago, this Fast Company article on Why Digital Talent Doesn’t Want to Work at Your Company was doing the rounds on the interwebs, and it cited 5 corporate cultural elements that turn this new(er) generation of white-collar desk jockeys off from working in traditional organizations:

• Every element of their work will be pored over by multiple layers of bureaucracy.
• Mediocre is good enough.
• Trial and error is condemned.
• Your company is structured so it takes a lifetime to get to the top, and as such there are no digital experts in company-wide leadership positions.
• Your offices are cold, impersonal and downright stodgy.

It was a great piece of link/like-bait, especially with the digital crowd, but it did nothing to explain why digital talent has this uncompromising attitude or where it comes from. Which got me thinking…

Digital talent is a new untethered working class. Give them a laptop and a wifi connection, and they can work from virtually anywhere. And there more of a class than a generation because they include everyone from baby-boomers to generations X, Y, and Z.

And for this new class, the physical is cumbersome. It’s an obstacle and an artifice that often costs more money than it’s worth and gets in the way of actually focusing on what needs to get done.

Take office space: it’s useful to have a physical place of business where everyone meet and infrastructure can be housed, but it’s only one place where work can get done, and digital talent has a hard time accepting having to spend 8-9 hours a day sitting at a desk when they don’t need to be there every one of those 8-9 hours — especially considering how most people only spend about  5 of those hours working, and the rest of the time Facebooking or making mundane smalltalk by water cooler or coffee machine.

I think this is why digital talent tends to be more entrepreneurial: I mean, sure, the barriers to entry in any digital space are a lot lower than other industries, but the drive to take advantage of that tends to come from people getting tired and fed-up of having to spend 40-50 hours a week in a cubicle when they only need to be there for 25, so they say “fuck it” and cut-out on their own, work that 25 hours/week from wherever they want, and spend that extra free-time enjoying life and doing things they love.

So of course most organizations have trouble recruiting and holding on to digital talent.

There is a new untethered class and they know that something is up, and if you want to hold on to them, you need to trust them and let them excel and try new things because, frankly, they’ve got better places to be than in a cubicle and better things to do than help you justify outdated processes and obsolete overhead that are only holding your organization back.

"Sanity is the playground for the unimaginative." --Joop Ad Campaign

Maybe you saw that article back in September about how women aren’t crazy that was picked up by everyone from HuffPo to Alexi Wasser. The gist of it was that when men call women crazy, they’re either dismissive and manipulative bullies who are just trying to gaslight someone who’s calling them out on their bad behaviour.

I’m not a woman and I’m not a psychologist and I can’t read minds, so I’m not really “qualified” to comment on what a specific man means when he calls call a woman crazy (or what he’s trying to accomplish). But do have about 30 years experience speaking a metaphorical language, so I’m pretty sure that when most people call anyone else crazy (man or woman), they’re not implying that that person:

has amphetamine psychosis and unplugged [their] fridge because that’s where the secret messages come from [or that they've] come to believe that [they are] made of glass and [are] having iron bars sewn into all [their] clothing, Charles VI-style, so [they] won’t shatter.

Rather, they’re usually implying that they found a person’s behaviour (or reaction) unreasonable or extreme for some given situation.

It’s kind of like if someone calls you an asshole. They don’t literally mean that you’re a giant sphincter speckled with pubic hair and cling-ons. They usually mean that you’re mean or rude or anti-social — or some combination of the three.

It’s just a metaphor…

But f*ck it, I digress, because I don’t really care what people call other people because I don’t really care what people call me. Sticks and stones break bones, as they say…

Besides, when it comes to being rude or unreasonable or extreme, I’m guilty of more than my fair share of crazy. And when I have to choose, I choose “crazy” over “sane” almost every time because I like eccentrics. They tend to have a more interesting outlook on life and the world, and it’s their ideas that are likely to change it.

So here’s to the crazy ones — even if they’re a little harder to get along with…

Do the hustle...

So you get an email from someone you know telling you they know someone who’s trying to fill a position doing whatever it is you specialize in and it pays about 80% above the industry average (that’s almost double). You’re not really looking, and you’re happy doing what you’re doing wherever it is you’re doing it, but for that kind of money, you’re willing to talk.

For that kind of money, you could solve a lot of your problems. You could wipe out that credit card debt. You could save up that downpayment on a house. You could finally afford that trip to wherever.

So you tell as much and they set you up with an email introduction to their contact who’s in HR at this company. You bounce a few emails back and forth and set up a time to talk.

In the meantime, you use the email address to look into the company. The site says that they do one thing, but the word “jobs” or “careers” is in the URL, so you figure they’re a headhunting shop that specializes in your niche/industry.

Then you have your call with the HR person and they ask you if you know what you do. You tell them your theory about them being a headhunting shop, and they tell you that you have it all wrong. Then they ask you to hear them out while they tell you the part that scares  most people off, and then tell you all the great stuff about their company.

How YOU doin...

They do porn. Plain and simple. They do porn,but they have a great culture, offer plenty of benefits and flexibility, and they’re committed to doing something in whatever field it is you specialize in. They want someone like you to come in with a vision and build a strategy and team to make that vision a reality, and they’d really like to meet with you.

You would have carte blanche.

You’re interested in what they have to say. They sound very serious, but you’re not all that sure. You’re happy with where you are and on the path you’re on, so you tell them as much.

They ask you if an extra $10K would change your mind.

They’re already paying way above the industry standard, they haven’t even met you, and you’re only having your first call with the HR person, not even the person who’d make the final hiring decision or that you’d report to, and they’re dropping ten more grand on the table like it’s a fortune cookie.

So you figure it can’t hurt to go in and meet them, and you do. You go down there, and it’s a typical digital media office space. It’s in an office building with a receptionist, and there is nary a booby nor a schlongs to be seen.

You sit down with the person who’d make the final hiring decision – the person you’d report to. You talk vision and strategy, both long-term and short-, and you’re both on the same page. They know what they’re looking for, and you fit the bill perfectly.

So what do you do? Do you take the gig? Do you wipe out the credit card debt, save up that downpayment, and/or finally afford that trip to wherever? Or do you curl back up into your comfort zone and tell yourself that adherence to social stigma is worth it?

Louis CK

Most Important Tech Companies in 2011

In the first instalment, we discuss which companies were the “most important” in 2011. We openly invited nominations from viewers, but some of the companies we mentioned were:

• YouTube
• Facebook
• Google
• Apple
• Twitter
• Groupon
• and a few more…

Louis CK Goes Direct to Consumers

In this second instalment, we examine Louis CK’s latest comedy special, which was made available online directly to users for only $5. Some of the angles we consider is how (1) he was already big enough to pull it off, and (2) being the first to do it makes it a bigger, more successful initiative than it might otherwise be.

Lightning Round: Tech Blogs, SOPA, and Big Brother

In this last segment we enter the lightning round and answer email of the week. The questions we address include:

• The value of Tech Blogs
• What SOPA means for the average user
• and how Big Brother is getting privatized

Then in the email of the week, we talk about how technology is disrupting the Madison Avenue and the ad industry.

Will Ferrell in Davenport

In any case, I digress. Let’s get down to the show itself…

How Investors Reward Greed Instead of Risk

In the first segment, we discuss whether “greed is good.” Specifically, we’re talking about how the web seems to reward bad behaviour. Just look at how the 4 big web IPOs of the year:

• LinkedIn IPOd at $84/share and dropped to $74/share
• Demand Media IPOd at $22/share and has dropped to $7/share
• Groupon IPOd at at $26/share and dropped to $21/share
• and Pandora at $17/share and dropped to $11/share

Newspapers Still Experimenting with Pay Models

In the second instalment of episode 18, we turn to newspapers and how they’re still trying to charge for content. Specifically, we address how Sun Media is rolling out a metered pay plan.

Personally, I think that you need to offer something really unique/special to charge for it, and Ash chimes in to point out how the Wall Street Journal and New York Times have gotten away with paid content because they do just that.

Paid Distribution, Facebook Memology, Will Ferrell, and Gowalla

In this final segment of episode 18, we enter the lighting round and then turn to the email of the week. During the lightning round, we discuss:

• Paid Distribution
• Why Will Ferrell is doing ads for Old Milwaukee
• How Facebook Memology is a PR response to Google Zeitgeist
• and Gowalla selling out to Facebook

Then we turn to the email of the week, Ash chimes in on whether we’ll see more or less web IPOs over the coming year.

Dos mojitos por favor...

So I’ve been kind of quiet since I left my 9-5. I stopped writing for Revenews, and aside from a weekly video spot for HipMojo, I’ve only posted 8 times here in the last 3 months (and 3 of those posts were just me plugging the first few episodes of the HipMojo show). So this all begs the question:

What the f*ck have I been up to?

Well, I was working on a book, and now it’s done. It’s called Rum Socialism: A Travel Diary of Communist Cuba, and I like to describe it as one part travel diary and one part satire, shaken over ice, and served up with a sprig of mint and twist of lime.

It’s the result of a week I spent down there last spring, and it pretty much follows me off the resort and onto the streets of Trinidad, Cuba, where I got mixed up with street hustlers, witch doctors, corrupt cops, and all kinds of other colorful characters. The result is a week-long bender of satire insight into Cuban Communism — a system that is trying desperately to reinvent itself in the face of harsh economic realities.

I never meant to write it. I was just keeping a travel diary while I was down there, and then I got into all these strange situations, so when I got back I was looking at this moleskin and thought “I should really write this thing out and share it with the world before Castro dies.” That’s why I decided to not shop around for a publisher and put it up on the Kindle store (it’ll be out on other ebook stores soon), but you can read more about the book and how/why it was written in this interview with me.

So why the pen name?

Kris Romaniuk (Credit: @photojunkie)

Well, that was a tough call, and building a separate personal brand from scratch is a lot of work, but I decided it was the thing to do. First of all, the book deals with things that “CT Moore” isn’t known for — such as politics and social commentary.

But I also figured that the kind of audience this book is meant for didn’t need to know about my social media marketing douche-baggery. While I don’t mind sharing the book with you folks (because you already get the import of having a personal brand and marketing yourself), I thought it would be confusing to bombard most potential readers with Tweets, blogs, and updates that have nothing to do with Cuba, politics, or travel.

So what, then, qualifies me to write a book like this?

Well, for starters, I have a degree in political-sciene (and I minored in economics). I spent five years studying political theory, so I feel very comfortable talking about different political systems and ideologies in a comparative sense.

I also make it very clear right at the outset that I don’t have any expertise on Cuba, am not a journalist, and didn’t do any fact-checking. Instead, every “fact” or tidbit in the book is presented as something that was either told to me by someone else or I witnessed first-hand.

So the book is meant to be partially for entertainment purposes (the travel diary) and partially food-for-thought (the political satire). And at a price-point of $2.99 (USD), I believe it delivers on both those counts.

In any case, if you’re into eccentric non-fiction or just want to support me because you like me for some reason or another, I ask that you consider:

• Buying a copy (you don’t need a Kindle to read it)
• Liking Rum Socialism on Facebook
• Following Rum Socialism on Twitter
• Following Kris Romaniuk on Twitter
• or checking out RumSocialism.com

Credit: Christian Greller

Thinks about it this way: as long as you’re not making a living doing what you love, then you’re still someone else’s bitch.

It doesn’t matter if you call it a “job” or a “client,” if it’s what you do to pay the bills so that you can use what little of your free time you have left doing something else, then it’s not yours. You’re relying on someone else to put food on your table and a roof over your head, and you are not free.

The flip side to this is that if even you have a “boss” and are “employed” by a “company,” as long as you love what you do for them, then you are free. This is the path you’ve chosen and, if given the chance, would choose again, because the time you spend putting food on the table and a roof over your head is time spent doing what you love.

So this is what I want you to do. Take a second to forget the labels that people like to put on things to make themselves feel better or someone else feel worse about what they do for a living, and ask yourself this: Who do you work for?

This is the third instalment of the new video show format that Ashkan and I have been experimenting with. In this episode we discuss:

• the YouTube/comScore deal
• HP exiting the PC market
• whether AOL should go private
• Ashton Kutcher’s failure to disclose
• Ooyala snagging an ESPN deal
• and how social users aren’t that social, after all

What YouTube/comScore Deal Means for Marketers

In this first clip, Ash and I turn our attention to the new partnership between YouTube and comScore, and how comScore will now be providing engagement metrics on individual YouTube channels. Specifically, we address the opportunity, here, for both marketers and content producers. I touched upon YouTube’s value as a marketing tool from both a search engine and branding standpoint, and Ash discusses it’s potential for content creators. We also discussed how 58% of YouTube views in July were generated by only two channels: Vevo & Warner Bros.

HP Gives Up on PCs

In this second instalment, we move on discuss HP’s recent decision to drop their tablet and exit the PC market altogether. While I talk about the implications for their brand, Ash explores the rationale (numbers) behind this decision and questions it’s execution.

Lightning Round: AOL, Ashton Kutcher, Ooyala, & Anti-Social Users

In this last clip, we quickly touch on four topics:

• Is AOL a candidate for private equity?
• Did Ashton Kutcher act unethically when he wrote for Details magazine?
• Did Disney/ESPN make the write move by outsourcing to Ooyala? (I think so).
• And are social media users really that social?
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Credit: Katrina Tuliao

Here is the second episode of HipMojo, the new video show format that me and Ashkan are trying out. I’m still a little rusty in front of the camera, but I’m starting to work that out.

Marketing in a Recession

In the first instalment, we discuss how a potential/pending recession will affect how marketers’ budgets. I talk about how CEOs/CMOs are likely to change their marketing spending, and Ash talks about how it’s likely to hit online video advertising.

Social Media & Online Video in a Recession

In the second instalment, we turn our attention to Silicon Valley undertakers and the kind of businesses they’re likely to dismantle in a recession. On the social media front, I make a distinction between revenue- and technologically-driven social networks, and how a recession is likely to impact their respective chances of survival. Ash then shares his thoughts on how a recession might affect online video firms, whether they’re into content production, content distribution, content management, analytics, or advertising.

Groupon, AOL, and HuffPo

In this final clip, we do what Ash has termed the “lighting round,” sharing our respective thoughts on:

• whether AOL’s investors are really losing patience
• the trouble Groupon is having with cash flow
• and the backlash that HuffPo is facing for panhandling for a logo design
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