As a marketing blog, we spend a lot of time talking about the latest and greatest marketing strategies and technologies. Twitter, viral videos, and Google are definitely among our favourites. As are social networking and new media in general.
But lets not forget about the simple power of a room full of people. And that power is what the Ottawa International Writer's Festival, running through to May 2, is all about.
Last Thursday I had the distinct pleasure of attending "The Big Idea" session the carbon shift, led by Canadian writers William Marsden and Thomas Homer-Dixon. The topic was at times very tense and distressing, and there was definitely something viral about the way the energy moved through the room.
In the end, however, I left feeling more alert and also more connected than I have in quite some time. I guess my point is this: that while webinars, tweets, and wall posts are all well and good (and, sometimes, the most effective way to communication), there is still something to be said for the energy that can only be created by bringing people together.
1 comments:
I agree completely. Tweeting just isn't the same as a conversation. There's even a study that shows that the human mind doesn't have time to emotionally process tweets (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1169788/Twitter-make-immoral-claim-scientists.html - ignore the silly headline.)
Similarly, skimming a bunch of blog posts isn't the same as reading a book. The focused engagement just isn't there when skimming online.
It's interesting how things are changing. Many people seem to think social media and such will utterly destroy our ability to think, and others seem to feel that, like, you just gotta get with the times, old man. I tend to fall somewhere in the middle.
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