it makes perfect sense to me what i’m doing among the circus, now. and it actually makes perfect sense to me what i’m going to sxsw for…i’ve just never really articulated it. i feel like maybe the answer has a lot to do with what you’re talking about, so i should probably try.

i work with a team of people, with a company, in an “industry” where our end-creations are all about connecting people. it is about giving people meaningful, powerful experiences and enabling all kinds of interactions. (and i do mean…ALL kinds). it is now even becoming a channel for affecting change as well. this has been the evolution of event creation as i have seen it. this is what the do lab does.

the motivations that would fuel a passion for connecting people are the same wether or not the means of that connection are virtual or not. i completely understand this motivation. it’s the shit that gets me excited! it’s the shit that’s getting me to brave a conference for an industry that i’m not a member of (…yet, i guess) just to meet and learn from other people who understand this same motivation.

i can’t imagine there could be “posing” for such a motivation. either you’re compusively fascinated by the prospect of creating “experiences” for people and letting them “connect” through those experiences…..or…..you know….you write code and push pixels. (am i allowed to say that?)

the “revolution” of connecting people isn’t the sole property of the internet (check out oprah), but what is revolutionary about the internet is that it can give the connection that people have always sought, and continue to seek, a new….dimension. not that this is any kind of newsflash, but perhaps it’s useful to keep it all in perspective. the internet is a part of a continuum. a part that expands others exponentially, but it is not independent of them.

or, at least…..that’s my uniformed, outsider’s take on all this.

the other part i wanted to say is that all scenes are pretty much exactly the same. whether they call themselves a scene, a community, or an industry. and they all resemble high school. they all have shittalkin and namecalling in their own terms. (just imagine what the “poser” backlash is in a scene that’s highly driven by aesthetics and performance). there are always going to be people who are willing to step outside the mold, not just willing…eager, excited, with an inherent desire to push things forward. visionary enough to say, fuck the mold, i’ve got a better idea.

in an industry and a community and a scene that thrives on innovation, i’d think it’s the people who are trying to keep the mold the same who are the ones posing.

~j

Isn’t the real value of this hallowed technology we’re talking about the fact that for the first time all this cool stuff is accessible (and transparent) to all who want it? The playing field is levelling more quickly than ever before.

What does this mean? Probably more than ever before you can be judged on merit. Sure, not everyone’s going to be great at creating content (come on, most of the crap out there will suck), but it’s out there and will be judged by people who care (or don’t care for that matter). I think that’s pretty cool!

Call me a poser or whatever you want, but you know what? I’m able to tell my stories in a way that was impossible (or at least really difficult) a few years ago. That’s KILLER!

As far as elitist geeks go, think about who’s buying what you’re building. It’s not other elitist geeks, cos they’re building their own s*$t and it’s way better than yours. Think about IT!

Yes, I believe in the betterment of man-kind, but I also believe that it must be grounded in the real world too. That’s the REAL challenge for geeks isn’t it? Give the world what you’ve built so they can use it then go on and build something else that they didn’t have already. If you’re really all that you’d always be a step ahead of us posers wouldn’t you?

Anyway, great post, Micki! Keep going!

I should clarify that I have met an awful lot of wonderful people in the past couple of years. People that I consider to be genuinely good human beings, people who genuinely care about community, and people who want to make a change in the world.

I am trying to soak up this time for all it’s worth. Business and money change things — we’ve seen some of that paraded out in public for everyone to see already.

I just hope that for once this revolution is also genuine. I’ve been hurt by revolutions before. *sniff* Do you hear me HIP-HOP? *sob*

Enter Internet-enabled media. Social media. New media. Whatever. Content, as TheDaniel has said.

I find these fascinating people and meet with them every day. I connect with passionate, energized folks who are trying new things, expanding their creative minds, and reaching out to touch more and more people. Some of what we’re “discovering” is so lo-fi and low-tech compared to the entertainment industry’s standards. Most of the new tech we use, we’re users coming up with our methods.

Posers? I used to use that word back in high school when I thought Metallica and Megadeth were *way* cooler than Guns and Roses. But uh, that was high school.

Seems like a fun fight for others to have. I’m over here hanging out with my own personal rockstars (like having crepes with you in LA).

Kickass post and great comments! – Chris…

The internet wouldn’t have gotten off the ground without the risktakers, the thinkers, the networkers, the activists and everyone else who jumped in back then. It’s the same now. Only so much better, since the design tools, the programming tools are open sourced and available to anyone. You don’t have to know anything about design or programming anymore to launch something that can be meaningful to people. The people making the internets good like Micki are my heroes. Programmers and designers out there, y’all better recognize.