August 29, 2005
social vs. socialised
Loic wonders why more British people aren’t signing up for Our Social World.
I wonder how a country like U.K. can have so few participants interested in a blog/social software conference such as Our Social World on September 9th. Wake up! It should be a good conference, you can still sign up.
I’m guessing two reasons.
1. It’s not in London. People most likely to be interested in this kind of stuff can’t be bothered getting up to Cambridge for an 8.30am start.
2. It’s in the U.K. The Brits hate any kind of new “social” media. They prefer “socialised” media, thank you very much. They still equate media with glamor, authority, privelege and the domain of the establishment. The idea that JUST ANYONE can have a voice they find vulgar and offensive. Which is why these turkeys can still make a living.
Well, I’m speaking on the day. Something to do with how marketers are going to have to start behaving more like techies, less like “creatives”. It should be a fun and interesting day for all concerned; I’m worried less about how many people actually show up.
The Cluetrain is happily chugging away. Getting a seat on it is not a God-given right, it’s an individual decision.
It has nothing to do with who you know, what school you went to, who your tailor is, what pub you drink in, or what political party you voted for. Which is why most Brits don’t see it.
But the ones that do, of course, are starting to have the time of their lives.
Well, some of the presentation are already available on the net, so people interested might have figured that it is easier to follow that.
)
))
For the people not in the UK, it is not so easy to get to Camebridge.
Besides that — the brits really seem to be quite different to the rest of the world. I encounter this at the moment with Podcastcon UK; which _is_ called UK, most of the people coming are from the UK but still — there are European people coming too. And ‘we’ do see this more as an European event — but there is no way to get those brits to talk about it that way. It is just UK.
Combined with your remarks about them being snobbish (you did not call it that way, but …), I am curious how it will go out.
Funny folks on that island.
Who Do These People Think They Are?
I don’t know if Hugh is right about this speculation, but I believe he’s on to something: Loic wonders why more British people aren’t signing up for Our Social World.I wonder how a country like U.K. can have so few
3. lousy publicity. This is the first time I can recall hearing about the fardling event.
Maybe they should practice a little more of what they preach.
Since I read a goodly number of the various speakers blogs (including your good self
Hell, I’d have probably gone too. Too late now.
Broadband and the Cluetrain: Cambridge blue(s)
Hmm … (via Loïc Le Meur). Add to this the poor take-up rate for Our Social World (‘Our Social World is about bringing business leaders of today into contact with the visionaries and tools that are creating a new social
Our Social World — a flop in the making?
Loic, Hugh and David are punting Our Social World but with only 35 delegates signed up (the last time I looked.) I suggested to Loic it is because of location, cost and content. But there’s more. Location: Arriving by train.…
Be controversial, be entertaining, but please don’t partonise Brits with sweeping statements…it may be amusing but it sure as hell pisses off folk (like me) who’d actually like to see this thing go forward.
I’d be there but for the fact that I’m heading for sunnier climes. I hope it goes well.
Patrick
Sure, Dennnis, you just tell me which point you disagree with and I’ll gladly discuss it further
PS. What’s wrong with making sweeping statements? Without it, there’d be no such thing as British comedy
Event: Our Social World, Cambridge UK
Our Social World is an event in September designed to bring business leaders of today into contact with the visionaries and tools that are creating a new social environment: “one which spans continents, timezones and cultures… our Social World is…
Some people would have been put off by the inclusion of speakers from ecademy.
The getting up for an 8.30 start in Cambridge is certainly an issue… also it being on a weekday right after everyone has used up their holiday… But will be looking forward to the transcripts/audio/videos…
Getting British business folk out of London on a weekday is easy– all you need is some hunting, shooting and fishing
Cambridge is certainly a major factor for me, although for a lot of people (including those who live in cottages in Cumbria!) you travel down to Cambridge. There is life outside London, but it’s about it being in Cambridge which is a pain to get to. Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, London — any of those places make sense.
A good punt!
Loics wake up call prompted Dennis Howlett of Bazaarz to came out with a critique of the Our Social World conference in his post “Our Social World — a flop in the making?”
His arguments are that Cambridge is the wrong place (to inaccessib…
Plus it’s not aimed at “Brits”, it’s aimed at business people.
Look at the tag line “Enable Conversations with your customers”.
So it’s aimed at the poncey ponytail set, who don’t know what 8:30 looks like because they’re still getting over the coke enduced haze from the night before. You may be right when you say they have to move towards techiedom, but you’re going to have to market geek chic better before that happens.
Ha. The poncy pony tail set embracing geek chic. As if that will ever happen.
More fun just watching them being consigned to the dustbin of history.
dont patronise brits?
this from dennis howlett, a man that can’t bear to live in the UK because the weather is shit and the liquor is expensive.
give over mr howlett — you aren’t a Brit any more, you’re a European…
my reason for probably not coming is pretty simple. the list is same old same old. i know the thinking of the headliners. i might come to see them perform live, but i already have the album…
Barry what a large gaping void there is! In my past life of running a UK based business I would never have associated, business people = poncey ponytail set.
I guess its what happens when you cut yourself off in Soho.
For true hilarity, read this interview with Saatchi & Saatchi’s UK chairman/CEO Lee Daley on the “future” of advertising. It contains more meaningless buzzwords per square inch than maybe anything I’ve read – and NOTHING about how technology lets marketers l-i-s-t-e-n to and converse with customers.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/08/26/lee.daley.transcript/
Our Social World
Hugh talks about why people aren’t flocking to Our Social World. I agree with him that (to quote the Open Space mantra) the people who come are the right people. I also have a feeling that blogging is just starting…
I run a funded business in the RSS sector in the UK and I’m not going for a number of reasons.
it’s down South and I can’t be arsed, I’m too busy working on cool stuff to go, and the content sounds painfully dull .. does anyone who knows their arse from their elbow need a “brief history of blogging” or “how marketeers are going to have to act more like techies”? These are topics for newbies and marketeers rather than techies or people on the cutting edge.
The problem is, the people reading blogs like yours ARE the techies, industry geeks, and people on the cutting edge. This conference is clearly for people who have no idea about the topic or have heard “a little” about it. That’s the problem with conferences.. they’re not for the hardcore. Up with geek dinners instead.
While history of blogging seems dull at first, it was quite a presentation to listen to and Ben is fun to watch. You could give it a listen through the reboot recordings of that special session.
I can’t answer the question if you are intersted in the social impacts of daily internet life, but the question put up by that single presentation still “haunt” me two months later.
I did post a number of perfectly valid reasons why this is not such a great idea at http://www.bazaarz.com/archives/2005/08/our_social_worl.php. And the fact I live offshore wouldn’t stop me coming…if the content was compelling enough. And it isn’t.
I don’t go for the content, Dennis. I go to meet people.
(A) It’s a lot of fun and (B) a lot of business is starting to get done at these things. At least for me.
You can meet people at the geek dinners and other less formal events. I meet people by networking with them online and then moving it offline. The extra cost of these bigger conferences is going into the presentation and delivery of content, so I’d say it’s a pretty big part of the larger conferences. If it was all about meeting people, there’d be a lot more geek dinners and the like
The most productive extra curricular activity I went to was a “conference” in a pub(!) full of SEO experts 
Hugh — I’m in Cambridge and it sounds quite interesting but:
1 — it’s on a weekday and I don’t have much holiday left
2 — it’s
If you’re considered a ‘corporate’, the fee is
Suddenly I’m considered an ‘individual’. Never a truer word said.
Hugh, see you there — I’m looking forward to it.
All the best,
–
Ian
Looking forward to going. I believe the real value of this is networking and to that end I am also looking forward to meeting Hugh in the flesh. Not to mention I am also interested in his talk and most people consider me at least part geek.
Our Social World
Our Social World is now one attendee bigger, as I have managed to find time to get there. I notice a lot of talk regarding negative comments abound however I think this is a bit premature. I’m going to wait…