Category: Writing & Communication

Twitter was never a social network to me. I mean, sure, I made and had friends there. And I interacted with reporters, analysts, and influencers. But it was first and foremost a newsfeed. A wire service of industry and world news. A place to spot trends and stay on top of breaking events. It was RSS on ‘roids.

And then it imploded.

How do you replicate that river of news? It’s not like journalists stopped producing news. For some of us old timers, RSS fills some of that void. But it’s not the same. Many have migrated to the fediverse to maintain as much of those Twitter connections as possible. But it’s not the same, either. Twitter was different.

The fediverse shows promise as a Twitter replacement, but it’s likely too byzantine for a generation raised on walled-garden technologies. But it’s what we’ve got today. So how do we use it to fill the Twitter void? I’m just spitballing here, but I could envision someone cranking up a Mastodon instance just for technology new outlets to let their publishing bots run free. An instantaneous RSS feed, if you will. I’m sure others also have ideas (sound off in the comments).

The scale of technology is shifting, the weight transferring from random algorithms and advertising to individual control of the bits and bytes one puts out into the world. It’ll be messy. It’ll take time. But make no mistake, it’s happening.

I stumbled on an interview with actor Jon Hamm that perfectly encapsulates the power of saying yes has on opening opportunities in your life and why not everything can or should be measured.

“Mostly I drive [my agents] crazy because I say yes to everything, you know? I’m always showing up for people’s podcasts or what have you,” Hamm continued. “But that’s what I like doing. I like engaging with the people that I work with and I’ve had some tremendous, fun experiences doing that. And things like that turn into other things. And, you know, those are the kinds of things you can’t measure.”

Saw a great LinkedIn post by Joe Brockmeier about being more human in corporate writing. It’s something I’ve told execs throughout my career: Just be human. It’s that simple.

• Use words that are part of your own dictionary, not a corporate thesaurus.
• Tempted to use an acronym? Don’t.
• Excited? Pleased? Dismayed? Don’t tell me; show me. Words are meant to be colorful. Paint me a picture with them.
• Don’t want to swear, but still want to show emotion? Drop a heckuva instead of a helluva into your press release quote.
• For the love of Hemingway, tell stories. We ain’t buying ink anymore, folks. Spin the yarns. Humans love stories. We have since we were listening to them by the fire inside caves.
• Got bad news to talk about? Before you put a finger to keyboard, put yourself in the shoes of the person you are writing to. Sympathy and empathy are your friends.
• Writing some form of corporate announcement (or anything, for that matter)? Write it so someone not in your industry understands what you are talking about in the first paragraph.

Let your human flag fly!

The tech industry is built as much on speaking submissions as it is on code. Getting a talk accepted at OSCON or Gluecon or Monktoberfest is, for many, a sign of career success. Yet, there are only so many conferences, only so many speaking slots…with so many smart people pitching to educate and entertain their peers. What happens to all of those talks that get denied one of the limited and coveted spots on the agenda?

We all know what happens to them. Most die alongside the speaker’s confidence. Some get resubmitted to other conferences. This is an industry of really — REALLY — smart people. Why should their talks be limited to a few conference stages (many of which are pre-peppered with sponsor talks)? Technology gives us easy tools and platforms to record, publish and host every talk, whether captured on stage or on a webcam in someone’s home office.

Imagine a library of talks hosted on a site like TFiR, talks of insight and informational value that otherwise would never have seen the light of day. Talented speakers who could now have an audience.

There are pieces to this I’m probably missing. So sound off in the comments or carry the discussion over to Twitter (#morepodiums).

I’ve had the privilege of working with really smart people over the course of my career. Individuals who created the computer code that runs the world we live in. Corporate executives managing billion dollar businesses. And incredibly intelligent startup founders like Carbon Robotics CEO Rosanna Myers with the vision to see the world beyond the disruptive technologies they build. I encourage you to give this talk a listen to understand better the value of treating humans like humans and not machines.

Tech trades aren’t what they were. There are but a handful of true technology trade media outlets left in an industry of wide-eyed innovation. There are even fewer traditional reporters.

And while the number of news outlets and reporters contracts, the number of startups and companies with stories to tell grows. Many of these companies are shut out of the storytelling process, never able to rise above the noise.

There are simply not enough news outlets to write all the great stories that deserve to be told. Story volume and media economics dictate that, like Silicon Valley itself, merit isn’t enough.

My friend Ron Favali and I believe there’s a way to fix this, and in the process, raise the visibility of those working to create a more diverse and inclusive industry.

TechDeux is a media site designed to fill the gap between existing trade journalism and public relations. It’s what happens when you step back and look at the media ecosystem through a wide angle, unfiltered lens. It’s what can be built when you don’t try to disrupt an industry, but, instead, help it.

If closing the gap between PR and journalism was all TechDeux did, it would be enough. But we wanted to build something that meant more. Something that helped the entire technology industry, not just marketers and journalists.

Unlike traditional models, TechDeux’s storytellers underwrite the promotion of non-profit organizations focused on increasing diversity and inclusion in tech. In exchange, these underwriters are able to submit opinionated editorial content on the TechDeux platform.

We’re launching this summer. So, if you’re a startup, PR agency or VC with a portfolio of companies who want to make the industry a better place for everyone, shoot me a note to see how you can get involved underwriting TechDeux. In the meantime, we’re looking for your feedback: What’s missing in this model? What would you like to see? Which non-profits you think deserve to be seen and heard?

Sure, this may be an incremental fix to a bigger problem. But change only happens when someone is willing to try something different.