Being there


As data networks facilitate higher speed connections, remote experiences have become richer. Later this month, college basketball fans can watch March Madness live at their desks instead of having to constantly refresh a scoreboard page or linger in the break room where CNBC has been anonymously switched to CBS.

But for me I’ll always remember sitting in the nosebleeds at the Georgia Dome, cheering for teams to which I had no connection. 

These days, scholars study Woodstock as a cultural phenomenon. Amazon has almost 300 history books on the three day weekend. Taping culture was propagated by fans of the Grateful Dead, Phish, Dave Matthews Band and others, who shared experiences with one another. Pay-per-view allows us to stream HD concerts into our homes.

But for me, I’ll always remember being close enough to see the texture of Eddie Vedder’s jacket at Riverbend, the long drives home from Rupp Arena with ears ringing from arena rock, not being crushed in a mosh pit at FDR Park.

Think about industry conferences and events – we used to read the trade press for recaps on large convocations; then we had blog posts, evolving into liveblogging, and today there’s real-time tweets and Ustreaming citizen journalists.

But this exponentially increased flow of information does not replace the value of in-person, real-life experiences. There’s an old proverb that states, “teach a person to fish and they’re fed for a lifetime.” It’s about process – and through process one gains experience.

I’m heading down to Austin for the Dachis Group Social Business Summit and SXSW. If you’re going to be in town as well, I look forward to being there with you. Because despite advertisers, pundits, and others who may believe that technology creates no gap between real and Memorex – the ones who are there will feel the difference.

You can follow live updates from the Dachis Group Social Business Summit at #sbs2010.


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2 Comments

  1. I’m unable to make it this year, Pete, but would love to get back in touch. I’m glad my pals Rick M and Chris H will be there, and I look forward to re-living some elements of the experience vicariously with them later. Hopefully we’ll get to chat again face-to-face in the 502 or 512. Keep up the tremendous work @ Dachis!

  2. I wrote a brand brief once for a music web community that stated “A musician is never more in touch with his art than when looking into the eyes of its audience from the stage.” I’m all about the power of the web, but your point here is very hard to challenge. Especially so now that you are in a service business. PS. Pearl Jam just announced a bunch of U.S. dates.

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Being: Peter Kim