Last night I attended an IABC networking event here in Minneapolis. I have been a member of IABC for about eight months now and last night was my first official appearance at any meeting with my local chapter. I have to say that I was rather impressed by the turnout for the event and was impressed with the variety of communicators who attended. I got to meet many existing and future board members and definitely look forward to getting more involved in my chapter.
The one thing that I wanted to mention though that bothered me to hear last night is about a comment (and a facial gesture) from one of the past presidents (who I will not name because I was rather impressed with this person minus this one thing).
I always talk about my excitement surrounding blogging and other forms of new social media. And last night was no different. I inquired with many folks about their thoughts on new media and how they are or are not using them in their professional lives. When I asked this of her, she grimaced and referenced the recent Fast Company article about the "Six Jobs That Won't Exist in 2016," which includes bloggers. Well, from her response, I inferred that she is not on board with blogging or the like.
Now, I understand that blogging and other consumer driven mediums are scary for some, but when I hear things like this, and I do quite often in my local market, I start to wonder if all that I read about new mediums and all that I surround myself with are just all livin' in a crazy-ole world? And then to see it in Fast Company. Is this just another way that MSM is not embracing the new mediums? And then I think...is this how folks advocating for television felt when the radio people were speaking out about "this new fad"?
My thought is...even if you are not going to embrace new mediums, shouldn't you as a professional communicator be open enough to learn about them in order to be able to offer your clients and/or your organization the very best strategies for their business objectives? or am I just livin' in the crazy-ole, drinking-the-blogging-kool-aid world too?
As for the blogging jobs issue (that started my rant), do you really think they'll be gone in 2016?
Thank you guys for the encouraging words! I try not to let the critics tarnish my enthusiasm. I will continue to educate about blogging and other new media and agree that all of this will certainly morph as we move forward! But, I think that is the most exciting part! I love the ride and learning more and challenging the norms of what we (they) have become accustomed to!
Posted by: Kimberly | Friday, March 17, 2006 at 04:14 PM
I, too, have a hard time believing that blogs are going to go away. They may morph into something new or be the catalyst that creates something better but I think the genie is out of the bottle.
Likewise, I don't pay too much attention to those spouting they are just a flash in the pan as an excuse so they ignore them. Remember a thing called the World Wide Web and the graphical browser? That was going to wither on the vine or just be used by geeks and gearheads, right?
As a matter of fact the CEO of my former employer, LexisNexis, actually predicted in an address to our local Chamber of Commerce in 1996 that the Internet was a "passing fad" and "would never be used by anyone for serious research."
Posted by: Craig Jolley | Friday, March 17, 2006 at 12:59 PM
Kimberly, I agree that professional communicators should be open to new forms of communication unfortunately that is not always the case. I think only time will tell what happens to blogs, but I have a hard time believing they are going anywhere when they are growing so fast now (the number of blogs has doubled every five months since 2003). Keep blogging, keep learning and keep listening and you will never have to worry about finding a job.
Posted by: Ryan | Thursday, March 16, 2006 at 01:50 PM