tails, very long tails...

Just got home from dinner/book club with Wired Mag/Long Tail writer, Chris Anderson. Really interesting stuff. There's an ongoing discussion in PR about what to do now that the traditional MSM folks are going away and leaving the journalism to the rest of us.

Seemingly overnight, traditional media has started to blog, has a new audience, a similar style and has moved on with their lives. But these are the people who always had a mouthpiece. It may have been censored or limited, but they had an audience and a way to reach them. Disgruntled masses now have a place to voice frustration. But I think it's only taught us that all customer call centers suck, whether they're in India or Iowa and that no corporation ever really cares if your satisfied until you threaten to switch to a competitor.

< rant> Dish Network and Sprint PCS are always tied in my book for worst customer service ever. Seriously, if you want to be abused, give them a call. They are always happy to steal an hour from your life only to tell you that they can't help you anyway. < /rant>

So, I am in this very weird segment of the population. I work in PR. That automatically feels weird when you set out to blog. I have intimate knowledge about a number of different types of technology, a solid understanding of media and a good feel for how to make cool things bubble up to the surface. But blogging has felt weird and awkward. It's part of the reason I resisted blogging for a long time.

I feel like I'm paid to have a bias. That my work meant that my opinions and thoughts were less valid. Lately, more and more, I feel like I'm precisely who should be blogging. I am passionate. I think the best PR people are. If you don't have passion for your work, how are you ever going to convince anyone else that your product, company or idea is interesting/cool/game-changing/the greatest thing since sliced bread?

I do PR even when I'm not paid to. I actually do my best work when I'm off the clock. That's the thing. Cool shit is cool shit. No two ways about it.