Sponsors Should Embrace Freedom, not Fear It
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I appreciate the motivation behind the “shooting yourself in the foot” intercession, but there are a few things you gotta understand about the way my mind works (specifically, in this space). ;)
- I am not paid by political organizations, nor would I wish to be (ever). This is where most of the controversy arises. I am an advocate for individual rights, and I am someone who stands for the power of critical thinking - so if any sponsor finds that too much of a problem, then maybe we don’t belong together after all.
- I am an advocate of the “user” above all, accommodating the sponsors secondarily with the knowledge that they, too, have my audience’s best interest at heart. This is the primary reason Gnomedex continues to be successful, year after year - we value our sponsors to an extreme degree, but not at the cost of the attendees. Everyone gets treated like a VIP, because they’re all VERY important.
- True controversy should arise when content reads like a mirror to a sponsor’s message, not when it counters or does not support it directly. Your wisdom is a bit misguided, as illustrated a few weeks ago with the much ballyhooed FM / Microsoft / Blogger flap.
- To be successful, one must keep a sponsor’s position completely in check. We had been denied support funds for our conference largely because we do not sell speaking slots to any bidder. Some companies will have none of that, and that’s just fine by us. It gets real tricky when you deal with vendors who have a direct and immediate impact on the community-at-large. I will not name other organizations who sell a stage seat at any level, as I have only circumstantial evidence to know that Gnomedex is the gigantic exception to the rule.
- I don’t wish to be a commodity blogger - never have, never will. Sometimes, you have to attack the status quo to cut through the echo chamber and get people to understand that sometimes the Emperor has no clothes. Polar positions, while sometimes outlandish, serve to provide a balance - and should be welcomed instead of feared.
Don’t get to know someone for their position in a company - get to know them for who they are. Develop relationships, not business contacts.
2 Comments
Jason Turner-Zethris
July 23rd, 2007
at 5:28am
I’d be willing to talk with you about some sponsorship. No strings. This guy just seems to want to try to groom you by putting public eye pressure on you to conform to a-typical expectations. while the credibility may be marginalized over there, it is still out there for people to see who may or may not really know you and what this is all about. So yes,those that might read that, may get the wrong idea. Especially those who have seen you on tech tv and thought you must be some sort of robot and always do that.
I too have been around a long time just like that poster claims on his blog. But I have a totally different impression about you and what you do here. Which is why I am still here. This just goes to show, there are those who get stuck that you were on the “magical” TV and somehow that makes you always like what you did on TV and without any other thoughts allowed, and there are those who see beyond that and are greatfull that you even still help people out by answering questions and have found media to do it for free such as youtube and ustream, but then understand that you are just like all of us. The exciting part is that you’re like all of us (read- human) and have resources that you actually are using to help bring awareness to the TV-MSM heads out there that too many people are sleepwalking around life.
To me, I see beyond the opinion and see the value that waking people up can only help us. Even some of the smartest people out there are currently having their lives wasted by being completely lost to reality (even while they think they are a part of a reality, they are not in THE reality) and contributing solely to the machine designed and directed by a select few in big business and government. Have you noticed we haven’t had many Einsteins lately?
Free thinking is being suppressed to prevent any Einsteins from becoming so revolutionary as Einstein was. They know it could hurt their bottom line if one comes out with near unlimited energy for 1000nths of a penny on the dollar per kilowatt hour. Or many other examples of innovation that is being held back on purpose for fear from the large corporation (who’s officers are usually part of government for a reason) not wanting to lose their cash cow.
To me, talking about this IS tech. It is what will save it from this current stagnation. It will bring it to the next level. A new xbox 360 version release is not new tech. Thats repackaging of the same old stuff. Razr for an example of cell phone repackaging.
Geeks of the World Unite (Untie, for the dyslexic geeks out there) we MUST talk about what really matters, put aside the most recently regurgitated “new” tech item (iPod) and save the future of our technology by waking up and getting out there and stopping these large companies, who many of us made rich by our talents, from abusing the situation further!
Steven Hodson
July 23rd, 2007
at 8:19am
Chris I congradulate you to a large degree for talking about much of the things you have been lately and I truely hope that you do manage to walk that tightrope.
Nor am I suggesting that you should walk around with a zipper on your mouth just because you livelyhood depends on the political and personal beliefs of a corporation I just hope it all doesn’t come back to bite you on the ***.
The Chris Pirillo Show
July 23rd, 2007
at 11:15pm
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