Dear Classic Ones,
I took you with me to a social media convention last week, and, at Dale's invitation, here is how steel bikes and cyberspace connected.
I attended the Web 2.0 Expo, sponsored by O'Reilly Media, in San
Francisco last week. The expo focused on interactive social media
(twitter, facebook, ebay, flickr, Linked In, etc.), and here is the
link to it: http://www.web2expo.com/
I attended one Marketing & Community seminar presented by Deborah Schultz (www.deborahschultz.com) and Brian Oberkirch (www.brianoberkirch.com) entitled "It's the People, Stupid," all about how it is important to "humanize" customers' and clients' experience when they contact businesses using the World Wide Web, including social media sites like ebay, flickr, etc. Schultz and Oberkirch advocated the many advantages to linking one's Web-based marketing techniques to people's real life experience, treating them like real human beings, creating opportunities to build communities, etc.
The classic rendezvous email list, with our international and multiple virtual communities (the CR list, plus our links to ebay, flickr, and other bike-related Web sites), all organized around our real-world passion for bicycles and cycling, seemed to be a great example of what the seminar was about. So I stood up and described how we all share photos, auction links, information, and mutual admiration over members' restorations and historical postings in "Dale Brown's garage." I mentioned how members in France and Germany would discuss classic Italian and British bikes with other members in Canada, the USA, and Australia . I spoke of how we connect our passion for "real world" cycling and classic steel bikes, our local rides and gatherings in "real time" using online communication and technologies.
After the seminar, presenter Deborah Schultz (http:// http://www.deborahschultz.com) told me that our experience was "exactly what (she) was talking about" in her attempt to "humanize" cyberspace and the interaction between businesses, clients, and friends on-line.
Knowing first-hand how being a part of this virtual community has led to my developing new relationships of all kinds, I agree.
Your friend in cyberspace,
Jon Spangler Alameda, CA USA
Jon Spangler Writer/Editor
hudsonspangler@earthlink.net
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