May 14, 2004 | View Comments (0) | Category: Our Thoughts
Summary: With blogs you get the human. You also get the warts that comes with them.
Almost every company has a marketing department that specializes in saying the “right” things to their target audience. However, as we all know, the Internet has slighty changed the rules in how information and opinions are passed. Blogs took the communication to a whole new level that some companies embrace, while others seem to fear.
I embraced the blogging revolution because it allowed my voice to be heard. SixApart both embraced and capitalized from the blogging revolution and have to everyone's benefit kept an open blog discussing their companies' plans in regards to their products TypePad and MovableType.
Yesterday I wrote a post that I thought would be inspirational to some and from the responses that I have received it was helpful to a few of you (maybe more). However, the discussion quickly changed to the way I was handling discussing my new business partnership, Business Logs.
Admittedly I was upset to find that the discussion had veered from my initial intent and started to focus on how I was going about things the wrong way. But later I realized that the feedback I was receiving served two great purposes: 1. Instant feedback benefits everyone 2. The feedback that I was receiving showed that people have an interest in the Whitespace community (some believe it is better to have a negative reaction than an indifferent reaction).
The feedback allowed me to see that to some people I was going about things completely the wrong way and in fact were insulting them. I apologize again if you took it this way. That is what comes with open communication though. Warts. It happens in the discussions here all the time. Sometimes you get to see the best of a person and other times you get the worst of them. However, you should always get the real person and this is what makes blogs so interesting.
Not everyone is comfortable showing their faults publicly. Instead they still try to go about things the old way of marketing and attempt perfection. I know people have come to this site and read one entry and thought that I was an arrogant, talentless designer and left or just the cutest thing ever (okay maybe not that). If I only had one entry then I think it would be fair to pass that judgement, however if you look at the whole history of this site you begin to get a better feel for the person I am.
Have I said things that I regret saying in the past? Of course I have, but I wouldn't take them back or delete them. I have had clients tell me that they appreciate my honesty and that is what made them choose to go with me. I am sure other people have shied away because they read an entry that didn't sit well with them. In the web world today you have to be careful what you say, but you shouldn't be restricted to what you are allowed to say.
And please don't mistake open communication with “ tell them everything that is going on in your life and the company's&rduqo; communication.
Everyone knows about the MT 3.0 Licensing fiasco that occurred yesterday. I even wrote an excellent (*wink wink*) article at Forever Geek concerning the issue. MT is now pretty much a full fledged commercial software product (MT 2.661 is still a free download at Download.com). SixApart is now a company where they have to focus on the bottom line. Paying for the software shouldn't be the issue with anyone. I think once most people cool off they would honestly tell you that the quality of software that SixApart produces is well worth the money if you are willing to pay for it.
The problem was the communication or lack thereof concerning the licensing scheme. The appeal of SixApart and MT was that there always seemed to be an open communication amongst the company and the community. The details about the upcoming MT 3.0 crept out from time to time and it seemed like SixApart were actively taking the approach of open communication. They seemed to embrace the fact that a company can be transparent and successful at the same time, which is a fact I think many companies are starting to see. However, the one detail they always seemed to leave out (and this is major detail) was the licensing scheme.
There was a radio silence concerning the licensing scheme. It was like SixApart knew that the community would be upset with it and they themselves were scared to talk about it. I am sure Ben and Mena have a deep love for the community and felt uneasy bringing this to everyone's attention. However, I think the lack of open communication and the way they threw this upon everyone is the cause for unrest.
Again though, like they say, negative reaction is better than an indifferent reaction. Having open communication SixApart has the ability to explain the reasoning behind the new licensing scheme (obviously money), but also reaffirm their commitment not only to the developer community, but also to the user community.
Progressive Insurance has always impressed me because they show you a comparison between their competitors and themselves and will even tell you that sometimes they do not offer the better rate. Trust me I know because they did it to me. However, I stuck with them simply because I trusted them. Honesty goes a long way with people. To some the “let's pretend” scenarios was n dishonest way to go about things and after sitting back I can see how you would get that perspective. I apologize. The way SixApart threw the licensing scheme upon everyone seemed somewhat dishonest and I am sure they will correct this (not the licensing scheme, but their relations with the community). I am sure they understand that how they handle this situation will go a long way with how much support the community gives them in the future.
Nobody is perfect and sometimes the things you write in a blog will receive some backlash. As long as you learn from it and continue to remain open about issues I think everything will handle itself. Mark brought the issue up yesterday with regards to the “let's pretend” scenario and I thank him for bringing it to my attention. Without that sort of feedback I could have gone on for another two years with the scenario and ended up with only one reader (Mom always stays loyal :-). Enjoy the weekend. I know I will with the sunny skies here in Tampa.
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