I think this is exactly the right point. And not just because I have the word “conversation” in the name of my company Like Deb I am always telling people that this is NOT about the technology, it is about the sociology and that the main things you need to understand are the same ones you use every day in the communities you belong to at work, school, church, in your neighborhood — teaching social skills…

I was attracted to this post because my company was mentioned (in the comments) on your subsequent post on Mashable. Not favorably. I am not proud of that – and wish we didn’t have any detractors out there. And I wish we didn’t have anyone who hated the word “conversation” either.

I have to say, Peter Hirshberg and I do take some of the blame for the “conversational marketing” meme that we helped get started while we were at Technorati. The problem was that the thing Technorati sells is advertising, so we tried to develop a product for marketers that would bridge between the old world of advertising and the new world of communities. But along the way we had a really important realization…

The important work that we were doing with our clients wasn’t about marketing, it was about entirely changing how their companies do business. How they can stop worrying and learn to love the fact that their employees are talking to the market all the time…

That is why we left Technorati and started The Conversation Group and why we are working with companies in the US an Europe to help fundamentally change the way they do business. It isn’t easy – there is a lot of resistance to change. Companies want to keep PITCHING. It is easier than conversation and community. And it feels more comfortable to be in control…

We all grew up in a world where the objective was to CONTROL the message. The meme of “join the conversation” was intended to subvert this desire for control and get people to think about what you do when you join any conversation as people — first you listen, then if you have something to contribute to the conversation you do but at a time and in a way that the other people talking appreciate the addition.

How some people take that phrase and turn it back into pitching is beyond me… as you rightly say: “Join the conversation” doesn’t mean “listen to me, me-me-me-me-me”. It genuinely means what you think it should mean — first listen, then join – and make sure you add value.

As such, “join the conversation” is still a useful way to get people stuck in the old way of doing things to stop and think about how they need to change.

best

Ted Shelton

I think this is exactly the right point. And not just because I have the word “conversation” in the name of my company Like Deb I am always telling people that this is NOT about the technology, it is about the sociology and that the main things you need to understand are the same ones you use every day in the communities you belong to at work, school, church, in your neighborhood — teaching social skills…

I was attracted to this post because my company was mentioned (in the comments) on your subsequent post on Mashable. Not favorably. I am not proud of that – and wish we didn’t have any detractors out there. And I wish we didn’t have anyone who hated the word “conversation” either.

I have to say, Peter Hirshberg and I do take some of the blame for the “conversational marketing” meme that we helped get started while we were at Technorati. The problem was that the thing Technorati sells is advertising, so we tried to develop a product for marketers that would bridge between the old world of advertising and the new world of communities. But along the way we had a really important realization…

The important work that we were doing with our clients wasn’t about marketing, it was about entirely changing how their companies do business. How they can stop worrying and learn to love the fact that their employees are talking to the market all the time…

That is why we left Technorati and started The Conversation Group and why we are working with companies in the US an Europe to help fundamentally change the way they do business. It isn’t easy – there is a lot of resistance to change. Companies want to keep PITCHING. It is easier than conversation and community. And it feels more comfortable to be in control…

We all grew up in a world where the objective was to CONTROL the message. The meme of “join the conversation” was intended to subvert this desire for control and get people to think about what you do when you join any conversation as people — first you listen, then if you have something to contribute to the conversation you do but at a time and in a way that the other people talking appreciate the addition.

How some people take that phrase and turn it back into pitching is beyond me… as you rightly say: “Join the conversation” doesn’t mean “listen to me, me-me-me-me-me”. It genuinely means what you think it should mean — first listen, then join – and make sure you add value.

As such, “join the conversation” is still a useful way to get people stuck in the old way of doing things to stop and think about how they need to change.

best

Ted Shelton