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On a trip away from Lake Wobegon, Garrison Keillor took time to talk to us at tompeters.com. He and Erik had a great conversation about his latest book, A Christmas Blizzard, and many other topics, including a note from Julie Christie. We know you'll enjoy reading his Cool Friends interview. View our Archives for past interviews.

Comments

Thanks, again, for allowing me to post (and, perhaps, to rant)!

Posted by Karyn Polewaczyk at December 4, 2009 1:39 PM

Is meeting up the new black? I for one, think so!

Posted by Bethany at December 4, 2009 2:02 PM

Well said Karyn.

Whatever technology does; whatever it facilitates; however popular it becomes; everything comes down to interaction between human beings. I'm old enough to remember the times before PC's and despite the progress (and WOW!! what progress - all of which I love) one thing will never change and that is the importance of the personal relationship - the emotional confection. Technology in itself will never have emotion - that relies on people - 'twas ever thus and long after I've departed this planet that will be the case.

Don't know what you actually mean by the 'new black' but I do know 'meeting up' is, always has been and always will be the best way.

Great post :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at December 4, 2009 3:19 PM

First..nice to hear from you again Karyn. Your stuff is great..always leaves me thinking and sometimes soda out the nose chortling. I agree entirely with your post. I use social media for the same reason you do (mikeneiss.wordpress.com by the way). But it just can't replace sharing the same real space, not cyberspace.

new black? maybe....I still prefer the shades of grey

Posted by mike Neiss at December 4, 2009 3:35 PM

Ironically, Trevor, my father worked for Wang Laboratories in the 80s - remember them? - and because of this, I was the first kid on the block to have a home computer. I'm now on a Mac, and I still prefer the grip of a handshake over the click of a keystroke (unless I'm on deadline, of course).

Posted by Karyn Polewaczyk at December 4, 2009 3:35 PM

Trevor
Here's a pretty thorough definition of the phrase:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_new_black

Posted by Shelley Dolley at December 4, 2009 4:27 PM

Karyn - I even remember buying my kids a Commodore 64! I LOVE the new technology (email and blogging are two of my best business friends) I'm with you though - there's still nothing like that handshake you refer to or making eye contact with my client/customer.

I get it Shelley - thanks - how about 'simplicity is the new complexity' :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at December 4, 2009 4:37 PM

Karyn - How do Twitter and Facebook relate to the business world? If I want to buy a product or service for my company or me (for instance, hire a freelance writer), how do Twitter and Facebook factor in? My usual approach is to Google for a website. Could I be doing something better?

Posted by Mike L. at December 4, 2009 6:06 PM

re: how do twitter and facebook.... Well Mike L, type your question into the Google search box you love so much and the first search result will tell you exactly what you could be doing better.

Posted by Conor at December 4, 2009 6:34 PM

Hi Mike L - I'm also struggling to work out how Twitter in particular can help my business activity. I'm not saying it can’t; I just can’t see how it can improve what I refer to as my ‘focused networking.’ I like to make connections through personal contact. I guess the ‘virtual connection’ is no different to real face to face networking in that we don’t know each other at the outset. We have to work at getting to know each other. I was at a meeting with respected business colleagues yesterday. Half of them feel Twitter is the best thing since sliced bread for new business generation; half of them are totally unconvinced. As for me I am keeping a watching brief; doing some Twitter experimentation; and most important I’m keeping an open mind.

“Our minds are like parachutes – they only function when they are open” according to Scottish Physicist, James Dewar. - I agree with Mr Dewar :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at December 5, 2009 1:56 PM

Karyn,
Thanks for the excellent post(rant)!
Your post and the comments do, however show how "newspeak" and "branding talk" (although entering mainstream usage as has always happened).

Why not just plain English? It's the "new black"!!!

Posted by Randy at December 5, 2009 2:57 PM

That's the basis of my argument, Mike (and Trevor): Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of Web 2.0 are great additives in the social networking mix, but they aren't the main ingredients. Many of my late 20-something cohorts automatically cite these sites when discussing "social media" in conversation; they have no idea (or are just blissfully ignorant) that "social media" encompasses real-time, tangible interaction, too.

And, to answer your question, Mike: Facebook and Twitter are simply additional outlets - cheap, fast and user-friendly outlets - for a business or brand to extend itself to its customer base. It's not for everyone; but then again, how many people look favorably upon businesses that try to be everything to everyone? There has to be a basis for selectivity with any approach or strategy.

Posted by Karyn Polewaczyk at December 5, 2009 9:19 PM

I'm with you Karyn. For me technology will only ever be the slave and never the master. Another example is how a poor presenter with the glitzy PowerPoint slides will not hold my attention like the person with no PowerPoint slides who can tell a story.

Posted by Trevor Gay at December 6, 2009 7:32 AM

"For me technology will only ever be the slave and never the master"

Right - and I've never been caught in a traffic jam.
Or - tell that to people whose jobs have been outsourced.
Or - before the invention of that ancient tecnhology of the pager, there was no such expression as 24/7.

Posted by zorro at December 6, 2009 1:29 PM

I hear what you say Zorro but people always make decisions not technology.

Posted by Trevor Gay at December 6, 2009 1:37 PM

Well said! Isn't black all about class? Meeting face to face is class too...when it's aligned with the online marketing content we create for ourselves it helps others trust that foundation of social content we're trying to create.

Posted by andrew kingery at December 6, 2009 8:12 PM

Is Social Media the New Black? The correct answer is Yes. If so then what changed and when did this happen? Clearly, meeting face to face is the best of all worlds but the reality is that many things have changed that force us to rethink this premise. First, companies have changed in that more and more of us are becoming free agents which means you won’t be sitting next to your business partner. New research points that 25% of us will soon be contract workers and few see this trend altering course. Second, the size and scope of companies have changed in that the odds of you and your staff being in the same city are small. Organizations are simply too big and those layers of management that were removed did have an enormous impact. Finally, business isn’t locally constrained as in years past. If you design print media, your customer could just as easily be in Miami as Denver. There are other aspects of Social Media that make it interesting but keep in mind this is still the early stages; what will happen next?

Posted by RTodd at December 7, 2009 7:02 AM

I'm thinking it really depends on two things. First is your age, second is your line of work. Tom Peters has written extensively about the importance of getting online. Our thinking needs to change, as do our lifestyles. There is a lot of promise in the Internet that has lost it's luster now that it is part of our daily habits - unfortunately we want it all, and are not willing to give up some of the things that may need reworking in order to truely become more cyber-oriented.

Posted by Tom at December 7, 2009 8:43 AM

Great post. Social media is no replacement for getting to know someone in person.

I remember that United commercial where the company was fired and the CEO passed out plane tickets to his sales team. The CEO took his ticket and went to talk personally with the head of the company that fired him/his company.
Social media is a GREAT way to get started and to maintain previously built relationships.

Still, you have to physically show up. The art of reading and getting know people... especially if they are different from you... should be perfected in person, not in text and images.

Whatever color that is doesn't matter..

Posted by nextgenradio at December 7, 2009 10:48 AM

Well said Karyn and others. While social media can do wonders to enhance your position, if you have no position worth enhancing then all the social media exploits in the world will do you no real good. Yes, you might boost your analytics temporarily, but people everywhere are hungry for real value. Give them that on a consistent basis, and they will respond with loyalty. If you do this, then the effective use of social media will help you react more people. Fail in this regard, and you will simply be annoying more people.

Posted by Tom Berarducci at December 7, 2009 10:52 AM

@Todd: My question was, 'Is good, old-fashioned "meeting up" the new black?' The premise of my argument (if you could call it that) is simple. Technology, from the wheelbarrow to the traffic light, has, and always will, serve one ultimate purpose: its end user - we, the people. Let's not forget that.

@Tom: Getting online via Internet is as important as getting on line at a coffee shop and having a five minute conversation with the person behind you before you start your day. I never know where I'll find sources of inspiration for my work. Being receptive to other people's opinions is as important as blazing through a slab of writer's block. So - listen.

@Knowledgewebb: "Eighty percent of success is showing up." (Woody Allen)

Posted by Karyn Polewaczyk at December 7, 2009 11:06 AM

"I hear what you say Zorro but people always make decisions not technology."

Why can't I walk to work? Because well before I was born, the automobile became the main form of transportation - (at least in the US) -
so, there is no mass tranportion for commuters - suburbs grew up because of the automobile -
So, its not as simple as saying people made decisions - in many cases, people are not making decisions, they are just going in the direction of the strongest current.

Posted by zorro at December 7, 2009 12:53 PM

@Tom Beraducci: I was interviewed by the PRSA in May. Here's what I said about the evolution of social media: http://prsaboston.org/pdfs/may_2009.pdf

@Zorro: Sometimes, it's not just about taking responsibility for our actions - it's about taking responsibility for our reactions.

Posted by Karyn Polewaczyk at December 7, 2009 7:11 PM

@Zoro
Zorro you've made the choice to work in a place that's not withing walking distance of where you live... or vice versa... you could easily decide to work closer to where you live, maybe the job wouldn't be as good, maybe there are no jobs so you would have to decide instead to live closer to where you work, and maybe that's more expensive, or maybe you wouldn't like living in that area as much as you like where you are now... in either case, people [read: you] have DECIDED they want to have their cake and eat it too. if it were not for the technology you wouldn't have the choice of working far away from where you live, and you would either have a good job, at the expense of your residential circumstances, or you'd live in a great place but not have a job you love. i'm sure it's fun & therapudic for you to blame technology, but the fact is, you have made a decission. Even if it was an absent-minded, just-following-the-current decision, you've chosen to not walk to work... deal with it.

Posted by Don Diego Vega at December 7, 2009 7:49 PM

Hi Zorro – I’m enjoying our discussion – thanks. People ALWAYS have the opportunity to make decisions and choices about technology. We can argue (often with the benefit of hindsight) whether we believe those decision to be the correct ones but make no mistake people ALWAYS have choices. In 50 years time people will make assessments of the decisions we are making today about the advancements we have made thanks to technology. I am firmly in the camp of using technology but not with technology ‘in charge.’ We have choices .... and, by the way - what is wrong with going in favour of the strongest current sometimes? (A mixture of cage rattling and consensus sounds a bit like real life to me).

Posted by Trevor Gay at December 7, 2009 8:09 PM

Books are a technology -
Try living in modern times without knowing how to read.
Try driving on the left side of the road (in the US) - its your choice!
"Even if it was an absent-minded, just-following-the-current decision, you've chosen to not walk to work... deal with it."
By the way, I'm not complaining - I have no problem recognizing I don't have that much control over my life.
"Zorro: Sometimes, it's not just about taking responsibility for our actions - it's about taking responsibility for our reactions."
What are you talking about? The reaction here is all on your side. I'm just pointing out a fact. I have no problem with driving to work. Technology is an extention of mans senses and if a technology is accepeted in a big way by everyone around you, its quite likly you will have to give in - for example, before indoor plumbing and hot and cold running water, people bathed about twice a year. These days,(these days being the whole time I've been alive), bathing twice a year would probably greatly affect your ability to make a living - I see nothing wrong with modern plumbing and showering each day, but plumbing does have an effect on life style. In a sence, it controls us. Our lives are controlled by technology - this should only be a problem with people who are control freaks. I'm just pointing out that it is impossible to ignore a new powerful technology - and the idea they we don't become contolled by it is just denial.

Posted by zorro at December 7, 2009 8:27 PM

@zorro, re: the plumbing analogy
yeeeeaaaaah, but here's the thing, confronted with the options of bathing twice a year or bathring all the time... i think you're hard pressed to find someone[else] who'd rather bathe twice a year. people aren't "giving in" to the technology, it's fullfilling an existing need/desire. sometimes it's not a need/desire shared by many people, and thus we choose to use it or not. i know a few people who choose not to own cell phones. i choose not to own a TV

sooooo i gotta ask.. do you "get" technology?

also:

"I have no problem recognizing I don't have that much control over my life."

"I'm just pointing out that it is impossible to ignore a new powerful technology - and the idea they we don't become contolled by it is just denial."

lord above... you seem to be a bit fatalist. Drop the lazy-man mantra, accept that you have full control over your life & your choices, then go pick up that sword, put on your mask and get back to fighting corruption & bad guys!

Posted by Don Diego Vega at December 7, 2009 10:18 PM

"Drop the lazy-man mantra, accept that you have full control over your life & your choices, then go pick up that sword, put on your mask and get back to fighting corruption & bad guys!"

Did you choose your parents (your genes)
What is you favorite color, song, food comedian etc - can you honestly say you know why you logically decided to make those things your favorite?
Are there people you have more fun with than other people - is this a choice?
I choose not to pretend. But hey, that's me.

Posted by zorro at December 8, 2009 11:00 PM

"Social media is the fancy awning that hangs from a building; human interaction is the bricks and mortar." Heck yes! And I think some of us like awnings (whether we are protecting or beautifying), and some of us don't.

@Trevor--I am 3 weeks into my Twitter experiment with my business and am undecided still. I'm reserving judgment until I know that I've learned enough about it. Little did I know that the Tandy computer I got to program in my honors computer class in high school would morph into a whole new way to do a dinner party.

Posted by Carolyn Schlicher at December 21, 2009 8:48 AM

Thanks for the progress report Carolyn - good luck and keep us in the picture about how the experiment goes. I just can't get into Twitter I'm afraid from a business perspective. I never say 'never' so maybe 2010 will be a Twitter eye opener for me ... or am I just getting old? :-)

Posted by Trevor Gay at December 21, 2009 4:23 PM