My Digital Journey, so far

16 Oct

Written By

2004/08: Early Days of Digital Communications

I apologize as I do not know where this post is headed. I sit here and find myself reflecting on a number of experiences I have had in the last several months. You will see later why I am in this reflective moment. Skip to the summary if you want the TLDR version (honestly don't know right now if I will write a TLDR, I did, but seems the right thing to say).

Let me start with a little context. I did not have a newsletter in the 1990s. I did not participate in the Dot Com boom of the late 90s. I sold office telephones with buttons and lights on it. I used AOL and CompuServe in the 90s to communicate with my family in the US since I was living in Europe. Hey phone calls were 1€ per minute ($1.16) and that is not including 25 years of inflation! Also keep in mind that Google began in 1998 and the iPhone was introduced in 2007 by that time I was already over 40! Many would have excused me from the following digital voyage.

Nobody uses Yahoo Messenger anymore - Client in Norway 2008

I was not an early adopter of digital communications. I grew up in the era of paper and pencil, then later a heavy user of email to communicate. I did take to the early internet and learned how to use search to my advantage at a time when there was not much to find. By 2002 I had put into my business signature the title 'PhD in Googleology'. I felt I was on the move with all the new, not always the latest but had my ear to the street on what was happening. I had moved my family newsletter to a blog in 2004 and felt I was pretty much "up-to-date" until I went to visit a new client in Norway in late 2008. This was one of the first projects where not every team member would be onsite but distributed across the globe. This meant we needed to keep in touch during times when team members were not onsite but working remotely. I know, writing this in 2021 after nearly 2 years of "home office" seems pretty dated but, hey this was really new to us.

Early in 2009 the project team was discussing how we would best "keep in touch" and I suggested using Yahoo Messenger. One of the client's team laughed and said nobody uses Messenger anymore. I shrank into my little digital corner and thought what am I thinking, or more what am I missing? I honestly cannot remember what we chose, was it Skype, MSN or Google? Whatever it was I seemed to have missed the boat on this one.

Time to get some strategy into this

Only 18 months later I was deep into this new world of social media and how businesses might apply it to their communication strategies. Facebook was taking off and Twitter was growing in importance as well. I felt I could use some assistance in learning from others on how this might be tamed for my use cases.

Andrew is a Social Media Locomotive! - CEO Social Media Academy 2011

In April 2011 I signed up with a colleague to participate in a multi-month social media strategy course. Participants were from across the globe and the weekly courses were full of practical learnings on a wide number of the new platforms coming into play but also how a business strategy can be applied to these. To put this into a little context, only 8-10 years earlier the general opinion was that this "internet thing" was "just a fad" and would go away. There were plenty of CIOs I was dealing with who still 10 years later had not been convinced that there was something important going on here.

Well, after my experience in 2009 I was not about to let that happen again. I took to this course like wildfire. I jumped at every exercise. I wanted to truly understand how this works but more how this can be used for business benefit. Today, I might watch 5 YouTube videos and learn much the same. I remember the very first exercise which was an introduction to each other in this virtual course. We were to make a short video of ourselves and share it with the course. I was so nervous since I had not been on video much before, so I took my phone and ran into the garden and made my "one take" video. Yes, the video is still online: https://youtu.be/QAN6Jh3slic (that is not completely true as I had a vlog in 2009 called WDIR: where do I ride, also still online). The comment from the instructors to my intro video was "well, we appreciate shaky-cams submission...". Ok, is was not Oscar ready but I knew where to go next. I was not always about the production, the perfect dialog, the great lighting, ok lighting, and sound are important, but getting content out there was key. Also, understanding who your audience is and what they are expecting are equally important. The course was my jumpstart into all things "social media strategy". Thanks.

It's more about the storytelling

The years following we very busy with early day trials at technological solutions which to be honest we not all very good. By September of 2013 I had worked with H&M (4 women with Blackberrys running global social), eircom, Zurich, Airtel Nigeria, Omantel and even some time with Tesla. Yeah, these were exciting times for sure. During 2013-2105 I had been part of a group of R&D engineers and was lucky enough to file several patents, all which included the use of social media. Two of which were later approved! Think about 2 factor authentication using WhatsApp to unlock your rental car with the keys inside. That never went far but we were thinking of times to come.

I flew to Berlin and met this guy who had a beard and a cellphone asked if he could ask me 3 questions. Of course, I said yes. - CEO Koopid 2021, event from 2018

Beginning in 2015 I began to use video more often to share a point, to demonstrate a place, subject or person. While video is very immersive, I have always struggled with it. Especially when I am on camera. So, in 2018 I started a "Why You Do What You Do" (#WYDWYD) interview series. Along with "tech explain" videos I wanted to get more people into my stories. I wanted to show those who are behind the curtains and make things. A memorable on was with Steven Forcum who I got to meet for the first time, and he is a star on camera or the microphone. https://youtu.be/uYw9VrfkJGQ That series was very popular and was followed by "My 3 Questions" in 2019. That had even more people interested as, well, answering 3 questions can't be too hard right? I even learned the term "imposter syndrome" when I reached out to a Hollywood editor to be a guest on my show (he said yes) https://youtu.be/bSSnIvzbCao

Sven Pape, Hollywood Editor and my Guest on 3 Questions

In March 2019 Venky Krishnaswamy, then CEO of Koopid came to Berlin I reached out to him on his way over if he would answer my 3 questions. Little did I know that this would be a career move 2 years later. https://youtu.be/sS9iityGVaU One thing I did not understand or realize at the time was what I was actually doing. Just recently as Venky was introducing all the members of the Koopid team he mentioned this interview in Berlin and how he knew immediately that it was much more than about the technology; it was the story. I was a storyteller; I guess. Again, that imposter syndrome feeling creeps up.

I'm still learning this stuff

I had started a podcast on Customer Experience back in 2013 and made it 6 episodes. Yeah, a long run it wasn't. I am somewhat proud that I took to podcasting back when it was a complete unknown, considering that experience in Norway a few years earlier. That initial idea stuck with me, but the podcast slept for 7 years. In the Spring of 2020, I renamed it to "New Normal: Designing Excellent Experiences" and started out looking for guests. A few months into the revived podcast I lost my job of 25 years. One might say it gave me the chance to spend more time on the podcast, but it threw me for many months. Since then and over the last 15 months I have interviewed probably 50 people and even recently traveled to the US to meet a few in the mountains of Colorado and deep in Brooklyn NYC. That was a fantastic experience and let me "spread my wings" quite literally. The podcast focus has moved a bit from "customer experience" to how businesses are using the internet to communicate with their customers.

You just don't recognize the talent you have with your storytelling - Fletch911 2021

As the podcasting activities were picking up speed, one a pandemic really hit hard and made meeting people impossible and two, a startup came to me (Venky) asking if I might work with them to expand their European business. Since the podcasting idea was going to need some time off, I took up the opportunity. I knew many of the founders and leading members of this startup and knew their product quite well and was excited by the opportunity to focus on a single product and have a singular focus after so many years of complex enterprise life. I focused on the work at hand and less the podcast. I got to the work of making appointments, pitching the story and gaining clients. All to a certain extent successful. However, I didn't put much effort into what is appearing to be my main skill, storytelling.

This became glaringly apparent in August 2021 when I made an impromptu video titled "Damn You Social Media". https://youtu.be/4q8K5RuI1m8 This was a reaction to a social media post I had run across and will let you take in the entire story with the video if you are interested. Most of the views came from my posting it on LinkedIn (over 3300) with many comments and messages back to me of support and confirmation. This came full circle when I interviewed Mark Fletcher and asked him about this video and why he thought it got such a reaction. His comment is quoted above but tells me where I need to focus my energies.

Where does this go from here?

I learn the most from the people I interact with. Just making a pitch of a product or solution doesn't teach me much. I like to have the chance to ask some questions and then take the time to listen to the answers. Not every conversation has to be a podcast recording but many are. This 10+ year digital journey is still a work in progress. While I have tried many things, tossed a few and resurrected others I am still in the explorer mode. There is much to learn out there and that is my mission. In German there is a phrase "Der Weg ist das Ziel" or it's all about the journey. That describes me well.

In closing, I lost that startup job this week. I got one of those "sorry you're on vacation but" calls saying my tenure was ending immediately. This was, in more than one sense a good thing; it was a startup, and they executed their exit plan which is a success and I take a small portion of thanks for my contribution. The other is I now have more time to focus on my storytelling. Yeah, I am happy with this turn in my journey.

I also would like to say thanks to those mentioned directly and also to those not mentioned by name for their support during my journey. While some is slower to take off your support and contributions have been very valuable and memorable to me. Without you I would not be here writing this today. Thank you.

Links to mentioned articles

Social Media Academy Introduction https://youtu.be/QAN6Jh3slic

Steven Forcum #WYDWYD https://youtu.be/uYw9VrfkJGQ

Sven Pape Hollywood Editor https://youtu.be/bSSnIvzbCao

Venky Krishnaswamy https://youtu.be/sS9iityGVaU

Damn You Social Media https://digital-done-right.com/newnormalblog/2021/8/17/damn-you-social-media

Mark Fletcher Podcast https://open.spotify.com/episode/1YQv6xzPERCeccZKA5U7HI?si=7ef65f29a4c544e0

TLDR

I am certainly not a digital native and came, for some, late to the game. I seem to have caught up pretty quickly with some help from many others along the way. Obviously the "where does this go" section has no idea since it really seems to be a journey I am not in control of. However, thank you for being here and reading this. Leave a comment if you feel like it, even to just say 'hi'.

Digital.Done.Right.

I founded Digital.Done.Right. in 2020 after numerous other iterations focussing on helping companies, organizations and institutions to move into the world of digital communications. I call myself a Digital Sherpa as I have done the learnings, I have made the mistakes, so you don't have to. It is not that digital is the end all to interacting with students, employees, or customers but it is a tool which can augment, improve and enhance the experience of those wishing to do business or communicate with you. What is right is very dependent on who you are, who your customer is and what is your objective. I've been there in the trenches, so you don't have to.