Conference confidence

If I'm honest, I'd have to say that I hate the whole meet-and-greet merry-go-round that goes with conferences and seminars. And that's even though every rational bone in my body tells me they are unrivaled opportunities for meeting new people in an industry built on people, their ideas and opinions.

For me, they're the corporate equivalent of a high school dance – fun if you thrown yourself into the thick of it, but so easy to misjudge the mood and the moment as you break bread with strangers in a hotel ballroom that's seen better days.

Kinda crazy, really.

So I was curious to say the least when I noticed this tweet from 99%.

And with a tentative click, I decided to try my luck and follow the link to this post by Jodi Glickman Brown on the Harvard Business Review blog.

It did take me a couple of reads to get used to the idea of what she has to say, as well as interpret some of the cultural nuances in a more personal context, but deep down I know she's right.

The only question now is whether I attempt the Group Tackle or the Single Sideliner first.

Eyes wide open (thanks, Grace)

Not so long ago, I wrote here about The Writer, just one of many posts about the way in which brands use language to distinguish themselves – in both senses of the word.

And it reminded me of uncompromising brands like Gym Jones, a gym in Utah that prides itself on nothing less than Power, Speed, Endurance, Suffering and Salvation.

As you can read for yourself in this exert from their website, they're pretty serious about what they do (and don't).

I wish more brands took themselves so seriously that they held to such an unwavering view of their place in the world, rather than allow punters to wander into a focus group and make all the important decisions for them. But alas, such instances seem few and far between.

Unless, that is, you know where to look.

It was Grace Coddington, Creative Director of American Vogue, who spoke in The September Issue about how she learnt early in her career that you should always keep your eyes open, never go to sleep in the car or anything like that, keep watching – because whatever you see out the window or wherever, it can inspire you.

And so it was that I found myself staring out of the passenger window on Saturday morning as we drove along the incredibly uninspiring and downright demoralising Parramatta Road.

All these thoughts were rattling around in my head when out of the blue – or should I say gray? – I saw a furniture store called 3 Of A Kind with this brutally honest tagline.

Butt ugly blokes building handsome furniture for beautiful people.

I wish we'd stopped to find out if it was true, but I can only imagine that there's few better places to go if you want an honest piece of original craftsmanship.

And if that wasn't enough, we then drove straight past this tattoo parlour.

Where better to go than the House Of Pain?

Up wallaby creek without a paddle

I've always found honesty a particularly admirable quality.

And the other day, I was looking in my local bottle shop for an honest bottle of wine when I stumbled across this brand, Wallaby Creek.

But what really caught my attention was a note from the winemaker on the back label.

I appreciate how you saw the stereotypical Australian label and didn't dismiss Wallaby Creek as another "me, too!" wine. We have three generations of experience and we think we make fantastic wine. Once you try a bottle we know you will see the difference. – signed, Rex D'Aquino.

I can't say I know Rex, but I'll certainly be on the lookout for more of his honest marketing truths next time I'm in the aisle – fancy reading such a brutal critique of a brand's packaging when looking to make purchase. Maybe it's an over-reaction to the time in 2007 when his company was fined for selling fake Scottish whisky, but I can't help but wonder if it's actually a question of not understanding the value of branding, even in a market as competitive as wine. That said, the wine industry is one of the most conservative, least innovative categories in retail. Ever.

Following clichés and category conventions doesn't do anything to distinguish a brand, leaving the product to become nothing more than wallpaper for the shelves. And Rex knows it. But Rex is a honest bloke and, at a paltry $5.99 a bottle, at least the price is fair.

Bitter Twitter

In a week when NSW Premier Nathan Rees was colourfully described as "tweeting with the energy of a 12-year-old with Tourettes", we've had our own graphic experience of web 2.0.

Google infamously puts "You can make money without doing evil" at #6 on its list of "Ten Things We Know To Be True" that describe its philosophy. Nowadays, that statement is being questioned more and more as Google evolves, and I, for one, very much hope that they stick to the script. But it's odd – although perhaps not surprising given the nature of competition (think Darwin's "survival of the fittest") – that so many of mankind's inventions end up being turned against ourselves.

And so to this week's shenanigans...

When ex-employees turn bad and inject their Twitter updates with malice, lies and innuendo (allegedly) – or at the very least, a large dose of naiveté.

Attacks on one's reputation are never much fun, whether launched at an individual or an organisation. And they are even harder to bear when they have no basis in fact and simply satisfy the author's personal vendetta. And the final straw is often the convenient lapse of memory they suffer when they reminisce on their time as employees: the fact that leaving was agency was not their choice.

That said, in spite of their tirade, they are happy enough to include their time at they agency on their résumé – presumably, in the hope that the collective and well-earned reputations of thousands of agency employees around the world will help bolster their own by dint of association.

You can't have it both ways. You can't assume the accolades of association on the one hand, but then go and bite the hand that feeds you on the other.

As time goes by and the world becomes more connected and transparent, all of us will have to make an increasing number of choices about where we stand. I certainly don't have the answers when it comes to what those choices might mean, but I do have one piece of advice. Be honest.