Comments on: How open is our community?

By: Wendy

Wendy — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:10:57 +0000

Thanks Joe: You have made me think carefully about how I walk the fine line between introducing myself and pitching my product.

Wendy

By: JamieO

JamieO — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:38:54 +0000

I was at and thoroughly enjoyed the event as well. My initial reaction was similar to yours Joe. Upon further analysis, I believe there were two factors which played significant role in the increased perception about the purpose of Dave’s introduction.

1) After Dave mentioned his employer, and before he could ask his question, Jeff said something to the effect of “I was just at your offices” and there was a brief banter between them.

2) The subsequent question to Dave was prefaced by a comment about how little – by comparative to social media norms – government is doing towards openly communicating their internal processes.

Particularily for those who have no other context from which to draw more accurate conclusions, these two events established in the minds of most that Dave was on the inside of the “black box” of the internal operations of government.

I think Jeff was open and honest in all his answers. Particularily his answer to the follow-up question to Dave’s about the unique challenges which a public servant faces comparative to a private business one as to how they can be perceived as speaking for their organization.

By: Joe Boughner

Joe Boughner — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:19:47 +0000

I think that’s just it, Dave. The line between an intro and a pitch can be hard to define sometimes.

A lot of the comments here have been about the unwritten rule about introducing one’s company – I don’t think that was ever the intent. I think it was about stopping pitches.

However, I wonder if sometimes we allow our prejudices to define the line between the two for us. If I am at an event and I hear “I’m John Doe from Microsoft” am I more likely to have my pitch detector go off than if I hear “I’m Jean D’eau from OpenSourceCodeCo?”

If we’re being prefectly honest with ourselves, I’m inclined to think a lot of us would admit we would be.

By: Dave Fleet

Dave Fleet — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 14:06:53 +0000

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with identifying who you work for when you’re at these events. As long as you don’t stand up and make a sales pitch, I’m fine with that… and I like to know where people are coming from.

I can’t speak for everyone else, of course, but that’s my view.

Oh, and I LOVE hearing from people who are new to the space, so kudos to your friend for attending and participating.

By: Chris Neil

Chris Neil — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:05:54 +0000

Well said Dave.