DISQUS

Adam,

This is the beauty of blogging. Just from interacting with you on Twitter, I can tell you're a good person to know. I like that you're honest and frank about yourself, life, etc.

Dating can be quite complex (and very frustrating), but you are right that both men and women date for one reason: To mate!

Here's the post that's been festering in my mind for months now, only I've decided to create a video about this very subject. Chris is right that it's not simple to think that "people are people". I've connected with or met a lot of amazing people over the last 16 years, but one thing I realized early on is that they're no different from either of us.

CEOs, "A-list bloggers", celebrities, politicians and others all live and breathe the same. We all function on a very basic level in life as human beings. Everything else are extensions of our identity and existence (fame, fortune, relationships, etc.) It is our perception of these people which make them different (in our minds). Surprisingly, a lot of these people are truly average joes -- And I've met all types of them to know.

It's best to interact with these people like you would a friend -- Which is keeping the interaction simple, friendly and down-to-earth.

Thanks for posting this, Chris.

Chris -- Thanks for inviting Anita to do this.

Anita -- Thank you for sharing some of the 'secret sauce' from the traditional world of media.

Chris,

Thanks for writing this post. I'm glad you mentioned the video part of speaking. Around my apartment, I've been practicing my speaking skills as if I were actually at a conference (I have this weird switch for different things that I can turn on where appropriate). Soon, I will start recording practice videos and posting them to my blog on topics I'm interested in speaking about (such as cloud computing, VoIP, etc.)

Right now, I'm speaking with a major company about attending and speaking at their events in the future. So, this could be the opportunity that launches my speaking full-time. Regardless, I'm still crafting this part of my life to be really good at it in the future.

Micah,

I've always chosen 'Life' over 'Work'. As a kid, I knew I wanted the freedom of a 'job'. Thus, when I left my last corporate job (2005), I toughed it out on my own to 'enjoy life'. Any chance I can, I'm on a plane to another city. Or, I'm spending time with friends, seeing favorite movies and visiting the bookstore. I grew up believing that hard work didn't necessarily equal success. I wanted to work smarter. I wanted to see ahead and beyond the masses.

My freedom over the last few years have been wonderful. Sure, my income varied as a self-employed guy, but the freedom was liberating. I declared a few weeks ago that I would remain independent of a job (though I don't deny 'peeking' at jobs on occasion as a 'just in case' measure). I see the modern day job as slavery. Going to work for someone was never a stimulating experience for me. I wanted to vomit more often than anything else.

So, yeah, this lifestyle brings me happiness (when I'm not saddled down by trying to save and inspire the world).

Good list of activities. Still undecided on my schedule.

Hmmm. I can think of a few, including:

* Beating the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and several hundred other global, mainstream outlets to interview all three co-founders of Webaroo for my little known podcast in early 2006. I was also granted permission to be first to announce their official launch. No one really cared though. :)

There's more, but I won't bore you folks with the details.

Perhaps we'll bump into each other at SXSW.

Damnit, Scoble, you're having wayyy too much fun! I can smell the excitement and passing leaping off of my LCD -- I'm getting chills just thinking about it all.

Your work is what gives my passion for people, knowledge, information and inspiration validation. Thanks, Rob.

Looking forward to seeing what's next.

CNBC misspelled PodTech, "ProdTech".

Tsk, tsk, Robert. You should know better than to run naughty scripts on Facebook. Now, be a good boy and behave or risk being bitch slapped by Facebook again.


Personally, I'm sick of walled-gardens on an open network such as the Internet. Human beings enjoy being divided by the few, eh?

Robert --

Lifecasting is by far the most open platform you'll ever use, as you've noted by your observation of Justin.TV.

If you truly want to be transparent, then I challenge you to lifecast 24/7 for at least a month. I've done so since May (until recently -- took a break) and the experience of listening to and engaging people from around the world has been priceless.

The next step of course is how to turn these conversations with my blog, podcast and lifecast into a decent living -- Something I hope to finally figure out in '08.

I've been telling Americans that sky is blue for years. Americans don't care to be informed.

Most Americans aren't even aware of our worthless, fiat-based currency. Yes, troubling times are ahead indeed and it goes far beyond money.

Since 13, I've personally contacted some of the world's elite for knowledge, friendship or interviews. It was as simple as writing a letter, sending an e-mail or being within a degree of my target. This same ability is also responsible for attracting press coverage -- via my OWN PR work -- in the Detroit News, Nashville Business Journal, TechCrunch, etc. for "business experiments" I conducted over the years (I've been covered by the media since I was 15).

At 28, I'm still amazed by what I've achieved in business relationships and the media. I've told myself for years that what I've accomplished is of value to someone and that I will eventually discover a vehicle to make a living from it -- I simply haven't figured that out yet.

Quick backgrounder: I am the product of a deceased Vietnam veteran who fell victim to drug abuse. I spent most of my childhood, adolescence and very early adulthood (through 21) life with a single mother just above the poverty line until the early 1990s. I am also the only child.

Some of the people I've been in contact with:

1. Bill Gates (Chairman and Former CEO, Microsoft)
2. Donald Schneider (Chairman and Former President, Schneider National Carriers -- $3.1 Billion net worth currently)
3. J.B. Hunt (Founder and Former Chairman, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. -- Company's revenues exceed $3 Billion annually)
4. Mark Spencer (Founder and CTO, Digium -- Develop's the world's most popular open source PBX, Asterisk)
5. David Mandelstam (Founder and President, Sangoma)
6. Alec Saunders (Former Microsoft executive -- Responsible for launch of Internet Explorer, Windows 95, etc.)
7. Craig Newmark (Founder, Craigslist)
8. Michael McDonald (Grammy winning recording artist and former lead of the Doobie Brothers)
9. Kem (Multi-platinum Universal Records recording artist)
10. Kent Wien (American Airlines pilot and Grandson of aviation pioneer Noel Wien)
11. Linda Rutherford (Southwest Airlines)
12. CMU's Dr. David Farber ("The Grandfather of the Internet" -- Here's the audio interview I conducted with him: http://interviews.direcpod.com/2007/01/08/inter...)
13. David Friend (CEO, Carbonite)
14. Stephen Meer (CTO and Co-Founder, Intrado -- Responsible for the technology behind our nation's 911 infrastructure)
15. Kevin Rose (Founder, Digg.com -- The world's leading social networking and news site)
16. Rakesh Mathur, Brad Husick and Beerud Sheth (Co-Founders of Webaroo, creator of the "Offline Internet" technology)
17. Alex Tew (Founder of the Million Dollar homepage -- My interview with Tew was the only one granted outside of the mainstream media)

This is just a sample of folks I've managed to contact all on my own. I estimate that I've corresponded with at least 50 such individuals. There's also the former CEO of Covad, executives at Qualcomm and others.

The one thing I've noted was the mindset when I set out to contact these people. It was a "can do" attitude and it's the primary reason why I succeeded in reaching them.

Tim -- I think I've more than exceeded the challenge in your book. I've been doing so well before your book was ever released. What's my prize? :)

Ronald Lewis
Denver, Colorado

Chris,

Thanks for sharing this. It's yet another reminder ...

"Quality over quantity" -- indeed.

I just awoke to the news of Google's acquisition. I'm already tired of the discussions on Twitter. It's great for Jaiku, but now people are going apeshit because of it.

Chris --

You're far from broke. You're being paid to do this stuff -- Something I've been working to do for two years now. Like yourself, I've built some pretty interesting connections via social networks. Via my lifecast, I'm not reaching an entirely different audience.

However, I'm still broke. I've talked to more millionaires in the last two years than you can shake a stick at -- and they all say the same damn thing: "You do awesome work and we'd love to help." And then they forget you like you never existed.

Perhaps I missed something, but I don't think I've done anything wrong. I've knocked on doors, I've made the phone calls. Right now, I'm on a cruise control and will go back to focusing on what I first fell in love with: The content.

Damnit, Brogan. Now you'll make me reflect endlessly about who the hell I am and what I do. As one who denounces labels, I market myself these days as a "new media producer" who creates content for mass consumption via podcasts, blogs and lifecasts.

Hell, I don't know, but it's definitely something I've been thinking about. Thanks for posting this.

Since I've discovered you, Chris, you've always stood out as a "community organizer and collaborator" in my eyes.

100% correct. It is not spam to submit your OWN content to these sites. Yes, we must deprogram the negative connotations associated with self-submissions.

100% correct. It is not spam to submit your OWN content to these sites. Yes, we must deprogram the negative connotations associated with self-submissions.

Nice to see you guys on (mt). Great choice. The site is blazing fast.

Sorry, but TV and social networks are in a league of their own. You cannot apply traditional broadcast ideas to social media. If there's one thing which irks me, is how governing bodies attempt to apply traditional rules to non-traditional mediums such as the Internet.