No, its not a blonde, brunette or even a red-head...its not a world-class restaurant or even a favorite bar. It's a sense of community, a sense of passion and a community's commitment to a common goal. That is why weeks after the inaugural FutureMidwest Conference in Detroit (Royal Oak) Michigan, I am still wildly inspired.

I sat here tonight putting the finishing touches on a plan for a strategic development session I'm facilitating tomorrow, on the subject of cause-marketing, and it hit me that the most appropriate example I could show these students is the phenom that is FutureMidwest. So all of my new Michigan friends, tomorrow a new set of passionate students will know the FutureMidwest movement and they too will be moved by what you and your community are achieving. I should be sleeping at 2AM, but I thought it was time to share my #FMW10 experience....here goes:

I boarded the plane from a speaking engagement for QRCA Seattle at 11:30PM and arrived in Chicago at 5:30AM to catch another plane to Detroit at 7:30AM , finally arriving in Michigan around 10AM. Honestly, I didn't have any expectations, positive or negative. In fact, I didn't really know enough about the Detroit area to have the stereotypical assumptions. All I knew was that a newly formed friend, Damian Rintelmann, pitched a solid idea to me and I was more than happy to see a new place and meet some new people.

Dave Benjamin picks me up at the airport and already I sense a buzz in the air. I began to filter through the Twitter streams and could see the immense back-channeling that occurs with any successful conference (success factor 1). I take that back, getting a chance to meet an awesome dude like Dave is (success factor 1)! Dave is a great guy and doing big things. Ladies, watch out he will someday be the guy that pulls up in the Aston Martin and points to the Royal Oak Music Theater and says "that is where it started".

After finally taking a shower and changing clothes I made it over to the conference site and got checked in. As i walked up to the theater it first really hit me...this is something special. No fancy convention center, no 5-star hotel, but a classic theater with a light up marquee that screams get ready to get your face rocked off!

So, I arrived right at lunch time...my favorite time! I got the chance to meet some awesome people like Adrian Pittman, Shauna Nicholson, Nikki Stephan, Shelli Gutholm, and Kaylee Hawkins. Not to mention seeing Dave Murray again, who I met down at SXSWi this year. Immediately, I felt like I had known everyone there for years and was surrounded by this humongous aura of Detroit-bred pride and passion. It's pretty hard to describe the type of production Adrian, Dave, Ken, and Damian put together. Everything from the sound and lighting to the little effects of having the Great Voice from above (Shauna) throwing some curveballs at presenters.

I got mic'd up and ready to take the stage and then it hit me....this ridiculous rush of needing to give the audience the same type of energy they were exuding onto the stage, and I couldn't help but run up on stage and try to rock it out. So I gave it my all, and had some of THE most fun I have EVER had presenting. The crowd kept the energy high and I felt like I could really just get up there and be me. If you have ever presented, you know what a great feeling that is. Actually, it is pretty symbolic of my experience overall in Detroit.

I was met with a ridiculously appreciated embrace from the crowd, and couldn't help but laugh and smile uncontrollably when I had the chance to read the social stream. I went and sat down for an interview with Nikki and then got to do my favorite part....meet new friends! Though that specific presentation was by far one of my favorites to give, the conversations, jokes, paper rock scissors competitions and stories that followed through the rest of the evening made the experience something unforgettable.

The truth is, Detroit has been rocked hard as of lately. Probably harder than you know, if you are not familiar with the area. But, the REAL truth is that it is changing. Not changing because of a governmental push to gentrify the city, or a local newspaper's initiative to bring new life into the city. It's a movement by the people sitting in the audience of the Royal Oak Music Theater cheering on their friends and colleagues as they all reach toward achieving a common goal. A common goal of change, innovation, rejuvenation and saturation of talent and newly-kindled spirit. It WILL happen. You will look back and see that something truly monumental started right there at FMW10.
It's happening....Are you on board? I am...

Super shoutout and thanks to:
Damian Rintelmann - Thanks for making it happen!
Adrian Pittman - You are THE Man!
Dave Benjamin - Dude, what can I say - he freaking took me to the airport at 4AM!!
Dave Murray - You make the world a happier place my friend!
Nikki Stephan - One of the coolest chicas you will find in Michigan....Promise!
Shauna Nicholson - my nemesis...I mean my friend!! Thanks for breaking the ice!!
Kaylee Hawkins - Thanks for sticking it out and partying like a rock star!
Jane Fader - You are one of the most spirited people I have met!!!
Shelli Gutholm - Gather the troops for a Dallas trip!!
Brandon Chestnutt - next year - FMW high-5 video! Do it!
Becky Johns - Photo-shoot! Let's do it!
Henry Balanon - no hard feelings about SXSWi :) we're all good!
Hannah DeMilta - Great to see you again!! What city is next?
Jacki Halas - Thanks for keeping the conversation going after the conference!
Scott and Scott and the Daggerfin Team - You guys are seriously Rockin' it - I would love to work with you guys on some projects!
EVERYONE else that I #failed to mention specifically!! Please forgive me :(

Thanks for showing me what Michigan is REALLY about!

Like many, I subscribe to Chris Brogan's blog and give it a read pretty regularly from reader or my inbox. Today's post "What Timberland Taught Me About Retail" kind of stopped me in my tracks for several reasons. As a disclaimer, I like Chris, I may not follow his every tweet or live by the words on his blog, but I generally think he is a nice guy and thought he was, for the most part, professional when we interviewed him at SXSWi last year. 

The point of my post is that I think Chris's post today serves as a pretty good example of a few downsides to some prominent voices in the blogging community. This is by no means meant to be a rant against Chris personally, nor a stab at bloggers in-general, just a few thoughts that have been in my mind for a while and Chris's post happened to be the one that drew them out.  Here they are:

1. The Social Media Hedge Fund
2. With great power comes great responsibility (Cheesy... yes, but well-said Spidey!)
3. Live by the sword; die by the sword

1. The Social Media Hedge Fund - I love the fact that business has evolved/started to evolve, and through current tools like Facebook and Twitter the "average" consumer now has a viable and amp-able voice in the marketplace. I also love the fact businesses are held to more accountability for their actions in this modern environment and less can fly under the radar.  However, in some cases, our new advocates and leaders e.g. techno/twitteratti are slipping into a place similar to a hedge fund short-selling. By that, I mean the negative effects of their post/tweets cause a "group think" response and people begin to pummel said company/brand without much independent thought. Now, I recognize both views of short-selling and recognize I am NOT a financial expert so feel free to critique my analogy. Though those who "digitally short" a brand by remarking about its enormous "sucking power" are not necessarily gaining financially by the value/equity of the brand declining, they are in some cases gaining financially from the thousands of followers and readers that closely follow their lead and subscribe to their thoughts fairly close to word-for-word. How many times have you seen RTs, quotes and theories taken practically verbatim from the mouths and text of Chris Brogan, Gary Vaynerchuk, Guy Kawasaki etc.? This can be a powerful thing, as well as a very positive thing as long as point 2 is kept in mind.

2. With great power comes great responsibility - Yes, I know it is a cheesy quote from Spiderman, but it is definitely legit and should be taken into consideration by all of our digital celebs. Though I love the fact we have an increased voice as a consumer, there is a form of censoring or filtering our words and voice needs to go through as our voice grows in resonance.  If the POTUS went out and started speaking his mind freely, there would definitely be backlash as he is highly influential and must consider his every word, even in a country where we put tremendous value on free speech and press. The same is common to corporate officers and their words. If they were to publicly release harsh statements via their blog or interview, they would quickly be blasted by many of our online colleagues and peers for doing so. We need to keep that in mind and carefully choose our words as our voices grow. Though transparency is highly rewarded in today's society there is still a place for some choosing and filtration of what should be blogged about or posted on Twitter or Facebook.

3. Live by the sword; die by the sword - The Online Model is quickly catching up with the Traditional Models of business we are so quick to criticize and claim to be dead. In fact, the traditional retail model is not dead. We are merely reviving it online and are encountering the same problems in a digital environment, where we can more easily voice our complaints and praise. Here, I use Chris's post as an example, sorry Chris, where he complains about the broken experience he recently encountered, trying to find a pair of Timberland boots. I encourage you to read it as it is an important example and quite a good post...read the comments too! Some of the things he talks about and criticizes as flaws in the brick and mortar retail model are things evident in his very post.

We are often quick to criticize a lack of action or response to complaints and questions from companies and corporations. But, if you look at some of our digital leaders and top blogs, there are many complaints or comments that go unrecognized. Why is this? Chris and others like him are simply too busy to answer and reply to every comment, criticism or question. This is the same fundamental problem we criticize traditional businesses for having.

In his post, Chris also mentions a problem in the communication through channels e.g. Timberland retailer, Journeys and Macy's and their logistics in carrying an ample supply and having appropriate knowledge of the brands they carry as affiliates. Again, there is a flaw here. In Chris's post there was a logistical/technological error that seemed to occur in the post and reply that was made by Chris (a representative from Timberland) to apologize for the issue. Should Chris Brogan be held accountable for this error? He does get to choose his service provider, blog platform and host. In reality, things happen and most would not think to criticize Chris for that error, it just doesn't really make sense even though it is a possibility.

Another issue mentioned in the post was a wait time of 10 minutes while contacting other possible carriers. I went back and looked at the time between comments and replies from Chris on his post. On the comments he chose to reply to there was on average 1-3 hours in delay. We find this acceptable from blogs as we view them differently, for some reason, than the brands and stores we criticize. Actually, I would venture to say that many of  those who read and commented on Chris's post were in fact Chris's customers. Perhaps they purchased Trust Agents, paid for the Thesis theme, paid to attend one of Chris's speaking engagements or Podcamps. Should we hold our digital leaders/brands to different standards?

Obviously I am being a bit facetious and dramatic, and truthfully I recognize the need to pick and choose replies and understand a non-instant response as I too run a business and know the logistical and time challenges business owners and executives face on a constant basis.

All in all, this is just something to consider. I truly love what social media has brought to the forefront and the changes it has evoked in the way we do business. That being said, I think we just need to calibrate and be considerate of the full 360 view before we take to the streets with our picket signs of revolution.

Thoughts?