The Reflex Blue Show with Nate Voss and Donovan Beery, Episode 15: Social Networking
Hello internets! We’d like to take a moment to welcome ourselves back to you! We welcome social-networking genius and web 2.0 savant David Kadavy back to the show to chat for a pleasant 34 minutes about social networking and entrepreneurial instinct of designers. We also spend a solid 5 to 10 minutes with the most pointless Mountain Dew Taste Test of all time (Not Halo Mt. Dew = FAIL).
–nv–
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I’m still teetering between going full-time vs. keep rocking the freelance. Damn that “entrepreneurial bug.”
Oh, and by your definition, we were “networking” during that AIGA Denver conference. Now that makes me all warm and fuzzy!
You guys said Chicago like 18 million times in this show. Stop teasing, do a show out here already.
Thanks for the comments boys, make a road trip to Rule29…come on do it -all the Busch light Nate can drink on us. In a spirit of networking here is our friend feed: http://friendfeed.com/rule29
We just moved, we have room for you to do a show on location. Maybe some video or if you are super cool UStream/QIK. Check out Rule29 shorts for our moving magic: http://www.r29shorts.com/
How was that for network pimping Rule29. Don’t be hating.
Regarding AIGA, I don’t think it has the same power in New York. Here, we don’t seem to have true networking events, so our only chat time comes from that brief 20-minute period before a lecture, for example. Considering that these lectures usually cost money (another gripe about AIGA, but for another time), it means I usually wind up paying $20 to have a plate of cheese and two or three awkward conversations.
You guys often talk about how AIGA has been a major force in your career, but so far I’m still on the fence. Yes, I’m still a member, but only because it helps me *feel* like I’m connected to the industry. I think that’s mainly a geographic quirk — in the smaller cities, they have more impact.
Prescott, I hear you on the AIGA thing.
Around here (which is to say, very near the middle of nowhere), AIGA is out best link to what’s happening in graphic design. It links other designers to each other, shares exciting new work and brings in Name designers to speak, etc. There’s also monthly no-pressure network events at bars, but those usually consist of the same 5-10 people talking about the same 5-10 things, with some awkward, not-properly-greeted newbies hanging out on the fringes.
So with the online community, social networking, Facebook, blogs, podcasts, etc., taking over for that role, I, too, have begun to question the value of that membership dollar. There’s a bunch of folks I know that suggest the pricetag is badge to worn on behalf of our profession — some people in high places, I might add — and while I support the high-level actions of the national group, the local-level interactions aren’t holding up in the face of the New Networking. Especially if there’s no noticeable, tangible benefit for membership ($5 to $10 off a few local events? Are you joking?).
So I’m very much at an in-between time for AIGA. We were not kidding when we started talking about hosting our own 36 Point events in lieu of relying on the local AIGA to bring the noise. But it is true, I owe the first 4 years of my career to AIGA, and some would say that all the years that follow are going to be due to those first 4. We’ll see.
Woo, shout outs!
Quick digression: I’ve been off teh Halos for a minute. I dropped live, been playing on my PS3 instead.
OK, back on topic. I spent the past two years helping the local Ad club get set up. I devoted my time to the Ad2 (under 32 years old) group. Served on the board as Creative Chairperson. All of this in hopes of networking to get a job since I was new in town. Things didn’t work out that way, but it wasn’t for a lack of effort on my and friends’ parts. I should have put more effort into helping the senior club’s creatives. That’s where the creative directors and owner of many of the agencies were, and where my time may have been better spent. So, I guess I learned to target my networking a little better. Not that my networking in Ad2 was a bad thing, it filled more of a social need than a career one.
I recently re-upped my AIGA membership after a 2 year hiatus. I wouldn’t have done it if it weren’t for my employer’s reimbursement program. The fee is too much for me to shoulder on my own. I get it: ‘no-spec’, ‘value of design’, blah blah blah… but really, could that membership price follow some tangible results in that sector? The CO chapter has lined up some awesome speakers, but thus far, I haven’t seen any (free) social/networking events.
On a national level, I met you guys at the conference. Granted, it was local for me, and without that, it wouldn’t have happened due to the entry fee. Like you said, I knew about you before, but meeting face to face certainly made a difference. Got great career advice from Donovan, witnessed an extremely intoxicated Nate. Also met Mig out there, who I just hit up on Twitter earlier in the week.
Nate, you told me about that ‘treat people like people’ advice, and I think it’s great. It’s easy to lose track of common sense answers like that when you’re under the pressure of putting food on your table.
I’m glad you guys touched upon non-design field networking a bit as it’s something that’s been on my mind lately. There are a few copywriters that go to AIGA events and I think that’s genius. They’ve put themselves in a position to network with people that will need their services. I’ve been trying to think of a similar group that I could get involved with, but Kadavy dropped more common sense here. I never thought of it being as easy as getting involved with your interests outside of design. I keep trying to make things harder, I guess.
The How forums have been awesome for making me realize that I need to self promote whenever I can. Think Jon Fisher said something to the effect of ‘if you don’t toot your own horn, who will?’.
I think the great irony of networking is that the best way to make true, non-trivial relationships is by having a job! Working side by side other members of the industry is the best way to build a network, and put that network to work once you start looking.
The sucky part is that if you’re a freelancer job seeker, you can’t tap into this network. It’s an evil möbius stripe of exclusion because you can’t build a network unless you’ve had a job — and you can’t get a job, unless you’ve got a network.
I can haz social sandwich?
A little over a month ago, I was talking to Donovan on Facebook because I had found out that Nashville was hosting their second annual ThinkTank event, and I was curious if you guys would attend. He said you wouldn’t, but encouraged me to go anyway.
And I can’t remember if I thanked him already, but I had a blast.
Having joined AIGA about a week before I talked to Donovan (gotta hit up that student discount, y’hurd), and discovering that the event was only $35, it was a done deal. I made a few phone calls to some classmates, and we borrowed a car and drove the 11.5 hours to Nville. The event was great; the speakers were informative and down-to-earth. But I especially enjoyed the after-conference-party-at-the-bar, where I was able to share laughs with Emily Pulis, the chapter co-president.
I think online networking is great, but it really only goes so far. I understand that I don’t really have any responsibilities or strings to stop me from traveling to other events, as compared to if I were employed, so I’m not really representing realistic scenarios for graduates of design. But having opportunities like that as a student designer is near priceless.
It could be argued that my classmates were exposed to the same amount of social networking as I was, and none of them are AIGA members. But, for my personal experience, I felt a fraternal bond with the professionals there. I use that adjective to specifically parallel the Greek system in universities (even though I am not a part of it). Why do most college students join fraternities? Booze, chicks, and social events. Replace ‘chicks’ with ‘chicks who like design,’ and you’ve got yo’self an AIGA starter kit.
Argue any way you want about the monetary investment versus personal gain, but an AIGA membership is a safe ice-breaker, if nothing else. And it gets you into sweet super-design parties (ref. 1PT Rule #1)!
Mmm, networking and lager never tasted so good.
Geoff, I am glad you decided to go to Think Tank. I’ve never regretted going to a conference, even the ones I may not have gotten what I expected from, but I have regretted missing many of them.