By Chuck Kent
I’m feeling a bit like John Oliver just now, who sheepishly reminds Daily Show viewers every night that, no, he still is not the person they tuned in to see (Jon Stewart being on an extended planned absence from the show).
Your disappointment notwithstanding, I will forge ahead and gamely try to satisfy your #FollowFriday longings.
I will not, however, try to imitate the one-of-a-kind Gini Dietrich or her approach of speaking very personally to and about her Spin Sucks crazies (a unique bit of community-building that she described so well – with an unexpected shout-out to yours truly – in her Cision webinar just yesterday).
Instead, I thought it might be useful to all of you hoping for a #FollowFriday shout-out here to get a recap of common qualities of former featurees, illustrated by previously highlighted crazies (consider this a more fact-based approach than my previous fill-in for Gini).
A review of the past couple of years’ posts indicates that Spin Sucks crazies featured in #FollowFriday are often:
Passionate
Heidi Massey:
The #FF post featuring Heidi says ”Nonprofits are both her career and her passion and she gives back to them as often as she can.”
Funny
Anne Ruess
Funny isn’t always going for the big yucks, but hereabouts it definitely means having a sense of humor. Gini says of Anne “she is wicked smart, absolutely adorable, and has a great sense of humor (and we all know how much I like funny people).”
Smart
Julio Varela
Ms. D is a sucker for super-smart people, with or without Ivy League pedigree. She writes, “A Harvard grad, Julio goes against every stereotype you have of those who went to school there. Yes, he’s smart, but the arrogance the school seems to breed missed him.”
Generous
Community requires generosity, especially of one’s time and attention. Of Deb, Gini writes: “…without a doubt, one of the most generous people I know… She’s one who… will engage, will ask you questions about yourself, and will give of herself more generously than anyone else you know.”
Involved
It’s simple: Actively commenting counts, not simply to boost your own exposure, but to continually breathe life into the Spin Sucks community.
In yesterday’s Cision webinar, Gini mentioned how #FollowFriday didn’t really take off (in fact, was at first a bit of a bomb) until she started concentrating on people who are active in the comments section.
A few of those these days include: Howie Goldfarb, Paula Kiger, Rebecca Amy Todd, and Joe Cardillo.
Trouble-Makers
Dallas Kincaid
“Trouble” may be too strong a term here – I really mean “fun,” but just a bit more out there. Take Dallas Kincaid. Gini calls him a “a trouble causer, pot stirrer, and menacing force of nature.” Obviously, the boring need not apply.
So you want to be in #FollowFriday? Consider the above carefully, and then get involved. It’s easy to start right now – head to the comment section (I’ll meet you there).