37Signals still sucks, but at least they have an exit survey

I've found that in the web 2.0 world I expect companies to listen to me, even though only a few actually do.

A while back I blogged about how 37Signals makes it nearly impossible to downgrade your account once you've signed up to a paid one. I got no response from that post, or from the email I sent them, so today I cancelled my account.

They have one redeeming feature: an exit survey. When I have cancelled is exactly when I want to give you a piece of my mind. So hopefully 37Signals really reads and takes action based on these exit surveys.

But it does beg the question - why couldn't they listen before?

The difference social-ity really makes

I'm writing an article, usually a very solitary job and not my favourite thing, even though I'm a writer.

But this one's different.

This is a piece for February's Idealog Magazine about social networking, and I'm getting all Meta.

One of the features is a top 10 list of things you need to know about social networking. I could figure it out myself, or I could ask the community.

So I did! I just Twittered.

This makes the whole process much more interesting, much more like a conversation - which, ironically, is what I've always been striving toward in my writing.

I look forward to seeing what the community comes up with!

Jump In #6: Paul Reynolds part 2

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Visit us at http://www.ijump.co.nz/ Marie Young discusses social media with TV tech talker Paul Reynolds. In this episode ... should a blog be part of a corporate site, or separate? Is Social Media a waste of time? ... and Generation X's deep dark secret. Get the latest Jump In for free in iTunes or on the web. Subscribe at http://feeds.feedburner.com/GetJumpin  

Jump In! #5: Paul Reynolds on blogging

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Paul Reynolds, joint md of McGovern online and TV tech commentator, talks with Marie Young about blogging and social networking. Find out: * How he started blogging * How to discover your voice * How a company can incorporate blogging This is part 1 of a 2 part interview. Next week Paul takes on Generation X's dirty little secret! Get the latest Jump In for free in iTunes or on the web. Subscribe at http://feeds.feedburner.com/GetJumpin  

Do you work on the web?

One of the cool things I learnt about as a result of BarCamp (see interview here and info on my "presentation" here) was iworkontheweb.com

It's what's known as a meme - in other words, it doesn't really "do" anything or have any particular purpose, but it's kind of cool, and will probaby have some great spinoff that we haven't predicted.

See my profile, or find out how to add your own.

What's the role of oratory (etc) in a conversation age?

(Warning 1: Pseudo-academic language ahead, from a writer who should know better)

(Warning 2: The actual point of this post is right at the end. Persevere. Or cheat and skip right to the end)

Things are changing. That seems to be the intro to every article I write these days. Mostly because it's true.

The biggest change I see - whether it's in the world of business, leadership, media or even religion- is from one-way message delivery, to two-way message discussion. It's the age of conversation.

Evidence?

In business, witness the proliferation and popularity of books like We Are Smarter Than Me (to which I was one of 3000-odd contributors!) and Join the Conversation.

More specifically, leadership is being deconstructed as an idea. It's early days for this, but the book I'm currently reading, Leadership for the Disillusioned, outlines one academic's efforts to discover a leadership that liberates rather than enslaves. Most of that is done in a dialogical way.

Media has been slowly becoming two-way for about 15 years or more, beginning with talkback radio and now extending to the many channels available on the internet. Now it's becoming mainstream as newspapers, TV and radio make it easier to converse with them through the internet.

And in religion, at least in Christianity, people are simultaneously pressing forward and rediscovering their roots. The book So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore portrays a way of thinking that is outcome-focussed, rather than programmatic. It exposes many of the religious institutions we take for granted as driven by guilt and fear, a diagnosis I endorse, having been part of several churches and wondering what we were doing wrong. Fortunately, the book posits a simple but profound answer.

So my question is ... what happens to the old one-way methods?

I know the new barely ever completely replaces the old. Television didn't wipe out radio, for instance, but it did redefine it.

So, what will the next century or so hold for:

• Political speeches
• Blockbuster movies
• Sermons
• TV commercials

?

Why did I write this post? Mainly because I got home from BarCamp last week - one of the most genuinely interactive conference experiences I've ever had - and I really really really really wanted to see a good movie. A real movie. A two-hour long, popcorn movie. And it made me think, will we have movies in twenty years? What will they look like? So there you go.

Now it's your turn. Please comment! :)

Jump In #4 - BarCamp Auckland

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Simon Young talks with Ludwig Wendlich,16-year-old web developer and organiser of BarCamp Auckland, an UnConference for web people. Find out about the future of conferences, and what it means to you as a communicator. Get the latest Jump In for free in iTunes or on the web. Subscribe at http://feeds.feedburner.com/GetJumpin