On Online Communication :)

We send messages from our technology into outer space, and wait. We send messages from our hearts into the grave, and wait. And we wonder what would be a message in return that we could trust.

My grandfather would tell a lot of stories of his early days in Canada. One that I particular remember was his account of a first job selling bakery bread out of a horse wagon. He didn't know Edmonton. He didn't know the language. But he had instincts. His strategy was to take his horse and his loaves down the lanes and look for children's garments hanging on outdoor clothes lines.

Of course, that would indicate that little people lived there. Along with a mother who fed them.

I remembered this story yesterday at work as I was scanning an article about, of all things, unlocking for companies the value embedded in social media.

  • Lead generation.
    • Information from social technology platforms can provide leads for both consumer and B2B marketers. Consumers using social technology, for example, often share news about life events -- marriage, the birth of a child, or a new job -- that typically signal sales opportunities for financial services companies.
And I lol'd, because my grandfather knew the value of online lead generation long before McKinsey & Company!

And it struck me that we re-member the dead in the silent language of the living, and sometimes in very unexpected ways inside our heads. And that some conversations and wordplay are 25 years in the making.





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