Comments on: Life Beyond “Conversation” and “Engage” http://www.markevanstech.com/2009/10/27/life-beyond-conversation-and-engage/ Thoughts on Startups, Entrepreneurs and the Web Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:25:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Andrew Lane http://www.markevanstech.com/2009/10/27/life-beyond-conversation-and-engage/comment-page-1/#comment-192222 Andrew Lane Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:17:43 +0000 http://www.markevanstech.com/2009/10/27/life-beyond-conversation-and-engage/#comment-192222 Ha! Nice breakdown, Jason! Ha! Nice breakdown, Jason!

]]> By: Jason Dojc http://www.markevanstech.com/2009/10/27/life-beyond-conversation-and-engage/comment-page-1/#comment-192219 Jason Dojc Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:47:14 +0000 http://www.markevanstech.com/2009/10/27/life-beyond-conversation-and-engage/#comment-192219 All Jargon goes through a lifecycle: Early adoption: Someone comes out with a new idea (or a brilliant re-packaging of an old idea) such as "You should monitor the conversation and engage your customers)" and others think, hey that sounds somewhat wacky but it could work. I mean we're living in this brave new tech world. Mass Adoption: Everyone latches onto the buzz words. We now drop "conversation" and "engagement" as a matter of course in every day speech. It makes us sound 'current' and 'with it' not because we are 'current' and 'with it' but because we fear that if we don't mention them, we won't have a chance of being 'current' and 'with it'. Oversaturation and slow death: The more something gets used, the less cool it becomes. Some indications that we've reached that stage: a) Your boss, client, manager, starts asking you for a conversation strategy in the same manner as the McDonald's server asking "if you want fries with that" b) Your parents/grandparents tell you that you're not "engaging with them enough and should call more so you can have more "conversations" and/or c) Blog posts like this proliferate lamenting the overuse of once cool jargon. All Jargon goes through a lifecycle:

Early adoption: Someone comes out with a new idea (or a brilliant re-packaging of an old idea) such as "You should monitor the conversation and engage your customers)" and others think, hey that sounds somewhat wacky but it could work. I mean we're living in this brave new tech world.

Mass Adoption: Everyone latches onto the buzz words. We now drop "conversation" and "engagement" as a matter of course in every day speech. It makes us sound 'current' and 'with it' not because we are 'current' and 'with it' but because we fear that if we don't mention them, we won't have a chance of being 'current' and 'with it'.

Oversaturation and slow death: The more something gets used, the less cool it becomes. Some indications that we've reached that stage: a) Your boss, client, manager, starts asking you for a conversation strategy in the same manner as the McDonald's server asking "if you want fries with that" b) Your parents/grandparents tell you that you're not "engaging with them enough and should call more so you can have more "conversations" and/or c) Blog posts like this proliferate lamenting the overuse of once cool jargon.

]]> By: Andrew Lane http://www.markevanstech.com/2009/10/27/life-beyond-conversation-and-engage/comment-page-1/#comment-192214 Andrew Lane Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:21:42 +0000 http://www.markevanstech.com/2009/10/27/life-beyond-conversation-and-engage/#comment-192214 Is creating fresh vocabulary really a concern? Completely agree that the words you're citing are beyond overused, but these sorts of terms also create a quick reference point to enable people to exchange ideas without barriers to entry into the discussion. As for your drinking game at conferences, you're probably right, but doesn't that speak as much to the creativity and originality of the speakers (and conference programmers' reliance on "the usual suspects") as it does to the need for new vocabulary? Is creating fresh vocabulary really a concern? Completely agree that the words you're citing are beyond overused, but these sorts of terms also create a quick reference point to enable people to exchange ideas without barriers to entry into the discussion.
As for your drinking game at conferences, you're probably right, but doesn't that speak as much to the creativity and originality of the speakers (and conference programmers' reliance on "the usual suspects") as it does to the need for new vocabulary?

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