Comic: Make it Orange

Digital Handel's Messiah, 1994

In 1994 my company won a contract to broadcast the the annual Kennedy Center Handel's Messiah performance live on the web with video. We'd barely just started our company, MediaZones, and the only reason we got the gig was because very few companies were doing live internet video. We'd had some cursory initial success with local Seattle events and that made us the default experts. So, we loaded all our digital gear into travel cases and headed to Washington, DC to try and make it work.

We were hired by a company associated with the Paramount Theatre in Seattle. They'd made all the arrangements to get our crew from Seattle to DC and all we needed to do was make a postage-sized flicker of video appear on their webpage while the live event was going on. We used a now-defunct software-hardware combo called Xing Technologies that required we lug a giant server with us, along with 4 desktops and a laptop. Not to mention our cameras, microphones and cables.

In those days we felt lean and mean when it came to equipment. When we were at events, the TV crews would gawk at us and be amazed that we could broadcast from just seven suitcases. They couldn't take us seriously because we, in their minds, had barely any equipment. We didn't even have a van. How could we be professionals? How indeed.

Back in 1995, I sketched this comic rendering of the whole adventure and I have recently posted it online.

In comming weeks, I'll post some photos of this trip...I just uncovered another box of media from those old early days of the web. Stay tuned!

Comic: Digital Bear Bot

Comic: Making a Cybercast 1997

Back in 1997 I owned a company called MountainZone.com. We published outdoor sporting information on the web. We didn't know it at the time, but we were building a community.

We traveled from Seattle to Stratton, VT to broadcast the US Open Snowboard Championships. Since we were posting our audio, text, pictures and videos to the Internet, we called it "cybercasting" which sounded even sillier in the 90s than it sounds now.

We finagled ourselves into all-access media passes and we bartered a free room in exchange for a banner graphic on the event page. We were doing everything for the first time...breaking ground. Media folk and journalists rarely asked for web connections in the early 90s when we started our cybercasts, but by the late 90s it was becoming more common for press rooms to offer Internet. Although the connections were thru 28.8 modems, definitely not high-bandwidth.

We were serious about the sport and our team knew the riders, event planners and other professionals. By the end of the weekend there was underwear on the lamps, beer on top of the computers and silly string hanging from the ceiling. How we ever published anything is beyond me.

But it worked...and the visitors to the website started streaming in. First there were dozens, then hundreds, then thousands. By the time we sold MountainZone in 1999 we had millions of visitors pouring into the site to learn about mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding and climbing.

Above is a comic I drew on the plane ride home (click it for the full story). The photos are provided as proof (to myself) that it all really happened and it was not a dream. Watch this blog for more of my personal Internet history. I’ll be digging up some great dirt.

Comic: Digital Power Overload

Comic: Rumor Mill On Internet Time

Comic: Stealing Office Supplies

Comic: Well Oiled

My Personal Internet History: Mae Phim

Back in the late 1990s, me and fellow Internet junkies in Seattle would occasionally take time away from the computers to eat. A little Thai place in Pioneer Square was always packed with dozens of high-tech knowledge workers. Mae Phim was the place to go if you wanted to pick up secrets, spot entrepreneur rock stars or spread rumors. It is still there today. Order the garlic chicken. Three star.

No Schmooze, You Lose

Schmooze to Live, Live to Schmooze. Ultimately, all business is about relationships. Those who are good at making and keeping contacts are the winners in the end. Those who are creepy and dishonest can only survive for a short time before everyone stops returning their calls. The slime gets weeded out, the sincere rises to the top.

Schmooze. To Schmooze. To idly blather in pursuit of gains. Press the flesh. Grab and grin. Meet and greet. Going to the Meet Market. This is a necessary aspect of a successful life in the internet business, be you a designer or salesperson. You need to get out from behind your desk and gab with other people from your industry.

In other contexts, the term is sometimes used to describe getting out of a sticky situation, like talking your way out of a parking ticket. However, in the business world it is used to describe what has become an art and a craft. The fine art of slick networking.

For further research, don't miss Guy Kawasaki and his Theory of Schmoozing version 1.0.

Also, back in July I blogged about business networking sites, which could be considered "virtual" schmoozing. Although these sites cannot compare with real, flesh-n-blood schmoozing.

There are many events that allow digital media professionals to practice their schmoozing. Check out Meet Up, NetParty, Toastmasters, The Rotary Club and various Chamber of Commerce events in your city.

A wise friend once said to me that a main goal of any businessperson should be to create a list of 100 people who will take your call...and enjoy it. You don't want folks to sigh heavily when they hear that you are on the phone, you want them to feel relieved that you called.

Some Books you might want to check out:
Mr. Shmooze: The Art and Science of Selling Through Relationships by Richard Abraham
It's Not Your Smarts, It's Your Schmooze: How to Succeed Without Being Brilliant by Ty Freyvogel
The Art of Schmooze, Vol. 1: The Confident Schmoozer by Beth Mende Conny
How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less by Nicholas Boothman
Life's a Pitch!: From Hosting to Toasting...from News to Schmooze by Soni Dimond

Now get out there and GRAB-N-GRIN!