Age of the Over-informed and Undecided

While I should be packing for a fantastic learning opportunity with other Argyle CMO Forum attendees, I'm instead blogging from home. The conference is in New York, you know--the city under scrutiny for not knowing how to properly respond to a blizzard? The latest reports give all the doom and gloom of expected inches of snow and possible mayhem. This Texan girl must decline potential blizzards, trips to visit the New Yorker Office with old pals, and chances to rub elbows with new marketing comrades. Dangit.

Why? Because the internet told me to.

Friend of mine (and fellow blogger) is having a baby. Nearly freaking out about diapers, strollers, food, daycare, you name it, she is Googling it. She is rightfully overwhelmed. Have you seen the reviews on these things? Frightening. You go with a 3-Star stroller instead of 4-Star, and you risk your baby's life and wellbeing. Not to mention their rep at the playground-for like, LIFE. Luckily, I can come to the rescue and refer her to another friend of mine (and blogger) who has reviewed several of these items. Alas, she still has no idea what she wants.

Why? Because the internet changes it's mind.

I get home, boyfriend tells me how John Elway has embraced Twitter. How the once "CIA-like" secrecy of the NFL is being released for the first time, and people are loving it. They love the new influx of information. This will  no doubt cause controversy every Sunday and Monday in the household. As if the new ESPN iphone app wasn't accessible enough, now Elway has a play by play in the boardroom.

I'll be the first to admit. I love it.

I google everything. If I'm going to an event. I search for pictures so I know what to wear. If you are selling me something I'm the slightest bit interested in, I'm checking you out. If you're applying for a job, you better have a linkedin profile. And if I just met you, I already know more about your ex-girlfriend that you do. But honestly what good does this do? Ya, not much.

What I do know, is that over-informed travelers are likely to spend more time at home. Maternal instincts make you spend sleepless nights googling poop-holders. And Twitter scares stockholders to death.

I'm wondering how many others out there are like us? (assuming you are reading this because you googled me) The over-informed and undecided... 

Knowledge is power...right? Multi-tasking was the premier trait seeked by job recruiters in the 90's (see INC interview with Julie Morgenstern.) Now, is the more focused individual the more informed? Do people without the white noise interruption become the most wanted? Is it better to know more of less than less of more?

Honestly, I still don't know.

Therefore, I blog about these topics, pose these questions, google for reference material, post on twitter, write about it on Facebook, and anxiously await feedback from my readers. If I don't receive immediate feedback, I'll post again on Twiiter tomorrow morning. If I don't hear anything then, I'll check my Google Analytics account to make sure people are reading my blog. Then I'll check what company they are from, then how long they spent reading, then maybe check what search term they used to find me... then maybe... oh gosh.... its a never ending circle isn't it?

I google so I can learn more. So I know what to google better, so I can learn more....

Is my blog flat lining?

I have absolutely ZERO excuse for not blogging in the last month. I have been extremely busy with the Atos Origin Executive Forum for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. (Ok, MAYBE a little bike riding with our CEO in Stanley Park) But what was I thinking? Because of where I was and the fan-fare around it, I should have been blogging non-stop. But my twitter was low, my blog was dead, and the facebook fanpage had zero entries from myself. (Thank you Queen Victoria)

But this is my own blog, so I can virtually pick it up and put it down whenever I like. Or no? The way I see it, people read the news or the "blogs" when the blog comes to them. I'm not exactly sure I've got any avid readers following me day after day (little creepy maybe). My vision is that people see the news feeds on twitter, have their google alerts all set up, and they check my blog when it happens to cross paths with their favorite searches.

Can I get a witness? Anyone hear me out there?

THAT SAID: I wouldn't read a blog entry or give it any credit if it were only one every 6 months. I wouldn't "believe" that person, or wouldn't feel such company or brand was creditable. I am very web-design-update-biased.

So basically, I believe everyone is like me and shouldn't deviate from my blogging patterns.

Signed,
#FullofMyself

Move over Rachel...there's a NEW Blogger in town!

Check out the awesome Victoria Lind's new blog. Stay up to date on Atos Origin news and the hilarity of the AO offices.

First Blog

This is my first time.... so, this other chick and I decided that there should be yet another blog in the blogosphere. We have to create one for work, so what better way to see how it works, than to create your very own!

Taking our research so far, we should probably gather up a few basic themes, sections, and decide on a personality of this blog.

I'm the cool one, she is the pretty one. Together, we're pretty cool.

...more to come