Making a loud noise and leaving the room since 2004

Back in college I discovered this amazing acoustic guitar duo that toured regionally. My friends and I would drive all over the place following them into small music halls, bars, and college music festivals. The year before I graduated they put together a band and got even better. I followed them closer, was active on the fan listserve, and even started a Web site for the fan listserve. Then, shortly after I graduated, the band released an album on a major label, and, well you know how this story will end… Everyone’s grandma showed up at their concerts, the listserve blew up to a bazillion subscribers, their music was all over the top 40 stations, and (horrifically) turned into Muzac™.

That was it. I still listen with fondness to those old albums and bootlegs, but I haven’t bought an album or seen a show since they went mainstream.

By now you’ve probably seen this: The Xer Meme: Have we sold out?. (For the record, I am in Gen X, but depending on which model you look at, I was born less than 12 months from the onset of the Millennials and I tend to affiliate more with them) Maddie calls me out by name, wondering if I’ve sold out. The answer is (probably) no.

There are two sides to my story. I have pulled waaaay back from my blogging and social media speaking. First of all, social media has gone waaaaaay mainstream. As someone who made much ado about social media and associations early on, the fact that it has caught on in this industry is both satisfying and, frankly, disappointing. It was kind of fun being the voice in the wilderness. Today, the wilderness is overpopulated. Everyone’s grandma is here. And they’re playing Muzac™.

Secondly: Everyone’s a social media specialist these days (and some are actually quite good at it). I’ve frankly had trouble keeping up with the likes of the social fish, and so I’m less inclined to share my social media musings here on this blog. Why cover trails already blazed?

Maddie also says that I’m lost to the real estate industry. This is totally true. For all the speaking and writing that I don’t do for associations, I now do for Realtors. As for my participation in the association blogoclump, the real estate scene is a lot more interesting than the association industry. There are amazing and cool new real estate technologies released every couple of months, dozens of innovators are engaged in the social media scene, there’s no shortage of news about the industry, we have a fascinating cast of characters complete with bitter rivalries, and it’s just an exciting time to be part of it all. Plus, factor in that there are over 1000 Realtor associations, and you can see how it would be easy to get sucked into that world.

Sold out? If you don’t work with me day-to-day, I can see why it might appear that way. But Maddie’s right to guess that I’m engaged in some epic special ops on the inside, and making a lot of progress on stuff, thankyouverymuch — revolutionary stuff.

That’s all I can say. Otherwise, I’d have to kill you.

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