I think a lot of people/companies are afraid of opening themselves up on the web. It can be slightly intimidating to think about all the strangers who will judge you for being yourself. But making your opinions and personality susceptible to attack is also what engages people.
That “What’s Hoehn like?” page up top has no obvious value. But it’s on this site to let you know I’m a person with a life outside of all this. If you can trust me on a personal level, it’s a lot easier for me to be authentic.
Sell the messenger first. It makes things a lot easier.
I think this is a great post. Rather than seeing corporations as these nameless, faceless institutions, it provides an opportunity for them to connect on a human level. They definitely need to commit fully to the idea or not bother because people will see through it.
By: seanorndorff on January 12, 2009
at 9:32 pm
Thanks Sean. You gotta humanize this medium because it’s so impersonal otherwise. People are a lot smarter than companies give them credit for, so glib attempts at being personal will never work.
By: charhoehn@gmail.com on January 13, 2009
at 12:15 am
[...] Whether you think his comedy is good or bad is entirely irrelevant — he’s a young comic who has just started his journey. It takes balls to put up any video of yourself that is something you’re not completely happy with. I applaud Ben for opening himself up to criticism — more people need to do this (as I discussed here). [...]
By: Changing the standup game: In action « Hoehn’s Musings on January 24, 2009
at 8:40 pm