May 10
27
Taking Stalk of social media.
If there really was such a place – I don’t know if I’d walk there at night. At least until the markets close. Cutthroat and conniving, the stalkers are running amok!
Empire Avenue invites users to buy and trade stalk (er.. stock) in their friends and social media acquaintances. Value is derived through a combination of factors, including social influence, activity, and content through one of several sources. Bloggers, twitter-kind, and Facebookers can take their daily contributions and turn them into ‘eaves’ – a social currency with which to buy and sell more stalk (er… stock).
Last night, the #YEG (that would be Edmonton) stalkers met at Runway 29 for our first Empire Avenue Board Meeting. Thus far – the growth of EA in Edmonton has been primarily via word-of-twitter, so the folks in attendance in no-small part had existing relationships from the 140 character world.
Meat-space therefore entered meet-space.
Faces to names – it was interesting to note that these folks were all quite eloquent, and capable of far more than 140 character conversations. Talk of EA and talk of twitter wrapped around talk of family, interests, work and most importantly social media. Opinions varied wildly around the table with respect to purpose, use, and value – proving only that social media is as it’s name implies – Social. Groups wax and wane, contacts come and go, and in the end you are left with a loose social circle attached to another loose social circle attached to a loose social circle.
You could perhaps view relationships in social media (or twitter anyway) as a Venn diagram like the Olympic rings. At each intersecting circle, is a single user who provides access via re-tweet to another circle. We have some common interests but our own broader circles to share within and through.
Demographically – we were all very similar. Around the mid-thirties, deliciously attractive people with income and electronic gadget fetishes. A marketers dream… but that my friends is another blog post.
Talk of the evening turned to technology and full circle to Empire – where strategy filled conversation highlighted the purpose of systems like Empire. Some come to play the game, while others see it as a valuable networking tool. Some see entertainment, some see true value from the content made available through the network of stalk (er… stock) picks. Either way – it’s clear there is some passion amongst the players. I must report one other exciting happening – @adrielhampton [(e)Adriel from Empire] is not only real – but will show you his fork on command!
Empire was present at the table with two shining examples of why start-ups are so exciting. Brad Grier and Tom Ohle – influential folks in the world of Empire Avenue were on hand to observe, ask questions, listen, and offer insight to the challenges and direction of EAV. In the end I think we all came out with a better handle on the game that is Empire Avenue but we also received more than that. Faces and personality to match the 140 character avatars.
Meet-space in Meat-space is wonderful. Particularly when you turn e-lationships into networking opportunities. All for the price of… a little stalk.
