Mastery of the Finest Art

      It seems interesting to me that as humans we can use something every single day of our lives and feel as if we are somewhat masterful at it, but the reality is we can be completely novice compared to those who have a degree or do that particular thing at a professional level. I have come upon this conclusion multiple times, but I especially found it to be true the other night in my reading of "The Art of Social Media" by Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick. Throughout this novel I have found much of its content to be mundane or obvious and wondered if it really was worth the read because so much of it seemed to be common sense. However, my entire perspective on the book and authors changed after reading Chapter 7. To summarize, the chapter talks about how you deal with socializing events and the lengths at which Kawasaki and Fitzpatrick went for their Moto X event that displayed the up and coming launch of the new Motorola line. It seemed as if every single page I was reading something that I would have never thought to do. For example, one of the first pieces of advice they offer is to pick an event hashtag. They talk about how even though the event was happening in multiple countries they could not pick something such as #MotoXBrasil2013 or #MotoXMexico2013 because those would not reach worldwide and would likely only last around three days on social media sites. Thus, they chose to go with a simple #MotoX. I know it seems simple, yet I find it to be so brilliant. Because this hashtag was so vital to the event, it would have gone terribly if they had chosen the wrong one considering the fact that they sent it to people in email, social media messages and even discussed on livestreamed media conferences. On top of that, they give a plethora of other noteworthy ideas such as providing real-time updates on social media, displaying the Twitter stream on a television screen, providing good wireless access and even purchasing a great backdrop that displays the event hashtag where people can take pictures. Once again, these ideas are subtly masterful because each one does an amazing job of connecting the crowd to the event without shoving it in their face. So, right in the sweet spot. In essence, this chapter proved to me the truth behind that old saying that no matter how good you think you are at something there is always someone better.