Sui Generis

No, I’m Not Back Just Yet

Jul 2, 2009 Announcements, Personal

Thanks for coming back. =). Glad to see you. If there's anything I can do for you, I'd love to hear from you. Drop me an email, or leave a comment, introduce yourself. I'd love to connect with you. Or if you have your own blog, why not let me promote your work?

But I just thought I’d explain why, and what’s going on with me. I’ve been away from this blog for 6 months, and those of you who have kindly left me in your RSS readers deserve my sincere thanks, and an update of sorts. Those of you who are checking back manually, you deserve it even more.

Those of you in Singapore might have seen an article about me in Today newspaper a couple of days ago. And as is stated in the article, I do feel like I’m in a “transitional” phase.

The reason for this is two-fold. Firstly, National Service has definitely affected me, as anyone who knows me personally will know. I’m not one who does well when forced into something. I quit school because I didn’t see a point, for example. And NS is something I can’t quit. I’m slowly coming to terms with it (or trying to), but it’s tough. Being stuck in a forced job, in an extremely regimental environment, is a far cry from anything I’d want, and the adjustment is hard. And NS has left me rather jaded, to say the least. (And to those who think I’m grumbling too much, please spare me the “you can choose to be happy despite your circumstance” spiel, I’ve heard that enough).

But I’m far from giving up, and that’s actually the second reason why I haven’t been too involved in the social media scene lately. Yes, I’ve said that “the web has really opened so many doors for me”, and it’s true. But now that the doors have been open, it’s time for me to take some action and go through them, instead of just opening more doors. I love the scene, I love having the chance to be a part of the community, I love having the opportunity to meet and interact with brilliant minds such as yours. But it’s time for me to get out and do something.

I don’t want to be just another blogger, another voice in the crowd. I need to know that I have some insight or unique value I can provide. I need to prove, if not to anyone else, then to myself at least, that I am made of more than just intelligent talk. I need to prove that I am capable of producing quality action.

And I am working on that, or trying to. Trying to get a virtual internship for a marketing/branding project, trying to start up a Facebook app, etc. I’ve got a number of things I’m trying to line up, so hopefully something will work out.

In the meantime, I’ll still be on Twitter, so if you want to chat, you can look me up there. If I have your contact details, I’ll try my best to keep in touch with you. If I don’t, I’d still love to hear from you – you can add me on Facebook, or drop me an email.

This is (hopefully) not the last you’ve heard from me on here. When I’ve decided I’m capable (and proven to myself that I’m capable) of providing value, I’ll be back.

As Shakespeare put it, “If we do meet again, why, we shall smile; If not, why then this parting was well made”.

Keep creating,
Derrick

Tags: action, blog, future, goodbye, National Service, potential

Community vs Association

Jan 21, 2009 blogging

Ok I’m not really back yet. But I thought that this news is big enough for my to break my hiatus. So apparently, an official “Association of Bloggers (Singapore)” has been formed.

For the record, I have nothing against the individual bloggers who have started the Association. I respect them and applaud the effort.

But when it comes down to it, I think this is a horribly misguided attempt. I like the idea of trying to bring together the community of bloggers. But I don’t agree with this at all.

I think it’s pointless and unnecessary, bordering on egotistical. DK, one of the commitee members, blogged that “I feel that as more and more companies and government bodies start to engage the new media, there is a need for an official association to accredit bloggers”. I could not disagree more with him this time. There is absolutely no need for this. The whole fundamental point of blogging, in my opinion, is the openness, the fact that it’s the voice of the individual, the amateur. A blog does not need an “official association to accredit” it.

And to think that they can represent all the local bloggers? I’m sorry, I have to say that’s just plain egotistical. And there’s nothing much for me to add about the whole “legal entity” aspect of it.

It’s a nice attempt, and I know their hearts are in the right place. But this time, I have to say that plain and simple, I think this is ridiculous and unnecessary.

What we need is to build the community. Not establish an association.

Tags: association, blog, Blogosphere, community, singapore

On Hiatus

Jan 13, 2009 Announcements, blogging, Personal

There’s a part of me that really doesn’t want to do this, but I think it’s the best decision to make – for myself and for this blog, and you guys.

But yes, as the title of this post says, I’ll be going on a blogging hiatus for a while. How long, I’m not sure, but you can subscribe via RSS or via email to stay posted, and get informed when I come back. And if you want to talk to me, I can still be reached by email, and occasionally by IM (IM details in the sidebar)

I just feel that in my current condition, I don’t think I can provide proper value to all of you reading this blog. And rather than take up your time and attention, I’ll take a step back for now. I’ll be back though, when I get my own life and issues sorted out, and hopefully I’ll come back stronger than before. I hope you don’t forget me, and hope to see you around when I do come back.

But for now, that’s all folks. It’s been a great journey, and I hope you’ll join me again when I’m ready to continue it.

Tags: blog, hiatus

The #1 Way to Build a Community

Nov 4, 2008 blogging, Events

Image via Wikipedia

Over the weekend I attended a few sessions at Podcamp Singapore and the Digital Media Festival. The one thing that struck me the most was the idea of going where the people are.

At DM Fest, the topic came up when I was talking to someone just after a session about communities. I was asking his opinion about whether it made more sense to use your own logins if you’re trying to build a community, or to try and leverage technologies like OpenID so people can use other accounts to join. The answer was a pretty obvious one.

At Podcamp Singapore, the topic came up in both the sessions I attended. Coleman talked about choosing the right medium – text, audio or video. As you can imagine, one of the main factors discussed was about audience preference.

The other session I attended was by Amsie from Curious Foodie, who shared her journey on blogging. During the session, the discussion went on a very nice (in my opinion) tangent when the owner of fourcardflush, a poker blog, asked for advice on how to build the local online poker community – the poker community in Singapore is largely unseen online. The suggestions? To go out into the offline community, take part in the games, and build from there.

3 very different sessions, with different focuses and applications. But the common general theme is quite prevalent.

The easiest way to build a community is to go where the people are. Don’t just try to pull them to where you are. Go to where they are, join them, and build relationships first. Then do you thing, and they will follow.

Tags: audience, blog, community, OpenID, podcamp singapore, singapore

Liveblogging Podcamp Singapore

Nov 1, 2008 Announcements, blogging

I’m attending Podcamp Singapore, and will be experimenting with live blogging using CoverItLive. I’ll be liveblogging the two afternoon sessions. I haven’t decided which of the sessions I’ll attend, but yeah.

You’ll be able to watch the live blog of the two sessions here. One will be from 2-3pm and the second from 3-4pm. The topics of the sessions will be announced when I decide which one I’ll be attending.

Tags: blog, conference, coveritlive, live blog, podcamp singapore, singapore

Thank You For Reading

Oct 6, 2008 Announcements, blogging, Random

Last week, I posted that this blog had hit 100 subscribers for the first time (according to Feedburner).

I’m still really grateful for all of you who read and subscribe. And I’m still really honored that you’d take the time to read what I have to say. Same to those of you who follow me on Twitter, or on any other network. Thank you for giving me your time and attention. I really appreciate it, and I’m glad to have you here.

That said, I probably don’t know some of you, and I would really like to change that. So if you’ve been reading my blog, please drop me an email, or leave me a comment or something. Or join the Blog’s Network on Facebook. Introduce yourself, say hi, tell me your story, anything. I’d love to connect with you. Or even if we’ve connected before, feel free to drop me a line at any time.

I’m always open to connecting with you guys, and I’m always willing to (try to) help you in any way I can. So yeah, connect with me. I’d love to hear from you.

Tags: blog, connect, social network, thanks

There’s No Such Thing As Bad Press

Sep 26, 2008 Random

Brad Shorr from Word Sell, Inc shares six reasons why business blogs should welcome negative comments.

All are really good reasons, but here’s one that I want to point out specially.

clipped from www.wordsellinc.com

Fifth, negative comments in and of themselves are unlikely in and of themselves to drive business away. Other readers are more interested in your response to a negative comment than the comment itself. For example, the comment “How come your sales rep never calls on me?!$*” by itself doesn’t look good. However, if you respond with, “We are extremely sorry about that. It is never our intention to ignore any customer. You will be hearing from your rep this afternoon, and we hope it’s not too late to rebuild our relationship,” you may find yourself actually attracting new business and turning indifferent customers into evangelists. Of, you could choose not to blog, and risk having customer tell twenty of his friends how unresponsive you are.

Bad comments are not just bad comments – they are opportunities for you to respond and build new relationships.

In today’s world, you can monitor and track whatever is said anywhere. And as such, I think that Brad’s point can be applied to anything that’s said about you, not just comments on your blog.

As long as people are talking about you, it can work in your favor. Even if it’s bad, it’s a chance for you to jump in and contribute to the conversation. It’s a chance for you to correct any mistakes – be it on the report’s end or on your end. It’s a chance for you to build new connections.

There’s no such thing as bad press, just opportunities to respond.

How do you respond to the negative things that are said about you?

Tags: blog, Comment, Conversation, opportunity, Respond