I recently attended
a live presentation held by
a certain online bookstore
given to writers.
The presentation was billed as important,
as being a means
to make a connection
with people in that organization,
to learn things
few other people knew.
The presentation could
have been recorded.
Everything said
was taken directly from
their website.
There were no ‘insider secrets’
or revolutionary tips.
During the question and answer time,
the presenters
looked up data on the website
and relayed it.
They weren’t powerful.
They merely worked
for a powerful company.
Seth Godin
shares
“Google and Amazon used to invite
authors to come speak,
at the author’s expense.
The implied promise was that
they’re so powerful,
access to their people
was priceless.
But the algorithm writers
weren’t in the room.
You ended up spending time
with people
who pretended they had influence,
but were more like weatherpeople,
not weather makers.”
Merely working for a powerful company
doesn’t mean that person
is powerful.
Ensure you’re connecting
with the right people.