Facing Forward, Pursuing Progress
Lessons learned about life; pearls of wisdom I’ve gleaned through pain, failure and honest reflection
sunlight arises
moving with the western clouds
and morning birdsong
this rain's gentleness
flowing over the blossoms
before the sun's grace
memories of dusk
treetops hidden by the night
silent memories
I’ve long been a fan of Wil Wheaton. So it was pretty delightful to get the email (that’s how I consume most of my blog posts right now) letting me/us know that he was on the Katee Sackhoff podcast. Which got a “wait, what!?! Katee Sackhoff has a podcast? Man, it really bugs me that I missed that. However, I don’t really follow her, so I guess I can excuse myself. I have fixed that, though, by subscribing.
Now, I’ve been aware of Katee for years. I remember back in 2003 the launch of the new Battlestar Galactica, and the furor/uproar/noise about Starbuck being a woman! In my circle of geeky friends, I seemed to be one of the few unbothered at all by that. Mostly, I like to see what the creators create. I really liked this Starbuck! I thought she was an amazing, dynamic, complex, and interesting character. (*Sidenote: in hindsight, the character that should’ve caused the most consternation was Commander Adama, who was NOT even close to the Lorne Greene character.) And I love the character Bo Katan from Clone Wars and The Mandalorian.
I thought she did an amazing job as host. Guiding the discussion just enough to keep things moving (Wil did a nice job as a guest, too) without tripping over her guest. They clearly value each other, treat each other with grace and respect. It was just so delightful.
Wil was on to promote his new podcast “It’s Storytime with Wil Wheaton“. Now, I need to confess that I haven’t listened to any episodes yet. Que a whiny “there’s so much content…” bit. I had every intention of changing that state. However, I feel the need to move the timeline up on that. Yeah, the reason I pushed this podcast to “I need to listen to this…today…” was simply having two people who I value together. Those sorts of alignments need to be celebrated.
I’ll post when I’ve given Mr. Wheaton’s project a listen. Hey, let me know: have you listened yet? What do you think?
the rose does not
compare its beauty
to the daffodil
darkness descending
covering faded blossoms
so ephemeral
wonders of springtime
flowers within the sunlight
birdsong fills the air
with hints of purple
flowers changing through the spring
new wonders each day
I came across this YouTube short today and it reminded me of a key digital strategy that I highly value: don’t become dependent upon someone else’s service (YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, etc).
Basically, YouTube demonetized this creator with no notice of the issue at hand (oddly, after 10 days, it was returned). She also had her Twitch channel suspended for spurious reasons (watch the video for details).
So, my advice: do NOT let your business become dependent on one platform. You become at risk from frivolus and spurious decisions. You also are dependent on the fiscal management of Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, etc. TikTok’s recent troubles showcase this. Several businesses were left scrambling to respond.
I recommend pointing people to YOUR website, and to do so from the beginning. Additionally, start a newsletter and capture email addresses. Those are powerful for your current business (when your socials are functioning as planned) and mission critical when something goes wrong.
Remember to think long-term, anticipate challenges and be proactive in engaging them.