Technology as a Commodity
I began my career as a developer at Lambesis—a highly creative ad agency. After seven years there, I moved on to Hume Lake Christian Camps for the next five years to join their creative team as Marketing Technologist. During that 12 year timespan I saw technology turn from a cutting edge instrument into a decidedly blunt sledgehammer. This transition is the inevitable shift from novelty to commodity.
The Human Problem
Practically speaking, the commoditization of communication technologies has enabled me to spend less time focusing on the particular tools required to complete a project and instead focus on the original purpose and goals of each project. This means more research, strategy, copywriting, and managing than coding. Connecting a client’s passion with the eyes, ears, head and ultimately heart of their constituents is primarily a human problem not based in technology at all—and yet technological tools are still the nuts and bolts of the final solution.
The Next Step
This is where I’ve found my current consulting niche, helping my clients take the next step towards their organization’s vision. Sometimes this means sitting down and rewriting their marketing copy so that it connects with our impatient, ad-savvy techno-culture. Sometimes it means helping them see that their CMS isn’t their problem, it’s their internal workflow. And more often than not it’s simply giving them the knowledge they need to make an informed decision about which technologies will effectively support their marketing efforts.