Q&A Session - Gary Vaynerchuk at FOWA
Posted on Mar 02, 2010
The final session of day one at FOWA Miami was a Q & A session with
Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) of Wine Library TV. Gary has used social media in a
number of exciting ways and thinks there is an "obnoxious" amount of
opportunity out there on the web. We have a great advantage via
conferences and other outlets like this and while its changing and
becoming much more mainstream, its still early.
Consumer
expectations have changed. People are expecting direct communications
from brands and celebrities. For instance, today we expect high speed
internet and access to smart devices. He says, one of the hardest things
right now is adapting to changing consumer expectations. We are living
in a "word of mouth" economy and "you are in the customer service
business first" regardless of what you do. Another example he gave later
was that people expect replies from brands on Twitter.
Someone
from the audience asked what Ryan's secret of keeping ahead of the
curve. Gary says at times he has benefited from being able to sell his
story and also for not "drawing lines in the sand." He doesn't limit
himself by definitions. He also says you need to not be "romanced by the
platform" and "its never the platform and always the message."
Another
audience member asked how to manage the work-life balance when you have
life commitments such as a wife and family. Gary says he still
struggles with this. He is learning to walk away from some stuff even
though its not easy. Along the same lines, Kevin in the audience asks
about how Gary keeps a positive attitude. He says that he remembers
where he comes from (Belarus) and how much more opportunity he has just
by being here in the United States. He says he believes in himself more
than anyone else but also keeps in touch with how insignificant he is.
Someone
else asked where television is headed. Gary thinks television will
become more interactive with widgets and other interactive features
wired into the shows you watch. He says just think about what has
happened over the last 25 years and keep that in mind when trying to
think about what is coming.
Another audience member asks what
Gary plans on doing next after all the accomplishments he has had. He
says he can't think about 5 year plans when things like YouTube just
turned 4 and Google just turned 6 (me: I think he is referencing
Google's years as a public company since 2004, rather than when it was
first founded in 1998). He says now he is getting into mobile because he
sees the trend towards mobile. He emphasizes that although he will be
wrong along the way, he loves the process. He says its about doing the
things you want to do.
Edward asked about what Gary thinks about
mobile payments. Gary says he invested in something about mobile
payments yesterday and it will be huge (though he can't disclose his
investment).
Another audience member asked how he keeps his
employees motivated. He says that companies underrate the importance of
stability. He says he does what he can to keep his employees happy
because he wants them all to stay forever.
That was it for day
one of FOWA Miami. Overall it was very inspirational. I loved that it
wasn't purely about code - it covered much of the "why" of what we, as
programmers, do and less of the "how." Tomorrow is workshops which I
expect to cover a little more "how" but this was a great experience I
recommend for anyone in the industry.
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