Master the conversation

Watergate v. Enron ladouceur78 / Flickr alex-s / Flickr A tale of two scandals.

The press won its stripes covering a story where information was scarce.

Today’s scandals happen in an environment where information is plentiful.

Gueorgui Tcherednitchenko / Flickr Your ﬁrst goal: Master the conversation.

THE ANDREW SULLIVAN LEDE

[Proper noun] [verb]: [Blockquote] - Basic Sullivan lede formula

The Daily Dish

Matthew Yglesias

Boing Boing

XX Factor: The modiﬁed Sully.

The Well: Sully lite.

Around Argo

Andrew Sullivan didn’t invent the Sully lede. Velocity did.

blogging’s adaptation on the inverted pyramid

It’s quick.

It suggests ubiquity.

It demands listening ﬁrst.

It evokes a conversation.

It triggers awareness.

I have so many fascinating things to tell you. I must hurry.

the energy you send into the world will be returned to you THREE TIMES OVER - The Wiccan “Rule of Three”

FIND THE CONVERSATION.

Who do you want to reach? Where do they gather?

Then ﬁnd their people. Use lists, blogrolls, mentions, you-name-it.

Who are the leading voices?

Q When have I found my people?

A When your beat feels this hopping...

Ben Smith’s pre-11.a.m. posting, 10/20/10

If your world doesn’t feel big enough, WIDEN YOUR LENS.

not a series of dispatches: A STREAM.

feed > post

subscriber > visitor

[auro] / Flickr Be there.

Major LGBT stories, 10/20/10 Anti-gay bullying Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

HufﬁngtonPost.com 10/20/10

BigGayNews.com 10/20/10

StarTribune.com military blog 10/20/10

TNR.com environment blog 10/20/10

NURTURE THE CONVERSATION.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates, cont’d.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: The beginning.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: First thaw.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Sullivan ledes.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Asked...

Ta-Nehisi Coates: ... Answered.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Knock knock.

April ’08 May ’08 June ’08 Ta-Nehisi Coates: Warmer.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: To the Atlantic.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Tipping point.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Check-cashing.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

This is what success looks like.

COMMENTS ARE CONTENT.

It gets assigned.

It gets curated.

It gets promoted.

It gets edited.

The true test of an ONLINE COMMUNITY

Conversation ...

... or grafﬁti?

TURN SOURCES INTO COMMENTERS.

N.Y. Times op-ed 9/20/10

CommonHealth link roundup 9/21/10

CommonHealth follow-up 9/27/10

CommonHealth follow-up 9/28/10

Kudos from KSJ Tracker 9/30/10

Conversation continues... 10/7/10

... even at the N.Y. Times. 10/19/10

The best interviewers are the best listeners.

The best bloggers are the best readers.

You have to go where the conversation is before you can go where it isn’t.

The column that felled Enron FORTUNE, 3/5/01

Imagine an alternate history.

Start with the conversation. Proceed from there.

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Master the conversation

by Matthew Thompson on Oct 21, 2010

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Master the conversation — Presentation Transcript