trendpreneur

I am a child of the Eighties, and as such, many things are true. One of these: as I grew up, learned new skills, figured the world out, and developed social interaction, computers were also growing up, coming into maturity, fadding and exploding and giving rise to the Internet and things.

I am a child of the computer age, and my generation is possibly the first to expect to speak to computers to do everyday things, not humans.

I am a child of automation, of Chip and PIN, of press 1 to pay your bill and of click here to continue. I am a child of Insert Clubcard Or Payment Method, of Oyster cards and of expecting the companies I patronise to listen when I complain about them on Twitter.

But I’m gradually rediscovering humanity, and you know what? It’s pretty cool.

It’s pretty cool to go into a shop and actually have a conversation with a knowledgeable and friendly assistant, instead of self-serve all the way to the automated checkout. It’s pretty cool to have a chat with the barista or the person next in the queue. It’s pretty cool to find out stuff about other people and to work my vocal cords, not my PIN fingers.

The best thing about treating other people as human beings, not flesh-bound robots, is that inevitably they treat you like human beings too. You want discounts? Faster service? Extra cream? Don’t act like you’re talking to a machine and bluntly order, have a conversation, become a person not Customer #18,284 and… magic really does happen.

I’m not saying there’s no place for robots (and automation) in society. It’s just come as something of a surprise to me, as my shopping and living habits have evolved alongside technology, and thus been encouraged to use these faceless machines at every corner — as my usual reaction in shops is to say “Thanks, I’m fine, just looking” — to discover the courtesy that comes with treating other people as human beings, and the undeniable warmth and connection that you get back for doing so. Better service. Better coffee. Shoes that actually fit. A five pound discount. All of these, and more, this last week — just by being a person.

I think this shift in behaviour has been coming for a while, but it’s been triggered by two things: visiting the US, where there’s a very fine line between irritating shop greeters with a fixed smile, and people who actually are amazingly helpful and nice even if you don’t buy anything; and doing a negotiation class, formalising some of my more instinctive behaviour when it comes to figuring out how to get to the nicest possible common ground.

(The trick of the negotiation class? Can you guess? Yup — listen. Work out their needs, communicate yours, and answers become clearer — most problems are in failing to communicate the needs, drivers, variables etc, not in the lack of a compromise existing. In the class exercise, this became scarily apparent. My instinctive reaction was to cover up my position in case it weakened me.)

So, next time a shop assistant says “Can I help you?”, and you’re standing there wondering which of five identical products you should buy, why not smile and say “Maybe you can!”. What’s the worst that can happen?

Alternate title: Things I Keep Doing That I Know I Shouldn’t (And If You Catch Me Doing Them, Slap Me)

(Yeah, I have a few thoughts on FOWA I want to get down, but a thousand things to do as well; this was written late at night while dahn Souf, so it’s not like it’s effort to post. Right?)

1. It’s all me, me, me.

I know I’m the most important person in the world, but I should really take time out of my busy schedule to ask *you* questions. When you ask me ‘So, what do you do?’ I should reply with something brief, yet informative, and fire the same question back at you. Not only will it help establish myself as a good listener, it’ll help me centre my self-description around what you do and know.

2. When Harry Met Sally (Via Roger)

Not so much an in-person intro, this, but something I’ve been caught up with a couple of times lately. When you refer someone you know to someone else, don’t send them to each other – introduce them. “Hey Bob, how’s it going? Thought you might like to meet Alice.” Not “this is Alice’s email address, say I sent you”. The latter is appropriate in *some* contexts, but not in email and not in person.

3. Let’s get physical

I’m usually carrying a bag. This means if I have to carry a coat as well, or a second bag, or a small child, I’m not going to have a hand easily free without overbalancing and looking even more clumsy than I already am. The alternative is to look really impolite and not shake someone’s hand. I’m not Arrington. Ditch the coat (even if it does act as mobile pockets) and go around empty-handed, girl. Secondly, even though it might be a geek event, stop staring into the distance when talking to someone. You just give the impression something else is far more interesting than they are.

4. Card time

I partly blame this on the aforementioned pockets and bags and things, but it’s not a great excuse. I need to swap cards more. I’m getting pretty good at managing other people’s cards, and remembering why I took them in the first place, but if I don’t give people mine, they’re not going to contact me.

5. Keep in touch

Again something which came up recently; just because *you* think you’re waiting for the other person to call or email, doesn’t mean they think the holdup’s their end. If you haven’t heard from someone in a while, it’s not nagging to drop them a friendly line asking to touch base. It’s much better than finding out months down the line that they thought you were uncontactable and aloof because you were being too polite to nag them about replying to an email.

6. Stop apologising

Sorry.

7. Use small talk wisely

I recently read on the Internets  that making only small talk at a networking event makes you seem like an amateur. It’s not so bad if you’re at an event with unpracticed techies, not smarmy businessspeople, but still; if your entire conversation with someone is about the quality of the soap in the toilets, or the length of the queue you’re in, what point was there for you to talk in the first place? (Unless you’re building up to working a room, of course.)

8. Don’t be afraid to say something

Man, it’s scary being at tech events. People either side of you in a queue, or sitting in a hall, won’t even look at you. It’s as if you’re totally invisible. Don’t let this faze you. Even if you say hi and ask them how the wifi’s holding up, the worst that happens is they totally ignore you. Which they were kinda doing already.

9. Chat with people on stands, but get out quickly

Having worked trade show booths and stands, it can be nice to get people talking – if the area isn’t busy, even if they’re on a tangent, it’s more likely to get other people coming up to you as you appear interesting. Talking to people at stands doesn’t always mean you have to stand there rigid under the influence of a megaton sales pitch. Make it clear you’re there for the free stuff and you don’t think your interests overlap; make it a challenge to find out if they do, or to find out enough about them that you could introduce a contact to them. You keep their lives less dull and gain an ally for future use. A lot of the same people work the same booths at multiple conferences, of course! However, don’t spend ten minutes nodding sagely at a pointless sales pitch. Know when enough is enough, and get the hell out.

10. Make yourself visible – if you want to be

Ask questions in sessions. Talk to the speakers afterwards, Hell, talk to the people who asked questions. Try to remember names and faces and come up to them the next day with something from the previous one. Be active on twitter – interact with others. Ask someone you already know to introduce you to someone interesting. Introduce someone you already know to someone interesting. Buy someone lunch. Get bought lunch. Hang around an attraction and make yourself seem approachable. Stop standing in the corner staring at your feet and getting a headache from writing introspective blog posts about how antisocial you are. Just get out there and be social.

Jennie is currently trying to invent a cloning machine and/or time travel device. If it can do networking too, she thinks she’s on to a winner. She’s also looking for a new blog theme, if you know a good ‘un…

…entrepreneurs find any excuse to work outdoors instead of indoors. If only a laptop existed that wasn’t entirely unusable in a bit of sun, with an infinite battery, and with the ability to pick up WiFi signals from the middle of the Meadows.

Fortunately, I’ve been doing a lot of planning lately, and planning is something I do best on a piece of paper with a pen. Another important task that can be done outdoors is thinking; not to be underestimated in its value!

I’ve been thinking about data, see.

My Pavlovian association of “sunshine” and “Edinburgh” awakes a deep-seated belief in me that it’s somehow August. Which means Festival time. And what does the Festival mean to a sentiment analysis company? Why, tons and tons of data!

What I’ll dub the “Festivals problem” is an interesting one. Thousands of people. Thousands of shows. Thousands of opinions. Thousands of options. How do you unite the opinions with the people to define the best option for someone wondering what to see? Is this even a valuable piece of information? Do people like the pot luck aspect that you usually get? (Answer: yes.)

I mean, I’m never, ever going to forget the time I decided Doktor Cocacolamcdonalds was a good choice of show. Look, I’d vaguely heard of him from TV and the description sounded OK. But had I had access to even one review of the show, I would have saved myself an hour of excruciating torture and a tenner.

So I’m now beavering away on, let’s rename it, the Doktor Cocacolamcdonalds Problem. The DCP is defined thus: How do I get the opinions of everyone at the Festivals, crunch and process them, and deliver that back to Festivalgoers?

Stay tuned for the answer!