-->

I am late in writing this only because I had such a great day with my Daughters on Father’s day.  I wanted to write something about Father’s Day on the day itself, but truthfully we were all busy. So I doubt many would have read this piece. Now that the day is over please take a minute and read what I have to say here.

What Dad’s say when the their children aren’t around is different than when

children are in the presence of their fathers. When my Dad worked in a manufacturing plant, every once in  a while I would get to visit him at his place of work. And every-time I did I would be introduced to his co-workers, or his boss and every time they would look at me and say something like, “So you’re the guy John is always talking about”, or re-tell some tale about me that was either half true or not. My Dad had a penchant for story-telling and fortunately I was  often part of the story. The story was often only half-true, but because I was held up in some glorious light, I  rarely disagreed.

Today, we can all tell tales and true stories about our children  on social media channels. Blogs, Twitter, and Facebook has allowed us to let others become much more familiar with our children and their activities, triumphs and God forbid, failings. We can brag about their baseball games, put up video of that great basketball shot, pictures of their regal prom outfits, and their cute smiles and hammed up poses. Everyone gets to see who they are and what they’ve done.

In my case not too many escape a full-blown description of the great

accomplishments my children, their artwork or their prom dresses. Everyone who asks get’s an earful about how well they are doing. Just this evening a Facebook friend, who I met professionally (before we were FB friends) asked me about my daughters, probably because she can follow me and their accomplishments on-line. Would she otherwise know much about them? Probably not. Not because she doesn’t care, but because we rarely see each other and would likely stick to business topics in the little time we had.

So let me say this about my Father’s Day. I had a great time. It was so nice to just sit and talk and eat cheese, and listen to music and have a genuine good time. My daughters have grown up to be such beautiful and smart people. They care about the world around them, they have opinions about politics, art, food, wine and the things that make life joyous and interesting. They ask for my opinion on things, and they get it, even when they don’t ask. They may be defensive from time to time about my opinion, as I was with my Father, but I know as Dad, I must express my opinion and perhaps somewhere down the line, the may say to themselves, “Hmmm, I think Dad was right”. Or, in the very rare case I am wrong, point that out too.

How we Dad’s talk about our kids hasn’t really changed that much. We are proud and happy about them. Where and how it happens has merely changed.

For Father’s day, they gave me three really great gifts. First they drove two hours to see me. That was gift number one. Usually when I see them, it is in the presence of my extended family, their mother, their friends, or their boyfriends. I relish and adore having them all to myself. Second, they gave me a really cute picture album filled with pictures of them and my family, mostly from recent years, but with empty spots to fill with more pics. And finally, they let me buy and prepare dinner for them. Yes, I know we all think kids should cook for their Dad’s on Father’s day, but my girls know better. The know the best gift they could give me was letting me do what I love to do, which is to cook them a meal they will love.

Happy Father’s Day Lauren and Sarah. Your charm, honesty, love and happiness makes me a Happy Dad!

So many of you are sitting in your office or at home wondering what Twitter is all about. Yesterday, Oprah opened her twitter account and will probably have over a million followers very shortly. She will probably get to one million followers faster than any Twitter user out there. If Oprah is doing it it must be right.

Seriously, is this hype about Twitter worth it? What is the business case for Twitter or and other social media tools? Is it worth the time and effort for business, large or small to have a presence in the world of social media? If you know me or work with me in any way, you will know that I have embraced this world of social media, because I think I see something compelling and interesting coming down the track. Are you convinced yet?

I am convinced. I am convinced that social media and the many forms of interactive communication we have yet to see or conceive is one way, perhaps the dominant way people will get information in the future. There are many trends and cultural reasons why this will occur. Many of them are outlined in the book I recently read, Grown Up Digital, by Donald Tapscott (and is reviewed here). The NetGeneration is different. If you have teenage and young adult children like I do, I don’t have to tell you that your children are different, and every generation is, however the way our children have grown up is different than the way Baby Boomers or even GenXers have been impacted by technology or media. The world is different and changing fast… very fast.

It would be easy to dismiss it with a hmph, and say, “this isn’t for me”, but if you are in business, and you expect to grow and attract new customers, assuming your new customers are under the age of 40, then you need to wake up to the changing landscape. Throw away the assumptions of marketing, communication and how to reach your customer. Yes, some of the old ways will still work and reach customers, but I am going to place my bets on a younger generation that will hopefully “buy” my authenticity and willingness to embrace their generation and their ideas. Maybe this is my way of avoiding growing old.

Over my next few blog posts, I will spend time looking at Tapscott’s eight norms of the net generation and see how they impact business. I hope you learn from my research and curiosity. For a preview, here they are:

1. NetGeners want freedom in everything they do, from freedom of choice to freedom of expression.

2. NetGeners love to customize and personalize: NetGeners want to be able to customize all their “stuff.” After all, that is what NetGeners have grown up with.

3. NetGeners are the new scrutinizers: NetGeners are, perhaps, the most skeptical generation ever. When they can look up anything on the Internet, they will. There is little you can put past them. NetGeners are only harnessed by their desire.

4. NetGeners look for corporate integrity and openness when deciding what to buy and where to work.

5. NetGeners want entertainment and play in their work, education and social life: NetGen wants their lives to be entertaining and fun, not only when they are home, but also in the workplace and everywhere else they go.

6. NetGeners are a collaboration and relationship generation: The NetGeners want to collaborate on everything. Think of their participation in texting, communicating, gaming and all things Internet. Social sites are all about generating cooperation and teaming up.

7. NetGeners have a need for speed, in everything: Again, re-telling stories about dial-up service and other inconveniences of the early net age are not interesting to the NetGen group.

8. NetGeners are innovators: NetGeners want the latest and greatest innovations. NetGeners want to work for companies that are interested in innovation and can deliver.

Watch for my analysis of each of these norms over the next few months. If any of you have an opinion about this topic, please provide a comment or get a hold of me directly.