I just spent the weekend in Jacksonville Florida working with leading brand thinker, futurist and copy writing goddess Sally Hogshead. I also spent some time working with a leading Jacksonville agency on planning their web 2.0 strategy. In our discussions of the future, one of the recurring themes was what what does an ad agency of the future look like? And what services will it provide.
Then I read my feed from educational/learning futurist D’Arcy Norman, and he’s asking the same questions: only about organizations centered around higher learning. Call it synchronicity, call it karma- just don’t ignore it. Here is what was on D’Arcy’s mind about membership in professional organizations:
On the changing role of the Organization - D’Arcy Norman dot net
We talked about the issues related to membership in the organization for some time. Each time we discussed it, we came back to a single conclusion - we don’t need an organization to provide infrastructure to allow us to connect with others anymore. We are fully able to make these connections on our own, as we have been doing anyway. The informal, direct connections made between individuals are much more valuable than organizationally-fostered ones, at least in my experience.I really don’t think we need many of these organizations any more. It would be better to allocate the resources locally, while using these great “web 2.0″ tools and social networks to build connections. Maybe an occasional conference, more akin to Northern Voice than to these giant organizational conferences, in order to provide a venue for face-to-face interaction.
In an era of decentralization and individually generated and managed content, the role of the central organization should be changing. To what? I’m not sure. But it’s no longer necessary as a broker to connect individuals and groups.
Is the idea of an agency still relevant? Can teams of freelance talent give you better advice? Do we need physical offices to engage in the process of creating content in a digital world?
I’m not sure I have the answers anymore than D’Arcy is- but I do know that digital virtual tools can create connections more efficiently than ever before. And when you get to the heart of marketing- it’s all about making connections.
Excellent post, David, and one that raises some very important questions that just about anyone working in marketing should consider, at least amongst those who are more concerned about long term growth versus short term profits.
I can only speak from my own personal experience and observations, and after four years of being in business as a professional photographer in Dayton I’ve come to know the following:
1) My best prospects and customers have been almost exclusively those who came I contact with through my web site, my blog, e-newsletter, other online galleries such as flickr, or those who responded to something I snailed mailed such as a sample sheet or proposal letter. And just about all of those clients are located outside of the Dayton area. Just yesterday I had major publisher out of Cincinnati contact me regarding possible licensing of one of my images posted on my flickr gallery, which isn’t the first time that’s happened.
2) My first two to three years was a series of costly mistakes in clients I should have never taken on, selling myself short and money spent on local advertising. I’ve completely given up on the Yellow Pages. A lot of money with little to no return.
3) The only professional memberships that I now stay active with are national organizations that truly offer some bang for the buck when it comes to networking, discounts that actually pertain to my business, promoting my work, online support boards and education. There’s only three for me – Professional Photographers of America, ASMP and NANPA.
I can’t tell you how much joy it brings me to completely leap frog over the old style, local networks, as well as agencies. This would not be possible if it had not been for the opportunities presented by the internet. I’ve found that the new way of connecting and building business virtually eliminates all the subjective criteria and nonsense put in the way of the independent professional by local groups who tend to like to play “gatekeeper.”