A long time ago in a former life (a.k.a. 10-12 years ago when I was living in another state and working in another job) I had this coworker named Mack. He was one of those guys who was great to work with -- helpful, friendly, funny -- just an all-around good guy. He was also a good customer of the business my mom owned and SHE thought he was an all-around good guy, so that means it is not just idle speculation or my opinion, it is a fact. A while back I stumbled across Mack on MySpace, but because I basically suck as a MySpace citizen, I didn't really do anything else. Then one day I was minding my own business and a coworker sent me a link to a post at 10,000 Marshmallows, a terrific marketing blog. The entry started off, "Mack Collier wrote today about why so many corporate blogs are, in a word, terrible." Mack Collier! I know him! I'm sure you can imagine all the "small world" discussion that followed.
The point is that this was the nudge that actually made me do something, so I subscribed to Mack's blog, The Viral Garden. As it turns out, Mack is a total smarty-pants when it comes to marketing. His blog does everything a blog should (a.k.a., what this one does not do ;)) -- it informs, makes me think, invites conversation, and expands the conversation by linking to an entire constellation of conversants. <--made up word for people who have conversation Through his blog he also maintains a list of the top 25 marketing blogs, and yes, his blog is right up there. When he isn't busy writing for his own blog, he's also contributing regularly to Marketing Prof's Daily Fix and Beyond Madison Avenue. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading what Mack has to say about marketing, brand, and community. Through his own writing and blogs I've found through his, he's already immeasurably and unknowingly helped me at work as I partner with our Being Known function (a.k.a., marketing) to launch our company blog.
So, if you have any interest in marketing, branding, The Donnas (I couldn't resist that, Mack), or building a community that is passionate about a topic, product or brand, do pay him a visit. It's worth the click, I promise.
(And yes, I just used up my a.k.a. allotment for the entire year.)
You must be a good friend... because you didn't call him "Mark" once!
Mack is a total smarty-pants... what a very nice valentine to him.
Posted by: Ann Handley | May 23, 2007 at 09:03 AM
This is why blogging is so cool, someone from rural Alabama that would otherwise have no voice whatsoever, can masquerade as a total smarty-pants on the internet ;) Thanks for the kind words, Tara forgot to mention that she is totally brilliant and I'm glad I found her blog, since we need more smart people blogging, right Ann? ;)
BTW I remember you left a comment on Daily Fix about reading that post didn't you? Because I wondered 'who is Tara and how does she know me?' lol Small world indeed.
Posted by: mcollier71 | May 23, 2007 at 11:36 AM
@Ann - funny, because I initially wrote something like "and no, that isn't a typo, I don't mean 'Mark'" but then I brought up The Donnas and I didn't want to make two inside jokes, so Mark bit the dust.
Posted by: onepinktee | May 23, 2007 at 02:15 PM
@Mack - it's a lot easier to masquerade as a total smarty-pants when you actually ARE a total smarty-pants!
Posted by: onepinktee | May 23, 2007 at 02:16 PM
Isn't it cute how the 'Twitter generation' leaves comments? ;)
Posted by: mcollier71 | May 24, 2007 at 12:08 AM
@Mack - you know, I did the @ automatically. Guess I'm really Twitterfied. :)
Posted by: onepinktee | May 24, 2007 at 08:07 AM