Yeah - I'm the boss....

Every time I begin to get self absorbed in my own importance, reality jumps in and kicks my arse.

Companies that have grown from 1 to hundreds of employees have the same origin stories - all nighters in austere offices. Caffiene and sugar to keep going. the CEO, President and janitor all being the same person.

Simuality has grown from two guys in an unfinished office to 12 full time employees with private offices and hell, I even have a fancy Tassimo coffee machine in my snazzy private office - I have a title and a company credit card ..... and last night at 11pm I was emptying garbage and working late.

It really brought home a few basic facts - my fancy office, title, credit card, and coffee machine mean very little.

In the beginning there were 2 of us, now there are 12 - each and every one as important as the other - as important as the "Managing Director" of the company.

Without each person sitting at their desk - open office or private - and doing everything they know to the best of there ability - well beyond the commitment required of an "employee" or "owner" we would not have gotten to this point.

I neglected to mention that while I was at work until midnight last night - I was not alone. Without being asked or directed, without coercion or promises - simply being there because the work had to be done were "employees" and "the boss" - each of us needing each other to get the job done.

As I write this blog today I have received word that we are about to close on a couple of pretty big jobs and receive a major chunk of financing - we are on the cusp of hiring a bunch more people, on the cusp of organizational charts and work flow process and management lines. On the cusp of having enough people in the office where communal group lunches will no longer be the norm - where the private office and title "Managing Director" may become intimidating to the new hires who I don't chat to on a daily basis, who I don't sit down to lunch with or share a bag of chips with on a daily basis. On the cusp of being a company with shareholders and directors and boards and corporate travel accounts and all other perks and obligations of a larger company.

On the cusp of ocassionally thinking that I am a big shot, full of self importance and hot air.

I hope, that when we cross that threshold and I get those airs of granduer, that I remember last night, remember that each person in the company brings to it value and promise and mostly remember that a title, a private office and such does not set me apart.

To those who have helped us get to this point and to those who will help us from this point - thank you. Without all of you we would not be who and what we are.

Advertising is DEAD

At least advertising as we know it. One of the things I like most about what we do here is the ability to look at the big picture - perchance to dream really big. Today was one of the days when big thoughts started metamorphizing into big actions.

I have been reading about the closure of Pontiac's Motorati Island in Second Life - closed not because the development was unsuccessful. Rather it was closed because that segment of that advertising campaign ended. This is what kicked of the BIG THOUGHTS.

Advertisers push advertising on consumers - they interrupt their television viewing, add wasted pages to magazines and newspapers and disrupt radio programming. They force product messages onto the consumer hoping that if they throw enough at them something may stick.

This is not how a relationship works. Advertisers want the consumers money. Oh yes, they "sell" products in exchange for our money - but all too often the product is pushed on the consumer.

Advertising as we know it is a combination of showmanship, creative trickery, presentation and simple appeal to our avarice. All of it pushed on the consumer.

This one sided relationship is heading for divorce - we already see the signs. Newspapers are closing down for lack of revenue, TV ads are routinely beeped over or Tivo'd into oblivion and podcasts, Ipods and sattelite radio is decimating radio advertising. A recent Yankleovitch study shows that only 25% of US consumers trust ANY form of conventional advertising.

So what is the BIG THOUGHT?

Like any relationship, advertisers need to learn a bit of give and take. They need to learn to be good corporate citizens, good community builders. We hear the rumblings of this need in terms like "social marketing" an "Long tail marketing".

The time has come to move to the next generation of advertising - in fact beyond advertising. The time has come for corporations to build relationships with consumers - but this time really mean it, not just say that they want to build relationships but start doing it.

Shelve the short term strategists, tell the myopic bottom line bean counters to look up and shake a potential new customers hand and get to know them. Get the fancy MBA business managers to stop crunching numbers and start conversing with consumers. Give back to the community and start creating a mutually advantageous future.

The extrusion of this BIG THOUGHT is the role of Simuality in this new post advertising world. We are no longer second life developers or virtual world consultants - we are community makers, relationship councillors and marriage brokers.

Simuality will go back in time to create a bright new future, blending technology with the old concept of community. Using Second Life and other Virtual Worlds, combined with new Internet methadologies and technologies, we will work with corporations to create electronic based (but not limited) communities that focus on the creation of a mutually beneficial relationship between corporation, product and consumer in a harmonius and gowing community relationship that encapsulates the best elements of give and take.

We have already built two strong communities that have outlined our new philosophy and welcome you to visit them at www.avatrait.com (if you love art) and www.slmannequin.com (if you are into fashion).

New Year, New Blog

Over the past few years I have wondered why anyone would keep an open journal for the world to see - until I actually started looking at some of the better blogs.

The amazing insights into processes, companies and operations, as well as the fascinating depth of personality and personal insights has in my readings made dead dry compnay web sites spring to life with the vibrant anecdotes of people.

So I decided that each employee of Simuality should blog. We are a company, but a company is only as good as the individuals involved, good bad and in the middle.

I hope that this blog, and the blogs of other Simuality people will provide our clients, competitors and friends an insight into a vibrant, exciting and diverse group of people who seem to enjoy coming together to create something bigger than all of us - a company poised to leap into the new year, the new age with enthusiasm, creativity and a lot of fun.

Welcome to Simuality - and to my blog.

Antony