Marketing Junto - In Person Networking Is Back

This past week I went to more networking in person than I have in quite a while. I have to say, I missed it.

That being said, I was way more hyper-aware of crowds and groups. Yes, this is because of COVID. But now, that we're in the endemic stage of COVID, I'm feeling much more comfortable getting out there and chatting with people in the "meat space."

There Is Still A Place For Zoom Networking

With in person networking rebounding post-pandemic, I still think there's a real place for Zoom networking. Granted online is not the same. You never quite know how tall the person is until you meet them in real life, but Zoom networking is nice because there's no commute to get to the event.

Me and my buddy Chris Gittings. I had no idea he was that tall from Zoom. I'm 5' 11", he's 6' 3!

The Future Is Hybrid

The future of events are definitely hybrid, some on Zoom (et al.) and some in person. I think this is a good thing that came out of the pandemic. It makes meeting and networking more accessible to more people.

For example I met a creative director, who works for a US-based creative agency, but he lives in Baghdad, Iraq. I've met people from all over the world in business networking events, without having to travel. It's quite nice.

Do I enjoy getting out? Absolutely! But I've noticed something as well. The pandemic has made me more of an ambivert than an extrovert. I do love social interactions, but I have my limit. Before the pandemic I couldn't get enough.

It's amazing how things have changed.

Have you ventured out into the physical world for an event? How'd it go? Mash that reply button. I want to hear all about it.

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Web Jawn

• Twitter’s First Ad Revenue Share Payouts See Top Tweeters Earning Thousands of Dollars
  Ironic much? Musk refuses to pay his bills and severances to former employees, but is sharing ad revenue with top tweeter? Really? 😜
• Early Data Shows That Brands Are Seeing Good Engagement on Threads
  Of course they are. Brands are so happy to have a place that's quick to access (not Mastodon) and not toxic (achem... Twitter).
• How to Harden WordPress: A Basic Overview
  Ben Martin over at the Securi blog has a great overview of how to make your WordPress site more secure. I've been fighting an uphill battle with people saying WordPress isn't secure. It is if you keep everything up-to-date and follow some key tricks. In actuality anything is hackable if you're lazy about it. Just saying🤭.
• Google: Don't Change Your Redirects In A Week (If You Can Avoid It)
  Pretty much it boils down to don't be crazy with 301 permanent redirects. Make sure you know where they are going to redirect to in the end when you do the redirect. But realigning them isn't going to mess things up too much.
• How To Find the Right Sponsors for Your Podcast
  A good piece on how to find the right companies and brands to sponsor your podcast. It's not as simple as you might expect, but also not as difficult.
• Equality In Audio Pact: What Can It Do For Your Podcast?
  Seems reasonable. Doesn't it?
• Actors say Hollywood studios want their AI replicas — for free, forever
  Well that's crazy. That's the actors intellectual property. They need to fight for it.
• Roblox is coming to Meta Quest VR headsets
  As if it wasn't addictive enough. I can tell you one thing, my 10-year-old will not be getting a VR headset anytime soon. 😜
• Elon Musk launches his new company, xAI
  Anyone who works for Musk is either stupid or needs to get their money upfront. Musk has made a reputation for himself by not paying people.
• Dos and Don’ts of Promoting Your Podcast – PCI 354
  Some great tips in this episode!
• Sarah Silverman, novelists sue OpenAI for scraping their books to train ChatGPT
  This is only the start. OpenAI scrapes the Web. Regardless of whether or not what it is scraping is copyright-free or not.
• Google Bard is now available in the EU
  Fully compliant with GDPR to boot!
• Meta Threads engagement has dropped off since red-hot debut, tracking firms say
  Womp, Womp! 😋🥸🤣
• Why AI detectors think the US Constitution was written by AI
  This is hilarious 🥸. Doesn't bode well for these detection tools.
• Reddit removes years of chat and message archives from users' accounts
  Well that's kinda heavy-handed and probably will piss some people off. 😜

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- Seth

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