The Media Game
Wow, it's been 4 months since my last post. I'm getting lazy...
For the last couple of months, I've been getting quite some media coverage on my work (mostly in Canada), and I wanted to talk a little bit about it.
Over the last 3 or 4 years I appeared no less than 250 times all over America, and the crazy part is, it doesn't feel any different than appearing zero times. And let me explain why.
I've been working with Comunidad IT / ComIT for 8 years. Besides that, I had some media coverage while I was working at Microsoft.
Truth to be told, since I was younger (because I still feel pretty young), I've had the chance to understand that media is just a way to communicate what you do, what you love, in the same way that I'm writing this blog.
This doesn't mean that I don't value media. I love the chance to tell my story, to tell people about the work that I do. But not because of some narcissistic feeling, like many other people have. I understand that in order to have a bigger impact in this world, you have to communicate, and in order to do that, you have to do it through the media. So I truly value them, but I understand that you are not a rockstar because you get coverage. You are a rockstar because you are having an impact. And there are many rockstars in this world with no media coverage whatsoever.
There is a saying that not all heroes wear capes. And that's absolutely true. Many people are changing the world as we speak without anyone talking about it. Media amplifies your message, and allows you to get to a lot of people who can benefit from what you do. You can even inspire many and so multiply your work. But appearing on media doesn't validate what you do, as many think. Appearing on TV doesn't make what you say true, and politicians are a good example for that.
I've been myself for 38 years. I've never received an award for my work. Never.
I live in a place where people love their awards. The chamber of this and the chamber of that give awards to almost everyone (not me). I lived in Buenos Aires where we were finalists for a number of awards, and dozens of projects that no longer exist, or that never had 10% of our impact, won awards. And you know what? None of those lost awards validated our job. The thousands of people getting jobs did. And as for the rest? Well, they have really nice awards at their offices, reminding them of when they had their 5 minutes of fame.
So, to summarize, always remember what validates your work: your real impact in this world.
Not media, not awards. Your impact.
For the last couple of months, I've been getting quite some media coverage on my work (mostly in Canada), and I wanted to talk a little bit about it.
Over the last 3 or 4 years I appeared no less than 250 times all over America, and the crazy part is, it doesn't feel any different than appearing zero times. And let me explain why.
I've been working with Comunidad IT / ComIT for 8 years. Besides that, I had some media coverage while I was working at Microsoft.
Truth to be told, since I was younger (because I still feel pretty young), I've had the chance to understand that media is just a way to communicate what you do, what you love, in the same way that I'm writing this blog.
This doesn't mean that I don't value media. I love the chance to tell my story, to tell people about the work that I do. But not because of some narcissistic feeling, like many other people have. I understand that in order to have a bigger impact in this world, you have to communicate, and in order to do that, you have to do it through the media. So I truly value them, but I understand that you are not a rockstar because you get coverage. You are a rockstar because you are having an impact. And there are many rockstars in this world with no media coverage whatsoever.
There is a saying that not all heroes wear capes. And that's absolutely true. Many people are changing the world as we speak without anyone talking about it. Media amplifies your message, and allows you to get to a lot of people who can benefit from what you do. You can even inspire many and so multiply your work. But appearing on media doesn't validate what you do, as many think. Appearing on TV doesn't make what you say true, and politicians are a good example for that.
I've been myself for 38 years. I've never received an award for my work. Never.
I live in a place where people love their awards. The chamber of this and the chamber of that give awards to almost everyone (not me). I lived in Buenos Aires where we were finalists for a number of awards, and dozens of projects that no longer exist, or that never had 10% of our impact, won awards. And you know what? None of those lost awards validated our job. The thousands of people getting jobs did. And as for the rest? Well, they have really nice awards at their offices, reminding them of when they had their 5 minutes of fame.
So, to summarize, always remember what validates your work: your real impact in this world.
Not media, not awards. Your impact.
Comments
Post a Comment