Blogger interview – Chris, ‘Man with Ideas’
I met Chris recently in London. We seem to have similar views on life and social media possibilities, but Chris is braver than me – he is full of ideas and energy to actually turn them into profitable projects. Currently, he seems to be carefully looking around to find the best industry for himself, which as a student is a great proof of his long term thinking. Great fan of Seth Godin, very open and positive thinker, Chris just started his blog, giving me excuse to interview him;)
Syl: ‘Man with ideas’ is this your brand? What is the origin of this approach?
Chris: Well the idea came when people started asking me what I do, as it’s hard to define myself I wanted to have a universal “branding” and that’s how “The guy with ideas” was created.
Syl: You have just started a blog. How do you feel about it? What convinced you to write it?
Chris: I have been meeting a lot of already successful bloggers and read a lot of blogs on various subjects.It’s an interesting and dynamically growing field which in my opinion will have a growing impact on lots of industries as it provides a pure word of mouth reviews and spreads very quickly.
Syl: Do you have any other presences online? You are on Twitter, somewhere else?
Chris: I use most of the BIG social media tools like FaceBook, Linkedin, YouTube, FriendFeed, Meetup etc. and each one of them has a different purpose and usage.
Syl: How does the blogging change your perspective on social media presence? Does it affect your personal/offline life too?
Chris: I got involved in social media because of the great connections aspect. It still amazes me how many interesting and interactive people join social communities and share information. For me it’s the best way to grow both on and off-line.
Syl: I have met you in one of the London social media meet ups. What is your view on offline networking?
Chris: Networking has become a very intangible word. It’s hard to define if networking is effective because it depends on the venue and types of people that get together.
For networking to be truly successful the people who meet and the topic around it should be as close together as possible. In other words, a bunch of random people meeting, talking and exchanging cards is hard to succeed.
Syl: What is your experience with social media? I think you have mentioned a project around educational usage of social media?
Chris: Yes, I was involved in a marketing campaign for my university and used social media as one of the tools. It’s a field which I really got involved with about 7 months ago and it completely changes the way I approach online relationships. It shapes the way people communicate nowadays but is still considered unnecessary for business.
In my view, it has great potential for business because when you think about it, business has always been about people getting together and exchanging goods or services.
Syl: Do you plan to attend the MediaCamp in December? (one of the main topics is social media and education)
Chris: Yes, I am planning to go there as I have been on the previous one and learned about LinkedIn which helped me tremendously in networking. So I am looking forward to meeting new social media enthusiasts and learning the cutting edge technologies as they evolve so rapidly.
Syl: You are Polish, so I guess I should not ask about what associations you have with our homeland, but I would like to ask you about your three words that come to your mind when you think about UK based Poles:)
Chris: Hard-working, motivated and curious.
Syl: Do you network with local Poles engaged with social media as well? Would you like to? (it is one of the goals of Bar Mleczny)
Chris: Because I study and temporarily reside in the UK I didn’t get a chance to get engaged with Polish social media. However, it would be an interesting experience to see their side of the technology.
Syl: Do you attend Polish events in the UK?
Chris: No, because my reason for coming to the UK was to get to know the British culture while studying, improve my language and engage with other students. I did go to those events back in Poland 🙂
Syl: What is your favourite Polish and British dish? Do you cook?
Chris: Yes as a student I have to cook 🙂 Favourite Polish meal: most soups like Barszcz, Zurek, Rosol
Favourite British meal: fish & chips 🙂
Syl: If we were to organise a social media event for local Poles would you be up for it?
Chris: Sure, I am always up for meeting interesting people and it does not matter where they come from.