James RameyAt MacWorld, you see all kinds of people. You meet the tech gurus who were Mac before Mac became cool. You meet the excited n00bs who have just switched from PCs to Macs. You meet the iPods, the iPhones, the iPads who have embraced the portable lifestyle. You meet students curious about the future of technology. You meet parents who seek to instill their Apple heritage into the offspring. You meet the weird (and you know who you are). And every once in a great while, you meet the unbelievable. Its the latter that I wish to discuss.
To start, I'll be honest with you. I don't follow YouTube. I just don't. To me, YouTube feels like America's Funnies Home Videos with more videos of cats. I don't find YouTube incredibly informative, and I am not one to post video for others to bear witness (i.e. laugh at my expense). So its not for me, but it is for iJustine (www.ijustine.com) who's a YouTube super-star. While I had no idea who iJustine was when she visited our booth at MacWorld, the tens and tens of people following her around the show was a give-away that she's a 'somebody'. And she is a somebody. All she's managed to do is create her own YouTube channel with 1,018,779 subscribers (yeah, that's over a million). I'm pretty sure that the WB has shows on the air that don't get that rating. She's developing her own brand (one that is appealing to her subscribers), and she's becoming a credible Internet personality. (This is the part where I lament that I am so old and don't get how this whole technology thing works anymore). She's using her credibility to serve on Intel's social media strategy advisory board and work with Mattel and General Electric. While I still don't understand the YouTube phenomenon, I am realizing that social media can be important (maybe even critical) to brand management. Thank you, iJustine, this was an eye-opener for me.
So, I am willing to adapt; I am willing to learn; heck, I might even vlog (video blog) in the future. And while I am not yet obsolete, it was a real shock to me that its possible (even easy) to go the way of the dinosaur when you start ignoring emerging trends. Its a mistake I don't look to make again anytime soon. REALLY iJustine, 1,018,779 subscribers??? The WB needs your channel.
About James B. Ramey
James B. Ramey is the CEO of CodeWeavers. His life long love of video gaming started at the tender age of six with an Atari 2600 and evolved over time to include Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Apple Mac IIc, Windows PC, and MacBook Pro. When not fiddling with technology, James enjoys cooking, travel, debating politics in the office, and spending time with his wife, daughter, and their two rescue dogs. For the past 20 years, James has worked with clients around the world in best implementing technology to maximize a return on their investment. He is a graduate of Moorhead State University and earned his MBA from the University of Phoenix. You can find James on Twitter at @jbramey.