Comments on: Brand: Perception Trumps Reality

By: Ben Carcio

Ben Carcio — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:10:43 +0000

K – I love the name wiki smaht. Lets do it. – BC

By: Greg Bialecki

Greg Bialecki — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 01:14:50 +0000

Kel, thanks for answering my “top five” question. It gave me (and judging from the comments, others) a very tangible sense of what a new Boston/MA/NE brand could look and feel like.
I agree with Ben that a wiki would be an awesome next step. “A raw directory of wicked smaht people”. Excellent.
How do we do that?

By: Kel

Kel — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:49:30 +0000

ben, i always get jacked to see your comments. i’m totally down with why you think the list itself could be considered elitist. the catalyst for the list was comment #24 from my previous post. greg asked: “so tell us, who would be your top five nominees for massachusetts-based tech rock stars/gurus/celebrities who you would like to personify our tech brand?” i started to respond and realized this would make a great post. as you stated, i am as far from an elitist as there is on this planet. give me the underdog and i’m happy as a clam at low tide.

love your wiki idea. i think we should call it “wiki smaht.”

By: Ben Carcio

Ben Carcio — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:38:36 +0000

You’re 100% right on with the social media elitism! So Kel, the problem with your list is that even it’s finite, therefore exclusive, and might therefore be considered elitist. Which I know is totally not you. The flaw is in the social construct most of Web 2.0 uses, i.e. the “lists”, the “followers” or the “friends.” It begets elitism.

Maybe the problem with Boston is our tired social constructs, i.e. social clubs, business breakfasts, our universities, and even our sports teams. They’re finite and therefore exclusive.

I think something real needs to come from this great debate. Let’s re-brand us, by blowing up the social construct and create an open wiki-like directory of innovative folks who call Boston (New England) home. No finite lists, no membership, no top tens, no exclusions. Just a raw directory of wicked smaht people.

By: Kel

Kel — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:49:15 +0000

david, thanks for adding to this list. while i don’t know baba and dave, i think mike and sarah are a rocktastic fit. i think sarah is the bombdiggity! btw, i still haven’t gotten over your upcoming move to new york. thank god we’ll have the summer on the cape!

By: David Cooperstein

David Cooperstein — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:03:46 +0000

Kel, Kel, Kel…

First and foremost, you left yourself off this list. You are growing in stature by the day, as your client list will attest to.

But here are some other people to note: Baba Shetty, who is reinventing Hill Holliday; Mike Troiano, an extreme twitterer; Sarah Fay, who from Boston pretty much runs Aegis/Carat; and Dave Beisel who has gotten WebInno off the ground and made it a must-see event for entrepreneurs.

The rest of us just move on to New York