You find inspiration in many different places. I've been thinking lately about the role my blog plays in being a Community Server Evangelist and end up finding enlightenment in a mashup between
MAD Magazine and the novel
das Boot.
I'll begin with the insights gleamed from between the covers of
MAD Magazine for July 2006. Now where was that bit? Oh geez, the piece from MAD Magazine I was thinking about was an excerpt from the Blog of Superman! No, that's not what I was referring to. Here’s a sample of Superman's blog, "Low rise jeans, thongs and low-cut tops. My whole 'see-through anything' super power seems kind of like one big waste these days!"
No that wasn't it. It was a bit I read in
WIRED Magazine. The title of the WIRED satirical piece was "Your blog blows and here's why" (Page 30.) There were bullet points like the following: “You aren't kamikaze enough to risk your career by revealing the soul-crushing absurdity of your job,” which doesn't apply to me, and “You lack a diagnosed sleep disorder, minor substance abuse problem, mercurial temperament, and/or innate desire to alienate loved ones,” which is actually pretty close.
The impact of the five overstated positions in “Your blog blows” made me consider the cautious approach I've taken to blogging since joining Telligent. I am still adjusting to this magnetically levitated new world of the Telligenti, you see. I never declared, inferred, or was charged with the role of speaking for the company, but that's part of the gig. I should forget about those things and continue blogging as the huge Telligent and Community Server fanboy I’ve always been, who now happens to have the extraordinarily good fortune of greater access to the Telligent Team behind my beloved Community Server.
Which is where das Boot comes in. This novel (and motion picture, of course) is an existential World War II account about life on a German U-Boat. I've read the book before and decided to read it again during Beach Week 2006. It was written by Luther-Gunther Buchheim who himself served on a U-boat and captured the experience through his own eyes.
This is what people want from a Community Server Evangelist, I suspect. I know it's what I would want. I want to know about the world of Community Server and the machinery behind it as seen through the eyes of someone who has been on the U-boat. Not to compare Telligent Systems with a German U-Boat, but the services of a reporter writing the story of The Boat during a crucial moment in history is an accurate analogy of how I can serve the Community Server community with my blog.
So there it is. Look for more on-the-scene reporting with a dash of breakout bravado to prevent my blog from blowing. As a result, either something beneficial to the community will result or I'll soon be on the outside banging on the hull of the U-boat. And without Superman's see-through super powers, for sure!
[tags: Community Server, das Boot, Telligent]