Rick Short shaving my head for charity
So why Blog? Whatever I choose to call this thing that you are currently reading, it's a Blog. But what is its purpose? I was persuaded to think about doing it in a taxi in Taipei last year by my friend and colleague Rick Short. "You should write a Blog." said Rick. I value Rick's opinion, as he is globally regarded as one of the gurus of Web 2.0 B2B.
I was resistant. I've never been fond of the term 'Blog'. It's a single undignified syllable that, to my mind, is redolent of some guy living with his parents "typing [if I may borrow from the Beatles' Eleanor Rigby] words that no-one will read". I got the B2B thing: that people in electronics manufacturing may want to read about aspects of technology, and if I use the right buzzphrases, they can Google "die-attach" or "solder" or other terms and I will get some clicks that will lure them here to find out more about the technology, products and process understanding that Indium Corporation is able to offer them.
My initial vision was of a place where I could put down things that I have learned about Power Semiconductor manufacturing and useful links and presentations and papers, without even a picture of me. "Just the facts, ma'am."
My boss, VP Ross Berntson, and one of the smartest people I know, was insistent. "You can't just have a library of information!" I was hesitant. I am a technologist, and I thought I would get value out of such a Nexus, so I went back to Rick and asked him why he needed my picture on it and why my fellow Bloggers had odd postings about cars and fishing and things non-electronics-related. "Because," said Rick "nobody wants to talk to Indium Corporation". "?????" [I think those were my exact words]. Rick explained "Andy, NOBODY wants to talk to INDIUM CORPORATION. They want to talk to a person."
This was my epiphany.
He's right, of course. You don't want to talk to Indium Corporation. You want to talk to Paul Socha and Rick Short and Amanda Hartnett and Jim Hisert and Jordan Ross and Tim Jensen and Mario Scalzo and Dr Ron Lasky and tap into their wealth of knowledge and maybe buy them a beer and ask them how their family is doing.
My email is top left: mine's a Guinness: family is doing great…. And how can I help you solve your technical problem? Cheers!
Andy