I’m a few weeks behind on posting about this, but several months back i was interviewed by BusinessWeek for an article that came out in a recent issue. The article, The Power of Us, was pretty good. Best part was the group of fans that I’d hooked up with the reporter on this story who were featured as the first page photo of the article. Sure, there were a few liberties taken with my quotes, but overall it covers the basic premise of what the Participation Culture is all about.
Here’s a quote from my part:
Likewise, groups online are starting to turn marketing from megaphone to conversation. LEGO Group, for instance, brought adult LEGO train-set enthusiasts to its New York office to check out new designs. "We pooh-poohed them all," says Steve Barile, an Intel Corp. (INTC ) engineer and LEGO fan in Portland, Ore., who attended. As a result, says Jake McKee, LEGO’s global community-development manager, "we literally produced what they told us to produce." The new locomotive, the "Santa Fe Super Chief" set, was shown to 250 enthusiasts in 2002, and their word-of-mouse helped the first 10,000 units sell out in less than two weeks with no other marketing.
