MARGAUX ZION

I took a Direct Marketing class last fall. When the class came to learn about email list merge/purge, the professor asked the students to raise their hands if they had more than one email address. Then more than two. Hands went down quickly. I was totally ‘that girl’ who still had her hand up after five.

I am an [active] part of dozens of communities. Few have any commonality between them. Let me use the NYC Tech Startup Community and the Fashion Industry as an example: There are plenty of super awesome technology startups that cater to the super chic fashion business, but neither industry really needs to know the who’s who or shop talk behind either to function. Fashion people care about creative aesthetics, and techies speak in code [literally]. As a social communities professional, my job is to link apples to oranges, and I frequently ask myself: “Is it better for community leaders to be super knowledgeable about EVERYTHING, or to compartmentalize interests amongst different groups?”

I believe it is the latter. This is to represent the client fully, and to best serve the community under which the assignment commands. This of course is thrown out the window at networking events when to the fashion people, I somehow become the “tech geek” and to the tech lords, I am the “makeup artist.” It is neat to stand out against the crowd, but I do feel it is important in mass communications to stay focused and to provide the most relevant information to members of a community regarding a specific topic. 

So please forgive me if you stumble upon one email address from a business card or my Web site, and hear back from my 15 year old @aol.com account. [Yes, I do still use AOL Mail] This is your special corner of my world, and I want you to feel that you are getting 100% of my attention and love.