Posted on September 12, 2008
Filed Under Business, Relationships, Video Podcasts

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One of the big myths floating around is that a person's position or title is comparable to their competence. Not always true! Like me, I am sure you can think of examples. Many choices in life really do boil down to personal preferences. "Who you know" really does matter, and that is not always a bad thing. This turned out to be relevant in a discussion I was having with several other women speakers. We are all going to be presenting at BlogWorldExpo next week, where there keynote speakers are all white male. It's an old issue, but one that is not all that easy to address. It is a combination of micro and macro energies in play. We have ideals we want to play out in the macro yet change happens in the micro of person to person relationships.

The majority of the time decision-makers go with the known quantity. This is seen by some as pandering by others as smart business to fill seats. Attendees too say they want something new, but are attracted to the known and familiar too. BlogHer is a women's blogging conference, and founder Elisa Camahort prides herself in pro-attractively seeking out new voices for each event. And BlogHer is growing and growing - priving that this too is a viable business model.

Are you more attracted to familiar big names or the chance to help discover new talent?

Hawaiian Word:
ʻike: experience, to see, know, feel

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Tagged: beach • beachwalks • blogworldexpo • change • equality • experience • hawaii • opportunity • position • Relationships • roxanne_darling • self-promotion • sexism • title • walk

Comments

5 Responses to “Beach Walk 686 – Does Experience Matter?”

Bob from Canada on September 12th, 2008 3:04 am

if you have ever been in a postion of needing to hire individuals to fill a particular postion you will find that experience may be the deciding factor....depending of course upon references and work history etal...new hires may never have worked in that certain enviorment and require extensive training etc...so the senerio you used with regards to keynote speakers may be relevent but it really depends on the issue/position if experence is the deciding factor

Katie on September 12th, 2008 3:33 am

LOL right there with you, Rox!!!!!

Susan and my dog Lexie on September 12th, 2008 3:55 am

Big names vs. new talent -- in the area of music, new talent (I'm thinking Cubworld here) can bring a whole new refreshing perspective to the table.

In the area of hiring for a particular job, I have always included attitude as a part of the package deal for truly the right person. When I applied for the tech position I'm in now, it was asked why I should be hired over the other (all male) candidates that had more background in the field. "Little fingers," I responded. That ability to fix things in super tight spaces tipped the scales, in the end

Rox on September 13th, 2008 10:15 pm

@Bob from Canada - I thought this topic could spark a little discussion. In your business, yes, experience definitely does matter. What I mostly wanted to call out, was the corollary - that just by stating you have a degree or have held XX position, does not automatically confer on you genuine ability. I am guessing we could agree on that.

@Katie - Nuff said!

@Susan and my dog Lexi - I love this story! We never know what will be the tipping point.

byteful-traveller on September 17th, 2008 3:05 pm

Experience vs. Freshness seems the issue here. It's been said that those with less experience also don't have the same limitations as those who are more experienced because they haven't been programmed as to what is possible. I think depending on the situation one is definitely better than the other.

p.s. If they wanted star power, they should have asked you to speak at a keynote, Rox. You're a star to me.