Thank You Wayne Hurlbert
10/21/2013
My mind is still a jumble of thoughts. My heart wounded and broken. I've written this post a dozen times in my head but nothing seemed quite right.
So, I decided to go in a direction that he would have liked. To tell the story in a way that will help others understand what matters in this world we call social media.
Last week when I was walking Max I popped into email and a message from Marianne Richmond almost caused me to drop my iphone (again!). The social web was a buzz with the passing of a dear and much admired gentle soul -- Wayne Hurlbert. Who was Wayne Hurlbert?
In my world ... Wayne and his mom were Max's orignial social fans. Wayne was one of my first BBFs (best blogging friend). I called Wayne (along with Paul Chaney) a true gentleman of the social web.
Questions -- Can you call a person you never shared a meal, had coffee with or met face-to-face a "friend?" Perhaps there were phone calls, Skypes and emails. However, can you build a "real" relationship when a significant part of your exchanges are on the social web in blog comments, tweets, Facebook posts?
Many folks will remember Wayne for his innovative music tweets and and art posts.
For me, Wayne and I shared another passion. We believed that blogs, and then social networks, could impact the way business could be conducted with honesty, openness, and transparency.
- Did you notice those are the words (honesty, openness, transparency) used when describing the blogoshere? - Wayne Hurlbert
One of Wayne's core business beliefs was the importance of business ethics. Several times he graciously shared his views with me to include in Diva Marketing.
I had the honor of being Wayne's first guest on his acclaimed BlogTalkRadio show, Blog Business Success. It was Wayne who encouraged me to launch a BlogTalkRadio podcast. Wayne, along with Jeneane Sessum, were my first guests on Diva Talks with the show The Ethics of Social Media.
- Every action that you take and everything you do should be made with fair treatment helping others in mind. - Wayne Hurlbert
Wayne also kindly contributed his thoughts about ethics to Social Media GPS an eBook I wrote based on 40 Twitter interviews. In Chapter Four, Social Ethics, Wayne and Mack Collier answered this question: Ethics in business is the hot news topic. In SM we struggle with what is black, white and gray. Why is that?
- SM is about trust&trust must be earned. Once lost trust is hard to recover. In SM there is no second chance to recover it. - Wayne Hurlbert
- Using tricks & tools to get more SM followes may add numbers but without engagment&trust, raw numbers mean nothing - Wayne Hurlbert
Ironically, the last question I asked Wayne on our BlogTalkRadio show was -- What do you want people to say about you after you write your last post or your last tweet?
- That I helped people as I set out to do when I orignally started my post. - Wayne Hurlbert
His response underscores what his friends know to be true. Thank you Wayne for the help you selfishly gave keeping true to your philosophy of putting others first.
And I suppose that brings us full circle to the question can you create "real" relationships in social media? The relationship I shared with Wayne touched my heart and added value to my life. It doesn't get much more real than that girlfriend.
Note: 10/24 8p Eastern BlogTalkRadio will host a tribute to Wayne.
