Portland-based Jive Software has been all over the blog world as of late with their release of Clearspace 2.0. But that’s not the only place they’re turning heads.
Jive’s Chief Marketing Officer, Sam Lawrence, has rapidly become a social-media phenom on Twitter and on his blog, Go Big Always (which coincidentally uses the same Justin-Kistner designed WordPress theme that adorns Silicon Florist).
Now, Portland’s Marshall Kirkpatrick is hinting that Lawrence may be the next Robert Scoble, given how readily his social media presence jumps to mind:
When we asked for examples of people doing this kind of work well on Twitter, the first name that flooded our replies inbox was Jive Software’s Sam Lawrence.
For those of you unfamiliar with Scoble, Kirkpatrick provides a short and sweet primer:
Robert Scoble blazed a big trail by blogging and producing video as a technical evangelist for Microsoft from 2003 through 2006. No longer at Microsoft, Scoble now produces media for media’s sake at FastCompany.tv. Others have followed his lead, knowingly or not, and job titles like “social media evangelist” are no longer nearly as rare as they used to be.
As for me, I’ve seen the power of Sam’s influence in a variety of media. And it continues to grow on a daily—if not hourly—basis. His bursting on to the social-media scene has been nothing short of explosive. And I continue to be impressed with his growing influence and impact.
That’s good for Jive. But it’s also good for us here in the Silicon Forest.
We could be witnessing the emergence of another true A-Lister, right here in our own backyard. And that, gentle reader, could be huge for the Portland startup scene.
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Saying Sam is the next Scoble does him a disservice. Sam is more clear, succinct, and thought provoking – IMHO. Sam’s tweets are less about where he is at the moment and more insightful to creative trends and developments.
For me, I’ve unfollowed Scoble and I pay close attendion to what @samlawrence says. In addition, I frequently look at his blog for words of deeper wisdom. (as I do here too Rick!)
[…] Wow. Two Scoble mentions in one week. Who’d of thunk? (For those curious types, the other Scoble mention.) […]
[…] room for lots more Scobles. I thought that a comment made on Silicon Florist’s post about all this was worth thinking about. The fact that Scoble was an insider at a household-name […]
any way for the rest of us to use the Justin Kistner WP theme????
@Aaron Good points. I’ve just been pleasantly surprised by how quickly Sam seems to have taken to this role.
And while there’s no denying that Go Big Always has really good momentum right now, you’re absolutely right: it’s within a relatively small population.
But I remain optimistic, for Portland’s sake.
Sam seems like a good social media evangelist, but I think calling hime the next Scoble is a stretch. As much as I love Jive, the reality is that most folks have never heard of them. The fact that Scoble was an insider at a household-name megacorp was a big factor in his rise to “stardom”