Not an Opera Connoisseur but LaRoche was Lovely

Posted by MsThorns on 04/19/2012
Posted in: Music. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

As a matter of fact I know nothing about opera other than what I seen on TV and what my parents told me as a child. I can name who I know on one hand, Marian Anderson, Leontyne Price, Kathleen Battle and Luciano Pavarotti. I’m not an opera hater, quite the contrary, I recall “fake opera singing” quite a bit as a child. I just never carried any enthusiasm for it into adulthood until now early one Sunday I watched with bleary eyes a community program on TV People to People which did a segment on a local opera production called LaRoche by Americolor Opera Alliance. The story was compelling, centered around Joseph Philippe Le Mercier LaRoche, the only black passenger on the Titanic. I called up my always game for something new girlfriend and we set out for LaRoche.

The Sights

The performance was held at Atlanta Metropolitan College in a classroom. The set was minimal with the chamber (musicians) seated diagonally from the state. The stage was soon lit up upon the arrival of the performers, who in the first scene of Act I were in a Haitian marketplace.

The Sounds

From the opening of Act I to the finale in Act III I really enjoyed all that I heard. The cast members all sounded beautiful in chorus in each of the scenes that featured choral type vocals. There were of course some really standout performances as follows:

Reisha Lauren, soprano – Ni Ni, flower vendor in the market place. Lauren had a beautiful voice and great stage presence Her range could probably break glass. I tapped my girlfriend and said “that girl can SANG.”

Timothy Harper, tenor – President La Conte, Mr. Futrelle, Father Byles. There was no raised seating in the room and I was seated behind some fairly tall people. When I heard his voice, I had to stand up and see from whom that sound was coming. His voice was really moving.

Marlyssa Brooks-Alt, soprano – Juliette LaFargue LaRoche. The clarity and strength of her voice was the perfect vehicle to portray the heartache Juliette must have felt as she first separated from her father to go back to Haiti with her husband, and when she separated from Joseph who went down with the ship.

Wendel Stephens, bass – Joseph LaRoche. Stephens voice was surprisingly beautiful. Not because I had an expectation that he couldn’t sing, but surprising because his voice had “boom”. I guess I expect a big guy to sound like that, yet he was a really average sized guy who produced a really big vocal which was fitting as the lead of the production.

Special Treats

This wasn’t all opera as it had elements of a stage play, parts of which were absolutely hilarious. The farewell dinner with the back and forth between the LaRoche servants as they mocked Madame LaRoche (Joseph’s mother) was dead on and Madame LaRoche had the aristocratic demeanor down pat. There was also a funny scene (if you can imagine) as the Titanic was going down between two drunken card players, who continued to “drink to that” as though the fun they were having at that moment was all that mattered.

Overall Impression

LaRoche was a perfect first timer’s Opera. The founder and director of Americolor Opera Alliance, Sharon J. Willis has done a masterful job at bringing opera to the masses in a palatable form, while telling a compelling story. That the company is primarily made up of persons of color made it all the more worthwhile for this first timer and has even piqued my interest to go hear more. What I’d like to see happen with the Alliance is growth and that growth can happen through sponsorship. As such if you’d like to know more about Americolor or become a sponsor, please visit their website.

Not a photographer and still don’t have a tripod

Posted by MsThorns on 04/01/2012
Posted in: Photography. Tagged: , , , , , . 2 comments
In my last post about the Nikon L105 I talked about how there is no full time image stabilization.  Nikon calls it motion detection and it is not available in the following situations:

  • When the camera is set to Fill Flash
  • When the ISO is set to a specific number in Auto Mode
  • When using multishot
  • When using these scene modes: Night Portrait, Dusk/Dawn, Night Landscape, Museum, Backlight
  • When using Sports Continuous mode
or when the subject is too dark or too far away, like the moon. Whew!

I haven’t tried to get the moon again at night, but lucked up on it this evening near sunset.  I know there was some camera shake because of the way I positioned myself on top of the car.  This is what I got:

 
A little fuzzy, but not too bad and no post-processing.

Think I may wait on the tripod a little while longer.

Not photographer but I may need a tripod

Posted by MsThorns on 03/27/2012
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a Comment

I wrote a post in February about my camera woes.  My Canon SX130is (point and shoot) suffered an injury and requires special care when in use, it is thank goodness, not completely broken. During the camera’s downtime, the backup camera a smaller less powerful was put in use for my daily photo-taking needs.  On a Saturday night whim I went into Target and rolled up on this:

for $89 bucks and the 15X zoom I figured, this was a no brainer.  My dad uses a Nikon DSLR, I liked it I figured I could get a baby one to meet my needs.  For the most part so far, it has. For the most part.
What I dig about it
The weight.  Some folk don’t like heavier point and shoots, I do.  The smaller camera’s like the A2200, though it takes some pretty smashing photos feels a little fragile in my hands.  The L105 is listed at 14.4 oz.
The Zoom
Is a 15X Wide Angle zoom.  Since I’m not a photographer I don’t know what all that means but I do know that I can be a bit further away from the object that I’m shooting and capture a nice image.
 
The Speed
Seems much faster especially when using flash.  The delay is not nearly as long as what I was accustomed to between shots.
It’s Simple
There’s really a ton of scene modes on the L105.  I’ve used them all with the exception of panorama.

What I didn’t care for

The Simplicity
For a person trying to learn photography and absolutely adamant about not purchasing a DSLR until she’s satisfied with her skills, the simplicity of the camera is a drawback.  The scene modes, though plentiful don’t allow you to change much.  I was pretty much accustomed to using AV and making adjustments.  On the L105 you can make a few adjustments in auto mode, but it requires several clicks through the menu to get what you want.
Image Stabilization or the lack thereof
I didn’t know that I had such a shaky hand until I went out to take pictures of the moon.  Image stabilization is not a full time option on the L105.  Only certain scene modes and Auto without full deployment of the lense have image stabilization.  I would think (can could be wrong for doing so), that full-time image stabilization should be standard on a point and shoot.
Macro
Is weird. There is an obvious macro button, but when used, the focus goes completely out of whack.  My shots in macro mode have been hit or miss.
Those three things aside, I’m fairly happy with this camera.  I do think because of Canon’s image stabilization I’ll likely switch back on the next purchase.  In the meantime I will continue learning/using the Nikon day to day and use the Canon, when I want to shoot the moon.

Not a Mergers and Acquisitions expert, but this gives me the willies!

Posted by MsThorns on 03/14/2012
Posted in: Social Media, Web/Tech. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment
I don’t know anything about websites, making them, coding them, hosting them or any of that stuff.  I’m just a blogger who needs to blog more and wants to be able to post content easily.  A few years ago on Twitter I kept seeing posts from this “dead-simple” blogging platform called Posterous.  I checked it out and loved it.  You could post by email, from a phone app or by web. So if the brilliant blog post came you could publish mind while in some random place, you could do it right there from our phone without even loggin in.  I went all in on Posterous and in 2009 purchased a domain name let Posterous do the hosting. Now after 138 posts I learn that they were acquired by Twitter.  Am I supposed to be happy about that?

Well I can tell you that I’m not.  Again as a blogger and not a tech person, the thought of having to move all of that content to another service just puts me in full freak-out mode.  I’ve done it twice.  Remember a service called VOX? Not an Expert started out there about three years ago.  They shut down and I moved it all to Typepad which was a mistake.  The service was just weird and seemed a bit old and limited so I moved again to WordPress, hopefully for good.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in love with WordPress either, but it’s not because the service isn’t good, it’s pretty feature rich, so rich that I can’t figure it all out.  Yet WordPress in the blogging world seems to be the standard and I thought it would be a relatively safe place to land.  That Posterous blog may land here too because I just don’t trust this acquisition.

Back in the stone age (the 80′s) during my first round of higher learning, Mergers and Acquisitions and “corporate raiders” were all the rage. They’d come in, rip up your company and sell the parts, basically killing it.  Here in the 21st century it seems that things haven’t changed much.  Just in my limited knowledge of the web and web-based companies, it seems that that old corporate raider style is en vogue.  A tech/social/web company gets gobbled up by the big boys some of the talent is retained but the product or service dies or morphs into something unrecognizable.

I am afraid that my “dead simple” posting days to Posterous will soon be over once Twitter gets fully hands on. I’d like to know what you think about the Twitter acquisition of Posterous.  Do you think the product will be improved or enhanced or are we witnessing what the guys below are talking about. Let me know in the comments.

h/t +Keith Wilson for inspiring this semi-rant

Not a photographer, but not exactly pleased with Canon

Posted by MsThorns on 02/27/2012
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . 4 comments
If’ you’re on Google+ you may know about my woes with my Canon SX130 is.  It’s a nice substantial point and shoot that I won back at the end of 2010.  I’ve taken a bazillion pictures with it and was working on the next bazillion when on Valentine’s Day it failed.
It kept cutting off and the lense wouldn’t collapse back into the body.  After being pissed about it for a few days.  I gave the camera a closer inspection and found that the battery door was cracked and wouldn’t close.
This is my fourth Canon point and shoot, the second with a battery door problem. Two Saturdays ago I took a chance at getting the camera fixed and stopped at Wolf Camera.  The salesperson said they don’t do on-site work, the SX130is was still so new that it was even listed in their service book and it would likely cost $200 to send out, which I thought was outrageous. She then suggested that I use duct-tape, proceeded to tape it up for me and also recommended another a repair shop to get the battery door replaced.
On President’s Day I went to Camera Repair Japan (CRJ) and a few days later they told me that Canon is not producing battery covers for this model and that they are only offering replacement cameras.  She like the lady at Wolf Camera recommended duct tape.
Friday I finally called Canon.  They told me that they are offering replacements for out of warranty models for $130.00.  I was like WHAT?  She also told me that there was a Canon loyalty program in which I could purchase another camera at a discounted price which included (all refurbs) the SX 120is, T1i, Rebel XS and T2i, but none of my current model.  Though I’d love an SLR I can’t justify that purchase right now due to my lack of knowledge (remember, not a photographer) and I just don’t have the cash.  I decided to roll with the duct tape or to hold the cover closed while taking pictures.
Then I went to Target.
There to pick up a new gym bag and socks I stopped in electronics and saw that my model was on sale for $99, there was also a Nikon on sale for the same price. The guy tells me the only $99 Nikon available was the display.
I walked out with the Nikon, like it so far and will discuss it in a subsequent post.
 
What rubbed me raw about the battery door situation was that Canon wanted me to buy a refurb for more than what a new one costs. Although the camera is just a point and shoot I do use it daily and want it to perform.  If it  doesn’t for whatever reason I really don’t want to go through a bunch of changes to get it fixed or replaced.
If it’s this difficult now, what will it be like be like when I plunk down DSLR change?
Photographers and hobbyists please weigh in.  What’s been your experience with Canon repair and replacement? Does it get better or worse as the price of your gear goes up?
Note: I am aware that Nikon is changing or attempting to change their policy which would prohibit local repair shops from receiving parts to fix their products.  What is going on with that?

Not a music jounalist finds heaven near the grind

Posted by MsThorns on 02/23/2012
Posted in: Music. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a Comment

The intention was to get a little walk, talk and look for a photo to post for the G+365 Project with a girlfriend of mine.  While looking for something compelling to photograph, across the street I saw some nice artwork on the side of a building.  I looked at the front of the building to see the name of the business which was Decatur CD.  Girlfriend and I decided we would stop in for a second on the way back to the office.

Why on earth did we do that?


The place gets no interior design points but it gets MASSIVE points for its music collection and the memories it invokes of the neighborhood record shops of old.  They have CDs and Vinyl which collectors will surely enjoy. What made me particularly excited was the jazz collection.  Being a worshipper of the Emperor Coltrane, the jazz section was my first stop.  A large portion of my Coltrane collection was on cassette, all of which was discarded over a decade ago with the intention of replacing these items by either recording to CD my father’s vinyl (which is massive) or re-buying everything on CD.  Digital was never an option for Coltrane as I MUST HAVE the liner notes to see the musicians and as well as the where and when of the recording. Low and behold two of my favorites (well they all are) were in the stack, Impressions and Africa/Brass.  Since I didn’t have sufficient funding I hustled my tail back to the office to get my card and went back to make the purchase.

The store owner’s sales records are decidedly old school, notebook and pen.  He said, “this is how we kept track of everything before computers.”  (He does have a credit card machine).  I’ve got no qualms with the way he keeps records as long has he has good music, I’m good.

If you’re in the neighborhood, go check out my man at Decatur CD and forget about leaving there empty handed.

 

Note: Africa/Brass was my first listening selection.  When I heard those first bass notes of the intro, I went into a FULL SHOUT in the car.

Not a Music Journalist but… What’s Going On With This Tribute?

Posted by MsThorns on 12/11/2011
Posted in: Music. Tagged: , , . 1 comment
Discussion of the show begins with a RANT.
Google Navigator provided the most convuluted directons known to woman for the Ferst Center at Georgia Tech.  I was in a full-blown panic upon reaching the venue, believing that I’d missed part of the performance, I was wrong.  The will-call line was out the door at 8:10 for a show that started at 8:00 pm.  Which leads to rant #2.  The show didn’t start until 8:44 pm AND they had run out of programs.  What you see in the photo was one I got from a guy sitting in front of me, who made me BEG, just to look at it.  Rant #3 having attended the show solo, I was in between a couple and a group of three dudes.  The male half of the couple, gave me a tongue lashing because my phone was too bright (I was using it for photos and notes).  This same guy had nerve to talk considering the blinding I received from his cornflower blue shoes.  The gentleman to my right, likely a student, was drunk or either hungover because he slept through the entire performance and was making some curious twitching moves while sleeping.
With all that you’d forget there was a show going on but there was, A Tribute to Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On?
Welcome/Master of Ceremonies – Harold Watkins, the founder of Invictus Productions (producer of the show) was living in Detroit when What’s Going On? was released in 1971.  He and his brother went to a local record shop and purchased the album, which he presented to he crowd to the sound of thunderous applause.   Watkins introduced the MC for the evening, Jamal Ahmad (pronounced Ahmed).  Ahmad hosts the Soul of Jazz on 91.9 WCLK in Atlanta.  It is his show, solely (in my opinion) that is responsible for exposing Atlanta listeners to the likes of Avery Sunshine and Julie Dexter. The show streams live and I highly recommend that you give it a listen.
What’s Going On? was performed in it’s entirety by Atlanta favorites (those who reside here and those that we love here).  Here’s how it went down.
What’s Going On? – The Darryl Reeves Group: Reeves and the band during first half of the selection played in an understated fashion.  If you didn’t know the song it was almost unrecognizable because the tempo was so slow.  Yet in the second half the band shifted gears building to what could be considered a sense of urgency.
What’s Happening Brother - Joey Sommerville: Sommerville is Mr. Atlanta Jazz, well known and much loved in the city.  I’ve never seen him perform but have heard him plenty on WCLK.  His performance of What’s Happening Brother was a rousing affair.  He pretty much got the crowd into full froth with his showmanship and playing.
Flying High In the Friendly Sky - Rahbi: First I had to get past the fact that the young man came out as bedazzled Marvin, with wings attached to his back – WHEW! I wasn’t close enough to get a good photo but his costume was reminiscent of this one.

 (via wearemoviegeeks.com) and was really out of this world.  Rahbi’s wings though were appropro, he gave a beautiful almost angeli falsetto on Flying High.
Save the Children - Julie Dexter: Atlanta’s own (via Birmingham, England) gave a jazzy but too short performance of Save the Children. As soon as she went into scat mode the song was over.
God is Love - Carmen Rodgers: is new to me, but may not be for you.  I had a hard time hearing her.
Mercy Mercy Me – The Darryl Reeves Group and Avery Sunshine: it is a shame, I am a fan and had never seen her live until now.  Her performance of Mercy Mercy Me, was beautiful, clear, massive, too massive for how short the performance of the song was.  In her brief appearance she lit up the stage.
Right On - Anthony David: they could not get David’s microphone right and as much as I dig him, his performance of this song was pretty dry.  He just didn’t seem into it and with the mic issues, I couldn’t hear him very well.
Wholy Holy - Kipper Jones: Lay people, like me would not know this guy, but he got his chops writing for the likes of Brandy and Vanessa Williams and was a session singer at Motown.  On this night however he blessed the crowd with his rendition of Wholy Holy and Jones took us to church.  He flat out SANG the song.
Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler) - Phonte: blue shoes sitting next to me, didn’t feel it but the crowd went back into frenzy mode. Phonte sang capturing the essence of Marvin.  He rapped, a verse from Foreign Exchange’s Be Alright (Connected 2004), he hyped the crowd and brought humor while reiterating the relevance of the album for 1971 and for 2011.  He gave a great performance and the only one that wasn’t shortened.
Finale – all performers were brought back to the stage for a reprise of What’s Going On with two surprise additions: Donnie who sang a sentence and made me hyperventilate and India.Arie who was last to bless the mic as we exited the theater. The appearance of Donnie and Arie left me wondering, how different would this how have been had they performed in the main line-up.
Overall the show was decent and not great or even good the album was performed to the specs of the original.  Outside of Inner City Blues and the Finale, the songs were not performed in concert time but in album time of which the original was around 40 minutes.  With the break for the MC in the middle, and remarks at the end the audience was leaving the venue at 10:00 pm.  There were some standout performances however short, from Joey Sommerville, Avery Sunshine, Kipper Jones and Phonte.  It was nice to hear Marvin’s music from a variety of artists in one place, however considering the importance of What’s Going On to multiple generations and it’s landmark status, the show missed the mark in terms of execution.
Did you attend the show in Atlanta? Has there been a tribute show in your city in which you were in attendance? If so let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Not a Music Journalist but… I Dig Mr. Nice Guy

Posted by MsThorns on 12/04/2011
Posted in: Music. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a Comment

Oh, today’s R&B singers should be so nice as Eric Roberson.  Now since I’m not a music journalist I can say without shame that I came late to this brother’s music in fact I started listening to him about three years ago.  The first song I heard by him was Softest Lips and I nearly  passed out when I heard him sing it LIVE about two ears ago.  But I digress.  Having added Left and Music Fan First to the collection Mister Nice Guy was a no brainer.  ”Erro” is a guy that really doesn’t require a preview of the album and Mr Nice Guy is no exception.   Here’s the track by track breakdown.

Mr. Nice Guy – Roberson is telling an old story about the good guy who never catches a break.  He contemplates just chasing the a** but decides to stick to his guns with the believe that the nice guy will find a nice girl.  The vocals sound effortless and the beat matches well with the content.
Strangers – The full circle of meeting someone, falling in love, breaking up and becoming strangers just like in the beginning.  The beat is bouncy, the organ and piano makes it feel “churchy”.  Roberson is singing a simple song that is catchy.
Summer Anthem – Never mind that I’m hearing this for the first time in December, it’s still a nice summer/happy jam.  Musically I’m transported to Change during Luther’s tenure. Chubb Rock has a verse on the cut and it’s just enough.
Come With Me – Um wow.  This is another “featuring” cut but the featured artists Yaw and Khari Lemuel are carrying this one.  So much so that I had to go and look them up.  Lemuel is the composer and is the featured vocalist on this song about hope and gratitude. In fact I have listened to this song four times.  The three vocalists together – beautiful.  This song is just too short.
Picture Perfect – This could be considered a Roberson standard.  This is HIS sound, tone, music and content as he waxes poetic about the perfection of a woman .  The inclusion of Phonte rhyming and singing, just brings it all home.  The video is pretty nice too.
Fall – Mr Nice Guy become Mr Lover Man.  The music and the vocal style betray, (or maybe not) the content.  The chorus says “we fall in love” but this sounds like seduction music.
Shake Her Hand – Love this little ditty about temptation.  The music sounds classic, puts me in the mind musically of Narada Michael Walden’s production for Chaka when she went out on her own.  Content wise, we are talking about Mr Nice Guy, so he took the advice of the wise man, shook her hand and walked away, because he’s got a woman at home. Hope that he has this one his live show.
The Magician – This sounds orchestral with the strings and a bit melancholy as he laments his inability to use his Roberdini skills on the ladies and puts me in the mind of something by Sting that I can’t quite recall right now.  Great fit of the sound and the story.
Love’s Withdrawal – You can call this “the sprung song”.  He’s fallen in love with his friend and can’t get his mind off of this woman.  Waiting on a call, a ring of a doorbell, dreaming about her.  Near the end, we get Omari Hardwick (I had to look him up too, he’s an actor) talking all kinds of lameness.  I suppose this cut right here is the one I could do without.
How Would I Feel? – The music is really secondary to the story in this case.  This man has gone into his woman’s diary, looking for something that he didn’t find and Jean Baylor (formerly of Zhane’) asks him how should she feel? Just dope.
Talking Reckless – Riding a nice groove as he sings about going out with his new flame, spotting his old flame with her new dude.  It’s an uncomfortable situation as he’s thinking about what used to be while looking at her.  He realizes that he needs to put those thoughts down.  This one can go on repeat, definitely.
At the Same Time – The beat puts me in the mind of Jill Scott’s The Way, which is all good since they all sort of came out of the same experience. A beautiful song about bad love timing.
Male Ego – A bouncy hip-hop beat with a great message, about letting the ego go and sticking with the one you’re with.  Hezekiah, a Philly emcee has two nice verses on this cut.  I’d like to say this is a good radio cut.
Try Love – This continues along the themes of Male Ego, letting brothers know that is okay to love and okay to express it.  Musically it has big modern percussion, with an old late 60s early 70s sound with the featured horns.  Another song that would be great in a live show.
All For Me – this is a beautiful pop song. The vocals, the soaring orchestration, the whole nine make this an academy worthy dedication song.  Hopefully he will be recognized for it.
The the musical styles vary, the lyrical content makes the album cohesive.  Mr Nice Guy will be in heavy rotation on all available music players in this house because it’s music that make sense, that sounds good and is good for the soul.  My hope is that with this release, Mr Roberson will capture a larger audience and be more appreciate for his musicianship.

Not a headset expert but the Backbeat 903+ was a fail

Posted by MsThorns on 11/25/2011
Posted in: Music, Technology. Tagged: , , , . Leave a Comment

In a moment of frustration and desperation with my iPhone 3G I ran to the AT&T store to pick up a new phone. I purchased some accessories while along with a new Android phone (so far a fail), one being the Plantronics Backbeat 903+ Bluetooth headphones. There were no plans to use them for talking, they were strictly to be used for listening to music through the new phone or anything else I could hook them up to.

The Good
The headphones were easy to connect to the handset, were fully charged within about two hours and were really comfortable on the ear and inside the ear. The sound is good and you can pause, skip forward/back, adjust the sound of the music and take calls from the headset. The transmit range is listed at 30 feet and it may be a bit more based on my usage. The very best thing about the Backbeat 903+ or any of its competitors is the freedom from a wire. I can’t tell you how many times I have hit that blasted wire and watched whatever music player I was using fly off the back of a treadmill, elliptical, etc. I highly recommended the 903+ for about two months, then November came.

The Bad
I need to play music for 1 hour and 15 minutes, that the maximum time I’d spend in the gym. For two months I could go in, run those headphones three days in the gym and charge them once a week. However when November came I’d charge the headphones on Sunday night, head to the gym Monday morning, listen to the headset lady tell me I have 7 hours remaining and withing 30 minutes of a treadmill run that same lady was telling me “battery level is low”, “recharge battery”. Understanding that the 7 hours is talk time, not listening time, I still couldn’t understand how I could go from 3 hours of listening a week or more between charges to 30 minutes. The malfunction was wholly unreasonable and an incredible fail for somebody who MUST have music in the gym because the music they play over the air is WACK. Well these headphones turned out to be wack as well.

To Be Determined
I called Plantronics customer service and of course the young man was surprised and said that he never gets calls about the 903+ (yeah right), however, he was helpful and efficient and today I transmitted documentation for a replacement headset as they are still within warranty. What is to be determined is whether the replacement headsets will perform for longer than two months. I hope they do because I really did dig them.

What about you?
Do you use a wireless headset? Which one(s)? How do you use them and have you had any failures? Let me know in the comments.

In the meantime, I’m rocking these Sony earbuds which sound great but leave my ears hurting when I take them out.

Not a Key Influencer but…

Posted by MsThorns on 10/01/2011
Posted in: Social Media, Web. Tagged: , , . Leave a Comment

 I read this post by Loic LeMeur, founder of Seesmic regarding Key Influencers.  The post came out around the time that Google+ was being opened to the public and at a time when some of the tech writers (at least the ones that I saw) and apparently those LeMeur knows and reads as well were throughly trashing G+ as an utter and complete failure and jump ship.  What I’ve thought about since reading the post is:

How much does the key influencer matter? What is a Key Influencer Anyway?

My first stab at social was in web forums and subsequently MySpace.  For what I was doing (writing) and with whom I was interacting I certainly had no idea what a key influencer was nor had even heard the term.  After moving to Twitter and finding a proper blogging platform, I still didn’t know who or what a Key Influecer was but stumbled on to some and start following them.  The bell finally went off that the key influencer was actually an early adopter in marketing speak.

Based on the Twitter experience, I found that key influencers definitely matter, some are quite helpful and provide a wealth of knoweledge that I otherwise would have had to dig around for on my own.  They save us regular users a lot of time because they see all the new/hot/useful stuff (and stuff that sucks) first and can help the rest of figure out if it’s worth our while to jump in or not.  It was after my experience with Google’s Wave and Buzz where I first saw what LeMeur calls the Influencers Verdict.

Google ChromeScreenSnapz015

 via loiclemeur.com 

I got in early on Wave and Buzz and thought I had arrived with the “cool kids”.  Though “not an influencer” myself I rode this same graphic, probably a bit later than the influencers and decided on my own that the two services sucked.  In fact Wave in particular was just beyond my understanding.  

Google+ is just latest stab at social that is riding the above wave.  I believe that the influencers have been important to its early success but I also think that the rest of are a bit more savvy as to how this social thing works.  Influencer groupies will leave when influencers bail.  The rest of us who dig it will stay and it’s us non-influencers that will keep G+ and whatever else that comes thereafter alive.