http://www.davidleeking.com/2009/09/22/rethinking-the-3rd-place/ David Lee King is the Digital Branch & Services Manager at the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, where he plans, implements, and experiments with emerging technology trends. He has spoken in the U.S. and Canada about emerging trends, website usability and management, digital experience planning, and managing techie staff, and has been published in many library-related journals. David writes the Internet Spotlight column in Public Libraries Magazine with Michael Porter. David maintains a blog at http://www.davidleeking.com Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:38:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.davidleeking.com/2009/09/22/rethinking-the-3rd-place/comment-page-1/#comment-22743 Rob Banks Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:17:08 +0000 http://www.davidleeking.com/?p=1283#comment-22743 Hi Kevin. Great to hear from you. By the way, it was fun to see the picture of you and Linda at the SC booth. Wish I could have been there. I think you make some interesting points that actually mirror my experiences fairly closely. The online stuff was OK but it just didn't click for me until I figured out that it provided me a way to keep in closer contact with my face-to-face friends when we weren't together. Since I typically see my group of friends about twice a year at conference, there were long stretches of time that I basically lost touch with them. Now with the online stuff, we share pictures, send messages, sometimes profound but generally not. I feel closer to them. Those connections allowed me to get some experience of the NBF without being there. I also watched broadcasts on BookTV. All of which helped. I could have experienced it in person, which would have been best. Schedules and finances didn't allow that. By experiencing it through the eyes of friends I had a different level of interaction that gave me a sense of connectedness that wouldn't have occured otherwise. In my opinion, that happened because I had already formed relationships with the friends. They were trusted sources and known quantities so that I could easier imagine the context for comments and pictures. This allowed me a more personal view than I would have recieved from typical broadcasts. Even the tweets of people I didn't know figured into the patchwork of experience and provided me enhanced participation. To fold this back into the original discussion I had with David; that is the type of experience I would like to be able to provide to our customers. That enhanced/personal relationship that allows them to be part of their library, whether in person or online. One difficulty is that everything doesn't work for everybody. Not all of our customers will like or be comfortable with this interaction. We have to keep exploring and find ways that work for each person. So Kevin, you will always be a in-person friend. Should you decide that online works for you that is great, but if not that is also great. With friends it is the friendship that counts, not what tools are used to maintain it; with customers it is the same, it is the relationship that is important not how we connect. Hi Kevin. Great to hear from you. By the way, it was fun to see the picture of you and Linda at the SC booth. Wish I could have been there. I think you make some interesting points that actually mirror my experiences fairly closely. The online stuff was OK but it just didn’t click for me until I figured out that it provided me a way to keep in closer contact with my face-to-face friends when we weren’t together. Since I typically see my group of friends about twice a year at conference, there were long stretches of time that I basically lost touch with them. Now with the online stuff, we share pictures, send messages, sometimes profound but generally not. I feel closer to them. Those connections allowed me to get some experience of the NBF without being there. I also watched broadcasts on BookTV. All of which helped. I could have experienced it in person, which would have been best. Schedules and finances didn’t allow that. By experiencing it through the eyes of friends I had a different level of interaction that gave me a sense of connectedness that wouldn’t have occured otherwise. In my opinion, that happened because I had already formed relationships with the friends. They were trusted sources and known quantities so that I could easier imagine the context for comments and pictures. This allowed me a more personal view than I would have recieved from typical broadcasts. Even the tweets of people I didn’t know figured into the patchwork of experience and provided me enhanced participation. To fold this back into the original discussion I had with David; that is the type of experience I would like to be able to provide to our customers. That enhanced/personal relationship that allows them to be part of their library, whether in person or online. One difficulty is that everything doesn’t work for everybody. Not all of our customers will like or be comfortable with this interaction. We have to keep exploring and find ways that work for each person. So Kevin, you will always be a in-person friend. Should you decide that online works for you that is great, but if not that is also great. With friends it is the friendship that counts, not what tools are used to maintain it; with customers it is the same, it is the relationship that is important not how we connect.

]]> http://www.davidleeking.com/2009/09/22/rethinking-the-3rd-place/comment-page-1/#comment-27194 Rob Banks Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:17:00 +0000 http://www.davidleeking.com/?p=1283#comment-27194 Hi Kevin. Great to hear from you. By the way, it was fun to see the picture of you and Linda at the SC booth. Wish I could have been there. I think you make some interesting points that actually mirror my experiences fairly closely. The online stuff was OK but it just didn't click for me until I figured out that it provided me a way to keep in closer contact with my face-to-face friends when we weren't together. Since I typically see my group of friends about twice a year at conference, there were long stretches of time that I basically lost touch with them. Now with the online stuff, we share pictures, send messages, sometimes profound but generally not. I feel closer to them. Those connections allowed me to get some experience of the NBF without being there. I also watched broadcasts on BookTV. All of which helped. I could have experienced it in person, which would have been best. Schedules and finances didn't allow that. By experiencing it through the eyes of friends I had a different level of interaction that gave me a sense of connectedness that wouldn't have occured otherwise. In my opinion, that happened because I had already formed relationships with the friends. They were trusted sources and known quantities so that I could easier imagine the context for comments and pictures. This allowed me a more personal view than I would have recieved from typical broadcasts. Even the tweets of people I didn't know figured into the patchwork of experience and provided me enhanced participation. To fold this back into the original discussion I had with David; that is the type of experience I would like to be able to provide to our customers. That enhanced/personal relationship that allows them to be part of their library, whether in person or online. One difficulty is that everything doesn't work for everybody. Not all of our customers will like or be comfortable with this interaction. We have to keep exploring and find ways that work for each person. So Kevin, you will always be a in-person friend. Should you decide that online works for you that is great, but if not that is also great. With friends it is the friendship that counts, not what tools are used to maintain it; with customers it is the same, it is the relationship that is important not how we connect. Hi Kevin. Great to hear from you. By the way, it was fun to see the picture of you and Linda at the SC booth. Wish I could have been there. I think you make some interesting points that actually mirror my experiences fairly closely. The online stuff was OK but it just didn’t click for me until I figured out that it provided me a way to keep in closer contact with my face-to-face friends when we weren’t together. Since I typically see my group of friends about twice a year at conference, there were long stretches of time that I basically lost touch with them. Now with the online stuff, we share pictures, send messages, sometimes profound but generally not. I feel closer to them. Those connections allowed me to get some experience of the NBF without being there. I also watched broadcasts on BookTV. All of which helped. I could have experienced it in person, which would have been best. Schedules and finances didn’t allow that. By experiencing it through the eyes of friends I had a different level of interaction that gave me a sense of connectedness that wouldn’t have occured otherwise. In my opinion, that happened because I had already formed relationships with the friends. They were trusted sources and known quantities so that I could easier imagine the context for comments and pictures. This allowed me a more personal view than I would have recieved from typical broadcasts. Even the tweets of people I didn’t know figured into the patchwork of experience and provided me enhanced participation. To fold this back into the original discussion I had with David; that is the type of experience I would like to be able to provide to our customers. That enhanced/personal relationship that allows them to be part of their library, whether in person or online. One difficulty is that everything doesn’t work for everybody. Not all of our customers will like or be comfortable with this interaction. We have to keep exploring and find ways that work for each person. So Kevin, you will always be a in-person friend. Should you decide that online works for you that is great, but if not that is also great. With friends it is the friendship that counts, not what tools are used to maintain it; with customers it is the same, it is the relationship that is important not how we connect.

]]> http://www.davidleeking.com/2009/09/22/rethinking-the-3rd-place/comment-page-1/#comment-22742 David Lee King Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:28:03 +0000 http://www.davidleeking.com/?p=1283#comment-22742 Kevin - thanks for sharing! No "tsk tsk's" here. Ya gotta start somewhere, and the best way to start is to have a reason first. Sounds like you're starting to see a reason... cool! Kevin – thanks for sharing! No “tsk tsk’s” here. Ya gotta start somewhere, and the best way to start is to have a reason first. Sounds like you’re starting to see a reason… cool!

]]> http://www.davidleeking.com/2009/09/22/rethinking-the-3rd-place/comment-page-1/#comment-27193 David Lee King Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:28:00 +0000 http://www.davidleeking.com/?p=1283#comment-27193 Kevin - thanks for sharing! No "tsk tsk's" here. Ya gotta start somewhere, and the best way to start is to have a reason first. Sounds like you're starting to see a reason... cool! Kevin – thanks for sharing! No “tsk tsk’s” here. Ya gotta start somewhere, and the best way to start is to have a reason first. Sounds like you’re starting to see a reason… cool!

]]> http://www.davidleeking.com/2009/09/22/rethinking-the-3rd-place/comment-page-1/#comment-22741 Kevin Cherry Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:18:02 +0000 http://www.davidleeking.com/?p=1283#comment-22741 As a "non-facebooker" who enjoyed the National Book Festival in Washington, DC this weekend in the company of a friend who is an i-Phone Facebook fanatic (and who happens to be one of Rob Bank's facebook friends while I am only his face-to-face friend), I can attest that there was an extended conversation going on across the continent (with Rob being one of the most connected of commentators) and that this conversation actually deepened my on-site experience. I have refrained from taking the leap into this sort of "mixed" online/onsite acivity in the past because I was afraid it might detract from the "real" experience (meaning for me, the "onsite.") As a result, I have kept my online and onsite lives fairly separate. This weekend demonstrated the possibilities. I know, all of you are tsk, tsking me right now. ("Can you believe he is only just NOW reaching this point?") I guess my old fuddy-duddyness is slowly dissipating. As a “non-facebooker” who enjoyed the National Book Festival in Washington, DC this weekend in the company of a friend who is an i-Phone Facebook fanatic (and who happens to be one of Rob Bank’s facebook friends while I am only his face-to-face friend), I can attest that there was an extended conversation going on across the continent (with Rob being one of the most connected of commentators) and that this conversation actually deepened my on-site experience. I have refrained from taking the leap into this sort of “mixed” online/onsite acivity in the past because I was afraid it might detract from the “real” experience (meaning for me, the “onsite.”) As a result, I have kept my online and onsite lives fairly separate. This weekend demonstrated the possibilities. I know, all of you are tsk, tsking me right now. (“Can you believe he is only just NOW reaching this point?”) I guess my old fuddy-duddyness is slowly dissipating.

]]> http://www.davidleeking.com/2009/09/22/rethinking-the-3rd-place/comment-page-1/#comment-27192 Kevin Cherry Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:18:00 +0000 http://www.davidleeking.com/?p=1283#comment-27192 As a "non-facebooker" who enjoyed the National Book Festival in Washington, DC this weekend in the company of a friend who is an i-Phone Facebook fanatic (and who happens to be one of Rob Bank's facebook friends while I am only his face-to-face friend), I can attest that there was an extended conversation going on across the continent (with Rob being one of the most connected of commentators) and that this conversation actually deepened my on-site experience. I have refrained from taking the leap into this sort of "mixed" online/onsite acivity in the past because I was afraid it might detract from the "real" experience (meaning for me, the "onsite.") As a result, I have kept my online and onsite lives fairly separate. This weekend demonstrated the possibilities. I know, all of you are tsk, tsking me right now. ("Can you believe he is only just NOW reaching this point?") I guess my old fuddy-duddyness is slowly dissipating. As a “non-facebooker” who enjoyed the National Book Festival in Washington, DC this weekend in the company of a friend who is an i-Phone Facebook fanatic (and who happens to be one of Rob Bank’s facebook friends while I am only his face-to-face friend), I can attest that there was an extended conversation going on across the continent (with Rob being one of the most connected of commentators) and that this conversation actually deepened my on-site experience. I have refrained from taking the leap into this sort of “mixed” online/onsite acivity in the past because I was afraid it might detract from the “real” experience (meaning for me, the “onsite.”) As a result, I have kept my online and onsite lives fairly separate. This weekend demonstrated the possibilities. I know, all of you are tsk, tsking me right now. (“Can you believe he is only just NOW reaching this point?”) I guess my old fuddy-duddyness is slowly dissipating.

]]> http://www.davidleeking.com/2009/09/22/rethinking-the-3rd-place/comment-page-1/#comment-22740 David Lee King Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:42:08 +0000 http://www.davidleeking.com/?p=1283#comment-22740 Thanks, Todd! Yep - I think it's pretty important to be "there..." - wherever "there" is. Thanks, Todd! Yep – I think it’s pretty important to be “there…” – wherever “there” is.

]]> http://www.davidleeking.com/2009/09/22/rethinking-the-3rd-place/comment-page-1/#comment-27191 David Lee King Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:42:00 +0000 http://www.davidleeking.com/?p=1283#comment-27191 Thanks, Todd! Yep - I think it's pretty important to be "there..." - wherever "there" is. Thanks, Todd! Yep – I think it’s pretty important to be “there…” – wherever “there” is.

]]> http://www.davidleeking.com/2009/09/22/rethinking-the-3rd-place/comment-page-1/#comment-22738 Todd Chandler Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:24:09 +0000 http://www.davidleeking.com/?p=1283#comment-22738 Love the customer-centric approach to "be where the patrons are." As a library (or any smaller organization), it would be very difficult to have the resources to create a third place that could compete with the facebooks of the world. I think your shift in focus to not be a new destination, but rather part of the conversation and engagement at existing destinations is very wise. Love the customer-centric approach to “be where the patrons are.” As a library (or any smaller organization), it would be very difficult to have the resources to create a third place that could compete with the facebooks of the world. I think your shift in focus to not be a new destination, but rather part of the conversation and engagement at existing destinations is very wise.

]]> http://www.davidleeking.com/2009/09/22/rethinking-the-3rd-place/comment-page-1/#comment-27190 Todd Chandler Mon, 28 Sep 2009 23:24:00 +0000 http://www.davidleeking.com/?p=1283#comment-27190 Love the customer-centric approach to "be where the patrons are." As a library (or any smaller organization), it would be very difficult to have the resources to create a third place that could compete with the facebooks of the world. I think your shift in focus to not be a new destination, but rather part of the conversation and engagement at existing destinations is very wise. Love the customer-centric approach to “be where the patrons are.” As a library (or any smaller organization), it would be very difficult to have the resources to create a third place that could compete with the facebooks of the world. I think your shift in focus to not be a new destination, but rather part of the conversation and engagement at existing destinations is very wise.

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