Self Promotion (Changing Values?)

[virginia boy]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Heck, "Hits" gets

11,100,000 results

seniormechanico got: ( I couldn't resist...sorry )

3 results (0.14 seconds)

[virginia boy]

OOPS! Misspelled it.

With correct spelling
senormechanico got:

About 6,360 results (0.26 seconds)

[Ishmael]

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

I've done promoting for my own work. Humility doesn't get you interviews.

My thought exactly. And if your goal is to use your self-promotional skills to help subsidize the lifestyle, then you better be good at it or people won't be interested.

[SailingwithSoul]

Originally Posted by ChrisnCate

I met both Ben and Theresa at a talk they gave promoting their (then) upcoming documentary about seeing an iceberg, this was at the Leeward cafe in Annapolis. My impressions after sitting at a table talking with them for about an hour afterwards was that Ben was a real and genuine guy, and Theresa was as phony as a three dollar bill. The OP was and is spot on.

The impression I was left with that day was that Theresa bills herself as living simply and sailing solo, but she really doesn't and didn't. What she did, as far as I have been told by her and Ben, was a single buddy boat trip with Ben down south that one time, and then the return trip where she had her friend who lives on a powerboat come down and sail back with her (while still buddy boating Ben). She wasn't living simply or even on the boat at that time (of the talk in Annapolis), and that was a couple of years ago.

This meager accomplishment was then parlayed into the documentary sponsorship and website we see today. An accomplishment to be sure (almost (?) sailing alone and running into some water spouts), but hardly worth the Nascar like website and TED X gig.

IMO, her clear and seemingly purposeful omission (almost completely, until recently) of Bens actual role in her "sailing fame" is really gross as well.

Just my impressions and thoughts, fwiw.

Very interesting. I only know of them through her blog. If what you say is true, that will lead me to change my opinion of her blog and material. I fully support self promotion of genuine endeavors, and those doing the endeavoring, as I look to them for ideas and inspiration for my own future adventures. One of the thing I have little tolerance and patience for are lies, misrepresentations and frauds. As I don't have the time, nor the desire, to check a bloggers background, I take their material at face value. I'll throw support (time and attention) and the occasional donation. But, if I find out I've been duped, I'll want at least my money back. Since it's better spent on myself or a real adventurer.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by SailingwithSoul

(...) I take their material at face value.(...)

As soon as you see words like: 'the first/only, the biggest/toughest, the youngest/oldest, the most/least, ('the first&only, toughest, biggest and youngest in the Southern Hemisphere' - when the blogger is kiwi or aussie ;-)) you can safely bet part of the material is humbug and some may have been invented or dramatized. Another early warning may be many and flashy sponsor's logos.

b.

[ChrisnCate]

Originally Posted by SailingwithSoul

Very interesting. I only know of them through her blog. If what you say is true, that will lead me to change my opinion of her blog and material. I fully support self promotion of genuine endeavors, and those doing the endeavoring, as I look to them for ideas and inspiration for my own future adventures. One of the thing I have little tolerance and patience for are lies, misrepresentations and frauds. As I don't have the time, nor the desire, to check a bloggers background, I take their material at face value. I'll throw support (time and attention) and the occasional donation. But, if I find out I've been duped, I'll want at least my money back. Since it's better spent on myself or a real adventurer.

We were both very excited to go to their talk that day, Cate had found the blog and at the time we ourselves were all about pursuing simplicity in living aboard, and following our own version of the simple cruising dream. We left feeling, as you wrote, duped.

The thing I think that pissed me off the most was the fact that not only did Theresa appear at the end of the day to just have buddy boated one trip south, then fly in help for buddy boating the trip back, but the fact that we couldn't really get her to say exactly how (and how long) she had lived "simply" and actually lived aboard. At the time of the talk (right as their upcoming documentary was just beginning to be advertised, the reason for the talk) she was not living aboard, and it didn't appear that she had in awhile by the sound of things. She said she was teaching, and living in some dorm situation where she had her teaching situation. We left feeling like she was basically just hyping a single ho hum trip south on two boats, and marketing it into whatever it was then and is now. We left with the impression that her time aboard was actually on and off, and fairly brief.

Oh, and while I am remembering it: At the Leeward cafe talk she made multiple references to her (then) upcoming "Ted Talk" - and it was NOT a Ted talk, it was in fact a TedX event - until I saw her TedX talk, I had never heard of "TedX", I'd only heard of Ted Talks. She totally and completely misrepresented her TedX gig as a Ted Talk at the Leeward event. Nitpicky on my part? Maybe (maybe not), however I feel it's relevant to this discussion and certainly made us feel further duped when we realized the difference and how she portrayed it. Basically, she made it sound like she had been asked to speak on the topic of sailing and simplicity and all that.

From the Ted site, it appears you buy a TedX license, and sponsor yourself and your talk (or, another more cynical way to look at it is to say that you buy yourself some nice credibility riding on the Ted name plate coat tails, and use it in your marketing arsenal to promote your agenda):

All rules

Frequency: A TEDx license permits you to organize one event. (If you want to organize a recurring event, you must apply for a new, second license after you've organized one TEDx event.)

Location: TED allocates one location-based license per applicant; you must live in the city for which you are applying for a license. Your TEDx event must happen in the city for which you received the license. TEDx events do not travel -- a TEDx license is valid for one city, and for one event.

Admission/tickets: You may not use your event to make money. You may not use your event to raise funds for charities or other organizations. (TED will allow certain TEDx events to charge a small admission fee -- always under $100 -- to help cover the event's production costs. In order to charge an admission fee, you must first submit your proposed ticket price for approval from TED.)

PR / press / media

Logos: Use your event's TEDx logo. Don't use the TED logo at any time, and don't allow journalists to use it (in print or on video). Supply journalists with your customized TEDx logo.

It's a TEDx event -- not TED: Don't say "TED is coming to [city name]." Don't say your event is "organized by TED," "sponsored by TED" or an "official TED event." TED staff should be the sole official spokespeople for TED and the program as a whole; any journalist seeking comment from TED should be routed through Melody Serafino and TED.

Again, Fwiw.

[ChrisnCate]

And another thing: If you're going to tout living and sailing simply, can you really have such an apparently complicated and involved site and life? Can you really have a boat with all the cruising comforts that, when judged against simpler boats, clearly leans towards the "typical" cruiser boat (with the usual complicated systems)? With all the stuff on her page and plate, I fail to see the simplicity at all. Seems pretty hectic, unsimple and social climby to me.

[Catpainzmcspice]

Originally Posted by ChrisnCate

With all the stuff on her page and plate, I fail to see the simplicity at all. Seems pretty hectic, unsimple and social climby to me.

I'm finding this very entertaining. Got anything else to say about this seemingly horrible woman?

[ChrisnCate]

Originally Posted by Catpainzmcspice

I'm finding this very entertaining. Got anything else to say about this seemingly horrible woman?

No, other than that she seems ok.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Ishmael

My thought exactly. And if your goal is to use your self-promotional skills to help subsidize the lifestyle, then you better be good at it or people won't be interested.

in fact, I get the feeling from reading this boards that breathing salt air improves the ability to detect the whiff of BS.

[SailingwithSoul]

Originally Posted by ChrisnCate

And another thing: If you're going to tout living and sailing simply, can you really have such an apparently complicated and involved site and life? Can you really have a boat with all the cruising comforts that, when judged against simpler boats, clearly leans towards the "typical" cruiser boat (with the usual complicated systems)? With all the stuff on her page and plate, I fail to see the simplicity at all. Seems pretty hectic, unsimple and social climby to me.

ChrisnCate, Great point! Also, thank you for sharing your experience and perspective. I was interested in reaching out to them in the future. Now. Not so much. If you're anywhere near New York, and you wanna raft up and share some drinks, send me an email or find me through my sig.

Originally Posted by Catpainzmcspice

I'm finding this very entertaining. Got anything else to say about this seemingly horrible woman?

Catpain, no one is calling anyone a horrible person. This thread, which began as a fun pre-coffee rant, with underpinnings of legitimate observation and critic of the evolving societal norms as influenced by emerging technology and new media, has been filtered down into a discussion on genuinity.

I'm all for people that promote themselves and try to sustain their dreams. My position is, while one goes about self promoting and advertising their ideas, experiences and opinions, they should "Be Real" about it. If they talk about "abc," they had better have done, lived or experienced "abc," before going out and telling people about how it was, what they did, or how everyone should do the same.

To make a more serious point, at the risk of coming off as to much of a killjoy, words and actions have consequences. It's important to be responsible about the ideas and suggestions we make to those less experienced because we will, eventually, inspire someone to do the same. If I start whiting and telling people "I rounded the horn in Sunfish... No Problem! I'm such an epic sailor that I overcame the wind, waves and the dinghy and you can do it too!," Eventually one day some starry-eyed adventurer will try it. Then when the get themselves hurt or killed, all the arguments for personal responsibility will do little to negate the fact that I was, in part, responsible for their deaths.

I say go forth. Seek adventure. Share your experiences and try to make some money off it. Just don't lie, cheat and mislead those who aspire to your example.


**** Please Please Please do NOTnot try to round (any) cape, horn or ocean in a Sunfish.

Happy Sailing everyone!

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by ChrisnCate

(...)

1) If you're going to tout living and sailing simply, can you really have such an apparently complicated and involved site and life?

2 ) Can you really have a boat with all the cruising comforts that, when judged against simpler boats, clearly leans towards the "typical" cruiser boat (with the usual complicated systems)?

1) Yes.

2) Yes.

Really, neither having a well designed, well run site nor having a boat with comforts imply lack of simplicity. Apparently, it is more related to how we utilize our skills and means or lack of such. Clearly, there are many ways to live our lives. Who is to judge which way is good and why?

;-)
b.

[rebel heart]

Joshua Slocum had his book (Sailing Around The World) idea as part of his sailing trip and his publisher even loaded him up with other books to use as research material during his trip. That was over 100 years ago, so it's not like pleasure sailing is new to the lecture circuit and publishing revenue, both of which Slocum did.

My wife is big on that angle and we've gotten a few free items due to her writing letters and reviewing things on our blog. Personally I'm not interested in any of it because it's a lot of work, and I'd rather work on the water or go surfing. If I'm going to be on a laptop I'll make a lot more doing my professional gig than writing blog posts. And if I want to write, I'd rather write fiction.

Really though, making money off of pleasure boating is nothing new. And before you say that Slocum's tale is worth reading (and Shackleton, and everyone else) but a couple in Bermuda's isn't, that's at the discretion of the reader. And really at this point I think you can get more practical advice from the Bumfuzzles than you can Slocum or Shackleton.

The Bumfuzzles, for all the love/hate/attention they get, do not in any way do commercial writing on their blog, although they have a paypal button and wrote a rather inexpensive ($3) ebook.

Just consider for a minute how 100 years ago someone went on a sailing trip in large part to sell a book and talk about it on the lecture circuit (Slocum needed to eat, as did Shackleton), and the sailing world regards them as intrepid adventurers, never minding the incredibly tight financial pinnings of their journey.

[virginia boy]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

Joshua Slocum had his book (Sailing Around The World) idea as part of his sailing trip and his publisher even loaded him up with other books to use as research material during his trip. That was over 100 years ago, so it's not like pleasure sailing is new to the lecture circuit and publishing revenue, both of which Slocum did.

My wife is big on that angle and we've gotten a few free items due to her writing letters and reviewing things on our blog. Personally I'm not interested in any of it because it's a lot of work, and I'd rather work on the water or go surfing. If I'm going to be on a laptop I'll make a lot more doing my professional gig than writing blog posts. And if I want to write, I'd rather write fiction.

Really though, making money off of pleasure boating is nothing new. And before you say that Slocum's tale is worth reading (and Shackleton, and everyone else) but a couple in Bermuda's isn't, that's at the discretion of the reader. And really at this point I think you can get more practical advice from the Bumfuzzles than you can Slocum or Shackleton.

The Bumfuzzles, for all the love/hate/attention they get, do not in any way do commercial writing on their blog, although they have a paypal button and wrote a rather inexpensive ($3) ebook.

Just consider for a minute how 100 years ago someone went on a sailing trip in large part to sell a book and talk about it on the lecture circuit (Slocum needed to eat, as did Shackleton), and the sailing world regards them as intrepid adventurers, never minding the incredibly tight financial pinnings of their journey.

I don't think anyone would begrudge someone making a living from a blog.

Although some of the critiques of sailing simplicity have been a little harsh, they may be the result of people's dismay at discovering they've been duped by the deliberate misrepresentation of her actual experiences, not with the fact she's making a living at selling them. People naturally don't like to be conned. The fact that she is successful at what she's doing is irrelevant.

I doubt anyone could make much of an argument that the Bumfuzzles or Slocum manipulated or conned anyone for profit.

Who knows, maybe she'll eventually do as the Bumfuzzles did and earn respect through her hard work and experience. Lord knows, the Bumfuzzles have my respect for all they've accomplished and for all the crap they put up with, from us on cruisers forum.

[SailingwithSoul]

Originally Posted by virginia boy

I doubt anyone could make much of an argument that the Bumfuzzles or Slocum manipulated or conned anyone for profit.

No argument whatsoever. They, and those like them, all walked the walk. If they make a living on their experiences from the same. More power, luck and fortune to them.