Useless

Until a few seconds ago, I was blissfully unaware that Henry Feintuch's birthday was a mere seven days away. Now, though, thanks to the fine folks at Plaxo Pulse, I'm not only forewarned, I'm forearmed. Phew! That was close.

Truth be told, I have no idea who Henry Feintuch is. I'd guess he's a member of the Feintuch clan. But, that's mere speculation on my part. He could be one of the Kentucky Feintuch's, the Iowa Feintuch's or, heaven forbid, the Dakota Feintuch's. I've heard some of the Dakota Feintuch boys ran into trouble a while back.

I wish Henry a very happy birthday in advance (and many more as well!). But, I have about as much use for this information as I do, say, for the price of tea in China (a dated expression that may be considered politically incorrect in today's PC world).

So, cutting to the image and reputation chase, what good is a service that has done absolutely nothing for me since I registered? Facebook is fun, since I can occasionally check out new pics of old friends. And Linked In is an absolutely essential new business and networking tool, or so our strategy consultant tells me (truth be told, though, my 300 or so Linked In connections really haven't done anything for me). But, Plaxo and its birthday greetings? Gimme a break.

Call me old school but, when it comes to business development and networking, I'm an F-to-F guy (that's face-to-face).

Henry, do have a happy, happy birthday. But understand that my feelings for Plaxo and its advance birthday warnings can be best summed up by the immortal last words of a mortally wounded John Wilkes Booth, who stared at his hands and sighed, 'Useless. Useless.'

Comments

[Art Aiello]

You nailed it, Steve. That info is completely useless. And I agree with you re: both Facebook and LinkedIn. I have colleagues constantly wanting me to update LinkedIn, but I don't use it anymore because it hasn't ever gotten me anything. Folks have tried to get me onto Plaxo, but I resisted because I asked myself, "Why?"

[Greg Schmalz]

I totally agree with you Steve. At this point, I am only on LinkedIn and will probably get around to joining Twitter (why, I have no idea).

While I have come a cross a new business lead on LinkedIn from being in 5-6 different groups, it's nothing more than a different approach to e-mail.

Yeah, so you see a face and someone may be connected to someone you WANT to know. But I don't see what all the hoopla is about.

[RepMan]

Thanks Art. I'd love to understand Plaxo's business model. How do they make money?

[C Milligan]

How random! Henry Feintuch was my first boss over at KCSA Worldwide and now he owns Feintuch Communications...Thanks for the post...I'll have to be sure to wish him a happy birthday! (However, I do see your point.) ;-)

[happyguy]

Don't get me wrong because I'm not a great fan of Plaxo either, however, if the information is useless to you, go to your settings and opt out. I believe it's feasible to do so with Plaxo. Like facebook you can be as tuned in or tuned out to such detail as much as you wish. It's merely an option to foster relationship building. Likely not much more than that.

[RepMan]

Thanks happyguy. I will do just that and, I'm sure, be a happier guy myself as a result.

[Henry Feintuch]

Steve: THanks for the reminder... might never have put Sunday aside to celebrate!
If not for Plaxo, we might never be having this chat. WE both know many people in common (your LinkedIn: Deb Radman, Paul Macchia, Christine Milligan, Ann Subervi)... thank god for social networking.
Hey...when's your birthday?

[RepMan]

Hey there, Henry. Very cool to actually connect. I figured we knew lots of the same people. Enjoy your birthday. Mine's in late June.

[RepMan]

Hey Henry: I just received yet another useless Plaxo reminder about your special day. Happy, happy b'day! Now that we've at least met virtually, I can feel good about celebrating with you, your family and your friends. Hey, who knows? Maybe this is the start of a very special relationship.