I emceed the OMMA Global advertising conference earlier this week in New York. While I introduced and interviewed several media luminaries, Arianna Huffington was my favorite.
Arianna is full of energy and passion, drives a personal connection and pays attention to details. While I was getting ready to introduce her to an eager audience, she summoned me to the speaker room. I was caught off guard when she explained she did her homework, and then pulled out a stack of index cards with several of my own recent Tweets.
After introducing her to the OMMA audience, she kicked off her keynote address by sharing her Twitter research on me: I just became a soccer dad. My kids names are Julian and Celeste. And my flower boxes are blooming.
Then she said, “Max is a great Tweeter because he knows how to mix the personal with the professional.”
While I’m flattered that Arianna thinks I successfully mix the personal with the professional, the fact is there is no definitive playbook. Everyone’s figure it out, including me.
My personal and professional life often is a blur. Still, I’ve always been self-conscious of mixing personal and professional personas, especially in public and social media spheres. There are great potential benefits, but also great risks. Either way, technology immersion is making it difficult to separate the two. A life of well-intentioned balance is the only way.
Following is Arianna’s very good speech, where she covers the importance of the Zeitgeist, being true to your DNA, and innovating and adopting early.