Blog Herald says Loren Feldman Outsmarted me

Matt Craven at the Blog Herald has posted a review of my recent mud wrestling with 1938 Media's Loren Feldman, saying Loren utsmarted me. Feldman, who seems to be building a career on making fun of prominent people in social media, most recently focused on me with the same determination as a dog with a bone. If you missed it, go to ShelIsrael.com, a site run, not by me, but by Loren.

Matt questions how I call myself a "social media expert," a term I have never used, when I was so careless. But he is right. It was a slap-myself-in-the-forehead oversight. Yep, it's true, I never registered my own name domain. I never considered using that domain and I just forgot about something like this happens. Every now and then most of us do forgetful things. Hell, I flew to Boston last December, without remembering to bring an overcoat. I'm human.

But there are larger issues. Matt wrote this morning that my handling of Loren, particularly on Twitter, has been "ham-handed" and he charged the five videos I've produced to be "unwatchable" because I stink with a video camera and my interviews are unfocused, and boring. Matt says that while he has admired my previous work over the years, that the poor quality of my videos and my hostile behavior,  has turned his view of me to the negative.

Thanks for the slap, Matt. I needed that.

It happens that I have a great deal of respect for Matt and the Blog herald. I think Matt is among the most even-handed and thoughtful of news/analysis bloggers, and I have missed his contributions during his recent hiatus to launch a start up.

Let's start with my Twitter posts. I think "ham-handed" is pretty accurate. Again, I am human, and when Loren created ShelIsrael.com, I went pretty ballistic. Maybe, Matt you would have chuckled, but when a couple of people pointed me to the site, because they thought it was mine and they were confused, I got pretty irritated. When I went to the site and saw my photo, and links to my own content. hen I then discovered that he also had started a couple of Twitter accounts, also making it look like me, I went nuclear ballistic, and this was a mistake on several levels, probably much to Loren's delight.

Lets just address Loren for a bit. Before he began to make an apparent fulltime career of spoofing me, I already didn't like him. I don't like humor that ridicules people, spoofs racial or physical characteristics as the overwhelming body of his work does. He reminds me of the schoolyard bully. If you ignore him, he will make your life miserable. If you react, he will probably bloody your nose.

I took the bait. Matt, I consider your post to have been the bloody nose.

I did investigate the law, and on the surface of it, it appears that Loren is in his legal rights and there is nothing I can do about it, without a major legal effort, which I have neither time nor inclination to pursue. I lose. Loren gets to keep the site.  If Loren were a decent sort,  could call as you suggest, and ask him to take down the content and turn the site over to me at cost. I doubt that action would be successful.

What comes out of this is probably a victory for GoDaddy and other domain registrants. I imagine there's a whole lot of people registering their names these days, because now--like me--they understand what malicious people can do.

I am walking away from Loren, at least for now.  He can have fun at my expense without me. If I did tell people a bit about who this guy is and how he operates, perhaps it will help the next kid in the schoolyard when Loren tires of me.

Now Matt, let's talk about GlobalNeighbourhoods.tv, which you deemed "unwatchable" because of my ineptitude as a videographer and because you think my interviews are unfocused and boring.I think you are being a bit harsh on the interview skills. I have lots of experience over a good number of years interviewing all sorts of people and my work has been historically well received. But what is true is that I suck as a videographer and my worries about that have so far hurt some of the five video clips we have posted.

The fact is that FastCompany.TV is being treated as start up, which is exactly what it is. That means low budget. While FastCompany is talking with several companies, there is no sponsor yet. The top priority for what we will do with a sponsor is to get an AV professional to work with me on a format for the show and to be with me for all my interviews. This will allow me to focus on the interviews themselves, and area where I am pretty confident.

Until all that happens, we will produce about one FCTV per week. While Loren may liken the people I interview to roosters and night watchman, the people the show is intended for--professionals trying to figure out how social media can be used where they work seem to find the content pretty useful and interesting.

BTW Matt, next time, you might consider following your own advice. Before you write about me, contact me at shelisrael1@gmail.com. I'm open to the conversation

Comments

[shel israel]

Ike,
Thanks. Sage advice, superhero.

[Tom Guarriello]

Shel, this whole thing has been uncomfortable to watch. At first, I thought Loren was funny. I was wrong. He turned his "satire" into a brand of personal attack that makes good-hearted people queasy. Your reactions, "ham-handed" as they might have been, were eminently human. None of us likes to see her/his name dragged through the mud. Good to see you've found your rudder on that.

As for the video critics: screw 'em. Keep working and making your interviews better. You've earned access to interesting people by virtue of years of hard work. Keep talking to them and learning from your mistakes. You'll do fine.

[shel israel]

Tom, Thx. Because of FC and what I've done, I've been able to get access to Michael Dell in this blog. Now, on video, Paul Otellini, Bob Lutz, vice chairman of GM and Steve Wadsworth, president of Disney Interactive. This is the 1st time any of them have given time to talk to a social media person about social media strategy. I think I am moving the needle even if my video work needs improvement. I wish I could talk about this more, but like I've been saying, I can't control the conversation.

[Mike Power]

"i actually think Loren will be reasonable enough to give you back your domain if you asked him"

I never belonged to Israel in the first place! That's the point, surely?

[Pat]

Shel,

Having been the target of personal attacks [based on inaccurate information] through this emerging medium following the FEMA Press incident, I commend your efforts on what can be learned. In fact, you shared your own observations about my interview with Kami Huyse on Geoff Livingston's Blog.

Here is what I don't yet get about "social media":

For the larger community who participate in this activity, I fail to understand the lack of civility that seems to emerge during discussions or videos. There does not appear to be a self-regulating mechanism that helps define what is acceptable commentary or constructive feedback and what crosses the line. Although this may be the point of social media [anything goes], social norms and rules generally govern functioning societies.

Pat

[marketing headhunter]

There are two kinds of mistakes in this world: Mistakes of the head, and mistakes of the heart. Shel's was a mistake of the head. Loren Feldman's seems to be a mistake of the heart.

As one of the faceless masses, I'd have a higher regard for Loren if he simply sold the domain to Shel for whatever he paid for it. For what's the point of Loren owning it? To make fun of Shel? My take as an avid domainer is that doing so goes above and beyond garden-variety cybersquatting.

Never having met Loren, I imagine he's above that.

[alex]

I wish Loren would make fun of me. I didn't even know about you before but now I do. Because of this blow-up.

So what's the big deal?

[Brent Terrazas]

Did it really need to drag on this long?
I agree w/ the last post the most... I wish someone cared enough to make fun of me like that... I could use the blog-linkage... and am somewhat of a fan of sock-puppets.
hmm... that gives me an idea for a new business plan:
1) start a sock puppet vlog and discuss topics like lint and fabric softener
2) ?????
3) Profit

It's bound to work.
genius.. Thanks!
:)

(and yes, that was taken from either the simpsons or family guy.. i can't remember.. it was an old episode none-the-less)