The Great Douche Debate of Big Design 2010

As I stood on stage at the Big Design Conference, I had no idea the trouble brewing on the back row. Sitting back there was Giovanni Gallucci, the social media expert. He came in at some point after I started. He knows Dave Curlee and Dave said to him, "Oh man, Keith called you out."

I didn't mean to call Giovanni out specifically. I knew he was slated to speak in a couple of hours already and I was about to make a point that social media doesn't have to be all about making money. This was not planned but "Giovanni will not like this point" or something like that slipped out. I went on about the assumptions that social media is all about money, marketing, etc. is wrong.  Then I went on to define "Douchebaggery". Apparently this word resonated with Giovanni. He spent the next hour changing his entire presentation from "Extreme Social Marketing with Youtube" to "Extreme Douchebaggery with Youtube".

Yes, he did.

And this was his opening slide:

I'm Not Ignorant.

I have never been called out like this before and it was hilarious. Now if you were there and missed the Mad*Pow after party, you missed Giovanni and I having dinner. We did not duke it out. Giovanni definitely has a stage persona. Real Giovanni is a really cool guy. He's very smart, smarter than I am, but he is more like a whore to my slut. I guess I give it away too much but loathe myself in the morning. He feeds his children using his knowledge and is proud of it. I respect that.

I also appreciate his good humor and the fact he made his presentation all about me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. It was like an early birthday gift of self-absorption.

Anyway, thanks to Giovanni for his presentation and his ability to do some serious riffing. It was the best time at the conference for me. I think I want to do a panel with him sometime, but who would clean up the mess?

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