New Post on the Bee Log

by KellyM Tue Jun 24, 2008 10:49 am

How BzzAgent Relates to steampunk Culture
Posted by cheyanne
June 24th, 2008
I just recently read an article in the NYTimes about steampunk. Basically, retrofitting current technology, fashion and basic tools/implements to “appear” classic (Victorian, high craftsmanship), or humble (burlap, wood). A fusion of past, present and future.

I immediately thought of BzzAgent: our ideas, mission and methods. Word-of-mouth is one of the oldest forms of communication alongside basic expression(artistic and bodily), and we as a company have harnessed this and capitalized on it while providing services to both clients and BzzAgents. We live in a unique space that affords us many opportunities and a significant advantage over our competition, mainly traditional media. We have reached into the past to shape the future, and in many ways we have been successful. This time continuum/shifting has prompted many bumps along the way, though. How could it not? Reaching into a porthole Donnie Darko-style creates problems in the present. This potentially enlightened level that one reaches by fusing past, present and future is not often understood. Sometimes people are simply confused by the concept of harnessing WOM, understanding it, disseminating it, and capitalizing on it.

I recently attended the 4th Annual Text Analytics Summit right here in Boston with co-analysts Val and Laura. It was a chance to see how other companies handle their massive amounts of unstructured data, basically those pesky “words” coming into their system. I love words. I read Jacques Derrida in my spare time (granted, I often get so confused I have to throw the book down) to try and learn how to deconstruct words, phrases, and thoughts better. My position here at BzzAgent, as a Qualitative Analyst, involves both deconstruction and reformation. I deconstruct words, phrases and thoughts to expose and highlight general, potentially actionable, patterns. Sometimes this reformation includes crafting basic hypotheses to pair with the obvious patterns and insights.

Like the steampunk subculture (that is moving into the mainstream), we are retrofitting old ways of communication to formulate new theories, just as one might retrofit a modern keyboard to appear as a classic typewriter. At the Text Analytics Summit, I realized that BzzAgent has such a unique qualitative data source: our BzzAgents. Their lives, conversations, thoughts, writing styles, and word choices. Of course, the text our BzzAgents provide are influenced by our marketing campaigns, campaigns that disseminate specific key messages. Even though we are dealing with a large amount of user-generated content, the content is driven by determinants. Still, the data is rich and exciting, but our manual coding approach is archaic. Some may say it is retro, but not in a cool steampunk way… it is mostly inefficient.

It’s time for BzzAgent to propel itself into the future a bit more, while keeping one foot in the past utilizing the classic form of communication that is word-of mouth. Some things never change, and word-of-mouth is a great example. Most likely, people will always talk, but how we gather, drive, and interpret this chatter is key. Text is a rich data source, and should not gather dust, and conversations, with text meandering between speaker and recipient, are simply fascinating. BzzAgent is ready to focus on more sophisticated text analytics, but in the end we are simply just redesigning and reinterpreting expression: talking, writing and performance. Expression will always be a rich data source to deconstruct, and hopefully BzzAgent can remain on the cutting edge of interpretation.