So yesterday I won the fifth annual Burlington Social Media Day “2014 Social Media Royalty > King” award. It was a great and not-entirely-unexpected* honor, so, as you might by now expect, I was prepared with a song for the occasion just in case, knowing that would make my acceptance speech** a little unusual.
What was more than a little unusual was that, in a room full of social media mavens, NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THEM SEEMS TO HAVE RECORDED MY PERFORMANCE. These are people for whom, presumably, entertaining or unusual content is as fundamental to their online presence as a windsor knot is to a Wall Street banker***. In retrospect, maybe I shouldn’t have told them all they had to clap along. Who knew social media mavens love to clap along?
So once I got home, I dusted off my shiny new crown**** and tried, tried again.
Burlington Social Media Day is the brainchild and labor of love (ain’t no money in it) of Lara Dickson, a graphic designer with serious online communications chops, who moved to Vermont around the start of the tens. Having been inspired by Mashable, she and Anna Palmer organized the first one on June 30, 2010, and at this point it’s becoming a real Queen City tradition.
…So it’s late, and I’ll finish this blog post this weekend (including details about the process whereby you all are going to tell me what song to write next…) So here’s how you can tell me what song to write next, but for now, I’ll leave you with the lyrics, which pretty much say what I’d want to say if I could write lyrics.
Thank You All
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart
I can’t believe this is real, and I don’t know where to start
(I just spent) two whole days just a-beggin’ and a-pleadin’
Said goodbye to the last shred of dignity I’m needin’
But it’s been a ride that I’ll never regret
The love from you guys is the best thing yet
When I look around and I see the smiles
I wanna keep on tweetin’ and re-tweetin’ and repeatin’ it
Thanks so much to the great Shay Totten
I will never know a tenth as much as that guy has forgotten, Baby
Thanks so much to the mighty Aki Soga
When it’s time to throw a party, just invite that homeboy ovah
And hey, Lara Dickson, this one’s for you
We’re all construction paper and you’re the glue
Shining your light on the social scene
I think we all know who’s the real Queen
Thank you all, and I can’t say enough
About the things that you teach me when times are tough
(And I’m so) proud to be part of the Burlington scene
Tweeting in Vermont, and we postin’ what we want
Most of all, thank my love so true:
She’s at-sign-mrs-winooski to you
She puts up with this, so I hope it shows
You never know where a little tweetin’ will go
Never know where a little tweetin’ will go
Never know where a little tweetin’ will go
© Copyright 2014 Nate Orshan
* I did sorta campaign hard for it. And promise everyone I’d write whatever song they, in the aggregate, decided. More on that above.
** Once the awards ceremony kicked off, I saw that people don’t usually get to say anything after they’ve received their award. But did that stop me?
*** I’m assuming.
**** Yes, I did get a crown, but it’s made out of flimsy paper, just like my social media skills.