One of the first things people ask me when we meet at AV industry trade shows and industry conferences is, “What exactly is an editor-at-large?”
I usually make the same joke and say it was CI editorial director Tom LeBlanc’s way of telling me I’m fat in his typically understated way of delivering bad news. [related]
But, in truth, the title means different things to different people, so I understand why there’s confusion.
For CI, the “editor-at-large” role is about being essentially the face and the voice of the brand, or at least that’s how I understand it and how I’ve approached it over the years.
Why are we talking about this? It seems some business leaders are taking traditional job titles like CEO and VP of finance and tossing those out the window in favor of more nebulous and (what they consider) creative titles like marketing ninja, engineering Jedi, and so on.
I’m not big on focusing on my own title, but I do like that I have one that’s fairly normal, plain and some would say ‘boring.’ Then again, I get asked about it often enough to know it’s a little bit “out there,” so I guess maybe I’m being a little hypocritical here.
But one of my biggest pet peeves—and what are the holidays for if not pet peeves?—is when I ask someone I’m interviewing for their title and they either tell me “we don’t use titles at our company” or they have something that’s just a little too out there.
Does the ‘Marketing Ninja’ Use Ginsu Knives?
I know that Wall Street Journal article says businesses are using these new titles as a way to help them stand out from the crowd and attract the best talent, but wouldn’t most CEOs—or whatever they call themselves—prefer to find the person who does the best work, not the person who craves the wacky title most?
I’ve certainly come across some interesting titles and approaches to job responsibilities in my almost-eight years covering the AV integration world, and I might still never understand why so many of you rely on buzzwords like “ideate” vs. saying you need to “think about” something.
I guess I’m not made for today’s corporate world, huh?
Certainly, there are plenty of unique thinkers among us–and their ideas and approaches to business have been largely successful, so it could be I’m a lone wolf on this one.
I know I’m surrounded by tens of thousands of creative people who are coming up with ideas I could never even consider when I walk the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center for InfoComm shows, but I’d rather see those people channel their creativity and innovation into new products and projects than asking me what questions the company’s marketing ninja can answer for me.
