Chapter 2. The Law of the Few: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen
1.What are connectors, mavens, and salesmen?
Connectors
. Mavens are people who have the knowledge and social skills to start word-of-mouth epidemics. The word Maven means one who accumulates knowledge. What makes them unique is how they pass this knowledge along.
Salesmen are people who posses the skills to persuade others when they are unconvinced of what they are hearing.
are people with a special gift for bringing the world together. They are the kinds of people who know everyone. Connectors are sprinkled through all walks of life and have a truly unique knack for making friends and acquaintances
2.What is a "small-world problem"?
A ‘small-world problem" asks how human beings are connected.
3.What is "six degrees of separation"? Can it truly be tested?
Six degrees of separation means that a very small number of people are connected to everyone else in a few steps and the rest of people are connected to everyone else through the small number of people. This can truly be tested and has been done by Milgram who conducted a chain letter experiment.
4.What makes someone a connector?
To be a connector, someone must know a lot of people. They must make friends easily and have many acquaintances.
5.Take Gladwell’s "quiz" on pp. 39-40. We will discuss it when we are able to post online
I took the Gladwell quiz and scored a 54.
6.What makes connectors so necessary in society?
Connectors are necessary in society because we rely on them to connect us to other people. They provide us with connections to other people that result in friendships.
7.What does the phrase "the strength of weak ties" mean?
The strength of weak ties is something Horchow has mastered. It is a "friendly yet casual social connection." Acquaintances are "a source of social power." The more you have, the more powerful you are.
8.Why did Paul Revere’s ride succeed when William Dawes’ ride did not?
Paul Revere’s ride succeeded while William Dawes’ did not based off the law of the few. Through social connections, energy, personality, and enthusiasm Paul Revere was able to spread the word. He was a connector, maven, and possibly even a salesman.
9.Describe any connectors or mavens from your school, family, or friends.
I have a friend who used to live in Greeley and is a connector. I actually met him by observing him as a connector. He would be at all of the sports events as well as any other major events on the Greeley campus and would be talking to everyone! He initiated a conversation with me and we became great friends. He was the typical social college guy that took 7 years to declare a major and graduate. I always assumed that his over-achieving social skills were a "college thing." Even after he graduated and moved out of Greeley, however, his "connector skills" have followed him. He is now living in Texas and having visited him, I found that he still has just as many friends and acquaintances as he did in Greeley. This was never just a "college thing," it was a "connector thing."
10.How much do you rely on word-of-mouth information?
I rely a lot on word-of-mouth information. One of my husband and my favorite places to eat at are the little, never heard of, ma-and-pa restaurants. The one way that we find these delicious eateries is through word-of-mouth from people whom have also eaten there. This is also the way we find many of our favorite camping and fishing spots!
11.How did mavens influence the sales of Hush Puppies?
Mavens influenced the sale of Hush Puppies by supplying the connectors with information. It’s possible that a fashion maven found an amazing deal on hush puppies and shared the deal with anyone who would listen.
12.What are the positives and negatives of being a maven?
The positives of being a maven is they like to help and expect nothing back in return. They are very knowledgeable and helpful when a good deal is needed to be found.
The negatives of being a maven is they probe their friends for information to add to their database. Their advice can also seem overwhelming and unwanted.
13.What makes someone a salesman?
A salesman is someone "with the skills to persuade others when they are unconvinced of what we are hearing."
14.According to two studies he cites, what are the three things that Gladden says make salesmen so effective?
Gladden says the following things make a salesman so effective: little things can make as much of a difference as big things, nonverbal cues are as or more important than verbal cues, and persuasion often works in ways that we do not appreciate.
15.What are "micromovements"?
Micromovements are patterns that occur over and over again.
16.What makes someone good at charades?
Senders are examples of people who are good at charades. They are good at expressing emotions and feelings making them emotionally contagious.
17.What traits of the connector, maven, and salesman do you see in yourself?
I see more traits of a maven in myself. I enjoy and always seem to find the sale. I enjoy clipping coupons and will waste gas money driving to several different stores in order to purchase the bargains at each of the stores. I also enjoy sharing my finds with others. Ironically, I see these similar traits in my mother and sister. Having just had a baby, it is fun for the three of us to go out and find the best deals on clothes. We are constantly calling each other about the latest bargain. I do not find many traits of a connector in myself. I am horrible with remembering names as well as taking the initiative to go up and meet new people. In the same aspect, I do not like to try and persuade people to do one thing or another.
18.Which traits do you wish you possessed?
I wished I possessed more traits of a connector. I would love to have the energy and time to add more friends and acquaintances to my "list." I already feel overwhelmed and extremely busy with the friends and family I currently spend time with. I also find it hard to keep in touch with acquaintances often enough not to make it awkward the next time we meet.
19.Are these traits able to be developed or are we simply born with them?
I feel that these are traits that we are simply born with as well as learned throughout childhood. Personally, I feel that I was never the outgoing and eager to walk up and meet new people kind of child. I have also witnessed a friend who is raising her three-year-old in a way that would discourage the same kind of behavior. She is very shy and hesitant about approaching people. I think that each person’s personality and the environment as they grow affects the suppressing or growing of these traits.
20.What disadvantages are linked with any of the three classifications?
I think the disadvantages linked with any of the three classifications are dependent on an individual basis. What one person sees as a disadvantage, another may see as an advantage. I feel that it goes back, once again, to each person’s personality and how they were raised. Where I would see it as a disadvantage to constantly be on the persuasive side of a conversation, others may see this as an advantage. It’s a matter of personal preference.
Chapter 3. The Stickiness Factor: Sesame Street, Blue’s Clues, and the Educational Virus
1.What is "the stickiness factor"?
The stickiness factor says "that there are specific ways of making a contagious message memorable.
2.What makes something "sticky"?
What makes something sticky is the simple changes in a presentation and structuring of information which will make a big difference in how much of an impact it makes.
3.What is direct marketing? What makes for a successful campaign?
Direct Marketing is a campaign designed to directly market to an audience, such as through a mailing or an advertisement, in order to receive results. A successful campaign is getting consumers to stop, read the advertisement, remember it, and then to act on it.
4.What is the "gold box" that Lester Wunderman used so effectively?
The "gold box" that Wunderman used was a "trigger" used to give viewers a reason to look at ads and in turn, get a free record. Wunderman put little gold boxes in the corner of order coupons. Then commercials were created telling the "secret of the Gold Box." The commercials encouraged viewers to find the gold box and in doing so, every magazine on the schedule made a profit.
5.What changes did she and her team make in order for the show to work?
In order for the show to work they used techniques from catchy commercials and they used live animation as well as celebrities,
6.Compare and contrast Sesame Street and Blue’s Clues.
Sesame Street is fast paced, in a magazine format, is a medium for education, is an hour long, has an ensemble cast, has humor, wordplay, and cleverness.
Blue’s Clues is half an hour, has just one live actor, each episode follows a single story line, has a flat, two-dimensional feel, has a deliberate pace, and is also a medium for education.
7.What is the Distracter?
The distractor was Palmer’s innovation. He would play an episode of Sesame Street next to a slide show that had the most varied set of slides changing every seven and a half seconds. Preschoolers would be told to watch the television show and observers would note when they lost interest and would look at the slides instead. It would act as a stickiness machine to show which segments of the show were interesting and which segments were easily distractable.
8.What is The James Earl Jones Effect?
The James Earl Jones Effect is learning through repetition. It was centered around the actor James Earl Jones who was shown on Sesame Street saying the alphabet with pauses between each letter. This film was played over and over again and showed positive results when viewed by children. Blue’s Clues built their show around the same effect by running the same episode for five days straight instead of showing new episodes, and concepts, daily.
