The revolution started that day in 1995 when a pony-tailed entrepreneur met me at the front door of a former train station and pointed to a server, sitting under a table in his inner office. "Every time that red light flickers," he said referring to the hard disk drive, "I make a little money."
The pony tail belonged to
Jason Olim, who, along with
his brother Matthew, founded
CDNOW. He was an early pioneer of e-commerce and online music sales, and a guy who was well before his time and the market.
I had the privilege of working with Jason as CDNOW grew, and in return, he rewarded Gregory FCA with a shout out in his book, "
The CDNOW Story," when he thanked us not only for the national exposure, but also for the storytelling -- the ability to position a brand-new company, a brand-new industry, inside a single paragraph.
And so began the digital revolution in my life for a guy who started working in communications on an
IBM Selectric typewriter, which quickly gave way to a
Kaypro, then an
IBM PCjr, up until today, as I sit on a waiting list for the
iPad.
What began back then continues today, as public relations undergoes tremendous change and evolution. If you had walked with me over the past 10 days as I met with Fortune 500 companies and their marketing people, one point stands clear: Human communications is undergoing a maelstrom of change that will have a greater impact than the telephone, and more meaning than radio and TV combined.
