Confessions From A Clubhouse Addict

I’ve heard stories of gamers who spend entire weekends neglecting life outside of Overwatch or Fortnite.

I never understood that. 

Until this weekend. 

Like so many other addictions, I didn’t see it coming.

At first I was dabbling and then I was drawn in, and the next thing you know, I’m running a bunch of errands thinking about when I would have the opportunity to hole up in my office to tune in again, uninterrupted. 

This shocked me because I've never categorize myself as an early tech or social media adopter. 

In fact I’ve been envious of those who eat up tech like Captain Crunch, making those loud crunchy noises that sound like gravel, aggressively digging in. 

So when a colleague of mine, Ken Lang invited me to join Clubhouse, I accepted with a long hard pause. Torn between my own agreement to limit social media and be more courageous when trying new things, I vowed (not more than a few days ago) to limit SM.

Do I really need another app, distraction or even a time suck away from other priorities and the ever growing to-do’s list?  

But, I caved. 

And, it’s pretty cool. Ok. really cool.

Clubhouse, for those who haven’t already been saturated by the buzz, is the newest advent and “it kid” in social media. The all audio, hands-free app takes you from your “hallway” of self-selected topics into moderated rooms with live on the spot conversations filled with influencers and plenty of regulars. No voice is too small to participate, just raise your hand. 

On Clubhouse there are no connection requests, no need to show me you know me, or restrictions. I’ve also found, that it works as an ideal icebreaker when crossing over for a LinkedIn connection -- in record breaking speed. 

The best part is that the mission is simple. Community & Valuable Conversation. 

Another of mine, Pat Roque aptly renamed it "Crackhouse". No joke, time disappears as the conversations pull you in. 

Earlier today, in the room “Passing The Torch I Sharing 22 yrs of Marketing Experience” with over 1,000 participants I heard one of the “Mods” (CH lingo for Moderator) say: 

He hasn’t been challenged like this in a long time. Paraphrasing here:

“CH forces you to step it up and bring the heat. You’re forced to sharpen your blade. It levels playing field of authenticity to show your heart” 

Another talked about how CH “gives us an unfair advantage to serve our customers and eavesdrop on conversations with access to unfiltered human psychology”  

It’s true. 

Last night, I jumped into the “Let’s Talk About Our Failures” room brilliantly moderated by Jordan Swanson and today have been bopping around, now in The Imposter Syndrome & How To Overcome room. So so good. 

CH is easy to use and I did check out these 101’s eventhough, I often don’t RTFM (read the @##!!*$(@# manual). Every Sunday there’s also a CH Town Hall with updates and a Q&A.

For now you need an invite. You can reserve your name here and also check out these amazing tips  from Michelle Griffin.

My CH consumption will need to be monitored and even restricted for after work and weekends otherwise I will have to attend a CH recovery group.

Please follow me on Clubhouse: loreng