Pretentious Titles

Several people have asked me why I seemingly am so flippant with my badges at various trade shows and conferences. (For the past few years my badges have read “bon vivant” or "industry libertine" as my job title.) I guess it’s time I explained my irreverence... and that it is NOT aimed at the conferences themselves.

Here’s the thing: as far back as the 1980’s I became amused at so many unemployed “executives” listing their titles as “Consultant”. That handle actually became an H.R. joke for its euphemistic signification of “I got fired and I am looking for a job.”

By the late 1990’s and the near-beatification of Silicon Valley billionaire-nerds, it became vogue to sport such job titles as “Innovation Evangelist”, “Happiness Concierge”, “Security Princess”, “Content Hero”, “Brand Warrior”, and others. Rather than what my father would have called “HS&GP” (horse$h!? and gun powder), these are ACTUAL job titles at Fortune 100 companies! (Check out Elon's new title since he bought Twitter!)

Into this century, and especially with the aid of social media like this, every-f’ing-body is a “CEO”, “President”, or “Senior”-something-or-another.

See my befuddled amusement?

So, my friends, it is not I who has made a mockery of titles.

In fact, MY chosen title is perhaps amongst the MOST accurate and true. A “bon vivant” is a person who has cultivated and refined tastes (according to Merriam-Webster); and a “libertine” is a “freethinker who is unrestrained by convention”. Now I ask those who know me: are those accurate titles?

SO, if you see me at a conference or on a stage with a spiffy badge claiming such titles… say hello!