The Interview: Chris Hogan

Chris Hogan is a family man, an exec at a major trade association in DC, and an old friend. If you really know Chris, you know he has a very strong interest in mens' clothing - not really what's "hot" or what the latest boy band is wearing, but the cultural and historic aspects of classic style.

To the best of my knowledge Chris doesn't have "formal" training in textile science, marketing or design. He didn't have many contacts in the field and doesn't have a long resume in the fashion industry. He just really knows his stuff. So when Chris decided he wanted to make a contribution to the body of thought leadership in this community, he did what many people are doing now - he started a blog in late 2006 that focused on the issues that interest him. He calls it Off the Cuff.

He still has his "day job," and he never did much to publicize his work - when he had time, he just kept writing thoughtful posts that demonstrated his knowledge of the topic and reached out to just the right people online. His readership grew steadily as more people learned about the blog. Now he has major publications asking him for contributions and companies asking for his advice on marketing. He's an authentic, credible, and independent voice in this community.

I asked Chris to answer just a couple of questions about what he's doing - I think Off the Cuff serves as a nice case study about how it's possible to take simple, sustainable, and strategic steps to build and strengthen a reputation in a specific community. This is how it's done, folks. The Q&A:

Why did you start the blog?

I wanted to explore if I could actually become an acknowledged expert in the menswear field. I've always had the interest and felt that my more intellectual and culture-focused approach might be attractive. I didn't want to write about what was "hot" - I don't really care about that - I wanted to write about how classic and timelss style can easily be fit into modern life.

How has it evolved since you started it?

The core goal of becoming a leading voice in the menswear/lifestyle world is fairly unchanged, but as the site and brand evolved I found myself addressing weightier topics, like the mass luxury movement and how it destroyed the concept of craftsmanship in favor of profit. I still write about day-day topics, but overall, I'm the old timer in the men's style blogging space. In fact, most of the sites on my blog roles didn't even exist when I started.

At the same time I was being approach by several entities to provide content for some major sites like MensFlair and now Nivea For Men's corporate site. I also recently sent in my first major publication, a piece for The Rake magazine that will be in an upcoming issue. So, the bigest change for me is the level of attention and genuine benefit a lot of my readers get fromthe site and associated content.

What are the tangible benefits you've gotten from it?

Obviously being considered a leading voice, someone worth talking to, is a big plus. I originally wanted to see if I would ever be considered and expert in the area of interest and the answer appears to be "yes". That helps me gain access to a lot of interesting and knowledgeable people, but it also allows me to extend the OTC brand and refine my style of writing and presentation.

I never advertised and I've never really pushed the OTC site or brand on anyone. all the attention has been natural and organic - to me that means even more because it tells me that I have something to say that others want to hear. that matter the most, being useful and relevant. Pumping up site traffic means nothing to me because there is no value there. So, the attention I am getting gives me a sense of purpose - it really matters. I have gained in a umber of ways - OTC is a relevant advice and style guide brand in the classic/preppy/Ivy League segment of the menswear space. Niche, yes; but valued. I get tangible benefits like products for testing and evaluation and significant discounts in some cases so that I can purchase products to test and write about. I have been invited to attend several very cool events and have also been able to interview some talented in engaging personalities.

I have also been able to expend my own skill set, notably in branding and strategy, so much so that I have provided some rather extensive advice to a UK based apparel/lifestyle firm.

All of this flows back to reputation and value. On the web, and certainly in my postion, reputation is everything.

What would you like to gain from it next?

I would like to build the OTC brand into a real consultancy of some sort. Branding and style/lifestyle advice. I would also like to take the Monocle route and develop a highly edited co-branded line of products. If nothing else, and I just wrote about this, the whole concept of branding and the marketplace it fragmenting and becoming highly decentralized. While Mr. Blackwell's list is entertaining, today people make up their own mind about what's cool, what's in and how to best create their own look and sense of style.

I want OTC to be a leading resource in market shift.

So Much For A "Post-Racial" Society

Today the Senate begins a week of confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. One could argue the discussion about Judge Sotomayor has broken down ideological or possibly even partisan lines, but there's one facet to the discussion that is perfectly clear - when it comes to this nomination and confirmation process, we are absolutely and completely obsessed with the issue of race.

Here is a representation of the discussion about Judge Sotomayor in blogs, per Blogpulse:

And here is the subset of those discussions that mention race:

So how many blog posts that mention Judge Sotomayor also mention that she's a "Latina" or "Hispanic?"

That would be all of them. Yes, ALL of them.

A very small fraction of the cases that go before the Supreme Court have anything to do with race at all. A very small fraction of the 380+ opinions that Judge Sotomayor has written have anything to do with race at all. In fact, the only reason I had heard of her at all was her ruling that ended the baseball strike back in 1995. (I'm a bit of a baseball nut.)

Yet virtually every discussion about Judge Sotomayor has mentioned race. Granted, some of those posts have simply said she'd be the first Latina on the Supreme Court, but the overwhelming majority of those posts also have more references to race. And of course, Senate Republicans have unquestionably focused on race leading up to the hearings - from former Speaker Gingrich's now-infamous tweet to the invitation of a white Connecticut firefighter to testify against her because she wrote an opinion against his side in a labor case - a decision that the Supreme Court overturned by a 5-4 vote.

I haven't done any analysis of the mainstream coverage of Judge Sotomayor, but I suspect the composition is similar.

I think the online discussion shows that we're far more obsessed about race issues than Judge Sotomayor ever has been. And I see no evidence whatsoever of the "post-racial society" that's been bubbled about by some in the punditocracy.

Foreign Policy in Text Clouds

The Obama Administration has reportedly used four major speeches in four foreign capitals to outline its foreign policy vision - Prague, Cairo, Moscow and Accra. I'm a bit surprised that there hasn't been a major speech planned in Asia or South America, but I guess you can't hit every country in the first six months...

Here's what the speech in Prague looked like:

Cairo:

Moscow:

and Accra:

I found it interesting that the word "people" keeps popping up as the most prominent word. I think the word common in all four clouds we should be looking at more closely is "power."

Stay tuned.

Today is World Population Day

Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death and disability for women in developing countries - it accounts for more than half a million deaths each year. Imagine the entire population of, say, Wyoming, dying in a year. That's what we're talking about here.

To recognize World Population Day, here's some information on CEDPA - The Centre for Development and Population Activities - that highlights how investing in women can improve their health and the well-being of communities.

The Tinkering Continues

I realize this is the kind of post that no one else cares about. So I'll try to be brief about the changes to the blog.

I try to do "smart" - I'm just not wired for "shiny."

Other people write about "how to make your email pitch really sing" or "blogging/twitter/email is dead - now I'm all about the next shiny toy" or "7 ways you can sell social media." There are some great PR practitioners out there who discuss best practices and that's important. But I also think there are a ton of bloggers in this space who really just invent a new nomenclature to restate the obvious. If you want that go read a self-help book, where "getting off your ass and working" becomes "re-discovering your inner awesome" or something like that.

I'll still write the occasional "here's how I think you should do this" post. But rather than tell readers what to do, I'd rather show readers what smart people are doing. That's why I've created the link list of interviews in the sidebar, and placed it above all my own posts. And I've added a blogroll of places I frequent - if you think I've missed you and you should be there, just let me know.

I've also gotten rid of some distracting widgets and pushed the rest down - the blog looks a little text-heavy right now, so I'll probably do something about that. Oh, and I retired the feet.

So if you care to chime in, feel free - I don't think I'm done tinkering. But no pressure.

The Stimulus Discussion: Anything But Stimulating

Some Republicans think they've found the issue that will finally damage President Obama politically. They're arguing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 - known by most as the "Economic Stimulus Package" - hasn't worked. It strikes me as a potentially damaging accusation - if it's true.

I've been following stories in the mainstream media about investments from the stimulus bill. There's been some very good reporting in the Atlanta Journal Constitution by Kristi E. Swartz, a business reporter who has covered media and technology. I asked Ms. Swartz via Twitter direct message if she thought the stimulus bill has had an impact there. Her response: "Frankly I think it's too early to tell." This isn't a surprising response. It makes a great deal of sense to me.

Some Republicans are saying already, however, that the verdict is in and the stimulus bill is a flop. Of course, some GOP stalwarts have gotten a little carried away with their claims, but I think at least one argument from a Republican Congressman merits some attention:



In the social media world, the White House responded quickly to criticism via a blog post from OMB Director Orzag (himself a blogger when he was at GAO).

But has the discussion resonated at all online?

Let's compare online discussions (at least in blogs) about the stimulus package to, say, climate change:

Climate change is a much more popular topic online - two or three times more popular.

OK, but that's all blogs, and climate change is a global issue while the stimulus package is purely a US issue. What if we just look at the people you'd expect to be all over this - the top US political blogs on each side of the ideological spectrum?

I borrowed a page from the Virtual Vantage Points playbook (since I wrote the page I don't think they'll mind) and combined the feeds of six top US-based conservative political blogs and did the same with six of their liberal counterparts. I then ran both feeds through the cloud generator at Wordle to see how prominent the discussion about the stimulus package was.

Here's a graphical depiction of the current discussion from Michelle Malkin, Hugh Hewitt, Red State, Free Republic, Powerline and Instapundit:

And here's what they're talking about today the Huffington Post (political feed), Daily Kos (front page), Eschaton, Talking Points Memo, MyDD, and Americablog:

Of course these aren't the only bloggers but they're representative of the more popular ones.

Notice what word you DON'T see there? At all?

It seems the messaging the GOP is pushing about the stimulus isn't stimulating discussions online, at least not yet.

Honduras, Journalism, Government and Social Media

While most of the English-speaking blogosphere continues its obsession with dead pop stars, there have been a number of very important developments in foreign policy - even aside from the historic preliminary agreement between the US and Russia to cut their nuclear weapon stockpiles by a third. I'm finally seeing very strong integration between mainstream journalists, social media mavens, political entities and technology.

If you know where to look, you can find a wealth of information about Honduras, a Central American nation with about 7.5 million people. Shortly after President Manuel Zelaya tried to hold a non-binding referendum that would potentially change the country's constitution to let him remain in office beyond 2010, military leaders placed Zelaya under arrest on June 28 and shipped him off to Costa Rica, and swore in a new president from Zelaya's political party. Zelaya has tried to return, but his plane was prevented from landing in Honduras.

There has been some debate over whether this is a coup d'etat or not, and the best breakdown of it I've found is at, not surprisingly, Global Voices Online. They've assembled videos from people on the ground on both sides of the issue.

The Organization of American States has suspended Honduras' membership and demanded the President be restored to office. Further, Secretary Clinton made a point of attending the State Department's daily briefing personally to raise the issue. The journalists in attendance asked some very insightful and important questions. Here's the video of the briefing:


Now if we could only let the dead rest and move on with our lives...