Safe Journeys, BlogBoy
Brian Lusk was a pioneer. He was at the epicenter of BlogSouthwest. In the beginning there was no strategic blueprint yet to follow. It was all about the bravery of a brand, Southwest Airlines, revealing its soul for the world to see. With Brian in the middle of it, the strategy just worked out. And the rest made history.
Never before did I think we'd be writing about a guy like Brian this way. For me, the title of Andy Lark's blog post put it in perspective. Brian Lusk is a Hall of Famer. In a world of so many millions of blogs, he was recognized as the best.
I'll never forget the meetings, presentations, and work sessions we'd have at Southwest HQ. No matter how many times you do it, presenting can put you on edge. But Brian's presence in the room always set me at ease. He was the kindest and most sincere person I have ever worked with.
As experimental blogs become really big blogs, things happen. Big traffic sometimes shows up on the doorstep. And we all learned so much together. There were times I'd get a call from Brian about a blog hiccup. But even during challenging times, Brian would just calmly ask me to "take a look at the blog." Things always are easier to fix when heads are cool. Thanks Brian, for that.
A couple of times Brian invited me to attend Blog World in Las Vegas. Brian was very popular there. But it was kinda funny because I'm not sure how many people knew his real name. Can't tell you how many times people just greeted him as "BlogBoy" and asked for his autograph!
It seems like over the years social media has really changed people. But it never changed Brian. It was Brian who changed social media. None of the awards, industry recognition, and countless case studies on the success of Brian and the Team ever phased him one bit.
The blogging community has lost an important piece of the puzzle. We should take note of how Brian demonstrated the importance of bringing authenticity -- our real selves -- to the story. Even though that's what social media is supposed to be about, it's a haven for the inauthentic.
We need more Brian Lusks. We need armies of him. We could have fixed a lot in the world with those armies. And you only had to meet him once to know that. But we don't have armies of Brian. We only had one BlogBoy, and he was such a gift!
Safe journeys, Brian. With LUV to your family and those on your Team at Southwest.
