I had the chance to attend the Northwest MIT Enterprise Forum’s dinner last night on the topic of "Marketing Successfully in the Web 2.0 World."  Nice event and recaps are posted here and here.  Was keen to hear what Ben Elowitz of Wetpaint had to say as we have recently connected via a mutual friend (thanks Pattie) and I am sitting down with their VP Marketing Kevin Flaherty next week.  I believe wikis will have a pretty significant place on the mainstream corporate landscape (techie types have been using them for years) in the future.

Events like this can be hit or miss although the MIT Enterprise chapter here always puts on a good show.  Lots of folks getting together and then every once in a while you meet someone new and really interesting.  That happened last night when I met Shad Gates sitting next to me at dinner.

Shad, as he said when we met, does something about as far removed from technology as you can be – wood plank flooring.  That said, he is looking for ways to bring aspects of community and social connection to his company, Harvest Timber Co., as its VP of Sales &  Marketing.  They are over in the Gig Harbor area and supply harvested & reclaimed wood flooring for homes.

This is where the rubber meets the road – all the buzz words and new, new things only mean something if they are relevant and can be applied to a guy like Shad.  We connected today via email (of course) and I look forward to continuing the dialog we started last night.  This got me thinking about trying to do a living case study of sorts to guide Shad through what could work for him as he builds his community. 

He is already ahead of many because he knows what he wants to create (from his email to me):

For our industry, I see a passionate group of baby boomers anticipating retirement and dreaming about their home in the mountains (be it log homes, timber frame homes, or just a cabin on the water on Whidbey Island). I think this is where you can get back-to-nature enthusiasts talking about beautiful homes, their experiences with building, and the lifestyle that they have dreamed about their entire working careers. Our partnerships with log and timber home manufacturers may open doors in the near future for us to create an online community that would allow us to incorporate discussions about specialty wood, etc.

If you have some thoughts for Shad, post them in the comments section.  I’ll add some thoughts and also reach out to a few folks directly to get some input.  Look for updates moving forward.