2008 is the year of 'the year of...'

Jay Small — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 00:46:17 +0000

Happy New Year! Now can we put an end to all the "milestoning" already?

You know what I mean. The changing of a year provides a far-too-easy opportunity for writers -- journalists, opinion leaders, you name it -- to look back or look forward any of these tired ways:

Reviewing the past year. News media love this trick, because it fills space or time when news is usually slow (assassinations notwithstanding) and staffs are usually thin.
Predictions for the upcoming year. Bloggers love this trick because (a) it lets them say whatever they wish about search-optimizing rich keyword combinations, and (b) it lets them come back at the end of the year and crow about what great prognosticators they are.
Proclaiming the upcoming year "the year of [insert company name, sociological trend or technology term here]." If I'm to believe what I see, 2008 is the year of scale, the potato, the spaceship, creative destruction, frugal travelers, free, the frog, the small idea (hey, I may have a leg up on that one), and European cultural dialogue.

Golly, I can't wait. Couldn't we consider some alternatives? For instance ...

I wish local media would take whatever time or space they apply to year-end milestoning and use it instead to organize and distribute a categorized, detailed calendar of every public event they are aware of through the coming year. Town council meetings, ham and bean dinners, concerts, school dances -- everything. If your local paper did that, don't you think it'd be much more a keeper edition than a rehash of what you already know?
I wish bloggers would run out more if/then scenarios than predictions. If I follow, for example, a technology blogger, chances are I am most interested in understanding potential impact to me or my company if something happens. I'm less interested in somewhat educated guesses about what might happen, that come with no what-to-do advice if it does happen.
And I wish the media and public relations fields would simply stop labeling years that haven't happened yet, especially when the trick is used as a publicity stunt for one cause or another.

I issued predictions once, a few years back, and in hindsight they were wastes of pixels. Then I did the bloggers' trick of following them up a year later. Even less useful.

So you will find no more milestoning here. Maybe I can start a new trend. Maybe we can work together to make 2008 the year of ... um ... never mind!

year in review

2008 is the year of 'the year of...'