MIT Technology Review Innovator of The Year

MIT's Technology review magazine aka TRN has named Scott Heiferman it's innovator of the year. He cofounded meetup.com: it's the site that has a nametag sticker as it's logo, like one you wear at a business social or a party where most people don't know the other folks. MeetUp is a site devoted to taking social networks in a practical direction by bringing together folks with common interests and has been responsible for some strong grass roots movements.

I think the most important quote I've seen regarding his acceptance of the award is this one...
"My partners and I weren't big stars, we just built the stage for other people."

That quote demonstrates a significant shift not only in marketing but in world power in general. He who holds the data holds the keys to the kingdom. You can quote me on that one. From Overture to Google, from the CIA to the NSA, from local government web sites to realtors, whoever controls a specific audiences' data controls the direction of that audience. This is a fundamental truth of business and living today and the sooner we accept that and decide to use it to our advantage, the better off we'll be.

Anyway, congrats to Scott Heiferman and the MeetUp team for putting together an app that's making our online lives a little more productivel one step at a time.