Leads 1.0

Following a tip on a mailing list, I was signing up at dzone to sample their "reference cards" for various technologies (always a sucker for memory helpers).

And having filled out a zillion forms for trade rags, white papers, and what not, it's pretty obvious when a form is designed to figure out if you're the one writing the checks for IT stuff, and how big those checks might be. Or if you're part of the process to get those checks written.

So the "Your Role in Decisions" choices are:

• Authorize purchases
• Evaluate brands/vendors
• Specify brands/vendors
• Create IT strategy
• Determine needs
• None of the above
  

And then you also choose Company Size (ranges 1-49 up to 100,000+) and Total Developers (1-4 up to 250+).

This has always given me pause, since as an independent consultant there's only me in my company, but in a given engagement I may be acting in one of the above roles for a company on the high end of each spectrum. So which "company" are they really asking about? Taken literally my opinions (and budget!) wouldn't count for much; taken liberally, much more so.

But that was then, and this is now, and it occurred to me today that this form is missing the boat in an even more profound way.

Where are the questions about "how many Twitter followers do you have" and "how many people read your blog regularly"? Where is the interest in how wide a community you may be influencing?

Is there anyone collecting leads like this that's interested in community, rather than company? If you know of any, let me know.