Meeting with Jeff Barrett

 When I met Jeff Barrett on Twitter, I wondered, “Who is that man?”

I googled him and got to know about his job, his participation in Barack Obama 2008 campaign and what he was doing now.  I admired his passion, the way he lives his life staying true to himself and his will to help other people and connect them through Internet.

I was amazed. I wanted to know more. Thousands of questions popped up in my mind. I asked for an interview. He accepted. I danced with joy. And here we are.

I’ve known Jeff for a little while (a few weeks actually) now and reading this interview, the answer to the question I asked myself when I first met him is so evident to me: Jim Barrett is a great guy.

In your own words: who is Jeff Barrett? 

I can’t go more than 15 minutes without making a joke. I have been timed on multiple occasions. It’s just not possible. I have found my passion and every day I make sure to live it. Everyone has a job. Mine doesn’t feel like work.  

Where does this passion for communication and social media come from and how did you started in the industry? 

I started crowdsourcing events and communications on MySpace in 2003. That led to private consulting, community management for large brands. I began to work on bigger projects as social media became more prevalent.  

Your work for 08’ Obama campaign was very impressive. How did you approach the challenge? 

There was a great plan in place. I went in to it hoping to learn something from Blue State Digital and test assumptions. I gained invaluable experience. 

That social media campaign has now become a case study many professionals refer to, did you know when your started that your work will play that big role or did you just thought “let’s try and see what comes out of it”? 

I was one of many. I was executing a strategy that I believed would work. It’s nice to look back on it today and apply the lessons learned to current projects.  

What is the biggest hurdles you’ve encountered then? 

Changing perspective. At that time it was new and different. There was a learning curve.  

According to you, why were you chosen for that job? 

Because I would work for free. I volunteered my services in order to gain experience on a large scale.  

Did you doubt sometimes of your ability to achieve what was expected from you? If yes, how did you overcome those doubts? 

I never do. I know that sounds unrealistic but it’s true. If I have doubts, I don’t act on something. I’m aware of my surroundings certainly. I take in to account all possible outcomes. I’m very thorough and reasoned. When I move on something, I act and don’t look back. 

At the end of it, you know, the night Barack Obama won the elections, what did you think? 

I thought it was the beginning. His win validated how important it is to have a social engagement strategy.  

Now, tell me about Status Creative and the birth of the “greatest music video ever made” as praised by Roger Ebert. How did all this adventure with Rob Bliss and Scott Erickson started? 

Rob came to us with an idea. Our skill sets matched up perfectly and everything fell in place from there. Individually we all had success but collectively we are unstoppable.  

I went to the website and the blog is still under construction. Some hints on what it will be about? 

Instead of starting a blog, Rob and I will be writing featured columns for The Washington Times. We’ll start linking them on the site. 

What are you up to now? I’ve heard of a project called You Matter?

We are working with multiple clients, expanding, bringing on more help and strategic partners worldwide. We also have one TV show in post-production and one in development.  

 5 Questions Chrono....To Jim Barrett

"5 Questions Chrono" is a brisk interview with cheeky...well, questions to an outstanding achiever we would like to know from a different angle.

• What do you usually read every morning?

Mashable, theCHIVE, The Washington Times, Agency Post and AdRants.  

• Are you a workaholic, “half work/ half fun” or “all about fun”?

I’m a workaholic but I love what I do. I made my passion my work. I’m very fortunate.  

• What are you the most proud of so far?

Writing for The Washington Times. My Mom was a writer and I like making her proud.  

• Any advice to the be successful?

Find your passion. Create a very specific niche for yourself. Network. Provide value in relationships.  

• Did you ever play the “do you know who I am” card?

Never. I’m not famous enough for that. I’m pretty sure I can’t pick up a woman by saying “I have 35,000 twitter followers.”