Random follow #193 - @billbennettnz

Having the ability to think for oneself and to communicate those views and thoughts in a manner that is both accessible to the masses while at the same time challenging enough to keep the intellectuals on their toes is a skill that few have.  @billbennettnz is a holder of these skills.  As a freelance journalist he has the interesting predicament of writing stories that are provocative and interesting while also ensuring that he gets employed.

The good thing about freelancing is though that after you have put in as many years as Bill has then the papers are magazines have a fair idea of the style of writing and what the content may look like.  The other side of the story is that is takes years of practise, hard effort, along with blood sweat and tears to make in an industry like this one.

Bill is no stranger to a good conversation and he knows where to go looking to find a really great one.  Its no surprise then that he has such a great presence on twitter.  His cool, calm and collected style is appealing because he hardly ever gets into a flap about anything.  Apart from mornings -

""Mustn't grumble". How passive aggressive is that expression?"

And he also knows how to conduct a good debate without being drawn into pointless diatribe or circular reasoning.  he can string together a whole series of tweets but when they hit your timeline rather than having the crushing power of a tsunami they act more like the incoming tide at the beach.  Whats interesting though is that while he can spin together 10 or 20 tweets in a conversation they tend to be at times when I (the blogger) am not actually online.  Which makes me wonder if twitter is a distraction?  (joking)

And then there are always the communications industry usual stories - 

"Unnerved when a PR offers an exclusive, which turns out not to be an interview or hard news, just a boring product press release."

Bill is also a techie geeky sort of guy at heart.  Not one of the hardcore ones for whom writing screeds of pages of code is fun.  But a down to earth and fun guy who enjoys uncovering new technologies and developments.  And he enjoys having a crack at them too -

"Amused by Google Glass users being described as "Glassholes". Witty and appropriate."

As far as twitter goes Bill will engage with pretty much anyone about the subjects that are near and dear to his heart.  He is highly entertaining, super engaging and very energetic.  Go and follow him.  You might learn a thing or two.

And to end this post it is important that we acknowledge the important people -

"My tweets do reflect the views of my employer."