An Off Beat Interview with Fraser Kelton of Adaptive Blue

Alright, I know everyone's heard me talk about Glue a lot for the past year or so, whether through Twitter, this blog, email or in real life. I swear I do not work for them. Nor do they pay me to talk about them. I just happen to really enjoy their product. And like any product you enjoy, you tend to gush about them. And I can't help it if my Glue t shirt is one of my favorite shirts (and super comfy to boot). It is also a great conversation starter. ("No I do not sniff", "It's GLUE not CLUE")

Anywho, I found out about Glue through this genie who granted me some wishes through twitter (Twitter is a wonderful thing but that's another post). Then I got to know one of the people behind the genie and he turned out to be a really cool guy. I think I've bugged him quite a bit over the past year with my numerous questions about Glue but he's been rather patient through it all. Fraser is the VP, Business Development at Adaptive Blue which means he "wears a lot of different hats." He's also Canadian!

Now I know that Fraser has done other interviews in the past but I think this one is a little different. I'm not computer/techno/social media networking savvy (he can vouch for that) so this interview doesn't have all that jargon I still don't understand. Instead I went for quirky, fun, and for information that I think you guys, my readers, will find interesting and informative.

So without further adieu, an interview with Fraser Kelton of Adaptive Blue!


Deborah: I've talked about Glue lots on both my blog and twitter, but let's hear from you exactly what Glue is.

Fraser: Glue is a social recommendation network for interests like books, music, and movies. There's a website component - www.getglue.com - that offers a stream of suggestions based on your personal interests. And there's a browser add-on component, bringing the benefit of Glue to popular sites around the web.

Glue helps you find your next favourite thing by making suggestions based on what you like, what your friends like and what's most popular.

As a book blogger, how can I benefit from Glue?

I've been surprised with the diverse way that book bloggers are using Glue. Here's a blog post where a number of book bloggers talk about why they love Glue.

There are a few major benefits for book bloggers:

1) find your next favorite book
2) organize your book collection
3) visit a book on a popular book website and see which other book bloggers have visited it, and read their reviews

What are all these cool, nifty buttons and stickers and Guru things I keep hearing/seeing?

Stickers are a fun way to get recognition for your achievements. As you do certain things on Glue you will be rewarded with a variety of stickers for your efforts. Some stickers reward your collection (such as the Book Worm sticker) and others highlight your influence (such as the Connector sticker). The stickers add a fun and slightly competitive aspect to Glue. J Kaye, says that she 'dearly loves' them, which is what we're hearing from a number of book bloggers.

Guru is another form of recognition. With Glue you can be recognized as the Guru of specific books, movies, music, etc that you feel passionate about. There can only be one Guru per item, so you may have to work for the honor. Deborah, what's your favorite movie or book? (Deborah: You really have to ask?? Oh wait...I'm not guru on it..hmm, need to work on that) My favorite movie is The Godfather and I am ecstatic that I'm the Guru of that movie. I feel passionate enough about the movie, and the recognition, that I'll compete with others to maintain it.

How has working at Adaptive Blue changed the way you view social networking?

From the perspective of an employee helping to build a social network, I've realized three major things: how critical a tight knit community is; how important passionate members of the community are; and, how supportive that community can be.

On a personal level, I've been surprised with the amount of friendships that the community has created for me. For example, I talk with you, Steffan, and Vada on Twitter, Glue and blogs so often - about a variety of topics - that nice friendships have been created. (Deborah: awww shucks. I bet we'd be friends in real life too)

What kinds of things should we expect from Glue in the future?

Expect to see some cool things happen with Stickers and Guru. We have a few things cooking in the Glue Lab for these two things and I suspect you and others will love them.

Other than that, we listen very carefully to feedback and insight from the community and use the input to iterate on the product. So keep the input flowing!

What have you learned about the book blogging community? Would you ever consider starting a book blog?

I have learned that the book blogging community is a group of incredible individuals who are among the most passionate people on the web. Community-led events, such as BBAW, the Readathon, or CYBILS are testaments to the strength and passion.

But you don't even need these fantastic events to realize how strong the connections are between individuals in the community. Check out the comments to any blog post and you'll see supportive and encouraging words - something that's generally rare on the web.

Before work consumed my life, I did write fairly frequent blog posts (sometimes even about books!). I don't think I'd start a pure book blog, but I do miss writing regularly and am thinking of trying to carve out time again to start blogging.

(Deborah: Now that we've gotten all the informative questions out of the way, I decided to subject Fraser to those off the wall questions I'm known for. He was a good sport.)

I ask this to everyone I interview on this blog. Star Wars fan? Yes? No? Why NOT?

Most definitely. (Deborah: Good answer!) As a young teen I fell in love with the movies, and starting with the Timothy Zahn books, read a lot of the early Star Wars books.

My room in my parent's house still has an Empire Strikes back poster.

You've just received magical powers that will make the next book you open magically transform you into the story. What book would you like to be sucked into?

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. To this day I want to give eight-year old Oskar a hug and let him know that everything will be ok. (Deborah: I had not heard about this book until I read this response, you learn something new every day)

The National Film Preservation Board at the Library of Congress has decided to redo their entire list of movies they've preserved. They have chosen you to pick the first five movies that will be on the new list. What movies do you think deserve eternal status?

Godfather & Godfather 2. They are beautiful films, powerfully told, and show America's transformation by exploring the generation's of a family. (Deborah: What would you say when you find out that I haven't watched either of these movies?)

Forrest Gump. A great movie, an even better soundtrack. (Deborah: Ditto)

Ferris Bueller's Day Off. When I was 9 there was no finer movie in the world. I would want to ensure that every 9 year old, forever, can enjoy this movie.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This is one of my more recent favourites, but the way that it captures life and love is beautiful.

You've got a hankering for some Chinese Food and decide to call for some take out. What are you getting? This is an easy one: I'm getting Orange Beef from Le Chinois (odd name for the restaurant, right?) (Deborah: How many people got hungry after looking at that dish?)

Ben and Jerry's has decided they will name their next ice cream flavor after you. What does the flavor “Fraser” consist of?

I love ice cream. I love ice cream in mass quantities. So, first thing about this flavor is that it would be the first flavor that, when ordered, would also impact the size. That is, you'd only be able to get 1 serving size of the flavor: Large.

Now, the Fraser flavor itself would be chocolate and peanut butter mixed with a dash of sarcasm and a pinch of dry humour.

(Deborah: I took it upon myself to translate that sarcasm = blondie brownie and dry humor = donuts and voila!) Any last words?

Get Glue and follow me so that we can discover cool movies and books from one another.

Isn't he just charming? It's always nice to see that there are real people behind these things that are really friendly and just plain cool. And apparently have good taste in ice cream.

And if you do happen to Get Glue, you can follow me as well!