What Arianna Huffington Might Have To Say About Building Spiritual Movements

Michael Hyatt recently blogged about his experience at last month's O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing Conference. A highlight for Hyatt was Arianna Huffington’s keynote address, entitled, “Publishing is Dead; Long Live Publishing!”

I admire Huffington’s leadership in creating the amazing vortex of information, opinion, and celebrity that is The Huffington Post, one of the world’s most popular and dynamic websites. So when Hyatt mentioned her speech was posted on YouTube, I took the opportunity to listen to it.

Although she spoke in the context of book publishing, I found many things she said quite applicable in the context I work in: Building spiritual movements among college students.

My favorite quotes:

• “The more we try to go back to the Golden Age of publishing that doesn’t exist, the more we miss the Golden Age that does exist right now—the Golden Age of Engagement.”
  
• “Often book reviews are conversation-enders. What people want is conversation-starters.”
  
• “Self-expression is now more important than ever. Self-expression is the new entertainment. This is why millions of people blog."
  
• “People want to be part of the times we are living in. They want to be heard. We need to celebrate that moment rather than question it.”

To listen to Huffington’s address yourself, click here. Her speech is only 10 minutes long, with an additional 7 minutes of Q&A.