Doug and Lydia, this afternoon
Sep. 17th, 2014 07:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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om_mainDoug stops to say thanks to Lydia personally. Lydia, unsurprisingly, immediately enlists his help.
Doug headed into the math classroom a little early, his laptop bag slung over his shoulder, a large cup of coffee in one hand and his books in the other. Even Mr. Pierce wasn't in yet, though Lydia was. He smiled crookedly and headed towards her, hoping he wasn't interrupting. "Hey," he offered. "I've been meaning to stop by your office; I wanted to say thanks again for your help."
Lydia looked up and smiled faintly. "Doug, hey. You're welcome; it's honestly why I put the website up, in the first place."
Doug's lips twitched, and he just barely refrained from asking whether or not they had to rescue moronic teens from GameStop often. "Good foresight," he said instead. "Are you getting a lot of hits?"
Lydia nodded. "But not a lot of legit communication--I think it's mostly curiosity at this point. Is it a valid site, is it not, that kind of thing. It's still early days.
"I'm glad it was there when it was, though. I'm glad you're here."
"Me too," Doug said, a little surprised to realize he meant it, then paused. "About the site hits. Umm...I mean, maybe you're already doing it, or have plans to, but...how much are you relying on Google for people to find the site? And how much traffic do you want?"
"It's not so much about volume--but higher volume would indicate that it's easier to find, and I want anyone who needs it to be able to find it," Lydia said thoughtfully.
Doug nodded, considering both her words and what he'd been tossing around since he started working on the #clearbobby crusade for Kitty. "Are you doing anything with social media?" he asked. "Word of mouth campaign or anything, just to draw attention to it?"
"No," Lydia replied, shifting in her seat as she crossed her legs at the knees. She didn't want to make a huge fuss--it seemed like it'd be more likely to garner positive attention if it happened organically. But she was always willing to hear ideas, especially when they might get help to people who needed faster. "What were you thinking about?"
Right. What was he thinking about? And why hadn't he just sent her an e-mail about it, where he might have actually managed something coherent? "Umm...okay. So, there's the really blatant social media buzz, like everyone's been doing for #clearBobby. Which works for that, but I'm kinda figuring that's not what you're looking for, right?" Now that he'd gotten out the first couple of sentences without her calling him an idiot, Doug's relaxed a little, and he continued just a little more confidently. "Too blatant. But, what I was thinking of is something a little less in your face. I'm thinking start off with a pro-mutant groups, drop in a comment about this X-Statix website - has anyone seen it yet? Is it legit? Wait and see the replies, go in with another identity and point out that it can only be a good thing. Look at what X-Statix has done so far, and how well it's turned out? See what works, then flip over and do it in, say, a Dazzler fan group. Or one for one of the other mutants who are out. Nothing drastic, nothing blatant - but it gets the name out there, and with luck, someone else picks it up and spreads it somewhere else."
Lydia listened to this rambling with growing amusement, but also listened with the intensity of someone who was hearing something very, very useful. Rambly, yes, but also intelligent. "I think that's ingenious, Doug. And exactly the right amount of signal boosting, in the right way, that I need."
Ready for her to object or point out the holes in his idea, Doug blinked a couple of times before grinning crookedly. "Cool. You want me to run anything past you, first, or just go with it? And do you have any statistics on what kind of abilities people seem to be manifesting most?" Granted, he had an idea, based on people's journal posts and what he'd picked up listening, but that didn't necessarily include former students or ones who didn't like to talk about their powers.
"I can get you Dr. MacTaggert's numbers," Lydia suggested. "I'm sure she has something from the paper she and Simon did a few months back. I'll talk to her next time I'm in the lab.
"And you don't need to run anything by me. Just send me a link so I can keep an eye on the thread, if you post anywhere--or get anyone else to." She assumed she didn't need to warn him about ip tracking--not that anyone could track them here anyhow, with Barbara on the job--but they could track them to being the same person. Doug... knew that. Obviously.
"That'd help," Doug admitted. "I read the paper when it came out; thought about contacting her then, but..." he shrugged. It wasn't as if his mutation was anything really interesting, anyway. "But yeah, will do." He smiled crookedly. "Let me know if there's anything else I can do? I want to help."
Lydia nodded and smiled through this--what a rarity, an actually sweet boy--but her brow wrinkled slightly at the end. "I appreciate it, Doug. And I can definitely use the help. But--you don't feel like you owe anyone here, I hope?"
"Not that, so much," Doug assured her. Or rather, he did, but that wasn't why he was offering. "I just...want to be involved, I guess." He grinned a little self-consciously. "Might as well put what I can do to good use, right?"
"Exactly--good." Still smiling, but a little more relaxed, Lydia went on with, "Beware, though, that's how I ended up becoming the Mutant PR Guru on accident."
"Well, gotta admit, I'm personally kind of glad you did," Doug admitted, but he grinned. "I figure all the big jobs are already taken, though, so I'm probably safe enough?"
"Sadly--or not, depending on your point of view--in such a new community, there are always more jobs that need creating," Lydia said with another quiet laugh. "And with the brevity of matriculation, well, we cycle through students too quickly, and can't keep them all.
"But don't let me scare you." Her little smirk said she doubted very much she had.
Doug laughed, but shook his head. "Pretty sure I'm not guru material," he admitted, not exactly disliking the idea but also unsure that there was anything he could really do that wasn't already being done by someone who could do it better. "I'll keep it in mind, though. Never know what'll look good on a college application when the time comes."
"Exactly." Lydia winked. "In the meantime, come to me any time you feel the need to help--I always have something going on, and you're well-suited to what I do. Obviously."
"Well, here's hoping, anyway," he corrected, but grinned a little at the compliment. "I'll send you the links once I get things setup," he promised, noting that Mr. Pierce had come in and seemed to be getting ready to start class. With one last smile, he went back to take his seat, and popped open his laptop. He knew this stuff, anyway. He might as well get started.
"Thanks," she said, already setting her things in order as people settled in for class. Ah, another resource, and a sweet one, at that. She should've known, since Kitty had good people taste, for sure.
Doug headed into the math classroom a little early, his laptop bag slung over his shoulder, a large cup of coffee in one hand and his books in the other. Even Mr. Pierce wasn't in yet, though Lydia was. He smiled crookedly and headed towards her, hoping he wasn't interrupting. "Hey," he offered. "I've been meaning to stop by your office; I wanted to say thanks again for your help."
Lydia looked up and smiled faintly. "Doug, hey. You're welcome; it's honestly why I put the website up, in the first place."
Doug's lips twitched, and he just barely refrained from asking whether or not they had to rescue moronic teens from GameStop often. "Good foresight," he said instead. "Are you getting a lot of hits?"
Lydia nodded. "But not a lot of legit communication--I think it's mostly curiosity at this point. Is it a valid site, is it not, that kind of thing. It's still early days.
"I'm glad it was there when it was, though. I'm glad you're here."
"Me too," Doug said, a little surprised to realize he meant it, then paused. "About the site hits. Umm...I mean, maybe you're already doing it, or have plans to, but...how much are you relying on Google for people to find the site? And how much traffic do you want?"
"It's not so much about volume--but higher volume would indicate that it's easier to find, and I want anyone who needs it to be able to find it," Lydia said thoughtfully.
Doug nodded, considering both her words and what he'd been tossing around since he started working on the #clearbobby crusade for Kitty. "Are you doing anything with social media?" he asked. "Word of mouth campaign or anything, just to draw attention to it?"
"No," Lydia replied, shifting in her seat as she crossed her legs at the knees. She didn't want to make a huge fuss--it seemed like it'd be more likely to garner positive attention if it happened organically. But she was always willing to hear ideas, especially when they might get help to people who needed faster. "What were you thinking about?"
Right. What was he thinking about? And why hadn't he just sent her an e-mail about it, where he might have actually managed something coherent? "Umm...okay. So, there's the really blatant social media buzz, like everyone's been doing for #clearBobby. Which works for that, but I'm kinda figuring that's not what you're looking for, right?" Now that he'd gotten out the first couple of sentences without her calling him an idiot, Doug's relaxed a little, and he continued just a little more confidently. "Too blatant. But, what I was thinking of is something a little less in your face. I'm thinking start off with a pro-mutant groups, drop in a comment about this X-Statix website - has anyone seen it yet? Is it legit? Wait and see the replies, go in with another identity and point out that it can only be a good thing. Look at what X-Statix has done so far, and how well it's turned out? See what works, then flip over and do it in, say, a Dazzler fan group. Or one for one of the other mutants who are out. Nothing drastic, nothing blatant - but it gets the name out there, and with luck, someone else picks it up and spreads it somewhere else."
Lydia listened to this rambling with growing amusement, but also listened with the intensity of someone who was hearing something very, very useful. Rambly, yes, but also intelligent. "I think that's ingenious, Doug. And exactly the right amount of signal boosting, in the right way, that I need."
Ready for her to object or point out the holes in his idea, Doug blinked a couple of times before grinning crookedly. "Cool. You want me to run anything past you, first, or just go with it? And do you have any statistics on what kind of abilities people seem to be manifesting most?" Granted, he had an idea, based on people's journal posts and what he'd picked up listening, but that didn't necessarily include former students or ones who didn't like to talk about their powers.
"I can get you Dr. MacTaggert's numbers," Lydia suggested. "I'm sure she has something from the paper she and Simon did a few months back. I'll talk to her next time I'm in the lab.
"And you don't need to run anything by me. Just send me a link so I can keep an eye on the thread, if you post anywhere--or get anyone else to." She assumed she didn't need to warn him about ip tracking--not that anyone could track them here anyhow, with Barbara on the job--but they could track them to being the same person. Doug... knew that. Obviously.
"That'd help," Doug admitted. "I read the paper when it came out; thought about contacting her then, but..." he shrugged. It wasn't as if his mutation was anything really interesting, anyway. "But yeah, will do." He smiled crookedly. "Let me know if there's anything else I can do? I want to help."
Lydia nodded and smiled through this--what a rarity, an actually sweet boy--but her brow wrinkled slightly at the end. "I appreciate it, Doug. And I can definitely use the help. But--you don't feel like you owe anyone here, I hope?"
"Not that, so much," Doug assured her. Or rather, he did, but that wasn't why he was offering. "I just...want to be involved, I guess." He grinned a little self-consciously. "Might as well put what I can do to good use, right?"
"Exactly--good." Still smiling, but a little more relaxed, Lydia went on with, "Beware, though, that's how I ended up becoming the Mutant PR Guru on accident."
"Well, gotta admit, I'm personally kind of glad you did," Doug admitted, but he grinned. "I figure all the big jobs are already taken, though, so I'm probably safe enough?"
"Sadly--or not, depending on your point of view--in such a new community, there are always more jobs that need creating," Lydia said with another quiet laugh. "And with the brevity of matriculation, well, we cycle through students too quickly, and can't keep them all.
"But don't let me scare you." Her little smirk said she doubted very much she had.
Doug laughed, but shook his head. "Pretty sure I'm not guru material," he admitted, not exactly disliking the idea but also unsure that there was anything he could really do that wasn't already being done by someone who could do it better. "I'll keep it in mind, though. Never know what'll look good on a college application when the time comes."
"Exactly." Lydia winked. "In the meantime, come to me any time you feel the need to help--I always have something going on, and you're well-suited to what I do. Obviously."
"Well, here's hoping, anyway," he corrected, but grinned a little at the compliment. "I'll send you the links once I get things setup," he promised, noting that Mr. Pierce had come in and seemed to be getting ready to start class. With one last smile, he went back to take his seat, and popped open his laptop. He knew this stuff, anyway. He might as well get started.
"Thanks," she said, already setting her things in order as people settled in for class. Ah, another resource, and a sweet one, at that. She should've known, since Kitty had good people taste, for sure.
