This is my first blog post - as Paul Roberts and marks the end of my Tony Mackey blog and twitter account. So, for anyone that had grown accustomed to reading Tony Mackey I know I've got some explaining to do. (Kiss Unmasked photo taken from random site on Internet)
Why did I do it? Well, when I started blogging it was because I wanted some hands-on experience in order to better advise clients that were asking about starting corporate or personal blogs. I figured I'd blog under the name Tony Mackey for a few months to learn what I had to learn and then delete the blog.
Why come out now? Well, something interesting happened as I stumbled around on my blog, I met some really good people and I really enjoyed the outlet and the conversations I was engaged in. I toyed with the idea of just launching this blog without ever referencing Tony Mackey, but for right or wrong I decided against that.
Who is Tony Mackey? Tony is my middle name and Mackey is my late mother's maiden name, so this name was not selected to as a foolproof way to hide my identity, but it was instead an alias I selected as a tribute to her. For years I complained to her that I didn't like my middle name, so this was the least I could do.
Would I do it all over again? Yeah, I think I would. As ironic as it is, Tony Mackey allowed me to be myself. And make no mistake about it, everything I blogged and tweeted about was honest and sincere. It was just under a different name.
Do I feel like I liar and a hypocrite? Well, no, I honestly don't think I ever lied. No one ever asked me where I worked or about my background so I never lied. Now hypocrite, yeah, it did bother me a bit as I was arguing about the need for transparency and full disclosure in social networking. I did fell like I was being a bit disingenuous, but at the end of the day, I knew all the reasons why I did what I did and I could look myself in the mirror and be okay with it.
But enough about me. I'd be very interested in hearing from folks that I've been interacting with over the past year to hear what you think - about me. Let me say very clearly and sincerely that if anyone has been offended by my using a different name - I'm sorry.
Thank you all.
-Paul
