brandtags.net bum out, but not quite rant

So, I just happened to randomly be researching Noah Brier, as I completely blanked on his name and my curiosity was especially piqued, because I saw who he worked for, and had just had a rather enjoyable, informal meet and greet at Naked Communications last week.

Anyhow, after satisfying myself that I remembered the name from likemind, during looking through his website and reading across a number of his projects, lo and behold I came across brandtags.net (http://www.brandtags.net) and was immediately crestfallen.

For a short while now, as I've confided to several friends, I've been thinking about launching a similar sort of site. I first thought of the idea after reading the Wired magazine article about the Big Word Project (http://thebigwordproject.com/) and started racking my brain (passively) for relatively simple, yet smart ideas that could catch on big and earn revenue from multiple streams all the while engaging with the concept of Web 2.0 and general community, or even moreso, consumer interaction, feedback, and definition.

My idea of this brand perception project was one that would have resulted in more data being mined, and also provided for more brand interaction/feedback, but would basically, and I stress basically, be the same concept. While I don't think this is going to 100% preclude me from still launching my idea as I believe I could do some really interesting and great stuff with it, it has taught me one thing, which I continually preach and don't always practice and that's 'Just Do It'.

Yes, I know NIKE came up with that a long, long time ago and don't in anyway intend to claim to have been scooped on that too, but it is without a doubt a very true call to action. In the spirit of the last lecture, my life policy of 'No Regrets', and all other things telling us to act and act swiftly this is yet another example of the importance of making moves and not sitting and planning every aspect of something until you look up and it passes you by. Anyhow, kudos to Noah Brier and if all goes well look for my 'retort' in the next year or so.