I really did create Secret Sig. And it pretty much unfolded the way that I described in my How I Created Secret Sig post (less all the snarkiness). And after I made Secret Sig I pretty much put it on the shelf. But like the ring of power Secret Sig did indeed have a will of its own. And like the ring of power it was forgotten for a long time. Until it awoke and ensnared me. This is the story about how Sig Mosley found out that I created Secret Sig.
Once again, it all started innocently enough. It was June of 2008. I had a meeting with Melanie Leeth of Imlay Investments. I wanted to get her view on one of the companies that I advise. And as is often the case when seeking Melanie's advice we were having a great conversation. Right in the middle of it she changed the subject. Melanie asked me "Lance, what are your going to do?" Well since she asked me, I told her. I told her my master plan. She wanted to know if I had discussed this with Sig. I told her no and she encouraged me to do so. So shortly thereafter I sent Sig a note and we scheduled lunch at the now defunct The Globe in Technology Square.
Sig Mosley and I went to lunch. We had a good meeting. As we were winding things down and settling our tab Sig asked me one last short question.
"Have you ever heard of Twitter?"
"Yes" I replied as calmly as possible while a B9 voice started screaming in my head.
"Well somebody has gone and created a Twitter account called Secret Sig and attached a Web page to it. Would you have any idea about how someone could do such a thing?" Sig asked. I am not sure of the exact words. I was in a state of shock. And panic.
Yes, Secret Sig did indeed have a will of its own. And lots of power. The power of Web crawlers. The power of search engines. All you have to do is bing Sig Mosley to understand the extent of the power. Someone close to Sig had searched on the term Sig Mosely and told him about Secret Sig.
Here I was sitting across from the most powerful technology investor in Atlanta, if not the Southeast, and he was asking me a direct question about something that I had created to semi-impersonate him. I never dreamed that things would unfold this way. People talking about it at an event and online with me just listening, sure. Getting asked a direct question from Sig himself, no. My mind was racing. Really, really racing. I had not done anything with the Secret Sig persona for several months. Was this an innocent question? Was there some artifact out on the Web that connected me to Secret Sig from the botched first attempt? Does he know? What do I say? Is my master plan going to completely blow up before it gets out of the gate? My career flashed before my eyes. I tried to stay as visibly calm as possible.
You know they say under stress people revert to their true self. I believe in being honest. It's what my parents taught me. So I came clean. I told Sig the truth. It was really the only option. "Yes Sig, I know how someone could do such a thing. I created Secret Sig."
And waited for a response. Waited for what seemed an eternity. How was the unwitting father of Atlanta angel investing going to respond to this gem of a confession? I really did not know him very well. We had worked together on the GRA/TAG business launch competition but that was about it. I had no idea how he was going to react. I was dying.
And what did Sig do? Sig smiled. To me at the moment a smile that was more beautiful than the Mona Lisa. With that smile I knew things were going to be all right.
Sig asked me how I did it. I told him the story. He asked me about Twitter. I told him all about that as well. Sig asked me if he could have control of @secretsig. I said yes. I even game him a tutorial on how to use it. With the exception of an entry or two at the beginning it has been Sig himself tweeting since last June.
Eventually Sig asked me if he could have control of Secret Sig he wanted to change some of the content. Correct some errors in fact. I said yes. Came to find that there is really no way to transfer a blogger account. So I am now the webmaster of the only Web presence of Sig Mosley and Imlay Investments. Sig wants changes, I get cracking.
Serves me right.