I was asked to contribute to an article about authenticy vs. authority along with other marketing folks like Seth Godin, David Meerman Scott, Chris Brogan, and Brian Solis.

Part of my contribution is here:

"Marketers need to be authentic, but the primary focus for marketing should be on building authority. Authority is a marketing asset - you can use it to drive more people to your events, content, thought leadership, and products."

Read the whole article and see what others had to say at Mark Olson's article on Authenticity vs. Authority.