Logic+Emotion

Media in Beta

Anyone remember Pointcast?  If you do, you are showing your age. Pointcast was a service back in the early days of the internet that "pushed" content onto your computer desktop, browser etc.  As the Web evolved—so did the notion of "Push" as we've gone from push to pull (or maybe more accurately—push, pull + facilitate).

But as I continue to use Twitter—I can't help but wonder if "push" may indeed make a comeback of sorts.  Here's how.  I've been getting many of my headlnes via Twitter from MSM sources such as CNN, Wired, The BBC, and the NY Times.

It's convenient since I use the Twitter service to keep up with friends in my network and follow some of the bloggers who are on my feed list.  And of course I give the random personal updates when I'm in the mood.

Now take a look at the above picture.  Someone with the e-mail address "pleasantcreature" has gone and registered Twitter URLS for BusinessWeek, NewsWeek, MSNBC, CNBC,  and probably many more (these are the only ones I looked up).  There is currently no media content coming out of these URLS.  It's seems remarkably similar to what we witnessed years ago in the early days of the Web.  Remember seeing all the legal cases back then around claiming URLS?  Maybe you worked for a media company who had to shell out a couple of bucks to secure your Domain name.  When I first worked for the Chicago Tribune, the site URL was Chicago.tribune.com and was later changed to chicagotribune.com.  You do the math.  And I still recall all the efforts it took to announce the change in URL when we found out we could lose the extra "dot".  Let's just say it required a significant integrated marketing effort.

Meanwhile, some MSM publications such as  Fast Company and USAToday look like they have reserved a Twitter account even though there isn't content there (yet).  And even Fox News headlines are being pushed through the service.

I digress.  The point of this post isn't about Twitter or even about the MSM.  It is however, about how our behaviors continue to change and evolve along with the ever-shifting media landscape.  I now recieve many of my news updates through Twitter.  For me personally, it's convenient.  I like the "push"—when the news comes to me vs. me going to the news.  It saves me time since it arrives in a "channel" I'm using on a regular basis.

Maybe Twitter will implode as some people predict.  Maybe it won't.  Or maybe it will be replaced by something bigger and better.  Either way, if I were a member of the MSM, I'd be thinking about how to incorporate these types of services in my distribution mix.  Some of us still bookmark sites, others subscribe to feeds, some rely on mobile or some other modes of media transportation that take us away from our PC's.

Whatever you want to take away from this post—I'd say one thing seems crystal clear.  Media consumption is not a one-size-fits-all model and I can't think of a downside to "staking your claim" early on vs. waiting for the dust to settle.  Maybe that's what we can call "media in beta".

Talking to Yourself

Wow.  I just finished doing a Webinar for Marketing Profs and I have to tell you I'm not so sure I could do something like that again.  I spoke to a bunch of slides for almost an hour and a half, and while it seems to have gone over OK for the most part—I think I just found out something about myself that I never realized.

I don't do monologue well.

Here's what I mean by this.  I've presented on conference calls and have done Web presentations before—but when you get close to 1.5 hours with nothing but the sound of your voice to keep you going, you can lose focus and flow.  At least that's how I started to feel at minute 35.

I speak in front of people all the time, so I left the experience wondering what was different?  Then it hit me—I may be more of a conversationalist vs. a monologue presenter.  Even if you are presenting in front of a live audience without active participation—you get feedback.  Body language, nods or the even the lack of.  You get eye contact.  It's all non-verbal communication.  I never realized how important that was to me until today.

So that's my finding of the day.  I fare much better with a live audience of some sort—especially when things get past the 30 minute point.  What about you?  Have you had similar experiences?  Maybe the opposite?  Have you figured out what type of forum you do best in?  What you struggle with?  Ah well—guess you live and you learn.  Talk about life in Beta...

MVB + MSM

So I'm kind of liking this "blog tournament" idea Joseph Jaffe started recently.  I think what I like about it is that it's kind of random.  Basically Jaffe posed the question "what are some of the most valuable blogs in your opinion?" and used the comments on his blog to cultivate some of the entries.  He then took these and placed them into a list which can be voted upon.

So why do I think this is interesting?

Couple of reasons.  First off, like I said it's kind of random and by soliciting from his readers—Jaffe bypasses the "conventional" blog success indicators such as Technorati, RSS subscriptions, Alexa rankings etc.  If you threw up a link that you found "valuable"—it was thrown into the ring.  Of course we need to realize that the blogs are mostly skewed to the marketing-related space due to Jaffe's audience, but that's kind of a given.

But something else caught my attention.  BusinessWeek's Nussbaum On Design made the list and Bruce writes about being honored by being featured alongside some of his favorite bloggers.  Let's take a moment to digest this nuance.  A member of the mainstream media takes pride in being included in a list created and composed of "bloggers".  Has it not traditionally not been the other way around?  As I've stated in many ways before—the relationship between the MSM and content creating citizens is becoming more open—more like a dialogue.  It's still slow going but it does appear to be happening.  This doesn't mean that lines are blurred in my opinion—but it does show subtle signs of mutual respect and credibility.  And maybe a new kind of "media collaboration".  See visuals below:

Anyway, it's more of an observation than anything else.  I just wonder if it's something we'll see more of.  What do you think?  PS, there are some really good blogs on the list.  If you see one you haven't checked out before—take a moment to do so:

1. Logic + Emotion - http://darmano.typepad.com/logic_emotion/
2. Russel Davies - http://russelldavies.typepad.com/
3. "Why Business People Speak Like Idiots" - http://www.fightthebull.com/blog/
4. "Eggs, Bacon, Chips & Beans" - http://russelldavies.typepad.com/eggbaconchipsandbeans/
5. Seth Godin - http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
6. Jaffe Juice - http://feeds.feedburner.com/jaffejuice
7. Cool Hunting – http://www.coolhunting.com/
8. NussbaumOnDesign -http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/NussbaumOnDesign/index.html
9. Beyond Madison Avenue - http://www.beyondmadisonavenue.com/
10. Wired – http://blog.wired.com/
11. Adverlab – http://adverlab.blogspot.com/
12. BrandAutopsy - http://brandautopsy.typepad.com/
13. Gaping Void - http://www.gapingvoid.com/
14. Hello_World - http://missinglink.typepad.com/hello_world/
15. Mark Cuban - http://www.blogmaverick.com/
16. SpringWise - http://www.springwise.com/
17. PSFK - http://www.psfk.com
18. Adliterate by Richard Huntington - http://www.adliterate.com/
19. http://servantofchaos.typepad.com/
20. http://conversationagent.typepad.com/
21. http://blog.creativethink.com/
22. http://www.scottweisbrod.com/index.php/
23. http://www.micropersuasion.com
24. http://www.toprankblog.com
25. http://www.pronetadvertising.com
26. Where's The Sausage - http://wheresthesausage.typepad.com/
27. Branding Strategy Insider - http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/
28. http://www.ck-blog.com/
29. http://powrightbetweentheeyes.typepad.com/
30. Church of the Consumer - http://www.churchofthecustomer.com/blog/
31. Modern Life is Rubbish - http://www.modernlifeisrubbish.co.uk/
32. radical Trust - http://www.radicaltrust.ca

Andy Sernovitz To Speak At SOBCon

Quick update on SobCon '07—you know that blogging conference happening in Chicago on May 12?  We just got word that Andy Sernovitz, the guy who literally WROTE the book on Word of Mouth Marketing is going to be featured as a speaker.  Andy is also co-founder of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association.

Guess the action doesn't always happen on the coasts.  See you there!

Marsupial Madness

My last post regarding Kathy Sierra was a bummer.  Luckily for us—there is a lot of fun stuff happening within the boundaries of emerging media which demonstrates our finer qualities as human beings.  Last night I changed my photo into a Koala in response to Scoble, Winer and Rubel changing their Twitter photos to birds.  Why should birds have all the fun I thought?  So, I went Marsupial as did a bunch of friends.  It was Marsupial Madness.

We all had a good laugh.  Its was fun to see folks like Steve Rubel play along.  That's one of the things I like the most about the new social spaces.  We can explore, play, experiment and laugh with each other and at ourselves.  The picture that goes with this post isn't about Twitter.  It's about grown people acting like little kids—but in a really good way.  Personally, I think we have a lot to learn from kids and most of us have probably forgotten what it feels like to play.  We're all too busy working, and trying to get ahead.  Even if it involves stepping on others in order to do so.

Yes, life has an ugly side and technology can sometimes intensify that.  But if we don't take ourselves too seriously, if we try to treat each other well—then maybe we can have a little fun with all this and nobody will get hurt.

Wishful thinking I know, but hey—I'm in a Marsupial kind of mood.

The Ugly Side

Roger just tipped me off to a very disturbing post over at Kathy Sierra's Creating Passionate Users.  I won't go into the details, you'll have to read for yourself—but  in short, Kathy has been receiving death threats combined with perverse imagery.  It's not good.  Not good at all.

This hits me hard because as you know, I'm a pretty big fan of how we're able to participate and connect via social media etc.  I'm not naive though—I'm fully aware that with any kind of advancement comes the potential to misuse and abuse.  But this just makes me sad.  Is this what we have to look forward to if we're fortunate enough to attract a following or cultivate a community?

I hope not.  I hope this is an isolated incident.  This isn't Hollywood people.  Those of us who choose to share our thoughts in this format aren't paid millions of dollars and we don't get bodyguards.  In fact, most of us don't get paid to do it at all.  Death threats and obscene gestures are not part of the deal.

Take a moment to read the post over at CPU.  Then take a moment to show Kathy a little support regardless of how you feel about her blog etc.  I'm sure some kind words will go a long way.  I'm not sure what else to say.  I'm just really deflated after reading about this.   It makes you want to put up walls.

Enemy of Design Poll

A little over a week ago, BusinessWeek's Bruce Nussbaum published a provocative blog post which got the design (and non-design) community talking.  Given my earlier post, you know where I stand.  But how about you?

Take a moment to select an option from the poll shown in this post.  If you don't see a choice that you like, feel free to add a thought to "other".  Feed readers can view the poll here.

Slideshare Spring Cleaning

Do you ever want to take a rubber mallet to your head because you did something so stupid which could have been easily avoided if you only put a little more thought into it?  I just realized that all my presentations on Slideshare have been looking like crap because I uploaded them all as ppts.  I thought the compromised quality was just part of how Slideshare works.  So my presentations have been getting viewed in a crappy compromised format when they could have been much better.

As someone who takes pride in visual presentations, this is a mini-heartbreak.  *Sigh—So it goes.  Anyway, I've done a little Spring cleaning.  All of the decks are of much better quality and can be viewed here.  And if you use Slideshare, remember to upload PDFs even though it accepts PPTs—your graphics will look much better!

Value Metrics

Page views are dead.

Thought this might be a nice controversial way to start a quick post.  I recently checked my feed stats.  This is something I don't do on a regular basis, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that I am fast  approaching the 2K mark of subscriptions to L+E's feed.  This does not include the e-mail subscriptions—just the RSS feed as measured by Feedburner.

Couple of thoughts on this.

1. THANK YOU.  I'm humbled that so many of you are willing to incorporate the content here in your daily routine.
2. Subscriptions = perceived value (in my opinion).  I think that subscriptions are becoming an increasingly important "metric" to evaluate if you're doing something right.
3. The combination of subscriptions, comments, and other various rankings may become more important than page views as dialogue becomes increasingly significant to how brands relate to consumers.
4. There really isn't a sure-fire way to measure relationships, but subscriptions at least show a willingness to "commit".   And relationships tend to be about commitment in some form.
5. The most important metric is the "are we having fun?" metric.  :)

So, to point number 5, yes—I'm still having fun here and I hope you are too.  For those of you who have decided that you liked what you saw here enough to stick around—thanks, I really take this to heart. 

So what's becoming an increasingly important metric to you?

Link Love Back @ You

Here's a little link love I've gotten in the past few days.  More importantly there are some great thoughts in these posts.  Link love? Yes—back at you.

"For me, design is a way to broaden my universe.  I can weave disparate concepts and ideas into my thought patterns and expand my way of thinking.  Design also presents an opportunity to broaden my being through connections that emotionalize and bring life to inanimate stuff."
~Dave Rothacker

"The technologies which we are now taking for granted, with their open design and usable, mashable interfaces turn the conversations themselves into talking points. They allow us, as participants, to adapt and deploy them to our own ends ... they let us babble and boast, play and perform ... and they let us be serious and business like as the turns and twists of life demand."
~Gavin Heaton

"Experience planners look for ways to change and shape consumer mindset and behaviour by seeking out the places where brands and people meet in the real world (both online and offline), and igniting conversations to build ongoing dialogues and relationships. Not only must they gain insight into why consumers value particular brand attributes, but they must understand when, where, and how consumers choose to interact with the brand across different touch points."
~Audry Carr

"How a person comments -- do they ask questions, do they tell stories, do they play devil's advocate? Do they add to the post by sharing or illuminating?  Answer those questions and you have a snapshot of a person's brand.  This, by the way, holds true on or off line.  How you engage says a lot about you."
~Drew McLellan

Brands + Microbrands

Check out this presentation that Kathy Sierra gave at SXSW.  What do you agree with?  What do you disagree with?  Personally, I think there is some good common sense stuff in there, but I really like the notion of microbrands more than anything else.  I actually think these values make for a good brand even more so than a good blog.  Then again, blogs have a lot in common with brands as they are manifestations of our own "personal brands".  I guess this is where the microbrand concept comes into play.

Imagine if big name brands were as accesible as the facilitators of certain blogs?

Analog-Digital Foreign Exchange Program

How often do we step into the shoes of others and what do we learn from it?  How often do we take ourselves out of our self-defined “comfort zones”?  A short while back, Roger von Oech and I were having a chat and he asked me how frequently I read fiction.  He was appalled to find out I didn’t and he was right to point out that I was missing out.  As I digested this—I thought to myself that as we travel down paths like this in life, they tend to be two way streets vs. one way, so I challenged Roger’s assumptions about some of the technology he has never used and has dismissed, namely Twitter.

So what I proposed was that we co-enter a “Analog-Digital Foreign Exchange Program”.  Over the next two weeks, I’ll be reading The Piano Tuner as recommended by Roger—it’s a fictional/fantasy based novel.  In turn, Roger will be using Twitter which he recently signed up for.  It’s going to be fun as each of us will report our findings at the end.  Who knows?  We’ll probably Twitter about it as well.  I’m sure of that.

But here’s the really cool thing I want to point out.  I am consistently impressed at Roger’s ability to have an open mind, a sense of humor the ability to be good sport.  He could have totally taken the position that reading a novel is time better spent than Twittering.  He’s got a lot more life experience than I do and yet he’s willing to be influenced as well as influence.  Imagine if brands acted more like this.

So here I am at a bricks and morters Borders book store with live people all around me.  I had to dig through the book shelves to find The Piano Tuner—there was no search box.  The soft-cover wad of paper feels odd in my hands. I'm a little out of my element.  :)

Roger thinks that I am getting the better end of the bargain, but who knows—maybe we’ll both come out of this with different perspectives?  Anyway, if you’re interested in following along, here is where you can find us on Twitter.

Roger & Me   

Thought of the Day

Purist

A purist is one who desires that a particular item remain true to its essence and free from adulterating or diluting influences. The term may be used in almost any field, and can be applied either to the self or to others. Use of the term may be either pejorative or complimentary, depending on context.

Because the appellation depends on subjective notions of what is "pure" as opposed to "adulterating" as applied to any particular item, conflict can arise both as to whether a person so labeled is actually a purist and as to whether that is desirable.

~Wikipedia

A Tale of Two Architects

"design" is inherently about control.”
~Ed Lee

Allow me to tell a story.  This story is fictional, but maybe you’ll find value in it and maybe you wont.  Either way, I'll be honored that you read it. 

Dick and Jane are professional architects, both are excellent at what they do—though they have very different working styles.  One day the Mayor of Chicago invites Dick in Jane to participate in a new park program where each of them will be commissioned to design a children's playground environment and given cart blanche to do whatever they want.  The Mayor encourages Dick and Jane to buck traditional convention and come up with something “innovative”.  The only requirements are that the playgrounds be kid-friendly, accessible and encourage play, socialization and recreation.  In other words a positive and sustainable experience.

Dick and Jane go to work.  Each of them designs—yes DESIGNS a playground environment that is unique, useable, differentiated and just plain cool.  Though each of their designs are different—both encourage meaningful play, interaction, socialization, and recreation.  The Mayor is thrilled as he and his team evaluates the prototyped models of the designs.  He approves both of the designs and production/construction begins immediately.

At the opening of both playgrounds, hundreds of city kids swarm the amazing new playgrounds in delight.  Both Dick and Jane are invited to the events to see their playground designs come to life.

But both designers have different reactions.

As Dick watches the children test out every object, climbing crawling and investigating he finds himself “wincing” inside as he witnesses children interacting with his creation in ways he didn’t predict and doesn’t really approve.  Though he doesn’t want to admit it—it makes him uncomfortable.  A little voice inside his head is quietly saying “no, that’s not how it works—please don’t do that.” and “that’s not how it’s meant to be used”.  Dick smiles along as he watches the children enjoying themselves while deep down inside, he’s disappointed that his creation was not interacted with “appropriately”.  He walks away with mixed feelings.

Halfway across town, Jane is observing the children playing on her playground.  She also experiences a similar phenomenon, but reacts to it very differently.  The children are sliding down things she didn’t design for that.  They’re gathering in areas that were meant to support only small groups.  Jane is surprised, but pleasantly at how the children are playing in her environment.  She begins to take notes.  She’s inspired.  She gets ideas about how facets from this design could be used in some of her other projects.  Though the outcome is different from what she planned and anticipate—she’s thrilled.

"design" is inherently about control.”

So, is design inherently about control?  Maybe to Dick it was.  Maybe for him the validation that he’s a good designer is underscored by people interacting in his environment the way he envisioned them to.  For Jane, it’s the opposite.  She understands that people are unpredictable and she feeds off of the unexpected results.  It makes her better at what she does and inspires new ideas and creativity.  She thrives on it.  Jane would make a good conversation architect.

"design" is inherently about control.”

Are we really so sure that conversations can’t and shouldn’t be “designed”?  Does design = control?  What would the developers/designers of Twitter say about their application which has evolved into something that goes beyond answering “What are you doing?”.  Are they not designers because their application is used in ways that maybe were not predicted?  Sure baking soda can be used to keep refrigerators smelling fresh, which was maybe not the original intent—but somebody concieved, invented and created baking soda. 

Each and every “2.0” application is architected, designed and developed.  Many of these digital experiences facilitate dialogue which manifests itself in different ways.  We the people, the users, the consumers, co-creators and mashers then become the "children" who decide how we want to play and socialize.  We do what comes natural.  But that doesn't mean our playground was never designed in the first place—it was, we just do what children have always done.  We play.  We investigate and interact with our environments.  We improvise and adapt.

"design" is inherently about control.”

I'm not so sure that it is.  And if design is about control, then maybe I shouldn't be a designer.

Designing Conversations In Beta

Update: I did a boo-boo and should have uploaded a PDF not PPT.  This version of the post includes a more readable version of the deck.  "Bip" will still hate it—maybe it's even more evil now that you can read some more of the slides.  Ahh well, that's how it goes.  :)

"David—good design is good business and you have demonstrated an ability to design conversations"

This is part of a handwritten note I recieved from Valeria Maltoni a while back, which came along with a signed copy of Mavericks at Work.  The book and note was a nice gesture.  And a source of inspiration.

The Slideshare deck above is a "beta version" of what I've been working on for my upcoming Webinar on Marketing Profs.  You'll need to hear the voiceover for the full effect, but here's basically what's on my mind these days—the deck is a true mash up of ideas I've come across as well as what's been in my head:

Marketing has traditionally been about messages
Marketing is increasingly becoming about experiences
These experiences are enhanced by facilitating conversations and promoting community
This converts passive consumers to active participants, seeking relationships
Relationships lead to loyalty, affinity, and an emotional connection.

We need to design conversations.
We need to stop marketing.
We need to become conversation architects.

This is what's on my mind these days.  These are themes you'll hear about on the Webinar and at SOBCon.  And while I'm on the subject of SOBCon, here is a snippet from the description of my outline which is aimed at bloggers looking to take their blogs to the next level:

Designing Conversations: How “Conversation Architecture” can result in an effective, differentiated blog experience.

"David, will combine his strengths in visual communications and experience design to show you how you can tap these techniques to help differentiate your blog and build a better experience for your community.

• The myth and reality of design and what it means to blogging
• How “conversation architecture” can strengthen your community
• How design effects our “personal brands” and can help you find your “voice”
• How visuals can enhance our conversations and spark meaningful dialogue
• How to upgrade your blog experience without alienating your community
• How you can get noticed by mainstream media and other influencers

Sometimes this all feels like a second job.  One that doesn't pay the bills.  But being I'd rather be a participant than spectator—so in this context it's worth it.  So here's where my head is at.  Thoughts welcome as you always make my thinking better."

Everything in beta.

Designers Are The Enemy of Design

Stop what you're doing and go read this.

Bruce Nussbaum of BusinessWeek has written what I consider to be a near-manifesto which challenges our assumptions of what design is, who designers are—and how this all impacts the business world as we move into the next generation (and yes, it's relevant to brands).  The piece is a bold form of communication, and I think comes from the heart.  Bruce shares a bit of personal experience in how he is trying to shape his own teams and working process.  He's also a little "politically incorrect" calling out Al Gore for his own hefty carbon footprint.  And Bruce uses Mink fur coats to illustrate the idea of sustainability—a risky analogy, but when you read it in context, makes perfect sense.  Personally for me—this is one of the more refreshing reads I've seen from a mainstream business journalist in a while.  He almost sounds like a "blogger".  You got a problem with that?  :)

Check out the post and do so with an open mind.  Let it simmer a bit.  Then think about it as you start your day on Monday morning.  Below are some choice bits—I added some of my own visuals where it seemed like there was a fit.  Enjoy.

"Are Designers The Enemy of Design?

In the name of provocation, let me start by saying that DESIGNERS SUCK. I’m sorry. It’s true. DESIGNERS SUCK. There’s a big backlash against design going on today and it’s because designers suck.

So let me tell you why. Designers suck because they are arrogant. The blogs and websites are full of designers shouting how awful it is that now, thanks to Macs, Web 2.0, even YouTube, EVERYONE is a designer. Core 77 recently ran an article on this backlash and so did we on our Innovation & Design site. Designers are saying that Design is everywhere, done by everyone. So Design is debased, eroded, insulted. The subtext, of course, is that Real design can only be done by great star designers."

"This is simply not true.  Design Democracy is the wave of the future."

"But the design of our music experiences, the design of our MySpace pages, the design of our blogs, the design of our clothes, the design of our online community chats, the design of our Class of ’95 brochures, the design of our screens, the design of the designs on our bodies—We are all designing more of our lives. And with more and more tools, we, the masses, want to design anything that touches us on the journey, the big journey through life. People want to participate in the design of their lives. They insist on being part of the conversation about their lives."

"Egos and silos are coming down, participation is expanding, tools are widespread and everyone wants to play. People want to be in the design sandbox so you have to figure out how to get them in and do design with them."

"Today, I kind of coach a team of about 8 people, 6 women in their early 30’s, one guy in his thirties, and a women in her twenties (she’s Canadian and a generation ahead of the 30-something sisters in technology). Our process is totally different from the hierarchical way of writing and editing we had just a few years ago. We all write for both platforms—online and print, and do a little TV on the side. Our job today as journalists is to curate conversations among groups within our audience"

"Business men and women don’t like the term “design.” I think they think it implies drapes or dresses. Even top CEOs who embrace design don’t want to call it that. They want to call it “Innovation.” That has a manly right to it. It’s strong, techie."

"But how do people who’ve spent a lifetime using their left-brain, suddenly shift to using both their left and their right? How do people used to deconstructing old problems into their parts and squeezing answers out of each of them then learn to see problems with fresh eyes and integrate parts of many solutions into one new one."

"Over the past decade, design has evolved to become an articulated, formalized method of solving problems that can be widely used in business—and in civil society. Design’s focus on observing consumer/patient/student—human behavior, it’s emphasis on iteration and speed, its ability to construct, not destruct, its search for new options and opportunities, its ability to connect to powerful emotions, its optimism, made converts out of tough CEOs."

"We design stories with our audience. As John Battelle said recently, the conversation now is the content. It’s not about the finished story but about the ongoing story. It’s the conversation. And since most conversations don’t have a conclusion, they are ongoing. We live a life in beta."

We live life in beta.  That's a nice way to summarize the spirit of the essay.  You can look at BusinessWeek critically and poke all kinds of holes in what they do if you want.  Same with any organization.  But I believe Bruce and his staff are genuinely grappling with the changes we're witnessing and trying to make sense of it—even in the context of how it applies to a big mainstream publication like BusinessWeek.  They're out there.  Looking.  Learning. Taking it in.  Prior to my mentions in BusinessWeek, it was Jessi Hempel who found me—I didn't find her.

Lastly, another reason that I relate to Bruce's essay is that I think we may be witnessing a gradual but real change in how we create.  The ego-driven top down, traditional style of management will continue to be challenged in the years to come.  Innovation will continue to come from anywhere—in places we least expect it.  Designers may still have the stigma of being stylists—but that won't matter, because at the end of the day good experiences which lead to relationships will rule.  Relationships between people and brands and with each other.  And that, my friends is by design.

Call for Case Studies

I'm finishing up a Webinar presentation I'll be doing for Marketing Profs on March 29th.  Here's a brief description:

"It’s 2007. Your Mom has a blog, your kid is uploading videos to YouTube and your boss just added “must create something viral” to your performance goals. On top of all this, you’ve still got a Website that looks like something from an 80’s music video and is barely usable. What’s a marketer to do?

Get the basics right—then deliver a memorable experience.

Sound simple? It’s easier said than done, but as mainstream brands such as Dell, Budweiser and Nikon push the boundaries of emerging media, the way we leverage technology to grow brands and relationships effectively is becoming ever more critical. In this seminar you will learn why it’s so important to get the basics right in any of your interactive touch points whether it be your traditional site—or that blog you’ve been experimenting with. You’ll find out what works and what doesn’t illustrated through case studies. And most importantly—you’ll get tips on how you can leverage the power of smart design and “conversation architecture” to help make your initiatives stand apart from the crowd (in a good way)."

Here's what I'm looking for.   If you feel that you've seen a site, (either "1.0 or 2.0") blog, or any other social media experience that "get's the basics right and takes it to the next level", please leave a comment with a link and I'll review it.

It's a good chance to get your stuff in front of a qualified audience.  Please send stuff no later than Sunday if possible.

Blogging Motivations

I was recently introduced to Tom Haskin's blog called growing changing learning creating.  Not sure how this one skipped my radar, but Tom's been on a roll.  Here he breaks down blogs into four types and the value they provide to the blogger.  I think it's pretty darn interesting—but I'm having a hard time putting L+E into any one of these.  Is it possible to exhibit multiple combinations?

Here's an excerpt from the post:

"Distraction blogging: Sometimes our motives are purely self indulgent. "It's all about me". We are inherently narcissistic and alarming to the observers of social media. We are driven to blog for selfish reasons by our troubled situation. Our "real life" is bringing us down or trapping us in oppressive obligations. I explored these motivations in my post about the popularity of Twitter."

Check out what Tom's been up to.  It's interesting stuff.

Picture of the Day

A Healthy Bite-Sized Digital Lifestyle

A few of you including Roger von Oech have put this Wired Article on my radar.  It talks about the "mini-culture" that has been developing in recent years comparing it to a pervasive "snacking type of behavior".  This is nothing new as part of my job is to analyze and understand this and the role brands can play in this space.  In fact, we used this same exact analogy when coming up with the GameTap site re-design where we transformed the homepage from a passive experience to a "bite sized" sampling of some select games and multimedia features.

The snacking behavior phenomena begs the following questions:

1. Is snacking all day bad for us?
2. Do we have time for "full meals" anymore?
3. Are we sacrificing depth for breadth?

Let's start here going with the nutrition analogy for a moment.  Snacking throughout the day is only bad for us if we are taking in junk food while throwing discipline out the window.  In fact, most nutritionists suggest that snacking on healthy items such as carrots or broccoli helps curb our appetites and eat smaller, healthier meals during meal times.  One of the worst things we can do for our bodies is starve ourselves during the day and gorge ourselves in the evening before going to bed.

Think about this in terms of your own internet usage habits.

So let’s go with the assumption that snacking isn’t bad if you are smart about it. Now what?  If we are snacking through the day—does this mean that we can’t appreciate an exquisite meal now and then?  No, I think that a substantial meal can and will always be appreciated as long as you are a “smart snacker” meaning you don’t substitute your snacking for a good meal.  If anything, you have more appreciation for it.

So are we sacrificing depth for breadth?  Maybe.  Again it comes down to choice.  Certainly blogs, and other shorthand forms of communications which have surged in popularity tell us something about ourselves and our attention spans.  But maybe there is a new reality of bite sized content being extremely effective.  Sure, we want people to read our books and watch our hour long TV shows including all the commercials—but we can’t FORCE them to.  If they want bite-sized nuggets it’s better than nothing.  And maybe we should be thinking about how we can serve up healthy bite-sized content and experiences?

I recently finished Made to Stick.  It was a meal, with generous portions and substance.  It took me a bit to get through it.  Is this so bad?  Look at it this way—if I were to sit down at a fine meal that someone had just prepared, would it be good manners to wolf it down without conversation?  Or would it be better to savor every last bite over some good conversation and a glass or two of Chianti.

So, what does it come down to.  Does the “snack economy” mean were all becoming stupid?  Well, I guess if we’re snacking on junk food—then maybe the answer is yes.  But what if we are supplementing our diet with healthy snacks that help get us through the day?  I don’t know about you—but after a really full meal I feel sluggish and can’t think clearly.

I don’t have a clear answer here but a suggestion.  Our behavior seems to be changing.  We’re becoming snackers vs. the predictable three square meal model.  It’s almost inevitable that this happened given advances in technology.  If this were not the case—there would be no need to support our traditional media offerings with blogs feeds,—or put our content into bite sized nuggets.

But, maybe all it comes down to is being careful not to spoil our appetites.  Exercising some restraint and avoiding the "bad snacks" which taste good but have no nutritional value.  If we can do this—we'll get more out of media whether it’s analog or digital.  And how can you tell when something is “junk food”?  That’s easy.  You feel like crap about 5 minutes after eating it.

Oh, BTW in an effort to practice what I’m preaching, I’ve written this post during my lunch break so tonight I can avoid “gorging” on digital media.  Maybe I’ll just have a light snack instead.

Twitter Love + Hate

(Click for larger image)

Kevin Dugan writes me to share this tounge-in-cheek post of how sick he is of hearing about Twitter.  I totally understand where he's coming from.  Twitter goes against the very valid grain that we are already too connected and we don't need more of it.  Especially the seemingly insignificant notion of sharing random thoughts about "what you are doing" at this very moment—("I'm writing a post about Twitter").

BUT

If you are interested about marketing, conversations and the ways which we communicate with each other (and how this is changing and evolving), you should at least investigate what the hoopla is all about.  My recent experiences with Twitter tell me that the service is morphing due to how users want to use it.  What was once initially designed to answer the question "what are you doing?", has turned into a free-form communications service where people are having burts of shorthand conversations, sharing links and information in rapid-fire fashion.

The case study I offer for this is the SXSW conference which is currently wrapping up.  I observed (and to some extent participated) in some of the back and forth communications and even got some gems out of it like this link to Kathy Sierra's keynote.  I've also been reminded via someone's Twitter about daylight savings which I've made a tradition out of missing every year (except for this one).  And here, Leisa shares how she would have missed her flight to SXSW if it were not for Twitter.

Applications and hacks are coming out of the woodwork like the mobile version called Twapper as well as a application which puts you in touch with people who are using the service and are in close proximity to you locally.  Twitterrific (now available for Mac) let's you send and recieve "Tweets" ala a very slick chat-like app (shown here).

So, should you stop what your doing and jump on the bandwagon?  NO.  It's not for everyone.  And I don't recommend it for people who are already trying to cut down on their Internet addictions.  But, if you have a vested interest in this space, you should be following the movement and coming to your own conclusions.  Personally, I think Twitter is a pretty powerful tool for anything involving promotions, events and communities.  I've seen it in action first-hand used this context and with the exception of some tech outages due to the surging popularity—it's pretty darn effective.

Oh and if you want to be my "friend" you can find me here.  :)

PS, for the record I'm Twittering irregularly—a handful a day (5 or so on average) and I don't see it as a blog replacement—again the potential to exchange information rapidly while away from your computer is one of the most significant factors that has fueled Twitter's most recent explosion.

The Butterfly Effect

How do you know when you really, really like a blog?  How can you tell what's special vs. what's just OK?  How do you decide what should stay on your feedlist, in your bookmarks or inbox?

Little butterflies.

I've noticed lately that each time I see there is a new post from a blog I have an affinity for —especially if the blog hasn't been updated in a bit, I FEEL something.  Maybe it's not quite butterflies—but it's SOMETHING, I actually experience a micro-sensation.  There's something about seeing an unread post—anticipating what it's about just before you click on it and taking a moment to savor that feeling before clicking on it.  It's like unwrapping a tiny little gift—the feeling you get before you have the gift in your hands is sometimes just as powerful as after you've unwrapped it.

That makes a blog really special.  That's how you know.  Question is, what do you have to do to get others feeling like this about your blog?

SOBCon '07 Update

Quick SOBCon '07 Update:
There's an Unconference going on right NOW over at  Successful Blog.  Check it out.  Basically you use the comments area to pose question and the "speakers" use comments to answer your questions.  Kind of like a slow chat.  Also, you can save $100.00 on registration if you sign up today.  Here's the info on the Unconference and who's going to be accessible:

8:00 AM - Robyn McMaster on Laughter and Mistakes
9:00 AM - Sandra Renshaw on Graphics
10:00 AM - Mark McGuinness on Creativity
11:00 AM - Joe Hauckes on Navigation
12:00 PM- Rodney Rumford on Videoblogging
1:00 PM - Chris Garrett on Blogger Blunders
2:00 PM - Ellen Weber on Sleep and Music
3:00 PM - Wendy Piersall on Blogging Beyond the Blogosphere,
4:00 PM - Mike Wagner on Branding
5:00 PM - Terry Starbucker on What to Look for
6:00 PM - Chris Cree on Business Blogging
7:00 PM - Phil Gerbyshak on Being a Relationship Geek
8:00 PM - David Armano on the 4 Cs of Blogging (actually, I'll be missing this)

You can grab your seat for the live event on May 11-12 at a special price: $250 ($100 savings). The deadline for the special price is Monday night at 9:00 pm Central.

Thought of the Day

Why do we use what we use?  Why do we love some applications and hate others?

Human: Experiences which fulfill us are the ones we engage with at both emotional AND rational levels.  The definition of fulfillment is different for all of us—that's what makes us human.

Technical: Technology should never drive—it should enable.  But don't you ever underestimate it.  That shiny new iPhone you are waiting for won't do you any good if it can't make a simple phone call.

Aesthetic: We're attracted to beauty.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder—as is ugly.  But we know both the moment we see it.

Friday Fun: More Twitter Club Ideas

I'm starting to think that these could really work on T-shirts.   Am I smoking something or would any of  you wear one of these?

For the A-lister in all of us...

Yes, John Edwards really is Twittering.  Or possibly paying somebody else to.  :)

Somebody tell Hee Haw that this isn't smart  :)

C'mon, the whole "following" thing is a little strange...

You could wear this one in the afternoon...

 

...And this one in the evening  (Inspired by Asi)

You can wear this one to all the conferences.

This one will drive the Twitter haters nuts.

Feel free to send in some more ideas.  :)

Twitter T's

OK, so I'm lame and I won't be at the SXSW conference where apparently EVERYONE will be.  But at least I can try to be there in spirit.  Robert Scoble is scrambling to try to get Twitter Club T-Shirts printed up, so here is a mock up (I made the visual extra big so you can read it on your screen).  I have the source file (Photoshop).  If you can think of a few short "Twitters" to go in the box—I'll make a batch and send them over to Mr. Scoble so he can hunt down a 24 hour printer (that is if he thinks the idea is worthy).  Have fun!

Digital Turns Everything Upside Down

Once upon a time we were consumers.  We watched commercials.  Brands spoke to us—we didn't speak to them.  We had to change the TV or Radio station if we wanted to watch or listen to something else.  It was hard to get away from advertising because sometimes we were just too lazy to change the channel. 

Once upon a time we read books from authors.  We admired from afar.  We would have to attend a book signing or be a "somebody" to have access to our thought leaders.  Once upon a time the rules were clear and defined.  Content was content and marketing was marketing.

That was once upon a time. Digital turns everything upside down.

Here's my latest example.  Creativity consultant, author and inventor Roger von Oech recently celebrated his 100th post.  He chose to do an interview with me as his way to celebrate.

Why is this upside down?

Several years ago—I came across Roger's very inspirational Creative Whack Pack.  The deck of cards is a great tool to help break stagnant thinking.  They instantly connected with me and I've used them with my clients and my teams.  I keep the deck in my desk drawer for easy access whenever I need a shot of inspiration.  If you would have told me that years later the author and creator of this inspiration would be asking to interview me—I would have laughed you off.

But digital turns everything upside down.

With nothing more than I blog, the way I view community and the people I have access to has been flipped on it's head.  Digital amplifies what we have to say.  Digital lets us enjoy on demand.  Digital gives us a degree of control.  Digital acts like a backstage pass, granting us access and even fellowship with brands/individuals that we never could have come close to before.

Digital enables connection, access and relationship.  All of which are very human.

That's why I call this a Renaissance more so than a revolution and even evolution.  The Renaissance challenged conventional thinking.  It turned art and science on it's head.  It changed our perceptions about what we thought we knew.  It embodied a spirit of discovery and re-discovery.  Maybe the reality is that what we are experiencing in this digital age is all three(Revolution, Evolution, & Renaissance)—but I definitely think it has a Renaissance feel to it.

Anyway, go over and give Roger a big "whack" on the back for hitting his 100th post.  It's been great to see Creative Think "age", and if you turn 100 "upside down" you get 001.  Think about it.  :)

Blog of the Day: Design Thinking Digest

What is a "User Experience Evangelist"?  Ask Chris Bernard—Microsoft Employee, blogger and of course evangelist.  Chris blogs over at Design Thinking Digest.  We've met a couple of times which seemed only natural as we both have a love for design and current residence in Chicago on common.  But here's why Design Thinking Digest is worth checking out.  Recent posts like "What's it like to work at Microsoft Anyway" reveal a nice dosage of transparency, honesty and realism.  And, in my opinion—I think Chris is smack dab in the middle of "finding his voice".  Whenever you have the opportunity to follow a blog in this stage—it's worth it.

Design Thinking Digest is also going through changes, in a recent move one of the co-authors of the blog left to start a Microsoft "meta-blog".  Since this move it's been Chris Bernard at the helm and I like where it's been going.  In addition to the "Microsoft work" post, Chris has been sharing snippets of his life like where he talks about his kids taking his Ball of Whacks and scattering the pieces around the house.  I can relate to this in a big way.

In short, if you want to keep tabs on how Microsoft's user experience journey is going (through the eyes of an employee/blogger) this might be for you.  Just come at it with an open mind because in Chris's own words...

"Remember this is a journey for us. A new market, new customers and new tools. We'll get there."   

Shared Experiences

Just wrapping up a wonderful extended weekend in West Palm Beach where one of my childhood friends (Larry) finally decided it was time to tie the knot.  Actually this group of fine gentlemen you are looking at (Anthony, Larry, me, & "Skeeter") have shared some of life's most memorable moments all condensed from the years of gradeschool to college and beyond.  Looking back, the roots trace back twenty plus years.

I caught up on my feeds tonight and there seems to be so much I could write about.  USA Today has re-launched their site with social media optimization.   Conference announcements are going out like crazy.  There are videos that I need to make time for to watch.   And I even have a few influential people out there waiting for me to send them stuff that would help get this blog on more people's radar.

All of that can wait.

Do you ever wonder how we can make friendships at certain points in our lives that are simply irreplaceable?  Ever wonder why this is?  Surely many of you can relate.  We've all made friends early in life and have moved on to our new chapters of our own lives.  Maybe we've started families or new careers in places far away.  Maybe we just had to move away from home.  But why is it that when we reunite—that we instantly connect and pick up where we left  off?

Why does it all seem so familiar?

I don't have the answers.  Certainly shared experience has a lot to do with it.  My buddies and I quickly gathered around the tables and local watering holes and re-told the ridiculous stories which I can't begin to repeat here.  Our girlfriends and wives followed along in amazement, horror, fascination and pure joy.  We laughed harder than most of us have probably laughed in years.  We felt more comfortable with each other than words can describe.

And then it hit me.

Is it even remotely possible that the digital relationships which we are actively forming could ever get close to this kind of connection?  My knee jerk emotional reaction is to be repulsed by this idea.  How could that ever replace the antics of our youths and the bonding that comes with it.  No way.  No way.  Some things just can't be duplicated.

But what if?

My relatively new friend Ann Handley once wrote that a common act for bloggers who have connected over time and finally meet in person is to give the other person a hug.  Is it possible that a shared experience is the actual experience of sharing?  Before I go too far, let me just say that deep bonds like this are special for a reason.  And even though Anthony, Larry, Skeeter and myself don't check in on an even remotely regular basis—we know that we'll probably all see each other like this many more times before we're through with life.  In fact, we pledged to do something like this annually.

Shared experience is immensely powerful.

Assuming that relationships like this are special and not easily duplicated—still we have to imagine if we could capture but a small fragment of this in our relationships with users, with consumers, with each other.  Imagine if just 3% of this pure emotion came though in all of our communications, interactions and touch points with customers.  It's totally irrational.  It makes no sense that a group of people who hardly talk during the year can get together and share this kind of quality time together.  I'm in contact with more of you than I am with these guys.

Well, maybe that needs to change.  And maybe what also needs to change is how we think about frequency vs. intimacy. And maybe I'm over thinking all of this.  All I know is that I had an experience this weekend—and watching one of my childhood friends move into the next phase of his life is something that doesn't happen everyday. 

The Producers

I just came across this over at Beeker Ideas.  I love it.  "Beeker" took my visual and added a "production person" in distress.  It's funny because it's true.

Production people often get the short end of the stick.  And for the record, they are essential to bringing ideas to life.  At Digitas, we have "The Studio".  They are a talented group of individuals, who during pitches make all kinds of cool stuff and leave behinds which make our presentations memorable.  In fact, they played a significant role in helping us win the Miller account.  Production is akin to the theater crews who work behind the scenes to make sure that what's happening on stage has impact.  They provide us with props, the proper lighting and sometimes even wardrobe.  In short, they make the actors shine.

Production people produce.  That's more than most of us can say.

It's Friday.  Give someone in production a hug.  Chances are you've made their life miserable at some point.  Now is your chance to make it up.  :)

Give Me Some Sugar

The screen you are looking at is the actual OS called Sugar which runs on the "$100.00 Laptop" you've most likely heard about.  The Laptop is aimed at bringing personal computing and Internet connectivity to impoverished nations.  It can establish a " special Wi-Fi network" by connecting to other computers.  The user can interact with friends on this network and even get invitations to participate in their activities.

Check out how the OS is described via BusinessWeek:

"Ever since the first Apple Macintosh computer was launched in 1984, the user interfaces of personal computers have been designed essentially the same way—with the office desktop as the visual metaphor. Instead, Sugar begins with an “XO Man” icon representing the individual at the center of the screen. The user starts “activities” such as e-mail or photo editing by clicking on icons positioned on the frame around the display."

And here is a picture of the device:

I'm really interested in seeing how this ends up working.  The interface itself is so different from what we've gotten used to through Apple and Microsoft.  It's almost totally iconic/visual and instead of adding detail and depth, it removes it.  The user navigates through a series of clicks, zooming in and out.

My question is—will this ultra simplification impact our own high end/high tech devices?  I wish I could play around with one of these and see for myself.