I just finished my contribution for The Age of Conversation E-book. The name of my "chapter"? The Relationship Renaissance. The idea for the contribution came initially from Roger von Oech's question during his write-up on me a while back:
"Let’s suppose Digitas says, “David, we’ll pay you to take off two months to write a 200 page book about marketing, creativity, and new media.” What would your “take” be?"
My answer?
"The title of my book would be: “The Relationship Renaissance: How design, social media and technology have created an explosion in creativity, and communication.” And the premise:
Some have called it a revolution. Others evolution. But are we really living in an age of digitally fueled invention and re-discovery? Enabled by technology, architected through experience and supported with an “open source” thought democracy—we are living in a relationship renaissance which is forcing us to re-think the definition of brands, marketing and how we think about “consumers.”
And since I haven't been given time off to write a book—I did the next best thing. I used the idea in my contribution (just over 500 word essay). I won't give too much away, but here is an excerpt:
"What sparked the original Renaissance? Some historians speculate that the “Black Death” had something to do with it. The theory is that this caused individuals to focus on the quality of their lives on earth in addition to the afterlife. As a result, art and science exploded with the help of Greek and Arabic knowledge.
Maybe our own “Black Death” has been business as usual. In Advertising. In Business. In our everyday lives. To be called a “Renaissance Man” means that you possess multidisciplinary talents. Today’s Renaissance men and women combine skills in personal publishing, podcasting, virtual worlds and other kinds of digital disciplines—which connect, converse, and ultimately allow us to relate."
You'll have to buy the e-book for the rest—in addition to tons of great perspectives from over 100 other social media participants and thought leaders. It will be worth the wait. Proceeds go to Variety, the children's charity, and the book is dedicated to the memory of Sandra J. Kerley.
