The Three M’s of Motivation – part 1: Cross the Moat

As part of my ICAA presentation on “Using Video: When it’s powerful, when it’s not”, I first talked about how we think and what motivates us. To set it up I used a clip of a little boy who I had interviewed. I asked him, “If you could change the world, what would you change?” [...]

Twitter soon obsolete? Tell me something I didn’t know… :-)

Jason Clark writes a great article in the iMedia Connection blog on the topic, “Why Twitter will soon become obsolete”. Key takeaway from his perspective: Google Wave is the Next Big Thing. His article is well-researched and tracks other milestones in the social networking world: MySpace, Facebook, all the way back to the email and [...]

Inspiration – III

Enjoying some personal recharge time in San Diego, I met a couple of committed walkers who taught me some great insights into authenticity as a personal and institutional lifestyle. I was climbing Cowles Mountain, the highest spot in San Diego county. It’s a great spot to enjoy the sunrise — an hour up, 15 minutes [...]

Doing different

Thanks to John Moore for another good year-end advice column on Brand Autopsy. My three favs:  14. Don’t be cool. Cool is conservative fear dressed in black. Free yourself from limits of this sort. 15. Ask stupid questions. Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your [...]

20-20 presentation brevity equals pecha-kucha

That’s the Japanese term pronounced pa-CHOTCH-ka. It’s like the visual presentation version of haiku — a standup that limits itself to 20 slides with 20 seconds each. Learn more about it at pecha-kucha dot org. This entertaining example is by Dan Pink: Emotionally Intelligent Signage.

Authenticity on YouTube: Q and A

Here’s another Becky Roth video, this one from her personal vlog: Authenticity Here are my “answers”: 1. If it’s produced can it be authentic? Yes, if the assembled moments are authentically “found moments” or else “realistic moments” which communicate a truth about some aspect of the human condition. 2. Can it be authentic if green [...]

Authenticity on YouTube

From one of Mike Wesch’s students, Becky Roth, comes this documentary: Near the end a college-age student asks, “As long as you know it’s fake, what difference does it make?” He seems to be in the minority: most folks want to feel like what they are watching is authentic.

Maybe McLuhan was right

During the 90s my brand positioning statement was “The Medium is NOT the Message” — directly contradicting Marshall McLuhan’s famous apocalyptic remark about where we were headed. My point, then and now, was that the message is what’s important. Content trumps conveyances. Here’s a video by Mike Wesch, a cultural anthropology prof at KSU that [...]