Filed under: Get Friendly
I am speaking at the Digital Marketing and Media Summit in Melbourne this Friday 21 November, and Julian Cole has arranged a Beerspheer get together for afters:
Madame Brussels 59 Bourke St, City
Please come for a chit chat, good cheer and cupcakes
Filed under: Great Stuff
Gav knows I keep a wardrobe of fluffy ears at work. I met CK in a pair of particularly fetching ones when we caught up in the very swank Soho House Bar in NY.
They’ve always helped when things get muppety:
- A situation brought about by a person who is ignorant and generally has no idea about anything.
- A situation where a person, who defies explanation with regard to common sense and logic, exhuming an air of confidence that is mutually exclusive to that of their accomplishments or ability, tries to set and steer direction.
- Any situation when ‘Muppets Ho‘ is an appropriate rallying cry. Boarding pirate ships and setting things on fire or drinking apple martinis come to mind.
Sometimes, it’s just easier (and certainly more fun) to get into the swing of things.
Perhaps amplification might provide illumination.
Perhaps if I’m extra silly and extra muppety, it will help point out gaps.
So, today, I’m joining the conga line of bunny hopping penguins….
Filed under: Get Friendly
A cool spring night.
A Potts Point view.
Ten inquisitive types.
Four TED films with chat-astic bookend commentary.
Each person brings wine and treats
But nothing is better than the host’s contribution
Mango tart with burnt fig and honeycomb icecream.
Great conversation in good company.
Yum!
Filed under: Digital Strategy
I love ambition and personal belief as much as anyone.
……in context though.
It’s pretty unlikely that I’ll ever claim that I can do brain surgery, build a nuclear reactor or fix the economy in three days.
You’d need to be a specialist, and a very experienced one to do that.
You use a specialist to consult with you when you want to create the best possible outcome, the best possible future.
And if they can’t do what is says on the tin, those Probable, Possible and Preferable futures turn into Improbable, Impossible, and frickin’ Disastrous outcomes.
As ever, fertilizer is a great bed for humour. I introduce to you an old friend (a character from the brilliant comic Catherine Tate) as a new concept (a chameleon to watch out for):
Helen Marsh
A woman who claims “I can do that!” when her friends and colleagues are in search of people with specific skills. For instance, in one episode, her colleague needs someone to practise tennis with, and Helen happily accepts to assist her, implying that she can play tennis brilliantly. However, she is abysmal at tennis and hits the balls way out of the court into a group of trees. In another sketch, she claims she can speak seven languages for a conference, and proceeds to “translate” into nonsensical sounds that were based on linguistic stereotypes.
Beware. Be warned. And when you spot a Helen Marsh remember to say:
No you can’t.
You sold me a ticket to cirque de soleil. What’s with the sock puppet?
Filed under: Digital Strategy
“This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back…..You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up and believe…whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill…..you stay in wonderland…and I show you just how deep the rabbit hole goes.”
Morpheus, The Matrix
When I worked in the music industry there were a number of amazingly promising acts who were offered record deals and wouldn’t sign, because any offer from a label must be suspect. There was an underlying notion that any contract, any foray into written documentation must the start of corporate piracy, and any opportunity to afford an artist a decent standard of living could only come at the cost of artistic licence.
I’m amazed at the number of people who believe that Wonderland is not for them. That they know how deep the rabbit hole goes and only focus on how dark it is, how fraught with danger and moral compromise it is and refuse to take a chance on themselves. Not because they don’t think they can make it- rather the opposite- it’s the fear of what success, wild crazy world domination success, might do……..
And in that spirit I’d like to share this gem:
(the embed has been removed- but it’s worth a click through)
Filed under: Digital Strategy
ME: (A plan to evaluate and gain insight should form the backbone of any holistic brand strategy)
THEM: I really don’t have any idea what you’re talking about
ME: (Walking through the numbers, a simple ROI calculation)
THEM: Nope. Still don’t get it
ME: (Explaining the fundamentals of channel strategy and the process of decision making)
THEM: Look, you have stop with the jargon.
ME:(Championing the role of marketing: message+connection= sales)
THEM: Why would I want that?
ME: ‘…’
(thanks for the gif(t) Pabs)
Filed under: Get Activist
In Australia, compulsory voting means that every Australian citizen (18 years or older) is required by law to enrol and vote.
Proponents of compulsory voting argue that voting is a civic duty comparable to other duties citizens perform, such as taxation, compulsory education and jury duty.
Our Electoral Commission puts the case like this:
• Opponents argue that it is an infringement of liberty to force people to vote, and that the ill informed and those with little interest in politics are forced to the polls.
• One argument against compulsory voting is that voting can be an onerous imposition on some citizens. Against this it has been stated that: ”All our voting system requires is for a voter to attend a polling booth and mark some papers as they wish, approximately once every three years. This does not seem to be an insurmountable burden to be part of a democracy”.
• Another argument is that both the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights refer to people’s rights to “freely chosen representatives”. It is then claimed that a “right” is something that a person posses and chooses to use, not something produced on demand.
• Article 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, however, states that “rights and freedoms” are subject to “duties to the community”, including the “just requirements of of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society”.
So my friends in the States, I may be preaching to the converted but: Please vote. maps.google.com/vote
UPDATE: I’m being interviewed on ABC radio tomorrow (6/11) about compulsory voting. What do you think about it? A good thing? A bad thing? What do you think Australia would be like without it?
Filed under: Digital Strategy
The Age of Conversation 2: Why Don’t They Get It? (book)
Print: $19.95
Download: $12.50
This book is a daring challenge to the business community. Gone are the top-down, command and control messages that held sway through the 20th Century. In are a raft of new techniques that start with listening, responding and action that set the scene for a continuing and evolving dialog about brands, experience, business and community.
