Present Generation

blogging nostalgia and bud caddell as my savior

 

It is embarrassing, but I am nostalgic about blogging. It was a special time 6ish years ago when many titans of planning started mucking about and spewing in the form of daily blog posts everything they ever knew, learned and saw.  The ad blogs became the greatest teacher.  Nobody in an agency knew what they were.  It was the days before the obsession of putting a social media strategist in every meeting along with a pre-existing brand strategist and digital strategist. Nope, everyone left you alone as you posted away.

Then everyone ran out of new things to say and share, we all got tired of typing the word brand and trying to extract a lesson of what brands can learn from every, single, possible, event.  People got worried about typos too, it was not longer cool to leave your title uncapitalized (see above) and a few folks got in trouble for having independent thoughts.  The really good ones stopped blogging so they had something to publish.

But it was a great time, because everyone was simultaneously trying out and experiencing something new.  Seeing how it works and kicking it around.  It was good times.  Essential times. Times now nostalgic for some.  Times expressed in the Campaign for Proper Blogging.  Inspired by the likes of Paul and Marcus, who recently restarted blogging away the properly old school way.  Bravo lads.

But, the ad blog spirit is not lost, just taking new shape.  Bud Caddell has started an extraordinarily wonderful project to collaboratively publish a book.  Brilliant.

Where before everyone wrote on their little digital turf, commenting across each's blog, The Bucket Brigade will work together to create something tangible and special.  Taking the torch from projects like Planning for Good or the Age of Converstation, it is going to be awesome to see how minds collaborating together make something completely new.  It also has a proper business model, and funding. 

I have high hopes, but the journey will be where the best learning comes.  So join.

Upper Right

The Campaign For Propper Blogging

When did blogging get so serious, polished and professional?

Who is to blame is not important, a celebration of proper blogging is.

We blog because we are human, have thoughts and have the right to share them without obligation to make a point or sell something.

Blogging, arguably at its best, is like spitting off a bridge to see what happens. Why we are compelled to do it, is not important.

Here, on this collaborative site we celebrate proper blogging. 

Blog away friends, blog away.

Meeting About Meetings

Creativity thrives in healthy chaos, with a few parameters, also known as meetings. No meetings, you have anarchy. But meetings, well they won't solve everything, but will help you fight anarchy. But a little healthy chaos can be boosted by a little anarchy between meetings. Afterall, even the League of Anarchist has to meet and agree on when they will march for anarchy. No meetings and the movement for anarchy succumbs to anarchy. Maybe. Anyway, back to my meeting about meetings.

Long Photo - Bike Brussels

Went to Belgium.  Didn't bike to get there but did bike once there.  Not intense cycling mind you, the sort with a basket and mud flaps.  

When exploring a city on foot you are drawn into the flow of traffic and magnetically pulled to major squares and busy streets lined with restaurants featuring photo menus, interchangeable in any city .

On the bike an effortless but brisk pace draws you down quiet streets, through parks and to where every day life happens.  It gives simply a better feel for the real city pulse.  Not the pulse planned by the tourism board with buses full of plodding flocks from Missisipi of Bavaria, the one well anticipated and pre-empted by hawkers of purses or little statues of whatever tall building or monument the locals are known for.

Yes, was a lovely weekend for two wheeled adventures.

Pleasures and Sorrows of Work

Changing jobs and cities changes a lot of things. Many wins, certainly some losses. Including the point of doing something without a great point. Like stopping for a drink and quiet read before rushing home to plan more adventures.

Upon reflection my moments of reflection and absent. Time to change that. Will start about now...

Retro Blogging

Like a mental big bang Twitter has compressed thoughts to the smallest and most constrained possible size. Moments become so fleeting the pause of contemplation and open musings evaporate.

The Campaign for Proper Blogging is upon us.

Stay tuned.

Email Fragment #1

Email fragments - real words, from real work, shared without really any context:

There is something great about being able to track the contagion online.  The social graph is such a natural way to do so with different mechanics.

But it often falls in the area of brand utility, not the leap to brand behavior.  A brand doing and causing what it believes is the power of behavior.  Not just expressing, stating or associating with a message/property.

Interesting Vancouver 2010

It is that time of year Interesting Vancouver starts to form.  Last year was scary, the sophomore year, that was its own wonderful night, not a replication of 2008.

Interesting Vancouver 2010 is sure to be different again.  Due to my assignment abroad a trusty crew of interesting folks are taking charge.  The event will be different, it will reflect them, but everything else should be the same.  One night, bunch of speakers, some drinks, maybe food.

Tonight we are having a call with Mark and Jason, possibly James in Vancouver and Lauren who is slumming it over here in Paris. 

Rather than an agenda I'm just going to send this post to them with the stuff we will talk about.

1. Venue
2. Finance
3. Tickets
4. Letting people know about the event
5. Speakers
6. Night of logistics
7. Watch outs

And of course there will be a bit of a chat about the philosophy of the night.  For this, here are some blurbs from the annals of Interesting buried deep in the dark but well cooled server halls somewhere in Eastern Oregon or another arid low priced power region of the world.  Words by the birthing father of Interesting, Russell:
Original post

Sophmore

So, there you have it, to Interestingness, or something like that...

Why do all bikes have chains?

They don't have to.

Old production model of a Pugeot.

Does Sport Need Drama Enhancement?

I love watching sport in America, live or televised.  Nobody know how to make sport so dramatic.  Nothing highlighted this more than growing up in Canada and during Olympic Games flipping between our national coverage on CBC and US coverage on NBC.  CBC was great for unbiasedly covering every sport, live.  NBC drenched the whole games with drama and pomp you forgot it was all tape delayed and ignored the fact that other countries competed in and won at Olympics. 

I loved watching sport in America, until I made Europe home.

  
Watching sport in France is very different.  They don't make sport all that dramatic.  Instead, the fans have great eyes, ears and heart that appreciate the natural drama.  No need to manufacture drama.

Last week we puttered out to Roland Garros and caught a handful of matches, including Canadian Daniel Nestor, the winningest active tennis player (doubles specialist) took on a French team. The hometown crowd certainly wanted France to prevail but gave great applause to all great shots by any team and a standing ovation to Nestor and his partner when the won the match. 

Television coverage is very understated, and apart from the ongoing lamenting of a glaring absence of any French players in the second week (again) the coverage of the game is restrained and elegant.  Sport literacy certainly is high.  Even those in the corporate free-be sets clearly know the game and are not there just to do deal and air out the casual corner of their wardrobe.

A couple big months of sport are ahead, the World Cup of course along with the The Open (golf) and Tour de France.  The latter two we will enjoy in person and further our unofficial studies into national psyches through sport.

Conviction

Seven weeks ago working through a stack of London dailies while heading home one paper was special. The Independent, which had recently been purchased by new owners.  Naturally a new design followed, and naturally questions emerged about the editorial voice.  As part of a full statement regarding the redesign Editor in Chief Simon Klelner took a clear stand:

We hope you like how the new Independent looks. But we would most like to be judged by the quality of our content. We make no apologies for erring on the side of seriousness; these are serious times and we believe that what is most needed on the media landscape is a newspaper that is truly free of proprietorial influence and political affiliation (something no other paper can claim) to make some sense of the world around us.

You may not always agree with what we say, but it is spoken from the heart, and from a standpoint that's untainted by commercial or political imperatives. We have never been fearful of taking an unpopular stand, nor of highlighting issues that others might think unfashionable. We shall continue to do that. And as the election approaches, the need for a truly independent voice is greater than ever.

In the end, however, it's you, the reader, who will judge us. We take your views very seriously (hence an expanded letters section) and look forward to hearing your opinions on the new Independent. In the meantime, we hope we can count on your vote.

A statement of transparency, integrity and reader participation.  In era where facts are increasingly commodotized editorial or curation emerges as the more precious and scarce commodity.  However, with either easily comes bias.  Where as once your selection of media reflected social status, proudly displayed on the train or when delivered each morning, today status comes with the device.

But bias emerges and already nascent media exhibit bias.  We expect it in newspapers, and of course round the clock cable news, because it meets a human desire to want to reinforce one's world view.  But personal media as well exhibits great bias.

A publication that clearly states its purpose is notable.  Naturally, those having bias prefer not to draw attention to it for fear of turning off unsuspecting customers.  But, something for everyone surely interests no one.

Pounce

Essentials