Brett Macfarlane

TED Vancouver. Why not us?

TED is moving to my hometown Vancouver in 2014.  That is pretty cool, but why Vancouver?

One of my favorite memories of the first Interesting Vancouver was meeting the artist David Young when planning the event.  He had recently moved to Vancouver from the US and remains absolutely convinced Vancouver today has the right ingredients to become the world's next great creative hub.

As a born and raised self-loathing Vancouverite it seemed equally ridiculous and addictive this provocation of his.

"Why not us?" he challenged me.  

In his Interesting Vancouver 2008 talk he dissects the great cities and creative eras of human history to build his argument why the present generation's Vancouver is potentially the next great creative culture. 

I fully agree with David and part of my reverse migration to Europe is to experience and study more closely how other cultures - be they local, national, regional or global - operate with success, mediocrity or failure.

Having left Vancouver, I increasingly identify the reasons why Vancouver already is one of the planet's leading thinking hubs of the moment.

1. Hard Natural Resources - wealth of the land is helpful.  Traditionally hard natural resources timber, minerals, agriculture and fishing have provided the wealth of the region and a financial backbone of a community. 

2.Soft Natural Resources - have created new opportunity and financial resource - such as near perfect natural light conditions to create the largest film production centre outside L.A. and NY. Technical knowledge from logging built one of the most technically advanced rigging expertise centers for big budget action films (eg. the X-men films) or early computer pioneers driven by an economy that only knows technical progress (and a bit of local sci-fi rebel rousing from William Gibson types.)  These are soft resources developed in one area that then jump laterally to areas like video games with EA who develops most of their sporting titles in Vancouver.

3. Collaborative - while a big city it is not so big that individual business sectors never cross over.  Each sector has a handful of players (take advertising where there are maybe 5 meaningful agencies today) such that they naturally cross paths with many other areas.  Likewise, two large but excellent universities and the top notch Emily Carr art school who have departments but never the entrenched silos of old world institutions.

4. Curiosity - Vancouverites tend to be more introverted than elsewhere but certainly are curious types seeking stimulus from all sources.  It is one of the world's few genuinely multi-cultural cities.  Many great cities like London or Paris are international but their government and self-image remains caucasian male with barely a handful of exceptions despite the factual demographics and thriving ethnic  communities.  A strong world life balance mantra of work hard play hard also keeps people fired up and full of interests fueling curiosity.

5. Pioneer spirit - over 90% of the population moved within at most two generation to the region in pursuit of a better life.  It is hard wired to think that however something is done today it can be done better tomorrow - change is always better than not changing. A few quick examples being Greenpeace for the environmental movement, Lululemon for modern sportswear and Vancouverism to embrace a new model of mixed use urban planning transforming downtown over two decades.

David, who attended TED before the Chris Anderson buyout and subsequent commercialization noted that Interesting Vancouver felt very much like the free exchange of the early TEDs.

TED has become something completely different, and very bloody good at what it is.  But why bring it to Vancouver?  

Why not?

Now, is there still room for Interesting Vancouver?  Or course, they are brothers of the same mother after all, just growing up to be very distinct people contributing each in their own way to the world.

New Media New Year

As we purge the old to start anew in 2013, it is an ideal time to also revive one's media diet. Media habits settle easily and lazily, as any habit does.  

Here is some wide ranging media that may be notable enough to displace any tired media in your life.

Watchable

Two continents, two eras, two dramas, one environment - the newsroom:

- The Hour - post WWII investigative news drama set in the BBC produced by the BBC.  Unfairly compared to the heavy shadow of Mad Men, as all dramas of this era now must be, The Hour stands its own with dignity, pace and surprise in a time when integrity was rife in the news room.

- The Newsroom - Aaron Sorkin's take on the tensions and conflicts of the modern newsroom where integrity swims against the current. Jeff Daniels, while a great actor who will always be most noted by this writer for his stellar performance in Dumb & Dumber, is stellar as the jaded ego maniac with a deeply buried yet strongly burning moral compass.

Both timely given the ongoing debate of eroding journalism, a decline English language France 24 and its plucky young crew refutes. Well informed and concise coverage of the news stories that matter - that many networks don't think deliver ratings. Particularly good for Africa and Middle East affairs free of hype, agenda and hyperbole. An informative tabletop tablet app over your morning coffee.

Listen

Here's the Thing hosted and produced by Alec Baldwin is 40 minutes of your life you cannot believe didn't cost anything. He is an interesting man interested in a wide range of subjects and people, getting under the skin of what makes them tick, revealing what makes himself tick.

The Menu - the casual and welcome pretension of uber media brand Monocle is at its finest in The Menu. A weekly podcast bringing the world of food to your ears. For some reason I listen to it at the gym...

James Chutter Mixtapes - an oldie but goodie by an old friend - while I'm not sure of the legalities and I am sure of the listenability of these newschool mix tapes by actor/ad man/entrepreneur extraordinaire James.

Read

Rouleur - much more than an elegantly designed bike magazine. Rouleur is a tribute and asset to the culture of cycling effortlessly mixing the personalities of yesterday with the practitioners of today.  Optimistic, transparent and celebratory of the sport without being naive or caustic.

Giles Coren - hidden behind Rupert Murdoch's Times paywall is a critic of culture, Britishness and society in the disguise of a restaurant critic. Informed provocative priggishness dished lavishly in hearty laugh out loud helpings.

Foreign Affairs - as the doctrine of globalism - one planet, one nation, one culture - exhausts its remaining breath big questions with big facts and big implications rumble underfoot. Though a bit America centric and at times military focused the informed and well written readible essays take you out of the trees to see the forest of global concerns.

Collect - an Australian upstart focused on the culture of entrepreneurs. As we live in the new era of entrepreneurship Collect packs together the best of this world while unintentionally encapsulating the modern global esthetic of the "indie" brand.

Fricote - a bilingual journal about food that is in fact an eye wateringly fresh take on visual magazine design. Playful while never letting polish get in the way.

2000 Push Up Challenge - It's On

Following a social media frenzy accross the Northern Hemisphere over the past 24hrs an official 2000 Push Up Challenge has crowdsourced itself.

Tonight, it's on.  20:00 GMT.

Offical rules as sanctioned by the 2k-PUCA (aka the 2000 Push Up Challenge Association) are as follows:

1. 2000 pushups in two weeks, wherever, whenever

2. No cheatsies

3. Participants post progress daily on Twitter with hashtag: "@macfarbt  0/2000 #2000pushupchallenge"

4. Eligibility period - 20:000 GMT Wednesday April 18 through 19:59 GMT Wednesday May 2nd

5. Lagards can enter any time up completion - no cheatsies

Eternal glory for all finishers.  Maybe a badge or something too.

Agile Combat Storytelling

Humans tell stories.  We are really good at it.  Both the telling part and the receiving.  A good story says so much more than the volume of words or visuals used.

While stories fills much of my day the greatest storytellers I respect are those on the front lines of combat.  People enduring real physical risk to tell stories that need to be told.  Rather than the stories somebody wants to tell.

The Imperial War museum currenlty has a powerful exhibit by iconic war photojournalist Don McCullen - Shaped by War.

On Saturday fresh off the plan from six months in Afghanistan British Army photographer Sergeant Steve Blake along with the head of photography at the museum talked about covering 21st Centruy Conflicts.

His story of covering modern conflict is one of the most compelling stories I've heard in recent years.

Firstly, with extreme forensic distance the head of photography chronicled the shift int he past 20 years from film to digital photography and its moral and operational implications.

Followed by Steve pragmatically detailing the team structure and how despite being a photographer he is  a soldier first.  A soldier who must engage a population with a thing most have never seen - his camera.

Most interesting to me is their team structure.  Steve works in a group of three. Himself on stills, another on film and their leader, a superior, who serves as the official media voice and is responsible for all radio content.

These three, with their individual equipment adding 50 points to each's back and a shared satellite uplink operate as a self contained mobile news room that delivers against every single possible medium. 

Some stuff they shoot goes on TV, some on Facebook, some in newleters and some in magazines.  They don't worry about the medium, just getting the story.

I loved the brutal simplicity of three people getting all possible required content for any medium.

When lives are at stake, no time for messing around.

Truth, Lies and Rioting

Walking through London streets this week a plywood magnate must cautiously smile.  Though certainly not with pleasure. Jogging the 6 miles from Fitzrovia to our temporary home in Chiswick Tuesday, the night after wide-spread violence, streets were vacant but for police officers and crews boarding up shops with fresh plywood. 

From the small independent shops who form social fabric to the corporate behemoth Universal records who form culture - scale and ownership structures didn't matter for rioters looking to steal and destroy.  Up went the defensive plywood on shops big and small.

The pundits, academics and politicians are promptly stating grand theories and reasoning while jockeying for air time and headlines.  Sensational videos aside, the stories from average people in the wrong place at the wrong time are compelling for the insightful balance of terror and calm.  Mixed with the odd voice of reason from surprising places, such as Russell Brand in The Guardian, enlighten the truth and complexity behind what the riots are symptomatic of.

As with most things increasingly are these days, the causes and fixes are too complex for a snappy headline, overly crafted slogan or simplistic reductionistic PowerPoint slide.    And while theories are of necessity one must recognise we are in an age of learning new social behaviours.  Hundreds of kids filmed knowingly by CCTV camera, hovering police helicopters, roving news helicopters and their friend's Facebook Feeds partake in criminal behaviour leaving a trail of unprecedented evidence.

While every nation has its ills, England in all truth is on a relative basis a comfortable place to live.  As the rioters wearing 100£ trainers transmitted photos and plans to each other on their smart phones the layers of cognitive dissonance stack high.

  It is a great time to park theorisation of the events and observe evolving behaviours at a broader level. 

• When friend's iPhone photos become evidence in court leading to a conviction does it induce more law abiding behaviour or make image capturing events socially unacceptable? 
• Does the public shaming of 'thieves' on the front pages form a more effective deterrence and form of justice or an enticement for fame? 
• As social media becomes an easy pariah for governments to attack, what ways of communication will inevitably fill the void if restrictions are put in place?
• Does the mix of class and race rioting shoulder to shoulder (and today line up one after another in courts) reinfice and tear apart multi-cultural unity?

Brands, who love to talk about how much they are loved must wonder what they have done. Are the really loved?  Is it love if someone goes to the extent of breaking the law to get their hands on a product for free or the greatest disrespect when one will go to great length to not part with their own money in exchange for it?

Well, it will take a while to figure it all out.

 

Tragedy of a Brand's Perceived Ideal

It has become fashionable to "fail fast," "let go of control,"  "embrace failure" or whatever aphorism you like.  But to most it is just fashionable to say but not so much practice this philosphy in practice.  Not because they are cowards but they don't really understand to what end failure is required in a world where being wrong or off 0.03% is punished mercilessly by the markets.

Recently, Conan, a wonderful recent failure, said this at Dartmouth's graduation:

"It is our failure to become our perceived ideal that ultimately defines us and makes us unique. ... Whether you fear it or not, disappointment will come. The beauty is that through disappointment you can gain clarity, and with clarity comes conviction and true originality."

Each individual on a brand has a perceived ideal of what it should be.  Usually this is based in some way on what it is.  A few may have a vision of what it could be or might be.  

This vision of what it could be will be at odds with the former group entrenched in what it should be.  Unless, they are open to something original and better.  However, inherently that means something they think is wrong or at best is not right enough.  That is okay, if they are okay with crushing their personal ideal.  If they are not, expect more of the same. The same results if they are lucky.  Diminishing results more likely.  The tragedy of becoming one's percevied ideal.

DSK Design Boom

 

While the internet and rolling 24hr news channels did what they do best - breathly moment by moment updates on what is happenning, the dailies and weeklies in France did what they do best - provide context, colour and the big picture analysis of what happened.

A man is facing prospect of trial.  The media has put the world's coverage of the situation on trial, so to the American Justice system, the French justice system, the IMF, the Socialist Party, a nations view's on privacy and the behavior of powerful old men.  All brought to life in words and illustration.

 

 

Time Implosion

The world has been going fast and faster and fastest for a while now.

Accross time and geography.

The internet for the past 40 years has exacerbated this.  Tangible and especially heightening our impression of everything accelerating.

We have now acheived real time essentially.  Get information instantly.  Transmit and complete tasks instantly. Manufacture new products faster than trends can support them.

The next leap will be some form of reshaping time and space.  Till then we have essentially acheived 'peak now.'

Till the our scientists get cracking and figure it out, we should celebrate the acheivement of nowness, and move past the acheivement of instanst life.

It is a good time to think about long term implications of instnantaneous everything.  I love this Google film emotively highlighting a life of instantaneousness.  Figure out how it can do things better, not just differently. 

Just as globalization economically is delivering diminishing returns and returning to tighter geographical and cultural roots is paying greater returns (eg. McDonalds localizing menus in no-markets) how will we deal with peak now when it comes to consumer content and interacting with people we know and entities like brands, governments and associations.

This is bigger than a regectionist group like Slow movements (though they are certainly symptomatic) but a slow reframing of how we deal with information.  As news cycles are essentially hours if not minutes down from days or weeks not too long ago how will we seek meaning over information.  Meaningful comprehension of complex situations.  Rich storytelling that compels when you already 'know.'

Right, well time to head to a terrace and figure it out.

Rethink the Obama Rethink?

"I cringe with embarrassment when I reread the article my Newsweek colleague David Stone and I wrote after the 2008 election. We raved about how Obama's internet army would, as one of his tech strategists put it, "want to participate more, not less, and take part in the governing process.". We foresaw online brainstorming sessions where Netizens would generate ideas and vote them up or down in a free-flowing open-source manner. We even suggested that the very nature if democracy was changing."

"What were we smoking? In two years, the pro-Obama Netroots movement has collapsed faster than the dot com bubble."

- Daniels Lyons, Newsweek November 22, 2010

Now that the Social Media Revolution has been with us for a while, and meshed with our daily lives, one must ask a few questions. Are the marginal incremental units of changes diminishing? Does it prove our need to believe in something is insatiable? That our ability to lose interest in something inescapable?

Like most things, the answer seems to be "it depends."

 

Mandated Face to Face Social Networking

G20!!! Fight, for your right...

The G20 event/protests taking place right now is a sign of the times, seems to be a continuing correlation between intensity of protest and economic climate when looking over the past decades. 

Interesting observation #1, bankers were advised before arriving not to look like bankers for fear of average people attacking them.  They were advised to wear jeans and "regular" clothes.  Interesting.

Interesting observation #2, how many actually know what they are protesting?  Or are they enjoying the act of protesting.  This post from the Guardian's live blog is priceless:

"The Press Association reports the detention of "a bald man, who had been taunting the police with cries of 'William Wallace' as he beat his chest.

"The police apparently took away his pint glass.

Interesting observation # 3, I was coincidentally in Prague 8 years ago during IMF meetings and corresponding protests.  Sitting on a street car were were surrounded by an unruly mob.  Looking up the street about 50 League of Anarchist were marching, surrounding the street car were about 200 photographers in media vests.  This money shot from earlier today, borrowed from the Guardian Blog, highlights the interesting dynamic between "protest" and "news gathering."

Events like this are very real expressions of how people feel about companies, and of course their brand.  Easy to say, it's not looking good.  Might be time to  double check they are actually living up to the pithy words on their brand onion/pyramid/tree.

Keep Calm and Carry On

    - Best Motivational Poster Ever

The Invisible Hand at Work

It seems hard to deny we might be in a spot of trouble.  Well, more than a spot.  Unlike most conferences of motivating speakers and high paid edutainers, I was somehow allowed into the British Columbia Economic Summit, this affair was sobbering with none of the pomp of Davos (nor Bono mind you) or sizzling salesmanship of TED.  Rather, lots of suits and members of the politiebureau showing up to get good and demoralized.  This was quite the pity party, and for good reason.

It is hard, increasingly hard, to get honest information around our current situation.  Not that people are lying but that a lot of people who only know part of the story are trying to tell the whole story of our current economic state.  And others, know the story, the real deets, but are lining up their interests.  It's a well know secret that while good money is made when times are good, the real money is made when times are bad.  Fortunately, today was simply the true wise men imparting a frank and less than enthusing picture of today's world.

As a student of economics it was both fascinating and troubling.  Especially when looking back at my profession from the macro economic picture revealed today.  For years now we in advertising and marketing have been beating away at each other playing a game of oneupmanship as to whose wares are superiors.  Pledging to deliver "big ideas" and build brands and grow businesses, while deeing all others as dead, unmeasurable or some other flippant dagger in the back.

None of that matters.  What we are dealing with are fundamental changes in our global financial system and a shakeout of not necessarily old, but tired business models. This has nothing to do with so called dead industries.  All industries are amidst a house cleaning. As our Premiere stated, when times are good it's easy for bad businesses, sectors and regulation to seem like a good idea.  Today they are feeling the pain as weakness covered over by the blinding alixer of profit runs dry and companies that shouldn't have been in business enter the annals of business cemetary.

The key message was that there will not be a single solution.  No easy fix. It's back to basics and rolling up your sleeves, or picking yourself and dusting yourself off if you prefer. Nope, no shortcuts. Just like anyone in a specialist agency or division thinking they are the only solution is arrogant or disillusion.  As one of the most impressive living economic minds , that I and much of the world have heard, added that no magic solution exists, simple bearing down and thinking through your problems to find better, more creative solutions.  Time to revisit fundamentals, not tactics or execution.

At a time when historical economist agree we are in uncharted territory, not because they said so or Twitter suddenly got a lot of attention, but because unprecedented shifts in economic fundamental metrics irrefutably indicatie something has changed.  But like always, when we are in the middle of change, we don't really know what the outcome is going to look like, nor exactly what this change means or is.  Guessing is a fools game, but we'll know when we get there.

The Gift List

Now if you really enjoyed the Fiscally Responsible Holiday Cheer recommendations you may be lagging in knocking off you holiday shopping.  So here are some last minute tips to get you back on track:

1. For the Bookworm

Holidays on Ice, by David Sedaris, will make the most awkward holiday gathering feel like a delightful swim is warm egg nog in comparison.

2. The Designer in Your Life

Pantone Mugs, no explaination necessary:

3. Coffee Addict / Gourmand

A pound of Intelligentsia single origin and a Freiling insulated Fresh press.  The perfect bean deserves the perfect press.

4.  The Hipster

Skip the phony ironic tee from Abercrombie, get real shirt from real places at Desteenation.

5. Mad Men Junkie

Style is back gentlemen, and the folks from the greatest generation rock it hard.  Thankfully the globalization generation has gone bespoke.  Custom suits for men at Indochino:

Nimble and relevant

Zappos shoe throwing, timely and relevant, but not to be confused with irrelevant and ineffective shoe throwing:

Mad Men Goes Mad Over Twitter

Like many things in the digital age, it was fun while it lasted.

A number of the Twitter accounts of Mad Men characters have been shut down by Twitter due to a DMCA complaint from AMC.  @don_draper and @peggyolson are no longer.  It turns out that some, possibly all, were fan fiction.

The author behind Paul Kinsey's twitter account has revealed himself, even offered to hand over the profile.

Too bad, AMC was handed a golden opportunity to further grow the Mad Men brand, grow the narrative beyond the one hour of week content, and draw fans closer to the show.

Oh well, was fun while it lasted.

As a huge fan of magazines you might be surprised that I think the pressure put on the industry with the growth of online media is great.  It only means they are going to get better and more innovative if they want to survive.  If you've had a good gander around the magazine rack lately the level of design, journalism and photography is outstanding.  Personality, timeliness and boldness has returned to the recently overly formulaic and type cluttered muck magazines had become.  Above is one of the smartest covers in the past year, and the hubaloo over the New Yorker cover further demonstrate magazines can be relevant and make news.

And being a big magazine lover, it can also be heavy on the pocket book for something so disposable and reliant on dead trees to exist.  Online magazines have generally be a let down as they foster good content (ie. writing) but lack in the design and composition category.  So mixing old world magazines with collaborative crowds is Mygazines.com.  Who knows how long it will stay up before the lawyers get in the way but it lets you catch up on all those magazines you never got around to or the US Weekly you're to ashamed to be caught with.

16,000 Bottle Rockets

Happy 4th of July to the American's out there and a belated Canada Day to the Canadians out there and also those American's who sew a Canadian flag to their luggage when traveling off the continents.


16,000 Bottle Rockets - Watch more free videos

User Generated

Here is further evidence that creative content should be left to the hands of professionals for both conceptual development and production values.  Both of which fledgling teen starlet Heidi Montage from The Hills would have found helpful for her new music video. 

think

Think Small welcomes Big Think into the world of discussion. 

Think Small is a homage to the most influential ad ever.  It also speaks to that while thinking big is important, it's the small details, bits and ideas that actually bring them to life.  In general we need less thinking and talking and more doing.

One line I really like from Big Think's introductory video is - "we have access to so much information, but is it any more informative."

Merry Christmas

The fine folks at Think Small wish you a Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Homer - Photo a day for 39 years

Last night was one of the best Simpsons in a number of years.  Maybe the best in the last decade.  Homer's picture a day for 39 years YouTube video below was one of the highlights, along with the visual device of floating through memories in his brain.  Kind of a three dimensional iTunes cover flow device.

A drawing says 5,000 words

Came across this image today which was published in the National Post a couple days after I myself was in the Conrad Black courtroom in Chicago experiencing in person this very scene.

For me it is such a great capture of the mood of the room with the boredom on the right, restlessness of the defenders and defendants at the two tables, her Honor presiding and most notably Conrad less than enthused off to the far left.

It is really cool how an illustrator, can take away the colours, the textures, lighting and other aesthetics to say more about the feel and tone of the room.

I went to an small and person Terry McBride talk last night and he noted that what made Sarah Mclaughlin such a powerful, beloved and successful artist is that she uses silence brilliantly.  you can often say more with less.  Pretty sure the link to making an effective ad is more or less obvious. 

Branding

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While I gladly serve as the media plan, Mr. Ecko's campaign has come to a close, and in a way I agree with.  While a man is innocent until proven guilty, the jury of the public has spoken.

The brand takes it.

Note from Mark

Just got this note from Mr. Ecko.  Get your vote in and stay tuned... you know because we like kick it all the time.

The voting deadline is 11:59 est. tonight. Remind your friends and family that they have an opportunity to be heard on this issue. The more people that vote, the more accurate a reflection this is of the peoples' will.

Marc Ecko will announce the public's choice on the destiny of the 756 ball tomorrow(Wednesday September 26th) shortly after 7:00 am on NBC's Today Show.

If you can't watch the announcement we will post it later in the day at www.vote756.com

Tran$former$

Predictability aside, I'm really looking forward to seeing this flick.  Partially for the rehashing a childhood obsession, not because its a GM commercial, but entirely for the special effects.  I got especially excited when talking to a buddy with the uber talented and award winning folks a Lux VFX in Vancouver, and they remarked this is probably the only film we know of where we can't figure out how they did some of the stuff it it.  Nice!

Connectivity and Planning

For those who actually read this first post, when I have no readers, I have a blog to avoid being hypocritical. While not a pure bred Account Planner, at DDB Canada (I'm in Vancouver) in account services part of our job description is the role of planner. For me, it is my favorite part. I'd don't think I'd like to be a true planner, but love the cross functionality of my role.

The hypocrosy bit... yes that... right now in my work I'm big on connectivity and its power. I've got a couple crappy blogs and a semi sweet flickr account, but I realized I should be the second last person in the world I to have a blog so that I at least seem semi authentic. Not because I expect people to read it, but to use it as a public home to share thoughts and ideas with a select group. Essentially, a costless webpage. Because, I appreciate that nobody really cares about what I think or say...