Useful Lunacy

Judgement in Albuquerque

"I may be short, but I'm hell in a bathtub."

Hands down, this was the best quote from the past weekend in Albuquerque that included lots of red and green chilis, a tequila tasting, scintillating conversation, the rumor we were eating dinner while George Clooney was shooting a movie next door, and over 400 ads to be thoroughly reviewed. I flew south west at the request of my friend Bart Cleveland, creative director of McKee Wallwork Cleveland, and joined fellow judges (L to R) Julie Bowman, David Smith, Charlie Hopper and Fredrik Averin to judge the New Mexico Ad Fed's 2009 competition.

Ad competitions are weird affairs. Strangers meet, try to smell each other out and hopefully come to a consensus on the work at hand. Fortunately, we all got along. Immediately. (Our Best of Show vote on Day 2 was unanimous the first round.) I really appreciated the opportunity not just to see the work—and Albuquerque has some very good work—but to talk about it with other working professionals. It's not often you get 48 hours to discuss the craft, motivation and inspiration in your business. I really appreciated the opportunity. Julie, David, Charlie and Fredrik are intelligent, witty and charming people.

But not nearly as charming as the dude who gave us a tour of the fabulous El Pinto restaurant and described himself by saying, "I might be short, but I'm hell in a bathtub." You can't argue with that even if you wanted to.

Oh. I forgot. Note to anyone contemplating judging an award show: 

If the local facilitators are nice people (and the folks in Albuquerque were very nice), be afraid. They will likely convince you to don a Luchador mask and record video for their award show dinner presentation. 

Warming up

This charming image (I woke up to -20°F this AM) goes out to all the warm people I look forward to meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico this Thursday evening. I'll be traveling south to be a judge for the NM Ad Fed's annual advertising competition. It'll be nice to chuck the down parka for a few days and look at advertising with Charlie Hopper, Spencer Deadrick, David Smith, Julie Bowman and Fredrik Averin. 

And yes, I'll be tweeting the judging experience. Stay tuned.

PhizzPop Red Couch interview

Here's my "Red Couch" interview, sponsored by Level3, from the NYC PhizzPop event Hello Viking participated in. They asked us to respond to topics like:

"What new skill sets are needed to compete in today's marketplace?" 

"What did you learn from participating in the PhizzPop Challenge?"

"What ways are rich Internet applications (RIAs) being applied to solve business problems?"

"What's next?"

I'm wearing my "I voted" sticker 'cause this occurred on November 4.

Other interviews are available here.

More stuff I don't know

I'm in Indianapolis today, acting as a judge for one of the competitions taking place during the 81st annual FFA convention. I am in a different world. And not just because some cover band is working "Sweet Home Alabama" outside my hotel room window.

I am not a loan officer focused in agriculture, a superintendent of parks, a high school teacher, or an agricultural resource specialist. But I got to meet people with these titles. (The photo's from our trek through the Indy Convention Center to the appropriate judging location.) 

And I really have no direct experience in subjects like maintaining a marina, running a hunting and fishing ranch, maintaining a public park for camping, or working for a hunting outfitter. But I got to learn what it takes to do those jobs, and why a person might want to continue doing those jobs.

There are 510,000 active student members of FFA (the organization formerly known as Future Farmers of America). To make it to the national convention, you have to win an earlier (state? regional?) competition in the respective category. There were apparently 186 finalists competing today; so, roughly .036% of the total group goes national. These are talented kids.

Ten of us judged the Outdoor Recreation category. (That's where I met the banker and the superintendent.) We were asked to review written submissions first, a few weeks ahead of time. (Here's an example of the kind of document we got from each student.) Each submission is 19 pages long. 

Today was the public grilling. Each student had 15 minutes to respond to questions from the judges. Basically, we tried to poke holes in their written submissions. One of the other judges would ask, "What's the worst situation you ever encountered on your Supervised Agricultural Experience, and how did you resolve it?" I asked stuff like, "How do you differentiate yourself? What's your story?" Of course I did.

I learned about field dressing a deer; how to communicate with people who only speak an unknown eastern European language and want to rent a campsite; about testing various ratios of feed grains and grasses to increase the size of your Axis Deer population; the proper way to use hydrochloric acid to clean lake scum off the bottom of a boat.

And this is just the Outdoor Recreation category. 

There were 46 other competitions today, too—Agricultural Mechanics Repair and Maintenance, Aquaculture, Equine Science, Fruit Production, Specialty Animal Production, and Turf Grass Management, among others. If the four students I met in Outdoor Recreation are any indication, we've got some really smart kids out there, thanks to the FFA.

That's good to know.

Birmingham, and the future of advertising

Let me start this post with a shout-out to the United gate agent at the Birmingham airport who managed to get me on an oversold plane going home. Thank you!

Birmingham is a great city. I had a lot of fun speaking there. Big thanks to Mason, Dale, Jeff, Rhonda, David and David and all the other hospitable folks for bringing me down and putting together the event. Clearly, there's a lot of smart people trying to do innovative work in that city. It was refreshing to hang out and get a sense of how that community is dealing with the various forces evolving advertising and marketing. 

Here's yesterday's presentation. Enjoy.

What's The Future of Advertising?

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: advertising marketing)

Birmingham Outline

What’s the future of advertising?

Maybe the better question today is, “what is advertising?”

That’s the subject of my upcoming presentation to the Birmingham Ad Fed on Friday, September 19. Here’s how my outline is shaping up, following on last week’s post. Lots of questions here that I intend to answer. I’m curious what you think about this, and specifically what the good people of Birmingham think. Anything missing? Confusing? Overwrought? Spot on? (I’ve got 40 minutes to present.)

1. Introduction

Marketing and advertising from the POV of three companies I helped found: Hello Viking, a full-service ad agency with a digital soul; BannerPalooza, an online banner ad production shop; Gravy, a digital revenue consultancy for brands, publishers and start-ups.

Just as direct marketing, PR, design and Hollywood have had their definitions of advertising and access to marketing budgets over the decades, now there are even more forces at the table, rightfully demanding attention. Who should the marketers listen to? How do ad agencies remain relevant?

2. Redefining advertising

Traditionally, it’s been about spending money on media to gain access to audiences. Now the audiences are empowered. It’s no longer just about speaking, or access. It’s also about listening, responding and enabling. Here are three critical components that are helping redefine advertising.

2a. Interaction. Perhaps the most fundamental new element in modern advertising and marketing. (Never mind Gossage’s coupon ads in the 60s.) It’s about asking, actively listening, responding and continuing to nurture conversation.
2b. Customer Service – the new advertising? (i.e. Zappos, Zeus Jones’ “Marketing As A Service,” @RichardAtDell and @ComcastCares, or the Ogilvy/Six Flags/Craigslist 10,000 tickets story)
2c. Empowerment, i.e. User-Generated. The audience is no longer passive, nor are they to be considered less talented. Maybe, just maybe, the big idea – or an insight that leads to a big idea – will come from them. How can brands best listen, feed and benefit from empowered consumers?

3. Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

The redefinition of advertising requires some pretty blunt shifts in how agencies and marketers address budgeting, staffing, process and return on investment. For example, right now, a typical marketer is being told by its ad agency, PR firm, design firm, interactive agency and media company that they alone hold the keys to social media—with significant cost differences in the balance. Who’s right?

3a. Staffing & Skills. What’s the AAAA’s rate card for bloggers? Should copywriters also write/edit keywords? What’s the salary range for a producer with lots of online video experience versus broadcast experience? How do you ensure everyone in the agency is “digitally-fluent?”
3b. Budgeting. If new marketing is ongoing, optimized, dynamic and never-ending, how do we plan annual budgets? How much should we spend on customer service (i.e. loyalty and WOM) versus blatant cold-calling acquisition? What portion of the overall budget should fund conversation (i.e. social media)? What’s an acceptable mark-up on FTEs working across traditional and newer digital disciplines for a client?
3c. Process. What role should data-analysis play in drafting more effective creative and media placement strategy? Let’s talk about integrating “always on” marketing tactics (i.e. Keywords, Blogging) with historically periodic elements like TV spots to affect more consistent, more relevant campaigns.

The end.

If you’ve got links, facts, ideas or opinions to share on any of this, I’m happy to give you credit.

Thank you.

The One Club + MCAD

One of the things I'm really excited about this month is the traveling One Club exhibit that's visiting MCAD. The exhibit is open to the public. If you're in the Twin Cities, I encourage you to drop by and see the great range of awesome work. And I'm especially jazzed to see One Club president Kevin Swanepoel's presentation at MCAD on Wednesday, September 10 at 7:00pm.

Two of my former MCAD students, Laura and Taylor, have put together a wonderful social media campaign to promote Kevin's visit. Their idea: "Remember your first One?" They've interviewed a bunch of us ad geeks here in the Cities about our first One Show pencils. Here's my story.

Hope to see you at MCAD on September 10!

More work from Marcus Kuhn

I got my first tattoo when I turned 35, six years ago. I had been thinking about it for years. Then I realized, I'm over-thinking it. The best answer was simply a traditional tattoo—typical hearts, fire, an anchor, bones, wings, banner iconography. Sailor Jerry stuff. Hence the slogan on my right arm: "This is my tattoo." (A more literal translation would be "I am a person of words," or "These are the words on my body." My brother Chris, who has a doctorate in Greek and Latin, wrote the translation.)

So I found Marcus Kuhn, who was working in Jamaica Plain, MA, and Marcus did this:

This is my right arm. (The birds below and the all-seeing eye above were added about three years ago.) 

Now Marcus runs his own shop, Just Good Tattoos, in Portland, Maine. The name alone should give you a pretty good idea of how Marcus operates. He's been working professionally for over 25 years, and does a fair amount of work in Japan and Europe.

Given we were going to be on vacation in upper New England, I got the itch to add some more to my canvas. I also had to add my sons' names to their respective banners. Fortunately, Marcus had a slot open for me. He said about 90% of his clients are from outside Maine and that he's basically booked solid all year.

I dig the interior of Just Good Tattoos. Lots of visual stimuli, which gives you something to concentrate on. But you also get a great sense of respect for illustration, form, anatomy and tattoo tradition. 

After some conversation about the names for the banners, we talked about my new theme: Stars. Basically, I wanted to add another iconic element and blend the existing work into the shape of my arm. I went out for some tea while Marcus got to work drawing.

He works in pencil, then translates the art to a kind of mimeograph paper. After rubbing my arm with alcohol, the image is applied onto my skin for placement and approval. Then colors get mixed and the tools get prepped.

(This image was taken midway through the process.)

So, yes. It hurts. It can hurt a lot. 

It hurts because there's a bunch of very tiny needles being agitated by a motor into your skin. The thing that amazes me is how someone like Marcus can hold this agitating tool so tightly, for so long, and be very, very accurate about where he's placing the ink. Oh, and still crack jokes.

Most of this new work was over muscle, so it wasn't too bad. 

You can see the black outline for the big star taking shape just above my elbow. (The bruise just below that is courtesy of a rug burn earlier in the week. That hurt more than some of the tattooing.) And note the latex gloves, and sterile wrap down the wires. Marcus is very careful with his work environment. 

(Taking photos of yourself being tattooed can provide a nice source of distraction.)

Aside from fantastic craftsmanship and a great attitude, I really appreciate Marcus' speed. He works fast, so you hurt less. And he's got a great sense of humor. We decided probably the worst thing you could overhear during a tattoo session was, "Ooops."

So there's the work. We added names in the banners and a bunch of different kinds of stars underneath, above and throughout the existing work. I especially dig the white outline bordering the "major" star. Nice touch, Marcus.

So, that was my summer vacation.

How about you?

Aesthetics & Blisters: Disney World 2008

I visited Disney World for the first time this past week at almost age 41. (I did spend a day at Disney Land when I was about 13 or 14. The security dude there wouldn't allow me to wear my recently purchased Sex Wax surfing wax tee-shirt into the park, so I wore it turned inside out.)

A grand time was had by all, mostly.

You go to Disney for your kids. And Maks and Eli had an awesome time. They met more characters than they know exist, many twice. They loved anything that got them wet. Heck, they got to feed ducks outside our hotel room balcony.

I got blisters.

Maybe it was the new Earth shoes, which were supremely comfortable regardless. (James Lileks has a wonderful take on shoes and Disney World here. Thanks, Laura!) Maybe it was all the walking. I had no idea we'd put in several miles a day, but we did. Sort of helps balance out the dieting that doesn't occur in that part of the world.

My one piece of advice about eating at Disney World: Eat anywhere but in the Magic Kingdom. We had truly great meals and service at Les Chefs de France and Aukerhaus in Epcot, California Grill at the Contemporary Resort and Jiko in the Animal Kingdom. The food inside the MK was in name only, and then you learn that particular park is also "dry." So, eat elsewhere.

What astounds me about Disney is aesthetics.

You're walking through the queue for the Kali River Rapids in Animal Kingdom, which has a kind of Indian safari theme, and you note the floor looks like asphalt has been laid over brick over stone—but it's deliberate. The aging effects and attention to wall surfaces, lighting and artwork is intense. I suppose it all helps keep you occupied while you're in line. But I really appreciated it.

And there's music. Everywhere. In some cases—Epcot, for example—I felt like I was walking through a global sampling of Muzak tracks. Now we're in Persia! Now we're in Brazil! Now we're in the Land of the Beach Boys! But in other parks and circumstances, like the parades, Disney does a very good job with music, sound and  production.

Now, when is the "tell all" book about being a character performer coming out?

It was pretty hot, no, really muggy, when we were at Disney World. By my estimate, characters spend about 20-30 minutes on duty before they take a break. But physical comforts aside, I wonder what kind of personality aspires and thrives inside a costume, being hugged repeatedly by lots of little kids, and plenty of adults?

It was also interesting to note that the princesses (Cinderella, Aurora, et al) are about the only characters that actually talk. Even slightly off stage, the characters and their handlers are quite careful to maintain the illusions. There's got to be a movie in there somewhere, Disney.

But the attraction I'd most like to see is the "2 Hours With Disney World's COO" lunch. I want to know how it all works. The water and electricity bills. The garbage disposal. The coordination of talent and equipment for parades. The rehearsals. Sure, the aesthetics are impressive, but the sheer magnitude of the entire production is almost impossible to comprehend. And they do it every day of the year.

And they do it with smiles on their faces—even the guy cleaning up horse manure, or the lady cleaning out trash at our hotel—I have to assume you get fired from Disney World if you don't smile. It didn't feel faux, either. Working at Disney must be pleasant. At least, that's how they made me feel.

So my little grumbling is almost insignificant.

We stayed in the Saratoga Springs Resort. A comfortable space, just a bus ride from the parks. Nice pool area. And the food was decent. But they don't have wireless Internet access. They do, however have Ethernet jacks in the guest bedrooms which aren't connected to anything—a frustrating discovery when the two kids are sleeping in the one room that does have a working Ethernet connection. The front desk wasn't particularly helpful: "You could go to Kinkos." Problem solved by ordering an Apple Airport Express via next day delivery using an iPhone.

And if you do get on the Kali River Rapids, keep an extra set of shorts, shirt, underwear, socks and shoes with someone outside the ride. The sign is misleading. You absolutely will get soaked. But maybe that's because Maks wanted to ride it over and over, and the attendants were kind enough to let us keep riding—eight times in a row.

We'll be back.

Create Something

This weekend was partially about packing for Blogger-Social 08. This coming Friday the world will tilt, slightly, on its axis towards NYC as 80+ bloggers from around the world congregate together. I'm very much looking forward to attending and meeting such an illustrious group of humans.

The two main figures behind BS08 are the awesome Christina Kerley (aka "CK") and Drew McLellan. They've been the driving force making this "social" a reality. And here's the thing:  Neither Drew or CK is making a dime off their efforts. BS08 is a labor of love.

It reminds me of likemind, the global meetup to enjoy coffee and conversation that occurs every last Friday of the month. Piers Fawkes and Noah Brier just thought likemind would be a good idea, so they made it happen. And as far as I know, they don't make a penny from their efforts.

Why do people do these things? Why create something? CK and Drew were kind enough to share some answers via email.

Christina told me,

"You do it not only because it brings you joy...but because you have to. First, to give this community, that is so very, very much worth spending time with, a chance to spend time with one another. Blogger Social is all about that 'time' and those 'stolen moments' because usually those moments are at a quick meetup or dinner event during a conference... At this event all we are is Social 24/7. Second, because I love breathing life into my ideas...I otherwise feel I'm not doing justice by them since I was fortunate enough to be given not only the idea but the people who would come together and make it a reality."

Drew responded,

"We were sitting around the table, after giving CK the tree in honor of her mom.  So it was a pretty emotional day to begin with.  But CK and I started talking about the power of just having that face time. No learning, no PowerPoint, but just being in each other's presence and sort of soaking each other up. ¶ So CK said in passing, 'we should plan a big party, nothing but socializing and invite everyone.' I said...okay, let’s do it. The e-mails starting flying back and forth and within a week or so, we were launching the survey to test interest. From there...we were off and running and haven’t stopped to look back."

It's not about the money, or fame or reciprocity. It's about community. It's about sharing. It's about creating something as much for the benefit of others as for yourself. It's about having a good time -- one that wouldn't ever happen if a bunch of people didn't participate.

Q. What, if any, benefit(s) do you expect or hope to receive from making BS08 a reality?

Drew: "I already know what benefit I will receive. I get to spend an entire weekend with people that I know, respect and love. It’s going to be so amazing to hear their voices and see their smiles and get caught up in their laughter.  I suspect it will be a love fest of epic proportions. The pay offs are going to be huge. And measured in hugs. ¶ I can’t wait to not only be in the middle of it but to also be an observer of it. To watch dear friends 'meet' for the first time. I think it will be one of the best weekends of our lives."

CK:  "Actually, I’ve already received well over the benefits I’d hoped to from breathing life into this idea--and I’m answering this question on March 30th (psst: Social doesn’t begin until April 4th). Drew and I collaborated (conspired?) on this event to give this community--that is so very much worth spending time with--a chance to spend some quality time with one another. Being that it’s a reality and that everyone is equally excited about it brings me such reward.  ¶ As for the benefits from that time spent together? I foresee benefits spanning new relationships formed and others made stronger, new collaborations that will be sparked and new business ideas, too. Moreover, it will be a weekend that we’ll remember forever...and memories are benefits that one can’t readily place a price upon, being they increase in value over time."

Q. How much time do you think you invested in making BS08 a reality?

CK: "Since the very first post launched on June 1st, 2007 I’ve easily clocked 200 hours on this event. Easily. But that’s just me. That doesn’t include Drew (who is in lockstep with me for hours), and the countless hours by nearly 20 others—take a look at the Event Guide that Ryan Karpeles exhaustively created, or all the goodie bags that Lori Magno developed…or the profiles that Arun Rajagopal and you compiled. Or the amazing series that Steve Woodruff developed. And on and on! So the answer is that this event—between pre-planning, planning, promoting, coordinating, developing, designing and implementing—has been in the hundreds…if not the thousands…of hours. ¶ But I need to stress again, speaking for both Drew and myself, Social needed the idea first—but it would not have been a reality without (1) all our attendees investing time and travel expense and (2) our many, many volunteers contributing some serious time and sweat equity."

Drew: "I’d be frightened to try to figure it out. We’ve reached out to many, many people for help. If we added up all the man hours that everyone has cheerfully and generously donated, it would be staggering. The e-mails alone number into the thousands, for sure. "

Q. Given where you're at right now with BS08, would you do it again?

Drew:  "In a heartbeat."

CK:  "Yes. But some nifty disclaimers apply! First, it would need to continue to be a community-generated event that is purely and completely focused on 'social' time. And second, it will need to fulfill the initial promise we laid-out on June 1, 2007, and be held outside of the United States (I’m hoping it will be in either Dublin or Amsterdam, but the community will once again vote, just like they did this time.) You see, by connecting people from various countries and continents, social media makes our world smaller…and we all need to do our part to continue acting like it. Plus, why not see the world vis-à-vis the colleagues and friends you meet on the World Wide Web?"

It's going to be a real pleasure having the opportunity to finally meet all the people I've been communicating with over the past year. Thank you, CK and Drew, for having the idea, and for having the courage, humility and strength to see it come true for all of us.