BLOG – Page 46 – Hello, I'm DK – creative producer and speaker coach

Nothing Is New | Pinterest Is A Remix / Redux / Mashup etc

The world does cartwheels for new.

The problem is it’s hardly ever that.

Most “newness” is just an element of it’s overall offering.

Just like Pinterest—the latest social media wonderkid (although it’s been going for nearly 4 years).

The idea is not original.

It’s a visual Delicious, a more ordered Tumblr / Ffffound / We Heart It / ImgFave, a girly Reddit / StumbleUpon… the UI/X is cleaner, more intuitive and due to this the user numbers has really ramped.

The fact is we’ve all been scrapbooking for years.

Now we just aggregate digitally.

Faster.

Tidier.

With more people.

Over wider topics.

New is rarely something monumental but rather a quiet shift and addition. A gentle increase to the discourse. And by adding in multiples of time and people, it appears more than it is.

This is replicated in the (misplaced) discussion about social media and how it’s constantly changing and morphing, when it should be about the fundamental skills not the platforms themselves. Seeing it as not a mountain to climb but a wave to catch totally shifts the thinking and approach.

Be careful of the smoke and loud voices because it’s what’s behind the curtain that counts.

Focus on what’s best not what’s new.

Everything is a remix.

A redux.

A mashup.

Nothing is new.

This is not a negative post about Pinterest. It’s a great site. Am playing around with it myself. Just wanted to move the conversation along.

UPDATE: although now I’m reconsidering being on there, you also should.

Intelligent Cities

The serious science of cities.

Love this look at how cities are evolving and the way technology can provide a layer of understanding like never before.

More importantly, a great example of a brand and their willingness to tell other peoples stories to itself decipher them further (a few years ago I was humbled to be featured in one of these films about ‘the generation gap’ and technology / web).

The fab and ever resourceful Idealog

The Freemium Model In Action | Steens Manuka Honey

steens manuka taster strip

Tasters. Teasers. Tempters.

Steens Manuka Honey is the best tasting honey on the planet. Not only is it rich in medicinal properties (you can put this stuff on your wounds and it will aid recovery) but as a brand they also understand how to entice a customer.

Above is a little strip of card with a sealed packet of the delicious nectar on the reverse. Snap the strip in half and enjoy a sweet sample.

This for me is the correct definition and real-life use of the freemium model—leveraging the quality of the product through a sharable short-form handout.

This has parallels with social media, as every tweet, blog post, video vignette etc is a taster to the larger brand offer. A cheeky flavour to excite those to want more.

Done well, with grace and quality, it’s a simple and sure-fire way to build up a customer / consumer base who advocate you further by distributing your free little contributions.

Develop and dispense tasters.

Simple.

Big thanks to Dom who first gave me the honey strips and a jar to get my hooked. Further thanks to Sheryl for being a wonderful soul through our contact on Steens Facebook Page and for sending me more tasters—my colleagues are going to enjoy these and I’m sure will be converted into customers as well.

Why Develop An Online Speaker Training Programme | The Purpose, The Why, The What

The above is fun and real.

Am spending my spare time developing out ‘The Best Damn Speaking Course On The Internet (Even The Planet)‘.

My current focus (apart from pooling together some fab speakers to share their knowledge) is on the experience and value the customer / member receives plus the why and what truth this project essentially serves.

This is what I’ve come up with:

This is for the project manager who needs to delight and astonish their bosses / colleagues in that important meeting.

This is for the conference organiser who has realised that titles and positions of authority does not equate to being a good public speaker.

This is for lecturers who want to engage the whole room, from the front-seat-swots to the back-of-the-room-hall-dwellers.

This is for the sales rep who is hungry to explore the power of telling stories and is craves some inspiration.

This is for the tired executive whose career needs new energy and vitality to project them forward in the looming performance review.

This is for those who can’t ever imagine speaking to a room of people (no matter how big or small) and have a positive impact.

This is for you.

It will exist to aid, challenge, enable, add, energise, delight, empower, sharpen, equip all newbies and old hands to be able to speak better.

To present with clarity and purpose.

To become a kick ass communicator.

Lifes’ Message

Lifes' Message

Change the word “American” for “lifes'”

Found here

PressPausePlay

If you’re creative this will excite you.

If you’re in management, in an old industry / sector or new to the emerging digital culture and online economies, then this will scare the beejeebas out of you.

The digital revolution of the last decade has unleashed creativity and talent in an unprecedented way, with unlimited opportunities.

But does democratized culture mean better art or is true talent instead drowned out? This is the question addressed by PressPausePlay, a documentary film containing interviews with some of the world’s most influential creators of the digital era.

Watch it.

Living Without Television | Replacing The Idiot Box

A year without a tv.

Back in the 1950’s Winky Dink And You (see above video) was at the forefront of interactive media. Kids were invited to participate in concluding every episode by literally connecting the dots using a transparent sheet placed on the television screen and drawing on it with special pens (they were just crayons).

Over half a century later the box in the corner avails a gargantuan amount of viewing options. Our interaction is mainly with the remote, which is used as a tool to carve through the immensity offered. Texting to vote on some karaoke-style show or choosing between which sport commentary is the depth of our interaction—most content is still a passive consumption one-way serving.

Just like the acetate used by the kids, we are simply completing the narrative proposed rather than defining a wholly original one for ourselves or even shaping its future.

There is another way…

Embrace the opportunity to find our own voice.

Rage and publish.

Aggregate and share.

Understand the power of creating your own media menu.

The world is not what the news tells you it is.

It is far sadder.

Madder.

Awesome.

Inspiring.

Lovely.

Creative.

Get out.

Develop your own media.

Your own message.

Take photos (nearly everyone reading this have a device which does this).

Share.

Capture audio.

Share.

Shoot video.

Share.

Comment like a fool (don’t just nod your head and move on).

Click all the buttons.

Try breaking the web (you can’t—I tried).

Talk to people.

Connect with people.

Ask them questions.

Set up an RSS aggregator.

Subscribe to a vast array of varying blogs and online spaces.

Blog yourself.

Understand the difference between curation and creation.

Craft a more balanced media diet.

Don’t accept the world as it is offered to you.

Get rid of your television and live longer, have more / better sex, look taller / slimmer / younger, earn more money, etc

Disclaimer: last line may not be true.

The Darkness Leads Us To Appreciate The Light | New Questions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT64q0L7Djc

The trailer above moves the mind-gaze into a new minefield of “what ifs”?”.

Always welcome things like this.

What do you take away from such a provocation?

Learning@School 2012 | Tracking Twitter Infographic

Another infographic for my fab employers regarding the recent Learning@School 2012 conference.

Approximately 1,300 teachers for two days of educational musings, wonderings, provocations, challenges, solutions etc

Some takeaways:

the increase in all numbers from Ulearn11 (our last big conference back in October—wonder if the 5 Step Twitter Newbie Start Plan video I did helped?)
the expanded use of links within tweets plus conversations which followed (probably a little due to the fact I set up open Google Docs so the audience could collaboratively take notes during the four main keynotes—can be found on the Learning@School blog)
the potential reach of the conversations (calculated by the TweetReach reports)

What did you take away from the infographic? Am I asking the wrong questions? What do you think of the results? Were you at the conference and tweeting out and if so how did it add to your experience of the event?

The Illustrated Gladwell

Another great offering from the lens of Hillman Curtis.

Originally posted on January 3rd but I was a little too keen, Hillman pulled it into private mode as not quite ready to share. Now it’s available for your eyes, brain, soul…

WATCH (like 1million+ others, my TEDx talk, now on ted.com), the public speaking lesson you never had, and BUY the companion Speaking With Purpose e/audiobook.