Jump David Jump

You Have Chosen... Wisely

This is a great article from Wired.  It highlights 3 boys who spent 7 years of their life recreating Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, shot-for-shot.  There is even a video clip in there to check out.

I had mixed feelings about this as they used the same music and violated nearly every copyright law in the book.  In fact to capture the movie, they brought their camera into the theater to record the screen.  Reminds me of the bootlegs we used to watch in college.... Then you see the letter from Steven Spielberg shown below.  There is an admiration from Spielberg about their creativity.  He highlights his favorite parts of their adaptation and compares the intricacies of the two...  Wow, what a compliment.

I recently read a great book called, The War of Art.  There is a section of the book where it called about how artists compare themselves to one another in often very painful ways.  The author notes two different kinds of comparisons; "Hierarchical" and "Territorial". In a hierarchical comparison, we feel the need to be better than everyone else around us.  We feel to the need to compare and move UP the ladder of artistic hierarchy.  This is a poisonous ladder.  The comparison we draw in order to justify our actions or to undercut our opponents is not a way to live.  Yes, many people have become very successful and very rich through hierarchical competition, but it just seems like an awful way to live your life.  Everyone around you, every conversation, every face is either a step-up or a step-down.

In the territorial comparison, the author basically states that you've got to just keep on truckin' and be as good at what you do as possible.  If others around you are your competition, great.  If not?  Great.   Just do what you can to be the best at what you do, regardless of your surroundings.  This seems like such a healthier way to live and work. In another portion of the book, he states that a true Professional isn't concerned/threatened by the successes of those around him or even the successes his competitors.  He is secure in his own ventures and abilities.  What a way to live!

Needless to say, Steven isn't concerned about these boys stealing his ideas, he's merely excited people are getting creative and forcing themselves to become better.  For more information on this line of thinking, check out: Creative Commons. The boys had trouble finding a monkey, so they used a dog.  Speilberg got a kick out of that...

Web 2.0 with Training Wheels

It's incredible how much we hear "Web 2.0" thrown around these days.  Many people have made incorrect statements or 'definitive' statements (which I also feel are a little scary).  We are still discovering and developing the true nature of Web 2.0.  However, it seems some of the main components are tagging, user-generated content, bookmarking and community via connectivity & collaboration.  This is the basic definition given in a recent article from BNET, an incredible on-line tool for businesses.  The article entitled, "A Beginner's Guide to Web 2.o Tools for Business", gives a brief yet thorough look at web 2.0 tools your business can use to maximize the potential of the web.  Areas include Finance, Marketing, Sales, Project Management, Risk Assessment, R&D and Human Resources.  I highly recommend checking the links out to see if these tools can improve your work flow and connectivity. There is also a more comprehensive list at All things Web 2.0 and Go2Web2.0.

However, something I found very interesting about the article is the comments on intra-office experts.  By monitoring sites tagged by employees, they are able to see who is interested in what.  The article states:

With 1700 people working in 70 offices, "People may not know there are others interested in the same thing," says Niall Cook, Hill & Knowlton's director of marketing technology, who developed Cogenz with a pal in his spare time. "Doing a visual analysis lets us find those connections and see where the experts are."

The ability to make these connections is something that was foreign in the past.  This got me thinking about the potential of companies who embrace the technology of the future.  The Millennial generation is comprised of those born in 1982 or after.  We wholeheartedly agree that this generation will be the most web-savvy and connected generation ever. 

Is there a term for the Millennial Company?  These are companies who will soon be handing down decision making roles to the Millennial generation.  If they are not utilizing these web 2.0 tools to appeal and empower this generation, what happens? Companies complain that their employees spend too much time on MySpace or Digg.  When will companies realize the potential of these sites and build NEW tools to implement this technology into the daily work flow? Are these the Millennial companies of tomorrow?

Holland Hospital Spot

As process, my company, looks to a busy summer full of work, it's important to remember who we are working for.  The agencies and companies that hire us as a production company are people with families and friends just like us.  Their job is to present great media and our job is to create it for them in the most efficient and effective manner.  During these busy times of production, it's always important to remember to take care of your client and anticipate their needs. 

That was the theme of Holland Hospital's new campaign.  Despite all of their advanced medical technology and years of experience within specialized fields, at the end of the day, it's all about Humans; so "Humanology" became the central focus.  Each and every business today could take a moment or two to focus their efforts on how they could treat their clients with a little more respect and care... 'Humanology' is such a better word than Customer Service!

So here is the :30 spot process did for Holland Hospital with the advertising agency, Highland Group.  It was a great experience as we were able to work with Big Event for the still pictures and Reel FX for the motion graphics.  We hope you enjoy and remember to implement some 'Humanology' into your company's work flow. Here is the Spot.

Encyclopedia of Life

This is a pretty incredible adventure that is taking shape.   Check out this video which describes how it all works.  In a wiki format, this site will collaboratively collect information about every species on earth.  That is a pretty incredible undertaking.  Yesterday the project received over $50 Million to  complete the project.  He presented the idea at the TED Conference to kick off the project.  Hopefully, this is a great precursor to a few projects we have going on.  Namely, Million Person Project. 

I love the fact that people are starting to learn that they are able to contribute to the bigger picture, be it through information or just ideas.  Ideas like this make me so excited about the future.  This holds the potential for community and connectivity to occur on an incredible level.

Speaking of encyclopedias, I remember in grade school when I began a report on "The BERLIN Wall".  I came home eager to start.  I perused my parents encyclopedias and found "B".  I looked and found Berlin, but no Berlin Wall... I thought, "Hmm, Maybe there are many walls and I should be looking for: Wall, The Berlin".  Checked W.  More nothing.   I felt to stupid to ask my parents about it.  So the next day, I went to the school library.  The Berlin Wall was built in 1961 or 1962.  My parent's encyclopedia set was from 1960.  Now that is ridiculous.  Information changes so much, I can't believe we rely on information that was 30-40 years old!  Thank the Lord for the Internet.

With EOL, Wikipedia and other sites like this, our children will never be hurting for information.  I wonder what these will look like 15 years down the road...

This and That.

We'll call this a random post on things I like... JWT, the oldest Advertising agency brand in America according to them, released the Top 70 things to look for in 2007.  Thought it was interesting.  I thought it was really interesting that the list was the Top 70. Why 70? Here is an amazing website by Jonathan Yuen.  Flawless in delivery.  This guy has won a bunch of Webby Awards and it's easy to see why.

Here is a fantastic business card idea.  Check out the site.

Here is a pretty good list of "33 Rules to boost your Productivity".

Here is a phenomenal article of some crazy stuff going on with soldiers in Liberia.... There. 

That ought to keep you busy for a while.

Community based on Connectivity.

It's safe to say that will the increased presence and viability of online social networks, we are well into the next phase of the internet; connectivity, a main component or THE main component of web 2.0.  A few years ago, or maybe in the early 2000's, one of the biggest buzz words was 'community'.  Maybe it was a a backlash of the 90's, or maybe it was a silent desire for a web 2.0 model, but it was present.  Everyone became very 'community-oriented' from businesses to churches.

As I was thinking about this next turn of events, this newfound connectivity will most likely rearrange our previous thoughts of what community is.  I cannot speak for sure, but I would venture to say that most people say their "myspace" friends would count as their community.  I balked.  That cannot be community.  They probably never even see these people.  In order to debunk this theory of true "online community" I took crazy measures... I looked up the definition.  Don't be alarmed, I used dashboard, I didn't actually go OPEN a book, because then I couldn't have done this:

 

The first definition satisfied my thoughts.  "Living in one place together". 

Then I moved onto Number 2.  A group of people having a religion, race, profession or characteristics in common.  Shoot...  Rather nebulous.   

Number 3 shot my theory to hell.  "A feeling of fellowship with others sharing common interests/goals". 

Number 4 obliterated it,  "a group of interdependent organisms together or found in the the same 'habitat' at the same time."

Community is or can be pretty much what we decide it is.  Work, family, Church, University, online social networking, forums, people who all like Gouda cheese,  pretty much whatever you want can be declared community.  However the ONE thing that is consistent in all of these definitions is without a doubt, connectivity.  Yes, they are all different types of connections, but they are present nonetheless.

We are moving into an age where connection is becoming easier to obtain, manipulate and/or dictate.  I think this truly has serious implication for our "modern day" communities.  While this prediction could have been made, and was, 20 years ago, I guess what I am saying is that it is happening right now.  We are experiencing a new time period in which you have friends you've never met and your closest allies are on a different continent and all become you share common interests.  You were able to find or connect with one another.

If you work in a high school, university, a church or you manage a business,  think long and hard about this and the implications is has on your organization.  And the rest of you, if you are breathing, this impacts you as well.   This is important and it's not going anywhere.

Caffeinated Showers!

Can't wait to get your caffeine in the mornings? Get it in the shower! A new soap has been infused with Caffeine to absorb into your skin when you wash with it in the shower. They say it is the equivalent of 2 cups of coffee. Ingenuity at it's finest (and cleanest).

Lesson in life (and Work)

Reading the Laws Of Simplicity blog, I came across a story of how The Economist trains their writers. "Simplify. Then Exaggerate." The more I think about it, the more I like it. I think it can apply to media in general in so many ways. We often try to pack so much information into a spot, an ad, or 'whatever it is you do'. If we can simplify everything down to the core message and then exaggerate, embellish, garnish, decorate or 'whatever it is you do', it will allow a much more direct (yet interesting) message that never strays too far from the core simplicity of the original idea. I'm going to try this more in my work and see what happens. I expect good things.

Calvin Klein is In2U (if you blog, that is...)

For a long list of reason, Calvin Klein's commercial for CK ONE (the infamous, "Just BE") commercial has gone down in history as one of the weirdest, best, strategic, successful, grungy & anti establishment commercials in history. Glorifying anorexic ambivalent teens, CK One became an overnight success selling 20 bottles per minute at it's peak! IN April 07, CK tried to strike again with CK in2u. Using similar materials to an Ipod and using shorthand text message speak, there is not surprise who the target market is. My favorite line in the article, "Can Calvin Klein seduce the Millennial Generation" is: "We have envisioned this as the first fragrance for the technosexual generation." Here's the best part. What is the technosexual generation? Anything Calvin Klein wants it to be. They trademarked it. Right now they are targeting to "texters and bloggers." If you can't put a title on your target market, create a new title and then exploit it. My other favorite thing about this cologne/perfume? You can actually buy it in Second Life. How's that for taking advantage? Digital perfume. And here's another nugget for you. Check out the website for in2u.

Virb vs. Myspace

I like Virb better than myspace. I think it looks cleaner and I like the fact that it is more centered on media (or so it seems). Check it out. www.virb.com