Category: Media Arts

I, like so many others, have hit the wall: data overload. There’s SO much out there, interesting and readily available. Free, or so for all practical intent; very few barriers. Not too long ago, price helped keep this in check. Our resources to spend on magazines, newspapers and the like naturally limited out data-stream. Yes, we had free at libraries, but content was still limited (by the fiscal concerns of libraries as well as any particular mag being used or destroyed by another patron) and there was the time commitment. Clearly the topography has changed.

Content commodified: for creatives, this might be horrifying. I have a bit of that reaction. But this condition needs to drive a focus on quality. We content creators need to create the best stuff we can. And be aware of the subjective nature of “best”.

But “best” can still be buried within a sea of adequate. The tools for navigating this are still being crafted. I consider the hundreds of email I delete a day. All those newsletters I subscribed to. I’m interested in them, value the quality, yet am pushed past my time limits and am simply stuck. Then there’s my Google reader steam I haven’t so much as looked at in ages. And social media? Besides Facebook, I’m not trying to keep up with everything. I can’t read every Tweet. And I don’t have thousands in my stream. Much less Google+, Quora, LinkedIn, et masse. Nope: no keeping up with all of this without sacrifice.

I haven’t come close to mastery. Though I’ve explored ideas, from Franklin-Covey to Getting Things Done…still the feeling remains. Ignoring streams isn’t a satisfying solution. I tend to binge and purge.

What about you? You got this down? How go you triage your data-stream?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY]

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3b9gOtQoq4]

Not the most original, but I haven’t seen anyone else put this up.

Happy Friday!

I just read a piece over at Cross-Cut about the Perugia Public Prosecutor’s use of his office to harass members of the press. Let me start by stating, though I reside in Seattle, I have no skin the Amanda Know case. I don’t know Ms. Knox or her family, and have no standing to offer any critique of the case, either pro or con (so please, I don’t care to debate it…not my bailiwick, so to speak). So, this is not about the murder case. No, it’s much bigger: freedom of the press. This cornerstone of democracy looks to be under serious threat in Italy.

I find it particularly disturbing that Mr. Mignini, the aforementioned prosecutor, an agent of the government, is so aggressively seeking to undermine core democratic underpinnings. This is someone who has an inherent responsibility towards these principles. To see him trample upon them pains me deeply. The destructive impact of this in manifold, and not just in Italy.

The Committee To Protect Journalists has written to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano seeking his intercession. I hope that President Napolitano sees fit to intercede. This sort of chill is deeply detrimental to Italian democracy, and democracy worldwide.

As I’m updating my resume and looking over past work, I came across some media tracking spreadsheets I’d crafted. The company is international, but the data I had was (mostly) national (US), with little bits of Canada thrown in. Anyway, what I received were spreadsheets from an agency covering all media stories. The main thing I did with this was break it down by focus (positive vs. negative, for the most part).

So, I’ve been considering what I would do differently now. This is just a stream of ideas, so please understand them as such. I would like to build reports with more depth. Look at regional coverage. Map out city by city, etc, across the globe if possible. Layer this on top of a map. Then with that report I’d break out positive, negative & neutral focus. It’s important to note that it’s hard to ascertain focus when one doesn’t see the coverage. Anyway, I also thought it would be good to look at what’s generating the coverage: new products, new markets, “issues” (which should be tracked by individual issues/campaigns. It would be elucidating to track how the issue moves across the landscape.). I also would add social media to this. I want to see/show how awareness is impacted by those tools.

On a technical note, I would not use Excel for data collection. Collect raw data in a database. The challenge is being proactive with the structure. I’d love to build something that was accessible at a more macro level. Perhaps with SQL and displayed in a Sharepoint site. I have an aversion to myriad individual databases globally distributed.

Anyway, I’m learning and growing.

I’ve been enjoying Storycorps for years. The ones aired on NPR always seem to touch me, either warming my heart and bringing tears. And each one seems to be my new favorite.

I’ve just discovered the little animated bits that they’ve been putting together with the articles. This one (below) follows the tradition of becoming my new favorite. The grandmother of this story reminds me so very much of one of my own.

So, enjoy!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSKuOccVVKg&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3]

I sit here watching one of those “save the world and starving children” pitches. You know the ones; watching some child in the ruins of poverty, tears flowing down their face. As I’ve developed a deep and abiding cynicism of marketing of any stripe, these tend to annoy me (and I’m a liberal). Yet, yet I know the reason these tactics are used; it works. It’s what gets people off the couch and to the phone/web. I suppose I should embrace this, the effectiveness. However, I wish that we could become deeper, that we could be reached by the logic and compassion of the need. That we weren’t so numb. I guess I shall continue with that wish for some time to come.

With nearly 42% of 2011 completed, I can clearly say that is shaping up into a rough year. Well, at least career-wise. Rough spots, though, are when you get the deepest insights and, for me at least, tend to be the most life changing. Part of what’s telling is the lack of angst I feel right now. The past few years have taught me the value of work and career. Most specifically, that’s it’s not the inner core of my being. There are things far more important. What’s really amazing me is how much better I feel about myself right now. My last two roles, though rather successful on the surface, left me feeling quite empty, and struggling with lingering feelings of anxiety and exhaustion. Those feelings are blessedly absent now.

Oddly, life seems to reinforce the notion of Murphy’s Law. Thus, both of our cars have needed work, medical bills came steaming in, and that sort of fun. Not economic implosion, but certainly annoying.

The absence of call-backs right now is a bit disheartening. Doesn’t make you feel valuable and vital. I worry that, with my career focus on administrative assistant roles, that I’ve been competing with far too many people. As a role that needs “little preparation”, pays modestly well, and is (technically) a growing occupation (per the Occupational Outlook of Snohomish County., I expect that many, many applicants are in this pool. Thus, I am starting to expand my focus, mostly into more project management roles. We’ll see what comes.

John Richard played this tune onKEXP earlier this week. I think I might adopt it as my 2010 theme song.

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/7907281 w=400&h=170]

The Mountain Goats “This Year” from A Bruntel on Vimeo.

Just read on Chris Brogan’s site a serious critique of Amazon’s Cloud Service. Reminded me of an insight I had while researching web presence for a Fortune 500 company. Every company at that scale has a web presence and reputation/status. That extends pretty far down the pipeline, too. Most every company has some presence on the web (I’m sure there are a few that the web is completely ignorant of, but I expect that to be challenging to find).

Consider how many people use the web for research. Whether prospective new hires, students or activists, people will find all kinds of information about your institution on the web. Therefore, community management/social media management is critical for a company. At least one person should be scouring the web looking for opportunities to discuss the company, it’s products/services, and address issues. This must be fully transparent, however. Dialog needs to include both the positive and negative. Oh, and yes there are vile trolls out there. They exist whether you engage or not. Ignoring them let’s them control your company’s web image. Also, there are valid and useful critiques.

Activists of many issues have the ability to look at a company quite deeply. Transparency exists, whether you want it to or not. It’s not really that easy to track down in depth information, but it is possible. So, no matter what company you are and how tightly you try to control information, there is a great deal of “stuff” out there about you. Controlling the message has become impossible. The best thing you can do is engage forthrightly. And, of course, make sure your company is operating in an ethical and morally sustainable way.

Seriously, a negative critique is an opportunity to engage. If done well, it can build a fan. If not, it provides an opportunity to damage your reputation and relationship. Building and maintaining positive relationships requires active, and proactive engagement. There must be dialog (2 way discussion). Yes, really, the company must LISTEN. PR & Marketing need to be about managing relationships and less about “making the sale”. There needs to be a genuine desire for relationship. BS is easily detected and mass communicated.

Just be open, clear and ethical. Accept the “message” is out of your control, but that you can influence perception. If that influence is propaganda, it will be easily sniffed out and blown to pieces. Open, true two-way discussion works. The corporate mind just needs to stop being so afraid.