Life In The Pacific Northwest
(If you aren’t up-to-date on Snohomish County’s Exec drama, here’s a quick primer).
Per MLTNews.com, the Sheriff is throwing his proverbial hat into this ring. Mr. Lovik will present a decent choice for us residents. It’ll be interesting to see who else comes forth, though.
I hail from Lynnwood, part of Snohomish county, just north of Seattle. My life has been dominated by news, etc, focused on the city ~20 miles to the south. I knew the mayor of Seattle before I knew that Lynnwood had a mayor. Living in the shadow of such a large city has made me wonder how to break free.
Washington is a large state, but you’d think it entailed one city: Seattle. Yet we’re so much more. Bellevue is just across a floating bridge, and quite a different place. Then there’s Spokane, or Yakima, or Walla-Walla, or Everett or Bellingham, or….
These differences are significant. Politically, socially, culturally, even ecologically; each region is different, and dramatically so. The main differentiator, in Washington, seems to be east/west of the Cascade mountain range. Climate-wise, west-side has the rainy disposition that Seattle is famous form. Yet, on the east-side, we have desert; some of the driest places in the country. Economically the east is predominately agrarian. West is subdivided by Seattle’s influence. The Puget Sound basin is mainly industrial and post-industrial urban work. The rest seems a balance of extraction (timber, mainly) and fishing.
My goal is to expand on the stereotype of this region. Show how diverse we are as a state in all manner. I’m glad to have you join my journey.
Just read Ragan’s post about Southwest’s engagement via social media. They clearly get social media, how it’s about listening. I love seeing stuff like this.
I found their desire to name their PR command center “The Listening Post” particularly telling. Compare it, if you will, with Wal-Mart’s choice of “War Room”. One implies collaborative, engagement, respectful of it’s customers; while the other immediately screams adversarial. Seems clear which will be the best at mollifying the energy of critics.
This attitude works best to build ambassadors for your brand. These fans will be infinitely better at defusing potential crisis then even the best PR pros.
Your fans are a key asset. Invest in them.
Let’s all agree to start using the “To:” line correctly.
Senders:
Readers:
If we can all start following email 101, maybe we can de-confuse the world some.
Maybe…
I’ve been considering my blog theme for some time. Though I love poetry (and still plan on writing), my interests are much more varied.
My career has progressed over a wide array of industries and functions, all within the basic “general business administration” category. I’ve worried about shifting my focus, though. I’ve never been much for “profit hunting”. Business, though, impacts so many areas of our society, and we all are impacted by this institution. The variety in my background, from differing sectors (non-profits, Fortune 500, small and mid-sized business) to types (retail, technology, religious, advocacy, distribution, wholesale….) provides me with a remarkable perspective.
All this blends into a particular viewpoint. I take a long-term view. Sustainability is critical (both for individual institutions and society en masse). Project management tools and disciplines are master strokes of intellectual achievement.
Our culture promotes fame. I’ve never understood the why. Why are we compelled to garner as much attention as possible?
Fame is so compelling that we’re quite comfortable with infamy. We’re comfortable with the horrified gaze, or at least the incredulous one.
My main evidence? The full spate of “reality” tv stars. Whether Honey Boo Boo right now, or what’s-his-name Huang American Idle, er Idol a few years back. Both people willing to abandon every shred of dignity for attention. Though annoying on so many levels, it presents for fascinating psychoanalysis. If you’re geeky like me, that is.
Came up with a new word.
Gesticfoolcate – those bizarre gestures meant to intimidate but actually make you want to howl w/laughter. I mainly am thinking of those gangster poses.
Yep, the wonderful things that come out if my brain at 2:00 am.
Enjoy!
I just finished “The Wisdom of the Radish“, by Lynda Hopkins. Once working in business practices and environmental affairs for a large coffee company in Seattle, sustainability is part of my ethos. Thus, this work connected with me. Additionally, I have been reflecting on our food system. Concerned with how much poverty one finds interwoven; about the “additives” into our food system, enabling us to transfer food across the globe, wondering if that’s good or ill; and about our ability to sustain the rapidly growing population on this planet. I must write about such soon.
A different type of insight than you get from Michael Pollan’s works, yet still very insightful. Lynda’s book takes you into the mind of the farmer, one trying to implement sustainable and humane practices. For a nerd like myself, I enjoy the deeper dives into practices and issues they face. The poet in me delights in her stories, word style and structure and wit.
If you are a fan of farmer’s markets, care about ways to make our food system more sustainable, then you should block time to read this. Local farming will take on a new look, and respect.
*You can read my Amazon review for this one here.
“When you wish to achieve results that have not been achieved before, it us am unwise fancy to think they can be achieved by methods that have been used before.”
– Sir Francis Bacon
It’s critical, then, to expand knowledge. Study areas and ideas unrelated to your focus. Only by expanding your understanding of the world can you grab new ways of looking at the problems we are attempting to solve.
A few thoughts for your Monday morning. May your week rock n’ roll and transform the world.
Gaza is erupting into conflict, and my Twitter feed rolls along, snippets hitting every second. I have connections on both sides. One twitter friend in particular is making a point to retweet both sides of this conflict. That morphed into an idea.
This idea: a project capturing the myriad sides to a conflict, whether violent, political or cultural. First notion was to actively research, tweeting to the hashtag
#AllSides____ (adding the issue in the blank. i.e.: #AllSidesGaza. Spend, say, an hour of focused time just tweeting every article, RTing personal perspective, all into this one stream. My goal? Capturing as many perspectives on that issue as possible in one place. Collating/curating perspectives personal and analytical.
I feel a simple hashtag feed, though, isn’t enough. Yet I’m unsure what to add. Build some kind of analytic tool? Infographics? Probably would be something to consider after to curation is complete.
Or maybe not. If done right, this would become continuous, organic. Then an analytic tool that continuously analyzed and restructured the report would be fascinating. I think grabbing snapshots at specific moments would be grand.
So, any thoughts? I’d love to hear your ideas.