MTV Nation

Wow - a friend of mine sent me this poem recently. I don't read enough poetry, but I found this incredibly powerful. It's the long version of "no rest for the weary/wicked." One cursory note that occurs to me as I read it is how shallow and banal television has become by contrast - perpetual desperation for least-common-denominator appeal.

Unless you're in the mindset of watching "my show" at a certain time of day, TV can only become more obsolete. Some of the last hurrahs are in tivo-ing out commercials, growing screen size and quality -- 90" plasma, HD, etc., but as the web becomes more compatible with this technology and video takes an increasing foothold, more televisions will be out on the sidewalk each week.

Even with MTV...

Warning: It's not a single-read. At least it wasn't for me.

THE PULLEY.

WHEN God at first made man,
Having a glasse of blessings standing by ;
Let us (said he) poure on him all we can :
Let the worlds riches, which dispersed lie,
Contract into a span.

So strength first made a way ;
Then beautie flow’d, then wisdome, honour, pleasure :
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that alone, of all his treasure,
Rest in the bottome lay.

For if I should (said he)
Bestow this jewell also on my creature,
He would adore my gifts in stead of me,
And rest in Nature, not the God of Nature :
So both should losers be.

Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlesnesse :
Let him be rich and wearie, that at least,
If goodnesse leade him not, yet wearinesse
May tosse him to my breast.

George Herbert

Intentional Obfuscation

Marketing should be clear, focused, unobfuscated... Why would you want to confuse your audience about what you are selling?

When you want to sell on impulse and not confuse with the details.

There's a particularly ambiguous commercial that comes up and I've tried to pick out any clue of what it is about before the final seconds -- party supplies? dance lessons? a nightclub? No, it's the Illinois Lottery.

It makes me think they don't really want you to think about what it is they're selling, i.e. casinos double the rate of gambling addiction within 50 miles. For every dollar of gambling revenue the state takes in, there are 3 dollars in social costs. The top state for suicide, divorce, gambling addiction and men killing women is Nevada. (Those aren't in the commercial - btw.)

But how else can we pay to educate our children and grandchildren? It sure does look like a great party for the first 25 seconds.

A Moment of Silence

One quiet minute. Controversial? You bet.

As of today Chicago schools are mandating a moment of silence at the beginning of the school day. As in "stop talking." By a vote of 74-37, the house joined the senate in an override of the governor's veto(!) Does it seem at all ironic that this is a point of contention in government-run pedagogy?

The problem? You guessed it -- those kids might be tempted to do some praying or other contemplative activity on government time.

I'm not going to talk about "back when I was in school" because of course before the internet the world was a different place, but suffice it to say my chums and I wouldn't have thought a requirement to be quiet would ever be a shocker. The plan's opponents focus on the testy move from "you can" to "you will."

Our media culture makes a business of bandying about the offensiveness of exactly how casual we can be in speaking to both the vulgar and the divine. But the offensiveness of not speaking for a minute?

Mayor Daley came through in great form: "I believe we always have to move forward." Write it down.

Simplicissimus

I like simplicity. There's undeniable value in being overprecise and overconcise, especially in communicating something complex. Not because the people you're talking to are simple or can’t understand complex thoughts, but because there’s a true beauty in being able to communicate succinctly and well in efficient terms.

In English, the word “simple” doesn’t really lend itself to any convenient philological breakdown. In German on the other hand (where a refrigerator is a cool-cabinet and a glove is a hand-shoe), the word simple – einfach – means one thing, one subject, one stuff something is made of. When you want to keep something simple, keep it uncluttered. Find your main idea and stick to it.

When you see the single swoosh stripe on Jorge Posada’s chest and knee protectors (the only player without any other insignia showing) every time the camera zooms in at a Yankees game, you don’t have to know the Nike corporate vision or the layers in their marketing strategy. It’s just that simple statement of quiet strength and athletic style. The fact that you have so much in so little makes it all the more powerful.

As you're getting together your next presentation and see all that verbiage in your slides, think of Hamlet’s response to Polonius about "the matter that you read." "Words, words, words.” Cut out a few. Make the font readable from the back row. Speak your presentation instead of using it as a prompt. Your audience should want a copy of your notes, not your slides.

If iWoz the CEO...

So if the other Steve (Wozniak) of Apple were the CEO, he says he wouldn't have dropped the price or offered the store credit rebate on the iPhone. Of course, he bought twenty of them that he's eventually planning to give away.

Actually some people are now more upset with the recent change to their AT&T bills to "simplify" them by taking off call detail (at no extra charge)! "Press one to continue in English..."

I think the marketing team at Apple could have done better.

Pour another cup of coffee for the other impending rollout -- Halo 3 hits the shelves at midnight tonight in the US after three years since the last version. Microsoft is expecting a $150 million return on their $25-40 million investment within the first 24 hours. A million copies are pre-ordered at $60. For reference, the iPhone went to 1 million units in two months and nine days. Stay tuned...

Do Technology Jobs Require Creativity?

The shortage of talent in IT is an increasing problem, as interest in hard skills like math, science and technology courses has been waning recently. GenY'ers have a great opportunity to fill the gap and create an alternative to outsourcing our technology demand overseas.

Here's a video clip from a recent CIO conference I attended at the Chicago Cultural Center on the IT talent shortage. The brainstorming session was led by Michael Krauss of the Market Strategy Group at the i.c. stars annual "iOpener" event.

Some of the questions to the audience included the need for creativity in IT, and how technology jobs compare to a job in accounting (accounting is about what happened; IT is about what's going to happen).

Broad Shoulders and Clean Hands

Recruiters: Another reason to choose Chicago for your next job fair -- you're going to be shaking a lot of hands. On a good day you may shake hands with hundreds of people. Don't give it a second thought... as long as you're in the second city, which came in first in a new survey by Harris Interactive on personal hygiene, specifically hand-washing habits.

Timing is Everything

When it comes to marketing yourself, the timing element can't be overestimated. Getting in early and making a unique value proposition are keys to landing the interview. Guy Kawasaki has a great post on applying for a job online and how important it is to respond as quickly as possible. He's also got a new webex coming up next week in his "Art of..." series on The Art of Evangelism.

Help! My iPhone is Depreciating by the Minute

For all Steve Jobs genius in rolling out Apple's newest avatar, yesterday's discount announcement for the iPhone is his second misstep in as many months.

The first was lining the iPhone up with AT&T over Verizon and sparking a craze of hackers making headlines by "unlocking" it to work with other service providers.

Now for pricing strategy... Normally, a big price cut should put some wind in your sales as they begin to lag. But when you do it right on the heels of most of your most loyal customers jumping on your bandwagon, it could have the opposite effect. Dropping the iPhone's price by 30% yesterday looks strangely desperate. iPhoners are going to be dialing Apple off the hook with 30-day return questions.

Does Steve have an inside line on the rumors around the gPhone? If not, he's provoked enough suspicion in the minds of remaining prospective phone buyers around stability of the whole market to make them say, Whoa -- put on the brakes - I was hoping to get something for $600 that would be all-that for years, not weeks!

The Luddites are in high spirits today.

UPDATE: Steve Jobs issues an open letter and $100 credit (on another purchase) to iPhone owners today.

All In A Day's Work

If you marry the one you love, you'll never be tempted.

If you put your trust in God, you'll never doubt your faith.

If you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life.

Well, for some people maybe. For the rest of us there's this matter of discipline. Of doing things and doing them well even when we don't feel like it. Of knowing what's required in our work and then going well beyond it, consistently. And sometimes the discipline not to work.

I didn't work on Labor Day. I was unplugged out in the middle of nowhere. I hope you didn't either. Not because you don't love your job, but because you do. It's not much of a holiday if you do the same kinds of things anyway now is it?

Some people take special satisfaction in getting in an "extra" day, or hour, or e-mail. They get so accustomed to making sacrifices and even compromises, especially about work, that they don't even realize they are. They tell themselves, "I'm not really working..." Particularly when you really do enjoy your work, and you can take it all the way to the bank, it's an easy trap to fall into.

But you know when you have a baseball in one hand and a cell phone in the other. You'll love your job even more if you don't refuse to unplug from time to time, especially on Labor Day. And btw, the one you're throwing the ball with will appreciate it too.

iOpener

This past week finished off on Friday with the "iOpener" event, one of the city's biggest annual technology executive events, hosted by ic stars at the Chicago Cultural Center downtown. Among the topics at the event was the need for creativity in technology, especially its value in the new high-tech workforce.

Peter Drucker said there are only two real functions of a business; marketing and innovation. Innovation is the point where creativity stops being a clever idea and starts showing a return on investment. But creativity is where the initial value lies in a world where access to technology resources is becoming increasingly ubiquitous.

Michael Krauss, President of Market Strategy Group and member of the Mayor's Council of Technology Advisors, moderated a collaborative discussion through the audience at Friday's event to create message points on why 18-25 year olds should choose IT as a career. The results of the discussion will be published in an upcoming paper entitled, "Move the Future," in response to the continuing decline in enrollments for technology-related education and the increasing difficulty in finding people for IT positions.

The tools to make the next facebook or a photobucket or a digg are out there for anyone with a laptop, and the value of creativity to see them in a new way is the new trump card. As an executive at Apple said a couple years ago (pre-iPod), "We want to be the ones who come up with new ideas -- not the ones who snap the pieces together..."

Bill Gates Meets Napoleon

Some people hate Microsoft. Some people hate Bill Gates. Some people hate the movie "Napoleon Dynamite." If you're in one or more of those groups, don't watch this video. You'll hate it.

Otherwise, you might think it's pretty funny... maybe even download it to your iPhone.

Marketing Yourself

A friend asked me to review a resume recently and it struck me how much time is sometimes spent on format for a generic resume vs. content for a custom resume. Format is great -- it's good to show attention to detail and the ability to present well.

But for every job you're really serious about, your resume should be different, not changing any of the core components, but emphasizing the strengths that are appropriate to the position. Depending on your versatility and how far along in your career you are, no two of your resumes should be the same and some could look very different. It takes some work to find out just what the job entails and why you are the best qualified candidate -- which is what both sides want to know, right?

An e-mail blast of the same resume to ten or twenty or fifty companies is likely to get a response that is just as generic (if not moreso).

The End of Airline E-mail Blackout

An update on in-flight broadband -- American Airlines just announced they will team up with service provider Aircell to offer the internet on domestic flights early next year, picking up where Boeing left off, using cell towers rather than satellites. Blessing or curse, you'll be able to keep up on e-mail and access the web, rather than just updating spreadsheets and powerpoints.

100 Degrees of Confidence In The Shade

We all like type A's on our side. Someone who carries our own opinions with a little extra swagger. Someone who can propose a strategy, or suggest a solution or give advice with blazing bravado.

Especially once they develop a loyal following.

And are paid well to do it.

Would you prefer a champion like Wharton professor Scott Armstrong who's willing to put up, say $20,000 to demonstrate his certainty about global warming -- or one who declines the challenge -- especially if that amounts to about 10-15 minutes of his normal speaking fees?

Bottom line: pick good champions.

ASiQ Inflight - Just in Time for the iPhone

If you've been wondering what the holdup is in getting inflight internet access, here's an update in anticipation of ASiQ's low-cost solution within the next couple months.
Just in time for you to try it out on your new iPhone, depending on where you stand in Rogers' diffusion of innovations -- and your current contract with Verizon (whose service wins hands-down over AT&T but where Steve Jobs couldn't agree on the terms of the deal).

Two Ways Of Looking At It

I remember when Katherine Hepburn died a couple years ago, the quote she left the world with was that she was "looking forward to oblivion." For anyone with this kind of aspiration, it's got to affect the way you live as well as the way you die.

Ruth Graham died earlier this month after a life of some celebrity and personal accomplishment as well. She was described as a spiritual giant by her best friend and husband of almost 64 years, Billy.

Like Kate, Ruth also wrote of her passing: "And when I die, I hope my soul ascends slowly, so that I may watch the earth receding out of sight, its vastness growing smaller as I rise, savoring its recession with delight."

I'm sure it did, so that she could. What a great way of looking at it.

The British Talent Invasion - This Time In Opera

On the few occasions when I've watched these shows, I've been disappointed with the waste of time. This is a remarkable piece from "Britain's Got Talent" (a stateside version of American Idol) about real talent apart from showmanship and pop-culture sellability.



Part of the win is obviously in the surprise element from Paul, the cell phone salesman from South Wales. Something to keep in mind when you're making your marketing pitch (and we're all marketing something...).

Tearing Down Walls - Twenty Years Later

It was twenty years ago today - June 12, 1987, that Ronald Reagan made the speech that became the tipping point for the direction of the western world -- JFK's "world of freedom" -- in the end of the twentieth century.

It was my privilege to stand there in Berlin that day and hear President Reagan, at that time my Commander-In-Chief, make his stunning delivery in front of the quadriga of the Brandenburg Gate.


He didn't have to say it. It was a great speech without it and in fact, his advisors all told him to leave it out. Twenty years later I can still tell you firsthand the cold war was very real.

But making the challenge based on his conviction that it was the right thing to do changed the world. "General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

Freedom has a cost and we stand on the shoulders of great men.

The Business End of Technology

Here's an article I contributed to recently by John Hazard of eWeek on business service management and the best practice meme ITIL. -- Notable prediction by Forrester for 23% growth in the BSM market this year!