Autism and Second Life

Since the first wave of Second Life mania has subsided, the virtual world starts to be utilized by various groups for what it really is: A platform to communicate with other people. Above is an incredible story how Second Life helps people with autism. I'm hopeful Facebook will become less of an advertising tool and more of a people tool.

CNN Story

Are you ready?

March 29 has always been an important date: Cy Young and John Tyler were born. The last US soldiers leave South Vietnam in 1973. And the War of the Roses basically ends in 1461.

But March 29, 2008 will be even more monumental. Actually, it's your job to make it monumental:

Just like Joseph Jaffe a few months ago, The Age of Conversation will bumrush the Amazon charts on tomorrow.

If you don't know about 'The Age of Conversation', get all the details here and find more about the Bumrush on Drew's blog.

And, please help the bumrush by checking out this Fresh Peel Post.

Most importantly, buy the book tomorrow.

Stupid client quotes

Didn't get your daily fill yet? Check out Clientcopia for more than 6,000 stupid client quotes.

Hilarious

Charlie Brooker from BBC 4 comments on the biggest c***s and she-c***s in advertising. (Note: Strong language)



It gets even better.

Insights

Let's be frank here: Insights are basically the understanding of human insecurities. (Some would call it exploitation.)

Just think about the Wonderbra and the current beauty ideal of silicone-enhanced models. Or cars that help you get over your insecurity that you never became the man you wanted to be. Or the advent of energy drinks in a world that expects you to be on 24/7.

Brands can help people deal with their insecurities. Once in a while we all need a crutch. Unless the crutch becomes more important than the individual, we have nothing to worry about.

Love you can smell

When we put love into our work, it changes everything.

I used to like Starbucks coffee but since I experienced Intellegentsia Coffee, I'm a changed person. Everthing in their store is full of love and passion for coffee. Somehow, when they prepare my latte, their passion is transferred to the end product. (No, I don't get paid by them. Just want to make sure everybody will try their excellent product.)

I feel the same when people cook for me or just make a plain cup of coffee with a french press. Same is true when I go to a local butcher or farmers market. There's more to it than the product, I can take the emotion they put into the product home.

Sure, nobody can create excellent meals each and every day. But just a little effort and thought goes a long way. Small pieces of tomato sprinkled around a plain spaghetti dish can change everything. Or freshly pressed OJ in a champagne. These little things show appreciation and passion for your loved ones. Or your customers.

Authentic

One word came to mind when I saw Obama's race speech yesterday: authentic.

Sure, he's a great speaker and, for many people, very inspiring. But his real strength is authenticity: Knowing his background of a lifetime of walking the color line, his remarks yesterday felt real.

If you ever need a case study why authenticity is so important, go back to this speech.

RIP Resume

Seth writes that resumes are obsolete. I agree.
Sure, most jobs require a resume to be even considered by HR.

But, that's because we tend to think resumes are the only way to communicate between prospective employers and employees. In reality, resumes are fairly useless, they have become a ticket stub: The real action is happening afterwards.

Seth mentions blogs and references. Instead, why not create one blog with one post just dedicated for your job search? Make it entertaining, engaging, put your heart into it. One such blog post will get prospective employers to call you very quickly. And very often.

Honda is a Doer

This looks and feels like Honda: Simple, positive and inspiring. Honda was always a brand that walks the walk, not focusing on talking the talk. The doer theme is a perfect match. Another homerun from W&K.

As you might remember, I didn't really care that much for the puzzle creative but the new commercial is a homerun. I was looking and hoping for an online extension, to no avail. If you find it, please send it to me.

Spokeo

I wonder how many people hate me right now. Just tested Spokeo (pretty impressive, now I can continue my journey as an online stalker) and for some reason the site sent out invites to my complete address book. Thanks for nothing. Highly doubtful I will return.

As to the wrath of my friends: I will spend the night in an undisclosed location.

March 29 - Mark the date!

March 29 has always been an important date: Cy Young and John Tyler were born. The last US soldiers leave South Vietnam in 1973. And the War of the Roses basically ends in 1461.

But March 29, 2008 will be even more monumental. Actually, it's your job to make it monumental:

Just like Joseph Jaffe a few months ago, The Age of Conversation will bumrush the Amazon charts on March 29.

If you don't know about 'The Age of Conversation', get all the details here and find more about the Bumrush on Drew's blog.

Stay tuned and tell your friends.

The house that beer built

in 20 years, John Milkovisch emptied 50,000 beer cans (Falstaff was his favorite.) and used the remains to shade his house.

Just like the Watts Tower in Los Angeles, art doesn't always come from professional artists and big museums. Art comes from the heart. Yes, you can be passionate about beer cans and art at the same time.

Creativity

This is the latest masterpiece from my kid. She's in pre-school now and a pattern evolves: The schools believe you need to box creativity. As you see above, forms are being created that kids are filling in with their color ideas. (Obviously, my kid did an amazing job!)



My idea of creativity are more unruly and unconventional. Yes, I like the flower above and see the value of it. But I find it much more charming and innovative to invite our dog to a session of Yoga. As parents we walk this fine line of telling our kids what to do/not to do and, at the same time, nurture their abbility to learn this world new (After all, we didn't do such a good job so far.)

Reminds me of the new marketing reality: We need to take our learnings from the past but apply new thinking and ideas to evolving opportunities. Exciting times all around.

Facebook Fatigue

The backlash is growing: Beacon, Superpokes, etc. We have seen this before. My Space, anyone? For the first time, Facebook is facing headwind. Above video illustrates what many people are feeling when they return to Facebook: Not a lot to do, except being annoyed.

Should they have sold a few months ago or will they adjust? Time will tell.

Hat Tip to George Parker.

This is my 500th post

Wanted to share one of my lifelong dreams: To walk around the graveyard of planes in Tucson. I just found out they offer tours now.
Hope I'll report about it before my 1000th post.

Thanks for reading. I appreciate your attention.