Inspiration… it’s like hide and seek
Inspiration. It’s something that can avoid you like the plague, just when you need it the most. Books tell us to be patient, to take our time, and to do something totally unrelated to the project at hand. That’s good advice. But do we always have the time? You know the answer to that.
Yet regardless of the production schedule that we’re on… the job has to get done. That’s been my position for the past few days, and all of a sudden today, I got the inspiration that I needed. I was so inspired that I felt compelled to blog immediately. That in itself is huge since I haven’t blogged in ages.
The technique I most depend on when looking for ideas is to do something unrelated or to look in places where it would seem I can’t find anything that relates to the corporate world. I love action cartoons, Batman Beyond, Justice League and X-Men (Wolverine more specifically) are my favorites. So, I watch cartoons, look at the titles of episodes or listen to the dialogue. From there, I go through a domino thought process until I come up with something inspiring.
Flickr tends to be another place I go to when looking for ideas. My mind is stimulated by bright colours, so I go to Flickr not looking for ideas to copy, but to put myself in a space where my mind can relax, be entertained and be stimulated by the wealth of visual art. I’ll admit that sometimes I just wait for inspiration to fall into my lap. However, that’s when I have no timeline at all.
People say that inspiration comes when you’re not looking for it. But, sometimes, getting inspired is like playing a game of hide and seek. So ready or not, you’ve got to look for it.
What techniques do you use to get inspired? Or what’s the most random place you’ve found inspiration in?
Sphere: Related ContentLukaszewski heads to Barbados
Voted by The Corporate Legal Times as one of the top “28 experts to call when all hell breaks loose”, James E. Lukaszewski (ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA) is a much sought out facilitator on strategic corporate communications.
On June 18, 2009, he will conduct a one-day seminar entitled, ‘Does the boss listen to you?’ in Barbados at the Savannah Hotel located at Hastings, St. Michael.
Hosted by the Barbados Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), the session seeks to empower participants in developing their strategic skills, aid managers in becoming better communicators and leaders, so as to increase their influence at the board and executive levels. Attendees are also urged to bring their toughest public relations questions or issues to the bonus lunchtime session.
Lukaszewski, a regular facilitator for IABC webinars and other prominent workshops, has been counselling senior executives in North America on strategic corporate communications for over three decades.
“We are delighted to have the opportunity to learn firsthand from someone of Jim’s calibre as IABC Barbados seeks to change the mindset of local public relations practitioners to one that is more aligned to the corporate objectives of the businesses we serve,” says Christal P. McIntosh, IABC Barbados President.
For further information and to register, call 2462308784 or email christalpm@gmail.com.
Sphere: Related Content
Internships at MACO Magazines
Toute Bagai Publishing (TBP) - publisher of MACO Caribbean Living, Destinations, MACO People, and other great publications - is inviting applications for internships for the period May to August, 2009. TBP is looking for three interns.
Candidates must be studying journalism and/ or publishing, and have an interest in magazine publishing specifically. The internship will require research, editorial work and general administration. Additionally, candidates must have basic computer knowledge: Microsoft Office Suite - Excel, Word etc. Graphics capability in CS3 and Illustrator is a plus. Applicants should be between the ages of 18 to 25.
They are looking for people who are enthusiastic, creative, responsible, eager to learn, and possess initiative. This isn’t your average internship; each day you will be an actual part of a working team producing a world class magazine – so bring your A game!!!
Please submit your CV or letter of interest by May 15, 2009 via email to jannue@macomag.com
Sphere: Related Content
Gods of advertising
I’ve always noticed this about several advertising agencies. They walk into a meeting with the client, and immediately send out an aura of “I am more knowledgeable than thou”… “I sit on a cloud where all the good ideas are, and you, well you need to listen to my epiphany”. At times, consultants, regardless of their industry, tend to have this approach, intentional or not.
Now, I don’t really care whether someone thinks they’re brighter than me or not, but I do think that clients, especially the marketing or public relations managers on the other end should get some respect from their agency peers. After all the difference between both is that one is in-house, and one acts in a consultative basis. Both are qualified communicators.
I usually let people who think they’re brighter or more knowledgeable say what they have to say. Then I move on. No egos here. But I really think that agencies should not act as if they’re gods of advertising, and that the client is a mere plebe when it comes to understanding the upper strata of out-of-this world communication. I mean, it’s just not client-centric!
So here are five tips for agencies (I’m typing this just before heading off to bed, so I’m not going over five).
- Collaborate. Don’t talk down to your in-house peer. Talk with them. Share ideas. They know a thing or two.
- Respect. Yes I know you’ve got to show off and impress people, but you don’t have to act as if the other person knows nothing about marketing at all. I’m willing to bet that if they’re still holding their job, and haven’t damaged their brand, sales, or company’s reputation, that they are quite competent.
- Chill out. I know you might be hesitant about the client not agreeing to your gigantic budget, or some of your tactics, but really if you sip on some kool aid before entering the meeting, you’ll realise that hey, this can be easy.
- Share. Ok, so the agency needs to post profits, get new clientele, and execute amazing campaigns to boast about on their website, and in their meetings, so they can seem to be the best thing since sliced bread. But hey, don’t try to force big budgets down the client’s throat. Yes you’ve got to get your hustle on, but let’s make a deal. The client gets a great campaign that considers their constraints and challenges, and you make a wee bit dollars less on commission, but you know what… since you understand that both of you had to have a win-win, they’ll come running right back to you for more great stuff.
- No illusions of grandeur people. I’ve heard of an agency that does amazing pitches. In the meeting, the client oohs and ahhs, and asks, “Can the budget handle this?” “Yes”, says the agency. And when you’ve signed the contract, and the time for execution comes, all of a sudden the agency tells you, hey that’s really expensive you know, so we need to downsize our rollout. Equally worse, there are some that make a good pitch, and in execution the whole creative aura just collapses.
I’ve heard quite a few communicators complain about an agency or two in Trinidad and Tobago, okay more than two. The conclusion is that you can’t get everything in one place, so you make do. But wouldn’t things be better if agencies were just more client-focused? Then, there are agencies that have a spirit of colloboration, but sometimes their creative just doesn’t fly.
This post wasn’t meant to totally diss agencies. So, I’ll end by saying that both the in-house counsel, and the account executive should find a way to colloborate, understanding that each has something valuable to offer, and that it’s not about who’s better than who. It comes down to the long-sounded piece of advice that at the end of the day/ project, it’s about how can we work together to meet our objectives efficiently and effectively.
(Fickr photo by flattop341)
Sphere: Related ContentYouTube gets Caribbean partner
Like I tell people, the Caribbean is with it. Facebook? We’re on it? Secondlife? Not so much. YouTube? Damn skippy. And finally, we’ve gotten our first official Caribbean media channel on YouTube via a brand new agreement between the online video machine and Realvibez.tv. The Realvibez channel was launched on July 26th at youtube.com/realvibeztv.
“Last year Realvibez was referred to as the closest thing to a Caribbean MTV on the web by two media outlets after we were invited to present at Boston College’s Entrepreneurship Society,” says David Mullings, Chief Executive Officer of Realvibez Media. “This relationship with YouTube finally allows us to truly live up to that title and expose Caribbean music and culture on the largest stage in history… This is undoubtedly our biggest achievement to date and we do not intend to disappoint them or our fellow Caribbean people. Bob Marley has had a global impact and we intend to show the immense amount of talent in the Caribbean today.”
Realvibez has a revenue sharing deal and both produces original content and licenses content for the channel, which YouTube can then choose to feature on a variety of relevant pages. This partnership allows Realvibez to claim the largest potential audience and strongest partnerships of any Caribbean media company. The Realvibez channel will feature a range of content, including studio sessions, live performance clips, original web shows by musicians and a video blog by the Realvibez team. A number of artists have already agreed to participate in producing content for the channel, including T.O.K.¸Cezar and To-Isis. Video from Reggae Sumfest 2008, of which Realvibez is the official web partner, is now live on the channel, and includes interviews with performers.
Owned by Realvibez Media, an integrated media and entertainment company, Realvibez.tv is a leading online provider of media for consumers of Caribbean music culture. Realvibez chronicles the best in Caribbean music, events and pop culture. It uses a fully integrated scheme that includes a dynamic website, partner channels, events and merchandise that reaches forward to represent a generation savvy to global brands and an increasingly wired lifestyle.
Working with artists since 2002, the company is certainly excited at being able to distribute content worldwide, not just through their own online channels, but also via the leading video destination in the world - YouTube. Realvibez is also an official partner for Imeem.com.
What’s in it for the Caribbean?
The Realvibez channel creates huge opportunities for Caribbean people to discover, watch and share originally created videos featuring their culture. Surely, people have been uploading videos for years, but the fact that we have our own channel means that we can easily find Caribbean-related videos on the channel, and certainly presents a more targeted approach to showcasing Caribbean artistes.
I’ve known Realvibez’s CEO David for a little while now through – surprise, surprise – Facebook. David is one of those bright, young guys with great ideas, and a seemingly never-ending source of determination and motivation to make things happen. What’s even more impressive is that as a Jamaican who lives in Miami, he’s found a way to marry his love for his country, entrepreneurship, music and social media into a burgeoning business, which will certainly increase Caribbean music’s global reach. He and his brother, Robert Mullings, founded Realvibez at the ages of 21 and 20, respectively.
“Most people would have told two young Jamaicans that this day would never come,” says his brother Robert Mullings, Realvibez’s Chief Operating Officer. “We’re glad to prove them wrong and be an inspiration to others.”
Sphere: Related ContentFacebook can send you to jail
You see all those photos on Facebook, MySpace or other social networking sites, if you find yourself in trouble with the law, they can be used as damning evidence against you. This was the case for Joshua Lipton, a 20-year-old student in the US.
According to the Associated Press:
"Online hangouts like Facebook and MySpace have offered crime-solving help to detectives and become a resource for employers vetting job applicants. Now the sites are proving fruitful for prosecutors, who have used damaging Internet photos of defendants to cast doubt on their character during sentencing hearings and argue for harsher punishment.
"Social networking sites are just another way that people say things or do things that come back and haunt them," said Phil Malone, director of the cyberlaw clinic at Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society. "The things that people say online or leave online are pretty permanent."
The pictures, when shown at sentencing, not only embarrass defendants but also can make it harder for them to convince a judge that they’re remorseful or that their drunken behavior was an aberration. (Of course, the sites are also valuable for defense lawyers looking to dig up dirt to undercut the credibility of a star prosecution witness.)
Prosecutors do not appear to be scouring networking sites while preparing for every sentencing, even though telling photos of criminal defendants are sometimes available in plain sight and accessible under a person’s real name. But in cases where they’ve had reason to suspect incriminating pictures online, or have been tipped off to a particular person’s MySpace or Facebook page, the sites have yielded critical character evidence"
You can read the entire article here.
Sphere: Related Content