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Are you competing for conference champion?
A few weeks ago, I was chatting with Tamsen about the conference / unconference / event schedule in our corner of the universe and beyond over the next few months.
After a quick cross-calendar check, we realized that there are approximately ONE MILLION brand / social / tech/ nonprofit / design events happening in the upcoming months.
You think I’m exaggerating, but here’s a small slice of what we’re checking out:
Gnomedex — August 19 – 21
PodCamp Montreal — September 11 & 12
Boston #140 Conference — September 14
PodCamp Boston — September 25, 26
Mass NonProfit Network Fall Conference — September 27
Web 2.0 Expo — September 27 – 30
The Art of Marketing — September 30
Future M — October 4 – 8
Inbound Marketing Summit — October 7 & 8
Blogworld Expo — October 14 – 16
Brand New Conference — November 5
Again, that’s AFTER we edited our choices down to a dull roar, and without including the incredible range of meet-ups and tweet-ups our fair city offers. It’s safe to say we had a lot of options to choose from.
If we somehow managed to actually attend all of these events (a feat which would require Star Trek-esque teleporting, not to mention a 24-hour caffeine drip) we’d undoubtedly end up with a ton of knowledge, and some fantastic connections.
But we’d also be looking at one heck of a bill.
This traffic jam of dates (not to mention the always prudent goal of thinning our expenses a little) has challenged us to prioritize the events that offer the most relevant content for our team and our clients, and where we’d be most likely to connect with potential partners and collaborators.
Sounds simple, right?
Not even a little bit. An embarrassment of riches, perhaps… but my iCal is screaming for mercy.
So, in the interests of figuring out how everyone ELSE sorts out their calendar — and to continue on the theme of prioritizing and filtering the content we take in — we thought we’d ask YOU:
1. When you have multiple events you’d like to attend, how do you choose which one will get your dime and your time?
2. What are your criteria for a valuable event? Are your personal criteria different from the ones you’ve established for your job or career?
3. Do you tend to seek out new voices, or “reliable” voices that provide content you’ve already appreciated?
4. Does price play a role in your decision-making process? Does travel time / time away play a role?
5. What are your “can’t miss” events every year?
Let us know what your process is — and where we’ll see you in the coming months!
Categories: Outside the Square
Filtering the social media firehose
That’s it. I NEED A SYSTEM.
While that statement can (and unfortunately, does) apply to far too many areas of my life, it’s probably the thing I say most often when faced with the daily influx of Twitter streams, Google Waves, RSS feeds, Facebook and LinkedIn status updates, and all the other sources that form the social media firehouse.
I NEED A SYSTEM.
It’s a natural cycle of gathering information: when we first start learning about something (or join a social network), we cast the net wide, and follow every rabbit hole.
Every new blog post leads to at least one new person to follow on Twitter (i.e., the author, if it’s good)—and many more if we’re impressed with the commenters. Every new tweet on Twitter leads to a new blog to subscribe to, which means more email coming in, or more feeds in our RSS readers. Every new Facebook update holds the potential for finding a new site, or connecting with a new—or very old—friend (or even the opportunity to creep on an old enemy). Every new LinkedIn group means another daily digest, and yet another place to spend even more time we don’t feel like we have.
After a while, it’s too much. The tide is overwhelming. You can’t hear the quality signals for all of the noise. You miss updates from those you care about. You start to avoid whole sections of your network, or even entire platforms, entirely (hellloooo, LinkedIn groups!!). And you hear yourself say it:
I NEED A SYSTEM.
We all seem to want a system, and so we read eagerly how everyone else manages the influx, hoping to find the one that’ll work for us, too. The funny thing is, no two people’s systems are the same. Just this week, Ian M. Rountree and Justin Kownacki told us they’re going to read it all (and challenged us to), while Amber Naslund told us she’s razed it all (and challenged us to).
Ultimately, what works for me is unlikely to work for you, and vice versa.
And yet we keep looking. Or at least I do, because I hope that something about how someone else does something will resonate with something in me.
I NEED A SYSTEM.
My Twitter system is months old—so old as to now be completely useless. I rejiggered Facebook a few weeks back, but that’s only helped me with whom I publish to, not how I take in information… so that, too, needs a fix. I’ve already admitted my problem with LinkedIn, I turned off Google Buzz within 48 hours of its launch, and thankfully, I’m on few enough Waves that my lack of system there doesn’t hurt me overmuch.
But I’m frustrated. The only system that’s working for me right now is my RSS reader (I use Google’s).
So, in the hopes that by showing you mine, you’ll show me yours, here it is:
I’ve figured out over time whose stuff I like to read, and how I like to “try out” new blogs. So, forced high on my list are the blogs I won’t miss (Zen Acorns is an inside joke amongst those folks, so no, you’re not missing out on some new social media term). Next are the “Faves,” those blogs and feeds that reliably deliver great content to share, comment on, or keep for future reference (one of those feeds posts about 50 times a day, which is why the unread number is so high).
Then comes the “Need to Know,” which (as you can see from the partial list) is a group of blogs whose posts are often linked to and talked about on Twitter and other blogs. I don’t read all of those every day, but do scan to find an interesting post here or there, and to keep an eye on trends and patterns in topics (like the whole wave of influence-related posts two weeks ago). Sometimes I’ll move a “Needs to Know” feed over to the Faves, or vice versa.
The “Watchlist” is comprised of new subscriptions I’m watching for a while to see if they’ll eventually make it to Faves status, and feeds from folks I know who post less frequently, but whom I see or interact with on a regular basis (either in person or online). The “High Volume” folder holds those feeds from sites that update multiple times a day. Corralling them there keeps me from being scared at the unread number that would show up if they were allowed to mix with the other feeds. Then the subject matter folders start.
Basically, I organize my feeds by reading priority. The more time I have, the further down the list I’ll read. A lot of the topic-specific folders go unread much of the time—the best of breed of those is captured in the folders at top—but I hold onto them for those times, whether for client work or personal interest, that I want to dive deep into a particular area.
It’s been working well, but it’s my only system that is.
I NEED A SYSTEM. Several of them.
So tell me some of yours. What works for you?
Image credit: wbaiv
Categories: Digital Media, Strategy and Management
Easter eggs and dynamic branding
Conventional wisdom suggests that consistency is the granddaddy of all brand strategies. You implement a specific framework for communication of a single, relevant idea and follow up with visual guidelines that spread your brand identity to constituents, customers, and strangers alike.
But when is it OK to break those rules? Is it possible to modify an established logo? To plant an Easter Egg in your mosaic brand?
Google has a brand identity, but it’s one of the most vague, minimalistic major brands out there. Really, what are you meant to get from this:
It’s colorful, perhaps playful, but ultimately open to interpretation; nothing, but also anything (which is in line with the word’s origin). Not only that, but it’s at the heart of a medium (the internet) made unique by its capacity for rapid change and dynamism.
So when Google started celebrating various holidays and events by transforming its logo, it did no harm. In fact, it actually strengthened the brand. This initially obtuse concept became something familiar by embracing commonly understood aspects of culture; like when they put a Cubs and White Sox hat on the Chicago Picasso.
People notice this sort of thing; and word of mouth is powerful. Some of the changes have even prompted articles about just how much time people have wasted admiring them.
This strategy is not, however, something that can be mimicked with ease. Google meets all the right criteria to get away with it. It’s big, ambiguous, and widely liked in advance.
Plus their initial execution was very subtle. Tweak an “o”, hang a Santa hat on the “e”, etc. They’ve grown more ambitious only after several successful iterations.
Even so, this sort of brand dynamism is very achievable on the internet, where changing one graphic is all it takes to reach an entire audience. It should be considered with care, but it’s definitely something worth considering.
Categories: Branding, Digital Media
Roger Sametz in Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek carries a weekly strategy column in their Small Business section called “Today’s Tip”—and we’re pleased to announce that our president and CEO, Roger Sametz, was a recent contributor.
The “Today’s Tip” column is aimed at helping entrepreneurs and business owners improve the way they run their organizations. Entrepreneurs, academics, and consultants from a diverse range of industries offer practical advice on a variety of topics each business day.
In “Brand Management in the Age of Social Media”, Roger shared a series of steps to help business owners create a successful mosaic brand, even in this era of multilayered, multifaceted communications:
“The notion that you can manage your brand by simply crafting messages onto print and digital materials and then handing them down from headquarters is becoming more outdated every day. Today, monologues need to be replaced by dialogues; formal market research needs to be paired with attentive listening; participation in social media is now both de rigueur and high-stakes; and constituents who before trusted only close friends to help them make decisions now have a huge, portable social network they can call on for round-the-clock consultation.
What you plan and execute from your conference room can be either reinforced or undermined by what you don’t plan and execute. And anyone can create a brouhaha.
How to cope? More important: How to succeed?
Start by thinking of your brand as a mosaic. You place some of the tiles, then the rest are placed by others. Your job is to place enough tiles to control the context of your mosaic so that the brand picture you’ve outlined (and partially filled in) will influence how those extra, external tiles are seen and understood.”
You can read the full article here.
Thanks to Businessweek for the opportunity to connect with your readers—and we look forward to offering them more strategic advice to help them achieve their key business goals in future.
Categories: Branding, Outside the Square, Strategy and Management
Chaos theory
Before you start reading this post, take a look around you.
Are you sitting at a desk?
Yes? Keep reading.
No? Okay.
Picture yourself at your desk, or whatever your most frequent work environment might be. Then keep reading.
What do you see around you (or in the picture in your head)?
Are you fairly organized… or awfully messy?
Are you awash with files and papers, or is every sheet neatly stacked and filed (or even paperless)?
Are you stocked with carefully chosen office supplies… or would you need a few days to find a pen?
Are you tripping over cords… or wirelessly going about your business?
Are you surrounded by photos and keepsakes… or would the FBI have trouble tying you to anything they found there?
Are you sitting by a window or lit from overhead… or does a dusty desk lamp provide you with just enough glow to make out your mouse pad?
Are you air conditioned to a perpetual state of AWAKE!… or cozily outfitted with your trusty Slanket?
Are you wondering why I’m asking all these questions?
I’ve found — after working in a series of different office environments, with fairly different sorts of teams, and a long list of unique personalities — that the state of someone’s desk (while not always a reflection of their state of mind) often hints a bit at how they operate.
After reading Matt’s post from a couple weeks back about the soundtracks people listen to at work, I found myself wondering if the way I organize my environment is similarly telling.
If I have stacks and stacks of paper lying around me, does that mean I’m disorganized — or do I subscribe to a form of organization that only I understand?
If my lunch containers are stacked up around me, does that mean I’m too busy to leave my desk — or that I need to structure my day more effectively?
If I’m surrounded by scores of gadgetry, does that mean I’m ultra-connected to the world around me — or that I’m perpetually distracted?
I’m betting that most of us have a solid defense for how we manage our space — or if we’re disgruntled with what we see, that our environmental chaos speaks to frustration with something bigger than the thick layer of Post-Its trying to take over our monitor.
Or am I reading too much into appearances (and your collection of keyboard-side coffee rings)?
Tell me:
What is your ideal working environmental work state? Are you in the midst of it now?
Do you think your surroundings reflect how you feel about your work and your career in general (or even your employer)?
Are you stressed by proximity to other environmental work styles?
Does your environmental style have an impact on the work you turn out?
And if you don’t think much of your current environment, what can you do (and are you going to do) to change it?
Categories: Outside the Square
How much of a byte is your eReader taking out of your local bookstore?
Several weeks ago, I wrote to ask whether you were going to buy an iPad. And now that I’ve given in to the urge myself, I’m faced with a new version of the question I addressed in my first blog post a year ago: “If print is dead, who killed it?” (in which I argued that it’s NOT dead).
On my honeymoon weekend with my iPad, two books had just been published that I wanted to read, and I was faced with the decision about whether to go to the iBooks store, or the Barnes & Noble down the street.
As a lifelong bibliophile who worked for two publishing houses—and also as one of those snobs who much prefers hardcovers—I was pulled to the hardcover version of one book (the new John Waters memoir, Role Models) because I know it’s a book I’ll want to have (and to hold) for years.
The other, Jonathan Alter’s history of Obama’s first year in office, The Promise, is a book I can live without having on my shelf because once I read it, I’ll likely not have the urge to dive in again.
So, what does this say about how we perceive the value of a printed page… and when it’s exactly what’s needed, versus when an electronic facsimile will do just fine?
What books (and newspapers) are you reading… and how?
Have you given in to the e-reader urge, or are you stuck in (old) school mode (some or all of the time)?
Categories: Digital Media, Outside the Square
Vacationland
Clockwise from upper left (images are cropped): Robert Indiana, V/H (9); Angela Adams, Forest Floor rug; Dahlov Ipcar, The Cat at Night; Jennifer Judd-McGee, ledger diptych.
It’s been hot and humid in the South End. Bostonians have escaped to the beaches and mountains for holiday; even our favorite bakery shuttered their doors for a week at the beginning of July.
While our blog editor would love for me to write something about branding (Ed.’s note: There’s always a next time!), in the spirit of rejuvenation I’m sharing a few inspiring artists and designers from my home state of Maine, where I recently enjoyed a short vacation stay.
These in no way represent the breadth of talent associated with this special place (Nevelson, Wyeth, Hopper, Katz, Porter to name a few) – just some examples that I connect with as a designer. Creativity and the things that inspire / provoke us are, after all, an important component and driver of what we do here at Sametz.
Here’s a bit more detail behind the images you see at the beginning of this post:
- Robert Indiana claimed he was not inspired by Maine; rather, that his art came from within. I can’t help think that being in Maine freed him to look within. His numeral and type treatments are mysteriously symbolic and thought-provoking.
- Angela Adams grew up on an island off the coast, and makes rugs that evoke the natural landscape found there. Texture, pattern, and color stimulate a sensory experience that takes you beyond the walls of your living room.
- Dahlov Ipcar is the illustrator of the beloved children’s books The Cat at Night and The Little Fisherman, among others. Her graphic and colorful illustrations endlessly stir the imagination of young readers.
- Jennifer Judd-McGee’s patterned line drawings and collages depicting the folk villages, harbors and natural settings of Maine evoke wonder in the scale and interconnectedness of humanity and nature.
What did you see on vacation (or a quick getaway, or even a day trip) that inspired you?
Categories: Design
Smart Quotes: design in our lives
Our opportunity, as designers, is to learn how to handle the complexity, rather than shy away from it, and to realize that the big art of design is to make complicated things simple.
Tim Parsey
Categories: Design, Outside the Square
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