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Wednesday July 15 2009 |
Letter from the Editor - Edition 11 |
Aboriginal Brainstorming
Recently I had the privilege of speaking to the creative team behind Brink Productions, a theatre company based in Adelaide. During my presentation one of the Directors, Kay Jamieson, mentioned that the Australian Aboriginal Piinjarra tribe had a term called "Ngapartji Ngapartji" This Aboriginal term roughly translates as "I give you something, you give me something".
I found this fascinating because when the creators of Brainstorming, Alex Osbourne and Sid Parnes, first put forward their process, one of the rules they would stress before commencing a brainstorming session was that of piggy-backing ideas and combining your ideas with others, and the Aboriginal term "Ngapartji Ngaparji" is right in line with what that. A true brainstorm should be a collaboration of ideas. It should not be a session dominated by a number of strong willed individuals who think their ideas should 'rule the roost'. Indeed, I believe the same should apply in a conversational sense also - a true conversation should be people offering information and/or questions to each other, as opposed to one person talking 'at' the other.
What is also interesting is that right now in the world of brand globally, being a generous brand has become a trend. Not only do I except to get the goods that I pay for, but now the consumer expects that brand to go above and beyond and give me more. If I give you something, you give me something, plus a little extra. Maybe the Aboriginal People knew something all those years ago when they sat around campfires and did their version of brainstorming called "Ngapartji Ngapartji".
To learn Alex Osbourne and Sid Parnes brainstorming process, click below for free podcast episodes.
Click here for free podcasts
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Music |
Cotton Music
Dante Terrell Smith, also known as Mos Def, is releasing his latest album, The Ecstatic, as a T shirt! Designed by music/fashion impresarios Invisible DJ, in conjunction with LnA Clothing, the first ever "Music Tee" has the equivalent of cover art printed on the front, track listings on the back and a downloadable code for the album printed on its hang tag. How cool is that!
While some people are accepting the inevitable demise of the physical music album with reluctance, others like Mos Def are embracing it with some truly creative thinking. We just think it is awesome!
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Food |
The New World of Customer Service - all in 140 Characters
Whole Foods Market is the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods, with stores throughout North America and the United Kingdom, and they are in the process of redefining customer service - all in 140 characters at a time.
The Wholefood Market Twitter account has close to one million followers at last count. In addition to the company's global account which tweets from their global headquarters in Austin Texas, many of their stores and cities also have their own Twitter accounts.
Check out their main account at @WholeFoods for news, updates, special events and to see how they go about interacting with their customers on products, service, ingredients, allergies, tips, feedback and hints. They have certainly redefined the 1800 1300 boring, 'press 1' press 2' 'press 5' 'please hold, your call is important to us' pattern we are all so familiar with!
Whole Foods Market are a fantastic brand who really do know their stuff.
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Entertainment |
The Blues Man in His Element
Sir Ken Robinson PHD writes in his recent book The Element, about talent, passion and achievement. The element is what he identifies as the point where the activities individuals enjoy and are naturally good at come together. The perfect world scenario occurs when that thing that you are really, really good at is also the thing that you love the most, and you can end up earning a living from it.
Well, we have discovered a musician who is right in his 'Element'. Steven Gene Wold, commonly known as Seasick Steve, (born circa 1941) is an American bluesman, although he prefers to be called "a song and dance man". He plays guitars (mostly personalized), and sings, usually about his early life living rough and doing casual work. Seasick Steve is a hot blues guitarist who likes to say that he started with nothing and today, still has most of it left.
Go to the website and check out The Seasick Steve story, particually check out the three minute sizzle reel. An incredible story of a great blues artist, who is just doing what he loves.
Click here for website
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Sports |
It's All About You
Lance Armstrong and Nike have united to inspire and mobilize the world in the fight against cancer. “It’s About You” is a media and grassroots campaign featuring Lance, world-class athletes, celebrities and survivors, in an open invitation to join the global fight against cancer.
“This campaign is not about me. We’re celebrating the strength of those facing the adversity of cancer and giving them new ways to share their stories,” Lance explains.
And it really is about you. A custom-made fully pneumatic robot called the LIVESTRONG "Chalkbot" has been built so that people from everywhere can spread messages of hope and cancer survival to a global audience on the streets of France during the three weeks of the Tour de France. Simply by submitting an inspirational message either online or by text to the custom-made LIVESTRONG “Chalkbot", the Chalkbot will then write submitted messages in yellow chalk on the roads of the Tour de France, following the cycling tradition of writing inspirational messages along the course. You will then receive an email with GPS coordinates providing the location where your message will be chalked.
It is hoped that by using the roads of France as a canvas that the Chalkbot will chalk up to 100,000 personal messages of courage, hope and action during the 2009 Tour de France.
Click here for website
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What Made Them Think of That?
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Richard Feynman
Richard Feynman (1918 - 1988) was an American physicist, and one of the undisputed geniuses of the twentieth century. He was famous for his groundbreaking work in several fields including quantum electrodynamics and nanotechnology.
In 1965 he won the Nobel Prize in Physics. He says this was partly because of a flying plate that an unknown student at Cornell University threw into the air in the university dining hall in the early 1960's.
"That afternoon while I was eating lunch, some kid threw up a plate. There was a blue medallion on the plate, the blue thing went around faster than the wobble, and I wondered what the relation was between the two. I found out that if the wobble is small the blue thing goes around twice as fast as the wobble goes round"
"It led me to a similar problem of the rotation of the spin of an electron, and that led me back into quantum electrodynamics, which was the problem I had been working on. I later won the Nobel Prize"
What Made You Think Of That
By Gary Bertwistle OUT NOW!
Click here to purchase
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3 Cups of Tea - One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time.
By Greg Mortensen & David Oliver Relin
Greg Mortensen is a mountaineer who in 1993 was sheltered for seven weeks by the small Pakistani village of Korphe after falling dangerously ill after an unsuccessful attempt to reach the peak of K2, the world's second highest mountain. While recovering he observed the village’s 84 children sitting outdoors, scratching their lessons in the dirt with sticks. The village was so poor that it could not afford the $1-a-day salary to hire a teacher. When he left the village, he promised that he would return to build them a school. From that rash, heartfelt promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time.
This book is a truly moving and inspirational account of Mortensen's journey from this simple beginning to what has since resulted in the establishment of 78 schools across rural Pakistan and Afghanistan, the politics involved, the challenges brought about by the events of 9/11, and the unlikely friendships that have developed along the way. In pursuit of his goal, Mortenson has survived an armed kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, repeated death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children. Yet his success speaks for itself. Quite a read!
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