mindblob

Quest for the Ultimate Break

Well... I must admit I've been "out of blogging" for quite a while (and I'm really sorry about that). After being extremely busy sorting loads of "offline issues", I finally reach a little "break" that leads me... well... -what a paradox- offline again. Not to mention, Blogger Social in NYC (Yeeehaaa! Woops, sorry... couldn't hide my enthusiasm!). So, yes... I'm afraid the number of posts on this blog will not come back to cruising speed right now, but I wanted to inform you that it will be soon (as soon as I'm back from Social).

In the meantime, and talking about having a break, you might want to check this special action on the French Kit Kat site.It is not really new, but worth checking out if you haven't yet. They call it "The Quest for the Ultimate Break" (this link will lead you to the teaser film only on YouTube, in case you can't reach it on the main site). Will some of us see this situation -I mean the beginning of the film, of course- as a familiar "under pressure work conditions" déjà vu? I don't know. Due to the last rush I've been through, I must admit I just had to smile when I discovered it (hint, hint!).

Anyway, I really like the end of the film and the "goal of the quest" itself. It is in french, so I'll translate the idea behind it. It is contest with lottery-like numbers you get in Kit Kat and other Nestle candy bars. And guess what... the great price you may win is... a TRIP INTO SPACE ! ! ! (yes, a real one!). There is also an input channel where people can post their video vision of an "Ultimate break".

I really like the concept, because the price is quite innovative and insightful. And for the records, the french agency is JWT Paris, the very same that launched the excellent Wilkinson "Fight for kisses" site that you may remember. Last but not least -the producer's point of view here- when I investigated about who did the 3D animation, I found out that it was AKAMA Studio, the same post-production company that worked on FFK. This time they produced this trailer in about 2 and a half months... and that my friends deserves a fantastic applause, because it is not much time to achieve such a qualitative result. Thumbs up guys!

Now if you would excuse me... I have a lift to catch.  ; )

We connect because we care

Heart.  Not the organ pounding in your chest.  But something much more precious -- a piece of our soul. 

As human beings, we bond and connect because we allow ourselves to care.  Care enough that we want to share a bit of our soul. 

Few events trigger that desire more than someone among us is hurting deeply.  There's  something in our psyche that connects with the depth of those feelings and we need (because it is much more than a want) to reach out and take their hand.

When word began to trickle out that our dear friend Arun Rajagopal had lost his mum, we collectively reached out to take his hand.  Please take a moment from your busy day and extend your hand as well. 

It is the most human part of us.  Reaching out with our true heart.

Conversation calling !

Remember the Age of Conversation? Well, after the great success and insightful perspective of their first initiative, Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton are doing it again. Absolutely! A new book is ahead of us.

What will it all be about? At this stage nobody knows yet, but the call is here and it's all up to you. As one of the authors of the Age of Conversation all I can tell you is that being part of this project has been a rich human experience and still is, so I definitely encourage you to participate.

Check Drew's post and vote for the topic here. Feel free to give your perspective, comment or feedback... and decide whether you'd like to be one of the authors of the next book. Oh... and by the way, if you don't feel like writing, you may also just participate to the survey if you want... "readers welcome!".  ; )

   

United PEAS of Social Media

- Original picture from Addixon777 + home made transformation -

   

The amazing thing about "social media" is the power that these two words joined together took over the meaning of each word when standing alone.

"Social" is the grouping of individuals around common characteristics, interactions between groups of people, is taking consideration of other's behavior. Many more definitions apply to that word, but in a way the "united humans" side of the definition is probably the one we keep in mind. And here comes "media" basically related to communication and being the vehicle of messages towards as many people as possible, not to say "masses".

Now "social media" pushes us from being readers and spectators of news and information, to being actors and publishers of messages through a completely new vehicle. And we may see "the wisdom of the crowds" as the evolution of individual messages freely embraced by other individuals.

The very first time I understood the power of "social media" was after Noel Davis' terrible bicycle accident just before Christmas 2007. Noel is the father in law of Gavin Heaton, a blogger friend I had met on the net months before. At the time, I didn't know Noel but I was warned by another friend blogger CK that "something terrible" happened. Gavin communicated to friends and family on Noel's web page and a solidarity chain was raised by other bloggers relaying the information and collecting funds to help. Cam Beck created a special page to make donations, David Armano made a visual for the cause, many helped making posts to spread the information. Hopefully, Noel recovered from his accident and I'm quite sure many people still think about him today.

Then, another terrible event tore many of us apart when our friend CK was facing the toughest moment of her life. This difficult moment, brought to our eyes the important fact that there is a link between this virtual world, our emotions, values, good intentions and reality.

More recently, Susan Reynolds a blogger I don't know personally, discovered that she had breast cancer. As a matter of fact, Susan suffered so much from the multiple biopsies she went through that she placed a pack of frozen peas on her breast to relieve the pain. She decided to share her experience with others and launched a special blog : Boobs on Ice. When she posted a picture of her and the pack of peas in such an unexpected place, some of her friends were touched and reacted. In less time than it takes to actually say it many people took action (see the full story on Connie Reece's blog) and a solidarity wave rolled around the planet.

Then a special Frozen Pea Fund was launched to raise money with all benefits going to Making Strides, the breast cancer campaign of the American Cancer Society. Now what if we would all donate the price of a package of Peas to such a fund raising program? Hundreds of Twitter users changed their avatars on a Pea theme. When I see the specially created Frozen Pea Flickr group, I really beleive that there are PEAple out there ready to help change the world.

Today is the THIRD PEA FRIDAY... so if you have not done it yet, go to this link and donate the value of a few peas (or more), because this action is good and is helping an important cause we should all care about. I am sure Susan was happy to see that many were there to encourage her and try to help. Also, I'd like to honor people who lead others in the right direction, to help those in need. Connie, this one is for you -sorry it took me so long to make this post-. Even if we have not met yet, please know that it is a real honor to know you. I am amazed by the mountains you are moving.

I understand that social media is not done shaking positively my vision of this world. These incredible examples raise the definitions to another level. So, whoever still thinks "social media" is yet another trendy notion to debate on, might want to consider this : next time you are watching PEAple from a distance, watch closely and listen... maybe you'll find out that the voice behind each one of them is worth some of your attention. Above definitions, there are people behind all this, connected and sharing experiences. Internet is just a vehicle, let's keep in mind that human beings are on both sides with their hearts and values.

      

Blogger Social 2008... 90 days left!

   

So how do you like this cool looking photo-video edit Mark Goren just made to give you a visual idea of who will be coming -so far- to Blogger Social 2008?

Readers of this blog know that next April 4-6, 90 days from now, bloggers from around the world will meet in the first event so far exclusively dedicated to... GETTING SOCIAL. In other words, no seminar, no ppt presentation, no keynote, no protocol. A unique opportunity created, led and embraced by marketing and communication specialists bloggers who after meeting virtually, thought that it was about time to meet live.

Australia, Oman, Italy, England, Belgium, Canada, USA... many countries will be represented, making the event a rich and unique human experience. Here is the list of the people who registered so far and a very nice collage of the faces behind them (you may find a pdf version here - thanks to Mark Goren again).

 

 

Susan Bird - Tim Brunelle - Katie Chatfield - Terry Dagrosa - Matt Dickman - Luc Debaisieux - Gianandrea Facchini - Mark Goren - Gavin Heaton - Sean Howard - CK - Valeria Maltoni - Drew McLellan - Doug Meacham - Marilyn Pratt - Steve Roesler - Greg Verdino - CB Whittemore - Steve Woodruff - Paul McEnany - Ann Handley - David Reich - Tangerine Toad - Kristin Gorski - Mack Collier - David Armano - Ryan Barrett - Lori Magno - Tim McHale - Gene DeWitt - Mario Vellandi - Arun Rajagopal - Darryl Ohrt - Joseph Jaffe - Rohit Bhargava - Anna Farmery - Marianne Richmond - Thomas Clifford - Lewis Green - Geoff Livingston - Kris Hoet - Connie Reece - CeCe Lee - Jonathan Trenn - Toby Bloomberg - Seni Thomas    

   

So if you have not registered  yet, the great news is you still have some time to do so. Yes ! ! ! But beware, the limit is set : NO LATER than February 15. Shortly said : hurry up and just... BE THERE !

 

Image originally uploaded by dingdingwang

 

Here comes 2008 !

   

After a turbo-charged end of the year (sorry for long blog silence!), with no time left to keep up with the blogosphere, pleased to say we're back! Back with our very BEST WISHES to you all for this new year. So... "May all your dreams come true!".

 

Let's welcome 2008!

 

PS : Picture from phodto found on Flickr. I'm always fascinated by people able to capture fragments of time with such great talent.

   

The Key to Reserva

   

If you like Martin Scorsese... it's a must see.
If you like Alfred Hitchcock... it's a must see.
If you like wine and champagne... it's a must see.
If you like out-of-the-ordinary-stories... it's a must see.

A movie definitely worth spending time with here.

   

JWT Barcelona, lead by Alex Martinez and his team, had a clever and innovative idea to promote FreiXenet, the Spanish sparkling wine (Cava is the Spanish sparkling wine "equivalent" to France's champagne). - More about the context story here.

As mentioned by Craig Davis (JWT's Worldwide's chief creative officer) on his blog, The Good Stuff :

"...the film features not the star in front of the camera but the stars behind - a striking shift from image to product, from how we look to what we make"

 

 

Now, what I like about this is that it drives your imagination out of the conventional story-telling patterns. Of course it is advertising... and of course, there is a link to a brand. But on a very personal point of view, I didn't feel betrayed by the apparition of the product (like it often happens in branded film content). I loved that they dared to distract our attention away from the product itself and push us back into the film. Smart and talented way to communicate. Last but not least, notice the "insightful link" that says : "GIVE US YOUR OPINION".

 

So... "if next year you had to do a short film, which director would YOU choose?"

    

UPDATE : Check "The Good Stuff" original post's comments... seems this story pushed Bob Jeffrey himself (JWT's Worldwide Chairman and CEO) to comment. I think it is a first time, but maybe I'm wrong.  : )

 

BSO8... Time to register!

   

Just a reminder for those of you who might have forgotten : it is time to register to Blogger Social '08. The deadline is November 15th, it will be in NYC and it is going to be a unique opportunity to meet bloggers from around the planet. Here is where you can find more information about WHO, WHY , WHAT... Oh, and Gavin Heaton -who will be coming all the way from Australia to BS08- opened a Kaltura video edit worth checking out there.
In other words : WOW !
   

Space-time continuum

Hiro Nakamura - "Heroes TV series".

Long time no posts and sorry about it, really. After being ill in bed for 2 weeks, catching up with day-to-day work and developing some other side projects in parallel, I'm back (yes, yes... again!).

   

Always in BETA - The Conversation Fish

- Karl Long as being filmed by CM's web cam... hi Karl ! -

Imagine you were a fish on misson, in a bowl right at Forrester Consumer Forum 2007. Imagine you could see and hear people there and -wow!- send them text messages to a screen and get instant "live" feedback. What would you actually see? What would you say? Well, the first thing you'd witness is Critical Mass fantastic, audaciously open, conversation experiment : ALWAYS IN BETA.

David Armano and the super team at Critical Mass Chicago are indeed giving us an insightful view on the Forrester Consumer Forum. Letting anyone on the net log onto their open "Always in Beta" site. I encourage you to check it out as this is only a 2 days event (11th and 12th October). CM's blog is here.

As being one of the fishes around the Internet bowl yesterday, I must confess I really enjoyed the experience. First of all the technical aspect, innovative Internet tools (free and available to all of us, provided by UStream). So, no complicated IT server and gear with wires and geeks figuring out the optimal bandwidth in a hidden NASA-control-room-like place. Computer + web cam + Internet connection = that's about it. Well, of course there were some gaps in the video from time to time and the available computer mic was a bit overwhelmed by his assignment (unidirectional might help for next broadcast). But that's not so important, this is Beta, right.

The most important thing is the EXPERIENCE offered there. It opens lots of doors and ideas on how the future of live coverages of events could be. Imagine a phone with super-speed Internet access and a camera and you could broadcast "live" on the Internet from any hotspot. David gave us -fishes- an adrenaline peak when he went "WIFI-LIVE". Walking with his laptop and web cam in the hallways of the Forum felt like being on Neil Armstrong shoulder on July 20, 1969. Wow! David's wifi-walk made me think about this :

 

"It's one small step for man...

one giant leap for Conversation"

 

Congrats guys ! ! ! What an experience! We, fishes, loved it! Thank you for taking us on Enterprise -Critical Mass- spaceship... for a walk & talk on planet Forrester.  Last but not least CM bought 300 Age of Conversation hardcover books and offered them to the visitors of the forum. Now wait a minute... maybe "Beta", means "Conversation"... That's it!