Stay tuned, more coming soon...
Image posted by Loren Coleman on CryptoMundo.
If you are following me on Twitter, you might have noticed that I've been sending a series of #yeti hash tags, documenting our latest agency adventure... the Yeti hunt. Antoine Servais (copywriter - @Arkzel) and Cédric Minot (art director - @BillyTheKilt) have created a very nice TVC story for one of our clients. Well, the only challenge being, naturally... to find the Yeti. History or mythology? Well, it's about time to find out. ; )
So TRS, a dynamic Belgian film production company and their talented director Jan Boon (see his work on TRS site) brought us a very challenging way to make this film happen. Go Yeti hunting around Turtagrø mountains, 400km north of Oslo, in Norway.
On the way there, I thought about documenting this quest on Twitter to bring a little "live" dimension to this work adventure. I'll be posting Twitter updates here and Twitpics there. And naturally, we'd love to have your feedback on this...
Any views on how we could find the Yeti?
- 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!
(rabbit image by PGecko )
Robert Hruzek of Middle Zone Musings started a contest a while ago. I saw it and thought the idea was great, but : work, "...run Forrest, run...", time, "...it's your destiny, Luuuuke", and all sorts of even better excuses lead me to the last day, almost last minute of the contest.
What was is it all about? Well, Robert read a post of Roger von Oech about imposing limitations on yourself as one method of enhancing the creative thought process.
Have you ever tried writing within extremely severe constraints (time, space, words, content)? Well his challenge invites you to write a story in... just... 6 words.
Today I crossed the article I had flagged in my RSS reader... and felt like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland (again!). So I thought, okay... let's give it a try anyway, right!
It's Sunday, there are tons of interesting things to do outside (yep... mood of the moment), but it's raining like hell outside, so I have a few minutes to write a post and find an idea. Wonderland, wonderland... help me please... errrrrrr, ok... ok... here is my rabbit (not to say turtle) contribution :
"Once upon a time... The End"
When I came across David Armano's post on BSP, I had a feeling of "deja vu".
Well, of course not because his text was a copy of any type (I do have a great respect for David's stimulating posts - Thank you once again, David!). In fact, I was struck by the phenomenon he describes because it appears to be an experience I go through quite regularly. Like something you've been thinking about for years without actually really sharing it.
David is developing "Blogger Sensory Perception" and checks with his readers if they ever had "intuitions" while blogging. According to the comments he received, it seems to be shared by many of us. So it is worth digging further. Now, as I commented on his post, I think these "intuitions" can be extended outside the bloggosphere into real life situations.
Let's say I have a scientific mind, I like things to be explained and don't satisfy if a solution isn't documented, tested and proven. On the other hand I like to push things further and don't accept pre-established ideas to be untouched. Shake things around reevaluate ideas and processes (according to Roger von Oech's post "Escape from obsolete ideas" - Thanks Roger!). Then I might not accept "coincidence" for an answer and go into thinking there are links between all our so-called intuitions. Ok, so let's give it a try.
Getting the consciousness... you just had an intuition something usually becomes real, at the very moment you verify the anticipation you made on what was going to happen. At that moment, you understand your anticipation became a reality, so was indeed an intuition. But there was inevitably a timelaps between the actual intuition and the moment you verify it. This leads me to this question : Are we only receiving intuition waves or are we also sending them? How can do we usually make our observations?
Logically we would say that we think someone produced an act that we could "sense" before it actually happened and without any contact with that person. But it could as well be the other way around... nothing proves we are not sending our anticipation ahead (unconsciously) to whoever grabs them (unconsciously as well) and produces the forecasted act (still unconsciously). Like a strong signal sent and received... or not, depending on circumstances. This could maybe explain that if you ever want to actually "have an intuition"... it simply doesn't work. Relatively though, mediums do exist don't they? Maybe they have a key to control this process.
According to my personal experience (please tell me if you ever noticed it as well), there are "moments" when we are more "sensitive" to intuitions. Like the opposite of crossing a tunnel where you loose mobile phone network and are out of range. It would be like a tunnel of extra-perception (or emission... as pointed before). Also there was always a "human" link to the anticipated events. I mean people involved in the action. I never sensed something like a natural event or accident or anything unexpected and only linked to objects.
Now for the anecdotic (yet funny, but please don't laugh!) part of the story, here is the exception to my last observation. I remember when I was student in College I discovered I could guess many track numbers of my CD player in shuffle mode. So freaking that I called my room mate to witness. He called another friend who was studying accounting (he was a statistics specialist) and they calculated that the ratio was 7 out of 10. We played with numbers and calculators for a few hours with same kind of results. As stupid as it may seem, they wanted to take me to a Casino (now... when I think back, I should have accepted!). I'm no medium, because I know I didn't really control anything. It just happened and was amazing. At the time, experiencing it myself, I couldn't see it as a coincidence.
Now, since then, intuitions still strike every once in a while. My observation is that they are quite often regrouped within a specific period of time. Is it the Moon phase, electromagnetic fields, air pressure, mood we're in? I like that last one!
So when I first read that people were just having them right now, at the same time (D avid, Ann, Gavin, etc. - Read comments on Gavin Heaton's post "CK does a Darmano" on his blog "Servants of Chaos"), I thought maybe people who have intuitions are having them under the same period of time or circumstances. Is blogging one of these circumstances? This brought the image of a "Tornado of intuition" as a metaphor. What I like about the tornado image is that it grows on a specific spot and timing, bursts and fades away, because of very special climatic conditions (cold mass vs hot mass, humidity, wind, bam!). It is strong and is impossible to ignore. There is a cause - which is encouraging looking forward to analyzing intuitions - but almost no way to control it (yet), once it is in action.
Now, after second thought, remember that tornadoes are not separable from their destructive effect. Mmmm... not so good then, is it? So, I don't think tornado of intuitions is the best paraphrase. We'd like to see these sensory perceptions as a positive effect, right! At least it's a start to describe it and maybe identify the common points of our perceptions. Unless... of course, like the image of the tunnel I described above, a tornado could be inverted and become something constructive (low probability, right).
I'm more into thinking it could be something like electromagnetic waves (see visual). The earth is surrounded by a magnetic field. Radio is a wave, light is one, we are surrounded by electromagnetic waves (read descrition down this page). Can some of these waves carry our thoughts? Is blogging a "frequency" or a "tuner"? Woops... I sense I'm loosing you dear readers... ; ) and realize I'm going into wild guessing or interpretation and definitely sliding away from the original stimulator : Blogger Sensory Perception. But hey... that's also what blogging is about, right! ; )
Any other idea for the visualization? Do you have hints about "when/how your intuitions usually happen"?
(Drawing by Jean-Pierre Petit)
When I was a kid... I wanted to be an inventor.
I kept linking eclectic objects together to make them live and take a new sense. As a child, I was never bored. Always building a new "thing", testing it, improving it. Trying to make new objects out of old objects, to make them pop out of the ordinary, to respond to needs I had found, or just... invented as well.
In the same direction, as a great source of inspiration, I've always been fascinated by ingenious minds. You know those "crazy people" nobody understands until they come up with the solution of an unsolved clue, mystery or problem. Well of course, you don't have to be crazy to be ingenious, nevertheless, I wonder how Albert Einstein or Leonardo da Vinci were considered by their contemporary friends?
This said, I just remembered today a link I saved right after 9/11 back in 2001. At the time, I was really shocked by the vision of people actually jumping out of the buildings. Besides the fact it symbolized the horrible and desperate situation people went through, I thought it was unconceivable in 2001 not to have a way to save them other than from inside the towers. I made a quick search and found a strange link to french astrophysicist Jean-Pierre Petit's web site.
Now, that is definitely someone who leaves me full of interrogations. Right after the World Trade Center disaster, he published an "Emergency tower evacuation" page (september 17th 2001) with an idea (not to say "invention") to help people escape from a high building on fire or with blocked elevators. I must confess that when I read this... I just couldn't believe it.
Besides being a scientist, J-P Petit is a phenomenon of his own, he writes songs (in french), is an artist, paints and draws, publishes on astrophysics and cosmology, makes his site all by himself, informs, shares, jokes, communicates, and sometimes is very critic, not to say "acid" to politics, scientific and academic world, etc. Most of the site is in french, but a few pages are translated in English and can somehow give you a perspective on his personality, scientific subsite and biography.
What do you think about this kind of "imagination"?
Is his "Emergency tower evacuation" system : crazy? or incredibly great?
Well, seems that I am also under S.P.A.M. attack. One of my posts, linked to David Armano's blog is being fired by nasty comments attack. I am (also) trying to figure this out. For the moment, I had to turn the Typekey identification system on. I will check with Typepad the best way to block the attack and still remain as open to comments as possible. Sorry about the inconvenience.
"I'll be back!"
; )
UPDATE :
Sébastien Le Prestre, Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban, inspired me when I saw a documentary on his ingenious techniques to protect french fortresses. Aside to developping techniques to protect, he also conducted sieges. I just thought about him when trying to find a way to stop the S.P.A.M comments attack. Complicated thing on a blog is to block unwanted comments and still remain open for other comments.
Idea is simple : don't let a direct open path between you and ennemy line of fire.
Don't know if this is going to work, but at least I can now reopen my comments. : )
Back with a fine tuning of the "Intentions of a Blogger" visual.
This is more like a metaphoric image, now. I was thinking about the comments posted on the first visual, when I saw my old Space Projector in a corner of a room. As bloggers, our intentions are not rigid... They may be, but they can also be dynamic, like commented by Ann Handley (Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs) :
"Just as a blogger can jump from one circle to another, the spheres themselves can also overlap to create new and subtle twists to the meaning. In my mind, for example, "Networking" and "Knowledge" are closely linked."
On the image made by a Space Projector, there are single bubbles but also mixed bubbles. And movements are possible. Fourth dimension (time) is a vector of the movements and changes in space. Just like it is in blog life.
Same proposition for the motivations of bloggers, they can launch a blog in the "Knowledge sphere", after a while jump into the "Popularity sphere" then peirce into the "Business sphere" at the same time. I'd say, as it works with stats, the resultant motivation should be like an average.
Too complicated you'll say. Right! Sometimes intuition helps a lot more to "feel" intentions of bloggers when you read their posts. That sort of instinct will lead you to believe in the content provided there... or not. This is also important when related to the Web 2.0 phenomenon. Ok well, this will be the subject of another post.
The nice thing about this second illustration is that it could maybe also cover David Armano's comment (and I think he is right!) :
"...However, I'm not sure blogging is in the middle. It's almost invisible throughout. More like the vehicle that gets us to that fulfillment of whatever it is that drives us. Maybe that it what is in the core. Satisfaction. (Though are we ever really satisfied?)"
So, what if in this metaphor, "blogging" was the "Space Projector" ?
Blogging would be like an ideas beamer.
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