My heart is filled with gladness.

I sauntered into my local library this afternoon and requested a library card. The kind librarian (have you ever met an unkind librarian?) apologized because they only had the keychain-size cards available.

“We’ve had so many people sign up for library cards this week that we haven’t had time to get new ones in yet. I’m so sorry!”

There was no need to apologize. I assured her that I couldn’t have been happier at the news. They don’t have a grocery store in this post-Katrina seaside community. But they have a library and people are flocking to it as a resource.

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I stand across from the bespectacled man, breath bated, waiting for him to reach out and allow me to grasp the much-lauded future of electronic reading devices: the Nook. Beneath the august names bolted to the painted concrete storefront is a word that explains the birth of this Kindle killer. “Bookseller” says the sign in glowing green letters. That’s what this device, this gray bit of plastic that reminds me vaguely of a knobless Etch-a-sketch, is intended to do: sell books.

Smiling like a junior high school student who knows something I don’t know, this man whose breath somehow seems to steam in a warm room–his name is Gary–refuses to let me hold the Nook as he expounds upon its features. I hear, “2 Gigabytes of memory” and “share books with friends for free” as the tech-enthralled beast inside me grows ever more angry at this character for holding out on me. He continues his pitch with, “You can take notes and search for…” but I can wait no longer.

“Gary, could you hand me that Nook? I’d like that.” Gary reluctantly gives up this precious harbinger of literature’s future.

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What would a new media conference look like if conference organizers stepped outside their immediate social networks and set aside gender and racial bias when scheduling presenters and panelists?

It would look like this:

The Speakers

(Topics are assigned – Bobby will, of course, talk about whatever he feels like at the time.)

Heidi Swanson

Topic: Pavlov’s Blog – Meeting the expectations of a salivating digital consumer.

Heidi’s writing and photographs have been featured in Food & Wine magazine, The Washington Post, Glamour, Whole Foods Markets, Saveur, and Fast Company. Her recipe journal, 101 Cookbooks, has been the recipient of many awards, serves more than 1 million page views per month, and has 350,000+ subscribers. (In comparison, Mashable has 319,000)

Juan Williams

Topic: Angry Islands – Polarization, hyperbole, and politics in real time.

During his 21-year career at The Washington Post, Williams served as an editorial writer, op-ed columnist, and White House reporter. He has won an Emmy award for TV documentary writing and won widespread critical acclaim for a series of documentaries including “Politics – The New Black Power.” He is a contributing political analyst for the Fox News Channel and a regular panelist on Fox News Sunday. (Excerpt)

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This post is a response to Ben Kunz’ rant about paying for wireless access at StarbucksSocial Media has a way of connecting things that would otherwise have gone unnoticed. If I didn’t know Edward Boches, I’d probably not have known about Ben Kunz or read his rant about Starbucks (commentary below – I disagree with him) charging for wireless internet access. If I’d not decided to post a response on my blog, I’d have never searched for a photo to include with this post. If I’d never searched for a photo, the ones posted by Starbucks employees in Miami would not have come to my attention.

That said, Ben Kunz recently signed up for the Starbucks wireless access plan. A $20USD monthly fee gets you unlimited wireless internet access at any Starbucks location. Ben is of the mind that wireless should be free at Starbucks and expressed his intensity by tweeting “PS. Starbucks, I HATE YOU.” As he concluded his post, Ben remarked:

But what if we were all honest? What if you had Starbucks as a client, they suggested charging for Wi-Fi, and you looked Howard Schultz in the eye and said, friend, that is one big, dumb-ass move? Howard might be insulted. He might fire you, and have security kick you into the street. But then again, he might avoid a mistake, Starbucks customer loyalty would improve, and the chain might stop closing stores.

If your best argument against an idea is “that is one big, dumb-ass move.” Then you deserve to be treated like the 14 year-old you’re borrowing verbiage from and tossed out of the boardroom. Why? Because it isn’t helpful. It isn’t insightful. It’s just noise.

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Oh, yeah! Papyrus on a busy background brings all the designers to the yard!

Designers, here’s a scenario:

Coca-Cola is launching a new energy-regulating beverage in early 2010 called “Sublime.”

The team in charge of creating a graphic identity for the new brand is hip, open-minded, and–to be quite honest–desperate to create a winning logo.

They decide to try crowdsourcing.

What do they fear?

• A pool of inferior entries.
• Wasted time, effort, and money.
• Backlash from a design community put on edge by the crowdsourcing efforts of other organizations.

What do they hope for?

• A top-notch pool of thoughtful and creative entries.
• Superior return on time, effort, and money invested.
• An enthusiastic response from a design community that willingly participates in the project.

Execution:

The Sublime team decides to blend what they know of co-creation from inter-agency efforts with a crowdsourcing element to lure in a few outliers.

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The internet is not going to die if you feed it less frequently. There’s a lot to be said for developing good writing habits. However, you don’t need to publish everything you write in order to experience the creative benefits of putting your thoughts into writing.

I know that’s blasphemy to many of you blogging pharisees. How could I possibly imagine writing an article for public consumption then be so selfish as to keep it to myself? It’s not so much about keeping things to myself as it is about trying not to waste your time with articles that offer little value.

How do I navigate the brambles and choose which articles to publish and which to send back into the mill? I ask myself these questions:

1. What does this article do?

Does it share a story, ask a question, present a resource, or promote something? Knowing what you want an article to do simplifies editing for clarity while creating a benchmark you can compare response to.

2. What part of this article will be most easily misunderstood?

For every point, there is a counterpoint. For every positive, a negative. I believe we are responsible for the messages others derive from our writing. We can’t cover every base, but we can often address obvious counterpoints to the messages we share. Have you ever run across an author response to feedback that involved the author expressing frustration that the reader didn’t seem to have actually read the article? 9/10ths of the time, the author is mostly to blame for not writing with clarity. Readers are doing you a favor by spending time with your thoughts. Don’t disrespect them with frustrating drivel spun as elegant verbosity. For instance, this entire section could be compressed into: strive for clarity and don’t expect readers to know things you haven’t plainly stated.

3. If I wait to publish this article for a day, or perhaps even a week, will it still be relevant?

Unless you specialize in reblogging or have access to breaking news, is there any reason why you MUST publish articles immediately? I think not. Write for lasting relevance and you’ll end up with a blog you’re not embarrassed about three years from now. A lot of bloggers confused conversation with progression and discussion with contribution. You don’t need to be one of those. If you won’t care about your content a week from now, why should we? Just like a watermelon on a hot day, you get the most refreshment if you put it in the fridge for a few hours before eating. Delicious!

4. Do I give credit where credit is due?

This one is simple. Tell us where you find your inspiration. It doesn’t make you look like less of an expert. In fact, it makes you more trustworthy and seem more intelligent when you give others credit for inspiring your thoughts. Be humble and give credit where it’s due. We’ll respect you more for it and become loyal readers because we trust you not to mess with us. (Please, let me know if you see one of my posts and wonder if I’ve skipped a mention of some inspiration. At worst, you’ve reminded me of something I prefer to do. At best, you’ve shown me another resource that I can add as additional reading. It’s a win both ways!)

5. Did I push myself in some way with this article?

Write for you. I’m serious. If you get caught up in SEO and maximizing some vague niche market, chances are good that you’ll burn out and your writing will suffer. Find different ways to challenge yourself. Try a new format, play around with images or video, or write a post with relevant links to every member of your blog roll. Make a point to write about things that interest you and let us readers do our thing. We’re a fickle bunch and can’t be trusted most of the time anyway!

What questions do you wish more people asked themselves before publishing articles?

Note: Comment moderation is turned on. Once you’ve had a comment approved, you’ll be able to post at will. Please be respectful of others. At the same time, I hope you’ll feel free to challenge ideas and try words on for size. You’re probably smarter than me. Please demonstrate that intelligence in your comments. If we respect each other while refusing to tolerate weak arguments or personal attacks, I think we’ll have a solid chance at making good things happen. Does that sound good? Let me know!

Thank you!

Seth

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photo: aym neutron

Here’s an extraordinary advertisement that tells one girl’s story: [video]

Do you identify with her story in some way? I did. Struggle, disappointment, rejection, and eventual triumph in spite of great odds are things we can all relate to. There are many times when I’ve felt I lacked the talent, equipment, and experience to make something beautiful happen. I know what it feels like to walk onto a stage, uncertain of the outcome, and experience the joy of having everything turn out okay. (I’ve never had a chance to do the hair-tossing bit though. Not enough hair.)

If a shampoo company finds value in advertising that isn’t directly about shampoo, is it possible that you might find value in telling stories that aren’t about you? I think so.

It’s not enough to just grab any old story and tell it. You need to find a story that resonates with a message you want your brand to be known for. In Pantene’s case, they told a story that shares a message of shining strength in the face of unfriendly circumstances. Is it a bit of a stretch to say that a shampoo might give your hair shining strength in spite of adverse conditions? I don’t think so. It’s a pretty good match, in fact. That’s why the ad works.

Malcolm Gladwell is a great example of an individual who has created tremendous value for his audience by sharing the stories of others. [see Gladwell's TED presentation on The Story Of Spaghetti Sauce] The Spaghetti Sauce story is a bit long but its message is one of innovation, risk-taking, and tenacious creativity. Gladwell’s personal story has a similar message but he can only tell it so many times before it seems stale and uninteresting. So what does he do? Like the shampoo company, he tells stories that contain elements his audience will recognize and associate with his brand.

Let’s take a look at what happens with each example:

Pantene tells us the story of a brilliant and tough little girl who triumphs in spite of hardship – We engage with that story and identify elements that align with what we already know about the Pantene brand. Instead of telling us how to wash our hair, (which we can’t engage with) Pantene tells us a compelling story with a message we recognize and connect with the shampoo. (In so doing, they find a way to get customers to engage with a shampoo. Interesting, no?)

Gladwell tells us about a man who decided to create different types of spaghetti sauce – We engage with that story and identify parts of the message that seem similar to what we already know of Gladwell. Instead of telling us, “You need to be innovative and energetic in your creativity,” Gladwell engages us with a story about a man we can model ourselves after. Telling a story that isn’t about the storyteller allows an audience to focus on a message instead of worrying about being sold to or the overall take-away of a presentation.

How do you put this concept into action? With 3-4-5:

3 Reasons you should tell stories that aren’t just about you

1. Because you’re not really that interesting on your own – Even people with lots of money, free time, and a wild past can be boring. In fact, they’re usually quite boring. It’s unlikely that you’re an exception. We’re just too polite to say it to your face.
2. Because we don’t want to just talk about you – It’s difficult for us to engage in a conversation that is entirely about you. We worry about offending you if we express disagreement or inflating your ego if we sound out a praise.
3. Because we’d like to think you care about us – When you tell stories that aren’t just about you, we get the feeling that you’re interested in something other than your own personal gain. We like that feeling.

4 Places to find stories

• Social media – Twitter, Facebook, and other online social networking sites offer friend-filtered content discovery in real time.
• Traditional media – Newspapers, magazines, books, radio, and television (sometimes) present a less frenetic way to discover content. It’s not as fast as social media but you may find that your retention of the stories you do read is much higher. That’s key if you plan on sharing the story later.
• The people around you – Every time you interact with another person, you have a chance to add another story to your arsenal. Ask thoughtful questions and people will give you answers. Learn to thoughtfully listen and those same people will share stories you never dreamed you’d hear.
• Your imagination – Allegories, parables, and fairy tales have long been used to share a message in an interesting narrative form. If you can’t find a story with a message you like, go ahead and make one up. Just make sure to let your audience know at some point that you concocted the tale!

5 Ways to share stories

1. In your conversations – Instead of saying, “Here’s what I think,” try sharing a story that imparts your message and follow it up with, “What do you think?” Your story need not be long–and probably shouldn’t be–in order to make a point. Just give a quick summary and ask for a reply. You might be surprised at the positive responses such an approach will garner.
2. On your blog – Take a break from pumping “me-content” for a few posts of “you-content.” Give your readers a break from your opinions and tell them a story that inspires you or caused you to think.
3. Through your lifestream – Instead of answering Twitter’s, “what are you doing?” try updating in response to, “what are others doing that inspires you or makes you think?” Take time off from talking about where you are or what photos you just took to share in the world around you. There’s joy to be found in such things.
4. In your promotions – Planning a marketing blitz? Take a look at your past campaigns and check to see if you’ve already talked too long about the features of your product or service. It might be time to follow the soap companies’ example and share a story.
5. In your presentations - Watch Gladwell’s presentation on spaghetti sauce and give some thought as to how you might go about incorporating stories into your presentations. If you’ve got a bit of time on your hands, take a stroll around the TED site and keep track of the presenters who use stories about others to make a point. It’s interesting to note how those who do tell stories about others often get the best responses from the audience. Coincidence? Unlikely.

I hope you’ll give it a try!

“If a story is not about the hearer, he will not listen. And here I make a rule—a great and interesting story is about everyone or it will not last.” –John Steinbeck

Whose story are you telling?

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photo credit: lil abe, stuck in customs, you-did, ange soleil