As another presidential election rolls into gear, it will be instructional and fascinating to watch how each campaign makes use of social networking systems on the web. In fact, if you’re watching correctly, a major national election can offer a practical course on community engagement — exposing the best guesses of experts on how to […]
Building awareness and conversation, one restroom stall at a time
I’ll admit to a fascination with IKEA, the Swedish home furnishing megastore with major outposts in major cities. It may be because the store impressed me when I first saw one in the Netherlands decades ago (so big, so clean, so cheap). It may be that I’ll like any store that offers Swedish meatballs and […]
Different players, familiar tune
Who was gathering in Washington, DC, this week, claiming the economic impact of their creative activities, stressing their value in global diplomacy, and canvassing federal legislators for support? See if you can guess from this quote: “We tell a lot of stories … but we never really tell our story cohesively as an industry…. This […]
Buying culture in bulk
The New York Times reminds us all (login required) that the next cultural construction boom isn’t in New York, or L.A., or even in London or Paris, but in the United Arab Emirates, where massive investments in real estate and civic infrastructure now include the arts. The Times article details the newly unveiled plans for […]
To present or to preserve
A Washington Post article on the Cambodian ruins of an ancient temple (free registration may be required) describes a tension quite common to the management and stewardship of cultural treasures: the tension between sharing the treasure widely, and protecting it from harm. In this case, the 9th-century temple of Phnom Bakheng is drawing increasing numbers […]
Seeing the big ideas
Interesting posts from Information Aesthetics and Guy Kawasaki remind us how powerful graphic representation can be in grasping and remembering a conversation. Both posts refer to the work of Martha McGinnis, an illustrator that creates large-format sketches at conferences or think-tanks while the ideas unfold. The result is a complex image that captures, clarifies, and […]
Wandering elsewhere
I’m crazed with other projects this week, so I won’t be blogging. Go off to read another fine ArtsJournal weblog in the meanwhile.
Don’t tell the marketing department
The Milwaukee Symphony is trying to make a case to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue that its performances are not entertaining. That is, they’re asking for a refund of the sales tax they have paid against ticket sales for the past four years, on the grounds that their performances are education not entertainment, and therefore […]
None of us is as dumb as all of us
Ken Thompson reminds us that teamwork is an exercise in understanding the players, goals, constraints, and the task at hand — and making sure they all are aligned in the same direction. He offers a quick team profile checklist to see where the team and the task may be out of whack, focusing on eight […]
Should PR come in one voice, or a thousand?
Chris Anderson’s Long Tail weblog wonders if the new dynamics of communications and consumer conversation require a new focus for traditional public relations strategies. As standard press releases and generic corporate pronouncements get less and less attention, he suggests that the best response might be to stop speaking in a single voice…instead enabling the many […]
