Mitch Joel's Blog: Six Pixels of Separation, page 245

How To Make Everything You Say A Treasure To Your Audience

My first time attending the TED conference was a bit of a disaster.

In fact, it's a miracle that I ever went back. I was not prepared for the experience and I didn't really know anybody who was attending. That first day, I wound up just following the schedule and doing my best to not make a scene of myself. My biggest mistake? I thought that everyone there was attending for the amazing presentations. It turns out that everyone there is actually attending to meet the other attendees. On that first night of the first day, I wondered if I would even have someone to talk with at the opening cocktail reception. I was intimidated and keeping to myself all day. During the final speaker session of the day, it was announced that there would be some kind of special evening session featuring a debate on the future of media that was going to be broadcast live on the BBC (or some other news station). I was excited to attend this session.

The TED you don't see.

It's a special kind of conference. Many people believe it's about the quality of the speakers and their subject matter. Many people are often surprised when I tell them that the speakers make up about only five percent of the overall TED experience. Here's why (and it's a major lesson that every conference organizer can learn from): TED curates the audience with as much effort and time as they curate the content on the stage. The spirit of networking and meeting others, in a place that is meant to foster real communications, is staggering.  On that first evening, as I walked to the session on the future of media, I decided to let my guard down. I decided to open myself up to meeting as many people as possible. I decided to do the opposite of everything I had done over the years after attending (and speaking) at countless conferences (my typical move was to allow the organizers to introduce me to others or I will stick around the backstage area and work on my laptop). I decided to break the golden rule that was taught to me by parents from a very young age (you know the one about never talking to strangers). I decided to let the fate of the TED deities have their way with me.

That's when Julian Treasure arrived.

On that walk on that brisk Monterey, California evening, I happened to meet Julian Treasure. We had a lot in common (besides our glorious hair styles... Or there lackof). We discussed music, creativity, media and more. His business (and his area of interest) was in how sound and audio can shape our environment. His specific focus was on how audio can help shape the power of a business... The power of brand. As we talked and discussed the media landscape, I remember thinking two things to myself:

I hope everyone I meet at this TED conference - and whichever ones they'll have me back to - will have people as nice, open and accepting as this other bald dude.

I hope I'm able to stay in contact with people like Julian forever and ever.

An idea worth spreading.

Ideas worth spreading, is the TED tagline. After spending some time with Julian at that evening session, and leaning on him (mostly with me being his wingman) at that evening's reception (where he kindly took pity on me by allowing me to tag-along), it became abundantly clear that he was not just someone who should be attending TED but he, indeed, had many ideas about sound and audio that were worth sharing. Not just on the TED stage, but everywhere. Over the years, Julian's TED talks about the power of audio are must-watch presentations. If you are a frequent viewer of the TED Talks, you will see that Julian has given five TED presentations that have made it to their crazy-popular website. By day, Julian is the chair of The Sound Agency, a company that advises businesses on how to use sound. He is also the author of the book, Sound Business, and keeps a blog by the same name. Just last week, his latest talk was published on the TED site and it's called, How to speak so that people want to listen.

Not just another talk about how to give a great talk.

You see it's not just about the words you say and the body language of communication. It turns out that the audience plays a very active role as well. Audiences can be finicky and it's not always easy or predictable to know how they are going to receive a message. Well, we're all lucky that someone like Julian Treasure has taken the time to both think about this and dissect it into something  that we can all understand. It turns out that being able to talk is a science on to itself, but making that content sound beautiful... Making that content be something that people will actually want to not just listen to, but connect with is the stuff of genius.

Watch this and you will probably never speak the same way ever again (and that's a pretty magical thing)...

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Facebook On The Brain

Facebook is messing with your mind, people... what's wrong with you? (say that with an accent like an old dude from the sixties).

There is this very real, very public outcry against Facebook (again). It's just another issue in a long line of things that are related to how they are using, manipulating and publishing the content, that each and every one of us is creating on a daily basis. There are people (and, many of them are much smarter and more informed than I) who are claiming that it is these types of affronts that will, inevitably, lead to their downfall. The latest - as you have no doubt read about in every media space - is that they are no longer just adjusting and throttling the content individuals see based on their highly-secretive algorithm, but that they took a group of people (close to 700,000) and intentionally showed them either positive or negative posts as part of a psychological study to see if this would change their own emotions and the types of content that they share online. Since the news broke, Facebook has explained and apologized for this incident (the incident took place in 2012). 

It's about the ethics.

Consumers feel manipulated. Always. We're suspect. We see "for sale" signs, knowing full well that the price is probably better online. We see TV commercials with cartoon bubbles cleaning a bathtub, and we know that our tubs will never look that good. We see stores in New York City who have "going out of business" signs in their windows... for decades. We trust car salesmen almost as much as we trust used car salesmen. We live in a world where if we're unsure, we can ask people on social media and get responses from people we know... and we often trust complete strangers as well (just take a look at TripAdvisor). So, the naysayers who feel more manipulated than usual over Facebook are digging through their archives and, primarily, updating the same stuff that they blogged about when the Facebook Beacon debacle happened in 2007 - 2009. They're warning the world (primarily through Facebook) that these types of activities are embedded in the corporate culture, because the social network continually stumbles when it comes to issues of terms and conditions in relation to privacy. They're complaining that because of Facebook's continued growth and dominance, that Facebook is now arrogant and has a complete lack of respect for its customers.

Ask yourself this: who is Facebook's customer?

Upon reflection, I don't think that Facebook's customer is the person who has a profile that is connected to people on their social network. Facebook went public on Friday, May 18th, 2012 and - on that moment in time - Facebook's customer became Madison Avenue (not Wall Street). As Facebook attempts to refine its business model and create something that advertisers are willing to pay a premium for, we will continue to see instances like this. And, for the record, I'm not willing to choose sides (just yet). You can't say that this is like a magazine or newspaper, either. Most magazine and newspapers charge per issue (or have subscribers that pay a monthly fee) and they have advertisers and sponsors. Those types of media companies have to serve two masters. You could argue that without the people using the service for free, that Facebook has no business to sell advertisers. Fine. Fair point, but people are not leaving in droves because they're getting it for free. They're putting up with it. If any individual is so up in arms about this (or any past or future incidents like it on Facebook), they do have a choice: they can delete their profile. They can remove themselves from the experience. Some might argue that if enough users did this, that it would force Facebook to change. I don't believe this to be true. It's not because Facebook may be too big to fail, but it may be because that even if millions of people did leave, they would still have a substantive enough audience that brands would want to get in front of. They would still own businesses like Instagram and have other interests that could lure an advertising model.

Facebook is trying to find itself.

Google didn't have the AdWords model right away. It took years to develop it and many more years to get it to where it is today. It was different, and it continues to be one of the purest definitions of native advertising that I have seen to date. Facebook is still figuring out what makes their model unique and effective (targeting, in this day and age may not be enough). Understanding sentiment and how that can shift from user to user isn't that far of a stretch for a company that needs something really different to keep it on the media planners' lists. The question that Facebook users need to ask themselves is this: "am I ok with Facebook running these types of experiments in order to find a powerful business model or is it simply not worth it and it's time to delete my profile and move on?" Personally, the solution is simple: Facebook should ask their user base for individuals to volunteer for these experiments. To take part in these types of tests (without divulging too many details about the tests, so that it doesn't dilute the responses). My guess is that they would be surprised by just how many people would be willing to play along (I think that I would play along!).

What do you think will happen?

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Why Spam Is Here To Stay (And Getting Worse)

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 5 to 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

Heather B. is away on vacation again this week (enjoy Florida!).

Canada has new anti-spam law going into effect tomorrow.

It's CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Law).

It's full of problems, issues and challenges.

Is this going to make email and marketing better or worse?

Google had their massive Google i/o conference last week.

Are we really seeing the Google-ization of everything?

Android, Chrome and more will be a part of your computer, mobile, home, car, devices and beyond.

Is this the end of the web browser and computer - as we have known it to date.

Can Android topple Apple?

Competition is actually a good thing for the consumer? Right?

App of the week: Google Flights.

Listen here...

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anti spam law

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Creativity For Sale

Episode #416 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast is now live and ready for you to listen to.

I had heard of Jason SurfrApp before, only that wasn't his name. The last time I had heard of him, his name was (not kidding). That right, Jason had done this before. He had legally changed his last name to the highest bidder... and he had done it again. Call it a stunt. Call it unconventional, but Jason has a knack for this kind of marketing... or entrepreneurship (depends on how you slice it). He created IWearYourShirt, a company that used sponsored t-shirts to promote businesses on social media and turned it into a million dollar business (not a typo). He took the same approach to the recent publishing of his business book, Creativity For Sale. Frustrated by the landscape of book publishers and book agents, Jason self-published and raised over $75,000 through sponsorships in the book before a single word was written or a single copy of the book sold. If you know anything about book advances and business book sales numbers, that's not a bad amount (at all). The Unmarketing hero, Scott Stratten, took to Facebook to record a video about how personalized Jason's pitch to Scott was. Stratten's video was so compelling that I invited Jason to talk about how he sees marketing, and what stunts look like in a world with so much noise. Enjoy the conversation...

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via iTunes): Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast #416.

Tags:

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blog

blogging

brand

business book

business podcast

creativity for sale

david usher

digital marketing

facebook

i wear your shirt

itunes

jason headsetsdotcom

jason surfrapp

marketing podcast

scott stratten

twitter

unmarketing

Decide Now: Pageviews Or Real Depth

It's hard to get both.

Pageviews, clicks, shares... that is the common currency of online marketing these days. Don't kid yourself. When brands talk about engaging consumers on social media, they're not really talking about any depth of engagement or a better way for them to build a direct relationship, or how to have more real interactions between real human beings. What they're talking about is vanity metrics (as my friend, Avinash Kaushik calls them). Social media is no different than online advertising. They're driving at clicks, shares, videos views and more likes.

What's a brand willing to do for a click?

Take one look at your Facebook newsfeed, and you'll see a never-ending rabbit hole of ridiculous content. Donkeys kicking humans, kids doing things that adults shouldn't be doing and oh, the cats! Instant gratification. The America's Funniest Home Videos set on a never-ending loop and shared incessantly with your social graph. I get suckered in just like the next person. I can't tell you many nights I have spent in a black hole of YouTube recommendations. It's starts off innocently enough. I was just watching a trailer for a new movie or checking out a music video, and the next thing you know, it's three in the morning and I'm watching some random video from Japan where some obscure individual is riffing on a banjo cover version of a Metallica tune. And yes, the only thing that I can think to myself is: "how did I get here?!?!?!?".   

Are things getting better or worse?

The New Yorker ran an article last week titled, Sucked Into The Clickhole. ClickHole is an actual website. It's owned by the parody news website, The Onion. The site's tagline is this: "because all content deserves to go viral." In one sense, it's hilarious because of how well they have been able to parody sites like Buzzfeed and other listicle-fused online channels. On the other hand, it's depressing. I read the article and realized that a lot of their articles I had seen on Facebook, clicked on and spent an embarrassing amount of time with. I've seen people that I know, like and respect sharing this content on Facebook, Twitter, Google + and beyond. Hey, we all need a laugh, right? One concern, is that I wonder how many people know that this content is actual parody (or close to it). Another concern (and the one I think about most) is this: what's the true value? What does this actually add to one's life?

Tabloid thinking.

Most of us get sucked into this tabloid type of thinking. Whether it's celebrity watching or for simple escapism. It has its place in our word (whether we like it or not). The challenge for brands is this: is that what you think people need most from you? The channels are the channels. They are ambiguous. Brands can decide to become a part of a digital culture... or to shill at that digital culture. Where would your brand like to place that bet? Where do you think the real depth and connections happen?

We're being fooled. We're being fools.

Brand (still) have an amazing opportunity here. These channels are simply engines of publishing. Some of them are text. Some of them are images. Some of them are audio. Some of them are video. Some of them are more engaging in long form content. Some of them are more engaging in short form content. The choice is yours. The ability to be great is yours. Fleeting, clicks, pageviews and shares may simply be nothing more than a mass media reaction. In other words, trying to apply the traditional metrics of reach and repetition to a brand new publishing platform. There's no doubt that more lists, images and radical headlines would bump up the numbers on this blog, but that's not the real intention. The real intention is to help make you (and me) smarter. The real intention is to get all of us to spend some time with something, in a world where it's easy to get lost in a bunch of silly lists or blogs posts that are completely content free by the time we're done with them. It's not that the content here on this blog is holier or mightier than a list about how to get more people to share your content on Facebook, but it's a brand philosophy about wanting to create more depth in a world where the content seems to be getting more shallow and shallower as each week rolls on. 

So, what do you want your brand to stand (or fall) for?

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The Marketing Of Permission

Have you ever tried to unsubscribe from an email newsletter?

I don't know about you, but I handle multiple personal and business email addresses, and I sign up for a variety of emails (some are retail or business-based sales ones, some are informational e-newsletters, and some of them are email communications from places like banks, mobile operators and the like). More than often, some of these subscriptions wind up offering up my email addy to third parties (either because I asked to see those relevant offerings or because I didn't uncheck a box in a rush to fill out a form). It's funny/sad to me, that Seth Godin's seminal book, Permission Marketing (published in 1999), not only stands the test of time, but serves as a simple/powerful guidebook for all brands. The business book's thesis is simple: get permission to communicate with people. Get explicit permission. What does this mean? Just because you signed up to receive your billing from a company via email, it does not mean that you have given this company explicit permission to communicate anything else (beyond your bill) from them. Still many businesses has been spouting off millions of emails, because they feel that this business contract gives them implied consent to send you stuff (over and above your monthly bill).

Permission isn't cloudy. Permission has become cloudy.

With that, we all know that once your email is somewhat public, there are spiders, engines and more that are crawling the intertubes to build these vast databases. I keep one of my email addresses fairly public and easy to access online, this opens up the floodgates to spam and more than my fair share of unsolicited emails. When things quiet down (usually around Christmas time or this time of the year), I assess my email and unsubscribe from any emails that aren't capturing my attention. This is a problem on many levels, but the main one is this: if I never subscribed to an email in the first place, hitting the unsubscribe button is often a black hat technique that enables the sender of the email to both validate the address and, potentially, sell it with the knowledge that it's a working address. Gross. I know.

Let's put some laws into effect on this, shall we?

Well, it turns out that the Canadian government is doing just that. Lately (as if the constant stream of spam in my inbox was not enough), there has been a non-stop deluge of emails from every organization asking me to opt in to keep receiving emails from this. These notifications are happening because the government in putting in place an anti-spam law (titled CASL - Canadian Anti-Spam Law) that takes hold on July 1st. Businesses are doing their best to ensure that they are on the right side of the law. In its simplistic form: the government is making it essential for every business to get explicit consent to send emails and other marketing messages. In theory, this seems like an amazing thing, but in practice, it makes me long for a time when all I had to do was grapple with spam in my inbox.

The problem with the marketing of permission.

What do you think is happening?

Companies that I hardly want to hear from are now asking for explicit consent. Meaning, if I want to just get my monthly bill from them, their messaging is making it both difficult and unclear if I am signing up for billing, marketing messages or both? From the consumer's side, I would say that the vast amount of these messages are asking for explicit consent across the board. So now, I'm totally uncomfortable, because it's hard to tell what the brand's definition of "explicit" is.

If I don't respond within 48 hours to their initial emails, they have set up triggers to continually email me asking for this consent. I get it. They're nervous. July 1st, is quickly approaching and they don't want to be offside, but I work for a living and simply don't have the energy to respond on command. So, my brand experience is getting increasingly bad. Yes, I'm starting to hate these brands for their constant nagging and filling up of my inbox.

This is a true spammers dream come true. Now, any brand can buy a bunch of email lists or spam everybody claiming  that they already have a relationship with the customer. It's hard to remember what and who I signed up with, and this little push might get me to agree to receiving emails, even though I was never signed up in the first place. If ever there was a free opportunity to make a run at a lot of emails, this is it... and it's clear that many evil brands are going for it (sadly).

Phishing. When I get an email from a brand that I do serious business with, and they're asking for consent or personal information, I always assume that this is some kind of phishing scam. It happens all of the time. Regardless of how credible some of these emails are, I'm betting that there are many unscrupulous businesses that are taking this moment in time to phish for consumer information and data.    

Do the right thing.

If you do any sort of studying about what this anti-spam law truly means, and how to be doing everything above the board, you learn something. You learn that most brands that have followed Permission Marketing or have always asked for explicit consent, and done things with the consumer's best interest in mind, have nothing to fear. The brands that are (and will continue) to struggle with getting this explicit consent are the ones that should make consumers raise an eyebrow. Just because consumers have given an email address at a store to have their receipt emailed to them, or if they have given a business permission to email a monthly bill, it is not a right to send any kind message (marketing or otherwise) beyond that one. Once again, marketers have crossed a line, and one again, the government has stepped in. While this sudden deluge of emails may seem minimal in the grander scheme of things, once again, the customers loses. Why do they lose? Because right now, our inboxes are filled with even more annoying emails thank usual and they continue to pile up.

Do you think that this makes those consumers more interested in communicating with a brand or less?

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Sharing, Celebrating And Selling Your Favorite Authors

There is nothing that inspires me more than a great book.

Yes, I love the power of connecting to content on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, magazines (Fast Company, Wired, etc...), online publications (Quartz, Lost At E Minor, PSFK, etc...), but if I could only choose one media, it would be books. I rarely read fiction. It's non-fiction for me. I'm fascinated with the art of writing business books, and what these authors pull together into something substantive that can take months/years to crystallize. Not that long ago, one of my favorite authors, Seth Godin, pulled together a list of his favorite authors (you can read his list right here: Sharing and celebrating your favorite authors...). Seth's right when he says: "Ideas that spread, win. If you speak up about an idea or an artist you care about, the word spreads, the world changes. Find a favorite and tell someone...". Like Seth, I regularly hand sell the work of my favorite authors. In fact, I often buy multiple copies of books that truly inspire me and give them away as gifts to people.

Here are just some of the authors that everyone should read (in alphabetical order):

James Altucher.

Dan Ariely.

Brene Brown.

Julie Burstein.

Susan Cain.

Alain De Botton.

Nancy Duarte.

Dave Eggers.

Bryan Eisenberg (and his brother, Jeffrey).

Jeffrey Gitomer.

Seth Godin.

Arianna Huffington.

Lewis Hyde.

Joseph Jaffe.

John Jantsch.

Steven Johnson.

Avinash Kaushik.

Austin Kleon.

Anne Lamott.

Nilofer Merchant.

Tom Peters.

Dan Pink.

Steven Pressfield.

Douglas Rushkoff.

Clay Shirky.

Sherry Turkle.

David Weinberger.

Ugh, now I feel bad for all of the amazing authors that I am surely forgetting.

Why not make your own list and share it? Not in the mood? Feel free to add to this list below in the comments or try out Seth's new reviewing site: HugDug.

Tags:

alain de botton

anne lamott

arianna huffington

austin kleon

author

avinash kaushik

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book

brene brown

bryan eisenberg

business book

clay shirky

dan ariely

dan pink

dave eggers

david weinberger

douglas rushkoff

facebook

fast company

hugdug

james altucher

jeffrey eisenberg

jeffrey gitomer

john jantsch

joseph jaffe

julie burstein

lewis hyde

lost at e minor

magazine

media

nancy duarte

nilofer merchant

non fiction book

psfk

quartz

seth godin

sherry turkle

steven johnson

steven pressfield

susan cain

tom peters

twitter

wired

Six Links Worthy Of Your Attention #210

Is there one link, story, picture or thought that you saw online this week that you think somebody you know must see?

My friends: Alistair Croll (BitCurrent, Year One Labs, GigaOM, Human 2.0, Solve For Interesting, the author of Complete Web Monitoring, Managing Bandwidth: Deploying QOS in Enterprise Networks and Lean Analytics), Hugh McGuire (PressBooks, LibriVox, iambik and co-author of Book: A Futurist's Manifesto) and I decided that every week the three of us are going to share one link for one another (for a total of six links) that each individual feels the other person "must see".

Check out these six links that we're recommending to one another:

The Secret to Getting Top-Secret Secrets - Medium . "It was the most secretive of times; it was the leakiest of times. In a post- Snowden era, whistleblowers are all the rage. But some activists walk in through the proverbial front door, using Freedom of Information requests to gain access to what happens behind closed doors. Sometimes, not getting an answer is more revealing than getting one. Here's a look at just how porous--and bureaucratic--government secrecy has become." (Alistair for Hugh).

Spit here: can Cue's $199 lab-in-a-box keep you healthy? - The Verge . "I spent the past weekend surrounded by smart people. Between the launch of hardware accelerator Highway1 's new crop of startups and the unbridled curiosity of Foo Camp 's attendees, it was a weird miasma of FOMO and Impostor Syndrome. Everywhere I looked, the future we were promised was busy being launched. Two companies grabbed my attention more than most: a $600 diagnostic tool that can identify markers for around 30 diseases from a single drop of blood, and a home-testing device called Cue that promises to do for microbes what the Fitbit does for steps. Cue's fascinating not only because it allows self-diagnosis, but because of what it might portend. I find that when someone says 'can,' the interesting story is in 'must.' So when Cue's inventors say, 'you can find out if you have the flu in just a few minutes,' I immediately envision a school trip for my daughter in which the waiver says, 'parents must provide a flu swab not more than 12 hours prior to departure.' And with Apple including Healthkit in iOS8 , we're about to see a huge spike in digital medicine. Maybe smartphones can fix healthcare where politicians have failed. Interesting times, indeed." (Alistair for Mitch).

How to Write 225 Words Per Minute With a Pen - The Atlantic . "Shorthand is an incredible innovation that sits atop written language: it's used to speed up and compress the process of taking written notes. Here's how it works." (Hugh for Alistair).

The Skills of Leonardo da Vinci - Letters of Note . "This smells a bit like a hoax, but the source seems legit. Anyway, if it's time to revamp your CV, maybe Leonardo Da Vinci 's might give you some inspriation: '7. Also, should the need arise, I will make cannon, mortar and light ordinance of very beautiful and functional design that are quite out of the ordinary.'" (Hugh for Mitch).

This Internet Millionaire Has a New Deal For You - D Magazine . "This is a fascinating story about the guy behind Woot.com and what he's up to next. That's not really true. The real story here is all about his encounter with Amazon 's Jeff Bezos . Amazon acquired Woot for over $100 million back in 2010. I like octopus." (Mitch for Alistair).

Why not even exercise will undo the harm of sitting all day--and what you can do about it - Quartz . "I wish I could lie and tell you that I am writing this from my ergonomic, Feng Shui, home office at my standing desk that also has a treadmill on it, so that I can, walk and improve my posture while I work. I know, that seems like a very west coast/Silicon Valley thing to be doing these days. The truth is that I'm in my jammies and slouched over this keyboard while sitting on a couch that is probably not doing my posture any good. Ugh. My buddy, Nilofer Merchant , had a breakout TED talk all about how sitting is the new cancer . It has close to 1.5 million views. I even have this nifty little computer stand that allows me to turn my office desk into a standing desk. That lasted about a month. I sit too much. I know that. I read this article and it depressed me. We shouldn't be sitting all day... so, what are we going to do about it?" (Mitch for Hugh).   

Feel free to share these links and add your picks on Twitter, Facebook, in the comments below or wherever you play.

Tags:

alistair croll

amazon

apple

bitcurrent

book a futurists manifesto

complete web monitoring

cue

d magazine

fitbit

foo camp

gigaom

healthkit

highway1

hugh mcguire

human 20

iambik

ios8

jeff bezos

lean analytics

leonardo da vinci

letters of note

librivox

link bait

link exchange

link sharing

managing bandwidth

media hacks

medium

nilofer merchant

pressbooks

quartz

social media

solve for interesting

ted

ted talk

the atlantic

the verge

woot

year one labs

The Myths Of Creativity

Are you creative?

It's a funny question to ask, isn't it? In my experience, people usually answer this question without thinking too much about it. Yes, I'm creative. No, I'm not creative. It took me a long time to get to this point, but I do think that everyone is creative. Very creative. And, I do believe what David Burkus has to say about the notion of confirmation bias, when he opens this fantastic talk that he gave at Google recently. If we believe a story that we tell ourselves (regardless of how true or untrue it is), we tend to find all kinds of supporting data to reinforce this belief, even if it isn't really true or based on facts.

We do this all of the time. We do this to ourselves.

Think about something you like, and then start peeling away at those layers. Why do you like it? When did you first start liking things like this? What attracts you to it? Are these positive or negative things? Here's a bigger question: how do we really know if we're creative? Where do the best ideas come from? Well, in David's latest book, The Myths of Creativity - The Truth About How Innovative Companies and People Generate Great Ideas, the Harvard Business Review, Forbes and 99U writer, helps all of us look beyond the commonly held beliefs (...or myths) about creativity and the moments when we capture them. As you can well imagine, David has many powerful and intelligent strategies that will debunk these myths, and the facts are very impressive.

This is a pretty eye-opening presentation, so sit back and keep a Moleskine nearby...

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99u

confirmation bias

creative

creativity

david burkus

forbes

google

harvard business review

moleskine

talks at google

the myths of creativity

What Google Wants. Google Gets.

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It's not a long segment - about 5 to 10 minutes every week - about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you're interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I'm really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

Heather B. is away on vacation this week (enjoy Florida!).

Do we unplug? Do we live without wi-fi?

When you feel the need to unplug... unplug (unless you love it).

Where do you keep your charged devices?

Google buys Nest then Nest buys Dropcam for $555 Dropcam.

The landscape is shifting when Katie Couric goes to Yahoo and Chelsea Handler goes to Netflix.

The Los Angeles Times posts this: A message to YouTube: Don't be evil.

Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee works for Jerry Seinfeld (new season started this week with Sarah Jessica Parker).

YouTube stars pull some big numbers.

Canadian courts are forcing Google to remove search results.

Is this the right thing to do or an end to democracy?

Is the Internet becoming more like Swiss cheese?

The democracy of information.

Are we moving very quickly or are we pretty slow at catching up?

App of the week: Yo! (have you Yo!'d yet?).

Listen here...

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chelsea handler

chom 977 fm

chom fm

comedians in cars getting coffee

ctrl alt delete

ctrl alt delete with mitch joel

democracy

digital media

dropcam

facebook

google

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heather backman

jerry seinfeld

katie couric

montreal radio

morning show

mornings rock with terry and heather b

nest

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sarah jessica parker

search results

social media

soundcloud

technology

terry dimonte

the los angeles times

twitter

unplug

wifi

yahoo

yo app

youtube