Phillip's e-thoughts

So this is 2008...

2008-01-26T15:33:00.000+11:00

Started 2008 in earnest - this is a big year - many projects ready to get going...

Britt Bravo's blog

2007-02-10T19:42:00.000+11:00

A worthy blog. go visit Britt Bravo

Glass House Denver

2007-01-14T09:09:00.000+11:00

Chris writes in about his work at Glass House Denver.

1. We placed a site sign at the construction site directing people to a website (not the one that exists now).

2. At that site, we ran a short slideshow of what I would call benefit pictures - no renderings of a pool, just a guy sitting by a pool.

3. Once the slideshow ended, we offered people a chance to "get on the list" for more information.

4. When we had permission from these people, we began updating them on our progress once a month, including revealing in more detail each feature of the building.

5. By the time we began the next step, over 5,000 people (I can't remember the exact number) had signed up (85% saying they were recommended by a friend.)

6. About 500 of those people had come by our office and REALLY expressed interest/granted permission.

7. We had about 45 cocktail parties for those people, about 15 at a time, at a restaurant in our neighborhood. In essence, we invited them in for drinks. We brought no collateral. No models. Instead, we just spent time with them. Answered their questions. Filled them in on the details that mattered to them.

8. Then we created a private website for those people who had expressed interest answering the most common questions we had heard in our cocktail parties.

9. From there, using a system that met some pretty stringent real estate law requirements, we offered those people who had expressed the most interest in Glass House an opportunity to purchase.

10. We're moving the first people in and are completely bought out - 389 residences before the completion of construction in a market that is decidedly not booming. (Don't get me wrong, this was a good building priced well in a great location. But, our marketing was the x factor in making it work.)

Turning your idea/text into a visual context

2007-01-10T17:40:00.000+11:00

David at Boingboing points us to: A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods.A great way to visualise textual information

Countries I've visited

2007-01-08T16:37:00.000+11:00

create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Reverse Engineering

2007-01-08T08:41:00.000+11:00

Great post on product services reviews. From the Creating Passionate Users Blog

HoW tO bE REmArKaBlE - Seth Godin

2007-01-08T08:38:00.000+11:00

1. Understand the urgency of the situation. Half-measures simply won't do. The only way to grow is to abandon your strategy of doing what you did yesterday, but better. Commit.

2. Remarkable doesn't mean remarkable to you. It means remarkable to me. Am I going to make a remark about it? If not, then you're average, and average is for losers.

3. Being noticed is not the same as being remarkable. Running down the street naked will get you noticed, but it won't accomplish much. It's easy to pull off a stunt, but not useful.

4. Extremism in the pursuit of remarkability is no sin. In fact, it's practically a requirement. People in first place, those considered the best in the world, these are the folks that get what they want. Rock stars have groupies because they're stars, not because they're good looking.

5. Remarkability lies in the edges. The biggest, fastest, slowest, richest, easiest, most difficult. It doesn't always matter which edge, more that you're at (or beyond) the edge.

6. Not everyone appreciates your efforts to be remarkable. In fact, most people don't. So what? Most people are ostriches, heads in the sand, unable to help you anyway. Your goal isn't to please everyone. Your goal is to please those that actually speak up, spread the word, buy new things or hire the talented.

7. If it's in a manual, if it's the accepted wisdom, if you can find it in a Dummies book, then guess what? It's boring, not remarkable. Part of what it takes to do something remarkable is to do something first and best. Roger Bannister was remarkable. The next guy, the guy who broke Bannister's record wasn't. He was just faster ... but it doesn't matter.

8. It's not really as frightening as it seems. They keep the masses in line by threatening them (us) with all manner of horrible outcomes if we dare to step out of line. But who loses their jobs at the mass layoffs? Who has trouble finding a new gig? Not the remarkable minority, that's for sure.

9. If you put it on a T-shirt, would people wear it? No use being remarkable at something that people don't care about. Not ALL people, mind you, just a few. A few people insanely focused on what you do is far far better than thousands of people who might be mildly interested, right?

10. What's fashionable soon becomes unfashionable. While you might be remarkable for a time, if you don't reinvest and reinvent, you won't be for long. Instead of resting on your laurels, you must commit to being remarkable again quite soon.

Posted by Seth Godin on January 07, 2007 | Permalink

Set Godin the Master of Simplicity/Strategy

2007-01-05T15:07:00.000+11:00

Seth Godin again manages to show why he is where he is - he can pin point with laser accuracy and clarity strategy and tactics.

Go see his blog on The difference between strategy and tactics.

Why social media are important

2007-01-04T22:00:00.000+11:00

Here's a few statistics that explain why:

* By March 2006, 84 million Americans had broadband at home, a 40% jump from 2005 figures
* By March 2006, Pew estimated 48 million Americans were regular online content creators
* By the end of 2005, 139 million people in the world had a DSL (broadband) connection
* In 2005, $6.7 billion worth of digital cameras were sold in the U.S.
* About 41% of all cell phone owners use them as content tools
* By the end of 2005, just over 1 billion people were online -- that's 1/6th of the world
* Asia represents the world's most populous online segment
* By July 2006, 50 million blogs had been created and their number was doubling every 6 months
* About 7,200 new blogs are created every hour
* By 2006, 10 million people were listening to podcasts in 2006; by 2010, it's expected to be 50 million people
* About 100 million videos are viewed every day on YouTube; about 65,000 videos uploaded every day
* In 2006, MySpace had over 100 million registered members, most of them from the U.S.

Creativity Techniques

2007-01-04T19:24:00.001+11:00

Go here for creative tools.

Evolve your web experience - Go get Firefox 2

2007-01-03T13:32:00.000+11:00

Inspiring Ken Robinson Lecture @ TED

2007-01-02T22:19:00.000+11:00

Agastache Blog - Interesting

2006-12-31T16:22:00.000+11:00

99 Positions in Branding Online

2006-12-30T21:09:00.000+11:00

Useful tools for branding.

Worthy Blogs

2006-12-26T11:19:00.000+11:00

BrandSizzle
bizsolutionsplus
Customers Rock!
Being Peter Kim
Andy Nulman
Billions With Zero Knowledge
Working at Home on the Internet
MapleLeaf 2.0
Darren Barefoot
Two Hat Marketing
The Engaging Brand
The Branding Blog
CrapHammer
Golden Practices
Viaspire
Tell Ten Friends
Flooring the Consumer
Kinetic Ideas
Unconventional Thinking
Buzzoodle
Conversation Agent
The Copywriting Maven
Hee-Haw Marketing
Scott Burkett’s Pothole on the Infobahn
Multi-Cult Classics
Logic + Emotion
Branding & Marketing
Carpe Factum
Steve’s 2 Cents
Simplicity
Popcorn n Roses
On Influence & Automation
Servant of Chaos
converstations
eSoup
Make it Great!
Presentation Zen
Dmitry Linkov
aialone
Urban Jacksonville
John Wagner
Nick Rice
CKs Blog
Design Sojourn
Frozen Puck
The Sartorialist
Small Surfaces
Africa Unchained
Perspective
gDiapers
Marketing Nirvana
Bob Sutton
¡Hola! Oi! Hi!
Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid!
Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together
Community Guy
Social Media on the fly
Jeremy Latham’s Blog
SMogger Social Media Blog
Masey.com
37 Days
A Clear Eye
Alex Halavais
Blog Brothers
Brand Autopsy
Brand Soul
Creating Passionate Users
Crossroads Dispatches
Doc Searls
Drawn
eHub
FAST Company
gapingvoid
gillianic tendencies
Good Experience
Hitchhikers Guide to the Blogosphere
Hobopoet
How to Save the World
Josh Hallett
Joy of Six
Learned on Women
Listics
Make it Great
my topography
New Charm School
Occupational Adventure
Orbit Now
Pause
PureLand Mountain
Seth Godin
Simplicity
Songs of Experience
Talking Story
Time Goes By
Tom Peters
Tomorrow Today
WonderBranding
World Changing
Tertiary Education
Joyful Jubilant Learning
Creative Think
8wishes
Movie Marketing Madness
Blog Till You Drop!
Get Shouty!
One Reader at a Time
100 Bloggers
Critical Fluff
The New PR
Own Your Brand!
OTOInsights
bizandbuzz
Work, in Plain English
Buzz Canuck
New Millenium PR
Pardon My French
The Instigator Blog
AENDirect
Diva Marketing
Marketing Hipster
The Marketing Minute
Funny Business
The Frager Factor
Mindblob
OrbitNow!
Open The Dialogue
Word Sell
Note to CMO:
That’s Great Marketing!
Shotgun Marketing Blog

Puzzle - Arrange the pieces

2006-12-07T20:39:00.000+11:00

2006-12-01T11:50:00.001+11:00

Technorati Profile

How I try to spend my days – Manifesto to my children

2006-12-01T11:28:00.000+11:00

Do what you value

This is different from doing what you love. I love chocolate but making it is not what I value – no disrespect to chocolateurs.

I value hard work and innovation and surprises and play. And because I value them I work on them.

Do not seek permission to dream

You know what’s right. It’s in your genes to be the punk rocker of your life.

Yet we often (constantly?) seek endorsement, sanctioning, approval from defined and undefined authorities.

This is a vestigial remnant of too many years in the schooling system – self appointed authorities that demand your respect, when you know you should just…

…Love

It’s a verb – NOT just a fuzzy feeling inside.

Love demands actions. So when you say you love something make sure your actions say it too.

Respect your art

Whatever ‘art’ you’ve chose for yourself: from selling strategy to film making, from basket weaving to driving trucks, from taming lions to plumbing houses and everything in between.

Respect means you’ll work at it to do better than what you did yesterday and the day before.

Respect the artist

Don’t be too hard on yourself – just showing up everyday is a big achievement when most have stopped showing up a long time ago.

Be humble to your art but not submissive.

Be there and…

…Be present

You have to be in the moment to make the moment count. Get rid of distractions and do what you value.

There’s no TRYING - it’s all about TRYING.

Do not make TRYING an escape clause – as in “I’m trying this to see if it works, if not I’ll quit.” There’s no trying – there’s doing.

And yet, it’s all about trying. After all, no one walks before crawling.
Be sure to know the difference.

Write

It’s one of the few hallmarks of being a human being. The ability to read meaning in abstract scrawls and symbols is uniquely human.
Write love letters and poetry. Write menus and business plans, write novels and your dreams and fear. Even write abuse if you need to. But put it in writing. Do it with style. Write.

Rinse Repeat

Persistence pays off.

The mightiest mountain will crumble under the gentlest breeze of eternal winds.

Make Stuff

2006-12-01T09:23:00.000+11:00

" WHY MAKE STUFF?

You can change the world with a pencil, a piece of paper, a chunk of
charcoal and piece of cardboard, a paintbrush, a crayon, a d-cam, a
blog, a cell phone, a recorder; a projector, some clay and a kiln, some
wood and a few tools, some sticks, stones, and grasses, a stove and
some vegetables, found glass, paper, metal, plastic, a torch, a welder,
a stick and some sand, a knife to carve with, an idea, some mud and
hay, a computer, some seeds, a needle and thread and scrap of fabric,
the list goes on. You can change yourself by using any of this stuff or
any thing else that might come to mind and hand.

Why we make stuff matters. How we make stuff is secondary. Any method,
material or vehicle that allows you to get to what you're trying to
see/feel/say/suggest is equally valid. What we make is not the point.
That we make, that we DO, is.

Making stuff develops the ability to see, hear, taste, smell and feel.
Making stuff is about problem solving, the openness to possibilities,
development of skills, internal and external navigation and resolution,
a sense of exploration and adventure. Making stuff transforms one from
a consumer to a contributor. Making stuff is not passive. Making stuff
involves making choices. Realizing you have choices and making them is
empowering. Empowerment leads to confidence, and the courage to
question and challenge the status quo. Making stuff and sharing it is a
social and political act, which opens avenues for communication. That
can help prevent us from becoming mindless drones subservient to the
mass media, politicians, advertisers and commercial interests that have
constructed the consumer culture for the purposes of distracting and
desensitizing us from reality.

Make it up, make do, make it real, make it personal, make it public.
Make it work, make it accessible, make it cheap, make it fun, make it
serious. Make it loud or soft, make it bright or dim, make it big or
small. Make it obvious, make it subtle, make it to be touched, tasted,
smelled, heard. Make it open to interpretation, open for discussion,
open to criticism. Make it open. Make it from found stuff, made stuff,
recycled, reused and repaired stuff. Make it from scratch, from a kit,
a mix, a box. Make it new or make it old. Make it specific, make it
general, make it purposeful, make it pointless. Make it a question,
make it an answer, make it clear, make it vague. Make it high tech,
make it lo-fi, make it inclusive.

Just make it. When you're done, make more and make different. No need
to explain, justify, apologize, or validate. Make it, and let it go.

Dare to fail big, and attempt to change the world. Resist conformity,
think for yourself and go make some stuff of your very own."

From gapingvoid http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/003479.html

This is it

2006-11-28T21:51:00.000+11:00

We're here to make a dent in the Universe.

A William

2006-11-28T21:48:00.000+11:00

Forse l'hai già capito: non è facile crescere, ancor meno diventare adulti.
Essere grandi significa avere più libertà, più mezzi economici, ma anche molte più responsabilità.

Il tuo compito, la tua meta in fondo al viaggio, è diventare migliore dei tuoi genitori.
Alza la fronte. Non farti imbrogliare da chi vorrebbe comprare il tuo consenso con denaro o adulazioni, non ti far bastare ciò che sono disposti a darti. Il tempo ti dirà che le idee sono tanto più preziose quanto più sono diverse.

Alza la fronte e non porre limiti alla tua ambizione: essi sono fatti per essere superati attraverso passione e capacità. Non è vero che nella vita bisogna accettarsi, piuttosto è fondamentale sapere che ti puoi migliorare, qualsiasi sia la stagione che stai attraversando.
Sforzati di trovare il coraggio per dare spazio alla tua creatività, confida nel tuo talento cercandolo ogni giorno e ogni notte dentro di te.

Raschia il barile delle tue capacità, scopri ogni cunicolo della tua anima ma non donarla mai tutta, riservane sempre una briciola per ogni tua prossima passione.

L'esistenza non è una corsa di cento metri, ma una maratona meravigliosa e per arrivare alla fine occorre merito, non furbizia; voglia di essere disponibili a meravigliarsi, non infruttuose ricette alchemiche: "un uomo libero agisce sempre in buona fede e non ricorre all'astuzia", diceva Spinoza.

Non dare retta a chi ti indica le scorciatoie, prova ad osare strade difficili, evita tutto ciò che è comodo e diffida di chi te lo propone. Fa' crescere dentro di te rabbia e sete per l'inquietudine.
Non buttarti via, impara a dannarti senza perderti.

Alza la fronte e tieni dritta la schiena: nemmeno gli anni la curveranno, soltanto l'ignavia.

Ama la tua libertà e difendila da tutto e da tutti; adora la tua autonomia, riparala dal canto delle sirene ricattatrici: le dipendenze non fanno crescere, aiutano soltanto a smarrire il senso del viaggio.

Non farti atterrire dall'urto delle tue emozioni, contamina con l'eco di quel rombo magnifico chi, accanto a te, ha abbassato lo sguardo.

Impara che hai diritto a pensare che nella vita si possa e si debba tentare e sbagliare, e che nessuno ti deve poter giudicare per gli errori che commetterai, ma semmai per le omissioni che ammetterai a te stesso.

La riga la si tira alla fine, non certo a vent'anni, e, quando ti verrà di guardare alla vita come ad una straordinaria vallata percorsa, avrai finalmente capito che la sera cui sei giunto conosce segreti che il lontano mattino nemmeno poteva immaginare; ma dovrai anche sapere che ciò che di buono è stato l'ha costruito la tua anima, così come anche ciò che le tue forze non sono state capaci di compiere.

From the preface of 'I figli non crescono più' by Paolo Crepet

Nuno's World

2006-01-18T22:12:00.000+11:00

Nuno's World

Google News

2006-01-18T22:09:00.001+11:00

Google News

Apple - Support - Discussions - User Profile: Captain Mench

2006-01-18T22:09:00.000+11:00

Apple - Support - Discussions - User Profile: Captain Mench

Win an ipod at Writers Block!

2006-01-18T21:29:00.000+11:00

Visit this blog by ex-Apple 'evangelist' Mike Evangelist

Start of the New Year

2006-01-18T20:11:00.000+11:00

Started the New Year with a series of mindless, mind-numbing meetings that would test the patience of a saint. It is still mind-boggling to me how I managed to stay awake – my will power astounds me as every cell in my body was screaming to let it fall asleep.

Guy Kawasaki blog

2006-01-04T21:18:00.000+11:00

From Guy Kawasaki Blog

Guy’s Golden Touch

If only I could get paid for answering the question, “How can I get people to evangelize my product?” I would be able to stop working and play hockey every day. Alas, there is no way to get paid for this information, so I give it to you for free.

The short answer is called “Guy’s Golden Touch.” You might think this means, “Whatever Guy touches turns to gold.” If only this were true. The actual definition is, “Whatever is gold, Guy touches.”

Bookmark this: The key to evangelism is a great product. It is easy, almost unavoidable, to catalyze evangelism for a great product. It is hard, almost impossible, to catalyze evangelism for crap. (Evangelism, after all, comes from the Greek word for “bringing the good news,” not “the crappy news.”)

This is a duhism if I’ve ever heard one: “I guess we should create a great product.” Duh! As opposed to a crappy one? The salient question, however, becomes, “What are the characteristics of a great product?” Here is the answer.

Think: DICEE

Deep. A great product is deep. It doesn’t run out of features and functionality after a few weeks of use. Its creators have anticipated what you’ll need once you come up to speed. As your demands get more sophisticated, you discover that you don’t need a different product.

Indulgent. A great product is a luxury. It makes you feel special when you buy it. It’s not the least common denominator, cheapest solution in sight. It’s not necessarily flashy in a Ferrari kind of way, but deep down inside you know you’ve rewarded yourself when you buy a great product.

Complete. A great product is more than a physical thing. Documentation counts. Customer service counts. Tech support counts. Consultants, OEMS, third-party developers, and VARS count. Blogs about it counts. A great product has a great total user experience—sometimes despite the company that produces it.

Elegant. A great product has an elegant user interface. Things work the way you’d think they would. A great product doesn’t fight you—it enhances you. (For all of Microsoft’s great success this is why it’s hard to name a Microsoft product that you’d call “great.”) I could make the point that if you want to see if a company’s products are elegant, you need only look at its chairman’s presentations.

Emotive. A great product incites you to action. It is so deep, indulgent, complete, and elegant that it compels you to tell other people about it. You’re not necessarily an employee or shareholder of the company that produces it. You’re bringing the good news to help others, not yourself.

If you want a smashing example of DICEE product, you need not look any further than iPod. Deep: thousands of songs, podcasts, and recently video plus third-party add-ons that have added functionality Apple never anticipated. Indulgent: yes, you could buy a cheaper MP3 player, but that’s not the point, is it? Complete: total integration with online buying, Apple’s support (other than a battery or two), and online support by independent web sites. Elegant: One wheel does it all, right? Emotive: How did you first find out about it?

So if you want raging, inexorable thunderlizard evangelists for your product, make sure it’s DICEE.

Edgar Allen Poe

2006-01-04T10:40:00.000+11:00

The complete works of Edgar Allen Poe

Favorite blogs

2006-01-04T09:44:00.000+11:00

Recently admired blogs are (in no particular order):

Michael Chabon’s

McSweeney's

Seth Godin

The New Year starts with rain

2006-01-01T15:28:00.000+11:00

Started the New Year with rain

We went out to lunch an had a great time - got the kids to drive the car and they were hollering and howling with shear joy.

The house is under attck from rogue mosquitoes. They are assalting us every time we exit the house. We have identofied the source as a water tank.

G now armed with enough insect repellant and fly spray has secured the perimeter.

Fun start to a good year.

How Much Reading is Enough?

2005-12-31T14:22:00.000+11:00

On the left is the pile of reading on mydesk - I have to do.

I write - ‘I have to do’ - because there are tons of papers, books reports that need attention – yet I write this blog – great escape!

End of 2005

2005-12-31T09:11:00.000+11:00

We are getting ready for a quiet low-key affair for this evening.

2005 ends - A torrid affair

2005-12-30T16:16:00.000+11:00

It's December 30, 2005 - Watch the sea.

The surf. The sand. Boogie boarding like a maniac – nearly killed myself - twice – but – wow! the thrill of falling off the peak of a wave and picking up speed to ride ahead of a wave is unmatched even by skiing (yet to try parachuting).

Each wave is a mystery you won’t know what it is like until you jump on it. How will it take you? You have to learn how to wait for waves too. Patience in getting the right ones with enough power and forego those with less muscles. The sea has to be respected (a platitude?) - innocuous waves hide a major rip in their wave that takes you off your feet – the two times that I was wiped out happened close to the shore when I relaxed and thought I was in control. Never against the sea. Got a major wok out on the shoulders and legs too.

Tomorrow the forecast is for an unbearable 40 degrees Celsius! – For those recalcitrant still using the archaic Fahrenheit range…no idea - it’s fucking hot.