Turncoat Politics

Like Gasoline On Fire: 30 for 30, Hank Gathers, and the Beauty of the Run

“Like Gasoline on Fire” was how LMU basketball was described during the Paul Westhead, Bo Kimble and Hank Gathers era.  The upcoming 30 for 30 on ESPN takes a look at the team in “The Guru of Go .” Hank Gathers passed away 20 years ago, and the show will run before the Final Four games on Saturday.  Enjoy.

The 30 for 30 Trailer

An ESPN Story on LMU and Hank Gathers

A Tribute Video for Hank Gathers

Erykah Badu vs Matt & Kim: What is the difference between Inspired by and Taken from?

Matt and Kim drop hipster nudity:

Erykah Badu responds with her own sort of nudity:

Figuring out the line between inspiration, appropriation and recombination.

ARG vs RG vs R and why no “A” is better for TV

I have to start by saying that this is just my opinion.  It has nothing to do with thousands of kilos of baggage from previous projects.  It has to do with my opinion that ARGs don’t work for TV.  Why?  Because in using an “A,” you by nature create competing content for the property you are trying to promote. 

I have a pair of examples.  I should preface by saying that I think that the folks over at Campfire are absolutely the best at what they do.  They lead the charge on persistent brand narrative.  They can weave a story for your brand or property in an amazingly original way and more than anything, it is captivating and fun.  I just think that when promoting a television property, you want to drive people to it, not just general awareness.  This goes back to my opinion that TNT (the previous version) and USA are the best examples of TV branding and navigation (that’s a conversation for later, but shoot me a tweet if you want to fight about it).

When I saw the ARG Campfire did for “Frenzied Waters” it was interesting and let a consumer into a world of water, fear, anticipation, and a good ‘ol scavenger hunt.  What it didn’t do is drive tune-in for Discovery’s Shark Week (This could be an absolute lie, because I don’t have the numbers nor the correlation between “Frenzied Waters” and tune-in.  Also, I don’t know how much Discovery funneled into promoting the week).  I know that from what I saw, I didn’t leave thinking that I needed to watch Shark Week.  I just thought that there were hidden shark teeth somewhere out there.  My point is that my awareness was raised about “Frenzied Waters” more than the actual programming itself.  Unless someone tells me otherwise, I’m supposed to watch if I am a consumer with eyeballs, a TV, and a plethora of channel choices.

Shark Week Case Study from Campfire on Vimeo.

Another project that I finally saw last week was the alternative to the ARG, an RG for A&E’s “The First 48.”  The experience was gripping and I had a running clock counting down while I searched for clues and the criminal.  Overall, I was on the site for about 15 minutes, and when I didn’t solve the crime, I was told that due to my inability, odds were high that the criminal was going to continue his spree.  Hmm, downer?  Yes, but I was able to stick around on the site and figure out what the show was all about.  I knew the name of the show, the premise, and the network.  I would say that is a success.  I would also say that it is glad that I am not a detective, because I did a dreadful job.

The above is the final option, which is worse than the most terrible ARG, RG, or me as a detective is good ‘ol reality itself.  That poster never gets old….NEVER.

Seth Godin - The Factory, Astrology, and Interpretation

I like Seth Godin.  I would say that once a week, Godin says something that helps galvanize the day, and provide focus.  The killer is that, just like astrology, a lot is left open to interpretation and it can be ruthlessly flexible.  I think that some of the posts are purposefully vague so that the reader can figure out how to apply it to their own business (or life as it goes with a horoscope).  Sometimes with astrology, I disconnect from the fact that I was born on May 26th, and read through some of the other horoscopes and it is easy to find something applicable, or rather, make something applicable. 

I was looking around online and found a post where John Windsor took up Seth Godin’s thoughts on the creative factory.  As I work in a “creative factory,” and Godin seems to be saying that the soup-to-nuts factory is going the way of the dodo, it is interesting to see how some interpret it.  I remember getting the email where he mentions the changing factory format and it was one of those that was purposefully vague and I wondered if it was more loose marketing-babble, so ethereal that it seemed to apply to the how ethereal the creative marketplace is now without actually revealing anything.

As I think about it, I hear what he is saying.  The old models aren’t working- there isn’t one brain that sits and drives the business, each part has a specific important task, it is difficult for any company to do all of it, and other companies could specialize and optimize those specific functions. OK. 

That’s where philosophy and business meet.  I don’t know if anyone could come up with a financial model to prove how this all fits together, and let’s be honest, any factory/business/sweatshop/cubicle farm will be driven by a financial model.  If they aren’t making money, they won’t be in business.

That said, we in “creative factories” don’t need to waste time thinking about the format of factories, we need to determine

1/ what we are good at
2/ what people will buy it
3/ how to spend money to make those skills great
4/ how to let clients know that we do that
5/ do a lot of it

Wow, this was a complete absolute mess, and there are some different ideas coming together.  I’ll keep thinking about it and refining it into something that makes sense.  In the end, though, we can’t wait for the factory model to clear up so we can make money, just as though we can’t decide whether or not to leave the house based on the day’s horoscope.

There is only one person who should have listened to his horoscope (watch around 3:10, and notice that Pee Wee weighs less than 100 el-bees):

Trauma and Southland - I guess I have shitty taste

Another reason I shouldn’t be a television executive.  Well, one reason, two pieces of crucial evidence.

AND

I know that Dick Wolf would be offended at the sheer amount of characters, but I like the stories, the interplay between characters, and the locations- SF and LA.  I imagine that if I felt like really nerding out, I could breakdown the similarities between the characters, but that’s a bit much.  Still, each show has a bad-ass and drama.  I was looking to see if Trauma was done altogether, but I couldn’t tell.  Southland got the move over to TNT, so I guess that my intuition would be OK there.  Too bad it is Atlanta.  

A DC-based creative shop with nice stuff - Pappas Group (@PappasGroup)

A friend  of mine in “the biz” turned me on to this DC-Based creative shop.  I have always been leery of shops named after people.  In a posting about “5 Tips for Naming your Business,” three of the top five are:

2. Select your business name with a passion
3. Emphasize those qualities which you wish to promote
5. Set your business apart

Those three can be ego-driven and that means that the company can be subjected to the personal whims of the owner.  I am not saying that is the case, and I don’t know how I got on this topic, but the bottom line is that a business-owner is allowed to do whatever he wants with his company.

That said, in looking at their work, they have and are wanting to do good work.  It is design-led, smart work.  The idea comes through, the experience or UI is well done, and it is fun.  A personal energy comes out in each project and the quality is clear, whether it is a regional campaign, or a national one.  Click through and check it all out.

Butler’s Gordon Hayward vs. Young Jeezy

Ok, no Jeezy, just Butler’s Gordon Hayward.

So I want a new #20 Butler Jersey.  No lie.  He grinds, is fearless, and is a 6’9” guard who used to play tennis in high school.  Now that’s a new kind of two-sport athlete.

Two things to check out:

1/ An article from Rivals talking about the potential of Hayward going pro.

2/ A rap by Hayward and his friends.  Sure it is ridiculous, but check out the lyrics (lifted from The Mid-Majority). Listen around 1:44:

But it’s not about me, it’s about the team; 
Going to the tourney with a full head of steam; 
‘Chip’s real close, it’s at our back door; 
Get a few dubs, we’ll be in the Final Four; 
Not stopping there, that’s not in store;
Push it to the limit, we want more.

It’s almost like a c-teamer from the Cash Money crew got to drop a verse on a mixtape.

Bring it on from Indy.  Go Butler.

A couple thin web applications that are great - @TeuxDeux & @Instapaper

Whereas the dot-com-one-point-oh brought us capital investment in massive companies that were going to change the world, the fallout of all those technologies and dot-com-two-point-oh and whatever we are in now created a lot of these leaner apps and and thin web experiences that serve a specific function.  Innovation, democratization, and nerds with time on their hands were able to specialize the fringe and mid-level products that were already bundled into technologies, and some have even changed the way that we work and our expectations for how we work.

Innovation makes jobs easier for everyone.

There have been a couple things recently that I have started using.  My coworker told me about TeuxDeux a few months back when it was in Beta.  I didn’t think it was that interesting, but started using it, because like most people, I have a million things to do and am terrible at prioritizing- a product of too much stimuli growing up and not enough discipline.  We could probably use a generation of physically abusive nuns (but without the pedophile-y priests), to whip us back into shape.  If we could at least just get one dominant gaming platform, kids could learn commit to something and we’d be in a better place. 

Ok, so TeuxDeux is just a simple to-do list.  It rolls over tasks day to day and doesn’t over think anything.  One thing I wish it would do is cut and paste, because there are times when I want to read an article and I will save it in there.

See, that is where Instapaper.com comes in.  I have a load of things I WANT to read.  We all do.  Mostly we don’t read them.  I seem to have 25 tabs open by the end of the day and it makes my browser move like Betty White in a Snickers commercial.  With InstaPaper you can save pages by clicking a link in your bookmarks bar.  It saves the links at InstaPaper.com and you can check it out at your leisure.  Same as bookmarks, right?!   Sort of, but really specialized for short-attention-span culture because you can access the links on the go, and read them from your device when you have time.