…it’s a digital world
…it’s a digital world
I once heard that if you can summarise what you stand for in one word you can use that word as a guiding light, to keep you on track.
For me that word is passion.
I live for the passionate moments in life. The moments of happiness, anger, sadness, love and hate all fuelled by passion.
We all have those ‘aha!’ moments; you’re wandering along, moving about your normal day without any conscious effort when suddenly it hits you – the best idea you’ve ever had. You smile to yourself, thinking how clever you are and how it is amazing that no one else has thought of it yet. Then you race to your next meeting or you get a phone call or someone asks you the time and in an instant the idea is forgotten, lost in the ether only to resurface in a few months time when you see the exact idea executed by someone else.
The point is while ideas are the most important currency we have, even original ideas will eventually be thought of by someone else and if they’re not executed they are meaningless.
I’m as guilty as everyone else (if not more-so, due to my goldfish like memory) of this, but I’ve decided to set myself a few little rules to work on stopping this happening.
1. Carry a small “ideas” notebook and pen everywhere
2. Set aside 30 minutes once a week to review the ideas in the notebook and see if there is anything I can use/action
3. Take time to reward myself when an idea becomes a tangible reality
With everyone doing their 2011 predictions, I thought I do some predictions for things that I believe will not happen this year.
Just call me Nostradamus, bitch!
11. Justin Bieber will release an album to critical acclaim with reviewers calling it “The most inspiring demonstration of musical talent since Michael Jackson first appeared with the Jackson 5” and “A momentous turning point in musical history. This redefines popular culture as we know it.”
10. Gerry Harvey announces that due to a drop in overheads items on the new Harvey Norman website will be sold at significantly lower prices, allowing consumers a fair alternative to international online stores
9. The coalition stop arguing against the NBN roll-out and the rollout continues with experts saying “This may be the first time in the history of Australia that a large scale infrastructure project has progressed faster than expected, and appears as though it will come in under estimated costs.”
8. CBS announce a new season of The Munsters with Butch Patrick reprising his role as Eddie Munster. When asked about the decision to bring the series back a CBS spokesman said “look, we’re doing this thing super cheap and Butch has one hell of a coke addiction to feed. At the very least it will be f**king hilarious to watch a 50 year old man cram himself into a schoolboy costume and act like an idiot” The rest of the roles will be re-cast as the other original cast-members are now either dead, retired or have moved on with their lives.
7. Stephen Conroy resigns from his role stating a “dramatic lack of technical knowledge and newfound love of dance” as his key motive for leaving. So as to ensure a smooth transition, he is replaced by a 7th grade student who is pretty good with his dad’s work laptop.
6. The IAB will bring in and enforce dramatic new rules regarding Auto-Refresh. Any publisher found to be engaging in the practice will have their page linked to on 4chan and be promptly subjected to a combination of DDOS attacks, vicious rumors and repeated meme’s. Any attempts by publishers to argue against this new policy will be responded to with a single sentence; ‘lol, newfag’
5. Oprah Winfrey comes out about her longtime lover Gayle King. They are wed in a civil ceremony on Dr Phil’s ranch. Conservatives are disgusted calling it “the worst thing to happen to America since 9/11”
4. Upon meeting the Queen of England, Julia Gillard will be referred to as ‘an eloquent and graceful young lady’ by Her Majesty.
3. A large meteor strikes Earch destroying all life. Skeptics last words are ‘I fucking told you the Mayans were full of shit.”
2. Overall TV viewership drops dramatically with surveyed audience stating the primary reason as Twitter addiction
1. Fuelled by the aggregated data of eleventy-trillion users Facebook becomes a sentient being and sets up a profile for itself under the name Handsome B. Wonderful. The profile runs for the US Presidency on an independent ballot and is elected almost unanimously, shattering the two-party system as we know it. After its election to the highest seat in the US political system the profile quickly utlises its data to blackmail the worlds most influential leaders into signing a new global mandate in which it becomes Ruler of the World. A rogue army of Mexicans assassinate Mark Zuckerburg in the hopes of taking away Facebooks power. It doesn’t work, humanity as we know it becomes locked in an existence of Farmville and Status updates.
2010 has been a massive year of both ups and downs for me which has lead to some significant personal development. As I take a leap forwards into come new challenges I thought what better time to compose a very brief list of some lessons I’ve learned in the year past.
Professional Lessons
- A campaign not working is not a failure as long as you learn something from it
- Just because something is a good idea doesn’t mean it will work, just because something didn’t work doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good idea
- Take holidays – for years I put off taking trips because I didn’t want to fall behind on work, but nothing leaves you more hungry to do good work than a little time away
- ‘No’ is not a dirty word – If a timeline is unrealistic at least suggest a more manageable solution, don’t just say yes
- Low cost, High Quality, Fast delivery – Pick 2
- Anyone can be insightful, often without realising it. The secret is to listen closely enough to hear the verbal diamond in the rough.
Personal Lessons
- There is no such thing as a black and white situation – only varying shades of grey
- While it’s important to speak your beliefs it is more important to listen to those of others
- Exercise really is enjoyable – everyone wasn’t lying to me for the past 23 years despite what I previously thought
- If you want something in life take it. Don’t wait for the ‘right time,’ it may never come
- In 12 months everything can change – Last year my dad spent about 6 months in hospital undergoing chemotherapy and a stem-cell transplant. The end of December see’s him 12 months cancer free and he is currently back at work full-time and looking more healthy everyday.
Ideas for new tag lines that capitalize on Solo’s “Thirst Crusher” brand.
Solo: crushes a thirst like a club to a baby seal
Since you can’t trust VB for your hard earned thirst, why not try Solo?
*animation of a solo can mounting someone’s mouth like a dog in heat* – Solo: its got a crush on thirst
that is all….
