Angles Are Everything
Feb 8th
Peyton Manning is a nice guy, with a self-deprecating and healthy sense of humor.
But man, he looked positively evil on the sidelines of the Super Bowl. Some people started referring to him as ”Satan Manning.”
Now, is he an intense competitor? Yes.
You think he might have been frustrated by taking only six snaps in the entire second quarter, then waiting through “CSI: Halftime,” then not getting the ball to start the second half after the Saints executed a brilliant onside kick? Yes, yes, and yes.
But the “evil” that seeps through the photo and wants to tear out your liver is a function of the angle.
Take a look at these pictures of the very same Elmo party hat.
The angle makes all the difference in the world, doesn’t it?
Elmo is an iconic symbol of acceptance and peace. His inquisitive nature instantly rings true with children, who recognize their own yearning to learn about the world around them. The fact that the party hat could appear evil must therefore be strictly a function of visual tricks, and the angle of perspective creating an optical illusion.
My son used to adore Elmo, and as far as we can tell it had no deleterious effects on him.
There is nothing inherently evil about Elmo.
Well, maybe I ought to re-think letting my son hang out with Peyton Manning when he grows up, too.
(content partially adapted from material at my old blog, with my permission.)
Symbolic Statements
Feb 5th
We live in an age where information is too available. We have more facts than we can assimilate or use, and very little context.
One of the ways we manage to transmit all of this information comes from research done in “packing” of information. How much can we compress data, then “unpack” it later without appreciable loss?
I won’t go into that as a deep dive now, don’t worry. But it is something to consider, especially when “packing” of data means that individual pieces now mean multiple things depending upon what is around them.
The other day, I saw a license plate. Maybe it’s indicative that I spend too much time playing with letters and numbers and glyphs in my brain, but almost immediately I saw how close this was to spelling out a word (and a word that I wouldn’t want either of my kids repeating.)
Do you see it? Because the thought that came to mind for me was feeling sorry for the person two places ahead in line. They likely got this plate:
There.
Does that make it easier to see?
Do I have to spell it out now?
What happens is our brains decode the curves and lines based on context. When we expect to see letters, we see letters. When we expect to see numbers, we see numbers.
And when we’re accustomed to looking at words, the quickest glance will force our brains attempt to fit those shapes into the anticipated context.
Here, try this one.
See it now?
I feel sorry for that person.
One of the ironies here is that if you tried to go and get that specific combination as a vanity plate, you would be suspiciously grilled as to your motive. They would want to know exactly what it means.
Yet, through the power of spontaneous decoding, the state of Alabama has inadvertently called an innocent motorist a “sphincter.”
Who knows? Maybe they’re right.
Or maybe ugliness lies in the eye of the beholder.
I Got Served
Feb 4th
Thanks to the internet, anyone and everyone now has a search-engine friendly way to gripe about some perceived injustice. So let me say Thanks, which doesn’t happen often enough.
I recently attended a crisis training in New Orleans, at the Marriott on Canal Street. (Yes, it is smack in the middle of the French Quarter, and no, I had neither the time nor the warm weather to get around and sightsee.)
A couple of things cemented for me that the Marriott is doing customer service right, all the way down to the bottom.
Midway through the first morning, I realized I had been using my phone to take a lot of notes. Considering I didn’t have to drag a laptop, it was rather nice. But I knew that I would run my charge all the way down by early evening, and I wanted to keep some charge on it. So during a break I went back to my room to grab the charger.
When I got there, a staff member was in the middle of cleaning my room. I smiled, said hello, and went to get my charger. She politely stopped me, and asked me for my key. I obliged, and watched as she tried it in the door to ensure that I really belonged in this room.
That’s the first time I’ve been checked like that, and I was ecstatic she took the time and trouble. And I thanked her.
When I got back that evening, I was in for an even bigger surprise.
Everything In Its Place
She had cleaned the area around my sink, including my deodorant and toothbrush. And I found all of my personal toiletries placed nicely on a washcloth.
That was completely unexpected, and while some people might be concerned that a stranger “touched their things,” I was happy she was diligent enough about it that she wanted the room to meet her standards. Her standards dictate that the sink is clean. And that my things are organized. (My dirty clothes were left in the chair, untouched.)
She didn’t have to do it. There was no expectation that she would. But she did.
Across the board, everyone from the concierge staff to the porter were amazing and friendly. And it would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge it publicly.
As for the rest you in the hospitality industry, you are on notice. The bar for grabbing my attention has been raised. I won’t expect treatment like this every time, but rest assured I will notice it.
So wow me.
Content Is King! Long Live the King!
Feb 3rd
Content is king.
It started with a Tweet by Jeremy Meyers, that said the following:
“Ironically, content about how “Content is King” is not an example of good content.”
“If Content were King, then Pink would have stayed dry.”
I was referring, of course, to Pink’s performance at the Grammy Awards, where she sang partially suspended and spinning in the air, then was dipped in a pool of water, where she came up spinning dripping and still singing pitch-perfect.
It was stunning.
It is also a clear example, to me, of where you can draw a significant line between Content and Presentation.
Her song is the same, whether she sings it in a studio, on stage, or in an S&M harness. What differs is the Presentation.
If there were no difference between Content and Presentation, then Iron Chef would not have points for “plating.” It’s a different experience, one that is separate from the content.
My blog engine – Wordpress – makes a significant distinction between Content and Presentation. I’ve changed themes a few times in the last three years – but the content remains the same.
That’s why this post seems a little naked – I’ve taken much of the Presentation away.
It’s a very different experience. Yet my words are the same. My argument stands just as valid on its face – exactly the way it would appear in most RSS readers.
Yet here – through the Presentation of this one post – I have communicated more about the difference between Content and Presentation.
Content is King – but Presentation can make it more palatable. Style without Substance will leave you lacking. Substance with no Style will send the readers packing.
Long live the King!
Out and About
Jan 28th
From Zoer on Flickr
Last year, I did a bit of traveling and speaking. While it’s been nice to share, it’s also nice to learn a little. For the next few weeks I’ll be doing a bit of both.
Friday the 29th, I’ll be at the University of Alabama, talking with the faculty of the College of Human Environmental Sciences about social media.
Sunday, I leave for New Orleans, where I’ll spend a day and a half learning about Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications from one of the best in the field, Dr. Barbara Reynolds. She plays a key role communicating for the Centers for Disease Control.
Wednesday the 3rd, I am back in house for a presentation to another department. Then on the 10th I’m back in Tuscaloosa, spending about an hour talking with Dr. Suzanne Horsley’s Public Relations students about how to integrate social media with traditional channels.
Then I will be in Atlanta for the Ragan Social Media Conference February 21-24. I was privileged to present this past March in Las Vegas – this time I will be something between a spectator and a sponge.