Archive for November, 2006
Oh Great
I just broke my blog. Dammit.
Disruptions and Flow
(photo credit StarrGazr) I’m sleepless because I’m wondering how all the itinerant preachers in the 1740s relate to the new media community today. This time frame in America saw The Great Awakening as it’s sometimes called, where a bunch of preachers, among them the charismatic George Whitefield, came to preach with energy, fervor, and a social-landscape-leveling message that anybody and everybody could have a direct relationship with the Almighty. Given that the message most people were hearing in those sleepy Virginian colonial villages was that you had to go to the Anglican church, sit stock still and listen to dry, logical lectures, and that only the licensed clergy had the relationship with God, this must have been very disruptive.
And there it is.
The framing for my idea isn’t all there, but seeing as I can’t sleep, I’ll at least take a stab, and then hopefully, you’ll swoop into the comments and help me figure this out a bit.
Flow
Imagine a time where there’s really only one solid leader in a small community. News isn’t very forthcoming. Speculation and rumor abound, but there’s really only one conduit for law, direction, redemption, and everything else of great matter. Some in the community might have skills that surpass others, but the person directing the action is a standalone entity.
There’s a flow to this.
You wake up, do your chores, love your family, and toil along in the direction that the spiritual / religious / political leader points you. You’re a happy ant. You’re part of the functioning platform.
Disruption
So then what happens when the new, young, charismatic stranger from out of town shows up, with a great voice, ideas that make sense, and better still - STIR YOUR HEART? What then? You’re feeling confused, angry, cheated, and also a powerful draw to move in the direction of this person’s ideas. And it’s not just you obviously.
Everything is disrupted.
So what happens to the village?
Things can’t go back to the way they were, because the idea has taken root. It’s never going to be a quick restoration of old ways for the original leader of that village. His time is past, even while some in his village begin to cling harder to his ways. The schism is there, presuming the new preacher did the job with charisma, sense, and a language that the people can take and make their own.
Disruptions and Flow
Clearly, this cycles. This is how all things work. Computers show up and mainframes displace the old ways. Personal computers displace mainframes. Portable computers (and mobile phones) alter our relationship with personal computers. And so on.
Broadsides were replaced by newspapers. Radios attacked newspaper audiences. Television stole the advertising fire from radio. And the Internet has taken a swipe at all those media at once with its delivery methods.
Imagine every one of those situations as a well-run village under a traditional preacher, and imagine the next big change to be that fiery evangelist telling the commoner that they, too mattered, and that they would find a new relationship with something bigger and better than before.
Is that how you feel when you create a podcast or a blog post or a videoblog? The traditional preacher said only he had access to God, and then comes the new person who says, “Oh no. YOU can talk to God directly. It’s all yours. Have a ball.” Isn’t that your relationship with personal media? You can now talk to the universe out there.
When Every Stone Sings
Imagine the landscape of media, communication, and entertainment right now. We ALL have the printing press. We ALL have the television. We are all FOX, NBC, HBO, CNN. Every stone can sing. Does that mean the magic is diminished? And how can we choose the right stones to hear?
One billion channels. Is anything on?
The original audio promo for PodCamp Boston by Christopher S. Penn talked of many voices and the power of that. He was right - IS right.
And yet, there’s the issue of disruption and flow.
Why should you join voices? Who are the new old churches? Does joining with Podshow mean you’ve gathered your voice? Does contributing to one show to grow it into a powerhouse make more sense? Less? Picking the way you’ll interact, the voice you choose to modulate, the message you choose to convey seem like the heart of this post.
But disruption and flow ARE communication. A village is never one voice. It’s always many different stories woven into the larger sum. There are moments of focus and connection between people, but it’s rare that the organizing and gathering of voices to a common cause holds strong for a prolonged duration. Not without further mutation, division, unification, and so on.
Disruption and Flow are Breathing
Communities are disruption and flow. Communities are the destruction of held beliefs, the exploration of new beliefs, and the harmony of common ground. Only to be followed by the destruction of that common ground, an exodus towards the new beacon of representation.
Listening to a review of THUMBS, TOES, and TEARS and Other Traits that Make us Human, by Chip Walter, he said that humans’ creation of tools led to our bigger brains for communication. He said that once we learned how to manipulate objects in the physical world to serve our needs, we grew into needing ways to manipulate mental representation of objects= words.
In learning to regard the concepts of community and the forces that influence it, I hope to better understand how our new media aspirations and these tools we’ve acquired to communicate in different means and modes might further our experience and our shared relationships.
Your thoughts are valuable to me.
Penn Brilliance
If I live long enough, I think I’ll have the opportunity to call Christopher S. Penn brilliant 1,000,000 times. Here’s another reason..
New Colonies
(image is a hand-made tin soldier from Leddy and Slack, a MUST-HAVE for your new media revolutionary in your family. My first two were given to me by Laura Allen, one of the most thoughtful people I’ve met in 2006.)
Stick with me on this one, kids. This post kind of goes way out there and back again, and I’m okay with that. I just want to see how much of the idea resonates with you. Okay?
It’s like we’re populating a new planet.- David Kowarsky
When I was told that my paid title was “Community Developer,” I didn’t exactly love it. The reason was simple: it didn’t sound important enough to get respect from the people I would be coming in contact with on the corporate side of the spectrum. And I questioned this title only once, until I re-read the logo everywhere at pulvermedia. It says “pulvermedia builds communities.” Well there it is, I realized. This is actually a valuable title to my new boss.
Taking it Seriously
I take my role as community developer seriously. I view every outreach to videobloggers as important to the company as meeting the heads of AOL or Sony or Nokia. I see someone at PodCamp as a citizen of this new world with as much value as someone sees David Letterman. Maybe even MORE valuable. DEFINITELY more valuable.
At utter random last night, I asked my company’s Chief Marketing Officer, Glenn, what he was doing for his vacation (as we were discussing the right videocamera to take snowboarding; answer=a cheap one). By the end of this conversation, I’d been introduced to his friend the PhD in Early American Studies (and a Major in the Army). And this brought me to a question:
Could you see the similarity in early settlements and their efforts to find the right balance of freedom and governance, and what’s going on with the new technology revolutions?
A few sentences of explanation from me later, and we were both in agreement that there were similarities.
(Is anyone still awake? This is going somewhere. I SWEAR!)
You are New Colonies
Check out this quote:
By “radicalism” I mean advocating wholesale change and sharp transformation rooted in a kind of dream life of a better future imagined by those who felt more dissatisfied with the conditions they experienced as the quarrel with [mainstream media] unfolded.
- Gary B. Nash, THE UNKNOWN AMERICAN REVOLUTION (c) 2005.
So of course I replaced Great Britain for mainstream media in my requote, but doesn’t it sound interesting? Here we are, podcasters, bloggers, videobloggers, the new citizens of Second Life, all dreaming of a better future, albeit one dealing with how information is communicated, shared, and acted upon. Want more?
“The great bulk of those, who were the active instruments of carrying in the revolution, were self-made, industrious men. These who by their own exertions, had established or laid a foundation for establishing personal independence, were most generally trusted, and most successfully employed in establishing that of their country.”
- David Ramsay, quoted by Gary B. Nash, THE UNKNOWN AMERICAN REVOLUTION (p xix).
It’s Our Revolution
A political/religious revolution isn’t exactly the same as an information revolution. This might have lots more in common with revolutions of economy and technology. Rivers and canals were less interesting once trains came along. Trains got boring once roads were built. Highways killed roads. The internet killed other things. Will video kill the TV star?
Just the same, revolutions are what they are. They are substantial breaks with what came before, with the hope of something radical and different and new, that hopefully levels the stage in some way.
Sound like what we’re doing? In a way.
Back to David’s Point
So, David Kowarsky said, “It’s like we’re populating a new planet.” If you think of this like that, if you consider the fact that you are a colonist building a new society, does it change your perspective on what you’re doing today with the medium? Should it?
Christopher S. Penn is a merchant in this new colony, as well as a founding father, a force and a source. Steve Garfield is a thinker and one who spreads the word, one who builds relationships with the Old World and the new. There are countless people building this revolution out, one experience at a time.
We’ve sent some of our colonists back to the Old World ( Amanda, for instance), and we’ve received new converts ( Crista). We have several more playing the middle ground of the Old and the New.
What Is Your Stake in the Colony?
Do you support the revolution? Are you seeing it like this at all? And if so, what is your stake in this new community? How will you be building this forward into what you’re doing, how you’re supporting it, etc?
For instance, the Tikis and Rocketboom and Galacticast and other successful colonists have given back by participating in PodCamp, our forum, our knowledge exchange, our “teach someone to fish” experience. We’ve had financial support from other merchants. There are other forums out there carrying on the conversation, including the Podcast and NEW Media Expo, Video on the Net, and more.
How do we contribute? What does the new colony need? Can we add value?
Your Thoughts are Greatly Appreciated
I spoke with Justin on the phone a few hours ago, and he discussed that community seemed to be the secret sauce. I know that Daniel agrees. He’s spent plenty of personal money, sweat, and time on the notion. Ze Frank works with community extensively, and Andrew and Casey & Rudy and others are all working to embrace their community as well.
In ways, we all are.
So, tell me your thoughts on this. Comment here. Link to a post in your blog. Share. Let’s open this up, if you think the general premise, We are a Colony. Now What?, works for you.
Samuel Adams is standing by.
Iron Man and Jeff Pulver
On my way home from work tonight (it’s weird calling what you do work if you love it), I picked up a book at Borders, and then stopped into Newbury Comics to browse the comic book racks. I read a little bit of Ultimate Iron Man, which is Sci Fi writer Orson Scott Card’s re-imagining of the story of the Marvel Comics character Iron Man.
There was a scene at the kitchen table where Tony’s dad tells Tony what he did was stupid because it tipped his hand to his opponent. It was somehow memorable to me amidst the other 3 issues of the same comic and 7 other comics that I browsed while in the store. Something about the fact I felt like I’d gained a little nugget to consider for business seemed to glow in my head’s little oven for a moment.
And then, not 20 minutes ago, Jeff mentioned something to me in a quick email comment about tipping one’s hand.
I’m not a religious person. Instead, I have preacher friends and laypeople that I hope will help sort my soul out. But for whatever reason, I believe strongly in moments like this, these little “echoes” that make me think, Now you really have to pay attention to this.
But then, what’s in my hand?
I’m listening to Iron Man and Jeff Pulver, but I’m going to have to figure out what, if anything, I’m tipping. : )
Hello BBC News
How cool is this? Network 2 was mentioned in an article on the BBC News website.
I’ll tell you what’s cooler!
So were Galacticast and Alive in Baghdad.
Woohoo!
And one last cool thing? You can see ALL 17 Sessions from Video on the Net for FREE via our page at Blip.tv. How many $2000 conferences give away their sessions for FREE for you to watch and experience? Um… maybe none?
My Life Planning Model
(photo by Drunken Monkey Photography). I thought I’d explain a little more in detail about how I plan my life, and what tools I use to achieve my goals. I like to separate my thoughts on planning and organizing into two levels: upstack and downstack. I often talk about Getting Things Done (GTD) as a good downstack framework. But this post will be about my upstack efforts, and for that, I often turn to Covey.
Covey’s Habits
Since 1995, I’ve been practicing variants of Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective people. One of the very best visual icons he gives in his work is the premise of living one’s life by the compass instead of the wristwatch. The premise is that one be guided by their “true north principles,” and not the whims of the hours passing in a given day.
To short-hand what Covey talks about in the 7 habits, here’s the rundown.
- Be Proactive. Realize you’re the programmer, and that YOU write the program.
- Begin with the end in mind. Now, go write the program.
- Put first things first. You’ve written the program. Organize and execute around what you’ve written.
- Think Win-Win. Seek third solutions that leave everyone happy.
- Seek first to unerstand, then to be understood. Listen more than you talk.
- Synergize. Use the team around you. Build on strengths. Accentuate the positive.
- Sharpen the Saw. It’s not over when you accomplish something. Stay sharp. Grow.
Principle-centered living means having a set of “operating instructions” that you can execute in any setting. If you’re on an island, you can do most of the stuff that’s in your instructions, just the same as if you’re in a busy office building in Singapore.
The thoughts and ideas I laid out in the other post with “streams” and the like are anchored to these compass settings I’ve built into my general self. So, I have a strong sense of family in my compass. I’ve got a sense of what I want to do with communities. I’ve got a sense of what matters to me with my work life. I know how I should better my finances. And I understand what should be the state of my physical health and well-being.
Every goal I’ve set for myself since 1995 relates to the sense of those compass settings. Sometimes, I adjust what matters to that compass, but I always align myself to a set of operating instructions instead of to set micro goals. If you re-read my post on planning and time horizons, you’ll see that I haven’t laid out specific targets. Instead, you’ll read that I have aspirations in those various areas.
Signal to Noise
Most of our lives are filled with mental clutter. We have music, tv, movies, games, comics, books, groups, clubs, friends, hobbies, sports, email, cell phones, business trips, and other vocations to fill our skulls and our waking hours. We’ve got complex social relationships involving online “friends” we’ve never shaken hands with or hugged, and we’ve got plenty of other ways to chew into our mental calories and thought processes.
By building a compass setting of the things that matter to me, and trying hard to align my actions, time and effort to that compass, I work hard to move things forward. Those of you who’ve gotten to know me know that I operate on a lot of things at the same time, and that I’m good at working tirelessly at a lot of projects simultaneously. I use my efforts in setting my guiding points to ensure that I’m doing the right things and spending the appropriate time and energy on the things I believe matter most to me.
Course Corrections
Covey points out that when an airplane travels from Boston to Los Angeles, it is off-course 90% of the journey. The majority of the time that the plane is in the air, then, is spent making course corrections. He says life is like this as well. So, I take time often to consider the goals I’ve set for myself within the boundaries of my internal compass, and I consider whether I’m on course. These corrections are how I get closer to the vision in my head of what I consider success.
Aim High
The last part of my planning and goal-setting efforts involves a quote I read somewhere (and I forget where). Essentially, set your goals high, even if you only hit halfway, because if you set them low, you might not even reach THAT goal. This has served me well in life. When I hadn’t run an inch, I decided I’d train to run a marathon. I was successful. When I started setting smaller goals, I fell off the fitness wagon entirely.
Everything of value I’ve ever done in my life came from setting a goal so high that I *might* achieve it, but that I very likely wouldn’t. This has led to lots of successes that I doubted myself capable of achieving, but that then fueled further successes. My career today is largely a part of my efforts using the system I sketched out above.
Wrapping Up
If you want the short-hand to everything I just wrote, here it is:
Figure out what matters the most to you. Focus on it. And then do THAT as often as possible.
Yep. That’s it. I work hardest to accomplish things that I believe relate to what matters most to me. This seems like a “duh” thing to say, but ask yourself how closely your day-to-day efforts match this model.
Let me know if I can help you with anything.
Holiday Wishes
(image courtesy Robert Scarth). I had this random thought while roaming the aisles of CVS looking for replacement pacifiers for my boy (do they EAT them?). I thought about what would be really *FUN* get get for a holiday present, and/or to give. Here’s what I thought up. Want to do it?
Holiday Gift Exchange
Here’s what would be a fun holiday package for me to receive. I will make a few up and send a few out, too.
- A fistful of comics from your local comics store’s twenty-five cent bin.
- A mix CD of songs you love, or that make you think of me, or that you really want me to know about. (with liner notes). (Or an MP3 download.
- A sticker or two (who cares from what?)
- Something random from your home (not foodstuff nor perishable).
- A photo or two or three of you putting the box together before mailing it.
Think about it: most of us have all the things we “need,” and we rarely get from others anything we want or think is cool. Wouldn’t the above be something kind of fun?
Now, the twist on this might be to write a post on YOUR blog talking about the holiday package YOU’D most like to receive, and then put a link to the post in my Comments section.
(Before you get all “this is the season of giving, and for people who don’t have anything,” I’m a giving bastard. I give tons to all the weird and various charities around. This is something else).
So, what do you think?
Planning and Time Horizons
He who operates with the longest time horizon wins. Did you know that? They say Bill Gates can see out Five Years or so accurately to his strategy, and that he executes against it well. People in business talk about five year strategies and you should be afraid, because that’s far too long a time-span in today’s tech-energized world. But truly, when you look at YOUR time horizon, how long is it?
Near as I can tell, mine’s not as long as it should be. I’m in a little cycle of letting life live me. The more I examine myself, the more I realize I’m letting all these various points of life just wash over me, without giving them much personal thought.
Thanks for the nice comments on the other post by the way. It’s always nice to hear from friends.
Six Planning Streams
Covey would call these “Roles & Goals.” It’s when you figure out the different ways you view yourself, your interactions with the rest of the world, and then set specific goals to them. In my case, I just picked six focuses, and decided to set streams in action. Think of streams as… hmm.. in my vernacular, I’m thinking of this as like little streams of water, and when I set a paper boat in the stream, I can only set it in once, and I can only go in one direction. The trick is, which streams to watch, and what to do with the boats.
So, here are my streams. And after them, I’ll sketch out what I’m thinking, though I won’t share the concrete goals that I’ll write for myself.
- Family
- Work
- Self (health/fitness)
- Community
- Creativity
- Finances
Family
Of these, family has some significant challenges that I won’t chronicle here, but they just involve making the most out of every day. Since taking this job, and building my travel up, I’ve truly appreciated my family more. I spend MUCH better personal time with them now. This set of goals is private.
Work
Work will probably see the most calories in the case of blogging. Family first, but work is where I spend a lot of conscious energy. I’ve got *all* kinds I could write about here. And my goals do seem to have some depth of time horizon here. But there’s an overlay to this about how far I want to push things, how much I want to build out work. I’m in this unique position, and there’s what my boss wants done, but there’s what I feel *I* want to accomplish. I’m going to build out my goals, and see how this works for my boss. We’ll figure out the middles.
One sure goal: I want Video on the Net to be HUGE this spring, and I want Network2 to be a household name among video watching folks.
Self (Health/Fitness)
For health and fitness, I’ve totally let myself drop from my physical best in January of 2005. Yes, I had an injury. Yes, I let 80 work weeks get in the way. But it’s been almost 2 years since then. I think the excuses have run out. So, I’ve got some fitness and health goals I’ll start on tomorrow. (I love starting on random days and not a Monday, and not a first of the month). These will hopefully gain a little more prominence as they further define me.
Community
Ah community. I’ve got lots of PodCamps to attend, participate in, and develop. I want to work even closer with Chris and Bryan and Steve to better develop the “framework” of what we’re doing, to maybe finally form that Foundation we’ve discussed. I want some way to ensure that people are getting the opportunity to experience what we all got in Boston.
I will be rolling out a new for-pay event with Christopher S. Penn in March called “Make My Own TV,” which will be targeted towards traditional media types and new media adopters looking to better understand and develop their skills, abilities, and prospects with new media and video tools. That will be a great experience to me, because it will bridge the ground between our grassroots efforts in PodCamp and the higher-end conference of Video on the Net. Make My Own TV is that middle ground that people can afford to attend, but that provide definite deliverables.
I’ll also be working with Jeff to roll out more Pulver.com/Network2 social events, and we’ve got five planned before St. Patrick’s Day, if that gives you a sense of that craziness.
Finally in community, I’ll be further dedicating Small Boxes and my work with Grasshopper New Media to the pursuit of growing community use of video and new media tools to tell people’s stories digitally, and extend the conversation into the new media space.
There’s even more to community, but I’ll add to that later.
Creativity
This is easy to do. I’m just looking to push myself more creatively. I’ve threatened to write a book on and off for a while. If I don’t write something completely in 2007, I’ll stop telling people that I write. I’m actually leaning on doing two books: one fiction and one non-fiction, just to say I’ve finished both. More on that some other time, but you’ll see LOTS of video examples of my creativity as well, and maybe even a little bit of music.
Finances
I’ve had really messy finances for far too long. I’m getting paid a decent salary. I’ve got most of my crap in order. I think it’s about time I get this put together just right. So, I’m not going to share the details, but I’m starting this weekend to try and get all the money stuff in order, so that I’m not the poorest well-paid guy I know. (We’ll see). I’m kinda tired of being in the 110% club, to be honest, and I’d like to not wince whenever I swipe a credit card, or hell, my debit card. Of all these, I’ll have to take an active effort here, but I think that all the other ducks will help this goal line up.
Wrapping Up
And that’s it. After a day of really wracking my brain, I’m off and running. I’m using a really nice online free tool called Thinkature to better brainstorm the DETAILS of all this, and I won’t share tons about the guts of the goals here, but suffice to say that I feel like I’ve got the starts of the next level that I need.
Jon was right. I need a bigger palace.
Catblogging for Months and Aware of It
This blog used to really have some value, some reason to stop by. It used to be full of thought-provoking pieces, or at least pointers to where I was writing such stuff.
Lately, I’ve been catblogging. I’ve been talking about where I’ve been, where I’m going, and stuff that relates to what I’m doing for a living. I’m aware that this isn’t exactly compelling reading, so thank you for the 300 or so folks still stopping by daily enough that FeedBurner counts you as my friends. I appreciate that.
The problem with me has always been that dis-interest in sticking to just one topic deeply, which is how most blogs of any value or worth are written. You don’t go to Engadget to hear about their day. You go to learn about the latest Blackberry or PS3 news. You go to GigaOm to learn about Web 2.0 and VoIP and mobile news.
Except for friends, and I love you all dearly, there’s not a lot of value to the stuff I’m writing on here. It’s more like “Dear Diary” lately, or that’s how I’m feeling about it. If this were a column in a new media newspaper, I’d cancel my subscription.
Is this holiday blues? Maybe. But this is also me thinking hard about the months ahead, and what I’ve got before me, and it includes the 20 or so domains I own, the dozen or more websites I used to maintain (all mostly digital ghettos now), and the incredible lack of cohesive, interesting content on this, my flagship site.
It’s great to be all things to all people, until someone tries to define what you’re doing. The best I’ve come up with lately is my current job title, Community Developer. I’ve been doing this in the absolute. I’ve been out there growing all the various parts of the new media realm, and trying to hitch them up to the traditional outlets. To me, the new media all on its own will stay too insulated to be of mainstream value unless it finds its way into the mix. To me, the old media will crumble and support less and less of mainstream thinking unless they learn how to integrate with the new media types.
Catblogging. Catblogging.
I have to think. I have to really clamp my skull down. One issue is that I haven’t had my personal medication for days. Caffeine. I just put a cup in me, and I feel only the realization that I have been a rudderless ship for months. Not related to work. Just related to me. I am NOT interested in letting life lead me. Fuck .
Whatever.
As long-long-long time readers and friends know, this moment usually signifies the next rebirth of Chris. It’s how I do it.
But the funny thing is, there are SO FEW people who understand my perspective, and for the first time, I mean EVER, I feel like I actually work for someone who understands how I think to some great degree. No square pegs. He gets it. My wife gets it. So, the two that control the larger part of my calories in a day outside of myself get me.
So… as always, the issue is up to me.
Stay tuned.
