Bird's Eye View

The Viral Storm and Ft Hood

I'm getting it.  I think.  Once the momentum starts, it's amazing how the excitement can gather when aided

Today we heard from MySpace people who plan to put the Digital Veterans Day program on their homepage on Wednesday 11.11.

There is going to be a live Twitter feed on 11.11 for the Digital Veterans Day crowd.  Check it out at #myvetwork

And if/when you tweet about Digital Veterans Day on Wednesday, be sure to include #myvetwork so others around the nation, even the world, will see it.  Keep the conversation going!

Meanwhile, I've been disturbed about Ft. Hood for many reasons, as I'm sure we all are.  I asked John Campbell, CEO of MyVetwork today about his response to the horrific shootings at Fort Hood.  Here's what he said.  Read it and tell me what you think:

"PTSD: Its a 100% issue, not a 1% issue
When I try to understand the tragedy at Fort Hood Im struck by the fact that the stress and trauma that leads up to PTSD is not limited to combat veterans nor even to those who operate in a war zone (or treat those from a war zone). Indeed stress and trauma are with all of us every day, yet thus far its been discussed as something that the military, less than 1% of our population, has to deal with while the rest of us are safely immune. 

Perhaps this incident will spur an awareness that PTSD is a civilian as well as military issue, and for two reasons: 1) if we don't deal with our veterans who are afflicted, we render civilians less safe, and 2) civilians, whether from an auto crash, an assault or a myriad of stressful conditions, are vulnerable to the affliction as well.

HEROISM: There is a new face to heroism
More should be made to recognize everyday Americans putting their lives on the line both in combat and here at home (police, fire, first responders). Second, we need to focus on this brave policewoman as a heroine. It should send a message on two levels: 1) to all women, that women are indeed getting recognition for being up to the task of anything men do and often at the highest level, to boot. This woman is at the top of her game and her game has up to now been thought of as a mans game. 2) to the many men who still don't get it that women are equals and, often, superior.

FALLACY OF SAFE PLACES: There is no safe place. Deal with it.
No place in this country is really safe anymore. 9.11 and Fort Hood remind us. Ironically, we often look at returning vets who exhibit hyper-vigilance as crazy. They are simply responding extremely to what many of us fail to see. What we need to do is acknowledge that we live in a dangerous world, but there is a way to deal with this known danger and much of it is about building and maintaining strong bonds with those we love and value. We need to reach out to our friends and family both physically and on-line and continue to build our collective trust with one another. Whether face to face or in a virtual place, we are each others safety net."

John is a decorated Marine who served in Vietnam. 

Do Your Bit on Digital Veterans Day Nov 11

This is entirely awesome!  Talk about a global conversation...this is it!

I've mentioned here that we advise MyVetwork, the online community for our Nation's military service men and women and their families.  Active Duty, Vets, all branches, all conflicts.  And their families and friends and supporters, too.  It's an amazing interactive community.

 

On November 11, a bunch of superstars from the worlds of marketing, the military, and technology, are staging Digital Veterans Day (we call it "DVD" for short).  It seems to get more remarkable every day.  Those of us who will be in Cincinnati on November 11 will be at DVD headquarters, guaranteed to be a blast, especially with the opportunity to watch how the pros conduct a viral blitz online, using Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and all the other means at their disposal to get the word out.  Fast.

But folks taking part remotely will have an extraordinary experience as well.  We've now got people all over the U.S., plus Hong Kong, Paris, you name it...asking for the DVD digital "toolkit" so they can be part of the action.  The folks at Bridge Worldwide, the amazing media folks who are hosting the Cincy event and providing all the tech expertise, have outdone themselves.  They are led by Marty Boyer, who really knows his stuff.  Thanks to his team, and the P&G tech people--led by Josh Becker-- with whom they're coordinating this, people taking part remotely can watch the Cincy action, see the scoreboard which will record activity, etc. 

The team at TBWA\Chiat Day, led by TBWA's Global Chief Marketing Officer Laurie Coots, have volunteered their efforts to create amazing marketing assets for DVD: everything from video clips to animated banners to blurbs of all sorts.  You can check out the video clips right now.  We've got Rajiv Srinivasan, a US Army Lieutenant now serving in Afghanistan who talks of how people on active duty need MyVetwork.  We've got Peter Kim, recently graduated from Columbia University, telling how valuable MyVetwork is for vets transitioning to a civilian workplace.  We've got Tara Crooks, from Army Wife Talk Radio, who talks of how families can use MyVetwork. And Jay Chalnick explaining how the MyVetwork community works...You can check out all the video clips here...

If there is even a remote possibility of your taking part in DVD on November 11 wherever you are--home, school, the office, with friends at Starbucks--do contact Jay Chalnick at jchalnick@wf360.com for the digital toolkit.   Put up some banners, send them to friends, send them to everyone you know who is supportive our service men and women and their families.

And even if you can't take part on November 11, help us spread the word before then by putting banners on your blog, send to friends, go crazy.

Let's make this a viral conversation like none other.  Here's to Digital Veterans Day November 11...all over the world!

Guestblog: First words you learn in the USA

How are you?

Those are the first words heard by a newcomer to the United States of America. You can answer with “fine”, or you ask the counter question (“How are you?”) or the third way of responding is, you ignore it.

Do you think people are really interested in you and “how you are” at this moment? No, I don’t think so...the question is more a friendly way of saying “hey.”  And a question like “How are you?” starts every conversation on a friendly basis. And that is a good feature. Or is it?

I’m Max Kellner, an intern at Wf360.  I come from Berlin, the capital of Germany.  It’s a big City with 3.5 million people and an area a little bit smaller than New York City. But New York is not the same as Berlin. They are two amazingly different cultures. Perhaps it would be best to describe my experience after my first month here with adjectives: fast, busy, cool, chic, crazy…that sounds for me like a typical metropolitan City.  But in what ways does New York distinguish itself from Berlin or even all Europe?

Sometimes when I sit in the train I feel like a European. I’ve got the notion that everyone must see that I’m a foreign person. European clothes, different way of sitting or not enough coolness… I don’t know…something must define me. Or is it just fantasy? The last few days, my roommate confirmed my idea that there are differences between the two of us.

  

The best way to the see differences is to go to places where all people must go.  For example: the shopping market. In my eyes, the typical New Yorker around my age has an IPod, sneakers and wears baggy pans, most of the time with a baseball cap. That is the cliché, but I think it is accurate. However…the cliché says nothing about the person and if you answer the question “How are you?” in the third way that I mentioned above (by ignoring the question), then you never will learn more about the American culture beyond the stereotype, that is certain.

Furthermore I’ve learned that here you must get comfortable with being very open to others.   That appears to be very normal here. People talk to you in the train, bar, supermarket, elevator and all other places. It’s normal and the people don’t appear annoyed.  At least most of the time.  That is a big difference from Germany, where people are more reserved.

Everyday is a new day for me. Often I’m not sure I’m doing the right things. I want to give you an example. Last weekend, I went to a Bar in SoHo, which had live TV coverage from Yankee Stadium. What I didn’t know is that the Yankees (Blue/white shirts) were playing against the Los Angeles Angels (red shirts). The problem on this evening was that I wore a red shirt, so I looked like a real LA Angels baseball fan. That is the reason I got in trouble with a group of three drunken people after the game:  all because of my red shirt. It was crazy! I don’t know what the people were talking about but I understood from they behavior that something was wrong with me.

   

Those are the small things you learn over time. You don’t learn these things from a book; if you come into these situations like I have, you will be learning it from experience. Guaranteed!

Guest blog: My conversations in Manhattan

I’m Daniela, coming from Berne, Switzerland and doing a four-week internship at the Wf360 Company. This is my first time in New York but I have already traveled around California and Florida. I have been in New York City for almost 8 weeks.  I love it!

This whole 24-hour lively atmosphere amazes me.  I live in Chelsea right on 8^th Avenue, at 25^th Street. Even though the apartment is on the 18^th floor I still hear every siren and every other possible noise coming from the streets.  So I live directly “in it”. Sometimes when I watch TV I don’t know whether a noise comes up from the streets or if it’s in the background of the movie. That sometimes makes me feel I am in my own movie.

Once I sat at a table at the window in the Starbucks in Grand Central Station when out of the blue the woman sitting next to me started to talk to me. This is another thing I like about New York and still surprises me every time. In Switzerland it is uncommon to start to talk with somebody you don’t know. If it’s not in a bar or in a club, it’s quite unusual. Here, people start a conversation with strangers anywhere, whether waiting in a line or in a stuck subway or in a store. And when they hear my accent, they are curious as to where I come from. Even if it’s only small talk it might lead to some kind of relationship. It makes the whole adventure here in NYC even more interesting because you don’t know whom you might meet on any given day.   

To get back to this woman in the Starbucks - she asked me “Isn’t watching people here better than TV?!”. Of course I agreed. Both of us were observing all the many different people passing by. There was one man who stood out from the crowd. He was standing close to the wall, while all the people were rushing by, trying to catch their train. Nobody noticed anybody else; they were too busy getting as soon as possible to wherever they were going. This man was very nicely dressed and was holding a bunch of flowers. He had already been waiting for quite a long time and kept checking nervously on his blackberry. So we wondered about him, and were talking about who he was going to meet and guessing about what that person would look like. Who would it be? A good friend, his mother, a first date? Finally there was a happy ending to our “movie.” A pretty woman arrived and they happily walked away, hand in hand.

That is how we started our conversation, and ended up talking for almost 1 hour and half. We agreed on how important it is to always take some time for one’s self, even if it’s short, just to escape from the daily stress and rush.

It is always so interesting to see how other people think and you can always learn a lot. We even made an appointment to meet another day, to continue our chat. For me this was one of the nicest experiences during my stay here. To get to know people to whom you somehow feel connected, and you share similar points of view makes me feel more at home here.

Another example of a lovely encounter: yesterday, sitting the first time on the bus M104, I was looking around to make sure I wouldn’t miss my stop. The elderly lady next to me started to talk with me, in order to help me. It turned out that she also spoke German and has relatives in Switzerland. She told me she has been living for more than 70 years in New York. I was impressed by her lasting delight in the city. It was funny;- she sounded like me when she was saying that she loved the city and that there was always so much to do.

It’s true that there is a wide range of great activities around the city. From the different neighborhoods to explore, to all the shopping stores – which sometimes are open even late at night – to the Broadway shows and Exhibitions, to the wide nightlife and great varieties of restaurants with food from all over the world. Just to mention some…

In New York it’s impossible to get bored, even if you just sit somewhere to relax or rest your legs from all that walking, you have an interesting movie flashing by in front of your eyes. And it’s all free.

New York Marathon Conversations

As a New Yorker, I take a somewhat cynical view of Marathon craziness as it nears and seems to take over the City in terms of crushing crowds on the subway; people commandeering the sidewalk while gazing at a map; crowded restaurants.  You get the picture.  Actually, from an economic point of view the marathon is big business for Gotham and we welcome it.  There was lots of talk this year about it getting too big, too crass, too focused on elite runners.  But the fact that 42,000 people officially registered for the run argues that a lot of people think it is a great idea, indeed, to torture themselves into running for over 26 miles, even if they're not in their prime.  And I say bully for them.

At about 4 PM yesterday, we walked over to the 24 mile marker yesterday to watch the race.  This means that the runners who passed in front of us were a little more than 2 miles away from completing their goal.  Most of them were struggling (the elite and faster runners had long since passed).  I imagine this group of runners had not even gotten started until 2 1/2 to 3 hours after the official start of the race.  In any event, all were pretty slow, some walking, some really dragging.  But they were clearly determined to finished.

We quickly got into the spirit of the crowd and picked up the modus operandi.  The deal is, most of the runners have their first name written large over their chest.  What a brilliant idea!  It means that those of us--nearly everyone in our part of the crowd--standing there and shouting encouragement were total strangers to these marathoners.  But because we could say "Attaboy, George;" "Good job, Natalie!;" "You're almost their, Sigfried!:" we focused on those with the names and we encouraged them as if they were our best friend.  And to a person, they responded, generally looked up and smiled, gave a thumbs up, nodded, gave some sign of recognition and thanks.

I realize there is a conversation going on, even in a marathon, between the performer and the observer.  The runners were clearly influenced by our enthusiasm and support.  We were right there with them and we carried them, as supportive conversations do, through the rough patch of "almost-there-ism" to the blessed end of the race. 

I'm thinking of how important that first name on the shirts is in this conversation between bystander and runner.  If you can't identify someone by name, your message is general and doesn't touch them. 

One of the runners was a woman connected by a strap to another who was blind.  Both of them had their names on their shirts.  As she ran by with him, she silently pointed her finger over his head, at him, letting the crowd know it was his name they should shout.  That was they way he would "see" the crowd and know it cared about him and his triumph of completing a 26+ mile marathon.  Without his name, we wouldn't have been able to let Neil know that yes, we were there for him.  Specifically cheering Neil, our hero of the moment.

Seems to me the lesson here is to "put your name on it."  Always.  Let people know you are responsible for whatever it is you are doing, and proud of it.  Make sure you are doing work that is so good you are pleased to sign it.  Pleased to let others know you did it and so there! 

After all, life is itself a marathon.  Just make sure people know you were there, you were running, and you just did it.

Judith Fox And I Still Do

Wednesday evening, I went to a book signing as a favor to the photographer/writer Judith Fox, whose personal story of love and partnership is stunningly told in her powerful new book, I Still Do: Loving and Living with Alzheimer's. The signing was at Pfizer's headquarters in Manhattan and it was a rainy, unpleasant night.  I intended, by showing up, simply to add to Judith's audience and support her as a friend. 

However, it became much more than that.  Judith spoke--movingly, as I knew she would--about the book and how important it is for this horrendous disease to be addressed seriously, around the world, in the effort to find a cure.  Listen to Judith Fox here. 

I was struck that in Judith's remarks, and in those of Pfizer's executives responsible for that Pharma's efforts to find a cure for the disease, there were several references to the need for a "conversation" about this disease.  A "national conversation" was called for, someone said and, at another point in the presentation, it became a "global conversation."  This sparked my interest, of course.  A conversation about Alzheimer's?  How--beyond depressing participants--could that be of value?

Major value, as it happens.  On several levels, a wide-spread conversation is exactly what is needed.  At the most personal, the level at which a family is affected when a member is struck by the disease, the more people are willing to talk about it, to abandon their denial, the more quickly action can be taken that can at least slow the disease's ravages.  At the civic level, it is important for communities to be aware of Alzheimer's patients among their citizens so they can take collective and intelligent action to help them as well as their caregivers.  At the national level, countries can lead the charge so that their citizens enter and shape the conversation, and their corporations can show support in ways that make sense: after all, sustaining a viable, healthy workforce (the impact on family care-givers of this disease is yet to be calculated meaningfully, but it is a seriously expensive--in societal terms alone--disease) is critically important to the financial health of a nation.  So every conversation can add to the pool of information, of concern.

It was noted that France's President Sarkozy has placed major importance on the disease, as have Scandinavian countries and several others. Pfizer executives talked of their intention to place Alzheimer's on the agenda for the upcoming Davos program in Switzerland, so that business and thought leaders can be brought into the conversation and determine how they can collectively do something about it.

As a friend, I know Judith to be a brilliant conversationalist.  What I had not known, until I heard her speak to an audience about the disease, is how compellingly conversational she can be in describing its impact, its sadness, its challenges, as well as the opportunities it has given her to expand her repertoire both professionally and personally.  

In short, Judith has sparked a conversation that most people would prefer not to have.  It's clear she has approached this project like the extraordinary entrepreneur she is: as a problem that needs to be solved and for which it is necessary to marshal powerful collaborators. To that end, she has brilliantly partnered with a major pharma, Pfizer, which is dedicated to its work of finding an eventual cure.  I urge you to purchase Judith's truly beautiful book.  And consider listening in to the conversation Judith has initiated to help find a cure for this brain-robber disease.

Conversation As Intersection

My good friend Al Chase, the magnificent leader of White Rhino Partners (how he came up with that name is a story in itself), is dedicated to finding, promoting and sustaining exceptional leadership.  White Rhino Al hosted a program last Spring which he dubbed "Intersection: The Heart of a Leader."  It was a confab in Boston that gathered a diverse group of people--primarily from the worlds of academia, the arts, business, and the military-- to spend two days discussing leadership and how each of four disciplines trains for and uses leadership and--perhaps most importantly--ways in which they can both learn from and teach one another. 

Gathering people from the worlds of academia and the arts and business is not unusual. Adding military leaders to the mix is novel.

Apparently Intersection 1.0 was so well received, it's back in response to popular demand.  Now entitled Intersection 2.0, sounds like a blast.  (I'm not surprised people rave about it. I've gotten to know Al in this past year and have cleared my calendar to take part in Intersection 2.0.)

I like Al's concept of bringing in folks who are good speakers, but turning the tables on expectations of being "talked at."  (Thank Heavens; we are all getting a bit weary of listening to others talk at us.)  Al focuses, I'm told, on creating a true intersection of thought. He does it by mixing and matching attendees in ways that will force active listening as well as provocative exchange of ideas and solutions.  I've heard of several of those he plans to showcase: Scott Smiley, a West Point instructor who was blinded in an IED (improvised explosive device) explosion in Iraq, is one.  Another is Andreas Widner, co-founder of The S.E.V.E.N. Fund, who was a personal body guard to Pope John Paul 11 (who knew?).  Somehow, Al will sandwich into the weekend excerpts from Les Miserables, presented by performers from Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music (Al says he'll use characters from Les Mis to exemplify different kinds of leadership role models), as well as a concert by blue grass artist Jake Armstrong.

 

You gotta love this, no?  My involvement in MyVetwork--the on-line community for our military service men and women and their families--has made me aware of lots of good things happening in the military world, especially around leadership.  In fact, that's how I met Al, after hearing about the remarkable work he does in placing military leaders into high powered civilian roles.  I'm eager to experience the intersection (!) of whatever the military folks are doing well, with the worlds of business, academia and the arts where new leadership approaches are both needed and welcome.

I'll let you know how it goes.  Meanwhile, you may want to join us. I know folks are coming in from Seattle, Houston, D.C., to take part.  Check with Al to see if there are still a few places left. 

Do You Want ToTalk To Chuck?

Have you seen the ads for Charles Schwab, the financial services company?

The ads are a series of bad-case scenarios ("I was closer to retirement at 40 than I am at 50") followed by some version of "Talk to Chuck".  They mean Chuck, as in Charles...as in Schwab).

Instead of talking benefits, Schwab is talking relationships in their ads.  They're basing their messaging on their view that in the financial services arena, trust is key.

They're positing that if you have someone--a real person --someone personified by Charles Schwab in your corner when it comes to financial matters, you'll be taken care of.  You'll be OK.

How about your business?  Do people know who the CEO is?  If not, would they care?  In Schwab's case, he's the Founder of the company and is positioned as caring how his company treats his customers.  HIS customers.

If the CEO of your company were made the center of a new ad campaign for the brand, would that be effective?  A disaster?  Why?

Nov 11 Digital Veterans Day Now Even Cooler

I've talked in a few previous posts about the amazing Digital Veterans Day "DVD" taking place November 11.

It's all thanks to a passionate group of vet supporters applying 21st century tech and marketing know-how to the MyVetwork on-line community's efforts to scale its membership big-time.  Their audacious plan is to take this military family on-line community to the max.  A core group of marketing gurus from P&G and other corporations has invited military, corporate and techie types to come to Cincinnati November 10 and take part in this to-the-max blowout, viral style.

About 100 of us will gather at the headquarters for Bridge Worldwide, a company with big rep for totally cool tech/media work.  Bridge's Marty Boyer is pulling out the stops in terms of providing the space, the computers, and all the rest of the wizardry needed that night.  

But before we even get started in Cinci, a group in Geneva Switzerland will officially launch DVD before doing a hand-off to another team in Afghanistan.  From there, the DVD will bounce to Cincinnati.

And the project has just gotten even cooler.  As tempting as gathering in Cinci (or Geneva and Afghanistan) is, some folks have said they'd like to take part wherever they are in their own town, at home, school, in the office, with a bunch of people at Starbucks. So the DVD team has responded. 

So as long as a satellite site has a computer webcam, a remote group will be good to go to participate real time in the DVD wildness.  The DVD guys will set up a video link-up with web conferencing software that works via a web browser that can accommodate concurrent users, wherever they are. 

We're going to learn first-hand how a carefully orchestrated viral promotional effort is done on-line, taught by world experts at this.

And ultimately, it's all about our military service men and women.  Can't imagine a better way to spend Veterans Day, November 11, than as part of the DVD team.  If you want to get involved wherever you are, give Jay Chalnick a holler.  He's at 212 452 4800.  And his email is jchalnick@wf360.com

And if you just want to help promote this effort to serve our service men and women, contact Jay for banners and widgets that you can put on your own site or blog or just email to a friend.  Spread the word: Digital Veterans Day is coming!!!

Good Hair Bad Hair

My friend Laurie and I went to the movies yesterday, specifically to see "Good Hair", in which Chris Rock explores the several billion dollar industry devoted to the care of, straightening of, relaxing of, weaving of, black women's hair.

The movie is both riotous and provocative.  And food for thought...and conversation.  Laurie and I talked at length about the flick and our responses to it.

First, Chris Rock is a genius.  He's good at many things, including being funny.  He has the rare gift, as Laurie points out, of knowing when to ask a question...then stop, be silent, and wait for the response.  So many of us, when interviewing others, or in a sales pitch, or an important dialogue, get panicked when silence follows our question or comment.  The truly skillful people know--difficult as it is--that this is the time for patience.  It's tempting--in fact, sometimes irresistible--to add another question or comment rather than face the silence.  But if you can wait it out, you'll find gold.  Inevitably, someone will say something and it will most often be valuable. 

That's true in this film, basically a string of interviews of people who build a moving, compelling, amazing story about African American hair.

I've been on a number of conference telephone calls led by Lucas Watson, Head of Global Digital Strategy at P&G.  He is a master at this kind of questioning.  He'll ask a question, for example "...anyone have something to add to what John just said?"  Most of us, after waiting a couple of seconds and getting no response, will plunge back in with something like "Well, perhaps the sales effort in that part of the world is premature..."...whatever plays our own hand without learning what the group thinks.  Lucas just waits.  On every call in which I've participated, he is able to wait after asking a question, even though it may appear awkward...and then, someone on the call says something and we're off and running.  Importantly, this means people other than Lucas are thus accountable for the outcome of the discussion.  More opinions come in to the mix.   Instead of becoming a series of people reporting in to Lucas, it is a true discussion, and one in which everyone has an opportunity--is encouraged--to be heard.

"Good Hair" is a kind of documentary, introduced by Chris Rock's story about his two little daughters, one of whom asked him one day, Daddy, why don't I have "good hair?"  So, he says, he began to explore the topic.  He takes the audience on an hilarious tour of beauty shops frequented by women who "relax" their hair with poisonous--apparently dangerous--solutions that straighten the hair.  He takes us to barbershops where men do the same, but more than talk they talk freely about the women who spend lots of money and time trying to get "good hair."

And he takes us to the factories where the relaxant ("Creamy Crack," as at least a few women describe it...because you get addicted to using it) is manufactured.  He takes us to the largest convention focused on black hair products, held annually in Atlanta and attended by over sixty thousand people in the business: they either sell products, style hair, weave hair, cut hair...it's all about the hair.

Most noteworthy is his trip to India to see the source of most of the hair that is woven into Afro-American women's hair here in the US.  It appears that 80+% of the Indian population at one time or another gives their head of hair away, to their religious temple, to honor their god.  In other words, they give their hair away (usually leaving them at least temporarily bald) and that hair travels through several distribution channels before it becomes woven into a Black women's hair. 

And this weaving process is not inexpensive.  According to Chris Rock, women spend as much as $1000 every time they get their hair woven, and that is generally several times a year. 

It's a huge business.  And for what purpose?  At the end of the film, Chris Rock says that when asked, he'll tell his daughters he's less concerned with what's on their head than what's in their head.  But will they feel the same?