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Understanding Millennials - A Vision of Students Today

Staffing, enriching diversity in the workplace, millennials working side-by-side with baby boomers on the heals of retirement. These are all common issues in our day-to-day consultation when working on projects with cross-functional work teams. The project lifecycle, the critical thinking, the process leading to the end product or  solution is all tied to the diverse perspective and learned / skilled approach engaging our client teams.

This extraordinary video is from a project by professor Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kansas State University and 200 of his students. It is a fascinating look specifically at what millennials are experiencing today - in how they learn, what they do within the learning process, what is expected and how they operate in the day-to-day.

This video, A Vision of Students Today, gave me goose bumps. There's so much to understand here that for "good or bad," the millennials expectations is a complex experience of participation, evaluation, response, collaboration in real-time "hyper-speed" environments. There's multi-tasking and hyper-tasking, but has technology helped or stripped millennials of time spent taking "deep dives" in creativity, analysis and interpretation. It's a profound look at what faces millennials today. I'll be interested in seeing what comes next when they go back to the "chalkboard."

Awesome!

AIGA Initiative - Get Out the Vote 2008

AIGA, the professional association for design has taken the charge to "Get Out the Vote," by creating an outlet for AIGA members (to participate, you gotta join) to design around the simple message to vote on election day 2008.Through print posters and YouTube submissions, AIGA has welcomed designers to "create" around this important call to action.

Since 2000, the AIGA initiative has welcomed the design and distribution of videos, motion graphic pieces as well as print materials like Get out the Vote posters.

"AIGA invites its members to create nonpartisan videos and motion graphics pieces that inspire the American public to participate in the electoral process and vote for a presidential candidate in the 2008 general election."

This year, the Get Out the Vote 2008 posters reflect a wide variety of styles and treatments, including many familiar iconic pop culture influences.

As AIGA notes, "good design makes choices clear."

Be sure to view the rest at AIGA Get Out the Vote 2008 posters, including the set of 24 posters chosen for professional printing and national distribution.  You can also download any of them available on the AIGA Web site as PDFs to save and print, like this one!

Also, be sure to view and share the video of 50 selected posters as well as the AIGA YouTube channel for more info.

Community Is Not a Tactic

There is a great article published in Adweek, "These Brands Build Community - How these Web 2.0 companies build good relationships to build their brands," that clearly and succinctly sums up what innovative (and successful) companies are doing, like Zappos, Threadless, Etsy, Craigslist and Yelp.

The key, the article clearly points to, is that these companies are "quietly building brands online on the strength of communities." While I would say there is nothing "quiet" about @Zappos interactive dialogue and "Tweet Evangelism" on Twitter or the "voice" of user-generated slogans and design and community ratings submitted for the latest and greatest Threadless T's slogans or the "raving fan base" of Etsy's marketplace, the article has a quote that is so worth stating over and over again...

"Community is not a tactic or marketing plan line item, but core to what [successful Web 2.0 brands] do. It means being hyper-responsive to customers, laser focused on usability, unapologetically human and OK with customers determining the course their businesses should take. The bonus: When they take off, these brands don't need to do much in the way of advertising, instead letting their customers spread the word."

This cannot be expressed enough in every aspect of your interactive/marketing plan. Community is so core to successful engagement today that it has got to be where your message becomes dialogue, your consumers become relationships and those relationships become inter-personal.

eMarketer Reports on User-Generated Content

In an April report by eMarketer, User-Generated Content: In Pursuit of Ad Dollars, U.S. Internet users are creating content in record numbers, and millions of other users are reading and looking at it. eMarketer studies this surge in user-generated content creation and provides answers to key questions:

• How many people are creating User-Generated Content in the US?
• How many people are consuming User-Generated Content?
• What are the demographics of content creators and consumers?
• Is User-Generated Content a fad?
• Can User-Generated Content be monetized?

The report also aggregates some interesting statistics on content creators and content consumers over the the next five years.

2008 | Year of the Video

Check out Viapress for a follow up to the post: Predictions Buffet for 2008 - Take Your Pick.

The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See

Going through my feeds this morning, my attention was grabbed by a post on TreeHugger that said there was a video on YouTube that was swirling around the Web like wild fire. From an online marketing perspective, that piqued my interest and I was curious what tactics were taken to garner such a viral WOM buzz.

Surprisingly, I was pleased to find a simple message with a simple call to action. Greg Craven, a high school science teacher, decided to whiteboard a clear matrix of options when it comes to global warming. With a whiteboard and a black marker, Carver's video is amazingly simple, yet compelling engaging visitors to listen to his theory, then do the same exercise to see what other thinking can be applied. He asks for a dialogue (a polite one at that). Craven commands this video with the passion of a teacher wanting to open minds and help critical thinking blossom. He asks viewers to do the same assignment he has demonstrated. He asks for conversation. He asks for people to spread the word.

In 2008, I'm increasingly aware and more impressed than ever at the power that user-generated content and online video holds. That sounds like a 2007 "no duh" revelation, but when you think about evolution here, everything has been exploration up to this point. We still haven't fully realized the value or full manifestation of user-generated content or online video for that matter. It's time like these, when one high school teacher can "teach" a community, perhaps even a global community, with one video "homework assignment."

The Visual Message Takes Hold In 2008
If you take "The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See" as an example, you'll see how the visual message can be so impactful.

I have a quote posted above my desk that I have held for years as my mantra. The quote reads...

Tell me and I forget.
Show me and I remember.
Involve me and I understand.
-Chinese Proverb

What makes this quote most relevant in this context is that it is exactly what this video is aiming to do. It's not a one way message in written word in print or electronic form. It's not an online form asking you to fill in the blanks. This is a visual walk through of a point of view. It is a position challenging critical thinking and feedback. Best of all, this video is an invitation to listen to the message, engage with the information provided, and then take action.

Sounds like Marketing 101 and look how effective this formula can be.

Watch, learn, and share with a friend...
Better yet, share with the world and create your own video to support or challenge this thinking. Carver's simple call to action is to keep the conversation going. It's that simple.

By the way, Carver has created another video with more added "effects."

How It All Ends

Quarterlife - Retooled TV Programming for the Net

Something to Watch on MySpaceTV

Today, Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, the creators behind My So-Called Life and ThirtySomething are launching Quarterlife -- a new Internet series and social network on MySpaceTV. Chronicled in 36 eight-minute Webisodes, this program rivals traditional "network quality, large scale production," says creator Marshall Herskovitz.

Watching the trailer, the concept is intriguing and the quality is impressive. Defined as a show about a group of twentysomethings coming of age in the digital generation, the main character is a video blogger and her friends' lives are fair game for commentary and coverage on her vlog.  Quarterlife will post two Webisodes a week. There will be forums on Quarterlife.com and viewers as part of the Quarterlife social network can submit videos, scripts and story lines to influence the developing plot. Quarterlife's social component goes beyond what TV is directly offering today. It invites viewers to "participate in the ongoing creation of the series." They say, "Be discovered as a writer, director, composer, photographer - find your next step as an artist and as a person." The flexibility and direct feedback from viewers give Internet-based video programming a new edge challenging traditional network offerings.

According to a September article in USAToday, by Gary Strauss, Quarterlife was originally pitched to ABC as an hour-long drama. After testing the pilot, the TV program was scrapped and retooled for the Web.

MySpaceTV which has featured serialized Web programs such as Lonelygirl15 was a good fit for Quarterlife. While mostly untested, this latest, and more large-scale production will push Web content to the next level.

With Current TV, MySpaceTV and YouTube looking for competitive video programming, it will be interesting to see how major networks respond.

See you at Quarterlife!

Green Thing - Do it!

Since Blog Action Day, we have been finding more and more great resources who are taking a stand and building community around saving the environment. Today, I came across this great community site Green Thing -- where everything is about taking action today.

Green Thing was started by two experts in online communications who saw an opporuntity and had the desire to make a difference worldwide environmentally. Green Thing's bottom line is:

"It will react and respond to the community. Green Thing is everybody's thing."

Green Thing Manifesto

• Green Thing is an easy thing. Because lots of small things can add up to more than a few big things, Green Thing suggests one easy thing a month to tempt as many people as possible to do it. Green Thing is also free which makes it easier to be part of.
• Green Thing is a creative thing. Because entertainment is very inspiring and lectures a bit less so, the monthly Green Things are suggested with brilliant content from brilliant writers, musicians, designers, directors and artists - pro and am, young and old.
• Green Thing is a not-for-profit thing. Because people are cynical about commercial or political agendas, Green Thing is an independent, not-for-profit thing powered by grants from foundations and individual contributions.
• Green Thing is a credible thing. Because people want to know that their action is making a difference, Green Thing is endorsed by some of the planet's leading environmental thinkers and reports back every month on the collective difference the whole community is making.
• Green Thing is a principled thing. There are certain things Green Thing will and won't do.

View It. Do It.
This month, the green thing is about walking. View the Green Thing video, explore their Wiki and sign up to get monthly updates on the next Green Thing to do.

Enjoy this lovely Autumn weekend... walking.

Erbert and Gerbert's Human Flipbook

Erbert and Gerbert, a mid-west based sandwich shop, came up with a great story -- to tell their story using stop-motion animation. Check out the making of their commercial for TV and Web. It's engaging from start to finish. See more at Human Flipbook.

The Future Belongs to the Uninhibited

New York Magazine has published an excellent feature article by Emily Nussbaum on Kids, the Internet and the End of Privacy: The Greatest Generation Gap Since Rock and Roll. 

This in-depth article examines how "kids nowadays" (pre-teen through college) interact in public life -- on Facebook, MySpace, LiveJournal, Flickr, Vimeo, YouTube and so much more.

This is a must read article which will leave you with many "ah ha's" and many thoughts as to "what's next for this generation and beyond"  At 30 and over, if you are perplexed at how open kids are with their online life, this article suggests three profound changes that define this generation.

• They think of themselves as having an audience.
• They have archived their adolescence.
• Their skin is thicker than yours.

Once you read this article, it may be interesting to see what similiarities you see in business as well. You may see how your competition (new entrants and future) may compete at a whole new level. Additionally, your competition may now have a completely different level of engagement with their employees, customers, and partners than you are accustomed to.

As most of these kids admit in the article, they have to be their own best PR. They need to be active in the community and establish their brand on their own terms. If not, they know it could be defined for them.

In business the same holds true.