Poking around the intersection of KM and Social Media
You’ve seen the challenge. It goes like this:
The rules: In no particular order, choose 10 albums, one per day, which made an impact (at some point in your life) on you. Post cover, no explanation, and nominate someone each day to do the challenge.
My friend Jason tagged me, and the result is this blog post.
I’m nominating you, since you’re reading this.
Post your list in the comments.
I first heard Trace Bundy on Pandora, and really enjoyed his music. Since then, Joan and I have seen Trace twice — in Hermosa Beach and again in Seoul, South Korea. Later this month, we’re seeing him again in Berkeley.
It may be difficult to imagine how an acoustic guitar concert could be so good, but this short 7-minute documentary gives you a sense.
Enjoy.
There’s a lot shit going down in the world today. On Facebook I’ve seen lines drawn and names hurled between people that I consider friends. I’m enthused that people are more engaged than ever in the political process, and hope that action goes well beyond spouting off on FB and putting everyone into a neatly labeled box.
And then my wife shared this beautiful three-minute film from director Asger Leth in Denmark.
I’m hopeful that we will remember all that we share in common.
Coffee table books have fallen out of fashion in today’s digital world. Our books are as likely to be bound by bits and bytes as they are by cloth and stitching. Yesterday a memory was jostled free from the cobwebs of my mind, recalling a book on my family coffee table when I was growing up.
The Family of Man was the epitome of coffee table books. It was filled with beautiful black and white photos of people around the world, catalogued from a 1955 exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
The exhibit was curated by Edward Steichen and featured 503 photographs from 68 countries, 273 of which were taken by amateur photographers. Many of those photos are etched into my memories and instantly recognizable.
Steichen considered it a collective portrait of humanity. I was too young to appreciate the larger message, but I remember sitting on the floor for what seemed like hours, slowly turning each crisp page and absorbing each photograph. The photos conveyed the gamut of human emotion and experience. What was that experience like? How are they feeling? My mind filled in the backstory and I connected with my extended family of man.
As it turns out, The Family of Man is still in print. There are probably quite a few coffee tables that could benefit from a copy. Maybe it can bring our family together.
A special message from the White House.https://t.co/YxFcHfA5qy
— House of Cards (@HouseofCards) December 1, 2014
Mark your calendar!
Back in May, a friend posted a note about the 30 Days of Creativity challenge. It’s an annual event designed to encourage and inspire personal creativity every day for each of the thirty days of June–with the added benefit of actually building a habit of creating.
I love a challenge. So I signed up and committed to creating something every day.
Most of my creations have a photographic root. I enjoy photography, and with my iPhone in my pocket, I always have a camera with me. For this challenge, I flexed my creative muscles, creating one haiku, two infographics, two sketches, one hand-lettered note, two videos, and of course, many, many photos.
One outgrowth of this is that I started up a Muir Monday meme that fits nicely with my hiking web site. Each Monday, I’m taking a photo that I took and combining it with words of wisdom from John Muir.
Here’s a collage of all thirty creations in chronological order, or you can view the entire set in all its interactive glory.
I encourage you to take on your own challenge. Flex your creative muscle. Go outside of your comfort zone. You might find it habit-forming.
I’ve been using the location-based social network Foursquare since 2009. Although it will come as no surprise to those who know me, my first check-in was at a Starbucks — although I was surprised to find it was in West Hollywood.
Since then, I’ve checked in 4,456 times, across the United States and around the world. What does this look like? Foursquare put together a Time Machine that takes you on a visual tour of your check-in history. Here’s what mine looked like:
I know some of you see Foursquare as a waste of time. I’ve found it useful, if for nothing else, as my digital memory. When my wife asks me, “What was the name of that souffle place in Paris that we loved?” I can tell her. And because I’ve used Foursquare regularly over the past four years, there’s a lot that the data says about me.
The Time Machine not only produces a slick animated history with an semi-annoying soundtrack, it also cranks out the requisite infographic. I’ve broken it into chunks to share my analysis.
First, there’s a heat map that shows where most of my check-ins have occurred. From 2009-2012, I lived in south Orange County, so this doesn’t really surprise me. You can see regular visits to places in Dana Point, as well as my work in Aliso Viejo.
Each of the colors represents a different kind of location. By far, most of my check-ins have been at restaurants and coffee shops. But the top spot goes to the office.
The category with the fewest check-ins is college and education. Again, since I’m not a full-time student, not surprising. When you look at the breakdown by year, you’ll notice a big growth in the number of outdoors and recreation check-ins. While I’ve always been active outdoors, I haven’t always made a point of checking in (you go outdoors to unplug, right?). Apparently my view has shifted.
My favorite place? No question about it — Starbucks. I’ve logged 830 coffee shop checkins. And my favorite food? The data says I love Mexican food best, followed closely by… tacos? Go figure.
When you look at patterns in activity, you’ll see that I most often grab a caffeine fix before heading to the office.
I was disappointed that their map didn’t show my international travel. But I have done a fair amount of travel around the country. My most visited cities? Where I live or work.
Not anything that I don’t have a pretty good general feel for. I like coffee (especially Starbucks) and Mexican food. I have been pretty consistent about checking in. And if marketers want to mine this data? Have at it. I’ll be watching my mailbox for invitations to coffee and tacos (I am, after all, a loyal customer).
What I love about Foursquare I’ve touched on before. I have a chance to share my experience with others. I learn from the experience of others (“try the french toast!”). And I have a virtual diary of where I’ve been, and when. That has proven useful to me personally over and again, and remains the main reason I continue to use Foursquare. Your mileage may vary.
If you’re a Foursquare user, give the time machine a spin yourself. And let me know what you think about living out loud, geographically-speaking.