planning paraphernalia

I saw the Brothers Grimm on a plane yesterday. ( I liked it, I love the worlds that Terry Gilliam creates). And I especially liked the paraphernalia that the Brothers used to perform their ousting of evil spirits. Instruments and tubes and wires and thingys in special compartments in special cases.

I've always been a sucker for that kind of thing.

I always wanted a special Joe 90 secret agent spy case.

And I always like the cases assassins have in movies - they open their case and all the tools of the trade are right there in proper little compartments cut into the foam. It connotes such authority and expertise. It tells you that they've got everything they need and nothing they don't. And that they know what they're doing, they've done this before.

Photographer's have some of the same thing going on, with their foam packed cases. And Doctors and Medics with their bags. And Boone in Pattern Recognition has a similarly impressive suitcase.

I wish planners had a similar need for paraphernalia - it would make the job less virtual, give it more authority. Maybe we should try and invent some. Small vials of gravitas, special insighting equipment and retractable briefing pods.

Comments

[Thomas]

Ah, but we do have those items, although I guess they make us look odd rather than provide us with authority. First, there is the camera. You need a clever, small point-and-shoot camera. I recommend the new Sony DSC-N1. Touchscreen adds to the appearance. Then there's the notebook, and of course a high quality pen to go with it. I'm personally a sucker for Moleskin notebooks. Especially this one:

http://www.mojolondon.co.uk/product.php?sku=02469

You might want to go with a different one, though.

Surely, there are other items that we absolutely cannot live without? All we need is that cool case to store them in.

[russell]

I'm with you on all those. It doesn't seem enough though. I don't think getting them out of a case wouldn't seem impressive enough.

And personally, I vote for the storyboard Moleskine. (http://www.mojolondon.co.uk/product.php?sku=02468). Though I think of it as a powerpoint notebook.

[Paul]

How about that screen Tom Cruise uses in Minority Report? You could slice up a focus group video, call up some sales date then drop in a movie clip.

Operators would have to develop a form of Planner Tai Chi to operate it properly... and of course you'd have to wear special gloves.

[A.]

It seems to me that Linus from the preceding post already solved the problem: philosophy book, security blanket, and chatting wall. Mystique and retro-chic combined. What more does one need, really?

[Thomas]

I would love one of those "spy" microphones that look like satellite dishes. Whipping out one of those from your suitcase to listen in on consumer discussions would certainly fit the role. Also, how about modified night goggles using a special frequency that allows planners to see through duh insights? I also quite like the Minority Report screen that Paul mentioned.

The storyboard moleskin is great, actually, although you run the risk of developing a severe case of Powerpointitis with it.

[Rad]

As we know, planners can pull off almost anything. We can look serious and expose our account/business brain. We can also look "arty" and express our creative tendencies.

One piece of gear that walks the fence between these two hemispheres of the brain is the zero briefcase. The courier bag was choice five years ago, but this gear carrier has become rather ubiquitous. A brilliant, stainless-steel briefcase is the new way we can pack our stuff and still look the part...whichever part that may be.

http://www.zerohalliburton.com/computers/aluminum/computer_zseries.jsp