Here's the third one. Couldn't really think of anything to say so here's some audio nonsense and some tunes I like. Enjoy.
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not urban spam
I think this is very definitely not urban spam. Because it's funny, original, appropriate and interesting. Which gives it value.
via MIT ad lab.
bad looking data at media 360
I'm sitting in what feels like the 1000th presentation at Media 360 where someone apologises for the business or density of their data chart. Like bad data design is somehow inevitable, like a force of nature, like all you can do is put the numbers in to excel or powerpoint and tweak it a bit and that's all you can do.
There are other options. The point is to communicate.
Don't apologise for it, make it better.
Look at gapminder, or presentation zen, or information aesthetics or even that old curmudgeon Mr Tufte. Data can be communicative and beautiful, if you only think about it.
(Above is a nice, simple-looking chart from gapminder, which is even better because it's part of a useful, explanatory animation)
that's influence at Media 360
Jim Hytner of Barclay's is talking now. Easily the most engaging speaker so far, perhaps he's got interesting stuff to say, talking about all the instore stuff they've been doing. (I think a lot of it done by Vital. ) NDG has been talking about this stuff a bit, and while some of it's mixed I think it's a decent step forward for a bank. (Not yet, Ziba and Umpqua, but a really nice start.)
And he's using Adam Morgan's challenger brand stuff to talk about how they've changed the way they do everything. Now, that's being an influential planner. I don't know if Barclay's paid Adam for any consultancy, but they should.
(Still loving, Spell with Flickr)
planning school collectivex - volunteers wanted
CollectiveX has had very good reviews from people like TechCrunch so I've set one up for the Planning School of the Web. They host discussions, files etc so it might be a good way of managing, hosting stuff and it might be a good place to try our discussion thing on the 23rd. (Though it's a bit network-y, lots of talk of leveraging connections, anyway). I've set up the group at planningschool.collectivex.com but I think I might have to invite you to join. So, can I have some volunteers who want to join, so we can try things out? I need your email address to invite you, so could you email me - russell at russelldavies dot com - if you're up for it.
And do our more technical brethren (and not complete neophiles like me) want to cast their eye over it and see if they think it'll be useful?
pop quiz - what would you call this?
Anne and I were sitting and considering whether to paddle in here or not. It's the North Sea. We decided not. And we thought that a lot of our reason for not doing it is the name. There's not much that's appealing about the name; 'The North Sea'. Sure, you can conjure up some romantic associations to do with duffle coats and chips but not enough to kick-start a paddling industry.
So here's a quicky Planning School assignment - what's a better name for the North Sea? Add your answer to this post. A new name and a 20-word explanation of that name. Best answer done in the next 7 days wins a signed copy of Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. (Signed by him, not me, I bought it at Borders)
Assignment 7 - Cruising, Grant, blogs
Another slight change of plan for Assignment 7. Here's how we'll do it:
1. The task is here. On Grant's blog.
2. You can write as much as you like. Use as many pictures, as many words, as many whatever. But your contribution has to be an entry on a blog of your own. Not a linked file. Not a comment on Grant's or mine. Something on a blog of your own. This means, if you don't already have a blog, you have to start one.
3. Because of this, I'm giving you a bit longer to do it. Your entry (in the form of a link posted as a comment on this post) has to be in by the end of June.
4. Grant and I will mark/judge these things by writing comments on your blog. Then I'll do a round-up of links on here, so it's an opportunity to get early publicity for your blog.
5. The prize will be two hours of my time. Which isn't a lot I know, but it's all I've got to give. I'll do some strategic stuff for you, I'll critique your portfolio, I'll chat to you on the phone, I'll knit you a scarf, I'll do whatever, but I'm not leaving my desk/home to do it, so it'll have to be something remote/virtual.
Image, again, courtesy of the brilliant Spell with flickr.
sun, sand, R.O.I.
I have to say, reservations about the actual conference room aside, this is a brilliant place to have a conference. (Though I imagine it's pricey). The hotel people are very nice and very efficient, as are the Haymarket people. And it's a long way from the London media village which is refreshing; and eliminates the people who aren't that committed. And, for those who are interested (and many media 1.0 people are) you can play golf.
And during lunch (when you're supposed to be networking) you can nip down to St. Andrews, which is lovely, and have a haggis roll on the beach. As I did with Anne, Arthur and J'onn J'onzz.
Assignment 6 - feedback from The Design Conspiracy
Here's the feedback on the assignment from The Design Conspiracy, many thanks to them for doing it much more efficiently, usefully and rigorously than I ever do. Bless them. And consider them for all your high-quality design need. I think all the feedback speaks for itself (included in each Powerpoint file) and here are their summary thoughts:
"First things first, we asked for entries to be in PowerPoint and no longer than 10 slides. Everyone passed that little test. Brilliant.
The brief was made up, but it's the kind of brief we get all the time. That's why we have a name for it. The Accidental Brand.
When we wrote the brief we wrote down 4 overall criteria that all the entries would be judged by:
1. Is it in PowerPoint and 10 slides or less?
2. Have they made the company / brief come alive?
3. Have they chosen a direction? Have they made decisions, or is it still ifs and maybes.
4. Is there an actual brief? Clear, concise instructions on what to do next.
As designers it's really easy to get swayed by nice looking things. Chuck some nice fonts into the mix and we're normally persuaded. We tried to avoid that, but it's worth remembering that how it looks is important. B is a fantastic example of this. If you can't make it look great (you're not a designer after all) then keep it simple. Really simple. Let the content do the talking. Like A and D.
Regarding the Time Out award Organarchie won - if they won 3rd place in 2004 and 2nd in 2005, then surely it's obvious to try and go for 1st in 2006? That's a clear aim. Not everyone mentioned that.
All the usual things Russell says apply here too. Don't over elaborate, don't take 3 slides to make one point. Make points. Pictures are good.
Seeing as we're Visiting Professors we've probably been harsher than Russell. We'll make no apologies for that, we won't bump into you in the canteen.
On that note we've graded the top 3 - 1st place goes to F, 2nd D, 3rd B. Congratulations. We've also added comments to the slides in the normal APSotW way."