Russell Davies

american copywriter

I've been listening to American Copywriter for ages, but it struck me this morning that I've never blogged about it, so now I will, by writing a highly reader-friendly list - 7 reasons why planners should listen to American Copywriter :

1. It's funny, clever and loud. You should listen because it's good.

2. You're a planner, if you don't know what makes creatives tick you'll be no good at your job. This is a chance to listen to some creatives thinking out loud. How valuable is that?

3. They remind you that strategy is only a tiny bit of the battle. Maybe the least important bit. The recent radio edition, for instance, should remind us all that the most important meeting in advertising is the pre-pro - this is where the things that make an ad good happen. You should try and get involved in them.

4. They remind you that making great communications is, above all, a craft. And that some skills - like getting a voiceover guy to deliver all the words he's supposed to say in exactly 14.8 seconds - are not going to replaced by any amount of social media widgets or clever digital doodahs.

5. They're enthusiasts. Enthusiasm is good. It's America's gift to the world. They're on their 40th of these things, ranting and talking about ads and stuff and you can tell that they're still enjoying it. Brilliant.

6. Again, in the Radio Edition, you get to hear some belly-aching about the US soccer team, which is always amusing.

7. I don't know. Just listen. You should.

hans, ken and ted

Two of the best presentations I've ever seen are now available at TED, along with a bunch of others which are also dead good. And they've blogged them in a great way - making them available in all kinds of formats, including letting them be posted on your own blog. Like this:

The first is Ken Robinson, talking about education and creativity in a very funny, very wise and slightly strange way. No charts, no notes, just talking. Genius.

The second is Hans Rosling talking about development issues, the presentation of data and the gap between rich and poor. And by contrast he's all about the charts - and they're the best I've ever seen. And it doesn't hurt that he presents them with enthusiasm and a quiet, warm wit.

So hurrah to TED for sharing this stuff in a really, well, share-y way. But also full marks for them in joining the open world, which must have been a difficult decision for an organisation which gets a lot of perceived value from its exclusivity.

I am beardy, hear me roar

It seems monunmentally arrogant to link to an interview with yourself but hey, if a blog's not about startling levels of narcissiscm what is it about? I met up with Paul Colman a week or so ago and we chatted about all sorts of things. Despite his protestations of incompetence he's a really good interviewer. Asks good questions, doesn't butt in all the time like I do. Plus he's a very nice bloke (with a lurking air of menace due to his apparent ability to cycle for 6 days at a time with no rest and break planners in two with his bare hands). The first bit is here and it's about brands and that, the second one is about blogging and stuff (and I think it's more interesting). They're both pretty long which is testament to Paul's ability to keep people going and my love for the sound of my own voice. I originally thought this kind of thing was way too long but I'm actually wondering whether this extended interview isn't one of the merits of podcasting. It's not like you can do it in any other medium. And it lets you get beyond the soundbites. But maybe I wouldn't think that if it was an interview with someone other than me.

By the way, any conference organisers out there - can you please use this picture as the head shot for me from now on?

I thank you

life poster

Remember that burst of posts about the guy who made a rather splendid Lifeposter for himself. I really wanted one, but the instructions seemed rather laborious and it involved owning a copy of Photoshop. Now, I'm as excited by Make as anyone (I'm a subscriber), but there are some things it's better to pay other people to do. And now, exactly that opportunity has come along. Qoop has turned up on the front page of flickr offering to make all sorts of things from your pictures, and all you have to do is send them some money.

With 5 minutes and $20, (inc shipping) I've got a lovely poster coming of every picture I put on flickr in 2005.

little future

Schulze and Webb have demonstrated a ton of really interesting projects on their site. (Also check out Metal Phone). But Availabot is my favourite. This little guy stands to attention when your chat buddy's online, and collapses when they're not. Brilliantly simple. So many people have little toys and figures on their desk; this makes that phenomenon useful - and trickles some useful information to the edge of your attention.

Even better, they reckon they can personalise each figure (in the early prototype days anyway) so it can look like you, or I guess like the person you might be chatting with. I wonder if you can do them serially, there's about four people I reguarly chat with, if they could all be lined up - showing their respective availability, that'd be perfect.

something to see

I like is one of the loveliest and most personal sites you could hope to see. And now Anne I like has  started another splendid thing - nothing to see here. It's a growing compendium of the obscure and overlooked places that don't get visited much, but should. My personal favourite is The Knitted Village in Lancaster. Genius. (Full disclosure: Anne's been kind enough to let me contribute my own strange ramblings about Scotland's Secret Bunker) I bet some of you have got somewhere odd and overlooked near you, maybe you should contribute too.

pink air

I notice a few people have been rediscovering Howard Gossage recently, like Iain, and Faris. I was first introduced to his works and thoughts by a planner called Jeffre Jackson who was a strange and brilliant man I met at wieden in Portland. He's still strange and brilliant and now he's started a blog called Pink Air in tribute to Gossage's most famous campaign. Although Jeffre's a friend I have to say I hate his blog. Because every post is genius - thought-provoking, precise and bursting with interesting and contrarian ideas. The bugger.

It's worth starting with his intro on interestingness, then move to interestingness II. Then read everything he's written, but especially people_not_ready, hooray for ignorance, creative rebar and we are glass. He's got a way with words.

brilliantly pointless

Stuart at w+k pointed me at this brilliant computer/art site which has implemented a way of watching world cup games as ASCII streams. If there's a game on you can go to the site and click on one of the links at the bottom with some telnety programme, like terminal on the Mac. If you can't get it to work, or you're too late for a game, or you can't be arsed, this is a few seconds of video of it here. (About 500k) It's fab. Thanks Stu.

innocent summer planning

This is a great example of the kind of thing a blog can distribute for you. A simple, fun, interesting idea, related to the values of the brand, that gives a little bit of extra value to your real fans - the people who've made a little bit of effort to opt into a relationship with you.

I shall be attempting as many of these as I can this summer and will report back on progress.

Actually, maybe we could try it communally, and set up a flickr group to show how we're doing.

innocent blogging

Innocent drinks have quietly started blogging. Which is fantastic. The brand excudes such a genuine, funny and human voice that it's going to be fascinating to watch the way they blog. Hurrah for them. And shame on every other drinks company that has nothing to say and no courage to say it.