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July 18, 2008 - Closed for Renovations, Comment on this

Nobody died and nothing burned down - unless you count my Internet connection a casualty. I'm working on it though, and hope to be online again, infecting your brains with yet more great ideas, soon enough =)


Directing Those Thousand Words Pictures Speak #2

Jun.10, 2008 in Brand 1 Comment

Directing attention with picturesby Patricia Mayo

In the first installment in this series on communicating a message with pictures, I introduced this concept and talked about the purpose of a picture, how to use images to draw attention, and putting the reader in the picture’s shoes.

This time I get to dig into one of my all time favorites - directing attention. The nuances of this use are just so much fun to me - not that I take great joy in fiddling with people’s heads. I just like figuring out each case and exactly how your eyes will be influenced by a picture. [Read the rest of this entry…]

Open Source Video Production

Jun.10, 2008 in Announcements, Podcasts Leave a Comment

I have all the footage uploaded from the National Conference for Media Reform, but since this ‘net connection sucks I can’t download them to edit and finalize them - until I get home.

So, if you would like, go ahead and take these videos and make your own mixes. Have a blast. Ping this entry and make them into video responses to my YouTube series so everyone knows where to find your great work!

(Seriously - there are about 15 heads of organizations I spoke with who are interested in seeing these videos, so your help is not only greatly appreciated, but will be rewarded with traffic if you make me link to you)

And - thanks! Or, as my conference buddy says - mahalo nui loa!

Thursday’s Videos: Set One | Set Two

Friday’s Videos: Set One | Set Two

Saturday’s Videos: Set One | Set Two | Set Three | Set Four

Sunday’s Videos: Only Set

June 7, 2008 - Unexpected Issues, Comment on this

In short, there's not enough hours in a day for a conference! I'll upload and edit the videos as soon as humanly possible, but it's gonna take a bit. For now, just follow on Twitter. Also just noticed that Liz Strauss has named me an SOB! Yeah, I need to pay better attention to that stuff... Thank you!


June 5, 2008 - Almost There!, Comment on this

Catching the plane to Minneapolis in just a few more hours. Be sure you don't miss out on all the great videos already on the conference playlist - there are 6 there so far (including a Diner Pajama Party!), with more coming every single day.


June 4, 2008 - Check, Check, and Check, Comment on this

Walking out the door in T minus 3 hours for the bus to Atlanta, Georgia so I can catch a plane on Friday to Minneapolis, Minnesotta. Keep an eye on the conference video playlist for updates! =D

Coming Up:

  • Finally meeting in person long-time buddy Sam... and the room mates I've heard so much about over the years
  • Taking a commercial plane for the first time in my life that I can remember (the last time I was 4)
  • Going to Minneapolis for the first time (and this is also the first time I'll remember being that far away from the east coast)
  • Meeting my fellow Hawaiian hotel roomie and bud for the conference Annie - she's quite a character!
  • And then, liveblogging the conference =D
Wish me luck!


Is Less Really Best?

Jun.04, 2008 in Pillars of a Great Blog, Writing 2 Comments

by Patricia Mayo

Maybe being lazy is a good idea, according to - you guessed it (well maybe you didn’t) - Seth Godin. He calls it “keeping copy out of the way of your message“… but I know better.

Lazy this week
Photo by Paul Mata

This isn’t the first I’ve heard of the concept. A lot of great and well-renowned books on copywriting say pretty much the same thing. Some of my favorite quotes by famous authors say pretty much the same thing.

Get to the point. Quickly.

But, you see, I have a little problem with broad stroke “solutions.” [Read the rest of this entry…]

Down Time and Such

Jun.03, 2008 in Announcements Leave a Comment

All of my web sites will be down from 10pm Pacific June 4th til about 4am Pacific June 5th while my host upgrades their servers.

Unlike the database error we experienced a little bit ago, this down time has warning - which makes me pretty happy - and is to fix the problems we’ve had so far - which makes me doubly happy. Interestingly enough, I already have a 12 email conversation going with the GM and company evangelist. Seems like these guys just recently went through a big money spend.

Cool beans.

June 3, 2008 - Media Reform Conference Videos, Comment on this


Getting Closer!

Wow, I'm getting really good at breaking things. It's kinda fun. You should try it. Go ahead, break your blog. It helps you figure out what is really important.