I am Jamaica's husband, Foursquare's comm director, Personality's founder, and a catalyst for CFCC.
I'm also blogging at:
Personality™
Church Marketing Sucks
September 2008 Archives
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September 27, 2008
Office Party at the Office
Filed under: Brad Works
I have a great team at Foursquare. Their creativity never ceases to amaze me, and yesterday was no exception. Our associate editor (Marcia) and web project manager (Geoff) are getting married next month. They met before they started working here and it's been exciting for all of us to see their relationship evolve over the past year.
Because many of us on the Comm team are fans of The Office, we decided to put together a little Office-themed party for Geoff and Marcia. After we donned the character of our Office counterpart, we shared a meal, played a little Office trivia and concluded with a video that says it all.
Go team!
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September 22, 2008
Stupid, Technology
Filed under: Media
There's a great article by Damon Darlin in yesterday's New York Times about technology's effect on our mind. Darlin's article is somewhat of a summary supplement to Nicholas Carr's Atlantic column from earlier this summer, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"
Of particular interest was the point about how normal it is to fear—even shun—technological innovation. "Socrates feared the impact writing would have on man's ability to think. The advent of the printing press summoned similar fears."
When Hewlett-Packard invented the HP-35, the first hand-held scientific calculator, in 1972, the device was banned from some engineering classrooms. Professors feared that engineers would use it as a crutch, that they would no longer understand the relationships that either penciled calculations or a slide rule somehow provided for proficient scientific thought.
But the HP-35 hardly stultified engineering skills. Instead, in the last 36 years those engineers have brought us iPods, cellphones, high-definition TV and, yes, Google and Twitter. It freed engineers from wasting time on mundane tasks so they could spend more time creating.
It's an exciting time to be alive, isn't it?
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September 17, 2008
ECHO Conference Intro
Filed under: Abare News
I just saw that the ECHO fellows posted the hilarious Johnny & Chachi speaker intro videos from the ECHO Conference last month. (My intro is below.) By the way, if you haven't seen the "Teamwork" video by Johnny & Chachi, you're missing out.
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September 13, 2008
Advice for Job Seekers
Filed under: Wisdom
One of my younger brothers sent me his résumé earlier this week. He wanted me to look it over and help sharpen it up a bit. He's been working the same job for the past several years and has moved up in title and responsibility, but he's just not feeling his stride. He lives in New York City and is a lethal mix of creativity and dependability. Those two strengths are not often found in the same person, but for my brother, he's got it. His challenge is getting that message across to potential employers.
A one-page résumé has got to be one of the worst methods ever invented for being able to show who you are, what you're made of, and why someone should hire you.
For the most part, I'm convinced that employers want to see passion and then profession. I want to work with people that want to work with me. If someone is just looking for a job, I'm not interested. But if you're looking for a place to grow, a place to bring your A-game, a place to collaborate with others and move closer to world domination, I want to talk.
A résumé is not going to do all of this for job seekers. I suggest you spend less of your time cleaning up your past and instead focus on getting the attention of your next employer. Consider:
- Jumping out of a cake
- Posting a video appeal on YouTube
- Writing a song about you and the new company
- Have ten friends hand-write a letter suggesting you
- Send a link to a mock-up of how you'd design things
- Hold a sign outside as people enter the office in the morning
This is not about gimmicks or being obnoxious. This about connecting the passion you have to work there with the passion they have to find the right people.
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September 11, 2008
Church Is A Whore, Mother
Filed under: Rant
If it weren't for all of the 'Christians' out there, I think there would probably be more of them. I bumped into two reasons this week that might cause one to jump ship. Consider the groovy ministry moves from this trio or the outdoor sign for a church in Ohio. I'll be honest, this stuff gets me really fired up.
When movies like Lord, Save Us From Your Followers come out I am both embarrassed and encouraged. Embarrassed by our conformity, consumerism and counter-productivity. Encouraged by the pockets of people all over the world that are replacing idiocy with love. St. Augustine said it best. “The church is a whore but she is my mother.”
Last night, Jamaica and I went to a fundraising gala for the Dream Center. It's an organization that effectively helps society's forgotten, abandoned and isolated people come back to whole and healthy living. The stories of people who are finding their dreams again and getting over the junk that has been holding them back were inspiring.
One of the ladies at our table last night made an interesting comment. In contrast to the many things we have to complain about when it comes to how whacked and weird Christians can be, she said, "but we're not giving up!" We're not going to throw in the towel and pursue something else. Instead, in the words of Michelangelo, we're going to "criticize by creating."
Church, you can be a real whore sometimes, but Dad is still crazy about you so I'll follow his lead of love.
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September 6, 2008
Beautifying Public Spaces
Filed under: Inspiration
Ever since Jamaica and I moved to downtown Los Angeles two years ago, we've seen the need for some major TLC in public spaces. There are pockets of beauty downtown, but for the most part, it's pretty drab. We've seen a lot of improvements over the past couple years, but with Skid Row just three blocks from where we live, let's just say that beauty is a lot more internal than external around here.
I was quite inspired to see this video from my friend Jeff Shinabarger yesterday. It's such a simple, reproducible idea. I love it!
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September 1, 2008
Finding Grace, Give Us Your Poor
Filed under: Inspiration
Last November I clipped an article from Paste magazine written by Charles McNair. It was the story of Lynn Blodgett, the "Mr. Geekyfiftysomething, smelling of a boardroom" with a "necktie wagging like a madman's tongue." Blodgett, who runs a Fortune 500 IT company, has been taking pictures since he was 10 years old.
He's been taking photos of homeless people for years, and has put them into a project called Finding Grace. The project includes a photo book, music CD, a movie and a campaign to end homelessness. (I'm not sure how much momentum has been building over the past year.)
It's so encouraging to see the collaboration on this project both across mediums and across organizations and people.
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