See Hear Speak

"The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally,..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 18:52:30 +1000

““The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanely sensitive. To them… a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create — so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, their very breath is cut off… They must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency they are not really alive unless they are creating.” ~ Pearl Buck”

- http://www.rebellesociety.com/2013/04/26/creative-rehab-seven-myths-about-creativity/

FROM BEETHOVEN TO WOODY ALLEN—THE DAILY RITUALS OF THE WORLD’S MOST CREATIVE PEOPLE AND WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM THEM

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:35:00 +1000

FROM BEETHOVEN TO WOODY ALLEN—THE DAILY RITUALS OF THE WORLD’S MOST CREATIVE PEOPLE AND WHAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM THEM:

Beethoven and Woody Allen bathed their way to genius. Dickens (and just about everyone else) walked. And you don’t want to know how Thomas Wolfe got the juices flowing. TAKING REGULAR BREAKS REFRESHES THE MIND. YOU DON’T HAVE TO HATE YOUR DAY JOB—IT CAN BE A BLESSING. CLEAN BODY, CLEAN MIND

"Creativity is the basis of self-expression. Why are some people supposedly more creative than..."

Sun, 12 May 2013 20:12:27 +1000

“

Creativity is the basis of self-expression. Why are some people supposedly more creative than others, and why can’t others open themselves up enough to be able to express who they are?

Creation is the birth of something, and something cannot come from nothing. When someone creates something: a painting, a poem, a photograph, the creativity comes from an idea, from a feeling, from emotion, or from a combination of ideas, feelings and emotions that are somehow ‘reborn’ from all our experiences and perspectives.

Creativity is the desire to express ourselves. To formulate these expressions, we have to draw from our reservoir of experience, dreams, desires and experimentation and mix together what was, what is, and what could be… I don’t think you can learn it, it is rather something that evolves. Your perception of everything in your life fills up this reservoir.

Some people are drawn to create and express themselves, others are drawn to reflect, to analyze. But in the end, they all could be creative if they had the desire to explore the way in which they are integrated in the world of their experiences. Because creativity is really a rebirth, a true tone we feel for ourselves and for our world. Then our work becomes a real part of who we are. Maybe all this is a question of how deep we are willing to go…

”

- Peter Lindbergh Creativity (via i-dont-have-time-to-die)

Great Thought Leaders

Sun, 12 May 2013 20:11:07 +1000

visforvaughn:

These are the people who have influenced my thinking the most over the past two years, listed in no particular order:

Edward de Bono

Seth Godin

Malcolm Gladwell

Simon Sinek

Marty Neumeier

Paul Arden

Nathan Shedroff

Click on their names to see some of their most compelling work. I hope their knowledge will ad as much value to your life as it did to mine when I first stumbled upon it.

The reasons why you shouldn't be afraid to go freelance | Creative Boom Blog | Art, Design, Creativity

Fri, 03 May 2013 14:09:00 +1000

The reasons why you shouldn't be afraid to go freelance | Creative Boom Blog | Art, Design, Creativity

"Originality depends on new and striking combinations of ideas. It is obvious therefore that the more..."

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 22:49:07 +1100

“Originality depends on new and striking combinations of ideas. It is obvious therefore that the more a man knows the greater scope he has for arriving at striking combinations. And not only the more he knows about his own subject but the more he knows beyond it of other subjects. It is a fact that has not yet been sufficiently stressed that those persons who have risen to eminence in arts, letters or sciences have frequently possessed considerable knowledge of subjects outside their own sphere of activity.”

- An Anatomy of Inspiration by music historian Rosamund E. M. Harding (1899-1982)

"If I get up every day with the optimism that I have the capacity for growth, then that’s..."

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 22:45:42 +1100

“If I get up every day with the optimism that I have the capacity for growth, then that’s success for me.”

- Paula Scher

Unsolicited Evaluation Is The Enemy Of Creativity

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 11:02:06 +1100

Unsolicited Evaluation Is The Enemy Of Creativity:

“In physically demanding tasks, like lifting heavy weights, and in tedious tasks, like counting beans, we do better when we are being evaluated than when we are not. But in tasks that require creativity, or new insights, or new learning, we do better when we are not being evaluated—when we are just playing, not stressed, not afraid of failure.”

Creativity 'closely entwined with mental illness'

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 10:59:48 +1100

Creativity 'closely entwined with mental illness':

“Creativity is often part of a mental illness, with writers particularly susceptible, according to a study of more than a million people.”

Social TV: 86% of mobile Internet users surf the Web while watching TV

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 10:36:05 +1000

Social TV: 86% of mobile Internet users surf the Web while watching TV

"The world’s most powerful multinational corporation is the Catholic church. It has made lots of..."

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:47:19 +1000

“The world’s most powerful multinational corporation is the Catholic church. It has made lots of money by selling a good that people need, like a sense of belonging and self esteem. Advertising rarely does that. Too often it caters to the bottom end of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Advertising needs to commoditise things that we need in life. You can make money from that, rather than focus on vain and menial desires like sex.”

- Alain de Botton (via Mumbrella)

The Hot Seat: Rob Stringer (Columbia)

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:49:43 +1100

The Hot Seat: Rob Stringer (Columbia)

15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:23:48 +1100

Give up your need to always be right.
Give up your need for control.
Give up on blame.
Give up your self-defeating self-talk.
Give up your limiting beliefs.
Give up complaining.
Give up the luxury of criticism.
Give up your need to impress others.
Give up your resistance to change.
Give up labels.
Give up on your fears.
Give up your excuses.
Give up the past.
Give up attachment.
Give up living your life to other people’s expectations.

Learn to See It

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:21:04 +1100

“Venture capital, marketing and pop culture are largely about pattern matching. Something happens, something else happens and it’s the beginning of a trend.

Some people (like Clive Davis and Fred Wilson, to pick two) see the trends before others, often without being able to verbalize them.

If you are around people who are able to understand these things before you are, it’s worthwhile to call yourself on it, and see if you can get into some discussions about what they see that you don’t. I get particularly restless if it’s obvious that there’s something going on but I can’t see it. I can’t move on until I see it too.

The more often you match patterns, the better you get.”

10 Steps To Stealing Your Way To Creative Success

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 10:09:58 +1100

10 Steps To Stealing Your Way To Creative Success:

Good theft vs. bad theft

What is Google Semantic Search?

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:41:36 +1100

Semantic search uses artificial intelligence in order to understand the searcher’s intent and the meaning of the query rather than parsing through keywords like a dictionary. When you search now, Google gives you results based solely on the text and the keywords that you put in that search. Essentially, Google gives you its best guess.

When you use semantic search, Google will dive into the relationship between those words, how they work together, and attempt to understand what those words mean. Google will understand that “their” and “they’re” has two different meanings and when “New” and “York” are placed together, it changes the meaning.

What it means for SEO:

Keywords are easy to manipulate; intent, not so much. In order to rank well in semantic search, you don’t just have to put your keywords in the right places, you have to figure out the actual meaning behind those keywords and create content around that specifically. That puts more emphasis on your keyword research.

When people search, they aim to answer a question. They just search in the truncated version of that question. Keyword research is largely data-driven around the popularity of the terms in their question. Keyword research in semantic search will have to focus on what that person actually means when searching for that keyword.

For example: Yoga. What could people mean they search “yoga?”

What is yoga?
The different types of yoga
How to do different yoga positions
The best fit of yoga pants
Yoga exercise videos

The possibilities are endless. When you’re framing your content in a semantic search world, it has to be around answering the specific questions people have as it relates to that keyword. With every sentence you write, ask yourself: How does this answer the searcher’s question? You will have to focus on the natural language even if those users are still focusing on keywords.

Can Digital Marketers Optimise Brand Campaigns in Real Time?

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:12:45 +1100

Can Digital Marketers Optimise Brand Campaigns in Real Time?:

A look at how online marketers can swap out creative based on performance, or run multiple pieces of creative for highly targeted audiences. Using real-time metrics, it is possible to optimise for best campaign performance on the fly, rather than relying on post-campaign measurement.

How three big media trends affect the PR industry

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:05:25 +1100

How three big media trends affect the PR industry:

talktechcomm:

News consumption is growing, thanks in large part to the explosion of mobile technology, according to Pew Research Center’s State of the Media Report 2012.

And that’s a good thing—for the most part.

Problem is the tech companies that make these platforms are profiting from the…

Social Media Pays $30 million for Gaga

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:57:24 +1100

It’s estimated that Lady Gaga earns $30 million from the 20 million followers on her Twitter account — one third of the $90 million she earned last year.

Music Business: "where the bulk of the money is and will likely remain: Radio"

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 15:05:30 +1100

Josh Gross talks about market factors in the music business after seeing a panel at the recent SxSW festival… Here are some highlights:

The U.S. music market is a $27 billion industry, $21 billion of which is in radio (Jim Cady, founder of Slacker Radio)
Internet radio only accounts for a small portion of that business
For the 93 percent of Americans who report listening to music, 80 percent of their listening is done via radio
Internet radio is projected to grow at 125 percent a year for the next five years

Major market factors to consider:

Connectivity is constantly improving and the ubiquity of smartphone technology is birthing a wide variety of Internet-connected devices. The most important of them is the automobile because 78 percent of all listening is done in the car.
Revenue will now come from a blend of sources, such as subscriptions, advertising and physical sales.
The increase in consumer choice that the Internet has brought has also brought an increase in demand. More music is being heard by more people now than ever before.