TED: How great leaders inspire action May 20, 2010
Posted by Ryan in : Video, Storytelling, TED ; add a commentIn his talk, Simon covers a concept about Starting with Why? – and he mentions “Crossing the Chasm”, which is something that comes up often in the Drupal community. We say we can cross the chasm with training, or documentation, and I think those are good things to dial up. Ultimately, the members of the Drupal community have the “why” down, it’s just a matter of showing the rest of the world.
Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action
TEDxPuget Sound, Sep 2009
More about Simon Sinek
How to save Local Bookstores and your App May 17, 2010
Posted by Ryan in : Local, Tech, BarCamp, Books, Orlando, presentations, Storytelling ; add a commentBack at BarCampOrlando this year, I gave a (mostly finished) version of this presentation, about the fall of the local bookstore, and a strategy for saving such establishments. As BarCamp is filled with programmers, I then tried to give them a relevant example: how to make your app better. (read: website, product, video, etc.) My argument is to focus on storytelling, and think like a Boutique. Credit goes to Tara Hunt for the idea of boutique stores. This is also related to a post about bookstores on this blog.
Some posts about this year’s BlogOrlando:
- Christa’s Day at BarCampOrlando
- My video from the pillow fight, Pillowlando
- Krissi at BarCampOrlando
- Keith at BarCampOrlando
- BarCampOrlando on the Linux Souls blog
- Jim’s BarCamp Orlando photoset
- Searching Flickr for “barcamporlando”
BarCampOrlando 2010 by JRNoded
Thanks to Jim, Hewie, and all the other photographers for all the great pictures.
Podcast: Tell me in your own words May 10, 2010
Posted by Ryan in : Podcast, Facebook, Storytelling, Twitter ; add a commentDownload Second-Hand Information via Twitter
Length: 1:59
This blog post is audio. Essentially, I wonder if our skills of storytelling will go away if we’re able to link to everything. Instead of “you should have been there”, will it be more like “I’ve got to find this link for you”.
I’d love your comments.
BarCampOrlando 2010 April 4, 2010
Posted by Ryan in : Coworking, Local, BarCamp, Books, floridacreatives, presentations, Storytelling ; comments closedI promised some folks from BarCamp I would link to my blog post where I talked about saving local bookstores. I will post some slides soon, but I want to include the bullet points (i.e. actually finish the slides) before they get posted to SlideShare.
Also, if anyone out there is looking for the mailing list for New Media Orlando, jump on there and join the discussion.
TED Video: Serious Play April 28, 2009
Posted by Ryan in : Video, Career, floridacreatives, fun, Storytelling, TED ; comments closedIf we’re “Creatives”, one of the things that helps define us as such is that we have not lost our ability to engage in play. This video has more on the subject:
Stuart Brown: Why play is vital — no matter your age
Stuart Brown’s research shows play is not just joyful and energizing — it’s deeply involved with human development and intelligence. Through the National Institute for Play, he’s working to better understand its significance.
Dr. Stuart Brown came to research play through research on murderers — unlikely as that seems — after he found a stunning common thread in killers’ stories: lack of play in childhood. Since then, he’s interviewed thousands of people to catalog their relationships with play, noting a strong correlation between success and playful activity.
One thing you see and hear often is about the “creative types” who work at ad agencies is that they know how to have fun at work. Take MindComet, for example – the building is built with all these crooked lines and rounded corners, to encourage the fun and playful culture they have cultivated – they even have Tequila Fridays, Cakeplow parties, and dress-up days.
Not all creatives work in ad agencies, but when you put them all in one room like that, they can often come up with some great and innovative stuff. Take this video, for example:
Lip Dub – Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo.
’nuff said.
Have you incorporated play in your work and home life? I want some of those “wearable meetings”.
The Least Pretentious Demo I’ve Seen in Ages April 26, 2009
Posted by Ryan in : HowTo, Video, 5minuteromance, Markteting, promotion, Storytelling ; comments closedEverybody can take a hint from Ryland Haggis and Lisa Bettany over at redpilot media in vancouver, b.c. (that’s in Canada, yo). It’s simply designed, the edits are not too fast, and they have a very clear message to communicate.
Redpilot Media from Redpilot Media on Vimeo.
Most Demo Reels or Trailers you see for companies try to jam as many different styles, media, bright colors, fast motion and buzzwords as they possibly can. What Ryland and Lisa have done here is notable, because, unlike all the other guys, they’re not trying too hard.
Don’t agree? Concur? Tell me why.
Your Tech Doesn’t Matter, n00b – How to Kick Ass at Your Job April 25, 2009
Posted by Ryan in : HowTo, Podcast, Press, Tech, BarCamp, floridacreatives, Orlando, presentations, Storytelling ; comments closedMy BarCamp Presentation actually hit the home page of SlideShare the other day. I gave this at the very end of the day, so if you missed it, check it out in 35 McCluhan-inspired text-happy slides.
SXSW 2009? Turn Your Old Media Empire into a New Media Paradise August 12, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Magazine, Social Media Events, Storytelling, SXSW, Teaching, Trends ; comments closedQuestion mark is because we proposed the talk, but it’s up to the people to decide whether they’d like us to present…
The form we filled out had lots more info on it, but here’s what the site says:
Turn Your Old Media Empire into a New Media Paradise
Companies that have been at forefront of the publishing revolution, before the days of the internet, have recently found themselves behind the eight ball. While they struggle with their digital strategy, smaller leaner companies have been capturing their traditional audience on the web. However, many of these companies forget that the ability to create compelling engaging content is their greatest asset. Instead of placing their focus on pages views, they should be placing it on the pages themselves. This presentation will show how we used Drupal and other open source technologies to to transform a couple of 100 year old magazines into fresh and relevant web 2.0 destinations – from both a technical and philosophical perspective.
The whole deal is, Content is King, but media companies are withholding their content from their audience, because they don’t want to cannibalize their print business (or insert traditional medium here). Eric (@xentek) and myself (@liberatr) are proposing this topic, so vote, comment, or otherwise show us some love.
Other Drupal-Related Sessions
Another Local’s Session
Luck is where Preparation Meets Opportunity: CMU’s Randy Pausch July 12, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Tech, Career, Disney, floridacreatives, Love, Storytelling, Teaching, Trends, Video ; comments closedSo many great things in this video – it’s an hour and fifteen minutes, but you really should watch this.
Not only did Randy achieve his childhood dreams, but he has taken his process for doing so and boiled it down to this talk, which we can now pass on to others. This guy is dying, yet he is so positive. I love it and I love this talk. Thanks @supaben34 for bringing up my day (actually, my whole year).
Some key points:
- The Head Fake: we don’t send kids to sports to learn about football.
- To achieve your dreams, you have to get over the brick walls. The brick walls are there to weed out the people who don’t want to achieve their dreams.
- Even if you are denied at first, you can still reach your dreams through karma and more brick-wall-jumping.
- Carnegie Mellon’s ETC is freaking awesome. So awesome, they’re spreading their labs to other continents, and five companies have letters open guaranteeing to hire their students.
- There are some great examples of interdisciplinary stuff – putting left- and right-brained people on the same teams.
- It’s nice to have metrics telling you how well you work with others.
- Always put others before yourself.
- If you are patient, everyone will impress you. Just keep waiting.
- I am going to have to check out the Alice project, like a lot
BlogOrlando, Pleasure Island’s Last Hurrah July 9, 2008
Posted by Ryan in : Local, BlogOrlando, Boing Boing, Disney, News, Orlando, OrlandoScene, Storytelling ; comments closedThe dates for BlogOrlando have been announced. Held at Rollins College from Sept 25-27th, with the main event being held on Saturday the 27th (not Friday like previous years). If you haven’t been to BlogOrlando yet, it’s a really fantastic introduction to the world of blogging, and there should be lots of fun surprises this year. Last year there were some great discussions, and a few keynote presentations by folks like Shel Israel and Chris Huer (google their names).
Josh Hallet, the man behind the unconference, says registration should be open soon. You should be able to take care of that at BlogOrlando.com
If you didn’t notice it yet, the very last weekend Pleasure Island will exist is the same weekend as BlogOrlando – as of Sept 27th (I’m assuming it will be open that day) the attractions will all be closed in favor of something more “family friendly”. Considering the number of cameras and recording devices that seem to follow BlogOrlando participants wherever we go, wouldn’t it be nice to have a big blogger party out there at the Island?
