l-e-mental

the desire for authenticity

In the marketing field, it's easy to get carried away with brand theories and approaches, buzz words and insights. All incredibly helpful, if they are actually rooted in what's going on in the world, (be it the mainstream or the edges).

The trend towards "authenticity" gets bantered about often, but it's worth taking a moment or two to really understand the importance of the need to be genuine in not just brand communication, but actual business operation. So, here's my question, "Is your business operation actually authentic?"

I ask this because I had a little moment last night. Walking up Quay Street with Derick last night I was astounded by the number of tourists, all desperate to get a slice of the "real Galway" pie. Granted Galway has a rather impressive people to pub ratio, but why is it that some "teach tabhairne" are more desirable than others?

It's simple. In this world of over-hyped style and excessive glamor, sometimes it's the "umglammed" that stand out. In pub speak, it's the "old man" pubs that are the ones to check out if you want the authentic experience. Take Tigh Coili on Mainguard Street, Galway, for example.

It's the perfect mix of friendly, traditional and professional elegance. Everything from the furniture (particularly the historical pictogram created by the dozens of black and white photos on the wall) to the staff and "regulars", all come together to give off a sense of natural ease. Tigh Coili isn't TRYING to be something, it simply is SOMETHING - a real, Irish pub with character and charm  - and it does that by staying true to its Irish values of down-to-earthness and friendless, and making sure its genuine love of Irish music is shared with all those that stop by for a pint or two.

Be real.

the science barge

Spotted something green in the Hudson recently?

Could well be [The Science Barge] -- an entirely self-sustainable urban farm that's touring New York City’s public waterfront parks this summer, offering sustainability education programs to wide audiences. Designed by New York Sun Works, it comes complete with solar panels, rain collecting irrigators, and wind turbines. The barge grows cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, and some other veggies without producing any waste or using any petroleum for energy.

Why is this a good idea? More than half the world’s population now live in cities. Delivering food to them requires a transportation system that pollutes the air and water. Conventional farms use a lot of water, and fertilizers pollute streams and rivers. Traditional energy plants contribute to air pollution and global warming. If cities can produce some of their own food, energy, and water then this burden will be lighter. In a changing climate, food supplies will become unsecure in certain parts of the world. Urban agriculture protects people while it protects the environment.

The barge is currently in Riverside Park, opposite west 70th street. Go visit to learn more.

think free

[Dominic] and I have become quite the knowledge hubs in the world of online business and financial services. As we increasingly look to the web to "organize" our lives, clever start-ups are recognizing the value in providing add-on services around a basic utility, or simply providing folks with online, lightweight tools to help them work more efficiently. Case in hand - Web Office Suite Provider, [ThinkFree].

As [ReadWriteWeb] writes today, " Web Office suite provider [ThinkFree] has [announced] it has hit the 1 Million mark in number of hosted documents, up from 654,000 in late February when [we last reported ThinkFree's usage]. Their community uploads between 60,000 to 80,000 documents per month and currently ThinkFree has 335,000 users, up from the 250,000 in February."

Think Web Office. Think Free.

goosie

Noticed there are a lot of babes in the hood of late?

Babes of the baby, goo-goo kind. According to a (pregnant) lady I met in the gym last week it's something to do with the fact that this is a special Chinese year that makes it THE year to pro-create! Needless to say with all these lovable cuties about, the pressie list grows - what to get, what to get?

Why [Goosie Cards], of course.

Goosie Cards are colorful, quality flash cards for children, where every card is unique with customized real life photos and text. Afraid that little Joe won't remember Aunty Claire? Well just get a pic of Aunty Claire and bang it on the card with something along the lines of "best looking Aunty in town".....visual learning at its best, particularly if your lil' babe has autistic problems.

The cards are laminated to wipe and keep clean, are packaged in a fun, colorful Goosie box and for only $28 you can customize your own set - and come on, you do want your pressie to stick out don't you? And if you're traumatized by the endless choice of pics to choose from, just get a gift certificate and allow the proud parents pick their favorites...

Don't be a goose and miss out. Get in the Goosie groove.

the-uMe is blogging

the-uMe is [blogging] - finally!

Welcome to blogland, my friend. Nice [post] on Aleksei R. Stevens football that connects to a computer via bluetooth and plays sound whist being played with. Sometime tells me we're at the start of some serious sound integration into the interactive realm.

raredaily

Joe from [RareDaily] e-mailed to say hello.

Hello, Joe! ...and nice site.

RareDaily delivers the best of New York for men. It showcases the newest and the hottest in shops, restaurants, and nightlife destinations in New York and LA. According to Joe and his posse, "It is handsomely presented and succinctly written for those with refined taste. Our mission is to provide sophisticated male readers with an independent, trusted opinion and to deliver it first."

Now, between you and me I reckon it's a little fountain of knowledge for us gals too - check out today's entry re Spitzer's Corner in the Lower East Side. Good to know should I feel the urge to "try out 40 types of beer", which for the record occurs often ; ).

ask

"Cats seem to go on the principle that it never does any harm to ask for what you want."

Joseph Wood Krutch

symbaloo

Of late, I've been going on and on about the rise of icons, images, symbols and visuals online vis-a-vis static text.

I came across [Symbaloo] today which reinforced my thinking that it's all about the icon.

Symbaloo an ancient Greek verb meaning 'gathering' 'assembling'. It perfectly reflects the mission of the company. The mission behind Symbaloo is to make the web more accessible by assembling a startpage/homepage that contains visual blocks of information you want to consume. Users can personalize the content of their startpage via drag and drop functionality.

Why have google.com as your homepage when you can be more visually inspired at Symbaloo.com.us?

freedom of expression

"The human spirit needs freedom of expression and the opportunity to create ideas."

John Johnson of [Eyebeam].

instant nose-job

A sell-out party accessory, these 12-ounce paper cups are $12 for a set of 24; from [Mxyplyzyk] in New York, (800) 243-9810.

splash happy

Got a sudden urge to unleash your creativity?

Get splash happy with inspiration from [Jackson Pollock].

what is web 3.0?

As answered by Eric Schmidt, CEO Google at the Seoul Digital Forum.

Web 2.0 is a marketing term, which corresponds to Ajax, the computer architecture. Web 3.0 is about a different way of building applications that are "pieced together".
The characteristics:
- relatively small
- data is in cloud
- can run on any device - PC or phone
- very fast
- very customizable
- applications are distributed virally

start here

I think I'm in love with a notebook.

It's sad, but it's true...and you could be too.

Check out Start Here notebooks. Clean, basic, white cover notebooks are pure expressions of simplicity. The design duo of E & Tina encourage your unique taste, style, personality, and flavor by giving you the space to be yourself - in a nutshell Start Here is a line of linkable books, so when your imagination keeps going and the ideas keep flowing, there is always room to add to your little book of joy.

[Start Here].

p.s. check out their US section to check out visual timeplans at their best.

kiva

Ever feel frustrated that you want to help people that REALLY need help, but you don't want to just donate a few dollars as a once off effort, prefering to help the people in need help themselves?

In conversation with [Jinal] on Saturday morning, she introduced me to [Kiva] and it blew my mind. Essentially Kiva lets you connect with and loan money to unique small businesses in the developing world.  By choosing a business on Kiva.org, you can "sponsor a business" and help the world's working poor make great strides towards economic independence. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates from the business you've sponsored. As loans are repaid, you get your loan  money back.

It certainly beats just giving a $100 to some charity and never knowing where your money goes. And yes, it's a loan, which means you get your investment in another human being gets paid back not just in the feeling of goodwill, but in dollars too. $100 to some of us wouldn't go too far in setting up a small business, but in many parts of the world, it can make or break a small business owner.

Kiva is using the power of the Internet to facilitate one-to-one connections that were previously prohibitively expensive. That's the power of the social web. Get loaning.....

facebook = social utility

Damn, Mark Zuckerberg (Mr. 23 year-old Founder & CEO of Facebook) has got it down.....

From a recent interview with [TIME]:

TIME: Why do you describe Facebook as a "social utility" rather than a "social network?"

Zuckerberg: I think there's confusion around what the point of social networks is. A lot of different companies characterized as social networks have different goals — some serve the function of business networking, some are media portals. What we're trying to do is just make it really efficient for people to communicate, get information and share information. We always try to emphasize the utility component.

slideshare

So, your boss has just kindly told you to whip up a presentation on "The Future of On & Off Line Media" for a meeting on Tuesday morning.

Ekkkkhhh....you're not sure where to start, what key points to use, the type of visuals and style that would work best. What to do? Click on [Slideshare].

Slideshare is an incredible resource for learning about a variety of topics, particularly those in the web 2.0 realm. The principle is simple: upload a presentation to share with others and find/download any presentations you connect with.

Being part of the powerpoint whizz-kid team I know how lengthy a process it can be to create a stunning deck, not just in terms of sourcing the right imagery, but developing a structured presentation that flows from start to finish. Slideshare is great for that upfront research stage when you need to be broad in your thinking. Once you download the presentation it's essentially yours for the formatting, but in the creative commons honest world that we live in, it just doesn't feel right "taking" another person's work and presenting it on as your own. So, stay true to the social web values and use Slideshare to inspire and stimulate ideas, but create your own original deck to really wow not just your boss, but clients.

write your name in the sky

[Caspian] in London posted about Lisa Reinermann's "Type in Sky."

It's so lovely that I'm re-posting.

hello kitty

Say hello to Malmfalt's "Hello Kitty".

It's Friday - time to smile.

blackle

Heard about Blackle?

It's Google with the black screen. Why?

If Google had a black screen, taking in account the huge number of page views, according to calculations, 750 mega watts/hour per year would be saved.

In response Google created a black version of its search engine, called Blackle,with the exact same functions as the white version, but obviously with lower energy consumption.

In principle, I think it's a great idea although I have to admit the black screen takes a little while to get used to and according to the main man Mr. Ben Lord, "the data supporting the claims of it saving much energy is actually supposed to be fairly weak". Not only that, but Google aren't even behind this eco-conscious idea. It's the brainchild of [Heap Media] from Australia.

put the coconut in the water

I just left a comment on [TheDineline] blog that reads:

" Absolutely gorgeous! Water+ coconut = coconut in water. Simple, yet striking."

What am I talking about? The recent Coco Juice packaging by [Blue Marlin Brand Design Group]. Coco Juice is an intriguing new product on the market, coconut water...

The creative brief:

"Dr. Martins is a real person - a Brazilian nutritionist with an entrepreneurial spirit. Armed with the knowledge that coconut milk is loaded with healthy electrolytes, and the fact that this milk is very easily absorbed into the body, Dr. Martin’s set out to create a new brand.

The briefed focused on the exoticism of Brazil, where the product was born, as well as the natural essence of the product itself. (Typically electrolytes are delivered in “sport” or “science” oriented packages.) Blue Marlin focused on the origin of the product and with the mode of absorption, water."

Like I said - simple, yet striking. And lush too for that matter. I want to taste it....and that's when you know a good design - it motivates a change in not just attitude, but behavior.

p.s. CoCo Juice came out of the London BM studio, but word is the NYC office is up to some pretty creative stuff...stay tuned.