Palin reminds me of Dolores Umbridge

September 26th, 2008 • On my mind... • No comments

This stormy weather outside is inspiring dark thoughts inside my head today…

For those of you unfamiliar with Umbridge, she was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher in Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix. It is unanmious opinion that Umbridge’s era at Hogwarts is ‘characterized by cruelty and abusive punishments against students.’ Stephen King called her the greatest make-believe villain to come along since Hannibal Lecter.

She scared me. Really, she did. By the end of the book, I hated her and was mighty pleased when she suffered the consequences.

And ever since I saw Sarah Palin get up on that podium and accept her nomination, I’ve felt the exact same way I felt about Dolored Umbridge when I was reading the book. These women are completely different: real vs. fictional, Ex Ms pagent vs. ugly toad, etc etc- but the feeling they inspire in me is eerily and disgustingly similar.

I am an American citizen now and I pray, pray that our fate is unlike those of Hogwarts children under Palin. I get a feeling like she will strip us of our dignity by acting like a blubbering fool – I fear that she will make us utterly powerless if she steps into the President’s role. Argh. I respected McCain and thought of him as a smart, stable dude. But his pick of Palin makes me question his judgement.

I am going to vote and by god that one vote will make a difference!!

Come see me speak :D

September 16th, 2008 • Life in the big city • 1 comment

I’m a little shy of self-promotion, but come watch me and a bunch of other smart, incredibly clever women speak at this month’s She Says Event. The theme this month is: three reasons that makes a killer idea successful. Confirmed Speakers thus far include: Allison Mooney of Fleishman-Hillard and Gill Linton of The Joneses

See the invite below for deets and RSVP info. (Its free!!)

The Body Shop needs better customer service training

September 14th, 2008 • Marketing/ Advertising • 9 comments

I had a terrible and almost terrifying experience at The Body Shop store today. I love their products but after this incident, I am probably never stepping foot in their stores ever again.

Taking advantage of their annual sale, I shopped for a bunch of products. A few hours later, back in the car, I realized that I had paid for 5 products but received only 4. I assumed that the employee who rang me must have forgotten to give me my 5th item. I went back to the store and told the manager what had happened.
The manager rudely replied back saying he cannot give me a free product and that I would have to come back the next day to talk to the employee who rang my sale.

I politely explained I wasn’t asking for a free product but just the product that I had paid for and not received. I also told him how I don’t live in the vicinity and it is going to cost me more to return to the shop the next day than the price of the product.

At this point, the manager should have simply told me that he is sorry for my inconvenience but he would be glad to give me a call tomorrow when the employee gets in and have me come in and take my product. Instead of executing his customer service duties, he said to me, are you sure you didn’t just drop it or leave the product somewhere? This enraged me. I asked the manager directly if he was insinuating me of trying to cheat the store.
I have worked in retail before. Usually, when an employee forgets to give the customer all the products, they always account for it and let their managers know. This particular employee had not done that.

I further asked the manager, what if this employee quits tomorrow? Does that mean I am going to be stiffed of my money? And the manager said, yes. It is his word against yours.

I told the manager that I had worked in retail before and I know they keep employee phone numbers on file. I asked him if he’d mind calling the said employee and asking him about it. The manager again, in a very uncooperative manner said that he would do no such thing. And then, he asked me to leave his store. He threatened to call the security on me.

So I asked him to ahead and call the security. I said I needed to speak to someone higher than him anyways. He made the call. While I waited at the counter for the security to arrive, the manager disappeared in the Body Shop store room. He emerged two minutes later, came up to me, picked up a product and threw it in my bag. For a second I didn’t understand what just happened. And I asked him that. He said that he had called the said employee who was responsible for my sale and the employee confirmed that he had indeed forgotten to give me my product. And so the manager, THREW the product in my bag.

I just didn’t know how to respond. I was so taken aback by this manager’s behavior that I walked out of the store without glancing back at him. But then I remembered that the security was on their way. So I returned back to the store to meet the security. I lodged a complain with them and I intend to take this matter up with The Body Shop.

First, the manager accuses me of lying. Then, instead of calling the said employee when I requested him to, he absolutely refused to help me out. Lastly, when he realized that I was right and was indeed stiffed of a product I had paid for, he THREW the product in my bag and didn’t even apologize!

I’m not stupid. I understand retail. I understand he had to confirm with his employee but shouldn’t a retail chain like The Body Shop have a better system in place? What if the employee had forgotten or denied having forgotten to give me my product? It would be his word against mine and ultimately, I’d be stiffed of my money.

This entire ordeal cost me 45 minutes of my time and not to mention, the distress ever since. I keep playing the scene again and again in my head. How could he threaten to call security on me?! On a customer that his store had cheated by not giving all the products in first place?

I have always loved The Body Shop but this experience had left just such a bad taste in my mouth. It’s 3am and I am still so upset. I am writing it here because I don’t know how else The Body Shop will hear about this. Oh btw, when I returned to ask the store manager his name so that I could lodge my complain, he asked me to get out of his store and he refused to give me his name.

Companies that don’t understand customer service shouldn’t be in the business of retail at all. I used to work for Bath & Body Works and their products may not be of the same quality as The Body Shop, but atleast they understand how to treat customers.

FYI – The value of the product I had returned to collect was $5. And the only reason I had returned to collect the product was because they don’t make it anymore and I was lucky to have found it in a sale.

**Update:  The Body Shop got back to me immediately this morning. They tweeted me and asked for my phone number. An hour late, Director of Customer Service called me and spoke to me for 20 minutes. She listened to my ordeal patiently and was just as surprised and shocked by my experience. I told her that I love The Body Shop and I understand that this experience was probably an anamoly but nonetheless, I had to inform The Body Shop because I don’t want anyone else being treated this way. She was amazing about the whole thing – she took down the location, date and time of the incident and told me as next steps, she will be getting in touch with the District Manager and through him to the Manager who treated me this way. She said, this will absolutely be addressed.

I didn’t and will not reveal the store location here. My intention is not to get the Manager fired or have him lose his job. But my intention is for him to acknowledge and realize that he was very unprofessional and disturbingly unpleasant with me. This is a tough ecoonomy and we are all doing our best to hang on to our jobs. I work in the client-servicing business too and I know that now, more than ever is the time to notch up on customer service. I just don’t want any other customer to be treated this way by that Manager.

Anyways, I am glad that The Body Shop listened and took the time to call me and placate my distress. I love the company and will continue to support their products. So Body Shop  – thank you once again, for listening.

Authonomy – Crowdsourcing for books.

September 10th, 2008 • Ideas & Innovation • No comments

Spotted on springwise.com – Authonomy is the output of the innovative minds at Harper Collins Publishing house. My mout is salvaiting with the idea of reading the books / excerpts already posted on this site! It is crowdsourcing for books. People/ Writers write about 10,000 words of their novel and upload it on this site. Readers will then read what they find interesting and vote on it. The top 5 books that receive the most votes will be read by the editors at Harper Collins! And well..from there on. .who knows what can happen?

For a writer, the writing part of the book is almost the easiest part. It’s the publishing that kills the spirit. This site, if anything, provides motivation for writers to get published. I’m very interested in seeing how this turns out – many such publishing models have come and gone and failed, but this model with the backing and commitment of a major publishing house behind it might just work.

What makes The Twilight Saga so addictive

September 9th, 2008 • Culture Briefings • 5 comments

Having moved here at age 18, I lacked the cultural literacy that my counterparts and colleagues already possess by the mere virtue of having grown up in USA. In most professions it may not make a difference, but in the media industry (marketing/ advertising/ journalism) it is crucial to understand and be informed about the psyche, the cultural imprint of the quintessential ‘American’ experience. Now that is the educated, intelligent reasoning I give myself for what I am about to reveal.

In reality though, it is for none of the reasons above that I do what I do. It is simply because I enjoy it – it is an indulgence and I fervently crave it: The young adult media.

I am obsessed with media/ entertainment. Period. But I am supremely obsessed with media and entertainment packaged specifically for the Young Adult market. I am 25 and I shamefully admit that I am obsessed with the 17-year old immortal Edward Cullen, the vampire protagonist of The Twilight Series. I read all the four books (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn) and the Midnight Sun excerpt made available on Stephanie Meyer’s website. The story is the obvious mix: love, danger, high school – how could the story not be successful? But there are two main reasons why I think this is a cult sensation.
Storytelling: The storytelling is potent: teetering on the edge of eternal love and danger, the book’s premise is riveting enough to keep the readers flipping page after page to move with the story. Harry Potter and LOTR created worlds outside of the normal human realm that made them universally appealing but the Twilight Series has created a parallel world that seems to exist within the confines of the normal human world as we know it. She has taken ordinary everyday people, placed them in the midst of life-threatening danger and made them blissfully unaware about it. Sheer brilliance. I have to concede that I don’t admire Meyers for her writing – she is masterful storyteller.

Edward Cullen: Edward Cullen’s character takes the prize. His rich history, (born in the 1900’s!) his supernatural powers,(mind-reading) his wisdom and chivalrous attitude, his cars,(Volvo, Ferrari, Ducati)  his strength, his looks, his intelligence, his talents (piano) and his intense devotion to the love of his life (Bella Swan) – Edward Cullen is the fantastical fabrication of every young girl’s dream love. He epitomizes perfection – and impossiblity. Nothing wrong with him, except that he is a vampire which at that (teenage) age is interpreted more as fascination and intrigue than danger. Now you package that into four 500 page plus books and tell me why girls will not dream of him, crush over him or wish he were real!?

Teenage years are as it is difficult to live through- what with the complexity of relationships, self-awareness, sexual awakenings and first loves. And that young love at its most potent, primal and purest form is what Meyers has captured in this book. Latching on the fact that teenagers evaluate love interests differently than adults, it comes as no surprise that Meyer’s Bella falls for Edward.

Twlight Series is an impossible, drug-like state – hard to let go off and wake up from. The impending release of the movies will fuel this mania further, but slowly as I wake up from Meyer’s brilliant imagination, more of the world will succumb to it. No doubt, she is talked of in the same sentence as J.K Rowling.

Working Class Studio – make money and art.

September 9th, 2008 • Ideas & Innovation • No comments

I find it very hard to resist beautiful stationary – especially writing books. Yesterday while I was at Barns & Noble to pick up the last of the Twilight Series, I chanced upon this beautifully designed journals (see picture below) by a new company, “Working Class Studio.” Turns out, the studio is an innovative output of Savannah College of Art & Design. From the website, “Working Class studio is a product development venture of the SCAD that cultivates and promotes the work of talented SCAD students, alumni and faculty artists.” What an amazing concept. It reminded me of the Design Manifesto I had stumbled upon of Central Saint Martin’s College.

By launching this division, SCAD, a strictly creative and fine arts educational institution, is displaying more business sense than even the best B-Schools. Instead of teaching/ preaching creativity for creativity’s sake, SCAD is taking it a step further and teaching creativity for productivity’s sake. I’d like to wager a guess that participating students emerge as smarter business-men and women, and not just better creatives. Great call, SCAD!

Obsession

September 8th, 2008 • Culture Briefings • No comments

Addicted to the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer. The writing is strictly okay – but the storytelling is excellent. Can’t wait for the movie!

The Ink Pad, NYC

September 5th, 2008 • Life in the big city • No comments

I chanced upon the coolest little gem of a store today – one of those New York things that you wouldn’t know existed without happenstance.

The Ink Pad is a tiny, rusty little store near Meatpacking District (22 West 12th Street) that is solely a collection of lovely, ancient little ink and letterpress stamps and all kinds of colored and textured ink pads. I was at the store to pick up something for work, but I couldn’t resist buying a few stamps for myself. I bought a little “J” adorned in a classic Victorian script, and the words “dream” and “imagine.” How perfect!

Maybe I should order blank Moo cards and just stamp these words on the front… But I know I shall be returning to the store soon.

Oh and the next weekend, Sept 13th, marks their 10 year anniversary (can you believe this store has been in NYC for that long!) and they are celebrating it with a full day of make-n-take classes. If I wasn’t at Interesting NYC, I would have most certainly been here.

I’m going to go play with my new stamps !

*Photo Courtesy

If you are interesting…

September 4th, 2008 • Culture Briefings, Life in the big city • No comments

…….then come to Interesting New York! I’m helping the cool folks at Open Intelligence Agency (David Nottoli) organize Interesting New York and we’ve got an amazing line-up of speakers who are talking about everything from fan fiction to New Orleans to ping-pong.

It is very un-conference like – the speakers are everyday people and each “talk” will be short, succinct and involve no marketing speak at all. What more could ya ask for ?

I’d love to have talked about something interesting – but what can I say -I am more interesting behind-the-scenes than infront of it! (right now atleast)

The tickets are super cheap: $35 only! So you should most certainly come. Buy yours here.

Invitation to a feast

September 3rd, 2008 • Culture Briefings, Ideas & Innovation, Life in the big city • No comments

Well, one of its kind really.

A few months back, my paths crossed with All Day Buffet and I joined them in their efforts to make social innovation mainstream. You probably know of All Day Buffet from its ridiculously successful Cause for Drinks event. If you haven’t been to one yet – you should.

Mike, Jerri and I have been fervently at work in creating a one-of-a-kind conference on social innovation aptly titled “The Feast.” It is on October 16th at the Scandinavia House here in NYC. What is the point of another conference you may ask. And I agree. Like you, we are pretty much tired of the same kind of conferences, that bring together the same speakers and the attendees and do not achieve much.

That is precisely why The Feast is so different. Our speakers are evocative and have each harnessed the power of creativity to propel social change in their respective industries. Dr. Despommier of the Vertical Farming fame, Dale Jones of PlayPumps and Tom Szaky of TerraCycle are just a sampling of the great minds we have bought together for the day.

The conference is less about ideas and more about actions. In gathering the world’s leading creative mavericks, entrepreneurs, revolutionaries, radicals, and innovators together we intend to inspire action to change the world. Our hope is to leave you high on possibilities with a new menu of connections to get it all done.

I hope you will support our vision and buy a ticket or two and come to the conference. I promise you that it will be money and time well spent. And totally worth it.

Please email me/ leave a comment if you are a member of the press and want a press pass. I look forward to seeing you there.

Career advice I wish someone had given me.

August 21st, 2008 • Culture Briefings, Ideas & Innovation • 13 comments

I think my non-traditional career path is testimony to the increasing dissonance ambitious young self-starters like me have felt with the traditionally available career options. I do receive occasional emails from young graduates who are seeking career advice. Since I don’t have the bandwidth to share my learnings via email exchanges, this is a good home for it.

It is what I have learned from managing and pursuing my career. It may not apply to you or you may not agree with this, but I am not looking for approval or arguments. I wrote this down because I always wished someone had told me this. This is for those who remind me of me

1) Pay close attention to your industry and adapt to its changes.
For professionals in the industry of communications (creative or business side) it is most important to pay close attention to the quicksilver nature of our industry and be flexible enough to adapt and grow with it. In my case, when I entered the workforce, the magazine industry was struggling (still is) and the new media wave hadn’t hit the industry in full force just yet. I changed gears and it has served me well. I also realized that I didn’t need to work at a magazine to be able to write. And incidentally, after I quit the industry, I’ve published work in InStyle, Allure and Zink magazines. Besides, I satiate my ‘writing’ urges here on my blog.

2) Explore the dualities of your skill-set.
By this I mean – don’t allow yourself to be pegged into a singular role. I think most smart people have the inherent capacity and the appetite to understand and function well within both the creative and the business side of work. Personally, I didn’t want to be pegged down as a ‘creative type,’ but I didn’t want to be pegged down as a ‘finance/ business’ type either. The solution for me was to find roles that allowed me to balance and grow in both areas. The solution for you may be different – but I’d say if you are on the client side, explore the agency side at some point and vice-versa. You’ll be surprised at what you learn.

3) Jobs are not always for learning what to do.
Some jobs are fantastic case-studies for learning “what not to do” or “bad business practices.” And I’ve had my share of those kind of jobs. It is easy to think when you are stuck in a miserable job that you are not learning anything. But you will only understand the true extent of what the job has contributed to your professional growth, when you are at a distance from it and looking at it from a different lens. So do not fret if you are stuck in a job you don’t like and feel like it is a waste of your time and talent — trust me, if you are not learning about how to be better at what you do, you are most certainly learning, how to not get worse and what not to do. And those types of jobs and learnings, are equally important for your growth. The bottom-line is – you will still emerge a better thinker and will be able to effectively articulate and assert yourself.

4) You are in control of your career.
I don’t know if I can sum this up as lucidly as the others…. Maybe because I am still learning… Upon graduating from college, I had a very narrowly defined understanding of the types of jobs that exist. I struggled to find the perfect fit for me and I kept exploring until I found my niche. I fear that many young people, perhaps do not realize how wonderful this opportunity is. Do not let peer pressure and college dynamics let you believe that your career path is pre-defined. It is what you make of it. Take control of your career. Be ruthless in your pursuit and humble in your deliverance. I guarantee, you will weather any career-storm.

5) Don’t be afraid to email the CEO
I have no shame or fear in expressing my opinions, asking for a job or writing an email of appreciation to the CEO of any company. Sometimes it gets ignored, but three out of five times, it landed me a job. If you don’t think this way – I’m sorry but you might as well accept defeat and move out of the industry because I can promise you, that for every one person who is not thinking this way, there are 5 others who are, and they are the ones who will land your dream job. When you want a job – pull all stops to get it. You’ve got nothing to lose and everything to win.

6) About burning bridges and such.
I steadfastly believe: to never burn a bridge. But some bridges are not worth managing. You will come across certain people who you are better off without in your life. I say that because I’ve been there twice and it has made me wonder and ask myself – What’s the one good reason why I would want to keep this bridge afloat?
I ask myself,
Would I ever work with this person again? No.
Would I ever hire or recommend this person? No.
Would I ever help this person? Probably not.
What if in the future, this person is asked to provide a testimonial to their experience with me? This was a tricky one. But I’ll take my chances and say, even then its not worth it.

And quite honestly, I’ve felt much better about myself since. If you are true to yourself, it is perfectly okay to allow a bridge or two to crumble and break down. Or in some cases, take an axe and break it yourself. You cannot always be political and diplomatic – in life nor in work.

EDIT: Dion Hughes left a very insightful comment below. That people change – and it is worthwhile to keep all your professional relationships, at the very least, open. I have to concede to this – it is good advice. I have been in the workforce only four years and I have much to learn. One of these things is: leaving room to allow people for a second chance.

7) On quitting..
I will pass on to you a gem of an advice my friend gave me, “Don’t accept a new job because you can’t wait to quit your old one – run to the new job because you can’t wait to begin that one.” Thats it.

EDIT – (Props to Manoj Damodaran)  I should also add that think twice before quitting a job. Climbing the ladder by jumping titles – while great for your wallet, not so good for your professional growth. Regardless of your job title, to thrive in this industry (creative, communications, media) you’ve gotta pay the dues. Take the garbage out, do the shit-work, make photo-copies, feel your intellectual muscles degenerate and wonder why you went to school — think of it as the initiation process to grander things. I’ve had $6/hour internships at top magazines in NYC, written for free for numerous publications, worked for pittance to build my experiencefolder. Now I don’t. I will not work for free, consult for free or even write for free – unless it is for a cause or a company I truly believe in. But I think I’ve earned my right to be there. You will too – with persistence and perseverance.

However, the balance is important. Learning when to say no and learning when to ask for more money for your work is incredibly important. And that will come as you learn, grow and feel that you can offer much more. That moment will most likely come when you are done paying your dues.

Lastly, do not take yourself too seriously.
Have fun. It is more important to have lived then have survived. A job at the end of the day is a job. Be nice, help out when you can and do your fucking best. But for gods sake, have a life outside of work. Your life is what makes you interesting, not your job.

***
I hope this was of some use to you.
I will update this occasionally. If you have a learning you would like to share on this page, please leave a comment or email me and I’d be happy to include it here.

For or against life-streaming?

August 21st, 2008 • To be filed • 1 comment

Today we had a long and revealing conversation on life-streaming. And ofcourse, we spoke about the usual suspects : twitter, tumblr, friendfeed, friendconnect, twine, socialthing, loopt and a few others (I’m tired of typing in the links)
My job at work is to debate the value of these services from the commercial and business perspective but I come back home and ponder over the cultural, human perspective. My thoughts are a slightly disorganized right now but revolve around the same issues I raise every time when I talk about social media and cultures: representation of identities and self, oversharing vs. sharing and the implications of this on our social lives.

As early adapters, over time, we quickly become dismissive of iterative innovations in a saturated space. We are like a herd of sheep (unfortunately so)- we move to greener pastures in no time. But it is exciting to be on the forefront of this technological change that will eventually have deep cultural ramifications.

I dabble in life-streaming and to a certain extent, anyone’s who is on facebook does. If you were to take a quick glance at my facebook profile right now and try to connect the dots – you would be privy to intimate details of my life. In my insular universe, I am broadcasting those details to my audience in a secure environment, because that is the audience I have chosen for myself. But some others – chose more substantial chunks of audience, like the public.

I am personally wary of life-streaming. It maybe because I went through this life-streaming phase when I was much younger. Granted, it was only through words but I have tasted the forbidden fruit and served the voyeur inside us. It was addictive, but as I grew older, I realized it lacked substance. It was easier to life-stream under the cloak of anonymity, but I couldn’t become someone who needed real-life material just so it could be blogged/ diary-ed about.

What I fear will happen with this extreme life streaming is that it may steal us that delightful little moment of surprise and that feeling of ‘unveiling a mystery’ that we experience as we get to know someone or meet someone. I may be old school, but isn’t there some joy in meeting a friend or an acquaintance and learning something new about them in person ?

It’s just me though. I am not a digital zealot. You will never hear me say that the web is going to take over the world (it may in the future and I will stand corrected then) But I do tend to be more cynical than gung-ho.

I look at life-streaming as an over-sharing mechanism. I feel like we are moving to an age where we are wayyy too interested in everyone else’s lives. I know I am guilty of that.

argh! these late night ramblings…..!

Productive creativity

August 21st, 2008 • Ideas & Innovation, To be filed • No comments

I came across Fat Pig Chocolate Bars on some random blog and absolutely fell in love with the sheer irreverence and unexpected little surprise of this brand. A little more digging revealed that the creator of the brand is actually a creative agency called, “The Brooklyn Brothers.”

Their approach to doing work is lovely – while they do have a set of clients, they also create and launch and build their own businesses, like Fat Pig Chocolate!

They’ve also written a childrens story book and created (with the help of a partner) a pill that helps reduce menstrual pain. Talk about creating products on two ends of the spectrum.

This industry shift from ‘creating for clients’ to ‘creating for us’ is not particularly unique or new. Creatives want to create – and almost every creative I’ve met in this industry is constantly working on atleast two personal projects at any given time along with their full-time job. A few agencies are partaking in the intellectual property rights to the new products and services they create for their clients so everyone can share the benefits. I think that model has some flaws, but the nature of innovation is such – to constantly push the envelope and experiment. Sometimes, the success is fame and money, sometimes the success if a good lesson learned.
In the meantime, shall we enjoy Fat Pig?

Onwards to becoming an American!

August 7th, 2008 • On my mind... • 2 comments

I just feel like I should write something today. In exactly 12 hours, I will have taken my oath of allegiance to United States of America and will officially become an American citizen. The idea of not requiring a visa to visit majority of countries is something I’m looking forward to getting used to. I’m not sad to lose my Indian citizenship because I never understood what it meant to me. I left India when I had just turned 18, so I’ve never even voted before. (Ah-ha and to think I will be able to vote this historic election!!) Neither have I taken an interest in Indian politics. The only thing that makes me a teeny bit sad is that now I will require a visa to enter my own country but its a price worth paying

I am a realist and this citizenship isn’t just presenting me with a passport to the world, but also opening up doors for my significant other who I have seen struggle for the last four years with his H1-B visa situation. Not being able to leave USA for the last 4 years for the fear of not being able to come back, being stuck in an insipid job that sucked the life out of his dreams and just the misery of not being able to believe that ‘anything is possible.’….. I will never know what its like to be in that situation, but boy, am I glad it will change!

It is ridiculous and immature to question my allegiance to either India or USA or ask me what I feel like. I feel ecstatic, stupid. And incredibly proud to have India in my heart and America on my mind (and my passport!)
But just tonight, I will indulge my irrational-self and go to bed with my Indian passport in hand. Tomorrow, it will become a relic, a thing of past, of no intrinsic value but still priceless to me.

Welcome to America, BabEy!

Thinking Art and Commerce

July 30th, 2008 • Culture Briefings, Ideas & Innovation, Marketing/ Advertising • No comments

For a project at work, I’ve been thinking and re-thinking the notion of art, culture and commerce and what it means for corporations. I could swear I’ve fried my brain cells in thinking about this, but I may be finally getting somewhere… hear me out.

I was pretty ecstatic when I learned that Paris’s famous Colette is coming to New York. Alas, I was mis-informed. Colette is not coming to New York. Instead, Colette has partnered with GAP, ColettexGAP, to bring a selection of curated items to NYC. GAP is desperate for any ingredient brand to help pull itself out of the trenches, but Colette was coveted and special. Of all possible partnerships of creative brand ideas Colette could have executed in New York, a brand alignment with GAP is unimaginative and quite distasteful. And frankly, these sort of relationships and limited edition products/ pop-up stores concepts are now overused and rusty.

Colette, a purely commercial enterprise and the brain-child of Sarah Lerfel has exuded and has been perceived to be more of a cultural curator, a salon, a library of diversity and cultural relics, rather than a retail experience. Colette blurred the boundaries between commercial, artistic and cultural interests and although I have never been there in person, I couldn’t be more off the target when I say that Colette has successfully managed to give each of the three dimensions equal priority.

Anyways, it got me thinking about this whole merging art, culture and commerce, but I’ve come to realize that to succeed and have longevity now (by now I mean, in a world rocked by changing media and economic landscapes), an enterprise simply cannot afford to think of art and culture as disparate elements, as something you pick and choose in measures when the enterprise needs a boost or some fresh PR. I have come to believe that a cultural and artistic sensibility has to be in the DNA of a commercial entity. Just the way the commercial DNA was/is in-built in the works of Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Takashi Murakami.

We have moved beyond philanthropic sponsorships of art and cultural events to a more inherent embrace of arts and culture. The one strongest benefit of this rocky economy and associated budget cuts organization-wise is that business managers are being forced to consider carefully how to make the most intelligent and creative use of their budgets, while still meeting the bottom line.

I might have been too quick in doling out my judgment for the GAP+Colette partnership without having experiencing it in person. To watch a brand I have no respect for (GAP), enter into a synergistic relationship with a brand I absolutely adore (Colette) bought out a visceral reaction. I may change my opinion if this experience transforms my opinion of GAP. Let us wait and watch.

Irrespective, maybe its time GAP began to rely on itself and stopped creating these short-term ingredient brand relationships to raise their bar.

Again, I apologize – my thoughts are pretty scattered. Its like my brain has been short-circuited! LOL. But I’d love to hear your thoughts, if any on this matter.

New era of design

July 30th, 2008 • Culture Briefings • No comments

“We’re entering a new era of design where the brands and experiences we create are no longer closely held, highly controlled cathedrals – but rather bazaars of commerce and conversations.”
- Khoi Vinh, PRINT Magazine Interview

Mamma mia!

July 28th, 2008 • Culture Briefings • 1 comment

I watched Mammia Mia this weekend and my spirits were lifted and I just had a warm happy glow about me. I hadn’t seen the musical before but Meryl Streep is my favorite actress and I simply had to see the movie version. Every frame of the movie was filled with inspiration. The Grecian sun, the glittering blue waters, the fresh sun-kissed skins of the actors and the colors! oh the colors – of the fabrics, the clothes, of Donna’s villa… simply beautiful!
The guy playing the piano in this clip from the Dancing Queen is Benny Anderson, one of the original composers of ABBA.

I’m gushing, but I’m so inspired. Donna, Tanya and Rosie’s friendship reminded me of my best friends. Two things are clear from the movie 1) that I’d like to spend a few months in Greece and 2) I want the Josef Frank fabrics in my new apartment. At almost $250/ meter, they are soo out of my budget right now but definitely on the wish-list.

Three reasons to watch the movie:
1) Meryl Streep
2) ABBA
3) Greece

And I know what my gift number 3 should be for my “25 Gifts to Myself” promise

This is sand

July 15th, 2008 • Culture Briefings • No comments

I’m hearting the THIS IS SAND art gallery – people have created such stunning pieces of art by simply interacting with their computers. Just point your cursor and let your imagination run amok. C’est beautiful!

All we can do is keep breathing

July 15th, 2008 • On my mind... • 2 comments

This post was inspired by the Ingrid Michaelson song that I’m listening to right now, Keep Breathing.
I recently exchanged my mac desktop for a ibook (laptop) with my boyfriend (so the computer is still in the family) But something went wrong as we were trying to transfer our belongings into our new homes and as it happened, I end up losing all my music which like an idiot, I hadn’t backed up. Not even on my I-pod because I use a nano and it doesn’t save all my music on it obviously.
Sigh.

Anyways, Apple was generous enough to let me download all my itunes songs that I had paid for from itunes store. I’m so very thankful! The rest I will steal from my boyfriend’s collection however, its those songs that I cannot remember I had in my library that have now slipped into the abyss that bug me.
I did have some pure gems that were mine alone…

But, I guess like Ingrid beautifully says, all we can do is keep breathing… and the music will come
But really, thank you Apple. I heart you. Even more.

An aside – I watched Hellboy this weekend and Barry Manilow’s ‘Can’t Smile without you’ is stuckk in my head

Creative Coloring

July 13th, 2008 • Culture Briefings • No comments

Fashion designer Cynthia Rowley’s mother didn’t give Cynthia coloring books. Instead, she gave her plain white paper so she wouldn’t restrict her creativity by having her daughter color ” inside the lines.” I think if Rowley’s mother had Taro Gomi’s lovely coloring books, she would have been delighted by the creative spirits the books unleash. Check them out for yourself!

The Waterfall tours

July 13th, 2008 • Culture Briefings • 3 comments

Last week, we took a field trip to watch Olafur Eliasson’s famed Waterfalls around New York City. We boarded the evening’s last Circleline tours and not only did we get a good look at the waterfalls, but also a colorless history lesson. We walked away not so impressed. The waterfalls, that cost the city around $15 million were limp and .. dull. It was difficult to grasp the artist’s vision. But we discussed the art installation at length after – maybe that was the goal in mind ?
It is projected that the city will generate $45 million in tourism. From what I experienced, I’m worried the city might not even break even!
It was a fun trip regardless – and it ended over some delicious fries and fritters at Nelson Blue – the New Zealand bar and grill on South Seaport. Here’s a fun video of our trip!

Design Manifesto

July 8th, 2008 • Culture Briefings, Ideas & Innovation • 2 comments

“We believe in Cultural Design.
That Design, approached holistically and thoughtfully has the potential to impact the greater good. The designer is the connective tissue between the humanities and sciences: the alchemists of the Future who will play a vital role in transforming our world.

This harkens back to the era as artist as inventor, philosopher, politicians, humanitarian, engineer and sociologist. We don’t believe that specialization’s are the key to the future, but rather the connections among them.”

- Design Studies Manifesto, Central Saint Martins School of Art & Design

25 gifts for myself

June 27th, 2008 • On my mind... • 5 comments

Tomorrow is my 25th birthday, (28th june)

This whole week was a little weird. I haven’t been feeling too talkative and was just a teensy bit disenchanted with life. Existential crisis of sorts, I guess. I was also very depressed because I couldn’t find the right sort of gift for myself. There’s something about turning 25 – I feel like it should be commemorated or celebrated or something like that. My better-half wants to buy me something special but he is as frustrated with me as I am with myself because I just don’t know what I want.

So, I’m trying to be a little creative here. And from this June until next, I am going to give myself 25 beautiful gifts. I don’t know what all of them are yet – sometimes you just have to live in the moment.

But here’s are two gifts that I know I will give myself:
1. Nikon D40. – My first Digital SLR.
2. A week in Tokyo.
3. (Update) Visit Greece

The weird thing about growing old (for me) is that my fascination with material things has waned and I’m more interested in fulfilling my creative needs and pursuits – like traveling on my own, learning new things and seeking my spiritual journey. Ahh – happy birthday to me

Murakami Exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum

June 23rd, 2008 • Culture Briefings • No comments

I FINALLY visited the Murakami Exhibit at the Brooklyn Musuem this weekend. My long-time readers will know about my obsession with Japan – and everything Japanese (except perhaps sushi – I’m not a big fan of sushi, probably because I don’t eat fish) But we digress!
The exibit was fascinating – and I think an incredible blend of culture, commerce and design. From his one-off pieces for Louis Vuitton to disturbingly funny sculptures a woman skipping rope of her breast milk an)  Murakami’s work can best be described as contemporary interpretation of the current psyche with often a dark subtext.

MOCA’s youtube channel has uploaded a series of videos about the exhibit.

It was my first time to MOCA – but I was very impressed with the space. I also really enjoyed the mixed media installation of Inochi – a robot who begins to feel like a young boy. The commercials are hilarious! Watch them yourself.

Tim Walker Inspiration

June 20th, 2008 • Culture Briefings, On my mind... • No comments

Imagine my delight when I saw Tim Walker’s 3 Limited Edition prints are for sale at the Design Musuem UK! It was really hard for me to not go beserk and buy all three, instead I picked this one.

This photo-essay with Lilly Allen was shot in India. I remember because I have still saved that September 2006 issue of Vogue magazine where this photograph appeared. For a while, this picture – torn from my Vogue, graced my walls until my friends convinced me that I was too old to have ripped-off photos from magazines on my walls.

There are a few other photos from that photo essay that left a lasting impression on my mind. 

But I’m just giddy that my print will arrive soon. Yay!

(PS – The print wasn’t expensive, infact, it’s a really good deal at about $25. But the shipping from UK added another $20. argh)

Eat. Pray. Love (and have sex)

June 17th, 2008 • On my mind... • No comments

I’m sorry – I usually dress up, polish my stilettos, straighten my hair and iron my shirt before I write here.  So excuse the unlike-me title of this post.

I picked up Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat. Pray. Love. on Sunday at BJs. Yes BJs- it was $9.39 – it even beats the Barnes & Noble member discount. (I tried to convince my boy to buy swim-trunks at BJs but my idea was dismissed even before it fully materialized)
Anyways.

I bought the book because I was SICK of watching Wall Street banker-type women crushed against cold steel of the 8am PATH trains – precarioulsy balancing their fat pocketbooks and Eat.Pray.Love. I got sick of seeing the hipster-y, creative, my-kind-of-girls reading that book at rando cafes on the LES. I got sick of watching college girls on the summer break sprawled on their sheets on Rittenhouse Square park reading this book. So when I went to BJ’s to stock up on my supply of Mac’n'cheese and Scooby Doo Fruit Snacks — the book, was just glaring at me from the vast sea of other cheaply priced books, almost guilting me into buying the book. It’s almost like I couldn’t continue to be the all-knowing culture=vulture until I had immersed myself in this eating/praying/loving movement. I absolutely stop myself from reading books that have suddenly swept have the nation because its just my stupid rebellion against conformity

Anyways.
I succumbed. Yes! I gave into the societal, cultural and whatever other pressures there are that make you feel dumb if you haven’t succumbed to.

I haven’t read the whole damn thing yet – but whatever I read (some 100 pages?) – I think the author didn’t fully think through the name of the book. The sex part is important because even if she’s denying it to herself, she wants it! And also, if you think about it on a philosophical level – eating, praying, loving and having sex go hand in hand, phrase in phrase.

Excuse my little diatribe, but I just you know.. wanted to point out that the title is sort of incomplete. Atleast i thought so. Maybe I won’t once I finish the book – but even after, I’ll think that had the title included my little phrase, it would have been a much more interesting book and less new agey.

Just thought I’d let you know incase anyone’s listening

PS – The writing of the book is fantastic though. Really.

PSFK Evening with Rob Walker

June 17th, 2008 • Marketing/ Advertising • No comments

Last Friday I attended a PSFK hosted book-reading and Q/A with journalist Rob Walker -and now author of a new book titled, "Buying In." He also writes the popular Consumed column for The New York Times, Murketing for Fast Company magazine and his own blog at murketing.com

It was a fun event – and I got the opportunity to meet several planners/ strategist with whom I had previously only communicated via email, AIM or facebook. The Q/A was hosted by Danielle Sacks,a Fast Company journalist who covers the advertising and marketing industries for the magazine. It was a chill evening spent in the company of inspiring peers and idols! Kudos to PSFK for continuing to act as our curator! 

Here are some photos picked from Dave Pinter’s flickr group. Enjoy! (The girl in blue/black is your’s truly btw. And no I don’t like the taste of fizzy drinks (soda, beer, fizzy water..) so I finished several bottles of water instead.)

Storytelling in 6-words

June 11th, 2008 • Culture Briefings • 1 comment

Of late, I’ve been enamored with the concept of storytelling…..What follows is just a stream of consciouness that might not make much sense!

As a writer and a wordsmith …. I think words speak most powerfully to me. I think the best in words and I relay the best in words. Today I was surfing the net and remembered to check out my friend’s online magazine SMITH mag (which I check periodically) SMITH mag has taken the idea of 6-word memoirs to an entirely new level that is so heart-breaking and powerful to me.

See these 6-word stories yourself… made me think that a great story that can be told in 60,000 words can be told as effectively in 6. This is one of the most powerful new mediums I’ve encountered…. (ofcourse there is twittories – stories in 140 words…etc) But how awesome is this?

Summertime in new york

June 10th, 2008 • On my mind... • 5 comments

This has been one busy summer – a few weeks back, three of my friends who I haven’t seen in almost 3 years landed up in New York. It was Serendipity! I made a cute little pdf of fun things to do during their 4 day visit here. Now bear in mind, the little pdf I made was meant for my friends who had never been to NYC before. If you are from NY, you will probably laugh at it but nonetheless, I want to make it available for everyone who might want to use it!

We had a terrific time – now mind you some of the places recommend/suggested in my little pdf weren’t spectacular but they were an amazing experience for sure. The thing is, I thought social tecnologies and the internet was putting everything into a constant state of beta but I think I’m going to have to re-visit my definitions because, I’m realizing.. as someone who works in and almost lives in new york, my life has become a constant state of beta!

I was at the Adour bar at St. Regis last week with a client. Apart from the fact that it was St. Regis, Adour is known for it’s interactive wine-bar. There,
I fell into conversation with two very interesting men who have lived like 5 lifetimes in their one life!  One of them, a furniture designer, has been commissioend by the Ambani’s for their 27-storey residential building project.
"Do you know of the 27 storey residence building in Bombay?" he asked,
"The Ambani’s residence?" I said.
"You know about it?"
"Every Indian knows about it." I exclaimed.

We got into a lengthy discussion about entitlement, legacy and access – the three advantages born and bred New Yorkers have over others and how immigrants like me will always have to strive harder for access in this country/ city. It was by far one of the most interesting conversations I’ve had at a bar with a stranger

After bidding goodbye and promising to stay in touch with my new friend, we tropped off to The Modern for dinner. I personally, wasn’t very impressed with the food there but the service, decor and ambience is well worth a mention. (The Modern is the restaurant owned and operated by MOMA)  I was at dinner with two executives from a luxury-car company and two others from the agency. I won’t bore you with our dinner-table conversations but what always surprises me when I meet new people is how I end up changing my opinion of them in the span of 2 hours. Towards the end of our dinner, I learned that one executive from the client was also a personal trainer and tried to manage a small health/ personal training business on the side. Now that insight completely changed the way I percieved him — it’s just, I didn’t expect someone at such a high post at a luxury goods company to feel so passionately and pursue a parellel profession.

Of late, I’ve also been missing writing. I’m going to start seeking freelance writing gigs again and perhaps start writing more about my life here than about my opinions about the internet. Because for now, my life is more interesting to me than the internet

Ahh – can’t say I’m not having a good time in NYC.

ahh and here you go – the promised guide!
Download nyc_for_vistors.pdf

Leave me a comment if you like it and if you’d like me to share more such tips.

Late night thoughts

June 4th, 2008 • Social Media • 2 comments

The beauty of the web2.0 is that it encourages us and forces us to redefine the words: friend, strangers and acquaintances. You agree?

Being ‘carried’ away

June 2nd, 2008 • Culture Briefings • No comments

I watched ‘Sex and the City’ last night with my close friends. The movie was bitter-sweet with a tight story-line and killer one-liners. But what took the toast was the experience of watching the movie… The audience, mostly women but a large number of men – oohing and aahing at the beginning, groaning at the bitter parts and clapping enthusiastically towards the very end.. was simply amazing to witness and be a part of. SATC is part of a New York women’s collective memory – every girl imagines her and her friends having the kind of friendships portrayed in the sitcom with ofcourse, NYC as the backdrop. I highly recommend watching the movie, if not in New York with NY women, then most certainly with your closest friends : )

Protected: Hired Gun Services

May 10th, 2008 • To be filed • Enter your password to view comments

Social Networks: diaryland.com

April 23rd, 2008 • Social Media • 8 comments

I’ve been thinking a lot about what really constitutes a social network. I found this amazing historical and pictorial representation of the launch dates of major social network sites in a paper authored by danah boyd and Nicole Ellison. While this is fairly accurate, I think has missed out a couple key movements in this space, namely ICQ and diaryland.com.

According to Whois.com listing, the domain diaryland.com was registered March 9, 1999 and expires March 9, 2010. I am actually very surprised that most academic and scholarly texts on social networking make no mention of diaryland. Diaryland was founded in September 1999 by Andrew Smales, a Toronton native. Without any advertising, Diaryland soon amassed over 350,000 users. (a pity number compares to now:)

I was a part of the diaryland community in 1999-2002 and even though you couldn’t network or "chat", you could add URLs of diaries you liked on your blog and become parts of groups and have little labels and stickers on your diaries. I would love to interview the founder someday — the site is still active but I think most of the old-timers have moved on to blogspot or wordpress. Anyways, the reason I bring diaryland.com up again is because the new definition of ’social networks’ is too narrow and does not allow the early pioneers to be categorized the same way. Both ICQ and diaryland – allowed you to search for people, leave comments in their guest books or leave them personal notes AND add their URL’s on your blog in support of your new friendship. You see, making new friends and finding old friends on the internet happened back then too – even before we had blogs. According to Whois.com listing, the domain diaryland.com was registered March 9, 1999 and expires March 9, 2010. So perhaps the idea of diaryland.com was conceived even before Livejournal.

(Oh and look, smartypants.diaryland.com wrote a book too, The World according to Mimi Smartypants!)

Allow me to indulge one more fragment of the early internet memories – the chat rooms! How fascinated I was! My dad had just bought an old black and white computer and I’d enter these chat rooms on excite.com and rediff.com (INDIA) and think not twice about making real friends and giving out my real phone number and real name! Today my ex-boss’s children (8,9 years old?? – not sure) friend-ed me on facebook. I think it is cool and perhaps something young parents should expect as their children grow. (More on this later!)

Irrespective, I am unfamiliar with a lot of these sites mentioned in this diagram. But I love it – maybe I will create one of my own personal journey of the internet. It’s amazing though because around 2003 is when the social network phenomena took off and every kind of network mushroomed upon- even a network that allows you to create other networks! (ning.com)

I’m loving Facebook Chat. Facebook is one place for me where I have all my friends from India, Philadelphia and other corners of the world online. I don’t need to have MSN, Gmail and AIM on at the same time. I’m loving it! Some people say that is the next generation of social networks, to me, that is returning full-circle. After all, AIM, MSN chat and other such chats were the early rudimentary social networks!

I have received some emails expressing interest in wanting to learn more about my passion project. I am not ignoring your emails – I’m merely trying to figure out and define my project before I communicate with you again. Thank you for your patience

Here are some old articles I found about diaryland.com founder, Andrew Smales
Salon.com

Life journey

April 23rd, 2008 • On my mind... • No comments

One of my favorite pass-times (apart from stalking people on facebook) is going through random people’s profiles on linkedin.com – to see where they started and what they are doing now. I do that constantly because it bolsters faith in myself and the path I am creating for myself in my life. (well, atleast attempting to)

Some people have a calling, they know they were meant to be a doctor or a designer or a scientist. I don’t know, have never known what I wanted to be. I am turning 25 in two months and I have ideas about what I’d like to do for the next 5 years but beyond that – if you ask me, I’ll draw a blank. And unfortunately, I haven’t met many people like me. Sometimes it is scary to be different in that regard. Because it makes you question whether you are on the wrong path.

But linkedin.com provides me respite – I like knowing and seeing how people’s career paths have traveled and where their careers have taken them. Life is too short to spend it not learning new skills, not discovering new interests and putting yourself in uncomfortable situations. And life also has a way of working itself out.Atleast, it has for all those folks on linkedin

So perhaps it will, for me too.

Combining commerce with social goodness

April 21st, 2008 • Social Media • No comments

My previous employer Advanta launched a new credit card in partnership with Kiva. To refresh your memory, I was a part of the kickass team that launched Ideablob last year at Advanta. The newest project that Advanta has unleashed and my dear ex-colleagues worked on is the KivaB2B business credit card.

Kiva.org is the world’s first peer-to-peer microfinance platform that allows US-based folks to lend money to entrepreneurs and small business owners in developing countries. Advanta, is one of American’s largest credit card issuer in the small businesses market. A marriage between the two was inevitable!

For every loan an Advanta card-holder makes to Kiva, Advanta will match the loan amount dollar-for-dollar. American small businesses will in effect, help out small businesses in developing countries without spending any money at all!

Hats off to the visionary Innovation Group at Advanta  It is little efforts like these that makes a company special. I will be following their success closely.

PS – I love the credit card design too! My friend, the brilliant Israeli film-maker and designer, Michal Levy designed it.

Reality Show on Twitter

April 17th, 2008 • Social Media • 1 comment

Ofcourse, I hit follow.

How I wasted time on the internet today

April 11th, 2008 • Social Media • 1 comment

My friend apparently purchased me on Facebook today. So I ignored his request and took a screengrab of it before ignoring it.

And I created a glog of myself today on Glogster.

My passion project

April 10th, 2008 • Social Media • 2 comments

So yesterday I was doing some research on how women and men behave online and stumbled upon scribd.com
I’ve known of that website for a long time but I never really used it because the interface didn’t please me and there are too many ads cluttering the home page. But when I landed on scribd.com yesterday, I end up spending over 45 minutes hunting through its archives and database and downloading interesting reports. I also found pdfs of Haruki Murakami’s Norweigan Wood and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things. What really amazed me was the amount of information people are making available for others online. Scribd and Slideshare.net are both fantastic examples of a milder version of an online university.

There are basically two types of information people are sharing online: 1) Organized 2) Chaotic. Here’s how I breakdown both: The kind of information offered on sites like scribd.com and slideshare.net represents an individual’s organized thinking: perhaps about an idea, or a topic of interest to them. Their thoughts are usually clear and they articulate it in the form of a presentation or a document. I classify this kind of free information share as organized information — in which, you may not learn a lot about people, but you learn a lot about what they know.

The other type of information share that is happening online is chaotic – this information share is anecdotal, visual, literal and often metaphorical. It may even border on offensive to unnecessary. This type of information can be found on free photo and video sharing websites, blogs, microblog platforms and other avenues like 43things.com, post-secret and ihate.com. This type of chaotic information share can and is usually done behind a mask of anonymity.

As a strategist, I’m most interested in understanding how this information share can be turned to our advantage and how we can actually make sense and benefit from this share. How can we analyze and derive  conclusive learnings from this information share? I hear that several agencies and companies are already employing and using spiders and other web programs to gather the free information floating out on the web ether – but I’m more interested in discovering patterns and processes that surround this scenario and figuring out, if there is one, a universal and singular method that can successfully make sense of this massive database of information.

This is my passion project and has been on my mind for the last couple of months. I have some ideas around how to realize this and I’m using the help of some smart, enlightened strategists to help me take this to the next level – but I’m asking you as well — can you help me?

My idea hasn’t matured to the next level and a lot of critical thinking that hasn’t happened yet needs to happen before any of this can make sense to you but I’m excited and I return home from work every night to work on this…

And to add one point of clarification – I’m not looking to develop a system that trolls blogs and other media sites and spews out a reports. There are plenty of those out there already. I know what I am proposing does not have a one-size-fit-all solution — I’m not looking to create another aggregator. What I’m looking to do is simply provide a better means to make sense of the free-floating chaotic information to people like me, who want to better understand people/ consumers.

This idea stemmed out of my very recent experience in the agency-life – any new project undergoes (and rightfully so) massive amounts of primary and secondary research. What I’m trying to prove is, because people are already sharing intimate details of their lives on the web, there has got to be a better way to include those insights in our work.

Anyways…

Spring in New York is beautiful – and it feels like it might have finally arrived. This morning when I was getting ready to leave for work, my area was shrouded in mist. I live by the river in Jersey City/ Exchange Place. It’s only 4 minutes from NYC in the PATH trains but it’s an island of it’s own. Very slow -almost fairy tale like with subdued yellow lights and light-rails right out of an Enid Blyton book making up for the city-scape. (Atleast until you reach the umpteen construction sites…) Anyways, it’s a beautiful day today and I wish more days like today

Happy, almost, summer.

Q/A with Rohit Bhargava

March 31st, 2008 • Marketing/ Advertising • 3 comments

Since May-June of last year, I have been assisting Rohit Bhargava with research and marketing for his very first book, Personality Not Included. The process was intense, fun and an amazing learning experience. Rohit is not just a fantastic writer and a brilliant visionary, but also an compassionate and generous mentor. Sometimes though, I cannot help but think that he lives multiple lives! I don’t know how he wrote the book in less than 10 months, managed his blog and grew it to be one of the top read marketing blogs and continues to succeed at his full time job as SVP of Digital Marketing at Ogilvy PR!

As part of the marketing promotion for the book, Rohit issued an open call on his blog where he offered to answer 5 questions from any blogger about the book. Here are the few questions I asked but click on the graphic alongside to read all the other interviews. Enjoy!

1) How long has the ‘Personality Matters’ idea been brewing in your head?

Web apathy

March 25th, 2008 • Social Media • 1 comment

I haven’t written here in so long and I think now, I am okay with that. I don’t feel the need to put my voice, thoughts and opinions out on the public forum so frequently anymore. I never was quite able to figure out how people maintained such active lives on twitter, blogs and numerous other smaller groups with a full-time job, family and life. Maybe I’m an introvert ? Or maybe the other’s don’t have a life apart from their online lives and jobs? I don’t mean to sound condescending – but I am truly was curious.

People’s nonsense (or their personal PR) on twitter just annoys me now. I’m also being a hypocrite on many levels because I go through phases of total immersion and then total isolation from twitter. But now that I’ve been hearing many top bloggers bullshit so much on twitter, I find myself boycotting their blogs and not being interested in their writings anymore.

The web has become a cacophony of voices – and I don’t want mine to be lost underneath them. I still want what I write to provide value and be meaningful. And my god – it feels so good to make that peace with myself!

Life in New York is fast. I’m working on some fun projects at work and some fun side-projects too. My parents are also visiting from India so the past month has been great. I’m always amazed at how much I learn at work from just observing how other people work and think. But I want to move it a step further now and take my thinking capabilities to the next level.

There’s an idea I’ve been toying around in my head…. but I have to formulate it and think through it. Stay tuned though – I will share soon!

Drawing from history

March 18th, 2008 • Social Media • 1 comment

Last weekend, I watched a new Bollywood movie based on the life of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. King Akbar  often dressed as a regular layman to see and his listen if his subjects were happy. He believed that he could only understand true sufferings of his subjects if he was amongst them and not isolated in his castle. Akbar would then return to court and act upon his observations to make his kingdom happy and satisfied.

I re-tell this story because it is a great metaphor for what brands should be doing right now. The Web has made connections and communications fluid, abundant and easy. So if you are a brand – chances are, your customers are talking about you online. And the only way you can keep them happy is if you are listening and more importantly acting upon what you listen.

Happy tuesday!

Something pretty

February 21st, 2008 • On my mind... • 1 comment

Working at a design studio has given me a new appreciation for all things beautiful. I found this photograph while browsing on flickr.com. I loved the composition of colors, light and textures here – it brings me a smile It’s like happiness that you can taste. Just wanted to share it with you : D 

Original Work

Was my response right?

February 14th, 2008 • On my mind... • 13 comments

A couple months ago, I approached a Web2.0 company to interview their founders. They put me in touch with one of their investors and although the interview never quite happened, our conversation took a different turn and I ended up sending in my resume for a potential job opportunity that the investor mentioned to me. When he didn’t get back to me for a few weeks, I sent him a note of inquiry to which he responded by asking me to re-send my resume. I dutifully did – and then nothing happened.
We spoke briefly once or twice and again, there was no communication from their end and often, prolonged pauses with no responses to my emails. After I received a third request for my resume, I lost interest in the possibility of this ever working out and went about my business.

Last week I received an email from this gentleman informing me that the company had shut down and asking me for a favor – to offer advice to his daughter who was looking to move to NYC. I was, in all honesty, a little startled by this random piece of communication. But I am a nice girl and I try to make nice and because I am older now, I am also more mature. So I responded asking more questions about his daughters interest and how I could help.

Today I received an email with him giving me his phone number and asking me to call him to catch up. And yet another email – a one-liner about his daughter’s career aspirations ending with, ‘I will tell you more later.’

This really. really. really. irked me. Because the etiquette I was taught and work by is that when you need someone, you play per their convenience. I don’t have qualms about them not offering me a job – believe me, as smart as I’d like to think I am, there have been plenty of employers who have rejected me in worse fashion. But the point is – usually when you are giving someone a bad experience, you kinda know it. And you don’t return to them for personal favors. And if you do – you are courteous and just.. nice.

This guy’s email really annoyed me and I felt like he needed to know it. I do want to help his daughter – It is a competitive world and an even more competitive industry so if I can offer some insights. I am happy to but I just don’t want to deal with the guy again. So here’s the response I sent him and I need a sanity check – was this response right?

I’m sorry but I have to mention that your correspondence with me has been very erratic. I remember you asked for my resume 3 times and never really got back to me or answered my emails. I didn’t even know about [redacted] closing down – not that it matters to me but your communication seems off and preemptive. I am happy to help but I felt that I had to address this and I hope that in the future your communication with me is lucid and not one-way.

Please have your daughter email me directly or schedule some time to talk with me.

My intention was not to come off bitchy but the guy had to realize that his behavior was plain insolent.
I understand that we are ambling through these new communication modes and learning to take pleasure in the joys it offers, but why do we forget that even though we are building these relationships online – we are building them with real human beings.

Building online relationships is no different than building offline relationships. Well, unless ofcourse you are the kind of guy who would call up a rudely rejected freelancer to advice your child. In that case, you missed the boat way too soon.

Update 2/21: The gentleman in question here replied to my email and apologized. He mentioned that he was very stressed as an investor in the company and that it was not indicative of his character in general. I believe him but don’t really expect any major interaction. My offer to help his daughter stands.

Manly women

February 8th, 2008 • Culture Briefings • 5 comments

I just watched the season premiere of Candace Bushnell’s new TV Series, LipStick Jungle. This show revolves around the lives of a hollywood executive, a magazine publisher and a fashion designer. LipStick Jungle’s storyline is eerily similar to Darren Star’s Cashmere Mafia, which is about four friends – a magazine publisher, a senior executive at a cosmetics company, a banker and a chief operating officer of a hotel chain. (And if you read the above paragraph once again like I just did, I promise you won’t be able tell which is which.)

Sex & The City earned it’s place in contemporary culture for its bold exploration of sexuality and relationships in women’s lives. So it is with far more interest that I watch the forementioned shows because one of them is created by the original writer for SATC and the other one, by its director.

Even in the nascent stages both Cashmere Mafia and LipStick Jungle have made it crystal clear that they are not just an urban, more relevant version of Carrie and her friends. The characters in this series are definitely have texture and are perhaps slightly closer to real life and deal with real life issues: managing kids, anniversaries, cheating husbands, joint finances and veritably, expensive closets. Sure enough, every now and then there’s that dose of exuberance and  lavish show of wealth and plots that inextricably weave in and out of impossible, glamorous worlds. But that aside, I’m very interested in the socio-cultural examination shows like this will invite.

On two main perspectives:
1) Is there a cultural shift happening around us with the status-quo between the genders balancing itself out? I am not making a statement, merely asking. I read in Fast Company last month that Sci-Fi channel has more female viewers than men and now that a woman is at the helm of the channel, she is trying hard to shift the perception of Sci-Fi channel from it’s current, star-trekky/manly image to a fantasy/softer image so that it caters to the fairer gender. To me, that is a clear single that contexts that were previously used to separate and differentiate cultural properties based on gender are blurring.

2) The other perspective – (which is a rather unrelated one) is does social media deserve all the credit it is getting? I just returned from a fashion show and there was this buzz  around me by the bloggers in attendance about how their channels were the conduit of opening up fashion and making it more transparent. I see all the coverage on the various fashion blog networks and the more traditional digital media properties and I cannot help but ask myself: what exactly is different? and where exactly are the bloggers providing more value? The more enterprising bloggers enter the fashion shows with photographers and videographers in tow and at the end of the day what you have is: a 100 similar looking videos, a 100 similar sounding interviews and a 100 exact same photographs – all from different sources.

Yes – there are those giddy show reviews and ‘behind-the-scene’ snippets that presumably are enough to ‘open the world’ and make it more transparent. I beg to differ- where is the value?

Ever since SATC aired, without a doubt it also began a slow but certain fashion awakening.
When the show ended, culture mavens and smart story-tellers realized the void the show’s end had created The void was not just an empty slot on HBO, but also the window via which women could regularly breathe in the fashionable air for one hour every week. In the last two years alone, TV shows like ‘American’s Next Top Model," "Top Designer," Top Hairstylist,", & ‘Ugly Betty," have emerged quietly out of the woodwork to become a force to reckon with.
In my humble opinion, these shows do a far better job of making the world of fashion more transparent than bloggers do. Perhaps not accessible – but I’m not sure how blogs do that either.
Yes- most of the TV shows above are reality shows, but aren’t blogs reality in writing anyways?

Something to think about.

Dear Reader

February 7th, 2008 • Social Media • 5 comments

I’m a little stressed. I’m stressed about this responsibility that comes with being a blogger.
Being a blogger was hot once. Now, it is a chore. It started as something I did for myself and my friends, then it morphed into a more serious, professional persona and now everytime I log into type in here, I’m afraid it’s just another voice in the cacophony out there.

Bloggers I meet have ’strategies’ for their blogs, particular reasons why they start blogs and massive, drawn out plans for their blogs.
Clients I meet are wondering about these blogs – they want to wine and dine the bloggers and get them to create, “positive conversations” about blogs.
In another universe, one-time bloggers who are now quasi-famous, are taking potshots at each other, judging and criticizing the very outlets that supposedly started out ‘just out of interest,” and were meant to be subjective, not objective.
The web, the news, the conversations are rife with bitterness and a constantly shifting status-quo.

I come from the world of magazines – it was my first home and I get it. I understand the power of a voice, the power of influence. And I see it coming a full circle, when blogs aren’t just ‘blogs’ but blown-out, magazines that are edited and curated with a singular voice at the helm, becoming full-on media properties. They now have to have a facelift, better features, fancy photography and whatnot. Er, excuse me – are you still a blog? Oh wait a minute, you’ve even got contributing writers. Woah.

Excuse my rant, dear reader.
It’s just 1am on a Thursday morning and I’ve just realized that being a blogger holds no merit for me any longer. Yes, it got me my jobs but it’s not relevant to me in the context that it was before.

Social Thresholds

January 15th, 2008 • Social Media • 2 comments

Returning back to the idea of privacy online, my friend Amit, has a very different point of view that I think is worth adding to this discourse. Our debate rose from teh idea of separating your worlds and contexts that you exist in. Here are his thoughts,

Ultimately, being completely open with all worlds, allowing them to mix, and letting your friends see you in your business contexts, and your boss see you in your personal life, is equivalent to putting faith in humanity and in yourself. It’s understanding that help and opportunity can come from anywhere at anytime, and there’s no way to predict it. And that people are at their deepest level good, that you are deserving of their attention, interesting enough, and worthy of their help, so letting them see more of you can only help you (and them) more than it hurts.

While I don’t agree with this, it is a very valid argument that deserves to be heard and discussed. I don’t agree with this thinking because to me each individual in my life exists in a different context. Your close friends cross over into different contexts of your life but for the rest, there should be no free pass. Friendships should be earned – and special benefits come with that, namely access to my full profile.

This does not mean every moment must be broadcast. There are exceptions to every rule, and times when discretion makes sense. You wouldn’t broadcast a job search while still employed, any more than I’d share minor squabbles with a significant other in a public forum.
But what a loss would it be if you didn’t share your victories and joys — the good times, if not the insignificant ones. It’s weird, this fifth relationship. There’s plenty of precedent to fall back on for relationships with your family, your friends, your coworkers, and your significant others, but most historically haven’t had to think much about their relationship with strangers. That was a problem left for celebrities. Until the Internet gave everyone a chance for microcelebrity.

I have been having this conversation in varying degrees and colors with other friends and each present a distinct, well-pontificated argument that I’d like to share with you. Every voice adds another layer to this debate and while there is no right answer, there is perhaps some weight in the idea that every individual has a social threshold (for strangers) they won’t cross. Whatever that threshold is for them – and it is different for everyone. You may be comfortable sharing your flickr gallery with everyone but not your age and your personal blog while I may be ok with having you observe me here in this space but perhaps not on facebook unless you are my friend. Does this make sense?

What’s your social threshold? What do you allow and not?

Managing online identities

January 6th, 2008 • Social Media • 2 comments

I have been visiting and re-visiting the issue of online identities for a while now. I want to de-construct my view and see if I could make a coherent argument for my position.
There has been a flurry of conversations and debates online on Design Observer and NYT about anonymity and pseudo-online personalities. I’m still exploring what it all means and trying to make some sense of it, but here’s where I stand for now.

Here’s what I reason
– People like me who
are so careful about their online identities are driven by fear.
Although I should point out that while fear maybe the underlying
factor, it is not fueled by the fear to ‘hide something," but instead
‘to protect."

I strongly believe that at the very core, our online behavior
mimicks our offline behavior (bar some of the advantages afforded on
the net, mainly – anonymity) So like we do in our offline lives, our
online lives exist in various contexts and circles. Professional,
Family, Friends, Other — sometimes those worlds overlap, sometimes
they do not. To cite from personal example, my boss at the bank added
me on facebook while I was in the midst of a job search. POKE found me
on facebook in response to a post I had on a facebook group which was
easily searchable if anyone were to follow my mini-feed or simply
browsing through the groups I am a member of. I was in a dilemma
because I very well couldn’t refuse my boss but how was I to accept his
request with my private moves out open in the public? My wall-posts
that referred to my move to NYC had to be deleted – I had to inform my
friends in the know to communicate using alternate means.

Another example – when facebook opened it’s doors to the
public, my cousins, family members and other folks from India surged on
facebook and eagerly added me as a friend. Now this was a real problem
- because contextually, my cultural upbringing questioned whether my
relatives and family members should be privy to conversations (on my
wall) between me and my friends. With my background, there was no way
these two worlds could co-exist mutually on a singular online platform.
Photos, relationship status-es, Wall posts, the innocent and honest
banter on the walls — everything would be subject to scrutiny. And
again, denying these members was out of question.

And lastly – when everyone started adding each other on
facebook, I was in a daze. The change was abrupt and fast. I could
remember thinking how two months back, facebook being about me and my close friends.
And now suddenly, I had lost the context for facebook and what it meant
for me.

*I think opinions of those who are relatively new to
facebook may differ here since their knowledge about facebook’s
environments is limited to the time they have been a member of the
network.

But people like me struggled – wondering if it was rude to deny
requests? who is a friend? what constitutes a friend? Also, in a
professional world, how do you strictly keep your relationships such
but still strong enough to allow them to grow? Again, in a field where
most jobs happen via networking, I was less inclined to deny those
connections.

The answer was plain and simple – private profiles for
‘friends." and the real profile for friends. Until I can trust the
‘friends,’ – there’s no reason why they should be privy to what my
friends deserve and get out of me. It is a pain to manage that yes -
but that is facebook’s fault, not mine. I am an ordinary individual and
I’m sure there are plenty of folks like me who feel this way. So
facebook should make it easier for people like us to use the facebook
platform and satisfy the various contexts we exist in. It’s really a
simple UI issue I think. And I can guarantee you, in the future
facebook will make this possible. It’s a fine balance.

Like I said, I don’t have answers but I think I know what
motivates the desire to maintain and actively manage your online
identity. It’s an oxymoron – because ofcourse, you want to be found
when someone googles you. And professionally for me, I should be found
on the various sites (twitter, iminlikewithyou, 43things, flickr,
orkut, friendster…..etc. etc) if someone searches for me there,
simply because how can I claim to understand social media without
deep-diving into it myself? So yes, I want to be found – but I want to
be careful about what’s found about me. Atleast to the level where it
can be controlled by me.

Me Elsewhere

January 4th, 2008 • On my mind... • No comments

Linked In

43Things

Twitter

Del.icio.us

Books binge

December 29th, 2007 • On my mind... • No comments

I know I need to stop – and I know I need to finish the books currently on my shelf. But today I bought two more books that I simply have to read. Of late, I’ve been gravitating towards books with a more academic flavor. So in case these interest you,

Fans, Bloggers and Gamers – Understanding participatory culture by Henry Jenkins

The Hidden Sense – Synthesia in art and science by Cretien Van Campen

I’ve resolved to finish reading these books before the year’s end. I’d love to discuss if any of you have read them before or are interested in reading with me.

Recap

December 28th, 2007 • On my mind... • 1 comment

Attributing my silence on my blog to work and life is becoming a common excuse, I notice Without making much fuss, here are some things I’ve been doing or are on my mind today!

• Exploring NYC stores and restaurants. Spending way too much time at the MOMA Design store. The place where I work gave us (thank you!) gift-cards to the store and I have yet to decide what to spend my monnies on!
• Spent a few hours yesterday at Kinokuniya at the Rockefellar Center. Kinokuniya is an all-Japanese bookstore – they also have cool stationary and a few English books. If you are a Japanphile like me, you will LOVE this store. It’s a pity I can’t read or write Japanese yet but the store is a absolute sensory delight.
• Browsed through Librairie De France, collection of classic French children’s books
• Watched the entire Season 2 of Heroes  back-to-back on hulu.com.
• Reading (previously unread) books my my favorite author Haruki Murakami – Currently reading, UnderGround.
• Shuttling between Philly and NY, hanging out with friends, cooking meals and simply relishing this break.
• Tweeting is yet to come naturally to me.
• Bhutto’s murder shook me – pushed me to wonder, am I doing something important enough with my life. Such a bubble we live in sometimes.
• When I was younger, I’d want to hold on to one day of the ending year — just one day for me to live whenever I chose to. Now, 1st Jan is just another day Doesn’t mean we don’t bring it in with a bang though

So that’ it for today!