Cha-Cha-Changes - A Lot Can Happen in a Minute

Contemplating life in Southcoast, MA - TICK.  TOCK.  TICK.  TOCK.  THE CLOCK NEVER STOPS.  SEASONS COME.  SEASONS GO.  TURN.  TURN - From St. Paul to the Byrds -

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

The transition from spring to summer has been interesting.  If you've ever wondered if the Chinese curse - may you live an interesting life - had any teeth?  Well, it may.  I have seen my twisted finger, a gift of the Viking heritage I didn't know I had, transformed by a great surgeon.  What is more amazing is the transition from a nearly five inch incision to a nearly invisible line and the ability to wash my face again without poking my eye out.

I have witnessed our grandchildren graduate: one from kindergarten, who less than nine months ago was a caveman to one who now counts, reads and absorbs everything he comes into contact with.  The princess - oops - Princess, graduated (the youngest in her class) from middle school as class salutatorian.  She is so multi-faceted that she can't decide what she wants to be.  I've told her that the secret to her success will be in doing what makes her the happiest. 

True success, however, comes with the right timing.  Timing is everything.  Preparation is timely.  I hope they both heed the words of Confucius, " “By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the most bitter"

Also too, the Greatest Generation lost another son, brother, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, father-in-law and friend.  This unassuming man enlisted in the Second World War and was affiliated with the Mighty Eighth Air Force, U.S.S.T.A.F. and unofficially the C.I.A. during the Korean War. 

With his passing, I think back to those in the family who served in World War II on this Fourth of July (I've been on a hiatus of sorts with all of this family and personal activity) including my uncles; one a member of the first UDT's (Underwater Demolition Team) or, (one of the original forerunners to today's SEALs) frogman who managed to join the Navy before Pearl Harbor at just fifteen and a half. 

He passed this January.  His brother, who predeceased him in 1997, will always be Cowabunga (another story for another time) to me,  served on the USS Cleveland (General MacArthur's command vessel for the invasion of the Philippine Islands) and then was drafted into the Army just in time for the Korean War.  Talk about timing...

There's a time for every purpose under heaven.  What will tomorrow bring?

The Longer the Whiskers, the Fatter the Cat – Eat Your Weight!

Thinking about marketing and stuff on the Southcoast, MA – FOOD.  FUEL.  NOSH.  SNACK.  TREAT. DINE.  COOK. PREPARE.  HEAT & SERVE.  CHEW & SCREW.  READY TO EAT - A report was released on April 13, 2011 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, whose mission is to, “promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.”  According to the report, “Americans spend the least time cooking each day (30 minutes) and Turks spend the most (74 minutes)”  When I first heard this on the evening news broadcast, I was astounded.  Then I heard that, according to this same report, “Americans also spend relatively low amounts of time eating, a habit that correlates with higher obesity rates.”

What the hell are we doing to ourselves?  If we are what we eat; we’re dead!  Yet, in spite of all of the evidence and reports and studies, we keep killing ourselves.  Obesity is rising and along with it diabetes.  Kids don’t know the difference between a snack, a treat and a meal.  How often does a family eat at the same time and at the table?

It’s not just what we’re eating.  It’s also how and when we eat.  I’ve heard many people I know who returned from a trip to Europe say that the Europeans take way too long for lunch – two hours!  What’s wrong with them?  Well?  Out of the two-hours they allot for lunch, they also sit, talk and relax.  They take their time to eat. 

Here, in the States, many employees only have a half-hour for lunch.  If they haven’t packed their lunch, it’ll take that long just to pick a food category, the restaurant, get there or call in the order or order it there and, either eat it there or return to work to eat it at our desks.  Even an hour isn’t enough.  Eating with your eye on the clock isn’t conducive for good digestion.

Eating on the run, whether in our cars, standing up or at our desks is no way to treat ourselves.  The insanity is supported by the amount of money people spend on diets, diet food and diet books.  What’s even worse is the amount of food that we throw out.  We do not respect food.  If we don’t respect food, we don’t respect our health.  Why does shortened eating times correlate with gaining weight and higher obesity rates?   

It takes your brain awhile to catch up with your stomach.  In other words, the faster you eat, the more you eat.  But, your brain takes awhile to register or notify you that you’re full so you end up overeating.  Take time to eat.  You’ll get (or your brain tells you) be full in a shorter amount of time and, be less prone to overeat.    

So, all of this leads to the phenomena of the fatter the cat, the longer the whiskers.  Cats use their whiskers to feel their way around their environment.  If a cat can fit their whiskers through an escape hole, the rest of them will follow.  In humans, our belts are like the cat’s whiskers.  If the belt doesn’t fit, we get a bigger one.  Our comfort overrides our attention to our expanding girth.  If you want to lose weight don’t loosen your belt.  Being uncomfortable make you more conscious of your weight.

Here are a couple of observations or tips or whatever to help you be more conscious of your weight.  In case you’re wondering, I weigh less than I did my junior year of high school and I’m still within ten pounds of my lowest weight of 165.  Easy?  No!  I’ve had to be more aware of what I’m doing in order to be a skinny guy.  The result of this is being in my late fifties with a good weight, normal blood pressure and cholesterol – no age appropriate meds.   Look I’m not an expert.  Your weight is what it is by nature or by nurture. I also feel I could stand to lose ten more pounds.  It's not a vanity thing - it's a comfort thing.  I've been there.  I know what it feels like and I want to get back there.  Being sedentary for a month because of an old back injury wasn't as much a cause of the weight gain as was the boredom and stress of being sedentary.   

The three squares a day myth – If you want to lose weight, don’t skip breakfast especially if your getting older.  Don’t eat your breakfast on the run.  Eat good stuff.  Have a snack around ten when most of us have a drop in blood sugar.  Dr. Pepper was one of the early mass produced carbonated beverages in the United States.  During World War Two, the company was facing sugar rationing.  They convinced the Government that, according to a research study most people had an energy slump at 10, 2 and 4.  Having something to eat, or drink like a Dr. Pepper, at those times was helpful in avoiding the slump.  So, have your three squares and a little something at 10 AM, 2 and 4 PM.        

The big guy is a strong guy myth – Um, the big guy is a fat guy and not a really healthy guy.  My dad was a real honest to goodness Canadian Lumberjack.  They ate massive amounts of high calorie foods but quickly burned them off working.  Strong – yes.  Fat – no. 

Several small courses are better than one – We have some penchant for portions in this country.  People mainly rate their restaurant experience on how big or how small the portions were.  It’s no wonder that the waitstaff has to push desert – there’s no room for it!  Soup, salad and entree offers more variety and leaves some room for desert, which is, the gustatory way for shutting down your appetite.  Try ordering a large salad and several appetizers and graze off of them the next time you go out to eat.

Vanity sizing – Yeah, blame it on marketing!  If you once wore a large and now fit into a medium, it’s more than likely because of vanity sizing.  Large isn’t large, it’s really an extra large and so on.  The odd thing is that the Hip-Hop culture has crept into our clothing decisions and most people wear their casual clothes, especially t-shirts, way too big.  Stop fooling yourself and start taking care of yourself.  

Eat slower – Enjoy your food.  It’s not fuel.  Slow Food is an international organization that promotes, better eating according to their website, “Slow Food was founded in 1989 to counter the rise of fast food and fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.”   

The two hands on the table diet – Step One: Take time to select, prepare and eat your food.  Step Two: Eat slowly and savor your food and the conversation of table mates.  Step Three: When you begin to feel full, place both of your hands on the edge of the table and push.  Leave the table.  It’s as simple as that.

Discover and explore Ayurveda – If you have any Indian restaurants nearby, see if they offer ayurvedic foods.  There’s nothing exotic to the food at all.  What makes it different?  Ayurveda is perhaps one of the oldest of the healing sciences.  It is a holistic approach to health that is designed to help you live a long, healthy, and well-balanced life.   Ayurveda has been practiced in India for at least 5,000 years.  It is about preventing and treating illness, maintaining balance in the body, mind, and consciousness.

Snacks, treats and eating – Children don’t know the difference between snacks (in between meals), treats (stuff that’s not really good for you on a regular basis) and eating (the meals where you get the vitamins and nutrition you need to live healthy.  Snacks that are beneficial to you are great for the 10/2/4 energy slump of the day.  Treats are about indulging in chips or ice cream or soda once in a great while – not as part of a regular diet.  If you give your kids treats all the time they’re no longer treats.

So, shorten up the whiskers by thinning out the cat with fresh, local if possible, food.  Remember single or less than five ingredient foods are better for you.  Prepare the best way possible to enhance the flavor, aroma and nutrition.  Don’t eat alone.  Eat with other people whenever possible.  Eat slowly and enjoy those sitting at the table with you. Eat smaller portions but more courses.  Eat more than the traditional three times per day.  Ben Franklin said, “In general, mankind, since the improvement in cookery, eats twice as much as nature requires.”  

Marketing and the Glass Slipper – A Princely Price

Thinking about marketing and stuff on the Southcoast, MA – MATCH MAKER.  MATCH MAKER.  MAKE ME A MATCH.  FIND ME A FIND.  CATCH ME A CATCH – So sang Hodel in Fiddler on the Roof.  In the spirit of the musical’s main character -  Tevye – I offer that, “a woman will spend a lot of time looking for the perfect man and what does she demand of him when she finds him?  That he change!” 

Businesses look for good marketing support and then dictate what they want done.  I’ve been doing this (marketing) for a long time.  Yet, I continue to be amazed by what appear to be intelligent and very successful business people.  They sense or see on their balance sheets that business isn’t doing as well as it should or that it’s not heading in the direction they envisioned.  In their desire to resolve their real or imagined problem, they go through the classic phases of recovering from addiction.  I say imagined problem not because it’s not real but more than likely; what they think is the problem isn’t the problem.  As the addicted do; first, they finally admit they have a problem - admission.  The remaining four of the five phases to recovery are compliance, defiance and acceptance.  Then there is surrender. 

Surrender, however, is the most difficult stage for these addicted business owners. The scenario that has played itself out in front of me time and time again is this: It is five minutes to Midnight and someone has to fit into the glass slipper.  The glass slipper symbolizes salvation.  “Some day my prince will come…”   Yep, the title song of Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  What is the addiction?  Finding someone who will fit their glass slipper concept of the marketing problem they think (same as imagined) they have.  They are obsessed by their quest.  They are addicted to the hope of finding the perfect match they’ve envisioned.  Match maker.  Match maker…

I hope I’m not coming across a bitter.  I am more frustrated than anything else.  How do I know that what they think their problem is – ain’t?  The conversations go like this.  I wait for them to tell me what they think needs fixing.  Then I relate to them what I’ve experienced as follows.

I sat in my car across the street from your business and observed that:

• You and your staff have the best parking spaces
• You have quite a few customers trying to do business earlier than your posted hours of operation.
• Your building & parking lot is a mess
• Your landscaping shows a lack of care and pride (I was once asked what this had to do with anything)
• There’s more… 

I called your business several times and each time I was:

• Treated either rudely or indifferently
• Placed on hold for no less than 5-minutes each time
• Passed around and around
• Never given the satisfaction of a correct answer or viable solution
• There’s more…

I visited your website and I was:

• Confused upon arrival
• Irritated by the old or outdated information
• Annoyed by broken links
• Disappointed by the lack of any useable  information
• There’s more…

I walked into your business and I was:

• Ignored from the time I walked in
• Appalled by the untidiness of the displays
• Never greeted or acknowledged
• Not asked if I needed any assistance
• There’s more…

Your marketing is either internally controllable or affected by uncontrollable outside market forces.  The internally controllable factors in your business would include your personnel, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) as in a uniform way things are done from sales training, customer relations and housekeeping to merchandising, product selection and promotion.

The external forces of politics, the business environment, as well as, social and technological changes may be uncontrollable but they are not insurmountable.  Politicians may raise taxes but, there are ways of lessening the impact.  Tell the customer you’ll pay the sales tax.  The business environment goes in cycles of boom and bust.  What goes up must come down.  Ranting and reacting is unproductive.  Social behaviors such as trends and fads may be unpredictable but they shouldn’t be ignored.  Technological advances are only worthwhile looking into if they truly help lower costs and boost productivity.  Although uncontrollable in nature, they can be adopted or adapted as required. 

Zig Ziglar the famous sales coach and motivator said, “Every sale has five basic obstacles: no need, no money, no hurry, no desire, no trust.”  Most businesses suffer from lack of sales because they fail to respect the needs of their clientele and because they fail to ask for the sale.  When someone like me comes along to state the obvious, it seems too simple and therefore lacks value.  So, most business owners will feel the problem they believe is hurting business can only be cured by expensive and complicated marketing consultation and/or support. 

That kind of thinking will only make a simple problem more complicated .  Of course, as soon as it’s discovered that the remedial marketing isn’t helping it’s the marketing consultant’s fault.  A Chinese proverb reminds us that,  “To open a shop is easy, to keep it open is an art.”  Detroit automotive industry legend, Lee Iacocca believed that businesses were all about people, product and profits.  Your people (employees and customers) are your business.  If their not, find some who are.  Your product is why you exist.  Identify your product and it will define you.  

Profit is what happens when all is said and done – correctly.  Put profit first and you may lose good employees and customers to your competition.  The glass slipper may not be the solution to the problem you think you have.  It may be best if you heed the advice of Snow White’s hosts the Dwarfs who were serious when they sang, “Come on get smart, tune up and start to whistle while you work.”  It may just be helpful in getting you to look at things a little differently.

4 Reasons Why Marketing & Parenting Are the Same

Thinking about marketing and stuff on the Southcoast, MA – CHOICES. CONSEQUENCES. BLAME.  RESPONSIBILITY. REASONS. EXCUSES. INDIFFERENCE. CARING. - Again, I was out for my walk or what the old timers would call my constitutional and it happened again - bam! 

On the old Jackie Gleason Television Show there was character played by Frank Fontaine called Crazy Guggenheim whose catch line was along the lines of. "I was just standin' there.  I wasn't doin' nothin'.  I wasn't botherin' nobody."  Well, I hope you get the picture.

Oh, the bam?  Marketing and parenting are the same...

1. Kids don't bring themselves up AND businesses don't run themselves - both have a specific life-cycle that requires a specific set of skills and attention.  Kids and businesses both come into being in the first stage of the cycle, the - New or Introductory Stage - nearly everything that goes on at this stage will set the parameters for the rest of the life-cycle.  Once the cuteness factor wears off, it's down to the day-to-day, standard operating procedures (SOP) that are required to make sure everything is as it should be.  Schedules have to be created and kept to.  Systems need to be formulated to maximize time and productivity. The bragging only comes after the work and effort is put into the enterprise, whether child or business.

The second stage is perhaps the most critical of  the cycle, the - Growth Stage - which has to be regulated.  Too much or too little at this stage will impair and impede healthy growth.  This is where the successful schedules and systems come home to roost.  At this stage of the game, everyone should know their part and their place.  Here, at this point is when freedom and independence are crucial.  Hovering and smothering will do more harm than good.  Good parents and entrepreneurs know when to let go.     

The third stage is also a critical one.  Entropy can affect this part of the cycle, the - Maturity Stage - which has to be identified and dealt with.  Too much laissez-faire in is not a good thing.  The worst part of this stage is S.O.S.O. - Same Old. Same Old. - it is worse than hovering and smothering.  Maturity should not be confused with confidence and comfort. Neither humans nor businesses should believe that maturity is either a state or a quality of being fully grown or developed.  Where there is no growth, life is diminished and entropy sets in. Growth is required for life, whether physical, intellectual or spiritual.

As for the fourth and last stage of  the cycle, the - Decline Stage - if any of the stages were not successfully completed, there is a decline.  The word decline, comes from the German word kline, or small.  At this stage, everything has to be cut back, curtailed or corrected.  Regardless of what decline sounds like, it can be turned around. Everything has to be looked at with new eyes and sensibilities.  All parties need to be in sync with the turn-around goal.  There can be recovery and resurrection. 

We hear parents say, "I didn't raise them to turnout that way!"  My question is, were they raised by space monkeys then?  Business owners have a similar lament, "This is not how it was supposed to turn out."  Well, it did and it's time to accept responsibility and stop wasting time playing the blame game.     

2. Kids AND businesses can't be left unsupervised - they require experienced managers.  Running with scissors!  Yet, how is it that McDonald's founder Ray Kroc was able to create an operational system staffed by teenagers?  How about a simple and effective SOP?  How about management training?  How about common sense?  The key word is responsibility.  Parents and business owners need to be attentive, open-minded and responsible.  The kids and employees need to be engaged, encouraged and taught what responsibility is and the difference between reasons and excuses.  

3. How your kids AND business behave speaks volumes of their "management" - behavior is the result of culture.  Avoid the lessons of choices and consequences. Pay peanuts and hire monkeys.  And, the results will not only be embarrassing, they may curtail the envisioned rosy future.  When the cat's away, the mice will play.  Kids and employees need to be aware that they and their behaviors not only represent themselves; they also become representative of the family or the company. Let's not forget that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

4. There are no bad kids AND there are no bad businesses - there are also, as another adage goes, no bad dogs only bad dog owners.  With that concept in mind - there are no bad kids and no bad businesses only bad parents and bad managers.

Example is the best example.  Perception is reality and, therefore truth from the point of view of children or employees.  Truths define expectations or the lack of them.  Expectations are defined in rules, procedures and systems.  Systems dictate behaviors.  Behaviors are either acceptable or otherwise and create the structure of a culture.  Cultures are what identify all parties to outsiders. 

One is a reflection of the other.  So, inaction reflects a lack of caring.  And a lack of caring is a sign of indifference.  Where there is indifference, there is no growth or maturity, there is only decline.  Unless you're Crazy Guggenheim, you can't get away with the excuse that - it just happened - "I was just standin' there.  I wasn't doin' nothin'.  I wasn't botherin' nobody."  It doesn't and won't cut it in the end.

Men’s Studies - Cramming?

Looking at life on the Southcoast, MA – MAN.  MANLY. MALE.  MASCULINE.  WARRIOR.  HUNTER. MAN CAVE. CAVEMAN or, from the old nursery rhyme: Tinker, tailor; Soldier, sailor; Rich man, poor man; Beggar-man, thief; Tinker, Tailor; Soldier, Sailor; Gentleman, Apothecary; Plough-boy, Thief; A laird, a lord; A richman, a thief; A tailor, a drummer; A stealer o' beef.   

Thief?  Sure shows up a lot.  I think the thief has been robbed!  I know.  I know.  Never openly discuss religion and politics or, gender or feminism either. Yeah, sure, it’s a man’s world.  Maybe once upon a time but – alas, no more!  You see, the privilege was squandered.  Now the price is being paid.  Man and manhood need to be redefined.  I know I’ve more than likely already raised an eyebrow or two so why not?   

We need to create and offer Men’s Studies courses at UMass Dartmouth.  No, I’m not saying this in any tongue and cheek way.  In fact, perhaps these Men’s Studies courses should be offered under the auspices of Sustainability Studies.  I’m not going to get into details.  I’m just putting an idea out there.  Here’s a song by Greg Keeler to get you into the concept.  It’s called Manly Men:

 

We're men among men and manly men.
Yes, manly men are we.
We're men among manly men among manly,
Manly men are we.

We'll sail up north and cross the ice
And cross the barren snow fields.
You've gotta be tough, and you've gotta be a man
To club the baby harp seal,
To club the baby harp seal.

Maybe that was then.  Maybe this is now.  Men belong to an endangered gender.  Men as fathers.  Men as husbands or significant others.  Men as providers, protectors and procreators are not only endangered, they are also displaced.  Looking at all this from a marketing point of view, I see the role of fathers shredded and demeaned on children’s television shows primarily and also on prime time television.  In children’s shows, mom and dad characters are devalued but of the two, Dad is the most inept.  Was the last of the TV fathers that knew best was Bill Cosby’s Dr. Huxtable?  As for the prime time male, well, they range from the unworthy and unscrupulous to the downright stupid. 

Demographically, where do men fit-in in this American society of ours?  As providers, men can’t make enough to provide for their families without the support of their wives.  The wife’s paycheck represents either healthcare insurance  or money for those extras we’re convinced we all need.  Many women don’t want to work.  They’re conflicted.  They want to be moms.  Yes, some women do want careers just like guys have or used to have.  Yes, there are conflicted guys out there too.  The difference is, when guys were the breadwinners; they had the little-woman at home keeping the domestic fires burning.   When women are in a solo or an equal bread winning role; they usually don’t have the little-man maintaining the domestic status quo.  Enter the professional child care providers.   

Wow – I’m really getting off-base.  I’ll return to the breadwinner theme at another time.  Getting back to the Man, as is were, as providers, we neither hunt nor grow our primary food sources these days.  We’ve traded our hunting and farming duties for a diverse number of roles within the modern workplace.  As protectors, we no longer have to battle with indigenous people and animals for territory to keep kit, kin and stake safe.  As procreators, well, perhaps not much has appeared to change in that department and in some cultures and ethnic groups; it’s the proof of manhood.

World War I was perhaps the beginning of the end of the modern male.  Half of that generation was either killed in battle or wandered about in intellectual shell shock.  After the carnage of World War II, the American male was, to use a British term, deemed redundant.  Enter the barbeque grill.  It was, at one point, a sanctuary for men.  The only visible proof that the old man had some value.  After all, he was outside making believe he was useful.  At least he wasn’t dirtying up or burning down the house.  Men drifted in the muck and mire of their jobs through the Fifties and the Sixties.  Then came the upsurge in feminism, the advent of political correctness and Christine Lavin’s New Age Sensitive Guys. 

Men have feelings too.  The movie City Slickers investigated the hopes and dreams of ordinary guys.  But, is being a part of the woodwork, as well as, ordinary and average something that must be accepted?   Joe Walsh crooned in his Ordinary Average Guy tune:

I'm just an ordinary average guy

My friends are all boring

And so am I

We're just ordinary average guys

We all live ordinary average lives

With average kids

And average wives

We all go bowling at the bowling lanes

Drink a few beers

Bowl a few frames

We're just ordinary average guys

Ordinary average guys

The result of all this is the American Male.  But the workplace is still male dominated!  Look just because most men are bosses doesn’t mean all bosses are men.  If manhood is such a great deal in the Twenty-First Century then why the uptick in Man Caves? Maybe we could find out if we had a Men’s Studies course!  What would the research into the role of men in today’s society what it would reveal their functions and responsibilities as providers, protectors and (procreators) parents.  It’s just a stupid man idea.  Unless, of course, you think it may have some merit?

Chime in please and let me know if you think it's a stupid idea or if it's something that should be seriously considered.  Maybe the name Men's Studies bugs you.  If so, how about Male Studies?  Checkout this article in Inside Higher Ed.  Author Jennifer Epstein profiles the newest academic discipline to emerge in the field of gender studies.  

Elks, Moose & Eagles, Oh My!

Social Media tips for the Southcoast, MA – FRATERNAL. SOCIAL. BENEFICENT. PATERNAL. PROTECTIVE. - I bumped into a friend and we were discussing social media and it lead to social networking.  I mentioned that I had read The End Of The Social Network Era, The Rise Of The Social Circle Era by Jason Schwartz, Matchbook on the Business Insider site. My last post was based on Mr. Schwartz's article - Why You Should Circle the Wagons & Stay on the Porch...  

If you didn't read that post, Mr. Schwartz says, “Social Networks are characterized by, "Friend Everyone, Share Everything."  Social Circles will be characterized by "Group Dynamically, Share Selectively." Social Circles will focus on groups, automatically created based on a person’s real life social circles.”

While relating this to my friend, it hit me.  Social Circles?  That extends into associations.  Gee, the word association says it all - a group of people who have an interest, activity or purpose in common; a society. Will we see the resurrection of the clubs our dads and granddads belonged to?  Will the ranks of the Elks, Moose and Eagles grow?  

Will Freemasonry have a resurgence?  How about ethnic and religious associations such as the B'nai Brith, the Knights of Columbus and the Ancient Order of Hibernians?  Makes me think of the granddad's club in the movie Peggy Sue Got Married.

Hey, how about book clubs?  Abraham Lincoln said, "Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new at all."  When I first saw Peggy Sue Got Married, I promised myself  that if I ever joined an organization, it would be because they had cool hats like Peggy's granddad or Fred Flintstones' Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes Lodge Number 26. I couldn't leave the last post hanging without mentioning this.  I hope you found it helpful!

   

Why You Should Circle the Wagons & Stay on the Porch...

Social Media tips for the Southcoast, MA – DECENTRALIZE.  GET AWAY BY STAYING PUT.  RATCHET DOWN.  KNUCKLE DOWN.  DOUBLE DOWN.  KEEP YOUR MONEY IN-TOWN. – I just read The End Of The Social Network Era, The Rise Of The Social Circle Era by Jason Schwartz, Matchbook on the Business Insider site.  It seems that the concept that I’ve kicked around on this blog about solving many of our education and employment problems by resurrecting the concept and function of neighborhoods and villages is spilling over into cyberspace.  What Mr. Schwartz says is, “Social Networks are characterized by, "Friend Everyone, Share Everything."  Social Circles will be characterized by "Group Dynamically, Share Selectively." Social Circles will focus on groups, automatically created based on a person’s real life social circles.”

“They will dynamically shift to include new close friends and remove those that become distant. “Friends” will come to mean the same thing as it does in the real world, a group of people whom you share a close connection with. Content will be shared selectively with those that it’s most relevant to, mirroring the intimate sharing of real-life friendships.” In marketing; birds of a feather flock together.   

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe – not Marshall McLuhan said that, “less is more.” McLuhan however, did say, “The medium is the message. This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium - that is, of any extension of ourselves -result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology.” When a new technology is born, consumers tend to apply it in ways not imagined by the creator of the technology.  For example, when Gutenberg printed the first Bible, you’d think it would create a demand for books of all kinds.  It did but the demand for anti-papist pamphlets outpaced book orders.  Another example is photography.  Within a year of its debut in France, the porn industry was at full tilt.  Eventually everything finds its own niche.

Social networking driven by My Space and Facebook was originally adopted by users under the age of twenty-five.  That demographic wasn’t socially mature or experienced enough to value or understand the concepts of privacy and permanency and shared (an old word with new meaning) everything and anything with anyone and with everyone.  This exemplified Andy Warhol and his prediction that everyone would have their 15-minutes of fame.  Facebook has now evolved and is being used as part of standard operating procedure for businesses and now education as well.  Its core uses are now, however, are women between the ages of 35 and 65.  Twitter too has been embraced by business and education.

McLuhan also said, “As the unity of the modern world becomes increasingly a technological rather than a social affair, the techniques of the arts provide the most valuable means of insight into the real direction of our own collective purposes.”  He’s one for two.  Technology has woven itself into the social fabric as social networking.  But the arts, for the exception of the movies, have been affected by other shifts in society; but more about this another time.

In my own simple words, “what goes up must come down and what was once important now seems silly in retrospect.”  Technology is fantastic.  It’s not new.  Technology isn’t a thing; it’s the activity of inventing and producing the materials, methods and machines that make our lives better.  The telegraph was, in its day, cutting edge.  Technology, although it offers us the benefits of faster, cheaper and better; is not what makes life worth living.  Having everything that the World has to offer available to you on the Internet 24/7 is great.  Not knowing who your neighbor isn’t.  Not knowing anything about your town isn’t.  Not really knowing most of the Friends in your social network is, well, stupid. 

When I say knowing, I mean really knowing.  Would you invite all of these friends to your home or go out to dinner with them with some frequency at their particular level of knowing?  Have our egos become so fragile that our need for affection and belonging can only be measured by the amount of “friends” we’ve collected and the number and frequency of their adjudged likes in regards to even our most mundane activities?  Sure, social networking has closed the gap on distance and frequency of communication with family and real friends in a way that the telephone, email and the mail could not.  But...

Before I move on to Social Circles, let me remind you that social networking isn’t new at all.  The technology that currently defines it is however.  Social networking was wherever neighbors gathered or associated while performing the mundane tasks of laundry, fetching water or getting a coffee at the local coffee shop.  Hanging out your laundry was social networking – it was also very public.  Your laundry spoke volumes about you. Frilly nickers or holes in your nickers?  Bright white-whites or dull grey-whites?  The whole family was represented by age, gender and occupation.  So, yes, Social Circles are naturally characterized by the group’s dynamics including what they share or have in common, which defines their selective-ness, or perhaps more correctly commonality and communality.

Mr. van der Rohe was correct, “less is more.”  Or, as the classic Volkswagen advertising campaign of the Sixties exclaimed: Think Small.  Actually, this is all about social sustainability.  As the New Urbanism website calls proposes; cities that offer more:

• Walkability
• Connectivity
• Mixed-Use & Diversity
• Mixed Housing
• Quality Architecture & Urban Design
• Traditional Neighborhood Structure
• Increased Density
• Smart Transportation
• Sustainability
• Quality of Life

You’re nobody until somebody loves you.  The requirements for happiness have always been control, affection and belonging.  Social networking gives us those requirements in a something is better than nothing sort of way.  Ain’t nothing like the real thing baby - Buddha said, “He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes.”  Can that thought be correlated to: He who has 50 Friends expects at least 50 Likes; he who has no Friends has no Likes.”  Finally, McLuhan said that art, but I believe technology fits here and, “…at its most significant is a distant early warning system that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is beginning to happen.”  Perhaps Social Networking, umm, Social Circles, are a portent of things to come.  It’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood!