What falls to the floor

Some of you may remember my film from 2010 won 1st place in the Door County Filmfest. Looking for a repeat performance my niece and nephew jumped in to help, her being my lead actress (of course) and he being my cinematographer/cameraman and my lovely wife as producer. First, a word of warning. 14 year old boys need to learn to either cut back on the caffeine or use a stabilization platform, such as the venerable tripod. Second, a 16 year old actress should learn to not look at the camera so much. Yes, it is watching you, unblinking and endlessly. Get used to it. Lastly, if you are producer your job is to supply the doughnuts. Just saying.

As I edit the 45 minutes of footage down to a semi-usable 4 minutes of story telling I am amazed to see that shots I actually use, and am surprised with what falls onto the virtual cutting room floor. Gorgeous shots showing depth and action, but they don’t push the story. Flatter images with less beauty stay in because they do propel the story. Will this film be shown beyond the film fest? Probably not. Will it win. Most likely no. Is that my humble inner voice, or hope that someone has made something better? I don’t know. What I do know is that within this footage there is a story, and that is what matters.

But what is “the” story? Conflict. Why? Because it creates Action, and from this the resolution of this action that creates character. This goes beyond film and print. This is sales. What are you selling? You? Your product?  What is the story of what you are selling? What is the conflict, and most importantly what is the character, You, in your sale?

My last film that won first place with shot with a $50 flip mini camera, duct tape and 12 foot wooden pool that was used in its previous life to poke out raccoon’s from under a porch . Don’t let technology define your story.  Let your  conflict/action/resolution create it.

With Web Development, Be Like A Boy Scout

Be prepared. Before you commit to a new site, the hours and anguish of development, pain and fun, set yourself up for success by creating a list of goals; functionality, time and money. Understand your vision clearly so that when you bring in others they can easily read what you are planning. Be flexible to others, and yourself.
I bring this up because over the weekend a friend called me with a new site he is creating and the simple “blog, river of news, contact forms”, within 2 emails, became increasingly more muddled and complex. Move back to square one, I recommended. Understand the base needs. Build a strong foundation and the rest of the house will stand tall.
Ah, all that sounds really nice, didn’t it?
Truth is it can be more like a battle in that every plan is laid out perfectly, then thrown out the window when the first bullet is fired. The best advice I could give my friend is to get exact instructions from their client, in writing. That way when the client states they want something else you have a basis for charging what you already did.

We all have a voice…and it is not heard.

Today a valuable lesson was re-enforced into my awareness: We all have a voice, and nobody cares. Yes, that sounds dire and loathsome but hear my tale of woe and judge for yourself. Today I ventured for the first time into a Teavana store in Oak Brook Illinois with 2 co-workers at lunch. Drinking too much coffee I found my daily drinking habits needed a healthy boost and so there I stood in this small shop facing two friendly Tea Experts ready to guide me into the world of the Samurai. Well, at least that was what I thought it was. Upon entry I noticed something odd. The door to the shop was open. Normally at a mall one would expect this, but it was 9 degrees in this outdoor mall and the small space heaters just were not up to the demand. I asked if I may close the door and the two employees smiled a weary smile saying it was corporate requirement that the door stay open. That is stupid, I and my co-workers responded as we proceeded to learn about tea and each spend a very large chunk of cash. Back at the office I tweeted and remarked on Teavana’s Facebook that I did not appreciate the cold store and quickly found my voice was silenced. My post on Facebook, while visible to me, was quickly hidden from other Facebooker’s in the office. If they don’t like what you say, not only will they remove your post, they will show you that your post is still there to feed your greedy needs.
Later in the evening I was on the phone with Wells Fargo Retirement Services needing to transfer a modest amount to a new 401k. The young, friendly man on the phone, nearing the end of the conversation, quickly noted that there would be a $25 closing fee. Excuse me? Why, I asked. He didn’t know. I told him I didn’t want to pay it. He said too bad. I remarked that I did not charge a $25 fee when I deposited the money. That kinda stumped him. Where am I going with this, and why is this like Teavana. Simple: I am not that special. They can charge whatever they want, keep the doors open as wide as they like and treat however they wish. It doesn’t matter. I have no voice. An neither do you. Prove me wrong.

 

Edit: What really irks me about the Wells Fargo is that they will be taking out the $25 from pre-tax money. That just does not make sense. I can’t touch that money without the feds fury…what makes them different?

What we need, and when we need it.

Everything. Now. Curious how that sounds, isn’t it. You could apply this to just about anything on your plate, whether for work or play. What do you need? [Better process|Faster internet|Bigger hair]. When do you need it? [Now] What good is bigger hair going to do you 3 weeks from now? Because that you are asking for it does not imply that you planning for it; but that you need it. Now. Take a few steps back and you may think we sound like children, but it is all in context.
Let us say that you are service provider for my clients, and as such you are holding analytic data on my clients behavior. That I am asking for it does not mean that I am planning on getting it someday, but rather I need it Now. Why now? The longer I can track behavioral trends the better service model I can build. This does not mean that as a service provider you are only going to provide me with what you believe my needs are. I want everything, and I want it Now. Does this make me sound like a spoiled child? To some yes and others no. Do I care? Nope.

Um, nope

There is a great tool called Git that allows one to easily push a development into a repository for distribution. I say easily because for me it is easy…it’s a command line tool. The downside is that other workmates aren’t comfortable working in the command line; and why should they be? We live in world of UX, user experience where colors and widgets allow for a relaxed environment of the ever friendly mouse. The command line is cold and dark, filled with arcane knowledge and mystical powers. And now I must go to them, after years of building application management via click and drag, and now I ask them to find their command terminal and type EXACTLY what I need them to type? Hogwash, I say.