Casual Fridays

It’s been just over a month since I’ve done SnapThoughts, so here’s a few more:

I wish I could have gotten a better picture of this, but we were traveling 70 mph.  In the dead tree there is a sign that reads “Skydiving Lessons ###-####”.  I don’t know about you, but when I think about skydiving, the last thing I want to envision is something hanging awkwardly in a tree.

This is pain reliever for infants.  Why is the age (upper-right corner of box) restricted to toddlers then?

The physical act of banking seems so antiquated.  Which line should I get in?  Sure, cashier lines in stores have the same problem… but it’s compounded in a car.  If I choose a line and another lane opens up, it’s much harder to maneuver to the open slot.  So, most cars just hang back and wait (like I’m doing here).  Not efficient.

Another example from drive-thru banking.  See all the scars on this ATM barrier.  Looks like it did its job in protecting the ATM machine.  But what about all the customers’ cars?  Couldn’t something more friendly be done that wouldn’t damage customer cars?

Moving from drive-thru to drive-in (Sonic Drive-Ins). How is this trash can supposed to be used?  You have to pull into the left lane of the entrance/exit and block incoming traffic.

One of these mailboxes belongs to A-1 Trucking.  Can you guess which one?

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A-7, of course!

One of our children broke an arm two weeks ago (hence the missing post that Friday). As people found out about it, I heard many stories about how they or their children had similar experiences. After having these stories shared with me, I felt a sense of fraternity with a new group of people. It reminded me of something I posted on my first blog, which wasn’t about marketing or business… just life. I thought I’d re-post it here today:

Scars

The other day I was shaving and ouch!! I cut my chin. I looked in the mirror and realized that I cut myself because of a scar. The skin was raised a bit by the scar and the blade just nicked it. This scar was the result of an incident when I was two or three years old. While running through my grandma’s kitchen, I tripped and bust my chin open on her linoleum floor. Most people don’t even know I have a scar on my chin. It is on the bottom of the ball of my chin and isn’t noticeable unless I raise my lower lip upward dramatically. I don’t even notice it very often. I hadn’t thought about it in ages, yet it was still there waiting for a hasty blade to bring it to my attention.

We all have scars. Some are from childhood incidents like mine. Others are even harder to see. They’re emotional, psychological, or spiritual. Nevertheless, they are still scars and they wait for some hasty action, ill-spoken word, or reminder of the past to reveal them.

As a volunteer drama director I see this happen occasionally with actors. We will be working on a scene and something triggers an emotion… the actor loses it. We usually take a break and I talk with the actor. Often, something in the scene or about the character revealed something to actor about his/herself. Not surprising since that is what most writers attempt to do. They want people to relate and respond to the story and/or the characters.

My wife Tammy and I were watching Message in a Bottle one evening. Although it is a rather drab movie with suspect acting, there was a moment that shot me to pieces. (Warning: Possible spoiler if you haven’t seen the movie.) One of the characters receives a phone call to find out that a loved one was killed in an accident. On the surface this seems like nothing incredible. This happens in other movies. This time though, I fell apart. The phone call reminded me of one I had received a few months before. A call telling me two friends of ours had died in a plane accident. The scar was reopened without warning and quite abruptly.

What do we do? We can’t walk on eggshells around everyone worrying that we might unwittingly tear open what time has worked so hard to heal. This would paralyze our ability to communicate and ultimately connect with people.

The best answer I have comes from Lethal Weapon 3 (not a typical fount of wisdom, but give me a moment).  There is a scene in this movie where Mel Gibson and Renee Russo’s characters start showing their scars to each other. They take it to extremes by beginning to disrobe, but that’s beside the point. They share their stories through these scars. This is where they fall for each other. Why? Because he relates to her. She understands where he’s been. They connect. What if that’s the point?

What if we have the scars so we can share them with others? So we can relate to one another. Sharing our hurt and hopefully our healing with people who may have similar stories of their own. It’s hard. There’s a fear that people may be disgusted by our scars or maybe they will reopen the wound somehow. That fear however, should not impede us from sharing with the right people at the right moment.

It may be worth a nick on the chin to engage someone’s heart.

A few weeks ago, I was doing research on eHarmony commercials. I thought I’d show you what we did with that research.

These were some fun TV ads we created for a Tulsa area business. It really fits their brand, since they’re known for matching people with just the right appliances. We’re hoping to build on this concept.

I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried
I’ve had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way,
“Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way“

- Frank Sinatra, My Way

As popular as it is, I know there’s a lot of people who don’t like that song. They find it arrogant and self-centered. And, left to itself, I suppose it is.

But, isn’t there something inside you that says, “Yeah, that’s what I want.”?

I think we all have that. I also believe we were each created with a unique purpose in life. And if we truly seek out “our way” we will have to tap into that purpose we were given… not just selfish desires.

Very few of us do, though. Instead, we look for some sort of standardization to make us comfortable. What would a good business leader do in this circumstance? What would a good mom do here? What would a good husband say now?

We look to the generic.

We even ask “What would Jesus do?” or WWJD for short. Maybe asking this is a good step in the right direction toward finding a moral compass, but I don’t know what a first century carpenter would do about managing his email inbox or explaining the birds and the bees to his daughter.

Models, mentors and case studies are great. But it seems like we’re starving for a means of expressing “our way.” We personalize our iPods, coffee, t-shirts, Scions and stuffed animals. I think it’s because we’re living generic lives.

Have you ever asked, “How was I created to deliver this presentation?” Or “What talents and experience can I use to show my husband how much I love him?” Maybe you’ll choose a personal story over a PowerPoint slide. Or you’ll eschew the Hallmark card in favor of writing a song from your heart.

May you say, not in a shy way, you did it Your Way.

Great article by Guy Kawasaki explaining Lois Kelley’s Nine Best Story Lines for Marketing.

I would probably add one more story line… Leaving Ruin. These are stories of the pheonix rising from the ashes. How a person, group or organization survived certain peril. How they turned the ship around when all seemed lost. This story can be similar to David vs. Goliath, but it doesn’t have to be the little guy. It could be how IBM reinvented itself or the story of a successful man who lost everything to alcoholism… only to rediscover what is truly important in life and fights to get it back.

Read the article. Let me know what you think. Which story is yours? And as Guy asks, which story SHOULD be yours?

As a fun little riff, I thought I’d share with you a variety of snapshots from my cell phone and a few thoughts on each:

This is called a Whisper Phone. Our daughter’s elementary school teacher showed it to us at a parent/teacher conference. Children use the whisper phone so they can hear themselves read out loud, but not disturb the other students. Our innovative teacher had created hers out of PVC materials and spend less than a dollar on each phone. The manufactured versions retail for about $8.

Interesting how homemade is a style instead of a process now. Trust me, Ryan did not make this at his home. If it were homemade, you think it would come with a mass-produced sign containing a registration mark?

OK, who was the genius who decided to use Boise State quartertback Jared Zabransky to promote NCAA 08 in Oklahoma Wal-Marts?

I understand he’s on the cover of the game, but don’t they realize Boise State upset OU last year in the Fiesta Bowl (it was an amazing game, by the way)? I would think the promotional materials, if not the game cover itself, would be made as appealing as possible to each region it’s shipped. A Big XII player would have been much more appropriate. But being an Oklahoma State fan, I find this rather humorous.

I’m sorry, but I have a hard time sympathizing (literally) with someone who doesn’t put the name of their pet on their sign.

Tulsa is finally getting an Apple Store! This one is within just a few miles of my home. It won’t be done in time for the iPhone debut today. Below are the construction photos I took through a hole in the facade (geek alert).

Looks like we’ll be waiting a bit longer for our Apple Store to be fully operational.

Why have this sign at all if the exclusions are so broad? Why not put stickers on the Quarts that do come with a free pint? Of course this same frozen custard shop locked the doors behind us at 9:45 when their sign stated they close at 10:00. They had a bucket of mop water on the customer side of the counter (YUM!). They turned the outdoor lights out as we were enjoying our deserts al fresco. Guess they were in a hurry. Too bad we inconvenienced them with our business.

This picture isn’t very good, but you can probably tell it’s a flat tire. Nothing surprising, until you see what this tire is attached to.

It’s the tire rack at our local tire and lube center. The irony was too good to pass up.

Hope you enjoyed today’s SnapThoughts.

I was doing research on an upcoming project recently. While looking for examples of the eHarmony.com ads, I came across this post on Adfreak.

Maybe I’m naive, but I had no idea people found the eHarmony ads so offensive/repulsive.

Here’s a comment from a viewer YouTube:

They are annoying beyond belief. The people in them are a bunch of yuppie losers who like to show affection on TV and rub it in everyone’s faces. They all need to die.

Wow! I knew some people didn’t like the Apple vs. PC ads, but this really throws me.

What are your thoughts? Do you like these commercials or hate them? Do you have any idea why someone would hate them enough to make an implied death threat?

A little Thursday update because I don’t know if I’ll blog tomorrow.

Just got out of Kem Meyer’s session Got Blog?

It was a great session. Yes, some of the material was basic, but that’s what the session description stated. Still, she shared some great advice to bloggers - novice and veteran alike. Also, I met some other bloggers and we shared ideas with each other.

Another benefit was discovering Kem and her blog. With all of our shared interests, I was surprised we hadn’t crossed paths before. Goes to show sometimes analog still trumps digital.
It has been a great experience here at Willow. I haven’t enjoyed everything, but everything isn’t about me. I’ll probably begin unpacking some of the lessons learned from people like Dewitt Jones, Nancy Beach, Dan Kimball and Donald Miller later.

It’s fascinating stuff and dovetails so tightly with what is occurring in marketing today concerning authenticity, creativity, stories and relevance.

More to come.

This isn’t as profound as the title suggests.
Next week, I’m attending a Chicago conference with a team from Liberty Church in Broken Arrow, OK.   It’s the Arts Conference at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago’s suburb of South Barrington, IL.

This will be my third time to attend one of their Arts Conferences.  It’s always refreshing and energizing.  I can’t wait to come back with stories about my heart and mind were opened to something bigger than I anticipated.

Faith and art have always been central to my identity.  I have long considered myself both a Christian and an artist.  So, this conference strikes the sweet spot.

I’m not sure what my time and Internet connection situation will be next Friday.  If I have the opportunity to blog from Chicago, I will.

If you ever wanted to create your own Star Wars movie, now’s your chance… kinda.

In celebration of their 30th Anniversary, Star Wars has unveiled mashup.starwars.com.  It contains about 250 clips and an online editor, allowing fans to mix and match clips together… creating various scenarios.
It’s not perfect, so you have to use your imagination quite a bit - even in simply watching the clips.  But, isn’t that the point?

(Hat Tip to WeirdGuy)