Conversation Agent

Acts of Kindness: Make the Impossible Possible

Today is Bloggers Unite in Acts of Kindness day. According to the site:

The Acts of Kindness bloggers unite challenge aims at putting a human face on bloggers who are responsible for so much good in the world. The goal is to expose their kindness and generosity as well as serve as an example to non-bloggers that volunteering for a charity, donating to a cause, or simply doing something kind for another person has a ripple effect around the world.

"Maybe 20,000 bloggers, vloggers, and photographers will make a difference."

My belief has always been that one person can make a difference. Today I could talk about volunteering to teach children how to read. I could write about putting quarters in meters about to expire -- the city of Philadelphia issues stiff tickets, I've been always ready to help others not get one. Or I could share stories about giving someone that critical connection to solve a problem. All good things that help me be a better person for sure. All things that pale in comparison with the lifetime work of a very special person.

I met Bill Strickland in Denver, August 2000. We had a very casual hallway conversation on our way to the meeting hall during Fast Company Community @ Work gathering. 101 coordinators of readers' groups convened from all over the world to meet face to face with each other and the magazine editorial staff. Bill was one of the mentors who had been invited by Fast Company to ignite the conversation. That he did with images and a human voice that left no heart unaffected. By the time he was done speaking, every single person in the room was moved to tears -- of compassion, joy, and love.

As things go, I came back home inspired to learn more. In January 2003, I met the then Managing Director of a local school, INROADS, at a round table organized by Penn State Great Valley in Philadelphia on the value of creating a sustaining a diverse work environment in celebration of Dr. Martin Luther king, Jr. During our conversation, I learned that he was a Pittsburgh native and had been away from the city for 20 years. Thus he was not familiar with Bill's work at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild.

I offered to connect the two so that a visit to the Pittsburgh marvel could be arranged. Inroad's mission is to recruit, train and develop high caliber students of color for professional positions in business and industry. It seemed like a perfect match. I'm sure Bill is quite busy with the school and Manchester Bidwell, a jobs training center and community arts program. He answered within hours with contact details for the visit.

Why am I thinking about this now? A few days ago I received an email from Meredith McGinnis at Doubleday, Random House. Her email was the best pitch I have received from anyone to date. She started by referencing my post on Three Cups of Tea that made her decide to reach out and tell me about a book titled Make the Impossible Possible. A book by Bill Strickland with Vince Rause. What Meredith described in her email touched me because I had felt it in Bill's presence, hearing his story many years earlier. Her email is a superb example of the use of story to connect (emphasis mine):

"Last November I flew to Pittsburgh to meet Bill Strickland. All I knew was that he had built a center in the middle of the ghetto, six blocks from where he grew up, and was saving the lives of troubled youths and disadvantaged adults through arts and education. Exactly what that meant didn't hit home for me until I stepped foot inside his building and met the man himself.

Bill started off his center, The Manchester Craftsman's Guild in a row-house that was donated by the local church. His method for getting kids out of trouble and off the street was simple: physically take them and show them how to work with clay. As word traveled from person to person and school to school, he no longer had to go seeking them; they came to him and his little center grew to become a world-class facility.

Designed by one of Frank Lloyd Wright's students, the center is bathed in sunlight despite the cold and snowy November day, fresh flowers are everywhere, and a buzz of activity from both students and adults is in the air. The flowers are not just any flowers, but prize-winning orchids grown in their state-of-the-art greenhouse just next door. Some might ask what a poverty program needs a greenhouse for and to that Bill would be the first
to say that it is NOT a poverty program. It is a training program for poor people and why shouldn't poor people be given a sanctuary from the streets where they see no light ahead of them?  By teaching them horticulture, along with culinary, computer, mathematics, chemistry, ceramics, photography, and much more, Bill is helping to change the conversation and help them see that they have a future outside of what they know.  In building this world-class facility, he is helping to create world-class citizens.

Over the years I have worked with many different authors, all with their own unique backgrounds. Bill is the first author whose story has brought tears to my eyes, has received a standing ovation at every speech I have seen him give, and has even tempted me to leave my job so that I might follow in his footsteps. Luckily for me, Bill's message also shows us that we don't need to do anything that drastic. There is always something we can do right in our own backyard that will make a difference in people's lives."

Today's highlight in Acts of Kindness rightly belongs to Bill Strickland and his achievement of a lifetime. I am thanking Meredith for spreading the word so effectively. I will be reading the book with anticipation during my travels as it will ground me again on what it means to contribute. Among Bill's beliefs are:

• People are born into this world as assets, not liabilities. It's all in the way we treat people (and ourselves) that determines a person's outcome.
• The sand in the hourglass flows only one way. Stop going through the motions of living -- savor each and every day. Life is here and now, not something waiting for you in the future.
• You don't have to travel far to change the life you're living.  Bill grew up in the Pittsburgh ghetto, four blocks from where he came to build one of the foremost job training centers in the world.

The video is from The Lavin Agency [8:21 minutes]. I still remember as it if where now the image Bill painted for us at the Denver event more than 7 years ago. He described how he had this dream of building a world class place for young people to find their possibility; how he went from person and place towing this carton model with him. Today his dream is a reality. One person can make a tremendous difference.

John Lennon, Narrator of Possibilities

Tomorrow is the 27th anniversary of John Lennon's untimely death. He once wrote:

"I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind."

He wrote that he didn't want to die at 40 -- that is when his life was ended and his legacy begun. Before social media there was social involvement. With Lennon that was closely intertwined with the dream of possibility -- he broadened the public discourse for artists. His life as a work of art was infused by generosity and inclusiveness. He wanted the world to be a beautiful place for all of us: imagine...

... Imagine your possibilities. You can link directly to YouTube.

When a Lovemark Sings: Luciano Pavarotti

Yesterday was a day to remember. Luciano Pavarotti, 71, died in Modena, his city and my beloved home town. The whole world mourned his passing by celebrating his talent. We will do the same here. I read somewhere that the only other Italian singer loved so much by all was Caruso. Both singers were filled with passion and natural talent that made them really stand out.

Today at The Blog Herald, I'm talking about your blog's best pick-up line, the mini story that will make you stand out. I thought of combining the two threads to give you a sense of story from a personal point of view. This is a video of Luciano Pavarotti while he delivers a live interpretation of Caruso, a song written by Lucio Dalla, who is in the duet with him. Dalla is a native of Bologna, the beautiful city where my Alma Mater is.

Now let's hear a version of the same song by Lara Fabian, a multilingual Belgian born singer.

[Tip of the hat to Jens Hilgenstock] An interpretation is inimitable, just like you. It expresses the natural sounding statement of your essence, what you're about.

When a lovemark sings, the world bows. Addio, Maestro.

Luxury Brands: Are Their Stories More Compelling?

We've been talking about reinventing the auto dealership experience at our last BrandingWire challenge. And if you think these monthly riffs are easy to think through, think again. On one side we play consumer, on the other, we play the side of the marketer -- would I recommend that to a client? Is it a good strategy, would it work? Once again I bow to the skill and stamina of fellow BrandingWire team members.

Certain cars do not need to go through the dealer at all; they can afford the rarefied world of demand outstripping supply. They win by making the road and your heart race faster. What happens when failure is not an option? The whole experience becomes about you, the buyer -- that's what luxury brands like Ferrari are extremely good at doing.

The car in the image sold at an auction for $9,281,250 at RM's Leggenda e Passione in Maranello on May 20, 2007. [Ferrari Testa Rossa, 1962, 330 TRI/LM] That is for legend and passion and you must believe in the first and have the second to write that kind of check. In other words, you buy the object itself because of the story it tells you about the story you want to tell yourself. If that makes any sense.

David McGregor builds on another story published in The New York Times about how De Beers has successfully increased the desire for diamonds with its famous "A Diamond is Forever" line. Note that De Beers has it all covered even for independent women like me -- you deserve to buy yourself a diamond ring and wear it on the right hand to show your declaration of independence. Very clever indeed.

Maybe it's the power of scarcity and the perception that you own a one of a kind piece, a collectible, that makes luxury brands feel more like objects of desire than the regular products. It may be only an illusion, as I wrote back in February, but it's our story too and we charge it with meaning -- our meaning.

With luxury brands the stakes are also much higher -- when you sell one or two items of something, you want to sell them for the asking price. And the items in question better be of good quality or the word gets around and you're done. So the brand story is aligned with the product's quality and aligned with the buyers' desire.

What prevents us from thinking this way of every single brand and product? What makes us think that there are unlimited opportunities to deliver poor quality and unfocused brands? Why do we think that the story needs to be compelling only for luxury brands?

Would You Consider Switching to Apple?

"Would you consider switching?"  was the payoff of an old TV ad I remember from way back when I lived in Italy. Apparently there is an enterprise PC shop that did just that a couple of weeks ago. Computer World reports that Auto Warehousing Company (AWC) is pulling the plug on all its Windows-based PCs and powering up Macs.

AWC is the largest full-service auto processing company in North America, with 23 sites across the U.S. and Canada. This story caught my eye because we were just talking about cars and auto dealership and because it is a significant move for Apple.

[AWC CIO Dale Frantz holds the new standard]

What are they finding as they make the switch? That the stuff really works, it's easy to learn, and provides additional functionality that the shop doesn't have today. That's a pretty compelling testimonial right there. Add to it the announcement Steve Jobs just made about the new iMac, yes, after all there is going to be one, and you've got more reasons why Apple is in customer seduction.

That is the subject of my post at FC Expert blogs -- sensuality, intimacy and mystery all wrapped around a product that many hail as great make the Apple brand a lovemark. And there is a secret ingredient. Go read my post and then come back for some fun stories of Mac seduction -- yours.

Top 20 PR PowerWomen go Everywhere -- the W-List

German psychologists Jana Ehrhardt and Eve Ehrhardt wrote a book titled Good Girls Go to Heaven, Bad Girls Go Everywhere. With a catchy title and a simple concept they describe how some women tend to feel the need to believe that someone else should take care of them. The authors get into the historical and cultural reasons why. For the purposes of this post, let's remember that asking permission first may not get you places.

A button given to me by leadership consulting company Corporate Hope quoted Laurel Tatcher Urlich with "Well behaved women rarely make history". I think what the title and quote say is that there is still a difference in perception that comes with being a woman. Well, there is, and it means that it comes with a different sensibility to everything. That is good.

Meet the Top 20 PR PowerWomen. Extracted from Todd And's (now in partnership with Ad Age) Power 150 list of marketing and PR blogs by Kami Huyse at Communication Overtones a couple of weeks ago, this list represents as diverse a universe as you can find in the blogosphere. The statistic Kami drew out is valid pretty much all over the place. Go to Fast Company Expert blogs where I post every Thursday and count the males and female bloggers -- 26 to 6.

I know there are more women bloggers, for the PR and marketing profession, these are the Top 20:

• What’s Next Blog B. L. Ochman
• Diva Marketing Blog Toby Bloomberg
• BlogWrite for CEOs Debbie Weil
• Communication Overtones Kami Huyse
• Forrester’s Marketing Blog Shar, Charlene, Chloe, Christine, Elana, Laura & Lisa
• The Origin of Brands Laura Ries
• Branding & Marketing Chris Brown
  
• Customers Rock! Becky Carroll
• Conversation Agent Valeria Maltoni
• Corporate PR Elizabeth Albrycht
• The Copywriting Maven Roberta Rosenberg
• CK’s Blog CK (Christina Kerley)
• Spare Change Nedra Kline Weinreich
• Marketing Roadmaps Susan Getgood
• advergirl Leigh Householder
• Brand Sizzle Anne Simons
• Kinetic Ideas Wendy Maynard
• Flooring The Consumer C.B. Whittemore
• Presto Vivace Blog Alice Marshall
• Email Marketing Best Practices Tamara Gielen

I come late to the party, others have preceded me in expressing why this is a great starting point. C.B. Whittemore, CK, Becky Carroll, and Roberta Rosenberg, also co-authors of The Age of Conversation, wrote posts for the occasion. It is indeed the age of conversation. Tom Peters and Kevin Roberts have been saying it for years better than I ever could -- women rock at conversation.

Maybe we can start a W-List to help us all discover great blogs authored by women. Adding to CK's:

• Moda di Magno by Lori Magno
• Get Shouty by Katie Chatfield

Many of you may already know a few not on the marketing list:

• Deborah Schultz by Deborah Schultz
• The Engaging Brand by Anna Farmery
• Liz Strauss at Successful Blog by Liz Strauss
• Manage to Change by Ann Michael
• Lorelle on WordPress by Lorelle VanFossen
• Inspired Business Growth by Wendy Piersall
• Back in Skinny Jeans by Stephanie Quilao
• Learned on Women by Andrea Learned
• eSoup by Sharon Sarmiento
• Management Craft by Lisa Haneberg
• Productivity Goal by Carolyn Manning

Also check out newer entrants:

• Modite by Rebecca Thorman
• Tech Kitten by Trisha Miller
• Get Fresh Minds by Katie Konrath
• Conscious Business by Anne Libby
• Narrative Assets by Karen Hegman

I have enjoyed getting to know these ladies and think their blogs would make a fine addition to RSS readers.

If I left out anyone, I'm sure you or the women I inadvertently left out of the list will be able to add to this one. Top 20 + 13 + 5 = the beginning of the W-List and more great blogs and link love. What other great blogs are out there authored by women? To link forward, simply copy all these links into your post and add yours.
______________

UPDATE: Krishna De at Krishna De's BizGrowth News was the first woman to pick up the list, put it in alphabetical order and add some of her links. She aptly renamed the effort The W List: aka Women Who Blog. She adds:

• Wiggly Wigglers authored by fellow Podcast Sister Heather Gorringe
• The Blog Angel aka Claire Raikes
• Wealth Strategy Secrets by Money Gym author and Founder Nicola Cairncross.

The first always deserve honorable mention. I'll be keeping track off line so feel free to link back or trackback to this post to signal your participation.

Converse with Me

A couple of weeks ago, Cam Beck posted a question to some bloggers: What's your Tagline? I caught up with it only recently as my name came up on a search.

In the comments, Steve Woodruff used athletic footwear to pair bloggers up with brands. He picked Converse with Me for Conversation Agent. That was a pretty good match and a stroke of genius for Steve. Maybe Converse ought to consider a co-promotion. What do you say?

As it turns out, Steve is not too far off in associating the company with my brand. I used to own Converse shoes as a teenager in Italy. I still remember my very first pair: lime green. I loved wearing them with faded jeans -- they felt comfortable and at the time they were quite the rage. The important fashion growing up was having the latest of an item or brand name that everyone raved about. At the time, it was Converse, in many colors and shapes.

Recently, I was shopping at a GAP store and I saw the (CONVERSE) RED line -- the sight brought back so many memories I had to buy a pair [in the picture above]. And when I wear them, aside from feeling quite comfortable, I am transported back in time. To note is that the brand is experiencing a big revival in Italy right now as my niece owns a few pairs.

Converse is onto something with its new incarnation -- they offer customers the ability to create their own shoe. It's the age of self expression, self publishing, and conversation. Do you think that "Converse with Me" would resonate with people? What I saw at their web site really intrigued me. It looks like they are indeed available to converse with you.

They have a video salute to those who rock under Features -> made by you. When you select "new", a list of videos will come up. The site offers film information, director's commentary, director's bio *and* featured shoe. Pretty neat indeed and all consumer generated. Is this the sign of a great retail experience? I would say so. I absolutely loved the one titled "Converge" by Laurent Bébin and François Valla. Check them out.

I will let Mack Collier at The Viral Garden take a look at the company blog (features -> around the world). If you haven't checked his series yet, I encourage you to do so. Meanwhile, converse with me.

Got Music? When Walls are Sound.

Today, the ancient walls of one of the most beautiful towns in northern Italy become the precious frames to the portraits of more than fifty musicians. Wall of Sound is the title of this exhibit that will grace the historical center of Monforte d'Alba, a town in the province of Cuneo in Piedmont, Italy until October 28. For thirty years, Guido Harari has been the most famous Italian music photographer.

The narrative takes his popular exhibit The Blue Room among its audience as part of the MonfortinJazz 2007 festival. The title of this installation is meant as a tribute to the legendary sound created by producer Phil Spector in the early sixties. The show presents many unseen photographs of musicians, among which are Willy Deville, Brian Eno, Pat Metheny, Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, David Crosby, B. B. King, Bob Marley, Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Ennio Morricone, Patti Smith, Tom Waits, Steve Winwood, Robert Wyatt and Frank Zappa. For a slide show link here.

In Italy, Harari has done work with Claudio Baglioni, Andrea Bocelli, Angelo Branduardi, Vinicio Capossela, Paolo Conte, Pino Daniele, Fabrizio De André, Eugenio Finardi, Ligabue, Gianna Nannini, PFM and Vasco Rossi. If you feel adventurous, you might check some of these artists out. I wrote about Vasco Rossi before, he is a rock star from the hills of my hometown and the true staying power of legends and real brands.

What the stars say about Harari is very flattering. He has a way of popping out of a corner that is different. His style is improvisational, rapid, and unexepected. Laurie Anderson defined his photography as kamikaze vs. paparazzo because he creates a true collaboration with his subjects. Instead of trying to "steal" something, he goes beyond the surface of things to find a new angle and story. Complicity, intimacy and fun characterize the results of his approach. He makes you feel special even without saying a word, said Kate Bush. Many of his subjects consider him a friend, and not merely a photographer. [Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed by Guido Harari]

Got music in you? What can we learn from Guido Harari? Take a good look at his portraits.

1. It's about the subject, the person in the photograph, not about the photographer. When we approach a project, are we patient enough to look at it from a natural angle? In other words, can we let go of our opinions and biases and immerse ourselves into the question, the problem posed? Are we in listening mode?
2. A frame can still make a sound. Can movement be captured? Even when we capture and frame the problem properly, this is but one note on a larger composition and continuum. Time and place continue to be variables that create the context in which the frame comes to be. Today you capture a customer's opinion and feedback, tomorrow we may be singing to a completely different tune.
3. The meaning is in the eye of the observer as much as it is in the eye of the observed. What you see depends on who you are and where you are. In a conversation there are always many points of view that need to come together for the connection to take place. See how much an image can tell you even without saying a word. That's because it is already all inside you -- the story, the sounds, even the smells. When a client shares a problem, what they see is evolved by what they feel about it.

Good exhibits tell stories about who we are and how we live, what's important and how we find meaning in life. Great stories are the ones you join, participate in, and design with the storyteller.

Fathers and Daughters

“Atta Unsar” these are the opening words of the only written record we have of Gothic, the language that preceded common German from which English originates. It’s the beginning of the Lord’s Prayer and it means “our Father”. The verses were so important to transmit that they were stabilized in written form, and not merely consigned to the vagaries of oral transmission.

This is a figure of enormous importance and meaning through the ages. My father Achille was born in 1935, the first son of a dashing man who served with the Italian Red Cross in Libya and a woman so achingly beautiful they called her “la lupa”.

A mechanical engineer as a choice profession, father never left the arts too far behind. By the time I was old enough to appreciate it, we had an in house library of thousands of books, including two full encyclopedias. All connected to each other, from the Greek tragedies and mythology, to philosophy, poetry, history of thought, biographies, and the great classics. Translated into Italian with original text in front, I had access to the great classics from many cultures and ages.

Father started on stage alongside one of today’s most prominent Italian dubbing actors, Massimo Foschi. I still have his audition tapes where he recorded Luigi Pirandello in perfect diction and a warm baritone. That was the same voice that would lull me into sleep as a baby, musical and seductive like the song of Ulysses’ sirens.

The other art I learned from father was through the symphonic music programs he played on Sundays –- all the great composers from Mozart, my favorite, to Schubert, Bach, Beethoven, Albinoni, Liszt, Vivaldi, Respighi, Rossini, Mascagni, Verdi, Corelli, Chopin, and Debussy. The spirit of other times and stories enveloped and intrigued me during those quiet afternoons. Sometimes the best things are said without words.

A painting still drying, the brushes swirling in the cup like dissolving ice cubes, the odor of a lazy summer day in the air are all forever burned into my memory of a man who could spend hours enjoying the pure pleasure of learning.

I could never quite figure out how he did it -– here’s the part we want to produce, they would tell him, and he would design the machine that, when built, could give them that part. It’s a lost art, and maybe it was his Achilles’ heel, too.

He chose security over art, expression through children over self-expression, the stage of life over the life on stage. And maybe he gave up part of himself, of the possibility that his art could inspire and give to so many others, so that he could give and provide for us.

In doing that, he taught me to fight for the expression of the artist in all of us, especially of that amazing talent he transmitted to me with his sacrifice –- the love and appreciation of the finer things in life. I am my father’s daughter.

Made in Italy: Festa della Repubblica

I usually don't post on Saturdays -- today is an exception. I did a Google search and saw this image for Festa della Repubblica so I took a few moments to reflect upon what made in Italy means to me.

I'm proud to be Italian. Maybe patriotism is something the world only sees when the soccer team (oops, I should say football) wins the World Cup and the flags come out. Yes, many of them are still made of wool and get washed an ironed by the wonderful mothers of a country used to be seen as the underdog.

Creativity and verve are the every day staple of the Italian business diet. Having lived and worked in Philadelphia for so many years, sometimes I forget that I have colleagues who are doing great work in my native land. We all know and love Gianandrea Facchini who has participated in our conversations with enthusiasm and heart.

I've mentioned Maurizio Goetz of Marketing Usabile as well. Maurizio is a marketing consultant who works and lives in Milan, the city seen more as the business and fashion center of Italy. Gianandrea is based in Rome, where the world used to be run at one point -- caput mundi, they called it.

Alessandro Bevacqua also works in Rome and blogs at WebA-Ziende, where he shares very interesting views on corporate and official blogging.

Dr. Who, whose real name I promised to keep a secret (I always keep my promises), blogs at Unconventional Marketing with Leonardo de Nardis. He is experienced in the dynamics of mature markets and consumer products. They are based in Rome.

Luca Oliverio is brand manager at Comunitazione, a portal for all communications theories, tactics and best practices. He is also involved in an initiative to showcase the ads that did not make the cut, which will be running from July 26-30 in Salerno. See more information at Creatives are Bad.

I would be remiss if I did not mention Bruno Giussani. He lives in Switzerland, yet I'm pretty sure he has a lot more Italian than just the language in him. He has quickly become my source of all news and opinions European, and for good reason. See his amazing list of accomplishments here.

Buona Festa della Repubblica to all Italian bloggers. If I haven't discovered you yet, drop by and leave a note in your comment here so I can add you to my growing Italian blogroll. I'm loving this Italian connection!