Every now and then I do what I ask others to do . . . GET AWAY and PLAY!
Yesterday, I took my own advice. I spent the day with a marvelous group of creative, congenial and very constructive people at a workshop graciously hosted by Seth Godin at his office just north of New York City.
Highlights of the day . . .
I'd never been to Seth's loft office. A converted loft once used by a printing concern, it was wide open spacious! Filled with large visual images of classic icons like Ghandi, Apple Computer ads, and others who inspire Seth. It was a perfect a setting for a little 'mind-expansion' experience.
Located adjacent to Seth's loft are the railroad tracks. Every few minutes a train would pass. Whoever was talking had to stop, let it pass and then resume talking. Ironically, instead of being irritating, I actually got a kick out of the trains rumbling past the open windows that admitted the humid but sweet air from the nearby Hudson river.
Coolest Moment:
Riding the Segway. This is the two-wheeled personal transportation device that Dean Kamens (I think that's right) the genius inventor who lives in Maine, developed. It was so cool! Being balanced by a computer driven by a gyroscopic mechanism, it was a trip! If you 'tried' to make it move, it starts bucking like a bronco. But, if you 'Zen' out . . . and 'still your mind' . . . and 'intend' it to move -- forward or backwards -- it did. Very, very cool experience. Lesson: 'push' energy isn't nearly as effective as 'be' energy!
Seth Godin -- Marketer, Author, Speaker, Thinker:
I'd never had the opportunity to meet Seth before although I've read several of this books. It was like a day at grad school where you could just 'hang out' mentally and absorb some great ideas that came in deliciously bite-sized pieces of insights on marketing, standing-out in a marketplace, etc.
AM Session:
A darned good review of what most in the room -- heck, we WERE the 'choir' afterall! -- already knew. But hearing directly from Seth somehow made it all the more special. Plus, who doesn't learn more about a movie after experiencing it already? Same with all the brilliant ideas on permission-marketing, creating a remark-able 'Purple Cow' and getting an edge with 'edgecrafting'. Really, really good stuff.
PM Session:
Good time to examine a sacred cow (no pun intended) -- our websites. Seth hooked his computer (an Apple PowerBook! My kinda guy!) and projected websites of various members of the group on the wall for review and comments. Very interesting. Seth asks, "OK, WHO am I, HOW did I get here and WHAT do you want me to do . . . now?". If only more webdesigners would ask themselves / their clients these fundamental questions, far more and far better websites would be created! I learned as much from knowing to remember to ask those questions as I did from seeing how any one website did / did not address them effectively. A great way to learn what matters to visitors to your website.
People:
What can I say? There were people from all over . . . the US and the world! Thailand and South Africa were perhaps two of the furthest points represented but every one who attended was wonderful. Granted, the group somwhat 'self-selected' itself . . . but all in all, it was a great group of people who convened in that wonderful space that Seth had made available for us.
Ending Thoughts:
I always try to transfer ideas from the land of 'learning' and get them back into the 'street' -- to the land of 'earning'. My 'transfer project' for the day was to re-examine my own business and marketing on that lovely ride home. Here's what I 'got' to work on . . . Two words: FOCUS and EDGE.
Focus means to not be all things to all people but to always be asking WHO am I trying to be attractive to and WHAT do I have to do / not do to make that a reality? As the Lovin Spoonful said in a song so many years ago, "It's not often easy and not often kind, you have pick up on one and leave the others behind . . . " Focus!!
Edge means to seek out the 'best practices' and take them to their extreme. As I love to say, "The only dog on a dogsled team with a change of scenery is the LEAD dog!". Unless / until we seek the 'edge' of the experience 'envelope' for our clients, we risk being invisible. Being safe is to be invisible. Being invisible is to be at risk of being ignored and forgotten by the marketplace. In business, that's deadly. So, don't play it safe . . . be safe . . . go to the edge!
People:
Met some great folks . . . nice people . . . passionate people . . . Seth may have been the reason for going, but the group of people who attended with me were my 'Free Prize' inside the workshop. Just super people! Really enjoyed finding myself in their company. Another blessing! ;-)
OK . . . enough of my blathering . . . but I will suggest this . . . IF . . . you get the chance . . . pick up a copy of Seth's latest book FREE PRIZE INSIDE . . . you'll be very, very glad you did!
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