The Almighty Status Update

Six words. One question. "What are you doing right now?" It's staring you in the face, almost mocking you. That's right, mocking the fact that it's been three days since you've updated your circle of friends with a catchy status.

They're dying to know what you're doing this very second. Maybe you're "going through pictures of a schizophrenic poet" or you "will not be taking up rollerskating as a back up profession anytime soon." And if nothing comes to you, there's the all encompassing "is." It's the postmodern take on "Cogito, ergo sum."

To find the origins of this microcosm of monologue, you have to reach way back. I'm talking old school...or at least high school. Back when you first discovered the instant messaging phenomenon.

You would run home from school in order to dial up America Online, wait for that annoying tone, and before you knew it you were conversing with the same friends you hung out with all day long...without even picking up a telephone.

Back then, status updates were known as Away Messages. You might be sitting three feet away from your computer, but you had to tell the world something clever to sustain them while you were taking a hiatus.

Flash forward back to today. Twitter, Facebook, SMS, FriendFeed, and yes IM. We have a nearly unlimited number of tools at our disposal to instantaneously apprise the world with our every thought or action.

This newfound freedom is a double-edged sword. If you're a very interesting person with a healthy dose of humor, the internet is your oyster. If however you lack either one of those. Don't fret. You too can have award winning status updates. It just means you have to work a bit harder.

What do you think...are status updates the greatest thing since AIM or a thorn in your side?

2009: Re-Focus Everything

From time to time, I like to brand certain seasons with a particular theme that I feel sums them up appropriately. In the past there was the "Summer of No Regrets", a year of "Stop Thinking, Start Doing", and "2008: Year of Change".

With our economy in a meltdown, two questionable wars being fought, continuing unrest in the Middle East, job losses crossing into the millions, and countless cases of social injustice...it's time for action.

As I begin to think about what our collective future in 2009 will hold, it seems to me that it's time to re-focus...everything.

We can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines as the world spins madly on. It's time for us to step up to the plate, and begin making some tough decisions.

Maybe you're living in a house two sizes larger than what you wallet can bare. It's time to downsize. Maybe you're working in a dead end job. Yes the market is tight, but it's time to dust off the 'ol resume and get back out there. Perhaps you've been watching from afar as some struggle to find clean drinking water an ocean away. It's time to sign up to help.

In fact, I think the toughest (and most immediate need) we have hits a bit closer to home. I think we, which means me, need to spend the next year re-focusing our hearts, goals, and passions.

Like I said, it's time to get off the sidelines. It's time to act. It's time to change. It's time to re-focus.


Re-focus your reading in 2009, subscribe to john blog.

You. Are. Great.

Here's something we could all use a little more of...



(if you're reading this on Facebook, click here for the video.)

Thanks for the Memories

If you know me, you know that I'm obsessed with good music. There's something about the right lyric or soaring melody that can speak volumes to your circumstances at a given time. Often it's a relationship that's just beginning or maybe one that's on the rocks.

I remember back in high school when couple's would pick "their song" that somehow represented their love for one another. I always thought that was dumb for two reasons: 1.) It was extremely cheesy and 2.) I could never pick just one song.

For me, it's less about picking a single tune from the proverbial jukebox and more about a particular song/band representing a moment or a series of moments spent with someone. Here's a few that have memories attached. Some great, some bittersweet...nostalgic all.

WARNING: (Some) Sappy Love Songs Ahead...

"Ocean Avenue" - Yellowcard
"Such Great Heights" - Iron & Wine
"The Compromise" - The Format
"Hey Now" - Augustana
"Most Uncommon Thing" - Five Times August
"Flake" - Jack Johnson
"Thunder" - Boys Like Girls
"Be Still My Heart" - The Postal Service
"Sugar, We're Goin Down" - Fall Out Boy
"Meant to Live" - Switchfoot
"A Message" - Coldplay"
"Take Me Out" - Franz Ferdinand
"Oxford Comma" - Vampire Weekend
"Dark Blue" - Jack's Mannequin
"The Blower's Daughter" - Damien Rice
"Livin' in the Good Ol' Days" - Zane Williams
"Running Down a Dream" - Tom Petty

Here's to creating more memories in 2009 and having some great tunes to provide the soundtrack. I can already tell that The Fray's new album will accompany some of them in the near future. Right now I have "Where the Story Ends" stuck on repeat.

Generosity As A Marketing Strategy

What if companies created marketing plans for something more than money? What if goodness and happiness were baked into the product or service? Sound crazy?

Neil Perkin doesn't think so. The presentation below is more than worth five minutes of your time.

Goodness And Happiness - Why Generosity Is The Future Of Marketing Strategy

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: digital planning)

Signal to Noise Ratio

We live in a fast-paced, in your face kind of world. Messages seem to bombard us from the moment we rise to the time we go to bed at night. Some of that noise is a choice, and some of it isn't.

I know for sure that I spend way too much time online. And I also have a tendency to turn the TV on the minute I walk in the door...often just for background noise.

But something occurred to me this week is how much power you and I have to weed out the noise. DVR, RSS feeds, power off buttons, etc give us the power to either scale back noise or shut it out completely.

Ironic isn't it? Technology has not only given us an unprecedented amount of noise, it has also given us the ability to tune that noise out (and simultaneously amplify the signal.)

But technology aside. I think the same thing can apply to our friendships and relationships. We often spend a ton of time practicing the noise (daily conversations, routines, etc) and forget about what signals we've been sending (love, joy, affirmation or a lack there of).

Here's to a broadcasting a better signal, and reducing some of the noise.