Observing creative types is an amazing way to think more creatively.

Next week, I'll be spending the majority of my days attending a global conference called, C2 MTL (our agency, Twist Image, also handled some of the social media marketing). Along with hosting a very special lunch event with musician, David Usher, I'll also be sharing the stage with Arianna Huffington. Beyond those more formal activities, I'll be sitting in the crowd soaking in the content as the conference focuses on the collision between creativity and commerce. It should be quite the event (and it's probably not too late if you want to attend). There must be something in the air, because there's an amazing new presentation by Clay Shirky (Here Comes Everybody and Cognitive Surplus) from the PSFK Conference NYC. Shirky (a professor from the Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP) at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University) walks through five fascinating student projects that will truly get you thinking about the level of creativity that you bring to work each and every day...

By Mitch Joel

What are the tools that can help you give an unforgettable presentation?

After several years of speaking in public, I've had to develop my own system to ensure that each and every presentation goes off without a hitch. And yes, there are some great tools and tips to ensure that this happens. This blog post is not about your content. I'm going to assume that the content rocks and that you know what you're going to talk about.

The Public Speaker's Master Toolkit:

• The Rider. If you want to ensure that you have a great event, you have to ensure that all of your audio and visual requirements are met (long before you show up at the venue). I send along with all speaking contracts a rider of my audio and visual needs:
• Projector and screen for laptop.
• 3.5mm (1/8") plug for audio to run out of the laptop.
• Lapel wireless microphone for voice.
• Depending on venue - confidence monitor for Keynote slides.
• Speaker does not require an Internet connection.
• Laptop must be located on the stage and near the Speaker.
• Speaker's computer must be within 20 feet of the most distant point where the speaker will be presenting.
• All podiums must be moved to either side of the stage. Speaker does not use a podium during presentation.
• Podiums cannot remain in the middle of the stage during Speaker's presentation.
• Speaker will be using his own wireless remote presenter and will advance his own slides.
• Speaker will be using his own, personal, laptop with the presentation pre-loaded on it.
• Speaker's computer is an Apple MacBook Air running Keynote software.
• Speaker has both VGA and DVI dongle adapters for projector.
• Speaker will not provide a digital version of the presentation in advance.
• AC power must be within 6 feet of speaker's computer.
• If your event is using iMag, you must have two screens (one which always displays the speaker's slides to the audience without interruption).
• Computer stays in the speaker's possession at all times. It will not be given the night prior for setup and it will not be surrendered on the day of the event. It stays in the speaker's possession.
• Speaker is more than willing to work with your team on a tech/sound check, preferably thirty minutes before the speaker presents.

Why is this so complicated?

It seems like a lot and very detail oriented, but here's the thing: they're paying me to give a great presentation and this is what it takes - from my experience - for me to deliver that. It also takes away a lot of the stress and anxiety that comes along with speaking when you know that things are set-up in a way that you're comfortable with. I hate being in a venue where I can't see the slides that audience is seeing (hence the confidence monitor), I like being in control of my laptop in case I have to skip a section or want to tinker with something at the last moment, and I hate showing up to an event and the entire stage is just a podium (I like to walk, engage and connect with the audience). In other instances, the AV team wants to control the cue remote (which is always slower than when I do it) or they have a video camera capturing the presenter on screen, and can't move between the slides and the presenter fast enough, so you wind up not speaking to an important point, but everyone is just staring at you mug on a screen.

• The computer.
• I run a MacBook Air with both Keynote and PowerPoint on it. I always have versions of my presentation on both software platforms in case one crashes.
• Caffeine is a great little app that sits in the menu bar and when it's clicked, your computer will never go to sleep, screen saver or anything (just make sure to turn it off once you're done). Caffeine makes it "always on."
• I love the presenter's view in both Keynote and PowerPoint, but you have to ensure that the output resolution to the projector can handle it, so test it by lowering (or raising) your screen resolution.
• Apple also allows you to have the display information from your screen as an icon in the menu bar. This makes it very easy to toggle through different resolutions. Look for it in your display preferences.
• e.ggtimer is a great little tool if you take breaks in your presentation. You can set the timer and show it on the screen, so that everyone in the audience knows when to be expected back in their seats.
• The hardware.
• Logitech Professional Presenter R800 is the best remote presenter out there. It not only has a hundred foot range, but it has a built-in timer that counts down and gives off a silent vibration when you have five minutes left and another one when you're done with your presentation. In case you're wondering, I've tried all of the remote presenters out there... this is the one.
• Dongles. Make sure to have both VGA and DVI dongles on you. Don't trust the venue and I've seen variances where new Macs don't work with older dongles, etc... Have your own, so you never have to worry.
• USB stick. Always have your presentations backed up on a USB stick and - when possible - ensure that the AV team has a copy too and can switch to their computer should you have a crash.
• USB hub. If you're plugging in multiple remotes and dongles, etc... it's always good to have a thin and small USB hub (just in case).
• Rocket stick. I don't trust hotel and conference center Internet connections (wired or wireless), and when I do need to present something online, I much prefer to be doing so with my own access point. Mobile Internet is great to have in case you are relying on their connectivity and it goes down (which it does).
• Extra power supply. Most laptops suck a lot of power and fast - especially when they're plugged into a projector> Always bring your own power supply and plug your computer in. Do not trust the battery.
• Extra goodies.
• Podium Timer app. This is a paid app, but it allows you to set-up your own timer (with messages too) that you can either use on your iPhone so you can tell where you're at, or you can daisy chain it to the HD version which is a more robust iPad timer.
• Breathing Zone app. Whether you get nervous before speaking or not, this app is a great tool to get your breathing and heart rate into the right zone. If that doesn't work for you, try this technique: Take A Breather.
• HT Professional Recorder. This iPhone app is an amazing audio recorder. If you want to improve as a speaker, use this app to record all of your presentations, you can go back and listen to how you did.
• Download videos. Don't rely on a solid internet connection to show online videos. Here's a simple way to download online videos (just be sure to embed them within your presentation and give credit where credit is due). If you add the word "sing" in front of "youtube" in the URL for a video that you like, you get redirected to a site where you can download the audio of that video.

Did I miss anything? What would you add to this list of master tools?

By Mitch Joel

Should you pull all of your advertising dollars out of Facebook?

On the eve of Facebook's historical initial public offering, automotive manufacturer, GM, made a big public stink about pulling ten million dollars of media spend out of Facebook because they felt that Facebook advertising doesn't work (more on that here: Advertising Age - GM Cuts Facebook Ad Spending, But Ford Steps on the Gas). The subtext to this move is not about one brand leaving Facebook advertising, but a sentiment that Facebook advertising doesn't work.

It's all very silly, isn't it?

This morning at the Canadian Marketing Association's Annual Summit 2012, Jordan Banks (head of Facebook in Canada) started off his presentation by saying that Facebook has accomplished only one percent of what it has set out to do, and that because of its massive user base close (900 million connected consumers strong), it will do some things right and some things wrong moving forward. His point being, that advertising on Facebook works when done in tandem with other activities, and even the advertising platform as we currently see it to date could very well morph, change and adapt.

Media is just media.

I don't know the innards of GM and their media planning or strategy, but this decision does require some context. While Facebook loves to trot out the nine hundred million users, it's important to note that the average user only has about one hundred and twenty connections. So, while Facebook cumulatively is massive, it's really millions of very little connections that are primarily there to share personal and social information. Is that type of user ready to engage with a small little banner box in the same fashion that they would on a news site or a blog page? It's doubtful. The role of the advertiser is to make that little box of advertising as compelling to the user as the social content that they're really there for. In short: that's a tall and hard order to deliver.

Where else to put your money.

If GM realized that they are severely under-indexed on search engines or that they have a massive opportunity with email marketing, and that those strategies are both proven and can earn them more with an acquisition model than Facebook advertising, than this news announcement was nothing more than some kind of political press release to question Facebook's viability. If GM has the perfect media mix and they're struggling to find advertising return on investment with their Facebook ads, it would be interesting to know how often they tested, iterated and played with the format before deciding that it was simply not an effective ad platform them.

Facebook is not (just) an advertising platform. 

If the media game is to simply blast a message in front of someone who is on their Facebook page, all is lost. There are probably much better places to advertise. If the game is to create a better marketing story and to leverage the power of Facebook (human beings who have self-identified themselves and are connecting in a sincere way with people they either know or want to know better), then the opportunity is not only massive, but it is still very nascent.

Your Facebook marketing is probably at 1%.

If Facebook feels like they've only accomplished one percent of their goal in helping the world to connect, rest assured: your marketing is at about the same percentage level. What does this mean? It is still early days. Facebook is about to get a major cash injection, and while they say that it's business as usual, we'll see if being public changes their need to adopt faster and more efficiently to a mobile world, and one where the public will demand cash profitability driven by our collective investments in the company. The most exciting brands on Facebook are doing much more than advertising. They are marketing in the channel and leveraging the social graph to connect outside. They're driving content, contests, apps, connectivity and more within Facebook's walled garden and pushing consumers over to microsites, websites and other media channels. These brands are connecting through valuable content that people will not only care about, but share within their own, personal, networks... and that's a powerful place to be. If a brand thinks that Facebook is just about advertising, they are (without question) not understanding Facebook (and the potential of it). At all. And, these same brands are completely missing the point. If all they want is a page to splatter an ad across and those Facebook pages don't do the trick, then by all means, they're making the strategic decision to not advertise on Facebook.

Ask yourself this: is your brand looking for a place to advertise or a place to connect, share and grow?

By Mitch Joel

Can you sum up your professional you in one or two words?

I was very touched watching the documentary, Being Elmo, on PBS' Independent Lens. The movie is about Kevin Clash (the puppeteer behind Sesame Street's Elmo). From a very young age, Clash demonstrated a strong desire to be a puppeteer. While that seems quaint and points to someone who was focused on what they wanted to do in life from a very young age, you can imagine the struggles he faced growing up in Baltimore. While all of the other kids were out playing baseball or causing mischief, Clash was at home sewing puppets together and entertaining the local toddlers.

Becoming Elmo.

One of the highlight in the documentary comes when Clash explains how he was able to take the character of Elmo and turn him into such a beloved character. He says that each and every muppet needs to have its own, one unique thing. For Miss Piggy, her one thing is a truck driver who wants to be a movie starlet. For Fozzie Bear, it's being a Vaudeville performer. For Elmo, it is love. Elmo loves everyone. Elmo loves love. He loves to hug and he loves to kiss and everything that Elmo does is an expression of his love for others. As basic and as simple as that sounds, kids know it and they feel it... and that's why he is the most beloved muppet of them all.

What's your one thing?

I often think about why one blog is that much more popular than another. My friend, Chris Brogan, has one of the top-ranked marketing blogs in the world. Why? I think Chris' one thing is: making business human. It's who he is. He genuinely wants to meet and help everyone he sees. While we're on the road together, I'm busy trying to get to my hotel room and get some sleep, while Chris is busy trying to connect and meet up with more people. It's not wonder he has an audience that is ten times the size of mine. He is deeply in touch with his one thing. Not only that, everyone who connects with him believes it to be true. This is the interesting part: you may not like him, his content or what he stands for, but you can't deny that it is who he is. That one thing has be believable... not just a platitude.

Being in touch with your one thing.

If you do a quick survey of the most successful people you know, it's clear how direct and in-touch they are with their own thing. It's no different for brands. You can have all of the values and brand expressions in the world, but if you can't sum it up into one, unique, thing, it's going to be hard to truly do groundbreaking things. While this may seem like a simplistic concept and one that has been bandied around when it comes to branding for years, it was enlightening to see Clash capture that concept, transpose it to muppets and be able to see how those characters connect with the human emotion. Too many individuals and brands are clamoring for attention, while those same brands and individuals probably grapple to define that one great thing. 

We could all use a little more Elmo in our lives.

By Mitch Joel