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Learn to like being a Phony, Mediated Person

Or perhaps I should say--learn to appreciate being mediated. That's the position of Thomas De Zengotita in his new book, Mediated: The Hidden Effects of Media on People, Places, and Things. Since I'm a database marketer, I believe in using personalized communications and reminding your target audience that you know them and remember what they want. But isn't that artificial? And pretentious? And haven't all the consumers out there caught on by now?

Link: Salon.com Books | "Me" culture by James Westcott

The core original thought in the book is this idea of representations being inherently flattering. Everyone knows that ads seek to flatter you, but as far as I know, no one has noted the significance of just being addressed, period. I mean this in the sense that an evolutionary psychologist might think of it: You're wired to respond when someone addresses you. Someone says hello, makes a token gesture, acknowledges your existence, and you respond. In this mediated environment, you're incessantly addressed in flattering ways just by virtue of the fact that you are surrounded by these representations. But it's in the nature of flattery to fail to satisfy you.

Personalization has been abused by marketers looking to get rick quick by pretending to care. Personal information has been hijacked and used to exploit and rob people. So now as marketers we have to continue to use the same tools to try and convince people that we sincerely want to assist them. No easy answers.

Bloggers are Writers, too

I'm so happy to see Gordon Atkinson, Real Live Preacher as well as computer tech, mentioned in a New York Times article about bloggers who publish books. I haven't read Gordon's book, but his blog is a wonderful place to think about the meaning of writing, or for that matter, the meaning of life, although for the record, he does NOT preach at his readers.

It's not surprising that publishers have started to recruit bloggers to write books, although the process of blogging and the process of writing a book are VERY different. I expect a few people will make the transition happily, some unhappily for the money, and some people, like myself, write better in snippets.

Gordon's book would make a good gift for someone appreciates both cool technology and a spiritual journey.

Being Useful

The new mantra of marketing is 'be useful' (to your customer). My friend Viki Collier has been very useful by introducing me to a useful book:

Common Errors in English Usage is a fun book with a great web site. Where else are you going to learn:

The center of a wheel is its axle. An axel is a tricky jump in figure skating named after Axel Paulsen.

There's a real time sink hole here. But at only $15, this book is a great value. Support the author Paul Brians and buy it here.

A Book with Legs

The Art of Possibility by the Zanders (he's the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic) must be some book. I haven't read it yet, but I just added it to my wish list. This book was featured years ago in Fast Company, and just last week the leader of Creative Leaps recommended it. I'd love comments from anyone who's read it.

Here's a choice Zander quote from the article by Polly LaBarre:

The Success Game runs in an endless win-lose cycle -- which means that the people in it live with a sense of anxiety and fear.

So I invented a new game, called "I Am a Contribution," or "the Contribution Game." It's easy: You wake up in the morning, convince yourself for a few minutes that you are a contribution, and you go out and contribute. Then you go to bed and do it again the next day. What I've discovered since I started the Contribution Game is that people have an endless amount of energy for it. Sure, goals can be energizing -- when you win. But a vision is more powerful than a goal.