tjpytheas's blog

10 Reasons why you need to attach electrodes to your head.

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It's 2h40 and I can't go to sleep.
Okay, some of it has to do with the fact that I promised to write this post for Kerry Swarts from Brain Harmonics in Cape Town. But seriously, sleep does not come easy.
And that's a problem.
I need to normalise my sleep patterns - but how?
Apparently I need to sort out my brain waves, to balance them out, to "teach" them the good ways from the bad.
(Sounds like I've got a naughty child running amock in my cranial cavity that needs a good talking to.)
Kerry reckons we can sort the little runt out.
Getting your brain re-balanced may sound a little "voodoo", but I've been doing some reading - just so I know what I'm getting into - and I'm pleased to report that I am really keen to lay down on the couch.
I have other "ailments" that can be sorted out too - so before I tell you how it all works, here are my top ten reasons for attaching electrodes to my head:

1. Sleeping disorders (Insomnia)
2. Smoking (any addiction can be treated including alcohol and drug abuse)
3. Depression
4. Anxiety
5. ADD/ADHD
6. Panic Attacks
7. Anger
8. Bad memory
9. Better Immunity
10. Fatigue

There are a few other disorders such as Epilepsy, Autism and Brain Damage that just didn't apply to my personal top 10 list that brain re-balancing can be hugely beneficial.
Yes, but what is it and how does it work?
Now, if you're like me, visions of electrodes attached to my head just didn't seem "modern". But, as it turns out, Kerry uses the latest in high tech together with cutting edge training in scientific observation.
Here's the step-by-step: Basically, I would lie down on my couch in the comfort of my own home (all the equipment is portable) and the trained technician will attach a series of electrodes to my head. The powerful computer will "eavesdrop" on my brainwave activity and then translate it into sound.
I bet my brain sounds like a cat choir... I'd prefer Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma...
Where was I, I digress... (ADD?)
So, after listening to my brain waves, we'd then know how imbalanced my brain activity is (I know, I know...)
I can then undergo a process which "encourages some brain waves and discourages others so the brain will begin to function differently - it will create a balanced condition. This harmonising of the brain waves, balances them into optimized patterns."
Sounds awfully complicated.
But apparently I can just close my eyes and take a nap while all this tech-type stuff is happening. That I can do.
I found this quote which sums it up nicely:

"...a type of brain optimisation based on brain observance. It is based on a Quantum Physics understanding vs. a Newtonian Physics understanding of the individual, and this philosophical difference cannot be too heavily stressed as it makes everything intended different....seeks to show the brain itself – be a mirror for the brain in its ever more optimised state. The client is not trained with learned behaviour. In fact a client may sleep through a session and still realise results because the brain can view itself without direct client participation. While not optimal, it is always more efficacious to have the client participate, it is not mandatory."

I happen to like Quantum Physics. I like sleep too. Now if I can just put the two together, add a bit of Pavarotti... zzzzzz

For more information, you can contact Kerry Swarts from Brain Harmonics at pstation@mweb.co.za
Kerry is based in Cape Town, but travels to Johannesburg often.

The Facebook Terms of Service (TOS) and the implications

I have been very cautious to write about the whole facebook TOS fiasco. After all, I am not a lawyer, and "terms of service" clauses are legalese mumbo jumbo that make me feel sleepy after the second word, para one, subsection 2a.

You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof.

Yes I know. Boring. Read it again. It get's more and more interesting.
But that's exactly what makes this whole hullabaloo so damned frightening - If I hadn't read the fineprint, then there must be millions like me who couldn't give a toss. That's a lot of facebookians. Crikey, I trustfully ventured forth and engaged in a digital life online without a second thought to the consequences of becoming a netizen - a citizen of the digital age. I made facebook my home. My family lives there. My friends pop in and say "hi" and we often have a laugh, swap stories, share photographs. Facebook is a nice neighbourhood. Isn't it?

Not really, as it turns out. There is a dark side. The "potentiality" that your most personal thoughts, conversations, photographs can be used for "any purpose, including commercial or advertising ... blah blah blah" - without your prior knowledge or recompense is frightfully real. That's right, post a kickass photograph that you're really proud of, and facebook can use it to promote whatever, and you don't get a dime. Nada. Nothing you can do about it either. What's worse, is that even  when you delete your account, they still retain the legal right to own all the content. So deleting your family albums right now is rather moot. A bit catch 22.

Is there another way to look at the whole scenario? There are people way better than myself that do offer alternative views. Here's a comment by Dave Sherohman in response to the TOS article on The Next Web

"This doesn’t look like an attempt to pull anything shady to me, it’s just standard modern legal practice of 'claim to own everything and make them talk you down'. Which is deplorable and probably evil, but it’s not Facebook’s doing. Their lawyers have most likely just told them that they have to make these claims to protect themselves from the possibility that someone might sue them for the corner of their profile appearing in a TV commercial or something like that. They’re just making ridiculous claims to establish a defense against anyone who attempts an even more ridiculous lawsuit.
"Do you seriously think that Facebook is attempting to move into a new business model of selling their members’ content? As soon as they tried to actually do that, people would leave in droves. It would be corporate suicide.

"They’re just doing what the prevailing legal climate requires to ensure that they can display their pages to visitors anywhere in the world (and, optionally, place ads on those pages) without being sued. It absolutely is a bad thing that they need to do this, but that’s primarily the fault of the copyright regime and the overly-litigious lawyers who support it"

Yes, those pesky lawyers. It's just mumbo jumbo then? Not to be taken too seriously?

What is facebook's response? Here's what Mark Zuckerberg had to say on the facebook blog:

"Our philosophy is that people own their information and control who they share it with. When a person shares information on Facebook, they first need to grant Facebook a license to use that information so that we can show it to the other people they've asked us to share it with. Without this license, we couldn't help people share that information."

Trouble is that although facebook are desperately trying to explain their reasons by highlighting the difficulty of negotiating a license in the digital world, their lawyers have come up with harsh-sounding language compared to the TOS language used by other services like Myspace and Twitter. Amanda French does a magnificent job of comparing the Facebook TOS and other services on her blog. You may also want to read the post on Mashable - especially the comments for a better overview.

What are the implications? I'd say that we are fast becoming dual citizens - one of the world, and one of the digital world. The actions "countries" like facebook take now, will shape the future of our digital world tomorrow. Right now it can swing both ways. I would like to think the digital future is democratic and fair. But I somehow think that will not be the case.

What should your response be? Much like mine I suppose. Get to understand the complexity of the situation, READ the TOS, and be cautious with what you post. I don't like having to feel "less free" in my facebook neighbourhood, but until this story finds a happy ending, I'll remain on facebook. I'll watch, wait, offer opinins where I can and have my exit visa on hand. 

ADDENDUM: I came across a great piece of advice by Chris Miller of The Social Networker: 

Should you feel the need to delete your FB account, make sure you :

• remove all your friends
• make sure you are not tagged in any pictures
• go in and set everything possible section of privacy controls to private
• remove your wall postings and other previous public areas
• then delete your account

So this could never be fool-proof from others having emails or copies.  It does set the privacy restrictions of Facebook from using your content to copy, publish, stream, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, adapt, etc etc etc.  You basically leave them with a silo of hidden information.

Breaking up with the smooth-talking advertiser is easy to do

The break up

I know this is a bit old, but I regurgitate this classic for good reason. Today I signed up with Idea Bounty. A place where anybody can offer their two cents worth in response to a Creative Brief. The bounty is posted in US$ and the best idea gets the cash. Groovy? Well, at first I felt a bit queasy and light-headed. I'm a "professional" advertising guy you see, who's been around the block a few times and I could hear the nervous shuffling of Client Service Directors and Creative Directors everywhere. "If clients get a hold of this, well, it will do great damage to our industry".
Surely a brand needs custodianship? How can "just anybody" presume to know how to create a brand message about a particular product? It takes "relationship-building" with the client and a few days of indoctrination before one can presume to offer up an idea right? Handing over the brand to the masses? Sacrilege!
Well, as it turns out, that may be just a bunch of old hoo-ha. When last did you willingly sit through the commercial break? If you have PVR (who doesn't these days?) I can almost guarantee that you paused for a few minutes, got some refreshments then came back and zapped those pesky little 30 seconders into oblivion. Right? Exactly!
As Hugh McLeod from GapingVoid (remember Stormhoek? That was Hugh turning traditional communications on its head) is want to say, "If I had to talk to you the way advertising talks to you, you'd punch me in the face." Right on. That's precisely why people are breaking up with the smarmy-mouthed advertiser that doesn't really listen. One could say the relationship is over, but then, was it really a relationship based on true communication and trust?  
Idea Bounty opens up a channel for crowdsourcing ideas from everywhere. A housewife is as much a brand-custodian as anybody in advertising, only she didn't have any input, until now.
It's a brave new world.
Read Matt Riley's interview with Jonathan McDonald to get the new logic and you may also want to download Jonathan's book, "Every Single One of Us" to find out how he sees the world of marketing communications.

Dig this part of Egoli

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Love this mixed media piece titled "No Concept" by DAB on artbreak.com, this great site where you can get great art at anywhere from a few dollars to a couple of plenty, Check it out. I like it because it's Joburg and I have a passion for our great big sprawling don't-give-a-shit get-outta-my-way mining town.

Oh Bummer! The HAT makes a comeback.

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Originally uploaded by tchiseen

Aretha Franklin will be remembered not for her awesome lungs, but her spangled-inauguration hat-thing. Ha.

The New African American

I have never watched a US Presidential inauguration before. Never needed to. Hell, I've never even watched a South African presidential inauguration before. Never wanted to. Oh wait, I fib, there was Nelson's inauguration, which I kind of watched on and off (bad bad TV, bad presenters, colourful costumes, much ass-shaking, stick-waving hoopla, and yet more bad presenting). Viva. Yawn. But here I am, switching between CNN, Sky News and the BBC. The last time I was glued to the box like this was 9/11. Why is the 44th presidential inauguration so damned important? Yes, of course it's an historic occasion, all inaugurations are. So why this one? My informants tell me Mr Barack Obama is special because he is not exactly white. OMG. Really? Please tell me that's not what makes the man so popular, for clearly he is. Around 70% support from the US population? Clearly the man got to say "so help me God" for a host of other reasons. Yet, sadly, just this very afternoon at a fine establishment while ordering a cappuccino and watching the CNN coverage, a waiter told me he how excited he was about Obama. "Why?", I asked. With face beaming angelically as he closed his eyes and prayerfully clasped his hands, he said "He is our president." Oh for heavens sake. We have a president and it's not Obama, it's Thabo Mbeki. Oh, forgive me, it seems that it's okay to have two. I bet it's because of his enlightened policies on abortion and education and national health all of which will have no direct bearing on us? No? No, clearly no, confirmed by the blank stare and quizzical look. The only allegiance this waiter has to Obama it seems, is a vague reference to skin colour. How sad is that? But true. This is not an isolated case, I promise. And yet, even though some reasons for supporting Obama are wayward, strange and often idiotic, I cannot help but feel that the 44th US President is profoundly a "world" president in ways we haven't even begun to understand yet. That the citizens of the US wanted a gigantic change in their country cannot be disputed, that this is the reason for Barack Obama's victory cannot be denied. That Mr Obama is going to change America forever is expected, especially in the light of unpopular US policies and an even more unpopular war in Iraq. I get the feeling that Barack's government is expected to be more lenient towards the foibles of our African "ways", yet I know this to be untrue. I await the rude awakening. I can hear the squealing now.
There is another reason why we as a nation are so interested in what happens in the US. We've been consuming American culture for decades. Movies, music, food, and cars. Mix that up with a hangover of British colonialism which includes Queen's English, right-hand drive, rugby, soccer and cricket and you have a strange anglo-american influence that is evident. So yes, we are strangely fascinated with the "screwings and the doings of the Ewings".
I hope and pray that Obama turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to the US. I hope he changes the system from an oil-centric one to an alternative one. I hope that he can turn war into peace. I hope he can erase racial prejudice. I hope he restores confidence in the United States. I hope that the greatest economy in the world continues to be strong and prosperous and generous. I hope that he is remembered for the man he is and the good things he delivers, and not just as the first black president of the United States of America. God bless America.

Rx Stories - Justin Cohen's prescription to Roche medical reps

Memory is directly linked to emotion, without emotion we are more likely to forget

Here's an excerpt of my coverage of the Roche 2009 Sales Conference, day three. The theme was based on CNN with a TV news crew and a news reporter, yours truly, that covered the days events and produced a news insert that was broadcast on an internal channel at 6am the following morning, and a newspaper that was distributed at breakfast. The anchorman, Justin Cohen, did a great job of interviewing the various speakers turning what could have been a mind-numbingly boring batch of plenary sessions into something mildly entertaining. To set the scene for this article, day two involved various activities like skydiving, bungee jumping and a zipp line canopy tour in the Tsitsikamma forest - a "stretching" experience for some.
Simola Hotel & Spa, Knysna
Delegates file into the auditorium. They’re all wearing the “beach uniform” - tee-shirts in various colours, purple, blue, green, yellow... to the casual on-looker, it’s a sea of sameness. Yet I know this to be untrue. There are a few in this room that have stood out in my mind as being really interesting people. Take Lisa the “tree hugger” for example - two people spoke about her courage and unselfish attitude towards the team in the face of extreme fear while negotiating the unexpected challenges of the canopy tour. In spite of the option to quit at “Tree No. 3”, which would have required a team mate to forsake their fun to accompany her down to safety, she tearfully dug deep down into her soul for the gumption required to face her fear and complete the tour. I’ll always remember Lisa’s courage, her pain, her tears... even though I don’t know her. It’s a great story.
That was the point of Justin Cohen’s presentation, “What’s Your Story?”
“The greatest power you have to persuade, to empower, to teach, is your story”, quipped Justin. He then set up his explanation of why words are so powerful, and how words can be used as tools to either work for us, or against us. The research about “mirror neurons” that trigger identical responses in the brain whether you physically go running, or whether you passively listen to a detailed story about running, is particularly interesting. In other words, the human brain is a virtual reality machine, a piece of hardware that runs on software called “Words”. How efficient and effective that machine runs, depends entirely on the words or stories that you choose to upload. This has some interesting possibilities and applications in the sales field. 
To illustrate the importance of “the story” in the sales context, Justin related a tale about about his decision to invest in a medical aid. Being quoted stats, numbers, and blah blah blah regarding blah blah blah medical aid blah blah blah... didn’t move him into action- being “sold to” with feature rich jargon fell on ‘deaf’ ears. But hearing a story about a young man called Howard, without medical aid, diagnosed with cancer, who had to sell everything and move back home to pay for his treatment, did move him into purchasing a medical aid. The distinction of “selling” and “buying” is critical. Good stories allow the listener to be engaged, to be interested, to be involved. When you tell a good story, the listener is buying.  
When faced with a prospect, the rep can engage the story to create a positive outcome - including the most negative objections.
Here are a few noteworthy points:

• Earn the right to tell a story by asking questions - asking questions will help you to understand the “story of their need” or the “story of their objection”.
• “He who listens most, wins!”
• Relate a story that illustrates the benefit in response to an objection.
• Borrow stories - “the gift of listening to stories is the lesson of a life we didn’t have to live”. The brain will believe the story is as real as having experienced the story first-hand - the Placebo Effect.
• Be authentic and make an impression when telling your story by injecting it with passion.
• Remember that before anyone buys your product, they have to buy your story.
• Remember that your prospect may not buy you at first, but will buy a good story.
• Stories can shift a “price” objection to a “value” understanding.
• Tell yourself “I CAN” stories to jolt your mirror-neurons to create a better you.
• Your life is the most powerful story some people may ever read. 

My time spent with Roche was an enriching experience overall, and this talk by Justin Cohen, although nothing "new" to me, since I've heard this information presented by others in very different ways, was nevertheless impactful.

Kicking off the new year on the Right Foot

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Big ideas often get tossed aside as being daft or ridiculous. I know this to be true. I remember the times I would entertain notions and thoughts, only to toss them aside as ideas that would never work and then months later I would read about the very thing I was thinking about. I was raised in a "think practical" household. "Get your head out of the clouds" would be the predictable chide. Well bugger that. I've played by the silly-bugger rules for far too bloody long. This is my chance to put my foot down (can't help it, I'm a copywriter) and follow the notion. And so I shouted "Eureka", grabbed my digital camera and started shooting. The big idea? My Right Foot. Huh? What the...?
I know. It sounds crazy, but just think about it. I don't have a job (bitter sweet story) so I really need to be creative about setting up other income streams. In my mystical meanderings to finding solutions, I literally "stumbled" into the world of Social Media.
One of the biggest revelations was twitter, an entire universe (twitterverse) that Perry Belcher describes as a cocktail party where you mingle with interesting people.
I started following people that twittered about marketing, the future of the web, guru's in their field, PR people, Comedians, Creative-types, designers, writers... the kind of people you wouldn't normally get to mix with in the real world. I started to listen and read, I followed the links they posted, silently picking up the strange etiquette... I became a twitterazzi following the twitterati. Slowly the reality of the new world became a little clearer. I had inadvertently jumped ahead of my peers. For many years I struggled with the old-school thinkers in advertising and the wastefulness of traditional media like radio, television and print - "We all know advertising works, we just don't know which half" is a truthism. Well Web 2.0 is here, and with it a new as-yet-unwritten rule book. When budgets don't stretch to underwrite TV channels, and influence sales, you gotta know somethin's up, and somethin's gotta change.
The Big Idea: become the media. I remember 7 years ago telling my erstwhile boss that we should become our own channel and create opportunities for our clients. It fell on deaf and blissfully ignorant ears.
Well, after giving me the proverbial boot (Detroit budget cuts), I'm doing exactly that. Creating my own channel.
Here's an extract from the New York Times that sums up where my head was going all those years ago:
“Advertising is a massively old model based on the 1950s. As media has proliferated, it’s become a lot harder for us to earn enough money off our ideas,” said Ben Jenkins, the strategic director of Zag. “Zag is about creating the properties ourselves from scratch and having 100 percent of it.”
Lesson learned: Do not discard ideas!
My Right Foot has the potential to take me places. It's my best foot. My Right Foot has got readership and content - one day after joining Amatomu which tracks the performance of ZA blogs, I had a giant spike of click throughs and page impressions. I'm still a novice. But I got something. Ideas.
More than that, My Right Foot is an idea that has legs.

Johannesburg by Design: my talented friends

I have to do a song and dance about Anastasia Cohen and her business partner Damien who started Love Jobs 11 years ago. When I looked up Stasi, an old advertising colleague on Facebook, I had no idea what she was doing. So we made some facetime for coffee and a chat at JB's Corner, Melrose Arch. We nattered about our past lives in the biz (she was an Art Director, I was a Copywriter) and laughed about how naive were all were back then. Anyhow, Stasi "disappeared" from advertising and we lost touch. Turns out she was just following her dream. Together with Damien, a fine artist, they set up something wonderful.
Over the years they have created lights, mobiles, canvasses, objets d'art, corporate ID’s, menues, wallpapers and manufacture sculpture and work in a myriad of materials, from wood, resin, concrete, perspex, metal and glass.
“Every project is designed with their client’s input and every piece is unique. Hand crafted in our studio with our small team of artists that we have trained over the years - we only support local crafts people in an attempt to create income for these undervalued talents. We pride ourselves on being 'Planet Friendly' and only use bio-degradable, non-toxic materials.”
Their clients read like a who's who of South African business: First National Bank, Standard Bank, Oprah Winfrey School for Girls, Discovery Health, Coca Cola, Mnet, North Island Hotel in the Seychelles, Nandos, DSGN, Switch, Sky's the Limit...
“Nothing is impossible if watered with passion.” Says Anastasia. Whoooowee. I am with you on that one. Kudos.
Anastasia and Damien can be contacted on +27 (0)83 463 6555 or lovejobs@telkomsa.net
More samples of their work can be viewed here

Ponto D'oro, Mozambique

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I had a blast in Mozambique. Reading books in my hammock under the trees overlooking the Indian, quaffing G&Ts as if my life depended on it (actually it did! NOT ONE mosquito bite thank you, it's the quinine in the tonic!), lazing with the rest of the diving crowd on the beach, all-fall-downs in the evenings... crab stew, ah, what a crap life...