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A Genuine Experience

I'm on vacation.  Today is Jackson's birthday, and if I still had birthdays, tomorrow would be mine.  We're in Williamsburg at a place called Great Wolf Lodge.  The draw for coming here was Jackson's complete enthusiasm for Magiquest.  I won't go into a lot of detail about either of these two entities, although I'll encourage anyone who has kids, or is a kid at heart, to click through and read about them -- you might find a fun weekend. (Although, as far as Magiquest goes, the one in Myrtle Beach blows the one in Williamsburg out of the water.)  And as an addendum, if you like the idea of blending very cool technology with live gameplay, definitely check out Magiquest.  Ok, on with the point...

Anyone who knows me knows I like stuff like hunting and fishing and boating, and riding motorcycles, and history -- mostly stuff I like to think of as "real" experiences.  Genuine stuff.  I like watching drag races, but I'd rather drive in one.  I like swimming in a pool just fine, but I prefer the ocean.  I don't feel like I've been to China after leaving the China section of Epcot.  I feel like I've been to Epcot.  I like Genuine Experiences.

But...

I also like, and create, and creative direct, experiences for the web.  And one of the most common complaints about the web I hear coming from people who don't yet truly understand the web is that it's not a real, genuine experience.  It's not life.  It's just the computer, and people who spend too much time on the web, or on the computer, aren't participating in real life.

Truth is, nothing could be further from the truth.

The web is as real as the chair you're sitting in.  Because it influences and facilitates physical actions, now more than ever, and more than probably any other medium ever has.  Yes, there is plenty of fantasy -- whether it's an RPG, or a goosed-up social network profile.  But there's plenty of fantasy in the physical space, as well.  When users interact with the things you make, the interaction is as real as any physical interaction.  It's just a different way to go about it.  Which makes the web a genuine experience.  Which makes a giant indoor water park a genuine experience.  And an electronic magic wand that triggers a sound chip and some servo motors and lights.  Real, genuine experiences.  Just, different from, say, standing on the steps of the US Capitol, sitting in the stands at Minute Maid Park, or going to an old-time county fair.

But the question is, are the digitally enhanced experiences any less important than the ones that don't need processors?  I don't think so.  In a way, I think they're more important -- because they're easier for people to experience, and thus, more accessible.  What makes them seem less important, probably, in most people's minds, is content.  But the medium is what we make of it -- and content is the most important thing we can make.

As technology evolves, experiences will evolve, as will our definition of what's "real" and "genuine."  I'll have to think about this more.  And I will.  After vacation.  Because right now, I'm genuinely having a real good time.

 

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Say Thanks

I've done a lot of things in my career.  Copywriter, Creative Director (all the steps in between), Director, production company owner, boutique agency owner, interactive creative director, photographer -- and that's just the stuff I've been paid to do.  I get really analytical about how the web works, and I write and talk about it.  Occasionally, people listen.  Sometimes they ask questions. I love questions, because whether I can answer or not doesn't matter -- it always takes the conversation somewhere interesting, and I usually learn more. If the conversation gets interesting enough, I'll rely on my experience doing all the above stuff for perspective and examples.  And that sometimes leads to another set of questions about me, which usually centers around something like, with all the different types of experience I have  -- why do I do what I do?

There are intellectual reasons (I dig the web and all its potential), business reasons (it's truly still in its infancy, and promises serious growth), and lots of others, including the simple fact that I really like it.  But ultimately, there's one reason I do anything at all (at least, anything at all for a living), and that's to support my family.  They're the only reason I need, want, or have to get up in the morning, and go do what I do.

My kids are cool.  They're smart, funny, and fun to be around.  They take whatever they do to as high a level as they're capable -- whether it's ballet, lacrosse, soccer, hockey, art, Chinese, helping around the house, or yes, fighting with each other.  They give it their all.  Which is all you can ask of anyone.  I'm completely proud of my kids, and being their dad is the coolest gig I've ever had.  I'm honored to be able to go to work to support them.

But you see, my kids wouldn't be who they are without the most influential person in their lives.  And while I'm relatively influential (or, at least, I'd like to think so) I pale in comparison to the person who has truly taught them to be the kind of people they're turning out to be:  their Mom.

My wife, their Mom, is the uber-Mom.  Not just for the way she carts them to all the activities listed above (and that's an abridged list), nor for the way she obsesses about their education, their health, their growth as individuals, their ultimate happiness as humans, and the fact that they haven't eaten their vegetables.  Not for just that.  And for all of that.  But more than that, it's for the way she loves this family.  It's crystal clear to me, and the kids, and to anyone who knows any of the Mostellers of Alexandria that Sarah is the thing that truly makes this family what it is. 

Moms are like that, you know.

I thought I knew, before I was married to a Mom.  But I didn't really know. Now I do.  And being married to a Mom has made me think about all the stuff my own Mom did to help make me into who I am. She did a lot.  A helluva lot.  And I'm really, really thankful she did.

So forgive me if I'm not obsessed today about how agencies just aren't getting the whole digital thing just right just yet. (I will be again, because they're not.)   But today, I'm thinking more about two incredibly special Moms.  The one who raised me, and the one I'm married to.  Today is their day.

I'd just like to say, "Thanks."

Call your mom today.  You should say it, too.

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The Web Talent Shortage

There's a shortage of web talent.  Right?  Designers and developers are at a premium because they're so hard to find.  Right?  I mean, that's what I seem to hear and read every day.

The thing is, I don't think it's true.  Not really.  Let me explain:

If you look for a new designer or developer, chances are you're going to see a lot of portfolio sites with very young, sometimes naive, work.  Because a lot of available web designers out there are young.  They need to grow into the sophistication required to take on the 6-figure site you have on the plate that prompted you to look for more help to begin with.  Like I said, they're young.  They're energetic.  And they need coaching. 

So, tell me, how is this any different from the traditional market for traditional creatives?  Advertising is, and always has been, a young business.  Kids come in, full of talent and energy, but with very little of the perspective you want them to have before you turn them loose on your biggest clients.  It's pretty much always been that way, which is why advertising, especially in the creative department, has pretty much always been kind of an educational environment.  At least, more so than a lot of businesses I can think of.  Harness the talent, teach it to focus, and hopefully it grows to beat anything you've ever thought of.  Once the talent is completely focused, tap it to train the next set.

There are tons of young, talented web designers and developers.  Tons.  There's not a kid who comes out of a current communications program that doesn't have some (usually a lot of) web experience -- and most have a seriously deep understanding of the social web experience, because they live it.  Granted, some are really talented, and others not so much.  But there's a whole lot of people who know how to make stuff on the web.

Still, I hear there's a shortage.  And there is a shortage.  Just, not in the places you think. There's a shortage of management that understands what to do with all that talent.  And a shortage of management that knows exactly what that talent can do for them.  It's a serious shortage, and it's on a couple of levels.

First, there's a shortage in the middle and upper-middle ranks.  I think we can thank the .com bubble for that.  A lot of promising talent bought into tech just as tech crashed, and they went somewhere else -- somewhere safer, even if it's still using their tech skills -- and now they're not interested, or they haven't kept up in a way that's useful in an agency.  They would be the ones doing most of the coaching right now. 

Up the ladder, there's a shortage of upper management who know anything, really, about the web.  Anything more than what they read in the advertising trade pubs, anyway.  Which, by the way, they usually read in print.  What they know is that they need to deliver on this web thing, so let's get a web person in here, pronto.  The most visible "web person" in their eyes tends to be a designer, and the most available designers are young, with nothing even close to a  nike.com to show, and that translates into a perceived shortage of web talent. 

But there's a solution.  It's going to take some work, but I truly believe there's a solution that can make the "shortage" of web talent evaporate.  It's simple:  Existing management has to learn the web.  Not learn to design, or build.  Just learn what the heck to look for.

It's not hard.  But it does take time, and a dedicated effort.  Lots and lots of both.  From what I can tell, those two things are, for many, too big of a commitment.  Which, I guess, on second thought, does make it hard.

I find people who want to be briefed.  They want to be taught.  Except the web doesn't work like that.  It's strictly DIY, with reference -- which can be found only on the web.  It's not just a subject to learn, so much as it is a change in lifestyle.  Mainly because it changes so fast.  As soon as there are rules, the rules change.  Somebody writes a book about it -- by the time it's printed, things have changed.  Which is a hard concept to grasp, if you're used to being briefed, and reading the latest business book, in order to gain knowledge.  This is a lot more work.  But there is a very, very serious upside:

The web changes so fast, you could be on top of the game in a year or two, if you just put in the effort.

I know a lot about the web.  Not as much as I want to know, and not nearly as much as I should know, or as much as a lot of other people know.  But on the scope of the whole, I know a lot. But if you, Mr. and Ms. Management, begin today, and spend as much time studying the web as I do for the next 18-24 months, you'll know as much about it as I do.  Because everything I know today will have changed by then, and I'll have to learn it anew, as it changes.  If you spend as much time as I do on it, you'll learn it at the same time.  Which means, you'll know as much as anyone. 

Now, the tough clause in there is "spend as much time as I do on it."  That part will be hard.  Really hard.  Especially if you view the web as just another medium.  If you look at it that way, never mind.  I spend pretty much every waking hour that's not dedicated to family, eating, or driving, either on the web, or thinking about stuff that's going on the web.  And now that I think about it, I do think about it while driving, too.  It's my job, yes, but it's also the way I get the information that runs my life.  If you see it as the future, you need to invest in it like it's the future. Not just with dollars, but with serious time and energy. (Side Note: the future is already here - you should probably know that going in.)  I'm not trying to teach the old horse new tricks here.  I'm telling the old horse he has to learn them on his own, if he wants to survive.

Learn to know what you're looking for, know what it can do for you, and know what to do with it.  Because the shortage isn't talent.  The shortage is understanding.

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Time Again

It's not good to write a blog post about why you're not really writing a blog post.  Don't know why, exactly, it's not good, but I've heard or read or thought that.  It at least seems like it shouldn't be a good thing to write.  Still, that's what I'm writing today.  A post about why I'm not really writing.  Because I'm still in a total time crunch.  New business project that presents on Tuesday is the big elephant in the room, and has consumed an entire week, plus an entire weekend, and it's still going.  But, on top of that, there has been all the stuff leading up to it, plus other stuff, like the recent adotas article, some stuff I've been working on for the bbdigital blog (wip), another presentation I'm preparing for Georgetown University's School of Continuing Studies, where I'm a guest lecturer this Tuesday, after the new biz presentation.  And there's the panel I'm on this coming Thursday in DC, for Media Future Now. 

So, even though I'm not really writing a post today, I just didn't want y'all to think it's 'cause I'm slacking.

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Time

Today is Sunday, the day I write my blog.  I also go to church, pay bills, and try to get a couple more hours with the kids before the week begins. Today was going to be critically busy, because yesterday was insanely busy, which cut into today.  And because there was a makeup Lacrosse game scheduled for today, on top of the regular one from yesterday.  But the rain makeup got rained out, so Jackson is blasting spiders on Neopets next to me while I'm writing my blog.

The reason I write on Sunday is simple.  I simply don't have time to write during the week.  And that's a bit of a shame, because the act of writing my blog (or any blog, I suppose) is an act of thought.  And since my blog is about how agencies and clients can better make the transition they have to make, from traditional to digital, the fact that the only time I have to write about it is a sliver of time on a Sunday afternoon means that the only time I have to think about it is also a relative sliver of time, and that is more than a bit of a shame.

Because there's more to think about than just that.  Thinking time, I think, has been squeezed, in general.

The web has accelerated communication, which means the web has also accelerated production.  Follow the logic, and it's accelerated everything on down the line to the point that the time alloted to think stuff up, and think about how to make it better, has been tremendously compressed.  People (meaning clients, agencies, and, well...people) just expect things faster.  I think that's good.  What's dangerous is the compression to the point of restriction of the function that, more than any other, makes things good.

To be completely honest, I'm not sure how to solve the dilemma.  One way, of course, is to throw manpower at it.  And that works, to a point, assuming the manpower (or, rather, personpower) is good at thinking good stuff up.  More brains thinking about the same thing will more than likely produce a solution quicker.  But as everyone knows, and as we've discussed before, the pricing structure for new communications isn't the same as the pricing structure for old communications, and that's going to affect the personpower budget.  You can also simply say, "can't be done," but, guaranteed, as soon as you do, your competitor will chime in with, "I can do it."

Have we reached critical mass yet, where time alloted simply isn't time enough to produce quality?  Not yet.  But we will, sooner rather than later, industry-wide, I think. 

Maybe the key is to temper our promises of speed with a hefty dose of education about the virtues of quality, combined with, of course, instructional discussion about the nature of quality, and how it just takes a little more time than the un-good stuff.  Maybe.

I'm going to think about that.  Just as soon as I find the time.

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