Christopher S. Penn – Marketing AI Keynote Speaker

Author: Christopher S Penn

  • Informal working group @ PodCamp Boston

    For those folks who – like me – aren’t pub crawlers (I am grossly incompetent at it AND genetically Asian, meaning that alcohol and I have a twisted relationship), I’d like to invite you to an INFORMAL working group session at or around 9 PM Saturday evening (after Jeff Pulver’s PodCamp Party) at the Westin Hotel next to the BCEC to discuss podcast marketing. The general topic for the evening will be, “Hey, how do we explain this stuff better, because we really suck at it”, and tackles a vitally important point Mignon Fogerty (Grammar Girl) raised on Twitter: “There are 100 million iPods out there. Aren’t they the low hanging fruit?”

    Bring your ideas, stuff that has worked for you, and stuff that hasn’t, plus anything else as we all have a group head shed to see if we can come up with some powerful new ideas. This is NOT an official PodCamp session at all.

  • If I were a true Dark Lord of the Sith…

    … I’d write a Facebook application that would silently download every scrap of data in the FQL accessible database silently, amassing it into a huge database and cross referencing it with other data collected from other sources. You know, stuff like all your photos (handy for blackmail!), your friends (handy for marketing!), your birthdate (handy for identity theft!), your groups (handy for marketing!), all that good stuff that marketers and evildoers normally have to pay out huge dollars for.

    Of course, I’d need to disguise my super-evil application as something cool, something that leverages innate human weaknesses, so that people wouldn’t think twice about installing my application and hitting OK without reading all of the terms of service.

    You know, like a Red Sox vs. Yankees application. Or a Patriots vs. Rams application. Or Zombies, Vampires, Werewolves, Ninjas, or Pirates.

    Sadly, I’m not a true Dark Sider like that. But I’ll bet you someone else is, and you’ll never know. Actually, you might. Look for news about Facebook applications being sold for massive dollar amounts. Bet your Red Saber that the app itself is secondary to a massive database included with the sale.

  • Ninja Wisdom on Power

    “When there is chaos at the bottom
    there is order at the top.
    When there is order at the bottom
    there is chaos at the top.”

    – Stephen K. Hayes

    someone pointed out one of many articles about degenerating race relations in America today. Along with severe economic shocks, it’s looking like things are somewhat grim for America entering election year 2008. Foreclosures of homes skyrocketing, tainted imports, collapsing pension funds, pick your poison. What does it all mean?

    A piece of wisdom from one of my teachers’ teachers, Stephen K. Hayes, started off this blog post. Simply translated, when the general population of a country is struggling to just get by, living paycheck to paycheck and making no progress, dealing with spikes in crime and a feeling of general malaise, it’s much harder for them to revolt or even realize what’s happening in the true power centers of a nation. Sate their minds with pointless entertainment, get them to care about things that are completely irrelevant (celebrity news comes to mind), and with the skill of a sleight of hand illusionist, you as someone in power get to do pretty much whatever you want to do, because no one’s paying attention. Chaos at the bottom means order at the top.

    Reverse the situation. When the people of a nation unify, when the people of a nation have their basic needs met and have access to good information, at the very least they’ll push for progressive change and for overall improvements in their society’s health, wealth, and condition. The downside is that it’s much harder for a few select individuals to consolidate power and wealth in an open, democratic society because the general population will call bullshit on them, and possibly run them out of town. Order at the bottom means chaos at the top.

    When you step back and take a look at the many influences acting on society at large, ask yourself which strategy is being pursued by the people of your nation and by its leaders and influencers. Who’s running the show, and who’s benefitting from it?

  • Awaken YOUR Superhero Powers : Power 9 of 10 – Power

    Awaken YOUR Superhero Powers : Power 9 of 10 – Power

    Riki
    Bala Paramita
    Power

    As part of my every thought, word, and action, I am inspired by the heroic ideal of spiritual power. I allow nothing to stop me!

    If effort is the engine of your superhero work, and vow is your intent to get where you’re going, power is the gas. Power is the yellow sun orbiting the earth that gives Superman his abilities, the radioactive spider, the genetic mutations or the adamantium claws. Power is what puts electricity in the computer.

    How does a superhero of the modern era build power? Power starts with passion – a passion, a burning desire to accomplish, to investigate, to explore, to improve. No matter what your choice of focus in life, power is what motivates you and keeps you going long after the hobbyist or dabbler quits, long after even the veterans would give up. Passion leads to power, and one of the superhero’s greatest secrets is to find fellow members of the league of superheroes who are equally passionate about their powers. Like may attract like, but like definitely powers like. Even on a mundane level, we understand this – working out at the gym is easier with a buddy than alone.

    Commit today and every day to building your personal power, your spiritual power in your thoughts, words, and actions.

    Thought: Pause for a moment. Put aside your to-do lists, your must-not-forgets, and your obligations for just a few seconds, and remind yourself of your passion. Reinvigorate yourself by reminding yourself why you do what you do out of love and excitement.

    Word: Take a moment today and every day to talk to someone about your passions, about your discoveries and theirs, and share in the excitement of being fellow explorers on the path.

    Action: Take a hard look at your schedule and clear a block of time every day, even if for only 15 minutes, when you can indulge your passions. Mark that time as busy, out of the office, non-negotiable, turn off all forms of communications, lock the door, and dive into what your heart demands of you.

    Endnote: The powers themselves are translated by Senior Master Instructor Stephen K. Hayes from the Enlightened Warrior Gyoja Practitioner Recitation Handbook, published by the Kinryuzan Golden Dragon Mountain Kasumi-An Dojo.

  • Awaken YOUR Superhero Powers : Power 8 of 10 – Vow

    Awaken YOUR Superhero Powers : Power 8 of 10 – Vow

    Gan
    Pranidhana Paramita
    Vow

    As part of my every thought, word, and action, I am inspired by the heroic ideal of focusing unstoppable intent. I direct my aim!

    The world, full of distractions, conspires to take you off course, as mentioned in the powers of effort and meditation. Most of the time, those efforts are mass communications tactics such as ads. Sometimes, however, we face more than generic, broad distraction – we face legitimate opposition. Maybe a supervillain manifests themselves in our life, actively working against us. Maybe circumstances give us a concrete opponent to fight as opposed to a diffuse enemy.

    The superhero power of vow is a companion to effort – not only do you get things done, but you defuse, disarm, or destroy all obstacles in your path, defeating the efforts of anyone or anything to derail you. Your commitment to upholding the things you believe in – your discipline (power #2) cannot be shaken, no matter how hard enemies try.

    Commit today and every day to working for what you believe in the face of adversity with your thoughts, words, and actions.

    Thought: Take a moment today to examine your internal enemies, familiar villains like guilt, doubt, and procrastination. How can you knock them out of the fight?

    Word: Take a moment today to clean up communications. Delete Internet bookmarks of web sites that are persistent negative influences, and un-friend those online contacts whose diaries are never-ending rivers of pessimism and woe.

    Action: Set up your life to make invasion by enemies difficult. A to-do list punishes procrastination. Affirming art, photos, and posters can debilitate doubt. Positive, inspiring music can flood guilt away. Close virtual and real office doors when you need to reaffirm your mission without interference.

    Endnote: The powers themselves are translated by Senior Master Instructor Stephen K. Hayes from the Enlightened Warrior Gyoja Practitioner Recitation Handbook, published by the Kinryuzan Golden Dragon Mountain Kasumi-An Dojo.

  • The Money Vaccine

    A bunch of folks are pointing out Dove’s new onslaught campaign, which goes part of the way towards helping women deal with self esteem issues, but it could be a much broader scope than that. Want to inoculate yourself, your friends, and especially your children against not only the beauty industry, but everyone and everything else?

    Teach yourself and others how to follow the money. When you see a commercial or advertisement, discuss with your kids what the commercial is for, what they want to you to buy, and what tactics they will use to try to make you buy it.

    “Honey, this is a commercial for mascara. The manufacturer is going to suggest that if you don’t use their product, you will not be pretty, which of course, is not true. They’ll be using several ways to attack you – and it is an attack on you, just as real as someone punching you – including peer pressure and the granfalloon attacks.”

    Maybe it’s cultural in America, but we LOVE to know how the magic trick works, even if it spoils our enjoyment of the trick. There’s no better way to inoculate yourself, friends, and loved ones than to pull the curtain back from advertisers and marketers and show them the catalog of tricks. There’s no better way to defeat a salesperson than to list off the tricks as they use them, and if you don’t particularly like the salesperson, yes, you can list them out loud.

    “Yes, fine, Ben Franklin close, time limited offer, exclusivity close. Dude, have you read anything besides Tom Hopkins and Zig Ziglar?”

    YOU have power over your mind. Share that power with others, and take it away from advertisers.

  • Brief Hiatus

    This weekend, I’ll be completely off the grid attending the 10th annual New England Warrior Camp. It’ll be a much-needed retreat of study, ninjutsu practice, and meditation, refreshing my head and helping me to refocus and recharge. In the meantime, for great content, be sure to check out the latest episodes of the Marketing Over Coffee Marketing Podcast with me and marketing master practitioner John Wall and the Financial Aid Podcast.

    Catch you on the other side!

  • Awaken YOUR Superhero Powers : Power 7 of 10 – Skillful Means

    Awaken YOUR Superhero Powers : Power 7 of 10 – Skillful Means

    Hoben
    Upaya Paramita
    Skillful Means

    As part of my every thought, word, and action, I am inspired by the heroic ideal of finding the best way for success. I effectively encourage results!

    “Just do it” is great – momentum more often than not will generate results over inaction, but if effort is the engine, skill is the steering wheel. With your superhero new media powers, you have the ability, the power to make great changes and accomplish great things, but being able to use those powers to accomplish the most with the least effort is the mark of a veteran hero.

    How can you accomplish things most efficiently and effectively? We talked earlier about obtaining win-win situations, but how? A superhero power in its own right is knowing humanity. Senior Master Instructor Stephen K. Hayes quotes an old expression, “I know what is going to happen because I know humanity, and I know humanity because I have studied myself.” Learn how you react in situations so that you can anticipate and defuse problems before they even begin.

    Commit today and every day to using your thoughts, words, and actions to make your life and the lives around you run smoothly with careful planning and skillful understanding of yours and others’ only too human habits.

    Thought: Take a moment today to examine a habit of yours that you know holds you back. Instead of feeling badly about it, what one thing can you do today to change course towards productive ends?

    Word: Take a moment today to rewrite something you’ve written in the past and consider what changes and edits you’re making to improve the piece. Make note of them so that you write with them in mind on future first drafts.

    Action: Take a moment today to optimize your workplace. Remove old trash, refile things, and clean up so that your ability to accomplish is unhindered by incidental distraction.

    Endnote: The powers themselves are translated by Senior Master Instructor Stephen K. Hayes from the Enlightened Warrior Gyoja Practitioner Recitation Handbook, published by the Kinryuzan Golden Dragon Mountain Kasumi-An Dojo.

  • Flax Tax Return

    Someone with an economics background tell me why we can’t do this with the IRS tax code:

    Flat Tax Proposal

  • A Nikon D40 Conversation

    A Nikon D40 Conversation

    I’ve been asking about the Nikon D40 and accessories on Twitter, and with the number of responses I’ve gotten back, it seemed appropriate to put it on a blog post instead. Here’s what I’ve got on my list of things to add:

    – more memory cards.
    – spare battery.
    – speed light plus omni-bounce
    – 50mm f/1.8 lens
    – 50-200mm VR zoom lens
    – polarizing filter

    The detailed list is here.

    DSLR experts – what would you add? What don’t I need, or what am I overlooking?

    Thanks in advance for all your advice!

Pin It on Pinterest