thinking: relating- celebrating :-)

Two years and 5 days ago I started this blog to be able to store up a bit of a reference library of ideas and experiences for customers, friends and myself.

It has snowballed to be much more than that. Thanks to the readers in the US, Australia, NZ and UK especially but every week brings new surprises.  Great ideas are being recognised and debated in this and many other blogs around the world. Thanks for stopping by today.

Currently in talks with others on how to deepen the political and economic debate for improved outcomes for NZ and the global economy.  Stay tuned for ideas on how this might be focussed and shaped.

The first post was welcome to a BlogVenture where I included a quote by Charles Kettering

“The only difference between a problem and a solution is that people understand the solution.”- by Charles Kettering.

87 posts (90+ comments Thanks Mark, David and everyone who coments) and roughly 100,000 words later I think I’m getting the hang of the questions.

I also work on about 50 other websites and so this blog gets a bit low on airtime from me while I juggle other blogs and client projects.

On the whole though – the plan has been to post a more thoughtful piece at least once a month and preferably once a week and so 87 posts in 102 weeks is about 80%+ of the time that has worked.

I need to update my list of top 10 posts – but it has been very gratifying to get feedback – much of it not published from hundreds of correspondent and thousands of readers worldwide.

I was really challenged by Seth Godin a few months back who wrote something to the effect that bad times still create opportunities for us to articulate a differnt future. We don’t need to be frozen in the headlights.

Marketers spend a lot of time describing a future and making it real.

I am an optimist and I know that there are some smart thinkers out there. Blogging offers a way to get past the shallowness of public debate on some of these areas.

As a reader you can help me and other bloggers by challenging us with questions and feedback.

If you are a blogger you can also do the same and write your contributions on your sites and other public spaces such as the NZX one.

As voters and members of the community we deserve a better, smarter outcomes for our children and our families. A dash of humour doesn’t hurt either.

As it happens I’m going to meet some other bloggers today in person for the first time. Expecting it to be fun and looking forward to some sharp moments. (Step away from the keyboard… your lunch has arrived etc.)

You may have seen this already from Jack Black. Light hearted but captures the long term perspectives very well.

Or if you prefer to explore paradigms and game changing rather than just shuffling the deckchairs- Here is a quote from John R. Ehrenfeld writing in ChangeThis – 2503beyondsustain Creative Commons – (so download and recycle)

The Problem with Our Solutions
“As a society, we are addicted to solving our problems through a reductionist frame. When
we confront problems in the world, we chop them into small pieces and give each piece to a
specialist familiar with that chunk.

Over time, as we have done this more and more, society’s competence to address the complex, messy problems we confront has diminished. Unsustainability is just such a messy problem.

Sustainability is a holistic concept that takes an equally holistic stance to attain. Reductionist solutions will not suffice.”

The full manifesto is available from ChangeThis

Here is a great little conference (Freelance08) on next Wednesday, May 7 and Thursday, May 8 at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Auckland.

It offers huge value for members of the freelance nation. Also a chance to hear from Nicky Hager, Brenda Ward, Virginia Larson and John Cranna as well as old favourites David Cohen and Rod Oram.

The scope is wide enough to include useful business tips for all contractors regardless of whether they get paid to write for a living. And at $100 for the whole day it is very good value.

Registration needs to be before close of business tomorrow so don’t delay. I’ve decided to go along to a few sessions myself. So if you make it, be sure to say hi.

As it happens still do some some contract research and writing for various business documents and it is always helpful to understand the best ways to frame up that kind of work since the creative element and the craft often has to be rationed to the budget at hand.

There is also a big difference between a quick note and a research piece or marketing content and that is not always so easy to explain or get paid for.

Breakout sessions: Freelancing nuts and bolts (Some examples only)

• Hawking your wares overseas
  David Cohen, journalist Tracey Barnett, journalist
• Negotiating – a way to better pay
  Jenny Ruth, freelance business journalist Julia Thorne, photographer and writer
• Slicing/dicing your interviews/expertise
  Gill South, freelance writer Rod Oram, journalist and commentator
• Making your writing a business
  Baubre Murray, director, Dowse Murray Chartered Accountants Simon Penlington, partner, Jones Fee, barristers and solicitors

Hat tip to Kim And Phillipa for nurturing this idea. I believe this is the 3rd conference and it looks like the combination of practical help and actual facetime together has achieved some critical mass.

See you there?

Related posts that you may also like

• Media Meltdown or New Era @ Dow Jones – sale of Dow Jones to Murdoch
• Media Chess – Murdoch Style can Murdoch make the numbers work
• Attention Profiling online trends
• When Self Publishing Makes Sense the power and choice shifts to the author
• One Little Song & Publishing Futures content producer and a consumer same time
• Creative copyright thinking creative commons

“media futures”