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harperhug · 3 years

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What Good Is 'Raising Awareness?'

Just being educated about diseases isn't enough to make people healthier.

In 2010, a strange meme spread across Facebook. People’s feeds were suddenly filled with one-word statuses saying the name of a color, nothing more. And most of these posts were from women.

The women had received messages from their Facebook friends that were some variation on this, according to The Washington Post: "Some fun is going on ... just write the color of your bra in your status. Just the color, nothing else. It will be neat to see if this will spread the wings of breast cancer awareness. It will be fun to see how long it takes before people wonder why all the girls have a color in their status. Haha."

Oh, okay. It was for breast cancer awareness. Except, no, wait—how? The Susan G. Komen Foundation had nothing to do with it, though it did get them some Facebook fans, according to the Post story. It wasn’t clear at all who started it. There was no fundraising component to the campaign. And the posts weren’t informative at all. In fact, their whole point was to be mysterious. Maybe people asked their friends what they meant by just posting “beige” or “green lace” and then they had a meaningful conversation about breast-cancer screenings and risk factors, but I’d guess that happened rarely, if at all.

This incident is just one example of the nebulous phenomenon of “raising awareness” for diseases. Days, weeks, months are dedicated to the awareness of different health conditions, often without a clear definition of what “awareness” means, or what, exactly, is supposed to come of it.

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According to a commentary published this month in the American Journal of Public Health, the United States has almost 200 official “health awareness days.” (The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lists all national health observances on its website.) And that’s not counting all the unofficial ones, sponsored by organizations.

The paper was an attempt to begin to investigate whether awareness days actually improve people’s health. Jonathan Purtle, an assistant professor at Drexel University’s School of Public Health, teamed up with Leah Roman, a public-health consultant, to see whether awareness could even be quantified.

“We both kind of anecdotally observed that there seem to be more [awareness days] than ever,” Purtle says. “In public health, and in medicine, we’re putting more and more emphasis on evidence-based practices. Everything should be informed by science in some way. We asked ourselves, has anybody ever evaluated these things, do we know if they’re effective at all?”

The answer: Not many people have, and we really don’t.

Awareness days do seem to be on the rise, by at least a couple measures—the researchers found that more than 145 bills including the words “awareness day” have been introduced in U.S. Congress since 2005, a huge leap compared with previous years. Articles that reference "awareness day" in the PubMed database have followed a similar, but less extreme, upward trajectory.

Trends in Attention to Awareness Days in U.S. Congress and Health Science Literature

But most of the articles Purtle and Roman found in their search (which was just preliminary, not a systematic metareview) were editorials or commentaries announcing or discussing awareness days. Only five studies empirically evaluated the effects of an awareness day, “but the designs weren’t that rigorous,” Purtle says. The best one, according to Purtle, found that on “No Smoking Day” in the U.K., five times more people called a quit smoking hotline than the daily average. “But that was about it,” Purtle says.

So evidence really is lacking on what good these awareness days do.

Liz Feld, president of the nonprofit advocacy organization Autism Speaks, says she has seen results from World Autism Awareness Day, which was April 2, and Autism Awareness Month, which goes on for all of April. The organization has raised more than $10 million so far in April, more than 50,000 people registered on Autism Speaks’ website, and more than 18,000 buildings around the world illuminated with blue lights on April 2 as part of the “Light it Up Blue” campaign. A spokesperson also told me that “Light it Up Blue” was a trending topic on Facebook and Twitter on April 2.

The money is something concrete that came out of the awareness month, but what about the rest?

“One-third of people who live with autism are nonverbal,” Feld says. “The power of a global blue-light movement is very strong. On that day, that is the collective voice of the autism community. That’s a show of power. The blue lights are really a voice.”

Here, "awareness" seems to mean sending a message, getting attention, and getting people to talk about the issue, at the very least on social media. During the week of the most recent World AIDS Day, December 1, 2014, AIDS.gov got the most engagement and new followers of the entire year, Miguel Gomez, the director of AIDS.gov, told me in an email. Perhaps not coincidentally, the organization’s HIV Testing and Care Service Locator got nearly triple its average traffic on December 1.

Social-media activism gets a lot of criticism, some of it deserved, some of it less so. (There's even a somewhat pejorative term for it: slacktivism.) On one hand, it’s an easy way to reach a lot of people, and it often amplifies the voices of the marginalized. On the other hand, changing your profile picture for an awareness day (something Autism Speaks asked people to do for Light It Up Blue) might just be the smallest possible unit of support for a cause. If not backed up by money or deed, it’s little more than lip service. But lip service is not nothing—if enough people do it, it could help shift cultural norms, as Melanie Tannenbaum wrote in Scientific American, about people supporting marriage equality by making equals signs their profile pictures.

“Based on everything that we know about our brains and their bafflingly strong desires to fit in with the crowd, the best way to convince people that they should care about an issue and get involved in its advocacy isn’t to tell people what they should do—it’s to tell them what other people actually do,” Tannenbaum writes. “And you know what will accomplish that? That’s right. Everyone on Facebook making their opinions on the issue immediately, graphically, demonstrably obvious.”

With a controversial issue like marriage equality, enough equals signs on Facebook pages could send the message that this is a common cause to support, and just maybe, gather more support, in a snowball-rolling-down-a-hill sort of way. The thing is, though, that with diseases, everybody’s pretty much already on the same side. There aren’t pro-cancer people who need convincing to come around.

“The question I would ask Autism Speaks or someone who's doing some sort of initiative like ‘Make your picture blue,’ is how they think that will trickle down into some sort of positive outcome for people with autism,” Purtle says.

So I asked.

“First of all, anyone who takes the time to change their picture, they feel invested, like they’re part of something,” Feld says. “That’s the culture we live in now. It’s a way for them to participate. It creates a sense of a community, it really goes back to that. People like to be part of something, look at the ALS ice-bucket challenge. They wanted to be part of something that was bigger than themselves. It’s free, it makes you happy, it makes you feel like you're doing something.”

But Feld recognizes that this isn’t enough.

“You’ve got to follow it up with something else,” she says. “What comes with raising awareness is a responsibility to do something about what you’re aware of. I always say to people, ‘April 2nd is great but what happens April 3rd?’”

When so much is vying for people’s attention, especially online, including the couple hundred other awareness days, even if you get people to listen, how do you get them to do more than just post a status?

There is a sociological theory called narcotizing dysfunction, which proposes that the more people learn about an issue from the media, the less likely they are to do something about it. Purtle and Roman posit that this might be an unintended effect of awareness days, that people might “conflate being knowledgeable about a health issue with taking action to address it.” It’s not enough to just say “this is a problem, and we need to do something about it.” There are a lot of problems in the world that need doing something about.

So in addition to awareness-raising, to try to get people to do something, Autism Speaks fundraises and asks people to sign petitions. “[When we try] to get corporate sponsors, I always tell people here, you can’t just go pitch this as a moral imperative,” Feld says. “There are a lot of moral imperatives. An effective awareness day has got to give people a window into what a real person who's living with autism is going through. My goal is for people to see the face of someone with autism on Autism Awareness Day, so that they carry that with them on April 3rd, April 4th, April 5th.”

Awareness days wouldn’t be so popular if there weren’t an appetite to address health problems. “People want to do something, which is good,” Purtle says. What he worries is that awareness campaigns’ focus on the individual—what you need to know, what you can do—could reinforce existing troublesome ideas about the origins of health, especially with conditions like obesity and heart disease, where lifestyle is a big risk factor.

A lot of people believe, he says, that “it’s really people’s choices that determine their health outcomes and if they’re unhealthy it's either: 1. They made bad choices, or 2. They’re just unlucky and have some genetic thing. These awareness [days] seem to be reinforcing that if you’re aware of the health issue, it’s a good step, and it might be even sufficient to address the health issue. That really flies in the face of the complexity of the various forces that influence a person’s health and a population’s health.”

Those forces include environmental, societal, and economic factors—things that can’t be fixed with knowledge alone. “I think if more people understood that, perhaps we’d see awareness days looking a little bit different,” Purtle says. A better awareness day, he thinks, would spread information about the prevalence of a condition and its risk factors, as well as policy changes that could lessen disparities or help people living with the condition.

“Neither Leah nor I think awareness days are necessarily a bad thing, nor is awareness a bad thing,” Purtle says. “Awareness can be a first step toward changing behavior, but in my opinion, more importantly it would be a first step to positively address the policies that impact a population's health.”

#personal #important information #call to action

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wehavethoughts · 3 years

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Zack Snyder's Justice League Review!

Zack Snyder's Justice League dir. Zack Snyder (2021) Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Films, Atlas Entertainment and The Stone Quarry Science Fiction, Action, Superhero Movie

Rating: 3.5 Waves

Summary: Tormented by visions of a dark future, Bruce Wayne aka The Batman attempts to gather a team of superheroes to defend the planet. When alien tyrant Steppenwolf arrives on Earth seeking a long forgotten technology, this group of heroes must do everything in their power to keep him from locating all three Mother Boxes and destroying the world.

Content warnings: Violence, Death, Body Horror, Gore

This review DOES NOT contain spoilers for Zack Snyder's Justice League

A bit of background for those of you thinking “Didn’t Justice League come out years ago?” You are exactly right! Justice League was released in theaters in 2017 and is the fifth movie in the DCEU (DC Extended Universe). The same company that produced Justice League then funded Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) which is a different version of the story that was released in 2017. Zack Snyder was actually the original director of Justice League (2017), but he stepped away from the project during post production and the film was handed over to director Joss Whedon. Whedon’s creative decisions led to rewrites, heavy editing and a notorious reshoot that required removal of Henry Cavill’s mustache via CGI. Therefore, Justice League as it premiered in theaters in 2017 was Joss Whedon’s vision of the story. As some of you might remember, Justice League (2017) was considered a “flop” as it lost the studio ~$60 million overall and was received by fans with mixed to negative reviews (6.2/10 IMDB, 40% Rotten Tomatoes). But since Zack Snyder had left so late in the project, there were rumors that his version of the film had been nearly finished and there was hope that the movie Snyder filmed was actually better than what Whedon had created. Fans took to social media to demand that Warner Bros release the “Snyder Cut'' of Justice League and in a move I personally find baffling, Warner Bros actually gave Zack Snyder another $70 million to finish his version. Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) which was released on HBO Max is the final product.

While understanding the context of how this movie came about is neat and honestly pretty hilarious, I never got around to see Justice League (2017) so I cannot give any commentary on whether this new film is any better. For those who are curious, my fiancée who has seen both says that the movies are extremely similar in plot, but there are significant changes to characterization and pacing. This review will solely be on the merits and shortfalls of Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) in a spoiler free context since the movie was released just over a week ago (if you want to talk spoilers DM me I have So Many Thoughts).

Honestly, I was surprised how much I enjoyed this movie. My expectations were quite low considering what I heard about the original 2017 version and the fact that I’m more of a Marvel fan. The most surprising thing for me was that I sat through the entire 4 hr and 2 min runtime (for reference the runtime for Justice League (2017) is 2 hrs). Aside from Lord of the Rings (Return of the King runtime 4 hr 11min), I usually don’t indulge in movies that require me to block off an entire day, but I was curious and I love bandwagons.

The highlight of this movie are the characters. Each of our main characters had a deep, solid backstory that drew me in and made me invested in what was happening in this world. One thing lacking in a lot of ensemble superhero movies is balanced screen time between the main cast, but Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) uses its time wisely to give each character depth and critical purpose in the narrative. Even the villain had compelling motivation as to why he is on earth doing dastardly deeds, and while I wasn’t rooting for him, I respected his motivations. I also appreciated that the writers of this movie made the characters intelligent. Sure, some decisions were driven more by emotion than logic, but the way defenses are set up and how our heroes use their unique powers left me incredibly impressed.

The characters’ interactions with each other was also very enjoyable. Snyder took the time to include scenes centered around the team chilling with each other in ways that were refreshingly low stakes and mundane. The story was interspersed with scenes like Wonder Woman and Alfred making tea, Aquaman and Wonder Woman musing over cultural differences, and Cyborg and Flash digging up a body where you could really see the characters grow from strangers to teammates to friends. These scenes also peppered in some light humor that kept the movie from becoming too dark without distracting from the tone.

Since Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) is technically an action movie and it is rated R, I feel like I should touch on the action sequences. Overall, the action was incredibly fun to watch! It was made for the big screen so watching the epic battles for the first time on my TV at home was a bit underwhelming, but the well choreographed, high stakes fights were still visually pleasing. For a rated R movie there was not as much gore as there could have been, which I appreciated and the level of violence was pretty much what I expected from a comic book movie.

The action scenes also do a fantastic job with power escalation. By that I mean the action illustrates the limits of one character’s power clearly in relation to other characters’ powers. This way you are aware of exactly how impressive the characters and their powers are on their own and so when someone or something stronger shows up we have context for how big of a threat we are dealing with. The clean way the story shows us everyone’s respective powers and their limits makes it so the stakes feel more tangible and it's not just unfathomably strong characters beating the shit out of each other with the winner decided by chance.

There are a few reasons the movie didn’t get a full five waves from me. First was that the Amazon’s outfits were very clearly made by horny men based on how much skin they were showing. I, a bisexual, personally love to see superheroes in less then full coverage, but when the Amazon warriors have their entire stomachs and cleavage out of their armor for no reason it exhausts me. What happened to the tasteful and stylish armor from Wonder Woman (2017)? This feels like a step in the wrong direction.

The next concern I have that has kept me from recommending this movie to people is the overall pacing and length. While there were some great uses of the extended run time like the action sequences and team bonding I mention above, there were so many scenes that were way too slow for me to stay engaged. I found myself editing the movie in my head, like did we really need 2 full minutes of Bruce Wayne and his horse climbing a dreary mountain? I don’t think so. This was a narrative where I needed to pay attention lest I miss critical pieces of the story, but the random scenes that dragged on too long had me going to get snacks and checking my phone throughout. If I could rate the movie by halves the first half would get 2.5 Waves because of how it dragged and the second half would get closer to 4.5 Waves since the story really picks up and fun things start to happen.

The final part of this movie that kept it from getting a higher rating was how closely it was tied to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In fact, the first scene of Zack Snyder's Justice League is the final scene of Batman v Superman. There were many plot critical tie-ins to previous movies that left me feeling confused until I googled my questions during the slow scenes. If you have never seen Batman v Superman or Man of Steel then you will miss a lot of this movie, which I thought was unfair because other DCEU movies came out before the first iteration of Justice League like Wonder Woman and Suicide Squad and while events in those movies are mentioned in passing they are not nearly as important as the Batman and Superman-centric films. If the DCEU is going to pick favorites, the least it can do is pick movies I actually like (Wonder Woman (2017) remains my favorite DCEU movie to date). In general, superhero movies seem to be trending toward sagas and I prefer movies that you can just watch and enjoy without needing to see a bunch of other movies first.

Overall, I did very much enjoy this movie, but based on the run time alone it is not going to be for everyone. Measuring movie success during the pandemic is trickier than looking at box office numbers and labeling it a success or a flop, but it does appear that Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) is doing well as far as critical reception and viewership. I hope that this success will allow the DCEU to explore all of the fun nooks and crannies of the universe Snyder pulled together. In fact, half of the epilogue of this movie felt like set up for future movies. I hope they come to fruition because there were some pretty compelling teasers at the end that I would love to see played out on the big screen.

As I mentioned before, I’ve never seen the original cut of Justice League, but Snyder’s version left me fulfilled and satisfied with the narrative, so I am happy to have seen this newest cut first. This is a movie for people who love DC, love superhero movies or are just really invested in the hype.

~TideMod

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whatudottu · 4 years

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Remember when I said that I was gonna work on Airachnid before? Well this is it. I’ve heard many things about her, or as much as I can for being a Breakdown fan, and many are kinda not positive? Aside from the crying shippers and general haters Airachnid has, I’ve also heard that people who like her are sorta disappointed with how she’s more a plot point than an actual character (probably even more so when her character DOESN’T end with Arcee getting her revenge and just dumping her on a moon).

So I’m here to fix that.

Because I’m only REALLY focusing on the Prime verse (primarily because I am baby who’s only watched tfp) instead of the aligned continuity as a whole, the general backstory isn’t based off of one particular story and then shattered. Airachnid is, however, an Arachnicon rather than an Insecticon, and instead of messing with the processors and brains of others, she learnt... from experience let’s say... to read, deceive and work with others.

From here on out, this becomes a general, more fanfictiony set of Shattered Glass headcanons more so inspired by the original Prime universe.

During the war, which she only joined for safety reasons, Airachnid played more of a stealth type of role rather than the torture interrogation role she does in canon, though she does have her fair share of info gathering. Once again, her rivalry with Arcee began when she killed Tailgate (don’t think for a second he’d be alive, sorry Tailgate stans) but instead of being for the purpose of info gathering, it was a rather ‘happy’ accident. Think of it more as a well placed web trap and Arcee’s front seat view of the scene, but in the heat of the battle and a stealth mission going wry, a swift death was delivered.

Now, in the previous post about where I talked about death and how I briefly mentioned the relative sizes of the Autobot and Decepticon armies. In order to sorta keep the ‘canon-fodder’ type cast whilst still casting the Decepticons as outnumbered, here in the war for Cybertron, Airachnid had her own motley crew of the buggy ‘cons to call her own.

Greif-stricken Shattered Glass Arcee, with backup on the way, decides the best type of revenge is to put Airachnid in her own pedes and see her mourn her meat(metal)-shield teammates. The chaos of the fight means Airachnid can barely get the chance to run off, drill or otherwise escape without assured death, and thus with the destruction of her crew and the taunting (and lets not forget slight torture because that’s fun) that follows afterwards, our resident Arachnicon barely manages to flee with her life and newfound trauma.

Moving on from the war and to contrast from canon’s hunting lifestyle, Arachnid fled from the Decepticons after the fall of Cybertron and elected to spend her days on foreign planets, pursuing the wonders of organic life. She doesn’t make anything all too big out of it, just enjoying the cute little animals and interesting sapient being whenever she comes across them and essentially being a dedicated pet owner whenever she picks up a real spectacle of a creature.

Sadly, none live all too long, not in Cybertronian perception at least, so instead of owning an adorable petting zoo of alien species, Airachnid’s accidentally invested in a pet cemetery and kinda gets melancholy about it for a while.

What I’m essentially saying is that she’s totally gonna be enraptured with cats and dogs and any other pet we humans get.

...I just got whiplash from the two entirely different moods that I got off of this post.

After getting involved with the war again, Airachnid again seeks refuge with the Decepticons, hitching a ride with Breakdown after ‘Metal Attraction’ which should play out the same... in a sense, after her ship (with all her memorabilia) explodes and traps her on earth. She becomes involved with the near death of Breakdown in the ‘Crossfire’ equivalent when Arcee appears, taking the opportunity to isolate Airachnid further, almost in a ‘“everybody who tries to love you/everyone you love will die” and kinda misreading the energy?’ type of way. In her guilt at the ‘death’ of another ally, she flees.

When she finds the Insecticon nest, instead of setting up a guard for herself, Airachnid sends them off to the Nemesis to help the Decepticons, having submitted to Arcee’s torment that she’s the one that leads her friends to doom. Oh hey, slight thematic flip of the script! That was unintentional, but I think it’s neat!

Either she was later captured and tortured or just became a scavenger looking for energon, you can read my Shattered Glass reimagining of ‘Thirst’ for her return.

Oh god that’s a lot of writing...

Anyways, I hope this was a good Airachnid post, for both the fans and the haters. Feel free to tell me how I bastardised her character or how you’ll never forgive her for breaking Breakdown or whatever, roast me I guess.

#shattered glass #tfp shattered glass #airachnid #tfp airachnid #arcee #tfp arcee #i feel as though there was significant mention of her #breakdown #tfp breakdown #but i don't know if breakdown was mentioned enough #insecticons #tfp insecticons #idk there's probably less mention i'm not sure #transformers #tfp #maccadam #headcanon #ramblings

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isitreallyok · 3 years

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Super Hero Time and My Very Own Kamen Rider Club

[A quick note before we get started here. In this post and likely in all posts to come names of people in my personal life have been changed to maintain anonymity.] After last week’s heavy topic regarding the pressures of positivity, I thought it would be better to at least start this week off lighthearted. It’s very likely that the vast majority of the readers of this are going to be from the US and as such likely have grown up with or at least seen an episode of Power Rangers. While there are a lot of things that the Power Rangers franchise does that are beyond silly and seem absolutely ridiculous to many of us that see them as adults, the things that are presented in these shows seem absolutely incredible to their target audience. These shows are marketed towards children in case that wasn’t obvious.

Power Rangers is a nostalgic thing to watch for me and I still greatly enjoy it!

Well dear reader, I am glad we agree on that. I grew up watching Power Rangers and as time has gone on I have found that I still enjoy the monster fighting, transforming, masked heroes presented therein. There are even a number of series in the franchise that I have enjoyed even as an adult. Though as I have grown older, and in turn begun to use subtitles on everything I watch, I have developed a fascination with Asian television as a whole since it tends to feel vastly different from most of what is made available in the US. This fascination extends to tokusatsu television shows including but not limited to Super Sentai and Kamen Rider.

For those who aren’t aware, Power Rangers is actually based on the long standing Super Sentai franchise in Japan. Each week on Sunday mornings, similarly to the Saturday morning cartoons of yore, a television block called Super Hero Time airs. This consists of the most recent annual series for both Super Sentai and the annual series of another long standing series called Kamen Rider. Both of these play into the gimmick of transforming masked heroes that have a different theme with each season. Of late I have been enjoying watching episodes of each of these series with a small group of folks on Discord and let me tell you all about the joy of finally finding a group of lovely people that are interested in these series the same way I am.

Sounds like it’s time for a story. Shall we queue the “Long Ago In A Galaxy Far Far Away…” scrawl?

You know what. That sounds fun. Lets imagine this as an opening to a cinematic experience. Lets travel back to June of the COVID times, a mere six months that feels like it is 87 years ago . At this point depression had grabbed a hold of me and thrown me so deep into the pits of despair that I wasn’t sure where I was going to find a light at the end of the tunnel. I had just been through a breakup with my first girlfriend in four years, I was living at an extended stay with my father taking care of him as best as I was capable, all while sacrificing my own ability to take of myself and cope with the emotional break down that was happening as my social life and many of my friendships were falling to shambles.

Enter Kenshiro. I started interacting with Kenshiro on Twitter earlier in 2020 and saw that he posted a lot about One Piece (which I was actively catching up on at the time) and things in the tokusatsu genre. Eventually I noticed that he had posted about a small group of folx who ended up getting together on Tuesday nights to watch Sentai together. I managed to quickly, and very temporarily, overcome my social anxiety and asked if it would be possible for an invite to this group. Kenshiro had a “the more the merrier style” approach to this group and I was welcomed in with open arms. Thus beginning a journey that has lasted six months and is still going today.

I think it’s wonderful that you managed to overcome your social anxiety to get into the group, but don’t social interactions overwhelm you regardless?

Though I was able to get an invite into the server and start enjoying these watch parties with the crew, the social impact was still quite overwhelming. On any given night that we were watching Sentai shows there were between 14 and 20 people all typing (we mute our mics when we watch) at the same time and the wall of text that forms while there are four to six different discussions going on about the show was really overwhelming at first. I struggled to really feel like I belonged even though people were engaged and encouraging me with everything that I was talking about.

That all changed when Ex-Aid started up Rider Time on Thursdays. When I first joined up we were watching intermittent episodes of both Carranger and Gokaiger on Tuesdays and it was a blast. Carranger, the series that Power Rangers Turbo was based on, was easily the most 80s nonsense I’ve seen in a long time with multicolored jobber baddies that ended up being completely over the top and I loved every second of it. Eventually though we moved towards watching Gokaiger, a pirate themed anniversary season of Sentai, in its entirety. Once we moved to the stick to a single series and watch it all the way through it only made sense that someone would start up a different night for us to watch Kamen Rider.

This was originally an effort spearheaded by Ex-Aid to further the scope of the tokusatsu shows that we were watching as a group. We were running Sentai on Tuesdays, Kamen Rider on Thursdays, and Ultraman on Fridays. It was a wonderful time to have such an incredible community to surround myself with even if I was a little bit intimidated by the amount of interaction on some of the busier nights.

It sounds like a really nice time. How did you manage to overcome your social anxiety though?

Oddly enough, it came pretty natural to me when I started actually plugging myself into the Thursday night crowd. When we first began the Thursday night watch parties it started off with Kamen Rider Drive. This was a series that I had tried to get into before but never really managed to enjoy so I was a little hesitant to go through it because I didn’t think I’d enjoy it. Since we were only watching 3 episodes a week I figured I could carve out an hour and a half of my time to watch some stuff with like minded individuals even if I wasn’t the biggest fan of what we were watching. Guess what, it turns out that my gut reaction to the series was completely wrong and now I absolutely love it and am excited to revisit it when the show is a little less fresh in my mind.

The first few times I tuned in on Thursdays I was a little bit shy. I didn’t say much, I didn’t want to really engage because of the smaller atmosphere, and I sure wasn’t willing to divulge anything going on in my personal life to this new found group. Within two weeks that all changed. I began to joke around with people and participate in the call and response type stuff that we now do during opening and endings even if it’s just typing in all caps the English lyrics in the opening song.

I think the small environment really did wonders for my anxiety because since I wasn’t heavily invested at the start if I felt like I butted heads with any of the group I could have just politely backed out and stopped watching with that small group. By having this group of four to six other people instead of the routine fifteen to twenty that we were drawing on Tuesdays, in time, I felt much more comfortable putting myself out there and letting my voice and opinions be heard. In a very short time, I managed to get very comfortable with this small group and even was more confident and open during the Sentai streaming on Tuesdays with the larger group as well.

Though I absolutely adore the entirety of this community that has been built surrounding both One Piece and tokusatsu shows as a whole, I particularly enjoy the time that I’ve spent with my very own Kamen Rider Club!

Kamen Rider Club?! Frankly that sounds a little childish when worded like that.

It kind of does, doesn’t it? It is what we in the Thursday night crew call ourselves. It is also a reference to what the main cast of Kamen Rider Fourze call themselves. One thing that this weekly gathering of the fans has taught me it is that its okay to enjoy childish things. I’ve even bought myself some of the toys that have come from various Kamen Rider series as I have seen them during our very own show and tell segment where we all showed off our collectibles and various toys. So while yes show and tell is a bit of a childish thing to do it brought joy to our little group. The amount of serotonin I have generated in the last few weeks by playing with the aforementioned toys is astounding. Getting in touch with my inner child and remembering that it is actually rather fun to play pretend has been a real delight.

As adults, we often work ourselves day in and day out to take care of mundane tasks that are essential to our survival. We wake up, go to work, come home, make or order some dinner, eat, and then get ready for bed. I’ve chosen to add finding happiness in doing the things I wasn’t able to do as a kid to the list. Staying up late to find that next save point in a game, buying toys neither myself or my family could afford as a kid, watching nostalgic b movies that brought me some joy as a child, and following along with all the tokusatsu shows my heart can desire are just a few ways I’ve managed to embrace my inner child and cater to my own personal and emotional needs in doing so. There is nothing wrong with being a little childish from time to time. Doing this has introduced me to so many people that I never would have met otherwise.

It really does sound like you’ve managed to build yourself a group of friends here. Isn’t it pretty cool what can happen when you trust that others aren’t going to have your worst interest in mind.

You’re right. I let some people in and was actually surprised with the results. I absolutely adore this little crowd I’ve got. They have all done so much for me without ever realizing it and I am beyond appreciative. Ex-Aid started the KRC on Thursday nights and drops some incredible trivia all over the place. OOO and I have a ton in common and they are an absolute delight to talk to. I am always excited to see them pop into a conversation on the Discord because we tend to have a similar line of thought and form of humor we do have some differences in personal taste that account for unique perspectives and I absolutely love hearing about them. Epsilon and I both are not afraid to make lewd jokes about what we are watching. Tastefully of course. … Most of the time. Epsilon has also offered to be a conversation partner as I continue to get back to my study of the Japanese language! Zi-O has managed to convince me to revisit series I had otherwise written off because I didn’t think they would be of interest, but they managed to sell me on them so I now have an expansive list of series that I want to watch and a planned order to revisit them. Kiva and I aren’t particularly close as I haven’t done much to actually talk to them, but I’m excited to see things develop more in that regard because they seem like a really fun person to talk to. Finally there is Chaser. They are our newest member of our Thursday night group and they have managed to have me laugh so hard I’ve done spit takes. I appreciate each and every one of our little Kamen Rider Club more than words can ever say.

Quick aside and mushy feelings bit here, but if any the KRC are reading this I want you to know that you all have absolutely made 2020 better for me. We’ve had an incredible amount of laughs together. We’ve seen each other through being both happy and sad. Frankly, you all have reminded me that I do have people who I can call friends on days where I didn’t think there was anyone who wanted anything to do with me. I appreciate you, I absolutely adore each of you, and words can not express my gratitude for the warm welcome that I have received into this lovely community. You all have helped me grow as a person in ways that I didn’t expect going into this group. Shaking off my depression blues and finding confidence to embrace my love of these silly kids shows has been in large part thanks to you all. I love you all. Thank you.

Outside of our usual Thursday crew there are so many more people in this community that have put a smile on my face and some joy in my heart, but there is one other person that I would like to take a moment to express some gratitude for. Scipio was one of the first people I actually felt comfortable bantering with in the Tuesday community before the creation of our Rider Time segment on Thursday. They had an incredibly warm and friendly demeanor about them and naturally I didn’t mind bantering with them during the Sentai watch parties. After a while I followed them on Twitter and recently I reached out to them there and they were willing and able to listen to me when I was feeling overwhelmed about the state of chaos in my life and that alone solidified my feeling of being appreciated inside of this community. Thank you Scipio for taking the time to support a stranger and make them feel like they are a part of something bigger.

I’m so glad that you managed to find these people. It seems like they are really helping you in a lot of ways.

They truly are. The joy of it is that they aren’t even doing anything special. They are simply treating me like a comrade and that alone has done wonders for my self esteem. This year has been among the most challenging in my entire life for a myriad of reasons and just having this community to be a part of has honestly saved my life. I don’t know where I would be without them, but I do know that I would be a lot worse off.

So to wrap things up here for today I want to challenge my readers to do two things. Firstly take a moment to appreciate the people in your life that make you happy. If you feel inclined to tell them how much you appreciate them that’s great. If you just take a moment to reflect on it that’s great too. Secondly, I want to challenge everyone to embrace the things that might embarrass you if you talked about it to your friends with more conservative interests. Embrace the wild things that you enjoy. Don’t let anyone take the joy that these things bring you away. Finally as a reminder to all of you, you are stronger than you think, you are beautiful, and by goodness you are worth it. Lets go into this week ready to kick some butt and join some fandoms.

#tokusatsu #inner child #friendship #fandom #Mental Health Awareness #depression #coping mechanism #watch party #appreciation post #Kamen Rider #Super Sentai

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journeynaut · 4 years

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This decade I went from being 14 to 24. From my understanding this means this decade has pretty much shaped my tastes, beliefs, and personality more than any other decade will. It’s also an important decade because at the beginning of the decade I felt like a real person, and now I feel like a ghost that occasionally almost inhabits the same space as this flesh prison.

Anyway, here’s a list of games that shaped me in reverse chronological order for maximum pretension. Spoilers and typos will be abundant.

Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)

I like little, mostly irrelevant prepping activities in games. Currently, I’m playing Death Stranding, and my Norman Reedus always puts on a cap. Mostly to cover up his weird little pony, but also just as a thing to do to focus before a mission. Like, listening to Friends in the Armed Forces by Thursday before the helicopter lands. Like, grabbing your wallet in the morning. Or, like in Arthur Morgan’s case, putting on a bandana before being a nasty crime boy.

Okay, maybe that’s not entirely true. I always play characters as good and pure as possible. But after I got done doing my good boy crimes I could always return to camp. Sure, camp was always moving as we ran, but the people were there every time. The world of RDR2 is beautiful, I think the characters were my favorite thing about this game. The entire plot was that camp, the outcasts in it, and the dreams they followed. They fused a cowboy simulator with a cult simulator. It says, don’t worry, friend - just keep going and Eden is the next job.

This is a game where you give, break, and are broken in pursuit of a lie. This is a game where your perfect life never arrives and the simple pleasures you find are taken. In the end, you only do whatever little bit of good you can, thank your horse for carrying your weight and the weight of everything you carry, and lay down to go peacefully.

Night in the Woods (2017)

This last decade took my memory from me. When I was a freshman in college taking an intro psych class, the class took a short term memory test. I got second in the whole class. Now I’m sitting here trying to remember who said what in this game. But regardless, one character says something like, “Getting older is your list of first times growing shorter while your list of never agains grows longer.” Heavily paraphrased, probably.

I think there’s a Bojack Horseman episode where he says, life is a series of closing doors, isn’t it? In our modern capitalist hell, very few don’t get trapped. This game understands that sometimes you can’t get out, and sometimes you just need to break some fluorescent bulbs at a dumpster. Or in my case, procrastinate on my life by playing this game while everything fell apart around me.

World of Warcraft: Legion (2016)

Tanking in WoW was my most fulfilling gaming experience of the decade. I wasn’t great, but I could be good occasionally. There are a few moments of genuine pride I can remember. Which, now that I think back, might be some of the last times I felt pride.

I had never played WoW or even an MMO before Legion, but everyone has to get into an MMO when they’re in college, right? So I got into it for about a year, and I played it way too much. So much so, I lost myself after I stopped, both personally and in games. It was hard for me to stick to any game for a long time after I stopped playing, and it honestly still is.

It wasn’t the tanking or the pride or the addictive design elements that kept me coming back - it was the people. This became a Return To game for me. Whether I was playing seriously or just goofing off, I would return to the trans mog shop in Stormwind. There were a few players who would gather consistently and talk between queues. I barely knew anything about these people but I spent hours there with them. There was my healer and best friend who I played with every day. There was the carpet layer from Hawaii. There was the player we always assumed was a young girl but turned out to be some rich man? And behind the anonymity of my characters I was able to comfortably interact with the regulars and the passerbys and mess with the assholes. I learned that pretending to be an actor playing someone else is the best way to talk to people.

Even though I barely knew these people they became friends in the modern way people become friends where you see them every day, but are also shocked to find out any detail of their personal lives. I often wonder what happened to all the people I played with. I never said bye to them or anything. I wasn’t planning on never playing again. One day it just happened.

I’ve often thought about playing again. When WoW Classic came out I thought about playing it. I’ve even thought about getting into FF14. But you can never go home, right? Some things that were good can’t be good again.

Inside (2016)

God, this is extremely my shit. I don’t have anything touching or personal to say about this. Every moment of this game is so tight and perfect, and the aesthetic is spot on. Run on, my child, go be one with your blob friends.

Or maybe I just like it because I too am a disgusting blob monster haunted by a dreary dilapidated landscape.

Firewatch (2016)

The plot of this game is messy overall, but I think about the character interactions all the time. This is a perfect example on how good dialogue isn’t realistic. It should be what we want reality to be. Henry and Delilah have such a believable relationship, strictly because I wanted to believe in it. I wanted to believe two people could always be so perfect and so witty.

And Firewatch just won’t let you believe in it. At the end you can beg and beg for Delilah to stay, and she won’t. The game gently pats you on the head, and says, sometimes people are too broken to be perfect with each other.

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015)

The PC version lets you set custom music to play as you drop in from the helicopter for your missions. This led to me hearing the beginning to Thursday’s Friends in the Armed Forces god knows how many times. Sure, maybe a 2009 emo song blaring out of a helicopter in 1980’s Afghanistan doesn’t exactly fit, but the mood fit. And it helped set the mood for the routine of going on missions.

Routine is what this game does so well. It’s an incomplete game with a not great story, and it fails at being a good Metal Gear Solid game. But the routine and mechanics blend together to create one of the best playing action games ever made. I never got tired of walking around my base, of boarding my helicopter to go drop into the desert, of launching random animals into the air with reverse parachutes.

This game also led to me formulating my Return To/Go Out theory of games, which I believe most games fall into. An old Mario game is a great example of a Go Out game. You never return anywhere; the princess is always in another castle. The Animal Crossing games maybe exist as the perfect example of a Return To game because you never even go out anywhere. You’re always there, where you mean to be. MGSV falls mostly on the Return To side of the spectrum, as it focuses on building up and managing your base and the people on it, something I’ll always be a sucker for.

Her Story (2015)

This is one of the last games that made me feel smart. As a person who feels chronically dumb as shit, that’s pretty rare. Sure, everyone in my life, and the university I went to, and all my grades say I’m not dumb. But we know that’s just because I tricked them all, and I’m actually a complete fool. But diving into this game’s wild and twisting non-linear story made me feel like a detective.

The Witcher 3 (2015)

Move out of the way Skyrim. The Witcher 3 was actually the best fantasy game of the decade. I played through all of The Witcher 2 in preparation for 3. I became so invested and involved with this universe. I feel like I should have so much more to say about this. In what was a very turbulent year of my life, this was the perfect escape. The world, writing, and characters are all so beautifully done. The DLC provides an emotional finale for the story. I never understood Gwent? But I did everything else in this game, and I still think about escaping into it again.

Also Triss for life.

Also also god, that show sucks shit though, doesn’t it?

Life is Strange (2015)

I love everything about Life is Strange. I love the melodrama, the stilted dialogue, the songs that still make me cry. I love the weird high school that resembles no high school ever. I’m not too much of a fan about what it says about me as a person though.

See, I let the entire town die to save Chloe. The crazy part is that I didn’t even think Max and Chloe were good together. When the game gave me a chance to kiss Chloe, I didn’t take it. I thought they had been apart too long, that they had too much personal baggage, that they were going through too much. But when the moment came I couldn’t let her go. I let the entire town get blown away to save her.

Transistor (2014)

Hey, do you want a cyberpunk, post-rock fueled, murder revenge love story?

Transistor had such an impact on me that Red and the Transistor are still my phone’s wallpaper and lockscreen. It’s the game I always mean to get around to playing again, but year after year I don’t. Maybe one day I will, or maybe that’s just what I tell myself about most things in life.

Regardless, this game acts as a perfect spiritual sequel to the studio’s first game, Bastion. In Bastion, everyone wanted to live in the perfect world that had been, but was now destroyed. In Transistor, the world exists - it’s there and could theoretically become whatever people want, and yet, no one wants to live in it. You’re not even trying to save the world; you want escape as much as anyone else. You just need revenge for the small part of your personal world that has been taken.

Also, at the end you get to basically fight yourself, and I’m such a sucker for when games have you fight someone with the same powers as you.

Gone Home (2013)

I had never been in love when I played this game. I thought I had, but being a teenager is dumb and weird. Of all the first times I wish I could experience again in games, this is up there on that list. Maybe even the top. Mainly because I understand love now, and I think it would make this game hurt more.

Both times I played Gone Home I sobbed, and I’m certain if I played it again, I would sob again. This was the first game to impact me in that way. As I’ve grown more and more dead inside, as I feel less and less, I seek those experiences out. Why yes, I would like to play whatever the sad new indie game is. Why yes, I would like to listen to that song that makes me emotional over and over. That scene in a show made me cry? Yes, I will absolutely watch it again.

Gone Home, like Spec Ops, taught me so much about what games could be and do. In a decade of walking simulators, Gone Home still stands out as one of the best.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf (2013)

Animal Crossing is the best goddamn game series of all time, and this is the best one because you can stack fruit.

Hotline Miami (2012)

I have never done cocaine in the 80’s, but that’s pretty much this game, right? This murder simulator game does something to your body on like, a visceral level. Imagine it’s like your 20th attempt on a level. Your hands are shaking with adrenaline, but you have a careful plan. It immediately goes bad so you just panic and start running around knifing fools and it somehow works out anyway. That’s the thing that makes this work so well, and also the thing the devs absolutely did not understand when they made Hotline Miami 2.

You know what else makes this game great? The vibes. Miss me with your vibe checks if you’re not putting off Hotline Miami vibes. It’s the trippy and psychedelic story, it’s the way you have to walk through the bodies of everyone you just murked at the end of the level, it’s the game constantly asking if you feel good about what you’re doing. Hotline Miami and Spec Ops made me reevaluate how I thought about violence in games. Which isn’t to say I don’t play violent games, just that I think more about what the games are asking me to do.

Borderlands 2 (2012)

My experience with Borderlands was different than how most people played it. I didn’t really uh, have friends, so I played it alone. But it wasn’t an inferior experience. I got to play my haiku spouting sniper at my own pace. All the guns were mine. I could laugh at the dumb jokes as long as I wanted.

Hey wait, actually, is this game still funny? If I thought it was extremely funny originally, would it still hold up? Like, Mr. Satan being Mr. Torgue still has to be funny, right?

Anyway, most of the DLC for this game is pretty mediocre or just straight up bad, but the Tiny Tina DLC is some of the best DLC of the decade. Those madmen just made D&D in a goofy ass game where guns yell at you when you shoot them, and somehow made it an emotionally resonant end to the story.

Spec Ops: The Line (2012)

We all really missed what this game was trying to tell us, huh? It constantly asks you if you’re okay with the dehumanization of minorities and the glorification of imperialism and the military that runs rampant through games. Here we are going into 2020, and goobers are still trying to argue games don’t have politics in them. Anyway, gamers are dumb as shit, and we should have listened to Spec Ops more.

Portal 2 (2011)

This came out at the beginning of this decade, huh? Guess I gotta break out the walker and sign up for AARP. Anyway, being funny is hard. I mean, I’ve never managed to be funny so I assume it’s hard. I mean, sometimes my life is funny in a cosmically ironic way, like I’m god’s personal clown and not in on the joke.

Anyway, anyway, the puzzles are fantastic, and Portal 2 is funny as hell in a way I’m pretty sure would still hold up. The humor is definitely more overt than the original Portal, but Cave Johnson is a god tier character. I can’t remember what I did yesterday, and I still remember Cave Johnson lines from like, 8 years ago.

Minecraft (2011)

*twirls mustache* Not to sound like a hipster, but I started playing Minecraft in 2010 before release. My first world seed was the most perfect seed I ever encountered. It was a large island, the size of which, I never encountered again. Like, it was big enough that it felt like I had to branch out to explore, but also small enough that I could know it all. Playing on that island was the most pure experience I had with Minecraft, in retrospect. I didn’t know what I was doing, and I didn’t realize that actually everyone else was way better at building things and playing the game than I was.

But eventually you get bored of everything, right? So I found a server and joined the forums. Over time I grew a bit bored of the game, and eventually realized I wasn’t very good at it. But I stuck around on the forums. Like, for years. Playing on that server, even as my time actually playing lessened, and being on the forums defined my teenage years.

I had a complicated relationship with the forums and the game, though. I’m not good with people. That’s just something I’ve had to learn to accept. But I’ve actually gotten better over the years. Back during my teenage years I was awful with people. I was antisocial, standoffish, pretentious, etc. I also felt like I couldn’t get anyone to like me, which I now realize was my own fault. There was a group of players I wanted to be a part of, but also could never really break into. The game and forums became what I was experiencing and also everything I couldn’t experience. It’s what I did every day but also what I was missing out on. Even today my thoughts on Minecraft are complicated. That one song, you know the one, always makes me emotional.

I originally had a different end planned to whatever this list is. It was gonna be a pretentious ending about how a few years ago I tried to go back and play Minecraft but just couldn’t because you can never go home again. I was gonna talk about my first world seed and the optimism and exploration I experienced, and it was obviously gonna mimic my decade. Because, you know, pretentiousness. But I can’t do that now.

See, I just looked up that server, and I found out it’s still active. The website looks like when I left. The same people are in charge. It’s like a time capsule. Due to a lot of personal turmoil, I asked for a server ban and a forum ban to stop myself getting back on in January 2015. That was when my time with Minecraft came to an end. But here’s the crazy thing: a couple of weeks ago, almost 5 years after I quit, someone posted on my forum profile that they missed me. And we weren’t even close friends, I thought. I mean, no one liked me, right? And it wasn’t just this one person. Multiple people had left similar messages on my profile over the years.

Normally I don’t like when people have memories and perceptions of me. Like, hell is other people, right? But this kind of hurt my insides deep down, like nothing has in a while. I don’t quite have words for it because it’s so personally tied to how I felt about Minecraft, and thus the forums, and thus a lot of this decade. Does this mean that multiple people I’ve encountered over the decade miss me? That some amount of people greater than zero miss me not being around?

Anyway, this has gotten off track, but also maybe it hasn’t. The point I was trying to make was to make a pretentious list about how silly little things we do in our free time can affect us years later in ways we won’t realize and sometimes can’t understand.

In conclusion, games track better with the most personal moments of my decade better than almost anything. Games are great. The people who play them are often terrible. Video games forever.

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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How the Pokémon Trading Card Game Boom Brought Back Pokémon Fever

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The popularity of the Pokémon Trading Card Game was not an accident. While some might be quick to call it an overnight sensation, that actually sells short the effort that went into the Pokémon TCG (and the games it was based on).

Released in Japan in October 1996 (just 8 months after the debut of the first Pokémon games), the Pokémon TCG was one of the first major additions to what would become a vast pipeline of Pokémon merchandise. While clearly inspired by the incredible success of the Magic: The Gathering franchise, as well as Pokémon collectible cards released by Bandai earlier that year, the Pokémon TCG was no mere copycat. Along with being more accessible than other TCGs on the market, the Pokémon card game proved to be a natural extension of the things that made millions fall in love with the original games.

“Ishihara-san, President of The Pokémon Company, loved tabletop/card games and wanted to create a card game which would act as a ‘Physical’ Pokédex and give players another way to experience the Pokémon brand,” said Pokémon TCG director Atsushi Nagashima in an Evening Standard interview. “The idea of a trading card game fit perfectly in line with Pokémon‘s tenets of play, trade, and collect. It also encourages face-to-face play which has been key to the product’s success and longevity.”

By Nagashima’s own admission, though, nobody predicted what happened in late 1998 and early 1999 when Wizards of the Coast brought the Pokémon TCG to North America with the release of the Base Set. Despite the increased availability of the cards, the growth of the Pokémon TCG during this time was partially driven by their scarcity. Mobs of fans stormed stores at the mere suggestion of a new shipment while the value of intentionally manufactured rare cards quickly soared.

While the Pokémon TCG only grew more successful as the years passed, its dominance on the public consciousness seemed to fade for a while. No, it’s not like we’d look back on an old binder of Pokémon cards and shake our flushed faces in embarrassment, but for a time it felt like the Pokémon TCG had maybe reached its peak in the ‘90s, a pop culture moment meant to be cherished and preserved in our memory.

But the Pokémon TCG’s story is far from over… In fact, Pokémon fever is back with a vengeance and has taught us all a little more about the true value of nostalgia.

Gotta Collect ‘Em All

“The market right now is insane,” says Peter “Arcashine” Chipouras, a mod on the r/PKMNTCGTrades card trading subreddit and professional card grader. “Stores used to be relatively full of product, and, if you were lucky, something lucrative might still be available. Nowadays, there’s nothing. Everything is bought out. Online retailers can’t restock quickly enough, and even if they do have the product in stock, they price it high to meet the secondary market.”

“Insane” is certainly the word for the sales records being set at the moment. A recent eBay report revealed that Pokémon trading card sales had increased by 574% from 2019 to 2020. Last year, a 1st Edition Charizard card sold for over $295,000. An even rarer version of the card commanded a price of over $350,000. In November 2020, Heritage Auctions sold a box of 1st Edition Pokémon booster sets for $360,000. A similar set had gone for $198,000 just two months before.

You expect older cards to become more valuable over time. What’s impressive, though, is that this buying craze has extended to modern Pokémon TCG cards, too

“Even at the lowest level, we’re seeing sets that are normally printed to demand facing huge droughts of product,” Chipouras says. “Regular pack prices are typically $4.00 at retail stores, and usually around $3.00, give or take, on the secondary market. Recently, they’ve been pushing $7-$8.00 each.”

The extent of this shortage even impacted a recent McDonald’s promotion that offered limited supply Pokémon TCG cards with every Happy Meal. Across the country, stores were mobbed by enthusiastic buyers willing to buy dozens of Happy Meals simply for the card packs in their containers. Things have gotten to a point where The Pokémon Company has had to issue a rare statement regarding these shortages alongside a promise that more cards are on the way.

This too may seem like it came out of nowhere, but that’s not really the case. As of March 2020, over 30 billion Pokémon TCG cards have been sold worldwide. Mobile game Pokémon GO has generated over $4 billion in revenue since 2016. The latest Pokémon games (Sword and Shield) have sold over 20 million units in a little over a year. The consistent success of the Pokémon franchise means it’s always been more “susceptible” to spikes that elevate the already impressive baseline popularity of the series. Millions are ready to become obsessed with Pokémon again at a moment’s notice.

But why is the Pokémon TCG specifically experiencing such a resurgence right now? It seems to come down to a couple of key factors.

“One side is financial, where you’re seeing a lot of kids that grew up with the first Pokémon games finally hitting an age where they’re well into their careers and have access to disposable income,” Chipouras says. “Pair that with stimulus checks, and there’s a massive amount of capital available for those who want to invest in the hobby.”

There’s certainly something to be said about the influence of Covid-19 lockdowns on the growth of the Pokémon TCG market given the timeline of the boom. Last year, fans on Reddit were debating whether or not it was better to wait out the quarantine price surges and availability drops. Many suggested waiting things out, but the hype never really settled down.

Pokémon as a long-term investment may sound about as solid as the recent GameStop stock boom, but it’s more than that. Beyond short-term sales meant to make the most of the current market, periods of Pokémon popularity spikes such as this one strongly suggest that cards can (and often do) retain value. That’s likely a big part of the reason why professional grading service Collector’s Universe was acquired for $700 million by an investment group.

The idea that the current market is being propelled by fans who now have the disposable income to spend on cards really is the most interesting and impactful factor at play, though. It’s a movement that many older Pokémon fans are contributing to, but there’s a specific group of buyers who are clearly leading the charge.

“Influencers [are] coming into the space and exposing, or re-introducing, a huge number of people to the hobby,” Chipouras says. “Not only are they driving prices for the most expensive collectibles in the hobby sky high, they’re also creating highly edited, viral content about doing just that.”

The Celebrity Factor

In 2017, a man known as Gary “King Pokémon” appeared on Pawn Stars with a collection of Pokémon cards that can only be described as one of a kind.

While he asked for $500,000 for the collection, he insinuated he wasn’t really interested in selling the cards for even that amount. He was right to hesitate. Some of the individual cards in that collection now command prices close to that $500,000 figure.

Cut to 2020 when controversial vlogger Logan Paul decided to visit that Pokémon card trader with $150,000 in cash. After a highly produced spectacle topped off by negotiations, Paul was able to convince Gary to part with one of his Charizard cards. Earlier that month, Paul had posted a video that showed him unboxing a $200,000 box of 1st Edition cards. It’s one of the most notable examples of the kind of slick content that has propelled the market to often absurd heights.

The role of influencers certainly tracks with the timeline of TCG’s market resurgence. While YouTubers such as Derium and UnlistedLeaf have built careers off unboxing videos, card discussions, and similar Pokémon TCG content, it’s when some of the more mainstream names in the streaming and vlogging world got into the action that we saw prices and popularity skyrocket. Remember that box of cards that Paul bought for $200,000? It’s similar to the one that sold for nearly $400,000 a couple of months later.

Sadly, that celebrity-assisted boom also unearthed some of the unfortunate elements of the scene. Consider, for instance, the story of Jake “JBTheCryptoKing” Greenbaum who was introduced to many people by Paul as a Pokémon card expert. Some who watched early Paul videos with Greenbaum expressed their concern that he was overvaluing cards either due to a lack of knowledge, a desire for personal gain, or a combination of both. In October 2020, Greenbaum helped the YouTube channel Dumb Money acquire what was described as a box of 1st Edition Pokemon TCG booster packs for $376,000. Shortly into the opening process, it was discovered that the box was fake. Examples of such scams and incompetency have been around for years, but the potential costs are higher than ever.

Yet, the most prevalent negative impact of the Pokémon TCG resurgence is one that will be all-too-familiar to anyone who has tried to purchase high-profile items online, especially in the last couple of years.

“One class of purchaser that’s come to the forefront this year are the botters,” Chipouras says. “Even normal collectors who just wait for a product to go live may miss out because the bots can immediately checkout hundreds or thousands of products in seconds.”

Again, the role of scalpers is nothing new, but just as with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X last year, a new generation of bot technology can make online purchases of Pokémon TCG cards from certain outlets nearly impossible. Scalpers and scammers aren’t necessarily misrepresenting the popularity or value of the Pokémon TCG market, but much like the online celebrities throwing unheard of amounts of money at these cards, they are contributing to a raised barrier of entry for more casual collectors who must navigate low inventories, high prices, and delayed productions just to get their hands on a few packs.

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Yet, it must be said that the role of celebrities and influencers has been far from a universal negative. The publicity generated by their content reminded people of the love they still harbor for the Pokémon TCG scene and gave many a new way to experience a sense of community during quarantine. Stories of such extravagant purchases may make your eyes roll, but they also open your eyes to a movement that is inherently fascinating.

Besides, the pleasure of watching someone open and discover Pokémon cards goes beyond guilt. Dr. Pamela Rutledge of the Media Psychology Research Center says that part of the appeal of unboxing videos can be attributed to our “mirror neurons” which ensure that “people watching someone can experience the same emotions.” Incredibly, they can also trigger “the muscles in your body that would be required if you were trying to open the box.” Those of us who watched one of the many Pokémon TCG unboxing videos over the last year can attest to the unique thrill of that sensation.

And yes, while there are some celebrities who undoubtedly only got into the scene to follow trends or flex their success, many more are just trying to recapture something important to them — or perhaps make up for lost time. There’s no better example of that than the rapper Logic, who posted these words to his Instagram account shortly after spending $183,812 to acquire a rare Charizard card:

“When I was a kid I absolutely loved Pokémon but couldn’t afford the cards. I remember even trying to trade food stamps for theirs and now as an adult who has saved every penny he has made being able to enjoy something that I’ve loved since childhood now as a grown man is like buying back a piece of something I could never have, it’s not about the material it’s about the experience.”

That’s what we mean regarding the value of nostalgia. It’s not just about money; it’s about our shared emotional investment in these cards and how the money strangely represents it.

Pokémon Party Like It’s 1999

Have you wondered why Charizard pops up so often as the star of the most valuable Pokémon cards? Some of it has to do with the power level of the cards in question and their relative rarity, but the most amusing contributor to their value is the simple fact that people love Charizard.

In a 2019 poll that saw over 52,000 Reddit users cast a vote for their favorite Pokémon, Charizard was ranked number one. A 2020 poll conducted by the Pokémon Company named Charizard as the fourth most popular Pokémon following an extensive fan voting competition. Numerous outlets have named Charizard the coolest Pokémon or awarded the character similar distinctions.

The authors of the book Pikachu’s Global Adventure: The Rise and Fall of Pokémon theorize that Charizard may be most popular with older male fans drawn to the character’s comparative toughness and the idea that this evolution cycle represents a departure from childhood. This theory meshes with the comments and demographics of notable top Charizard buyers, but when you get to the heart of it, there’s just something about Charizard’s design that has resonated with Pokémon fans and stayed with them throughout the years.

There’s also something to be said about the impact of the 30-year nostalgia cycle. As noted by Patrick Metzger in an article for The Patterning, it generally takes about “30 years for a critical mass of people who were consumers of culture” to turn to the art and culture that “helped them achieve comfort and clarity in their world.” More importantly, creators will “indulge in the ‘new’ nostalgic trend that’s being repurposed” in an attempt to “revive that same zeitgeist.” It’s part of the reason why the 1950s were big in 1980s America, why the 1980s were big in the 2010s, and it’s almost certainly part of the reason we’re seeing Pokémon re-emerge in such a big way now.

It’s not just Charizard either. In the eBay sales report that revealed Charizard was the top-selling Pokémon card, the most popular athlete among sports trading card collectors was none other than Michael Jordan, another legendary figure from the ‘90s who recently experienced a popularity resurgence as a result of the success of The Last Dance documentary series.

There’s something funny about Charizard and Michael Jordan sharing this pop culture moment. Both were superstars of their era, and both remain the faces of their respective fields: Pokémon and the golden age of ‘90s basketball.

So before you begin to feel like you’re just caught under the wheels of nostalgia, consider that two of the earliest beneficiaries of what will almost certainly be a prolonged ‘90s revival never really lost value in the first place. We don’t look back on them solely because of nostalgic memories: we look back on them because their greatness never really left us.

As a kid, you probably tried to justify your Pokémon collection to someone on the basis that it would one day grow in value. It’s not that it wasn’t true (it clearly was) but if you were really only thinking about the monetary value of Pokémon, you would have kept everything in mint condition rather than play with it all. It was really always about much more than that.

It feels like something similar is happening today. Yes, there are people who purchase Pokémon cards solely as an investment, but there’s a real sense that even some of those fans who talk about these cards as an investment are under the same spell as in the ‘90s. Pokémon cards do often go up in value, but if it’s just about the money, there are better investments out there. On some level, people are “investing” six figures in Pokémon cards because they want a shiny cardboard dragon and they’ve wanted it for a long time.

That’s the true value of nostalgia. It’s not just about sales themselves but how these cards still make us feel decades later.

The high prices of Pokémon cards don’t speak to us just because they make us wish we’d kept those binders full of cards. Those absurd figures are also an easy way to convey how we felt when we shared the excitement of combing over those cards with friends all those years ago.

The post How the Pokémon Trading Card Game Boom Brought Back Pokémon Fever appeared first on Den of Geek.

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margaretbeagle · 3 years

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How a Candle Company Uses Social Media to Drive a Better Customer Experience

The best marketers today are building loyal fans by engaging with their audience in the comments and in messages. By approaching every conversation with genuine interest, they are leveraging social media to drive a remarkable and unforgettable customer experience that has fans coming back over and over again. But how exactly can you create this remarkable customer experience on social media?

One marketer that has mastered the art of social media to drive a better customer experience is Bryanna Evans. She's the Social Media Manager at Southern Elegance Candle Company (SECC), a home fragrance and budding lifestyle brand that captures the warmth and hospitality that the South is known for. Not only has her focus on engagement helped them build loyal fans, but it's also helped them double or triple their revenue, as its founder and CEO D’Shawn Russell told us: "Our social media makes us a lot of money… We went from doing maybe $20,000-30,000 a month just posting pretty images to well over a $100,000 a month now simply by engaging people more."

Read on for a behind-the-scenes look at how SECC creates a positive customer experience on social media that has customers coming back over and over again. You'll hear directly from Bryanna Evans, Social Media Manager at SECC, and you'll learn:

How a positive customer experience on social media can bring significant value to your business

How your audience can help you with your business' marketing and product development strategy

The tool Bryanna uses to more efficiently engage with SECC's audience

What social platforms are most successful for customer engagement

This post is part of the #BufferBrandSpotlight, a Buffer social media series that shines a spotlight on the people that are helping build remarkable brands through social media, community building, content creation, and brand storytelling.

This series was born on Instagram stories, which means you can watch the original interview in our Highlights found on our @buffer Instagram profile.

Tell us more about you! What's Southern Elegance Candle Co. (SECC) all about and what's your role there?

Southern Elegance Candle Company is a home fragrance and budding lifestyle brand that captures the warmth and hospitality that the South is known for. The fragrances we offer are inspired by our CEO, D’Shawn Russell’s experiences growing up in the South. Through our products, individuals are able to experience the joys of southern-living no matter where they are.

My name is Bryanna Evans and the role I play at Southern Elegance is multifaceted, but my major responsibilities include social media management and overseeing customer service. Although many think of them as separate entities, I feel that they overlap quite a bit. Both assist in my process for developing strategies that appeal to consumers, content creation, and building authentic connections with our audience.

Why does customer experience on social media matter?

In this digitally charged age, everything is at the touch of our fingertips. We’ve been conditioned to expect information just as quickly as we consume it. The same holds firm for customer experience on social media. It’s often the first impression potential consumers have of the company and whether it’s worth investing in them, (browsing their social media platforms, following accounts, purchasing products). It can make or break a brand.

How does SECC create a positive customer experience on social media?

We use our platforms to cultivate a welcoming environment centered around unity and inclusivity. Our tagline ‘Modern Values, Southern Charm’ plays a huge role in our content creation process- from graphics to captions, we try our best to ensure that anyone who comes across our feed feels accepted. We engage with our audience as if we’re long-time friends whether they’ve been following since the beginning or just visiting out of curiosity. That energy also translates into how we approach questions, answer comments, email, and DM’s.

We engage with our audience as if we’re long-time friends whether they’ve been following since the beginning or just visiting out of curiosity. That energy also translates into how we approach questions, answer comments, email, and DM’s.

What are SECC’s most successful social platforms for customer engagement and why?

Instagram and Facebook are our most successful platforms, with TikTok on their heels. I would credit our success to our genuine interests in our audience. The internet has made many skeptical- It’s often hard to know if a brand really cares about you as a consumer or just your money. This feeling can be amplified through robocalls and chatbot assistants. If someone comments on our posts, we comment back. If they call they’re met with a welcoming voice. We spark conversations through quizzes, videos, contests & giveaways.

I would credit our success to our genuine interests in our audience. If someone comments on our posts, we comment back. If they call they’re met with a welcoming voice. We spark conversations through quizzes, videos, contests & giveaways.

Instagram post found here.

How do you learn from your community to help guide your marketing and product development strategy?

Our community is very vocal about what they desire from us. We often get messages regarding fragrances and products they want to return or see. However, in the event that we decide to launch a new product or scent, we try to include them in the process as much as possible. We allow them to test scents, vote for new fragrances, and name candles. We actively seek their feedback and test interest in future projects through story polls, surveys, and asking questions.

Facebook post found here.

How does managing SECC’s social media account and community look like on a day-to-day basis?

We always have a lot going on, so content is planned on a weekly basis. Personally, organization is key. I have to manage my time wisely; to do so I use a personal planner, a social media planner, and two whiteboards. One whiteboard has a tentative time-based schedule written out. This allows me to pivot if something arises and I need to help out on the floor or have an influx of calls for the day. The other contains important reminders for upcoming projects and tasks.

My workday usually starts at 8 AM. When I arrive I review my planners, and reminders for the day. The next hour of work is dedicated to answering customer service emails. For the next half-hour, I create any graphics I need for the day and schedule a few posts, if I haven’t done so over the weekend. Afterward, I dive straight into our Instagram and Facebook DMs. I also reply to comments from anywhere between thirty minutes to an hour. I then take a bit of time to check my work emails and knock out a few things on my to-do list. I also take this opportunity to plan and execute at least one TikTok video for the week for the company account.

We post to our Instagram and Facebook stories daily- depending on what’s happening on the floor I post behind the scene footage around 11:30 AM or 1:00 PM. Throughout the day I share stories we’ve been tagged in or important announcements like sales. After lunch, I go back to answer any new customer service emails, schedule any other posts if needed, answer DMs, story replies, and comments. My day typically ends at 4 PM. Before I leave for the day, I make sure to answer any lingering emails.

Walk us through how you use our new engagement tool. What are your favorite features?

Buffer’s new engagement tool has really helped to boost the efficiency of replying to comments. My favorite engagement feature by far is the alerts, as they’re a huge time saver. I love how they allow me to prioritize which ones I need to reply to ASAP. When I see a shopping cart or question icon I know that may need to have detailed information available for that individual. An added perk is that the tool makes it easy to scroll through comments on each post and locate those pesky spambot comments so they can be removed or hidden.

Our new engagement tool in action. 👟 Have you tried it yet? We'd love to hear about your experience! If you haven't yet, you can take it for a spin here: https://t.co/nEohwIGJT4 pic.twitter.com/OtksZTG8DX

— Buffer (@buffer) February 24, 2021

What advice do you have for brands that want to start using social media to build a community of loyal followers?

My advice for brands looking to use social media to build a loyal community is to start conversations, gather feedback, and be real with your followers. Social media can be intimidating but at the end of the day, there’s no wrong or right way to go about it. What works for Southern Elegance, may not work for another company. It’s all trial and error. It’s important for brands to experiment with different approaches and see what sticks. A good start is looking into the topics, trends, and habits of your target audience and using that information to curate engaging content.

What works for Southern Elegance, may not work for another company. It’s all trial and error. It’s important for brands to experiment with different approaches and see what sticks. A good start is looking into the topics, trends, and habits of your target audience and using that information to curate engaging content.

How do you stay up to date on social media trends?

I actually follow some of my professors from college. They regularly post articles, start conversations around emerging trends, social media, public relations, and marketing practices. I try to stay active on social media- Even if I don’t post daily, I set time aside to go through each platform, take note of memes, recurring topics, trending hashtags, etc. If I see something I think I can apply or rework to fit Souther Elegance I take notes and dig deeper.

Additionally, in my free time, I take online courses, and attend “YouTube University.” Social media is constantly changing and I’ve found that the best way to keep up with the algorithm changes, updates, and latest strategies is to just put time aside to actively learn.

What's your favorite SECC product and why?

My favorite Southern Elegance product would have to be our wax melts and warmers. I just turn my warmer on, pop a wax melt in, and go about my day. My favorite fragrances are our Charleston: Sweet Tea and our Savannah: Peach & Champagne as they remind me of my time spent growing up in Georgia and attending my alma mater Georgia Southern University.

Instagram post found here.

Have any questions for Bryanna? Feel free to reply with your questions to the Twitter post below and Bryanna or someone from the Buffer team will get to them as soon as possible.

How a Candle Company Uses Social Media to Drive a Better Customer Experience published first on https://improfitninja.weebly.com/

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kimberleybishop · 6 years

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Brief 1: Forecasted Retail Trends & Predictions (#2)

According to Vend further trends are predicted to include the following:

1) “Chore” shopping will become easier, but the demand for “cherish” retail will be stronger than ever

Products will be easier to purchase than ever before with “chore” items (those same purchases you make) becoming less of a tedious task. Retailers like Amazon and subscription services for example are already offering auto-renewals, one-tap purchases and same-day delivery. People not only want quickness but still want to be able to walk into the physical store - they like and and demand new experiences that cannot be conveyed online.

“There is no doubt that Amazon will continue to disrupt distribution, in particular in the chore side of retail that not many of us like. Technology can predict our behaviour and preferences and automation can deliver our bread, toilet paper or a replacement phone charger just in time. Alexa can be your personal assistant simplifying the chore of retail. “Alexa, we need more dishwashing liquid, and something eco-friendly please”. I think this leads to a more delightful experience because it removes the chore.But there is also no doubt that retail is becoming more vibrant and diverse. More independent stores not fewer. More artisan products. More carefully curated sets of products for you to fall in love with and cherish. It has never been easier to run a retail store than before. And technology is driving this.” (Vaughan Rowsell, Founder at Vend).

2) Retailers that enable shoppers to build and customise products will prosper

A key retail trend in 2018 and in the years ahead, ‘personalisation’ is becoming a more popular experience choice. This does not just mean engraving someones initials onto a product or adding their name to an email, it’s how customers can build and customise their products to suit their own specific needs or requirements. Shoppers essentially strive to be unique and make ‘one-off’ purchases. By allowing them to get creative through personalisation, this will help make the overall shopping experience far more exciting and entertaining for the consumer.

3) Retailers will increasingly rely on robots

With technological advancements progressing, so are Robots amongst other forms of digital platforms such as AR and VR. In the near future it is thought that Robots will eventually talk directly to shoppers on the shop floor. We may also see ‘chatbots’, robots that can talk directly to you from your smart phone or tablet device. Companies such as Amazon are already investing in new forms of smart technology such as Robots with 20% of their fulfilment centres currently operating with them. Instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are becoming increasingly popular, used by large numbers of people. We could expect Retailers to expand their experiences into Apps and Social Media platforms i.e. by being able to message a robot asking for their shipment information or recording any problems they may have encountered with their order.

“Mobile commerce is on the rise and social media is likely to be a bigger part of that in the future. In addition, chatbots are offering another way of buying through social media platforms like Facebook Messenger. All sorts of brands from H&M to Pizza Hut are experimenting with shoppable chatbots.The advantage chatbots have over image-based social media shopping is that most don’t take the customer out of the messenger platform to complete the purchase. They also allow for back-and-forth conversation about a purchase, recommendations and further product information which can help with conversion.” (Cate Trotter, Head of Trends, Insider Trends)

4) Retailers that step up their social media strategies will thrive

Over the past year, social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook have worked to engage people on a more connected level. With the introduction of Instagram Stories, Facebook Live and Messenger Apps, Retailers have been given a new way to connect with their consumers online and engage/interact with them. Posting photos or feed updates will no longer satisfy the regular social media “savvy” users of the modern era (namely Generation Z). Birchbox for example is using Facebook Live to engage with their increasing following and fan base - sharing insightful videos to running competition giveaways. In a 40 minute stream they were able to connect and reach with almost 50,000 viewers. German fashion brand Born Originals also have made an effort to utilise this platform method engaging their followers through Instagram. By posting gorgeous photographs to their feed and making use of the story option the brand has been able to market themselves to a wider range of people around the world.

“Users are likely to watch Stories, so we make sure they find all important release, restock and sale info there first. We often include links to make it easy for people to shop there directly, and location filters to raise brand awareness in key cities." (Born Originals)

5) More than ever data (will and should) drive retail decisions

In the near future, if not sooner Retailers will be able to access, record, store and monitor consumer data. They will want to collect this to develop a greater understanding of their sales, marketing, customer service and operation departments/areas. The scope of digital technology has opened a door to this more specifically with retailers such as Walmart using facial recognition to identify unhappy or frustrated shoppers as they shop through the store. The data can then be used to notify members of staff to open new checkout lines. Gathering Data will enable retailers to gather a greater understanding of their customer, build a relationship with them, and be able to tailor an experience to themselves.

“Making data and analytics a competitive advantage for retailers and brands begins with an ecosystem of shared intelligence. Allowing an open system and partnering with enabling technology vendors who genuinely want to help grow the brand is the only winning strategy.

Solution providers like RetailNext provide cutting-edge technology measuring in-store shopping behavior, and when applying shopper data with customer data from a retailer’s loyalty program, the insights are significantly more relevant and actionable than viewing data in isolated silos. Furthermore, with open systems, digital business data can be layered over physical store data, allowing deeper analytics and insights of both shoppers and customers.

Moving into 2018, technological investments will center on shoppers’ mobile devices, today’s ‘first screen,’ and IoT technologies that further develop the smart store and deliver deeper analytics of in-store shopping behaviour." (Shelley E. Kohan, VP of Retail Consulting, RetailNext)

6) Augmented Reality technology will get even more sophisticated

Even though AR (Augmented Reality) technology has been around for a short while now it is expected to become far more sophisticated over the next coming years. It is believed retailers could try to adapt AR to connect consumers with the physical space through their mobile devices. IKEA for example are a brand currently working on exploring this, by utilising it into their stores. Customers can view a product and simply place it into an image of their house/room, therefore giving them an insight into how it could look if purchased.

7) Brick-and-Mortar stores will continue to flourish

The online shopping experience is steadily becoming a fading trend. The novelty could be seen to be wearing off a little as people seek bigger and greater experiences. We could be seen to be coming back to the Traditional store format/physical store (something that has been in steady decline due to the option of online shopping/retailing). Companies however, are looking to merge actuality with practicality using digital technology (i.e. App devices that can be used in store).

8) Healthy and Environment friendly lifestyles will be a focus for many consumers

Consumers are becoming more aware and mindful of their purchases. They choose products that have been sourced responsibly and are positive for their bodies and the environment.

9) QR codes will make a comeback

QR codes have been used for a number of years but did steadily seem to fade within the past decade. They have resurfaced in the last year but could be said to be making a comeback. With most people now in the possession of a mobile phone camera QR codes can be automatically opened and read - without any additional software needed. The codes are easily transferable, being able to be placed onto various packaging, advertising and marketing materials making it an easy way for customers to access a website on their digital device.

“With QR codes coming native to iOS 11, small business retailers have an incredible opportunity with QR codes. They could provide the easiest call-to-action (CTA) at the POS and enable local shops a mobile-first channel of engagement for customers immediately post-sale on receipts. That's why at Star Cloud Services, we created Promo PRNT and will be rolling it out soon.

With Western companies such as Snap Inc, Amazon, Spotify and Shopify actively utilizing them, it's clear QR codes are no longer just the domain of Tencent (WeChat) and Alibaba (Alipay) and they should make their way increasingly in retail contexts, augmenting digital influence in brick and mortar stores.” (David Salisbury, VP of Sales and Marketing at Star Cloud Services)

10) Retailers that create assortments win

Modern customers are bombarded with countless product choices and will often end up buying from collections that are merly uninspiring. Retailers are now starting to see the skill in tailoring their products specifically to their customers - providing a wide variety of choice with thoughtful products that they would love.

12) Retailer store formats will be much more diverse

Retailers will consider where their stores are positioned in terms of attracting both existing and new customers. From the location they are placed to how their physical store is decorated companies will be looking to address every facet of their business with scrutiny and a keen eye.

“The days of the one-size fits all store model are fading, and the future will require a more flexible approach with a variety of store formats designed to address different locations and markets.” (Neil Saunders, Managing Director and a Retail Analyst at GlobalData Retail)

https://www.vendhq.com/uk/2018-retail-trends-predictions

#VIS6036 #L6 #major study #bcu #viscom #graphic communication #research & audience #creative thinking & communication #forecasted #retail #trends #predictions

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euro3plast-fr · 7 years

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3 ways to use social for experimental marketing sucess

Effective experiential campaigns produce ongoing engagement between customer and brand, and social media is a key component in fortifying long-term consumer loyalty

If there’s one thing Millennials have taught us, it’s that people no longer want to view content passively. They want to engage moment to moment, creating their own content and enjoying intimate interactions with their favorite personalities. In short, they crave experiences.

Instagram reacted by launching its Stories feature in 2016, offering a way for people to share their experience with a more seamless alternative to Snapchat’s popular story feature. The two companies have been battling it out since then, though a 2017 study found Instagram is currently the preferred platform for popular influencers.

For their part, companies are redirecting resources from their broadcast budgets into experiential strategies. Gone are the days of models passing out products on a convention floor; now, experiential activations are becoming inherently tied to social media. While in-person engagement is great, it's no longer enough on its own. To create a truly effective experiential campaign, marketers must provide an immersive brand experience worthy of sharing with the masses.

Download FREE Resource – 10 common social media marketing mistakes guide

Our actionable guide to avoiding common social media marketing mistakes to help you avoid the pitfalls that limit engagement with your target audience.

Access the 10 Common Social Media Marketing Mistakes

But Does It Work?

The goal of an experiential campaign is to connect brands and consumers in more tangible, lasting ways than the one-way communication of old-way advertising. But how do you gauge whether those connections are meaningful and whether they are actually moving the needle toward your goals?

One of the key metrics we focus on at NVE is change in audience sentiment after an experience: What are people saying about a brand now that they’ve participated in this event? Are they sharing more of the company’s content? Are they commenting on blogs and social posts? Have they purchased the featured product? This data helps to tell the real story about experiential impact.

Every campaign is different, but generally speaking, experiential marketing campaigns should be working toward three core goals: driving consumer action, increasing sales, and fortifying brand loyalty.

The consumer action is what you want the consumer to do as a result of attending the experience, whether that means joining a cause, sharing on social media, or participating in future brand activations.

The driving sales component is pretty straightforward. Marketers need to prove return on investment by demonstrating that an experience actually moved units or generated qualified leads. Research from the Event Marketing Institute predicts that the right event can be potent for driving sales. It found that 98 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase a product or service after participating in a related experience.

Finally, experiential campaigns should solidify brand loyalty. This can be more difficult to track, but new technologies are making it possible. Laser-focused on consumer insights and analytics, we integrate RFID technology into many of our brand partners' projects. By taking a gamified approach, technology can be used to capture consumer data — like changed behavior and sentiment toward the brand — while enhancing the overall guest experience.

Download FREE Resource – 10 common social media marketing mistakes guide

Our actionable guide to avoiding common social media marketing mistakes to help you avoid the pitfalls that limit engagement with your target audience.

Access the 10 Common Social Media Marketing Mistakes

The data we remain particularly focused on is postexperience impressions: Did the experiential strategy drive an increased likelihood of viewership? Based on the social shares, photo booth snaps, and other related activities, we can connect the dots to a consumer’s future actions. Experience creates connection, and that bond inspires people to engage long after an experience ends.

Extending the Experience

An experience might last an hour or take place over a few days, but you can create impact that is exponentially more enduring if your strategy is equipped with social media. Follow these tips to gather meaningful metrics and achieve long-term momentum:

1. Create content people want to share

Social sharing is essential in driving sales among Millennials — 68 percent of whom say they’re more influenced by friends’ social posts than they are by traditional advertising. A unique experience will go viral without the help of any paid media if you craft it effectively.

For instance, the Museum of Ice Cream drove $6 million in revenue from ticket sales thanks to its highly “Instagrammable” installations. People wanted to post their own snaps in front of giant popsicles and ice cream fixtures, and hundreds of thousands of them were willing to pay $29 a ticket for the opportunity. By creating a unique, desirable experience, the museum drove incredible demand through social buzz.

Experiential campaigns can take content a step further by giving guests the opportunity for personalization — something 83 percent of marketers say they struggle with, but 63 percent of consumers say would positively impact how they viewed a brand. The best kind of content involves the guest and has branding built in. When guests can really immerse themselves in the experience and make it their own, they'll be more excited to share a piece of content because they feel like they had a role in its creation.

2. Tap into the power of influencer marketing.

Experiential and influencer marketing are natural allies. In-person activations not only provide compelling content for influencers to share, but they also allow them to be part of something, rather than simply sell it.

When determining who to work with, look to existing brand evangelists. Influencers who are already tagging your brand will feel like authentic partners, and their genuine enjoyment of your experience will shine through.

For example, when we were finding a fit to help celebrate Budweiser’s Bud & Burgers experience, Emily Ratajkowski came to mind. Tapping into the strategic insight that Ratajkowski is a Los Angeles native and a long-time Dodgers fan, we knew the relationship would be a home run for all involved. Thanks to her natural connection to the team and her large social following, the Opening Day experience tallied more than 63.7 million impressions.

That said, you don’t have to partner with big-time social celebrities to move the needle. In fact, microinfluencers can boost your organic reach, as their followers are 60 percent more engaged than those of larger influencers. Think along the lines of local celebrities or niche experts.

No matter who you choose, give them something to be a part of. Influencers should not serve as mannequins for attendees to admire. They should be active participants at the very center of your event, interacting with your products or services in memorable and meaningful ways.

3. Establish a structured social sharing plan.

Instead of targeting every social platform, invest in a few that will generate the best returns. Decide in advance which you’ll emphasize, and create hashtags and filters guests can use throughout the day.

You should also work to build shareability directly into the components of your experience. For instance, if you offer a photo booth, enable guests to share their photos instantly and directly from the machine.

Although you want your audience to share spontaneously during the event, your team should have a clear plan for sharing throughout the day and beyond. Use targeting and scheduling tools to share posts that carry the momentum forward after the experience.

To turn sometimes customers into life-long loyalists, you must invest in establishing real connections — and experiential is one of the most effective avenues for doing just that. To truly make an impact, captivate your audience members with an immersive experience they can’t wait to amplify to their followers.

Thanks to Brett Hyman for sharing their advice and opinion in this post. Brett is the President of NVE Experience Agency, a world-class experience marketing agency and event production company guided by the principle that the right moment will transform someone forever. You can follow him on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.

from Blog – Smart Insights https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/3-ways-use-social-experimental-marketing-sucess/

#Blog – Smart Insights

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dlamp-dictator · 7 years

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Allen Rambles About Fate/Extra & Extella (Allen’s Rambling XXXV)

Usually, when I do an “Allen Rambles About [Video Game]” post I wait until I’ve gone through roughly 20-30 hours of it since I mostly play JRPGs and it takes quite a bit of time before I can safely say I’ve seen everything about the game and have an informed opinion it, but... I’ll be making an exception for the Fate series.

Originally, I was going to talk more about Extra and Extella in a Video Game Update, a monthly post about the video games I’ve played and plan on playing, but since these were the only two games I was playing this month, I think a Rambling going in depth about them is more appropriate.

And so here we are, the Fate/Extra series. I’ve spent about 15 hours on both games, so I think it’s fair to make a Rambling about them now. And I have to say, I’ve got some conflicting opinions about both these games.

Now, I’m a casual fan of the Fate series, and I plan on going deeper into that in December, but I’ve watched the original Stay Night by studio Deen, the UBW movie by Deen, Fate/Zero, The Ufotable adaptation of UBW, and all four season of Prisma Illya. The only thing I haven’t done Fate-wise is invest into Grand Order, and that’s mostly due to my hatred/weariness of gacha/mobile games. When it comes to Extra and Extella, I was treading new Fate territory. It heard it was basically an AU of the Fate series with more technology and technobabble in it, and Extella looked flashy as hell, and published by Xseed and Marvelous, the folks that made Senran Kagura, and I love Senran Kagura, so I figured “why not?”

And... well, let’s talk a little about that, starting with...

Fate/Extra

With Fate/Extra, I’d say that this game has a good story, but bad gameplay. I originally picked up this game solely so I could have context to Extella. I originally thought Extella wouldn’t be trying to have much continuity in it since Extra was a story-heavy, visual novel/RPG game on the PSP of all things, that handle literally no one has anymore, and Extella was a Musou-clone where you could take out legions of enemies and typically had very simple stories because you were too busy mash the attack button and throwing lasers and fire magic to care about said story.

But I was wrong.

Oh, how I was wrong.

Not that Extella directly talked about stuff in Extra, but there were a lot of winks and nods to it that had me lost. The Moon Cell Grail War, how Nero was so affectionate toward the player character to the point of being a typical waifu, and the technobabble, dear lord the technobabble of how the Regalia and Moon Cell operated was just sleep-inducing.

Most Musou-style games outside of Dynasty and Samurai Warriors are usually pretty simple, and even Samurai and Dynasty Warriors is pretty easy on the story stuff. But Fate/Extella was pulling no punches with it’s technobabble and visual novel-style cutscenes (more on that later). I felt I needed to play Extra just to have a decent grasp of what was going on in that story. Thankfully, the game was only ten bucks on PSN, and works as a download on my Vita, so I bought and was playing it side-by-side with Extella.

And after about 15 or so hours, I can honestly say I’m more invested in Extra’s story than Extella’s by a mile. I’m invested in Hakuno’s struggle in the Grail War, how she’s slowly coming to terms with killing people for her own survival. I mean, goddamn, after winning the first match, when you saw the 128 active/living participants drop to 64 in an instant... damn, it was chilling. The world-building is nice too, I’d say even simpler than Extella. The Moon Cell is basically a virtual world where the Grail War takes place, and all the bits and particle effects tell that. These people aren’t mages, but gamers and hackers with magic circuits and whatnot. Really, this is leagues easier to grasp than Extella. And while Nero was more insufferable if anything in Extella given her forcefulness on you, in Extra I get the chance to see our relationship grow to that point. While I despise the fact that she looks like Best Girl Artoria and has a god-awful voice to show her inferiority to said Best Girl, I love her personality, her haughty and explosive natural is really endearing... I just wish she had a different design. I think this story and characters alone is enough to play through and even recommend you guys buy this if you have a Vita and the memory space for it.

However... when we talk about the actual game, I have some issues.

Let’s start with the gameplay. I’ll be frank, this game plays a little too slowly for my liking. The load times are fine, the frame rate is fine, but I hate the rock-paper-scissors, turn-based style of attacking, and I especially hate how you need to grind on enemies to read patterns and pray you’re right until then. I thank God I resisted choosing Best Girl Emiya!Archer went with the more Physical-focus, high attack power of Nero because the grind in this game... goddamn. Dying in the arena isn’t fun when I’ve grinded for an hour to gain three levels only to die and restart from outside the dungeon because I faced a new enemy type with a pattern I didn’t know about. Seriously, quick save would be nice to have, but this is the main reason I’m playing this game with a guide for both story progression and enemy patterns.

Speaking of story progression, gathering information matrices and how hit-or-miss that process can be is worrisome. Again, these enemies rely on know pattern recognition, and collect Servant matrices is top priority so I don’t get wasted in boss battles. I’m using a guide solely for that reason, but... to give credit where credit is due, the game is giving me hints about where and how to learn more about enemy Servants... so far anyway, I’m only on week three, we’ll see how it goes when things pick up.

Again, I’d say that Extra is the better story, but the has lacking gameplay. I recommend buying if you like visual novel-style games, but Lord alive, please find a guide for this game, both for enemies and story.

Fate/Extella

With Extella, I feel like this is the opposite case. I love the gameplay of Extella. It’s a little repetitive, and I swear Servant enemies have little to no hit stun, but it’s not bad. The story... well, I went over that for two paragraphs in the Extra section, but there’s a bit more I want to talk about.

I... really don’t like the visual novel style of storytelling in this game. It’s fine for Extra since the gameplay isn’t engaging enough to play the game solely for that, but Extella has great gameplay and a lot of fast-paced action. The long story cutscenes and My Room events just bog down the pacing and have me waiting longer and longer to get to the next stage and bash more enemies. Honestly, the story could just be summarized as Nero and Tamamo fighting over territory in the Moon Cell and possession of the Regalia with Altera playing both sides and being the final boss... oh, and something about an meteor and Colossal Titan with Archimedes rubbing his hands together and evilly chortling. I dunno, I’ve still gotta’ play through Altera’s story mode and the true ending, so maybe I’ll get some context to why all of this is so complicated, but I don’t think I’ll like the answer given how much time is spent trying to get me to care about anything but using Emiya!Archer in Nero’s campaign.

Also, Archimedes being the Chessmaster in the background does nothing but annoy me. Liz making a sudden Heel Turn makes sense, especially in Tamamo’s story where she’s constantly abused by the group. But Archimedes? Honestly, he could be cut out entirely, Altera could had been the final boss and a third faction holding the Body of Hakuno hostage, and nothing would be lost story-wise. This stuff about the Umbral Star, Velber, and all that... just... makes me skip all the story cutscenes because I don’t care. I care about Nero and Tamamo and how they want the best for Hakuno. I care about some of the side characters since I like a lot of their designs. I care about Altera and her deal in this situation and why she’s holding Hakuno’s Body hostage. But outside of that... I could care less about this technobabble about the Regalia, the Moon Cell, the Umbral Star, it’s just... pointless to me.

But again, it’s the gameplay that attracts me to this. The chance to take out thousands of soldiers with Emiya!Archer and Medusa, beating the stuffing out of that prick Gilgamesh, using all the cool and flashy Noble Phantasmas? Did you guys see how badass UBW looks in this game?

youtube

Seriously, Emiya!Archer is the best.

My only real critique gameplay-wise is that some more characters in Extra should had appeared. I think Francis Drake would had been a great addition to Tamamo’s faction as a mercenary unit, and honestly, Medusa has no range in her moveset, so having a gunslinger would be nice. Having Robin Hood replace Emiya!Archer, while tragic to my inner Emiya!Archer fanboy, would make more sense since the game is assuming you used Nero in Extra, and Robin Hood and Nero had some pretty fun banter in Extra, seeing more of that would be fun.

But again, I’m on the opposite end of Extella in terms of my opinion. A fun game with fun gameplay, but a story that’s more suffering to go through if anything. If it was a little simpler and pulled back on all the technobabble about the Moon Cell then I’d be more engaged, but even Extra has less exposition than this game, and that’s a goddamn visual novel.

So yeah, those are my opinions on the Fate/Extra series so far. I’m looking forward to seeing Extella Link come out, and I’m praying its story is simpler to grasp. I’m actually going to be taking a break from Extra for the rest of October and most of November to play Dangan Ronpa V3 (more on that later), but I’m glad I got into this series, and I hope to complete it by the end of the year.

#fate extra #fate extella #your dictator is speaking

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cryptoquicknews-blog · 5 years

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New Post has been published here https://is.gd/nX5IS8

From Mar-a-Lago to Coinbase, Dubious Claims Follow Doc.com Token Sales

This post was originally published here

A health startup tied to a public cryptocurrency is using overstated language about some of its industry relationships and its affiliation with crypto exchange Coinbase as it seeks to sell tokens to investors, a CoinDesk investigation has found.

Mexico City-based Doc.com, which offers an app that provides healthcare and psychology consulting to underprivileged communities, also features a built-in wallet for the startup’s cryptocurrency, MTC. The venture-backed startup raised over $1.8 million in an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2018, then integrated MTC into its app in July of that year as part of a rewards program meant to incentivize users to sell their health data for tokens.

Yet, Doc.com has continued to sell its tokens – $49 million worth in total – even after its ICO at events like the Wall Street Conference at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, held on January 15. The startup said it plans to release these tokens in an airdrop to the public before April when the company switches to a proprietary blockchain called Lifechain.

At Mar-a-Lago, Charles Nader, CEO of Doc.com, pitched token investment opportunities to hedge fund representatives and family offices gathered to hear from notable entrepreneurs like Brock Pierce, showing a pitch deck that included at least two claims that have been substantially debunked by further CoinDesk inquiries.

Most notable is the inclusion of Mozilla CEO John Lilly and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman on a page of advisors and mentors.

Lilly told CoinDesk he doesn’t have any relationship with Doc.com, while Hoffman’s venture capital firm Greylock Partners told CoinDesk Hoffman has no formal advisory relationship with Doc.com, though Nader was a student of a Stanford course taught by him.

Positioned as a means to provide free healthcare to people who might otherwise be unable to access it, the Doc.com project has attracted interest from organizations like the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as well as private investors.

But the way the platform functions has raised questions about its token rewards and the security of its users’ health data.

Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation, told CoinDesk: “This project deserves a lot of scrutiny and has a lot of red flags.”

On Telegram and Instagram, Nader has also released vague statements about “support” from organizations like Coinbase and Forbes México, which refers to the company as Docademic in a recent cover story about the startup.

Yet in a private message to CoinDesk, Nader clarified there haven’t been any formal discussions about listing the token on Coinbase and that Doc.com is just a custody customer of the exchange. Being a custody customer of the exchange simply means the startup pays for Coinbase to support custody options for its assets.

Coinbase declined to issue a public comment for this story.

Further, on the company’s social media channels users have been actively discussing a potential listing on Coinbase, which Nader and his team have not responded to despite engaging directly with fans about numerous other topics.

Brand-name partnerships?

Some market observers, such as Gladstein, believe Doc.com has come to encapsulate many of the ethical complexities involved with token sales, suggesting that the dynamics behind the 2017 crypto market boom haven’t faded along with the market itself.

Nader said MTC tokens can be used to buy access to healthcare data from more than 141,000 people who already downloaded the startup’s app. Users are said to be paid small amounts of MTC to anonymously release their healthcare data for resale.

Plus, Nader has also said his startup is partnering with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to combat recidivism by expanding its free psychology consultations and other services to Kenya by April.

“We are planning to collaborate with Doc.com, with their new technology to be able to provide free healthcare in Africa,” Wambui Kahara, who described herself as a United Nations Offices on Drugs and Crime advisor, told CoinDesk. “And also to be able to use research to inform governments and others on how to better prevent diseases.”

The UNODC did not respond to an independent inquiry about this initiative.

“We monetize that data and sell it to governments and pharmaceutical companies,” Nader told CoinDesk, adding that users can spend MTC on the app to pay for specialist services beyond the free, basic sessions.

Others in the non-profit community, however, are wary of such initiatives. For example, Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation told CoinDesk he is deeply troubled by the structure of of Doc.com’s token economy.

“There are serious concerns about companies buying medical data from vulnerable populations,” Gladstein said in interview. “If the security model isn’t super strong, there’s potential for abuse.”

Gladstein went on to describe Doc.com as a hotbed of “red flags.” One such concern is that Doc.com has not yet published technical documentation for the upcoming Lifechain ecosystem on open source sites like GitHub.

Nader told CoinDesk there were plans to audit the code “at some point,” without specifying concrete plans with any firm or group.

Warning signs

Another “red flag” noted by Gladstein is that conversations in the company’s social channels are primarily focused on the startup itself and the asset’s trading potential, not app users.

Cryptocurrency promoter John McAfee is listed as one of the startup’s advisors and has been encouraging his Twitter followers to support MTC adoption since last February. One such tweet claimed the tokens could soon sell for $10 each, while another dubbed it the “King of Crypto” assets.

The company’s pitch deck presented at Mar-A-Largo promised investors the likelihood Doc.com tokens would increase in value “is much higher” than bitcoin because the tokens “are used to view healthcare data and linked to real users in the platform that need it.”

Nader also told CoinDesk the value of this token would rise as “demand for the data goes up.” However, the Mexico City-based team isn’t concerned that U.S. regulators could see MTC as an unregistered security even though the company claims to have roughly 20,000 app downloads in Florida.

“It’s a utility token, it’s not a dividend,” Diaz told CoinDesk. “It’s a representation of the data that is being processed on the blockchain.”

Although it’s not clear that any users of the company’s app are posting comments about Doc.com on social media, there are some user reviews of the Doc.com mobile app. However, it’s hard to say how many of the user reviews related to the mobile app are genuine since many are anonymous. And in one instance, CoinDesk identified that Doc.com CTO Arturo Diaz left a positive user review of the app on Google Play without disclosing his involvement in the project.

Beyond technical infrastructure, the Human Rights Foundation’s Gladstein said that paying the participants in local fiat currency or bitcoin would alleviate some of his concerns about the token’s usability.

Otherwise, he said, users are trusting the startup to control this token’s inflation so they can actually afford to buy medical services with their token rewards, regardless of external trading.

While CTO Diaz says the new Lifechain system will offer some form of built-in inflation control, Gladstein said he was still “very concerned” that users may not “actually understand what is going on.”

Gladstein added:

“They [Doc.com] are able to do this because for every person who knows what happened with ICOs, there’s 100 who haven’t learned yet.”

More blockchains

Still, Doc.com believes it has answers to these questions.

The in-house blockchain system Lifechain, which Diaz said his team developed from scratch over the past few months, would be responsible for safeguarding the privacy and consent dynamics of selling users’ healthcare data.

“All the information that you put in the application is encrypted into our health records database,” Diaz said. “You cannot share information from patients without their consent. This [for enterprises] is mostly statistical data, like how many cases of flu happened around this area for males or females.”

So far, Diaz said he’s not familiar with concrete plans to run mining operations or nodes, which will purportedly be powered by proof-of-work, a system wherein any participants are responsible for contributing computing power to ensure record-keeping for the decentralized ecosystem.

“We’re going to look for whoever wants to be the main nodes,” Diaz said, adding that he assumes there is someone at Doc.com speaking to organizations about nodes and mining, because they don’t plan to run that aspect of the infrastructure themselves. “That [mining] is something that I don’t think we are going to get into right now.”

Nader said they are pursuing a relationship with a mining company, plus he believes other miners and node operators will organically rise up from the “community” on Telegram, Twitter and Reddit. But Nader also could not name any specific partners committed to helping run the network scheduled for imminent launch.

“This system is currently much more secure, transparent and vastly better than what is currently available,” he said. “Patients are even getting paid for their data, unlike almost all of the world’s healthcare system.”

Diaz said there are currently around 9,000 MTC addresses and that app users are directly provided with both public and private keys to control their own token rewards. Still, after reviewing the privacy policy on the app, even two tech-savvy MTC traders from Naos Blockchain Capital told CoinDesk they weren’t quite sure whether the startup was already selling their healthcare data.

“You don’t have to think about it as your data, you can think about it as macro data,” Naos Blockchain Capital co-founder Abraham Cobos Ramírez told CoinDesk. “We believe that Doc.com is one of the few crypto projects today with a social mission that already has a working prototype.”

Support from the United Nations, and the prospect of a future listing on Coinbase gave these Naos Blockchain Capital investors confidence in the lucrative potential of this startup’s crypto asset. And, thanks to Coinbase, institutional investors can now hold MTC with a regulator-approved custodial service.

Speaking to Doc.com’s global expansion beyond Latin America, Kahara said:

“The data that is collected goes specifically to research that will benefit these populations…We hope within one year we will be able to cover most countries in Africa.”

Image of (left to right) billionaire Sandro Salsano, Doc.com CEO Charles Nader and Forbes Latin America Chairman Mariano Menéndez at Mar-a-Lago via Doc.com

#crypto #cryptocurrency #btc #xrp #litecoin #altcoin #money #currency #finance #news #alts #hodl #coindesk #cointelegraph #dollar #bitcoin View the website

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ginnyzero · 4 years

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Completely Harmless Ch. 42

Completely Harmless An SSO SilverGlade Re-imagining Story (Or Fix it Fan Salt fic) By Ginny O.

When Lily and her friends wanted to buy horses and were directed to the Silverglade Manor and its myriad of problems, they didn’t expect to start a revolution. They were just a bunch a stable girls. Completely harmless. Right?

A/N: Things are only canon if I say they’re canon. Pre-Saving the Moorland Stables compliant for the most part. Posted in its entirety on my website. Posted in 2000 to 4000 word bits here. Rated T for Swearing Word Count 177,577

Chapter Forty-Two The Baroness Takes Things To Hand

Aaron looked miserable.

“What do you mean it’s not their jurisdiction? They’re Rangers!” The Baroness fumed as she paced back and forth in front of the Manor. “How difficult is it to hire good help these days?”

“Mother, the Jorvik City rangers can’t help because that’s part of Central Jorvik County and the ones out in Firgrove aren’t empowered enough, nor do they have enough people, to do anything.” Aaron wrung his hands. “Your papers are correct and they do see the problem. They’re just not able to help.”

“Since when have we taken no for an answer, Aaron. Never.” The Baroness spun on her toe and minced back and forth looking like she was floating. “If the rangers of Firgrove and Mistfall won’t help us. Then we’ll simply have to go to Goldcroft.”

“The road in North Link is still closed,” Aaron protested.

“Then we’ll go past Castle Marchenghast, stop in, and have tea with the Count,” the Baroness waved her hand. “He needs to be told.”

“There’s an avalanche in the way,” Lily spoke up.

“Honestly,” the Baroness spun on her toe again. “Was the winter really that bad that there are avalanches everywhere blocking off important sections of the county. If it’s not avalanches, it’s G.E.D.. If it’s not G.E.D., it’s gates. If it isn’t gates, it’s John and Dark Core. Problems. Problems everywhere. Well, Lily, third time pays for all.”

“Baroness?”

“I find myself in need of yet another bulldozer. I’m going to buy the company at this rate. I probably should. That would put the nasty G.E.D. right out of business. If I was in charge, there wouldn’t be any more of this monkey business.”

“We just gave them a month’s worth of cookies. I doubt bribery is going to work this time!”

The Baroness turned her glare onto Lily.

Lily raised her hands. “Going!” She mounted her horse and trotted away to Silverglade Village. She needed to get cookies. Maybe not Cardamom cookies, but cookies. Harold had several selections and she chose an assortment over one single type. Then headed up to North Link.

The foreman raised his brows at her.

Lily sighed. “The Baroness is mad. She needs your bulldozer again to clear out the area near Castle Marchenghast. I have cookies. You’d rather deal with me and cookies, than deal with her when she’s mad.”

The foreman grinned. He took the cookie box. “I’ll go inform the driver and he’ll follow you to wherever you’re going.”

“Thanks. I’m sure Linda will be by with payment soon.”

Being followed by the big yellow bulldozer like it was a huge dog was becoming uncomfortably familiar to Lily. She wished she could shout back that they should make a pact not to do this again. She carefully led him around the Manor past the Riding Arena, through the gate that she held her breath the entire time that he’d make it through, through Eastglade, up towards the Northern Gate and west onto King’s Road.

From his vantage point he saw the problem before she did.

Fortunately for all concerned, he didn’t blow his horn. He stopped.

Lily had to jump up onto the small pile of debris that started the avalanche. It had grass growing in it.

“If I didn’t know how fast grass took over,” she muttered. Her horse trotted out of the way.

Lily waved at the bulldozer driver.

And he set to work, his blade scraping against the stones of the road once he found them. It wasn’t going to be a pretty clean up, but he knew what he was doing.

Lily took photographs and texted them to Linda with updates.

Soon enough the girls appeared with rakes and shovels to start cleaning things up. Riley came from Cape West with more girls and shovels and rakes to help.

The bulldozer driver gave them a thumbs up as he drove back. Lily quickly got ahead of him and led him back to North Link.

It’s not that she didn’t trust him. She didn’t trust him.

But the way was clear to Northern Golden Hills Valley!

The Baroness was fuming as Godfrey drove up to Marchenghast castle’s entrance road. She lowered her window and held out the papers to Lily. “You and Linda take these to Goldcroft Ranger Station right away.”

Lily accepted them and nodded. “Yes, Baroness.”

The window closed. Godfrey drove on.

Lily passed the papers to Linda. “I wouldn’t want to be Count Marchenghast right now.”

Linda’s lips twitched upwards in a smile. “It’s been a while since I’ve been to Goldcroft.”

“I’ll follow you then,” Lily said.

Linda stored the papers in her pouch and they took the road past Castle Marchenghast. Down another pass through the mountains covered in birches, beeches and golden chain trees, and finally into the Northern Golden Hills Valley itself. They could see part of it spread out before them. The trees continued, and everywhere were the yellow flowers.

Lily wondered if they really did tear other color flowers out. This was moderately insane.

Linda nodded towards the west. “That way is Eventide fishing village. It doesn’t have a stable at all. But there is a decent sized group of people that make their living catching fish in the Dusk Sea.”

“Tell me, is this place all about puns?”

Linda grinned. “Sometimes it certainly feels like it.”

They went around the base of more mountains. Grape Vines marched in neat rows towards the sea reminding Lily of Silverglade and their stepped grape mountain.

Linda commented again. “This is actually a privately owned vineyard. Last I knew they came from Sonoma California to try their luck here. No horses again. They’re not that wealthy.” She snapped pictures with her phone as they road.

The signs read Aurora Breeze Winery and had seagulls painted on them.

Further down the road was the first town they entered. The signs read. “Village Fairhaven.”

“This is the home village of Baron Fairhaven,” Linda said. “He’s about the same power as Baroness Silverglade. He’s got three tenant farmers in the area I think, and a decent sized stable, plus, his own riding arena.”

“That explains the Castle.”

“He actually lives in his,” Linda grinned. “Silverglade Castle is more of a historical landmark than a home. The Baroness should be giving tours.”

“You can mention it to her.”

“She’d never go for it. Anastasia would.”

“Then tell Anastasia and let her broach the subject with her mother.”

The town of Goldcroft was bigger than Lily expected. She hadn’t seen anything so big outside of the bus ride to Jorvik City.

“County seat,” Linda said offhandedly.

“And it’s been cut off all winter?” Lily squeaked.

“Normally the road is kept clear from the Eastern side, you’ve got Aspendell to the far east. It’s in the middle of the Shimmering Woods, a protected quivering aspen forest. The rest are farmers mostly along the roads.”

“So, pretty rural.”

“The Beeches is over there,” Linda nodded. “It’s a huge recreational type park. They’ve got a natural golf course and the Jorvik Rangers run a camping area. They hold the County Fair here during Happy Horse Week.”

“A Fair?” Lily perked up.

“There’s races at the track too.”

Lily bit her lip. “They have an oval track.” She leaned her head back as they passed what had to be either a courthouse or a library. It was big and made of stone whatever it was with a lot of steps. It occupied one side of the town square. There was what Lily decided had to be a medieval market in the middle of it like Firfall had but of a different style. And then on the other side was another large stone building. There were five in total scattered around the square. Otherwise it was surrounded by shops. The square itself was a green and full of beech trees. It had a bandstand. Lily presumed for public entertainment.

“Yeah, that’s why the Baroness wants one so badly she’s investing a ton of money into it. She wants our part of the county to be as important as this part of the county.”

“Then is she making her library open to the public?” Lily asked in a daze.

Linda chuckled. “Probably not. Golden Hills School is the counterpart to Jarlaheim School. Jarlaheim has a public library too.

“But okay, there are three areas and only two schools.”

“The Silverglade District is really rural. They don’t need a school.”

“Bus rides must be a bitch.”

Linda snorted. “Everyone in Mistfall goes to Jorvik City for school.”

“Taxes must also be a bitch.”

Linda grinned and took more photos.

They passed a large regional post office and a fire station. The first that Lily had ever seen. The last big stone building that wasn’t shops in the square was the South New Jorvik County Ranger Station. It even had posts for them to tie up their horses.

She and Linda dismounted and headed inside.

A ranger sat behind the desk with his feet up. He took them down as they approached setting down his paper. “What can I do for you ladies?”

“We have papers from Baroness Silverglade about Dark Core illegally squatting in the Valedale Mountains. Whom are we to turn them over to?” Linda asked.

“That’d be the Master Ranger, Miss,” the ranger paused.

“Linda Chanda, Silverglade Equestrian Center Manager and Baroness Silverglade’s personal assistant. This is Lily, she’s the leader of the Silver Drakes Riding Club and de facto leader of all the Riding Clubs in the county. They’ve been helping us gather information.”

The ranger held out his hand. “Nice to meet you ladies. I’ll go see if the Master Ranger is available.”

They shook his hand and waited.

“This way,” he said coming back.

The Master Ranger was in an office with a big wooden desk. She pushed papers away. “Ladies, ladies, please have a seat. You’re on business from Baroness Silverglade, you say?”

Linda handed over the papers. “She sent us with these, Master Ranger. We’d like to get on this issue with alacrity. Before the Midsummer Beach Party would be preferable. Professor Hayden is worried about the environmental impact to the bugs of the area.”

“You can’t have a stable ecosystem without bugs,” Lily murmured and looked at the press tinned ceiling with interest.

“Do you have anything on the plants?” the Master Ranger asked.

Lily blinked. “The soil and water tests aren’t enough?”

“Oh, they’re enough,” the Master Ranger smiled at her. “We’ll have to check with the county records to see if Dark Core put in any applications to drill. But it’s a matter of being thorough.”

“Okay, do you want the animals too?” Lily took out her phone.

The Master Ranger opened and shut her mouth. “In the interest of being thorough.”

Lily pressed a button. “Hi, this is Lily. The ducks are doing great. Lakisha is working out fine. Thanks so much for asking. This is about Valedale. Would you go up to the Hollow Woods and get in contact with Melissa? We’re at the South New Jorvik County Ranger station and the Master Ranger wants a report on the health of the animals in the area. Oh, you can. Thanks ever so much. We don’t want any of the farm or wild animals getting sick from Dark Core’s nasty drilling waste. You can email your results to Linda.” Lily rattled of Linda’s email address. “We’ll be in touch. Yes, definitely check the horses. We don’t know if it’s gotten into the water table. Check the well water? Oh, well, you better tell Hayden that then.”

Lily made a face as she hung up. “Well, the Veterinarian in Silverglade knows Hayden’s reputation.” She sent out a text and watched her phone. “All right, Miss Master Ranger, Ginny says that in New Hillcrest Village there’s a scientist who studies plants, Frederik. They, er, used them to cure Terrance Rockwell.” Lily’s fingers flew. “Send Hayden to the Cauldron Swamp after he’s done with Valedale. Just be careful not to get too close to the witch. Um, Susan is volunteering to pick up Frederik and take him to Valedale. Hayden will have to learn to share.”

The Master Ranger’s lips twitched. “I see Ms. Chanda wasn’t kidding when she said you were the de facto leader.”

“Well, we’re stable girls and we go everywhere.” Lily shrugged a shoulder. “Completely harmless.”

The Master Ranger raised her brows. “Completely harmless,” she said not believing it for a moment. “All right ladies, I’ll be in touch with the Baroness as soon as I make a trip to the Court House across the way and everything is processed. Probably tomorrow.”

“Thank you,” Linda said and stood.

Lily stood too.

The Master Ranger held out her hand. They both shook it. “I do like young people who are invested in their county.” She smiled at them.

They smiled back and left.

“Well, shall we finish the tour and then go to Aspendell?”

Linda blinked slowly.

“You’ve been taking pictures the whole time for Jorvikgram,” Lily nudged her.

“Well, all the completely harmless stable girls and campers need to be informed of the perks of being in the Northern Golden Hills Valley. There’s a Riding Arena and the stables attached to Marchenghast Manor that’s here in Goldcroft. The quaint shopping street that’s off the Post Office. It has a bookstore and there’s a bank on the other end. But lots of cute little shops full of kitschy things no one really needs. And fudge!”

Lily raised her brow.

“Between here and Aspendell is the County Jail.”

“Oh wouldn’t it be nice to get some people into that,” Lily murmured.

“You’d never keep Mr. Sands there. Remember, he’s not like you and I.” Linda warned her in a low voice.

“Let me dream.”

“He needs to be returned to his prison with Garnok. All of them do,” Linda said as she mounted Meteor. “I swear Anne thought she’d sent him there. But, her memories were hazy. She remember shoving him into a portal but I don’t think she remembered much else. Not that it did much good. He got out almost right away. We don’t have enough power to keep him there.”

“There has to be a way to send them back and keep them there for good.” Lily said. “Probably in a book.”

“That would be nice,” Linda licked her lips. “I’ve been reading the Pandoria Codex. There are references to other books in there,” Linda chewed her lip now. “But I can’t ask Elizabeth without admitting I took the book.”

“It’d be faster to photocopy it and take it back to Fripp.”

“Help me?”

“When we get back, we’ll do an assembly line. We don’t want you getting in trouble with this Fripp person.”

“He’s not exactly a person.”

“I’m not even going to ask. I mean, Mr. Sands is ET.”

“So is Fripp but he’s not the same type.”

“Is it true that the Jorvik Warmblood Sports were started by extraterrestrials who gave up a lot of their sentience to stay here?”

“That’s one story. No one can really know the truth unless they’d been there.” Linda shrugged.

“All right then, show me the rest of the county,” Lily gestured.

Linda laughed and led on. They’d take the West Jorvik Highway back to the Silverglade District.

It was pretty late by the time they returned to the Manor. The others would have teased the, but they were too excited by the pictures of the county. Agnetha had kept them busy anyways helping the Golden Hedgehogs put in plants native to the Golden Hills and putting down turf where the bulldozer had ruined the road.

“Not enough trees on those hills to keep in the dirt,” she muttered over the late dinner.

“Is it the Cauldron or are the roots of the trees not deep enough to be affected by that?”

“If anything is radiating out of that swamp upwards, it could be doing anything,” Agnetha shook her head.

“Well, we’ll send Frederik and Hayden onto Riley and the Hedgehogs once Melissa is done with them.” Lily rubbed her forehead. “These weren’t the problems I was expecting.”

Agnetha snorted.

Linda stretched her legs. “Why don’t we hop over to Jorvik City Museum tomorrow and pick up Aideen’s harp then? Let’s see if we can get that done.”

Lily nodded. “We can do that.”

“And we should have a meeting about Mid-Summer. So we don’t end up with a disaster in planning like Rainbow Week,” Pauline said.

“All right, get that scheduled for the afternoon. Getting the Harp is probably going to take all morning.” Lily told her.

“Then tomorrow morning before we go to Jorvik City I’ll take you up to the highest point over the Silversong.” Linda said.

“Of course, that’s no good without the Tears of Aideen or the Fragment of Aideen’s Light,” Lily reminded her.

“We can collect the Tears in Valedale. And we have the seal for the Sun Chamber,” Linda stirred her soup. “Assuming that it’s there.”

Pauline clapped her hands together. “Okay, now that we have a plan.”

“Get some rest,” Agnetha ordered with a smile. Though she had no idea what they were talking about, seals and sun chambers, and Harp’s of Aideen. It reeked of druid nonsense to her.

They didn’t. They helped Linda copy the Codex. It went really quickly with all of them doing it. Then they went to bed.

FOR THE ACCOMPANYING IMAGES PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE MY WATERMARK AND CONTACT INFORMATION. THANK YOU. I get it. Some of you might get excited and want to see this stuff in the game, especially the clothes, tack, and pets. However, the only way I want to see this in the game is if I get paid for it. If I see it in the game and I’m not paid for it, there will be hell to pay. You think I’m salty. I’d be angry. Personally, I’m not going to send this info to SSO. If you do, leave my contact information there! Don’t give them any excuses to steal.

Now, I’ll know you haven’t read this note if you leave me comments about how ‘salty’ I am about the game and if I hate it so much I should do something else. I am doing something else. It’s called Mystic Riders MMORPG Project. Mystic Riders however is a very baby phase game. You can check out our plans on the game dev blog. (Skills, Factions, Professions, Crafting, Mini-Games, 25+ horse breeds!) If you know anyone who would be interested and has money or contacts about game making, direct them to the blog.

#star stable #star stable online #sso #fan fic #jorvik reimagined #star stable salt #completely harmless #silverglade reimagined #many nods to ruth westside

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housebeleren · 4 years

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Theros Beyond Death Odds & Ends Part 2

Just when I thought we’d gotten most or all of the info we were going to get on Theros Beyond Death before the holidays, a couple more tidbits were dropped. And the Magic community (and I) have thoughts about them.

Theme Booster Rares

First up, we have the announcement of the Theros Beyond Death Theme Boosters. Normally, I’ve given literally zero thought to these, but this time, there are changes. 10 rares, two of each color, that will be possible pulls in the Theme Boosters. Of them, a few seem potentially interesting for Brawl & Commander, particularly the three below.

Once these were previewed, the opinions came in rapidly, and from what I’ve seen, the feelings are generally quite negative, mainly regarding the distribution method. I confess that I am... torn.

On the one hand, I understand the theory behind these cards. Every set has some number of cards that are designed for Commander, and don’t particularly fit into the set itself. Think Clone Legion in Dragons of Tarkir or Indomitable Creativity in Aether Revolt. These cards are basically unplayable in Limited, rarely find uses in Standard or other Constructed formats, and end up effectively being whiffs when opened in normal boosters. As Commander has grown in popularity, so has Wizards’ need to create more cards geared towards it. Putting these cards in the main set would warp Limited too much, so an ancillary product is really the main option that makes sense.

On the other hand, this contributes further to the issue I was mentioning in my last post, which is that it’s getting increasingly difficult to keep track of the cards in a given set and how to get ahold of them. Additionally, every card printed not in the main set has the possibility of being the next Nexus of Fate, not intended for major Constructed play that suddenly finds itself a $50 card as the lynchpin of a Standard archetype. We’re seeing this with Korvold, who’s spiked up in the last month as he’s found Standard play, and it’s likely that there will be more. If these cards end up being very limited in supply and the single prices are high, it’ll end up being a major feel bad.

I’ll just say for me, the jury’s still out on this one. If the supply of these is very small and I have to shell out more than a couple bucks to get the ones I want, it will be very frustrating. And let’s be clear, I am NOT at all interested in actually purchasing the Theme Boosters, just to end up with piles of Commons. (Seriously, you get SO MANY Commons. The chaff abounds.) But if they are readily available for reasonable prices, it may turn out that people are being too preemptively critical of this move.

Either way, I do think Wizards needs to do some simplification of the product lines. Shit’s getting confusing AF.

Theros Beyond Death Story

Thennnnn there was this little drop: Theros Beyond Death Story on Cards

In particular, “Note that for Theros Beyond Death, there are currently no plans for an ebook, so make sure to check out this page throughout preview season.”

And, as confirmed by the good people at Hipsters of the Coast, there are no plans for MTG web fiction either.

This is, to put it mildly, disappointing. After several years of solid story presentation with tight connections to the set design (Tarkir-M19, to be specific), this past year has been one misstep after another.

A Brief Digression

First up in the past year, Guilds of Ravnica & Ravnica Allegiance have basically no story whatsoever, though the “life on Ravnica” bits of web fiction were enjoyable, if tangential. The greatest shame of this is that Django Wexler “The Gathering Storm” series is truly a fun read, and was well-integrated with the corresponding sets, but probably failed to get high readership due to the super-delayed and bizarre method of distribution. Fortunately you can read all of it HERE, and I highly encourage you to do so, because these were honestly my favorite MTG stories since M19.

Despite the lack of lead-in lore, War of the Spark had the benefit of having probably the most story-engaged player base Magic has had in years, thanks in large part to a truly outstanding and honestly game-changing trailer. Then it succeeded in squandering virtually all of it by presenting a mediocre book (which failed to deliver on a number of preset plot points, such as the Jace/Vraska mind-erasure scheme) and a set of cards that was largely incongruous with the corresponding book beyond the most rudimentary of plot points.

Dack Fayden not getting a card despite being a major viewpoint character in the book? That card where Liliana confronts Bolas and defeats him with the Chain Veil that didn’t actually happen? And there are countless other similar examples. I get it, these things happen, and as has been pointed out many times, the timelines involved in MTG’s card set creation don’t line up well with the story timelines.

But at the end of the day, it was unsatisfying. Magic is a brand, it is a business. And the end result of all the hype of War of the Spark? I felt let down, less interested, and less invested in the brand than I did before. To be absolutely clear, I have purchased less sealed product from Standard sets, participated in fewer draft events, and consumed less MTG related content since War of the Spark than in the 3-4 years leading up to it. And I know I am not alone. The story matters, because for huge segments of the playing population, it is a critical way in which we connect to the cards, aka the product. Without that connection, it becomes *just* a game, and there are tons of games out there.

These feelings were amplified by the complete absence of story from M20, an otherwise excellent core set, the decision to make the Wildred Quest (which I have heard is excellent) only available as an e-book (a format I do not typically engage with), and the total and utter clusterfuck that was War of the Spark: Forsaken. (Don’t take my word for it, take The Professor’s.)

Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Which brings us to now. Theros Beyond Death is coming up. Standard, despite being better since the recent bannings, is failing to draw interest. Tournament attendance is down.

Magic needs story right now.

Magic needs something compelling to remind its fanbase why this is a property worth being invested in. We have the imminent and triumphant return of one of Magic’s most beloved heroines and..... we’re not going to get any story for it? It’s just going to be the cards and some synopsis on the website?

Why should I care?

Believe me when I say I would rather there be no story at all than have some poorly-written and problematic word vomit the likes of which we got this year. But I can’t help but reiterate how disappointing this turn of events is. My honest and sincere hope is that Wizards (and Hasbro) have learned that the answer doesn’t lie in trying to monetize Magic fiction through hastily-written books or by placing it behind paywalls. After this last year, I’m going to be very hesitant to spend money on Magic story going forward.

Instead, let people who love and cherish these characters write the story, give them time in advance to do it, then offer the story freely to the fans. Return to the method we had in the glory years of Magic’s story, which was really not that long ago, and the stories will monetize themselves. This is because the fanbase will be bought in again, and they will therefore be invested again. At least I will.

Here’s hoping.

#MtG #theros beyond death

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andrewdburton · 5 years

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“Playing with FIRE”, the documentary about financial independence and early retirement

In early October 2016, I flew to New York City to attend Ramit Sethi’s Forefront event, a weekend conference about entrepreneurship and excellence. As I always do when travling, I agreed to meet with a few readers and colleagues while I was in town.

One sunny morning in Madison Square Park, for instance, I sat on a bench and chatted with Travis Shakespeare. “I'm a film and television producer,” Travis told me. “But I'm also into the FIRE movement. I just got back from the chautauqua in Ecuador.”

The FIRE movement, of course, is all about financial independence and early retirement. And the chautauquas are annual gatherings for FIRE folks who want to dive deep into the subject. (I've now attended four of these myself.)

“I'm toying with the idea of creating a film about FIRE,” Travis said. We spent an hour or so talking about his vision and plans. When we parted, I never expected that we'd see each other again. I was wrong.

During the past three years, I've connected with Travis several times. (I've come to really respect and admire the man. He's a Good Guy.) And that idea he was toying with? The film about FIRE? Well, that project has come to fruition.

“Playing with FIRE” finished production earlier this year. Since June, it's been screened in theaters around the country — and the world. Today, at long last, “Playing with FIRE” is available for purchase (and rental) on various digital platforms.

iTunes ($9.99 to buy, $4.99 to rent), where the Rotten Tomatoes score is linked to the wrong film

Amazon ($9.99 to buy, $4.99 to rent)

Google ($8.99 to buy, $3.99 to rent)

Vimeo ($9.99 to buy)

To mark this occasion, I wanted to share some background on the film from my perspective. Here are a few of my thoughts on “Playing with FIRE”.

youtube

Behind the Scenes

Soon after I met Travis, he found Scott Rieckens, a San Diego film-maker with a similar idea. Scott too wanted to make a film about FIRE. They decided to collaborate. By October 2017, a year after our conversation in Madison Square Park, Travis and Scott had begun production on their project.

My first exposure to “Playing with FIRE” came in late October 2017. I was in Dallas for Fincon, the annual conference for financial media. “We're going to film a roundtable conversation about financial independence,” Scott told me by email. “I hope you can join us.”

Truthfully, I almost didn't attend the roundtable interview. Fincon is pure chaos for me, and this just seemed like more chaos. In the end, I decided to participate. I'm glad I did. I joined friends like Carl (from 1500 Days), Tanja (from Our Next Life), and Brandon (from Mad Fientist) for a couple of hours of talk about money.

True story: Despite all of the time and energy devoted to this roundtable, only a minute or so of footage from the night made it into the final film. That's too bad. It was a great discussion. I was particularly impressed with Liz from Frugalwoods, whose contributions were deep and insightful. As ambivalent as I am about her book, I am not ambivalent about Liz as a person. She's awesome.

My next exposure to “Playing with FIRE” came in February 2018. On a cold, rainy Sunday morning, the film crew visited our home here in Portland. We spent a couple of hours recording in our living room and in my writing studio, where the conversation centered on money and meaning. (Trivia: In the final version of the movie, every scene in which I appear was filmed in my writing shed.)

Over the past eighteen months, “Playing with FIRE” has been a constant part of the background of my life. I exchange email with Travis and Scott. (Kim is a fan of “Life Below Zero”, the Alaska-based reality show for which Travis is best known.) I've read the book. I've attended screenings. And last year at Get Rich Slowly, Scott shared his own experiences with making the film.

Playing with FIRE

Here's how Scott described the impetus for this project on Reddit last week:

I was a content creator for marketing/advertising firms for nearly a decade, so making content that focused on FIRE was natural for me. I was scratching an itch with this project.

I was so inspired by the folks that had shared their wealth of knowledge on finance and investing. And I remember seeing the Minimalism documentary and thinking…if the minimalism movement has a documentary, then surely FIRE would too. But to my dismay, I was mistaken. So, after some serious deliberation and reaching out to a few mentors and even a few FIRE writers and podcast hosts, I decided to dedicate myself to the idea.

Then, after an appearance on the ChooseFI podcast, my world exploded and I was able to raise money, connected with a fellow FIRE fan and director from the BBC (Travis Shakespeare), ended up with a book deal and shit got super real, really quickly.

[…]

I decided that leaning into this momentum made sense. Because the framework of FI, while painfully simple, has not been introduced to the masses and is far too important not to share.

Naturally, Reddit doesn't like the film. Or, more precisely, /r/financialindependence doesn't like the idea of the film. Those who have seen it do like it. Most redditors have not seen it…yet are happy to pass judgment anyhow.

This is Reddit in a nutshell: A bunch of people who are quick to have opinions and make judgments without having all of the information — or any of the information, actually. It's not just the FIRE forum. It's the whole site. Users are quick to assume the motives of others.

When I talk to people who have seen “Playing with FIRE”, their reaction is generally positive. It's not a film targeted at folks who are deep in the FIRE movement, folks who talk daily about saving rates and the four-percent rule. This film is targeted at people who are FI-curious, people who know that what they're doing doesn't work, but who haven't yet been exposed to the ideas of the financial independence community.

This movie is meant to introduce people to the world of FIRE. It wasn't made for the people who are already in that world.

Money and Happiness

I've seen the film four times already this year, and I'll watch it again later today. I may force my family to watch it during the holidays. While I don't think “Playing with FIRE” is perfect, there are many things I like about the film.

I like, for instance, that it ultimately isn't about Scott's journey of discovery; instead, the story is about his wife's journey of discovery. It's about Taylor wrestling with these ideas and how they apply to her life.

And I like that, really, the film isn't about money. Scott and Taylor don't embrace this movement to become millionaires. They don't “play with FIRE” in order to become rich. They explore this lifestyle in an attempt to increase their happiness, to create more meaningful lives.

There's a scene early in the film in which Scott and Taylor, who are trying to decide what to do with their future, sit down in a San Diego park to talk about what's important to them. Taylor shares the top ten things that make her happy on a weekly basis. These are things like wine, chocolate, exercise, and (especially) spending time with family.

“Any surprises?” Taylor asks Scott.

“Well, first off,” he says, “I didn't hear the beach. The beach isn't on the list? When was the last time you were on the beach?”

youtube

“Everything on that list is stuff we can do pretty much anywhere,” Scott says. He's implying that there's no reason they should be paying to live in such an expensive city when they're not deriving value from that city.

“What's going to make us happy?” Scott asks. “Because we can't lose if we keep happiness in the forefront. I really think we should [change our lives]. I think it's going to be the best thing for us…moving forward into the future.”

This is, of course, the stuff I preach day-in and day-out. This is why people ask me to fly to Portugal to speak, why they ask me to be on their podcasts, why they ask me to write for them, why they meet me for lunch. They want to me to talk about the relationship between money and purpose.

Playing with Fire tackles this subject head-on and in a real, honest way. The film isn't sensational. It isn't fake. It's simple, authentic, and open-ended. It doesn't offer pat answers. While this is in some ways unsatisfying (we want projects like this to provide answers, not create questions), it's also genuine. I like that.

Final Thoughts

Projects like “Playing with FIRE” are important. As Scott said in an email yesterday: “Each copy rented or sold is a vote for improving financial literacy and eliminating conspicuous consumption.” It's a good thing to increase awareness about smart money habits.

That's why I've embarked on a similar project of my own. I don't want to make a movie (ha!), but I am creating a ten-part, five-hour audio course to introduce people to the world of FIRE. In fact, that's where much of my time and attention will be devoted this autumn and winter. It's an exciting assignment, one that I hope will reach a lot of new people.

For now, though, “Playing with FIRE” is really the only thing of its kind, the only mainstream introduction to the ideas of financial independence and early retirement that's targeted toward a general audience (as opposed to targeted toward money nerds).

As I mentioned earlier, you can buy or rent the film from the following sources:

iTunes ($9.99 to buy, $4.99 to rent), where the Rotten Tomatoes score is linked to the wrong film

Amazon ($9.99 to buy, $4.99 to rent)

Google ($8.99 to buy, $3.99 to rent)

Vimeo ($9.99 to buy)

If you have family and friends who might be receptive to the message of this movie, you might consider sharing it with them. I intend to!

The post “Playing with FIRE”, the documentary about financial independence and early retirement appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

from Finance https://www.getrichslowly.org/playing-with-fire/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

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jeroldlockettus · 5 years

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A Good Idea Is Not Good Enough (Ep. 369)

Pablo Picasso drew over 400 preparatory sketches — the most in history for a single painting — before starting to paint Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. (Photo: Steven Zucker/flickr)

Whether you’re building a business or a cathedral, execution is everything. We ask artists, scientists, and inventors how they turned ideas into reality. And we find out why it’s so hard for a group to get things done — and what you can do about it. (Ep. 4 of the “How to Be Creative” series.)

Listen and subscribe to our podcast at Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or elsewhere. Below is a transcript of the episode, edited for readability. For more information on the people and ideas in the episode, see the links at the bottom of this post.

* * *

Jessica O. MATTHEWS: So, I’m at Harvard, undergrad, I think it’s the end of my sophomore year, and I’m taking this course called “Idea Translation: Effecting Change Through Art and Science.”

That’s Jessica O. Matthews. And this class was back in 2008.

MATTHEWS: And I had heard from people that they gave you some money to do some cool stuff and that unlike most universities, they wouldn’t own the cool thing that you did. And I was like, “Okay, I like doing cool stuff and I like inventing, let’s see what happens.

Stephen J. DUBNER: But we should say, you were not an engineer or an engineer wannabe.

MATTHEWS: Well, I was studying psychology and economics. I grew up wanting to be an inventor. My father is a businessman. My sister, who had been at Harvard for two years before me, she actually was studying film, but she told my dad, my Nigerian dad, that she was studying economics.

DUBNER: I don’t blame her.

MATTHEWS: So two years pass and she graduates and we hear “visual and environmental studies” and my dad almost has a heart attack in the graduation stadium. And I’m sitting there just like, “All right dad, I’ll add economics.” So, I’m taking this course and I remembered thinking back to when I was 17, when I was in Nigeria and I was at my aunt’s wedding. And, as expected, we lost power. As expected, we brought in a diesel generator. And the fumes were so bad. And my cousins, who were in their 20’s at the time, they were just like, “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

And that’s what shook me. I was like, “Don’t worry, I’ll get used to it?” And I was like, “Okay, that’s a problem for the people in my family, that’s a problem for people in the world.” You have 1.3 billion people around the world who still, to this day, they don’t have reliable access to electricity. When the sun goes down, that’s often the end of their day. And that’s a travesty.

So Matthews, faced with a classroom assignment to invent something that would “effect change through art and science” — she thought about this problem, and she thought about a creative way to address it.

MATTHEWS: And I observed my cousins showing passion and showing excitement when they were playing soccer, right? So this is where the psychology comes in. And the same cousins that were saying, “Don’t worry, you get used to it,” had all these highfalutin, delusional ideas about what they could do on the soccer pitch that they just couldn’t do. They were not as good as Pele in any single way, but they would tell you they were. And this is how you need to be attacking life. I want to invent something, not something that would solve the energy problem but that would address it in a manner that would inspire people to be part of the movement toward solving it.

The invention she came up with was ingenious: a soccer ball that captures the kinetic energy that builds up as it’s being kicked and turns it into enough electrical energy to power a reading light. She called her electric soccer ball the Soccket. It won some fans in very high places:

Barack OBAMA: Some of you saw the Soccket, the soccer ball that we were kicking around that generates electricity as it’s kicked. I don’t want to get too technical, but I thought it was pretty cool.

After the Soccket came a jump rope that used the same technology. Matthews finished her undergrad degree and got an M.B.A., also at Harvard. And she started a company, based in Harlem, called Uncharted Power. The soccer ball and the jump rope didn’t turn out to be durable enough. But Matthews has raised $7 million in venture capital and is pushing her company to work on a larger scale: the electrical grid itself.

MATTHEWS: Our platform is called M.O.R.E. That stands for “motion-based off-grid renewable energy.” And it’s a platform that basically leverages our innovations in energy generation, energy transmission, and energy storage to offer what we like to call convenient energy.

One advantage of “convenient energy,” theoretically at least, is that it is decentralized, and therefore would not require the massive capital investments that power plants traditionally need. How well will Jessica Matthews’s idea actually work? It’s hard to say — and Matthews wouldn’t get into the details of Uncharted Power’s technology and implementation. So why am I telling you this story? Because it’s a story about the power of a good idea — and I think you’d agree that turning kinetic energy that’s fun to generate into electricity is a good idea. But really why I’m telling you this story is to point out that a good idea is worth nothing without great execution. That’s where Jessica Matthews stands right now, and she knows it.

MATTHEWS: I think ideas are great. But in a weird way it’s almost like they’re meaningless if they don’t actually make a difference in our lives. So I had to figure out execution because how can I go to my cousins and be like, “Oh, I have this cool idea for an energy-generating soccer ball” and then two weeks later they’re like, “Hey how’s it going?” I’m like, “Oh, I just have more ideas.” They’d be like, “What? Shut up. Stop coming here and telling us dumb stuff, Jessica.” So I had to come back and be like, “Here’s the prototype. What do you think?” Everyone is going to be motivated by different things but I’m the kind of inventor that’s looking to make whatever amount of time we have on this world better. And so execution has always been part of it.

* * *

Walter Isaacson has written biographies of some of the most creative people in history: Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein — and Steve Jobs—

Walter ISAACSON: Who, in his first stint at Apple, was such a perfectionist that he holds up shipping the original Macintosh because he doesn’t think the circuit board inside is pretty enough. Even though nobody will ever see it. And after a while, he gets fired from Apple because he’s such a perfectionist. And he would say, “Well, real artists sign their work,” meaning they have to wait until they are perfect before they ship. When he comes back to Apple at the end of the 1990’s, they give him a new motto, which is, “Real artists ship.”

But how do you ship your work? How do artists and scientists and inventors and other creative people turn the sparks flying around in their heads into something they can share with the world?

Margaret GELLER: Well, one of the difficult things of course is moving projects forward. There’s a big difference between the idea and execution.

That’s the pioneering astrophysicist Margaret Geller.

GELLER: And sometimes, you know, you start to do something, and nature just doesn’t conform. And you wonder, why me? And after the fact it’s fun, but it’s not so much fun while you’re doing it. It’s often very slow, it takes a long time, a lot of it is drudgery. It’s not as though you have an idea and tomorrow you write a paper and you submit it to the journal, and it’s done. And I think it’s the same with art and with writing.

Now, there are exceptions to prove every rule. The writer Michael Lewis, for instance. Among his books are The Big Short, Moneyball, and The Undoing Project. Even when he writes about complicated topics, Lewis’s writing is extraordinarily pleasurable and easy to read. So I once asked Lewis — it can’t be so pleasurable and easy to write, can it?

Michael LEWIS: Yes. It is pleasurable and easy. I hate to ruin your punchline, but actually what is hard for me is figuring out in the beginning what I want to say. I spend a lot of time gathering material and organizing the material before I sit down to write. I’d say three-quarters of the time is that. When the actual writing starts, it’s, for me, fun. It’s just fun. I mean, it’s fun and hard, but if it’s hard, it’s hard in a fun way. And people like my wife, who has walked in on me while I’m writing — I write with headphones on that just plays on a loop the same playlist that I’ve built for whatever book I’m writing. And I cease to hear anything in the world outside of what I’m doing. And apparently I’m sitting there laughing the whole time. And I think basically what I’m doing is laughing at my own jokes, but I wasn’t even aware of that. But people like my kids and my wife say that, “You’re sitting at your desk laughing all the time.”

Okay, so let’s set Michael Lewis aside. He’s his own category: the untortured artist. Let’s look at a project that was so difficult to execute that its creator did not finish it in his lifetime. And which is still being worked on today, nearly a century after his death. If you’ve ever been to Barcelona, you already know what I’m talking about: the Sagrada Familia church, designed by Antoni Gaudi, among the world’s best-known architects today. Who, during his lifetime, was a troublemaker.

Gijs Van HENSBERGEN: He was someone who was very loath to follow the kind of textbook, standard way.

Gijs van Hensbergen is a Dutch art historian who’s written a biography of Gaudi. He’s also, interestingly, a certified suckling-pig specialist.

VAN HENSBERGEN: Yes. I trained to write a cookery book, in fact. And using food as a way of understanding a different culture. So I went to train in Segovia, in the center of Spain, just north of Madrid, as a suckling pig chef.

All right, let’s get back to Gaudi, the man behind the unfinished masterpiece in Barcelona.

VAN HENSBERGEN: He was someone who was prepared not to just go down the orthodox route of what his teachers were saying. And in fact, once somebody asked him who influenced you most, and he said, “Well, I probably learned more from watching my father making boilers than I ever learned at architecture school.”

He was born in 1852 and grew up in a rural area outside of Barcelona.

VAN HENSBERGEN: As a child, he suffered badly from kind of a youthful version of arthritis. And so as a kid, he couldn’t always go to school, and his father — who was a boilermaker for making the stills for brandy distilling — would take him out to the workshop, out in the country.

He was enthralled by the exotic look of buildings around the world.

VAN HENSBERGEN: It was also for his generation, the first generation that could actually just look at photographs and see photographs of buildings all over the world. And he spent all his free time in the library just going through magazines and looking at photographs of buildings.

He was also enthralled by nature.

VAN HENSBERGEN: The little details of shells, the way the wind blew, the way that trees grow, the kind of magical Fibonacci sequences that appear in sunflower heads. And all these things, he’s instinctively, but very empirically, noticing, and would reappear in his buildings and his building techniques later on.

Gaudi studied architecture formally in Barcelona but was unimpressed by the orthodoxy of his teachers. It bored him. When he started getting commissions — for houses and apartment buildings and parks — he was relentlessly experimental. His traditional elements were exotic, his modern elements phantasmagorical. Gaudi was also an oddball: a hermit, a celibate, and something of a despot. He’d show up at a building site in the morning and order the contractors to demolish what they’d built the day before, so that he could redesign it. Meanwhile, in the rural Catalonia where he’d grown up there was a massive economic disruption caused by phylloxera, a disease that ruined the grapevines that were the source of many farmers’ income.

VAN HENSBERGEN: Once the vines started being attacked, and people lost their vines and they lost their livelihoods, came flooding into the cities. And it meant that there was massive, massive social pressure from a predominantly illiterate working class, which would fill the factories. And massive overcrowding, and the working classes felt that they were being abused. But particularly with the Church, they felt that sometimes the Church was misusing its so-called charity, looking after them but actually in a sense controlling them.

The Catholic Church was looking to rehabilitate its relationship with these newly urban parishioners. So it decided to build a huge church in a working-class part of Barcelona. It would be dedicated to the Holy Family — the Sagrada Familia — because, after all, Joseph was a carpenter.

VAN HENSBERGEN: The Holy Family could act as a model, that the working man — their handicraft or whatever — should be something that is respected.

Gaudi himself was a very conservative Catholic; his feelings for the Church and for Jesus ran deep and pure.

VAN HENSBERGEN: Right at the heart of his belief system was this idea that Christ’s suffering is something that we understand only through our own suffering, and that his ultimate generosity of course was to die for us.

When Gaudi received the commission to build the Sagrada Familia, after the original architect resigned from the project, he was only in his early thirties.

VAN HENSBERGEN: And I think Gaudí felt his duty as an architect, and certainly with the Sagrada Família, was that a building should reflect the glory of God, and that God was working through him.

Gaudi’s concept for the church was massive, extraordinarily detailed, a mashup of every architectural style under the sun but like nothing anyone had ever seen. It included life-like sculptures of Bible stories — emphasis on the life-like.

VAN HENSBERGEN: So when, on the Sagrada Família, you have the flight to Egypt, he wanted a donkey, it had to be life-size, he sends one of his workmen over to look around for a donkey that might look as if it had walked 40 days through the desert, and he finds the rag-and-bone man’s donkey, and he gets it, puts it in a harness, chloroforms the donkey, and then puts it into plaster and makes molds. He does it with chicken, with geese. One of the most dramatic moments is actually the Slaughter of the Innocents, where the little babies being cast down by this giant Roman centurion, total kind of brutal scene, this baby has his head smashed on the ground. And Gaudi actually took stillborn children, cast them, and used those models for the sculptures that would then be on the face of his building.

The scale, both exterior and interior, was way larger-than-life, designed to inspire awe. The interior pillars resemble a forest of grand trees.

VAN HENSBERGEN: Trees are actually some of the most efficient pieces of architecture ever grown, not built, and the way that they can put up with wind, and the way that they know where they should stick out a new branch. And he creates this lapidary forest, this extraordinary forest of columns, as you walk in. And this soaring space which is so dramatic, and with these stained-glass windows and this amazing light. I mean, even if you weren’t religious, there is a very, very powerful kind of explosion of space.

Gaudí would work on the project for the rest of his life, eventually moving into the basement workshop.

VAN HENSBERGEN Later on in life, he became very ascetic. He made his own clothes. He looked more and more like a tramp. He lived the whole purpose of the Sagrada Familia, which was to create this new Christian temple on a scale which today is kind of only just, we’re beginning to see, what an extraordinary kind of fantasy and dream that Gaudi had created for this building.

DUBNER: I’m also curious, because of what Gaudí said about creativity, as you write, “Creation works ceaselessly through man, but man does not create, he discovers. Those who seek out the laws of nature as support for their new work collaborate with the Creator. Those who copy are not collaborators. For this reason, originality consists in returning to the origin.” So to me, that is a bit of a paradox. And I wonder if you can explain that for me, as it relates to Gaudí, and especially as it relates to the Sagrada Família.

VAN HENSBERGEN: Well, I often think back on Isaac Newton, saying, “Look, I was just like a little boy walking along the beach, picking up a pebble, and I noticed one was shinier than the other.” And there is a sense of humility about Gaudí’s genius as well. And this idea of going back to the origin. Because one of his signature discoveries — and something which became right at the core of his building technique — was the discovery of the power of the catenary arch. And the catenary arch is: take a chain, hold it between your fingers, and let it drop. It’s gravity pulling it down, which of course for Gaudí becomes another kind of religious metaphor, because who is it that invents gravity? Well, God of course.

But what you get is this chain formation. If you flip it over, it forms this catenary arch, which is the most economical shape in architecture. And he uses that as a kind of leitmotif, for the last 20, 30 years of his creative life, and works on the model which is four-and-a-half meters high and all these little chains with little bags, shotgun pellets, representing the different stresses, etc. And almost like an analog computer, sitting there over 10 years out in the countryside. People must have thought, Who is this madman? And creating a system which is still used today by the architects who are working on the Sagrada Família to try and finish it for 2026.

2026 will be the 100-year anniversary of Gaudi’s death. He died at age 73, after getting hit by a streetcar. As the story goes, his ragged clothes led passers-by to think he was a tramp, not the city’s most famous architect. In any case: a team of architects is continuing Gaudi’s work on the Sagrada Familia. By necessity, they are amending his original plans. To some, this is a betrayal of Gaudí’s original genius. Gijs van Hensbergen is not one of those people; he thinks it’s in line with what Gaudí himself would have done.

VAN HENSBERGEN: Well, clearly, we can’t go back to just what was built by Gaudí. Gaudí knew equally that future generations would have to work on it. And he talked about Chartres and other cathedrals saying that God took 400 years to finish Chartres. It took 600 years to finish Barcelona Cathedral, in the Gothic Quarter. And he said that God is very patient as a client. He doesn’t want to be hurried.

Gaudí was constantly tinkering with his designs, sometimes changing them from day to day. Execution-by-tinkering: it turns out this is a common thread among many creatives.

ISAACSON: Leonardo da Vinci worked on the Mona Lisa for more than 15 years.

Walter Isaacson again.

ISAACSON: During that period, he was dissecting the human face, figuring out every nerve and muscle that touches the lips, figuring out how details of sight go right into the center of the retina, but what you see out of the corner of your eye are shadows and colors. So he uses all of that knowledge, for example, to make the details on the Mona Lisa’s smile go straight, but the shadows and colors go up, so the smile flickers on and off, depending on how you’re looking at it. He also has it so perfectly anatomically correct that it’s the most amazing and memorable smile ever created.

All of these things he does over the course of this very long period as he’s living in Milan, and then in Rome, and then in Florence, and then taking it across the Alps with him when he goes to Paris, he adds layer after layer of tiny translucent brush strokes until he can make what is probably the most perfect painting ever done.

“The most perfect painting ever done?” That’s pretty hard to quantify. There are people, however, who’ve spent a great deal of time trying to quantify different trends in painting over the centuries, different styles of execution, and their relative value.

David GALENSON: I am David Galenson. I’m a professor of economics at the University of Chicago.

DUBNER: And you would describe your research specialty as what?

GALENSON: I study creativity. And really, more specifically, the life cycles of human creativity. What I’ve tried to do is find the process. You know, what are the mechanisms behind the discoveries?

Most great painters throughout history are considered innovators, at least on some dimension. But Galenson separates these innovators into two camps, what he calls experimentalists and conceptualists. Da Vinci and Gaudi would fit into the experimentalist category.

GALENSON: These are empiricists. They’re interested in perception, observation, generalization about the real world. They have very vague but very ambitious goals. And because they’re vague, they’re uncertain how to achieve them. So they work by trial and error. These are the people who never reach their goal. They are never satisfied.

Another example would be Paul Cézanne.

GALENSON: Very near the end of his life, he wrote to a younger artist. He said, “The progress needed is endless.” And that’s experimental creativity. You never can reach the goal.

Cézanne wanted to fuse the realism of the old master paintings he loved with the immediacy of a new style, impressionism.

GALENSON: Impressionism was, as the name implies, it was an ephemeral, momentary art. So Cézanne was frustrated with impressionism, with the superficiality. There’s no depth in impressionist paintings. These are all just on the surface. He set out to combine the bright colors of impressionism with the solidity of the old masters. So Cézanne set out to do something that was essentially impossible, but he spent then the next 40 years trying to do it.

For instance: in his later years, he kept painting the view of a mountain near his home, Mont Sainte-Victoire.

GALENSON: If you just take all the textbooks of art history that you can find, there’s no single painting by Cézanne that appears more than a few times. But he painted Mont Sainte-Victoire about 50 times over a period of about 30 years. If those were all a single painting, all of those illustrations were of a single painting, that would be the single-most-reproduced painting in the history of modern art. Now, they’re all different. He’s never doing the same thing. He’s always changing. But he’s changing so gradually that a lot of people don’t perceive it at the time.

So the experimentalist, as Galenson sees it, innovates by tweaking and tinkering, by methodically moving the needle an inch at a time. Meanwhile, the conceptualists?

GALENSON: As the name implies, these are people who have new ideas. These are theorists.

Galenson’s favorite example? Pablo Picasso — who, like Gaudi, was from Catalonia. But they were not pals.

VAN HENSBERGEN: Picasso famously loathed Gaudi.

That’s Gijs Van Hensbergen again. In addition to the Gaudi biography, he wrote a book about Picasso’s most famous painting, Guernica.

VAN HENSBERGEN: He saw him as the opposite of what he was doing. But they both shared a reverence for popular art.

Anyway, Picasso’s process of creation, as described by David Galenson:

GALENSON: Basically, the process is, you come to a new discipline, you learn the rules, and you say, I don’t like some very basic rule. And I get rid of it.

Picasso’s rule-breaking masterpiece? Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.

GALENSON: Now, that’s a painting that Pablo Picasso made when he was 26 years old. And it wasn’t just casually done. When Picasso was about 25, he was a young, struggling painter in Paris. And the king of the hill was about 10 years older, Henri Matisse. Matisse had made a large figure painting called The Joy of Life, that made a tremendous splash at the annual salon. And Picasso was very jealous.

So, here’s this young 25-year-old who starts making preparatory drawings. In total, he makes between 400-500 preparatory drawings for this — the largest painting he’s ever attempted, by far. That’s the most preparatory works that have ever been made in Western history for a single painting, as far as we know. Here’s a 25-year-old who’s not really thriving economically, but he takes essentially a full year to prepare to make this one painting. So, he’s deliberately creating a masterpiece. That painting is in 95 percent of all the textbooks of art that cover the early 20th century. No other painting is in more than half.

DUBNER: Now, let me ask you this. The way you just described that process, however, doesn’t sound so different from the way you described the process of the experimental innovators. Over and over, repeating and repeating.

GALENSON: The difference is the following: If you x-ray a Cézanne, you’ll find there’s nothing underneath the paint. He painted, what the artists say, “directly.” He just began using a brush on canvas. He made no preparatory drawings for his paintings, ever. The whole point actually was to be spontaneous. That was the point of impressionism. Whereas, if you x-ray the Demoiselle, you’ll find very precise under-drawing. And it’s not an accident. If you go to the Picasso Museum, where they have these dozens and dozens of sketchbooks, you’ll find that every figure in that painting was planned extremely carefully. So that by the time he began painting the painting, he knew what it was going to look like.

See, this was the first thing I discovered about the difference between experimental and conceptual artists. That it’s not just that they paint differently, but they want to paint differently. The conceptual artist wants to know, before he starts — before he picks up a brush — he wants to know exactly what the painting is going to look like. Whereas the experimental painter goes out of his way to avoid that. They want to make discoveries in the process of painting. So, it comes down to this fundamental question: Do you make the discovery before you start working or while you’re working? And in discipline after discipline, that is going to be the key question separating the two types of innovator.

“Experimental innovators,” Galenson has written, “work by trial and error, and arrive at their major contributions gradually, late in life. In contrast, conceptual innovators make sudden breakthroughs by formulating new ideas, usually at an early age.” Picasso invented cubism in his 20’s; Bob Dylan wrote “Like a Rolling Stone” when he was 24.

GALENSON: You can get an idea at any age. But the most radical ideas come not necessarily when you’re young chronologically, although you tend to be, but when you’re new to a discipline.

Experimental innovators, meanwhile, build up to their masterpieces. Virginia Woolf was 44 when she wrote To the Lighthouse; Cézanne was still painting Mont Sainte-Victoire when he died, at 67. The novelist Jennifer Egan is now in her mid-fifties. By the time Egan won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award for her book A Visit From the Goon Squad, she’d been writing for a couple decades. She’d only completed three novels during that time — and the one that followed, Manhattan Beach, took another seven years. One reason it takes so long: her process; the way she executes the idea.

EGAN: Once I write that first draft — which, in the case of Manhattan Beach was 1,400 pages, and type it up, I do many, many, many revisions, usually by hand on hard copies. But we’re talking ultimately 40 to 50 drafts per chapter. So there’s a lot of fixing and problem-solving. And in certain ways, that’s where a lot of the writing happens. It’s the big moves that I’m trying to get a hold of in that first draft. And then once I have those, then I can work with it and try to bring it all up many, many notches to be something that’s actually readable and entertaining. My first drafts are full of clichés. I loathe clichés. It’s not that you can’t write them in the first place. They have to be replaced. So, ultimately, I have weighed every word. To use a cliché.

Okay, so if your style of execution is to produce draft after draft after draft; or sketch after sketch or prototype after prototype — how do you judge what’s working and what’s not? Every domain is different, of course: writing a novel is different from building a better means to capture kinetic energy. But in every case: how do you measure the success of your execution? When Jennifer Egan was writing her first novel, The Invisible Circus, she did not have a reliable way to do that.

EGAN: I wrote in a vacuum, and that was just wildly unsuccessful. I spent two years writing — horrible. Just dreadful. And this isn’t even being over-harsh. I’m never going to make that mistake again.

Ever since then, Egan has relied on a writers’ group. Even today, after all the success and all the awards.

EGAN: It includes a couple of the people I’ve been showing work to since 1989. We have an essayist, a playwright, a poet, and then a couple of fiction writers.

What the writers’ group provides Egan is something that every creator needs constantly, whether you’re working in the arts, in science, in business, whatever: feedback.

* * *

It’s not that great ideas are easy; but without good execution, an idea doesn’t mean much. A key component to execution — a key component to getting better at anything — is feedback. The writer Jennifer Egan was telling us that she still relies on a writers’ group to workshop her current novel-in-progress.

EGAN: Even with Manhattan Beach.

That’s her latest book, an historical novel published in 2017.

EGAN: I had an idea about a present-day narrator who would be kind of winking at the reader because we all know that it’s not 1934 anymore. That was so dead on arrival.

DUBNER: And when you get that kind of feedback, and you decide ultimately that it’s fruitful and that it’s correct, what does that feel like?

EGAN: It feels like a relief, because usually I can feel when something is not working. Sometimes things aren’t working because I just haven’t spent enough time making them better.

DUBNER: Did you have to beat up your writing group a little bit after you started winning these awards and say, “Listen, I still need you to come at me as hard as you did”?

EGAN: No, they they did it. I would recommend that anyone do this. People are afraid of hearing criticism. And I think often when they say, “What did you think of something?” you know that they don’t really want to know if you have any thought that isn’t positive. And I so understand that. I mean, it’s awful to hear that something you think is working isn’t. And I’ve sat there, and many times thought, “I’m done. I’m never coming back here. It’s been great. You guys suck. You don’t get it. Other people tell me I’m great.”

But even by the end of the meeting I’m already — I can feel my brain kind of prickling around whatever it is and I’m already starting to think of solutions. So it hurts, but it’s not going to kill you. I feel like criticism that’s wrong-headed, okay, I don’t agree with it. Fine. Keep going. There’s a fear that somehow criticism can break you. I don’t believe it.

DUBNER: Do you have any advice for people who have that fear, which I would guess is probably 95 percent of humanity?

EGAN: I would say think very carefully about which is worse: finding out now that this work has problems or finding out after everyone has told you it’s perfect and you’ve published it. You’re going to find out.

Teresa AMABILE: I think the best thing we could do is to find one honest person who you know will give you honest feedback.

Teresa Amabile is a psychologist who studies creativity.

AMABILE: Ideally, you’ll have an artist friend, or maybe it’s a teacher, who knows you reasonably well, whom you trust, to whom you can say, “I really want some feedback on this, but I need you to not dampen my spark here, if you would.” I think that’s much better than trying to get feedback from a large number of individuals. One or two people who will be honest with you, but who can who can give you the feedback in a way that you’ll be able to use it and not be not be destroyed by it. We can manage our feedback givers.

But what if you aren’t in a position to manage your feedback givers? What if your feedback givers are your employer, or your funder, or your customer?

Don HAHN: We test-screen everything we do. We bring in a living room full of people and show them the movie and then sit around afterwards and have a really painful discussion about things they didn’t understand, or story points they didn’t like, or characters they didn’t like.

That’s Don Hahn.

HAHN: And I’m a filmmaker and I’ve made most of my career producing animation for Disney. But now I do a lot of documentary work.

Among the films he’s worked on: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?; Beauty and the Beast — both the animated and live versions.

HAHN: And The Lion King, a little story about a lion cub that gets framed for murder.

Hollywood calculus, as we all know, can be strange. A team of filmmakers can work on something for a couple years — and then have it quashed by a room full of little kids who get squirmy at a test screening.

HAHN: And then you have to go away and decide whether they’re right or not. And you can also dismiss it to your peril, or dismiss it to your advantage. Gosh, and there’s endless stories about that. In Pocahontas, the animated movie, there was a love song that Mel Gibson as John Smith sang to Pocahontas. And he was tied up in a tent and Pocahontas came in and they sang this beautiful love song under the moon. It’s a lovely song. But the audience just checked out and kids started wiggling in their seats and moms started running out for a bathroom break. So it got cut from the movie.

But conversely, there’s a song in The Little Mermaid called “Part of Your World,” and it’s Ariel’s “I-want” song. And that was a real kind of wiggler song where in previews, even though it happens early in the movie and even though it’s crucial to Ariel’s character, our executive at the studio said, “Ah, kids are wiggling during this. We have to cut it out. It’s not working.” And he was wrong. The directors and the animators came back and said, “Kids may wiggle during it but it’s the kind of song you need in these movies. It’s a statement of what she wants. It’s a statement of her goals and passions and without it, it’s ambiguous what she wants.” So it stayed in the movie and became one of the most favorite songs in the movie.

You can see why producers and studios might be cautious: a big film is a huge investment. The desire for feedback has deep roots in Hollywood, including Walt Disney himself.

HAHN: Walt Disney used to famously walk around the studio, and he would tell the story of, let’s say, Pinocchio to a couple of guys in the coffee lounge. And then he’d get their reaction and then he’d go down the road to a couple of secretaries and tell them the story. And so he was workshopping again and again and again this story. And every time refining it in his mind a little bit more until it became very close to what was in the film.

A documentary film, meanwhile, which is what Don Hahn is mostly making these days—

HAHN: Documentaries are a little different because you’re telling an existing story. But you have to go where the story takes you, and when you start out you may not know all the ins and outs of the plot. So, it’s a little like putting a jigsaw puzzle together without the picture on the box. You’re kind of feeling your way through the dark. And a lot of times there’s discoveries halfway through the making of the movie.

We did a movie for Disney Nature called Chimpanzee about a mother and her little baby chimp. And halfway through the shooting, the mother went out one night and was killed by a panther. So you just go, “Okay, I guess we’re done.” But over the ensuing weeks the alpha male in that tribe of chimpanzees adopted that little baby, otherwise it would have died. And that’s something that just never happens. Jane Goodall even said she didn’t ever see that in the wild. So sometimes you have to just open up enough to go kind of ride the horse in the direction that it’s going to have the movie tell you what it wants.

Another documentary that comes to mind is the 2007 film The King of Kong, directed by Seth Gordon.

Seth GORDON: It was definitely a let’s-see-what-happens mission in the sense that we had no idea what would transpire.

Gordon’s made a lot of big movies and TV shows since then; he also worked on a documentary version of Freakonomics; that’s how I got to know him. The King of Kong is a great story about a couple of guys competing for the world-record score in the arcade game Donkey Kong. There’s the self-important defender, Billy Mitchell, and the underdog challenger, Steve Wiebe.

Steve WIEBE: I was just doing it because I thought it would be a neat achievement. I didn’t think it would ever blow up to be a big story.

GORDON: I had been going to the arcade featured in that film in New Hampshire, it’s called Fun Spot, since I was a kid. And I was aware that there was a culture of gamers for whom that was where the battles would be waged, and the official scores would be set. Because they have all the legitimate old machines. And I knew of Billy Mitchell, but I didn’t know if he was going to commit to be filmed by us. So that was a big question.

And then the other was, how would he and Steve be on camera? And because those were very much unknowns, we were simultaneously chasing other rivalries in the video game world, and we thought it was going to be a film that was about portraits of these rivalries. But because Billy is such an extraordinary person and masterful storyteller himself, he made the movie become about him.

Billy MITCHELL: Competitive gaming? When you want to attach your name to a world record, when you want your name written into history? You have to pay the price.

GORDON: Because of the situations that he created and the actions that he took, all the other storylines paled in comparison.

It makes sense that you can’t foretell how a documentary will unfold. But what about scripted entertainment? How locked-in are you there, and how flexible do you need to be?

HAHN: So you start out with a script and make it as good as you can. And then as you actually get into the production, you allow yourself to improvise and make it better. So animation is a real iterative process. You can visit and revisit and revisit, and sometimes it takes five or six or seven times of putting the movie up on reels to look at it and then have it fall apart and rebuild it and tear it down and rebuild it before it starts to be anything.

And the reason is the leap from the written word to a visual storytelling medium is huge. It’s like the leap from a recipe on a page to a beautifully prepared dinner that you’re actually ingesting. So on a page, how do you describe a perfectly cooked steak with just the right seasoning? You try your best, but once you get that in the frying pan and start to cook that steak, it’s a whole other thing.

And I think that’s why some people shy away from the making part because you can have perfection on a piece of paper and say, “This is a beautifully designed piece of architecture, or a fantastic recipe, or a great script,” and it’s going to really go south when you try to execute it, no matter what it is. And it’s just experience and craft that allows you to maintain some sort of order and work that written idea into something that’s actually visual up on the screen.

Again, as we’ve been hearing from all sorts of creatives: the execution of an idea requires determination, craft, experience, maybe a little luck. It’s almost enough to persuade you, at least in some cases, that if there were a competition between idea and execution, the idea isn’t even such a formidable competitor.

HAHN: There’s an argument to say a film like E.T. or Star Wars or Roger Rabbit was a great idea out of the box, and anybody could have made that movie. But I subscribe to the other approach, which is you can take a mediocre idea and put great people on it and come up with a great movie. So, take the Pixar movie Ratatouille. It’s the worst idea for a movie ever. It’s like, “Let’s put rats in a kitchen and we’ll make an animated film about it.” It’s a horrible idea. And there’s plenty of really good ideas — we’ve all seen movies that had tremendous promise and the buzz was great about them and then you go see you in the theater and they’re awful.

Filmmaking is, by its nature, a hugely collaborative project. Dozens, maybe hundreds of people, all with specific skills and tasks. It’s a creative team. That is a common construct these days, in many realms.

ISAACSON: We sometimes think that there’s some guy or gal who goes into a garage or garret, and they have a light bulb moment, and that’s how innovation happens. But that’s not the way it is. Great scientific research these days is going to be done in large collaborative units. When you look at how people are going to do gene editing, or CRISPR technology, or, for that matter, figure out background gravitational waves, these are the type of papers that are going to have dozens of names on them, or hundreds of names on them. And it’s not going to be like Newton sitting under an apple tree, or Galileo peering into a telescope, because this ability to make great mental leaps is now augmented and amplified by our ability to work together collaboratively.

AMABILE: Most work done in organizations now is done on a project basis, by teams. That has advantages because you’re combining the efforts of many people, you’re combining the viewpoints of many people. But oh, it’s hard.

Teresa Amabile has studied creativity in corporate settings by having people keep daily work diaries.

AMABILE: It’s really hard to work effectively in a team. It’s hard to manage a team effectively. And there are a number of things that can help. One is to make sure that you have a nice diversity of skills in the team, where people are not completely overlapping in what they know, because that redundancy is not really helpful, but where people do have different perspectives and different knowledge base to some extent that they can bring to the problem.

It’s also helpful to have different cognitive styles. So doing things better within a paradigm or differently outside paradigms, you’re likely to make a lot of progress in a project if you have both kinds of cognitive style on a team, but only if you have people who can effectively translate between the different styles. They have to be able to talk to each other and very often you find conflict arising. “That idea is crazy, how would you possibly think that that would work?” And on the other hand, “What are you doing, you’re stuck in the status quo, you’re not doing anything at all exciting, you’re boring.” And we actually in our research saw a team that had to just call a halt to its project because we had these very different cognitive styles and there was no one who could mediate between them. That can be someone else on the team, it can be a manager, but you have to watch out for that.

There’s one more thing a successful creative team needs.

AMABILE: You need a high level of trust. You need people to be to be willing to give each other a little slack, to give each other the benefit of the doubt. Under those circumstances, if you’ve got that diversity of skills and styles you can do great things on a team.

But some creative endeavors tend to be solitary, even if you routinely submit your work for feedback. And some creative people just prefer to work on their own. So how do those artists ship? How do they execute ideas without a team, without the boss or studio or publisher watching over them?

Dean SIMONTON: There are some people who, they are only creative in the morning. They will get up early, they will write so much, and then that’s it for the rest of the day.

Dean Simonton is a psychologist who for years has studied the productivity habits of creative giants.

SIMONTON: There’s others that can only work late at night after everybody has gone to bed. There’s others that make their own time. They have a cue, like who was it? I think it was Schiller, who had to have the smell of rotten apples. And when he felt like being creative, he’d pull out a rotten apple. And that would cue him to be creative.

DUBNER: What about you, when you’re working?

SIMONTON: I’m generally a morning person.

DUBNER: And do you need to cue or trick yourself in any way? Or do you sit down, and you put away the distractions and get to work?

SIMONTON: I, first of all I pick the morning because there’s the fewest distractions, and the smell of black coffee really helps as well. Okay. Pretty ordinary.

DUBNER: Do you think if you smelled it and didn’t actually consume the caffeine, it would have the same effect?

SIMONTON: Oh I have to have it. I need it.

DUBNER: So it’s not just the smell. The smell is the cue to the physiological reaction.

SIMONTON: No, I need the caffeine in my system. But then, usually by a few hours, I’m kind of pooped out. Sometimes I get rejuvenated before I go to bed. But then, it’s usually a glass of wine that does it. So go figure.

DUBNER: So, let’s say the pattern that you just described happens to be the one that I subscribe to. I’m a morning person. I get up early. I like those hours quiet, alone, etc. So if you’re that person, and let’s say you have four or five hours of really hardcore productivity and creativity, then you have the rest of the day. And let’s say you’re lucky enough to have a life like an academic, like you do, or a writer, like I do, and you can actually choose what to do. No one’s telling you what to do. What do you do there, with your now diminished capacity for creativity or productivity?

SIMONTON: Well, fortunately, guess what? You know this is the case. There’s so much else that’s involved with being creative. Like when the proofs arrive. You know? I can’t do proofreading in the morning. I don’t want to waste my creativity doing proofreading in the morning. The things on your reading list that you have to catch up on. And particularly when you’re doing what I’m doing, scientific research, you have to find out what other people are doing. I review a lot of submitted manuscripts and grant proposals.

DUBNER: Right. So you don’t want to waste your best brain cells on all that stuff?

SIMONTON: Oh, no. I mean don’t tell them that I’m only working at half-mast. You know?

DUBNER: I think you just did, but that’s okay.

Getting up early, drinking coffee; or staying up late and drinking wine; working alone, or with collaborators — plainly, there’s no single route for getting good work done. Everyone has their own strategies for executing ideas.

SIMONTON: Too many people want a one-size-fits-all. “What do I need to do to be creative?” And I’m afraid there’s no one-size-fits-all. There’s a few things that everybody has to adhere to. You have to know what you’re doing, and you have to be willing to fail. You have to be committed to achieving in that domain. You have to be reasonably bright, and so forth. But beyond that, some people have red socks and some people have purple socks.

* * *

Freakonomics Radio is produced by Stitcher and Dubner Productions. This episode was produced by Matt Frassica, with help from Stephanie Tam and Harry Huggins. Our staff also includes Alison Craiglow, Greg Rippin, and Zack Lapinski. Our theme song is “Mr. Fortune,” by the Hitchhikers; all the other music was composed by Luis Guerra. You can subscribe to Freakonomics Radio on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Here’s where you can learn more about the people and ideas in this episode:

SOURCES

Teresa Amabile, psychologist and professor emerita at the Harvard Business School.

Jennifer Egan, novelist and journalist.

David Galenson, economist at the University of Chicago.

Margaret Geller, astrophysicist at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Seth Gordon, filmmaker.

Don Hahn, filmmaker.

Gijs van Hensbergen, art historian.

Walter Isaacson, biographer and professor of history at Tulane University.

Jessica O. Matthews, inventor and c.e.o. of Uncharted Power.

Dean Simonton, professor emeritus of psychology at University of California, Davis.

RESOURCES

Creativity In Context by Teresa Amabile (Routledge 1996).

A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (Knopf 2010).

The Invisible Circus by Jennifer Egan (Knopf 1994).

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan (Scribner 2017).

Gaudi by Gijs van Hensbergen (Harper Perennial 2003).

Guernica by Gijs van Hensbergen (Bloomsbury Publishing 2005).

Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster 2017).

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster 2011).

EXTRA

“How to Be Creative,” Freakonomics Radio (2018).

“Where Does Creativity Come From (and Why Do Schools Kill It Off)?,” Freakonomics Radio (2018).

“Where Do Good Ideas Come From?,” Freakonomics Radio (2019).

The post A Good Idea Is Not Good Enough (Ep. 369) appeared first on Freakonomics.

from Dental Care Tips http://freakonomics.com/podcast/creativity-4/

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