Ten Things You Didin't Know About William Haskins

William Haskins is the sort of writer who makes you instantly feel like a hack. He writes with the sort of efficiency which cuts to the quick in three lines and leaves you thinking about them for the next three weeks. Get a load of this from The Necessary Language...

Panem Et Circenses (Bread and Circuses) 

By William Haskins 

feed the belly
dazzle the eye

quell the anger
snuff the cry

make the people
forget they die

hide the truth
and spread the lie

take the land
and sell the sky

tell them how
but never why

feed the belly
dazzle the eye

Through Absolute Write I have had the opportunity to joust a little and although our opinions may differ on certain subjects Haskins is faultless in his logic and respectful always. He, I think through no real intention, has hoards of fans  and a seeming inaccessibility which of course only adds to the mystery. Writer, producer, director, Haskins is a legend waiting to happen. Script supervisor and co-producer on the Burning Man documentary project he convinced me to delve a little further into this counter-culture and ask myself some difficult questions about the value of self expression. Which I swear I have put in my diary to do early next year (oh, I'm joking you losers). 

So with my ten questions in hand, I thought I would see if the Haskins enigma would crack open a little. Of course like the true gentleman he is I received a reply immediately. 

"Ten Things you didn't know about William Haskins"

Thanks for thinking of me.

-William

1. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, it would
be... crawfish.

2. If I weren't in business, I would be a... poet.

3. Something I would like to do, but haven't had the chance... travel
through Africa.

4. The last concert I went to... The Greencards.

5. My favorite toy as a kid... a starter set of oil paints.

6. When I'm not working, you'll find me... scribbling in a moleskine.

7. My favorite TV show is... news.

8. My oddest paranoia or superstition is... I'll never be able to fall
asleep again.

9. My last movie I saw was... "Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride" - a
documentary on the life of Hunter Thompson.

10. If I could have dinner with a famous person, dead or alive, he or she
would be... J.D. Salinger.
 

Thanks William! 

Some advice...

 

Here is some useful advice from a pro. English Cut is the sort of blog you read and can't help feeling shabby. In keeping with my share your knowledge mantra which I am going to sing in the new year with read this and start taking care of your suits...  

[A classic sleeve board, cheap and useful]

Recently I've had a lot of customers asking me about the best way to press and look after their suits. So I thought I'd let you know how I do things.

In an ideal world you've got yourself a good week's supply of bespoke clothing. I say this not to keep tailors like me in beer money, but to let you know how to get the very best from your bespoke wardrobe. If you're new to bespoke and have recently got your first suit, this often when caring problems arise.

You see, if your tailor has done a good job, your first bespoke will now be your favourite in the wardrobe, and you'll want to wear it all the time. Wonderful, but the problem is you'll end up wanting to wear it too much. As I've said before, a proper bespoke suit can easily last ten or fifteen years. But they need a rest, just like the rest of us. So the most important key to success is to rotate your wardrobe. Wear your suit a maximum of a couple of times a week. Then brush it down well with a good quality brush. It may not look dirty, but dust, pollen and other particles will have settled on the cloth. And if you don't shake them out they'll go deeper into fibre and you'll ingrain dirt into the fabric each time it's worn.

Secondly, always put your suit on a quality hanger. it should be broad and shaped to support the coat's shoulders. Also make sure the trouser bar is anti-slip- it's not very nice to find a heap on the wardrobe floor.

Now as long as you're not unlucky with the tomato ketchup, this is all you'll need to do, and trips to dry cleaners should be very rare. However, one thing that your suit will miss is a good pressing. To attempt this on a conventional ironing board is useless and frustrating, to say the least. They're always too small and you can never keep a hold of what you're pressing.

What you need is a good iron [preferably with the option to vertically spray steam], a good sleeve board [just like real tailors use] and a solid flat table and cloth. The manufactured sleeve boards you buy in the shops are pretty useless, so you're much better getting your local carpenter to make you one. Just show him the picture above, to give him an idea. You'll need to cover one side with padding, just like a regular ironing board. It's not rocket science to make, and you'll be in business right away. It'll last a lifetime and you'll wonder how you ever managed without it.

[Me trying to be a "Blue Peter" presenter. Sorry, only the British will get that one.]

Here's a little demo video of me using a sleeve board which will help. [You'll need Quicktime to view it, which you can download for free here.] Sorry the video's a bit short [my phonecam can only upload so much], but it gives you the idea.

Ten Cars to Drive if You Have No Self Esteem

Life is complex and appearences are important. If you are even remotely interested in the way you present yourself to the world, avoid driving these turkeys with wheels.

10. If you have picked up this little gem the message you are sending is "I don't care what I drive as long as it's a coupé". A lump of red plasticine with as many lights as possible jammed into the front of it the Hyundi Mk2 is the choice for zipping around on the weekend if you don't care who sees you. 

 

 

9. This is the sort of car which should have sold a million. The small car market was there and waiting and Audi came up with the A2. A boxy little piece of moulded aluminium which give the impression of no space or safety, exactly what the girls were looking for. Not. It even looks like a kickback to the old Audi days before they became sexy.

 

 

 

8. I don't care how much people try to convince me of the virtues of the Renault Avantime, the car is a turkey. It looks like a boat with a Velux stuck on the top of it. The descendants can go into the same bag - the Megane and the Vel Satis are also eyesores but I can't put them all in or it would look like I'm anti-Renault.

 

 

7. This goes into a slightly different catagory - "Cars I would buy if I had lots of money and I wanted to buy something expensive which looks like it has already had an accident." The old Morgans look cool, this looks goofy. I don't know how they managed to slip through headlights which look like my son drew them on. No offense Oscar.

 

 

6. The Citroen BX is the car people buy because they are convinced the motors are unbreakable. It may be true which of course means you are stuck with the thing for about half a million kilometres. And just because a car goes up and down hydraulically doesn't mean it's good. It doesn't even mean it's particularly technological, so for all of those guys who get out of these things in front of me wipe that stupid grin off your face. 

 

 

5. I want to buy something which encompasses everything crappy about American cars. Found it! The PT Cruiser. No one actually knows what PT stands for but I'll propose "pretty terrible" unless anyone has anything better. Clunky and uncomfortable this car looks like it should have stayed on the designers desk despite the obvious abuse of beer in the design process.

 

 

4. The Ford Ka. Even saying it sounds stupid. "I'd like to buy a Ka." Design school grads should get their heads out of the Ikea catalogue and start doing some real work.

 

 

 

3. All people movers are ugly. Get over it. They are experiments concocted by the Secret Service to see what people would be prepared to buy. Expensive, ugly, annoying, difficult to manoeuvre. "People will never buy this one", wrong again. The 807 is just one of many. 

 

 

 

2. How to take a basically good car and screw it up. The BMW Z3 is a nifty enough little thing so why did they decide to stick a hard roof on it turning the back into a type of squishy Mazda? This comes in at number two because of general disappointment.

 

 

 

1. This is the wackiest car on the road. This says "My life is just getting from point A to B". Fiat came out with this thing called a Multipla. I'm not sure why it's called a Multipla maybe because there are multiple choices in hating it. The design looks like a Smart squashed into a Twingo with headlights everywhere. I would have the impression of driving the "Cone of Silence" from Get Smart on wheels. Whatever. You turn up in one of these babies your self esteem must be at zero.

 

 

Thanks to Ugly Cars UK and to the Eggo project for the idea. Have a Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year and I will see you on the blog.   

Stop Whining and Get to Work

 

From my buddy (sort of) Guy Kawasaki, the king of the cheesy smile and the million dollar idea, comes one of the best interviews I have read on the web. If you have ever thought everything is too hard get a load of this woman and go back to work. Great stuff. 

Ten Questions With Aziza Mohmmand

What’s the most inspiring story of entrepreneurship that you’ve heard in 2006? My answer does not involve two guys in a garage who sell their company to Google for $1.6 billion. No way...my answer is a woman who runs a soccer-ball factory in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Her name is Aziza Mohmmand, and she told me what it takes to be a woman entrepreneur in Afghanistan. I met Aziza when I spoke to a group of Afghani women who were attending a class in entrepreneurship at Thunderbird in Glendale, Arizona. (Interestingly, Thunderbird is a former Air Force base.)

1. Question: What is your life story?

   Answer: I was born in Mazar-e-Sharif in 1959 to a liberal family. My father was a prosperous businessman. After high school I went to Kiev, Ukraine and received my masters degree in Social Sciences. Soon after I came back to Kabul in 1983, I was hired by Kabul Institute of Pedagogy as an instructor.

   In 1997 I continued my endeavors in education by starting a tutoring business in my home. My courses were offered to boys and girls both in one class, and they were popular across Kabul City especially during the Taliban regime when the girls were deprived of education. Gradually my classes were limited only to girls, and my home was the hope for 385 girls to study from first to ninth grade.

   Despite all the restrictions set forth by the Taliban regime and the challenges I faced every day, I continued my work until June, 1998 when the government confiscated girls’ schools all across the country and banned young women and girls from social life or participating in any educational institution. Consequently my school was forcibly closed, and I was desperate to find a safe place for my family.

   Thus, we moved to Pakistan to find our destiny and the lost hopes of my family. In Haripour, Pakistan I was hired by an American institute called Safe Children and worked as an instructor for three years. When the interim government announced its arrival in Afghanistan, I came back to Kabul and started my nonprofit organization named Moscau, and it was soon registered at the Department of Economy.

   In my NGO, I trained more than 2,000 men and women in baking, sewing, leather treatment, ball assembly, carpentry, electrical, blacksmith, plumbing, computer, and English language. In the ball assembly department, I hired 200 trainees who were widows and their family’s bread winners. They had no opportunities to work elsewhere.

   In order to help them improve, I hired some masters of leather goods to advance these women’s skills in ball assembly with my own money, but I soon realized that I couldn’t sell my products through my NGO. Therefore, in 2003 I registered the Moscau Leather Goods and Ball Production company with the Investment Committee of Afghanistan.

   My intention was to make a difference in the life of women in Afghanistan and keep them busy while they have an income with an active role in the growth and building of the new infrastructure of the country. In 2006, I established a foundation named Women’s Handicraft and Ball Assembly Industry and registered it with the Afghanistan Department of Justice.

   This foundation serves women of Afghanistan to improve their skills for making leather goods and leather balls. I am the first woman in Afghanistan involved in the leather goods industry. Despite numerous challenges in the beginning, now I feel very successful. I can produce any design in leather goods and return the finished product in any volume on the agreed-upon deadline.

2. Question: How many people work for your company?

   Answer: There are 220 widows who are the bread winners of their families in ball assembly and forty women in the leather goods department. I also work with five masters who specialize in treatment of leather goods.

3. Question: What kind of products do you sell?

   Answer: Different kinds of soccer balls, volleyballs, and handballs. In the leather goods department, I sell suitcases, wallets, purses, and other leather goods products.

4. Question: How many balls do you sell per year?

   Answer: In the first years we didn’t sell much, maybe 5,000 or 6,000 per year. In 2006, however, we sold 10,000 soccer balls, more than 3,000 children soccer balls, and 1,000 volleyballs. Our revenue in leather goods department was also good. Right now we have a contract with UNICEF for 173,000 school bags.

5. Question: How much do your employees make per month?

   Answer: Women in the ball assembly department are paid by piece. The skilled masters, however, are paid $150 per month.

6. Question: Where did you get the money to start the company?

   Answer: I started with $5,000 personal savings. I also took loans from friends in the beginning. I was lucky to have $3,000 worth of machinery from my previous business which I could use in the leather goods production.

7. Question: What’s the first thing you’re going to tell your family about America?

   Answer: The kindness and hospitality of the Americans.

8. Question: What did you like the most and the least about America?

   Answer: What I liked was the discipline in driving, great roads, advancement in the infrastructure of the country, respect, cooperation of people with each other, the value of human beings, execution of the law, hard-working people, peaceful environment, and beautiful nature. During my stay in the US, there was nothing that I didn’t like.

9. Question: What are the general living conditions for a woman in Afghanistan?

   Answer: Just in the center of the Kabul City living conditions are good for some women, but life in rural areas is not so good. Freedom for women outside big cities is very little. Maybe 10% of the women in rural areas are independent and have freedom of action.

   In rural areas, life is better for educated people. In general, life is okay in villages and small cities. Girls can now go to school the same as boys. Unemployment rate is pretty high for young people even in Kabul, but in rural areas unemployment is much higher.

10. Question: What factors does a woman have to overcome to start and run a company in Afghanistan?

    Answer: If a woman decides to do business, she should be ready for many problems dealing with security, religion, family, regional concerns, and gender. Women have to overcome all the above problems in order to be successful in their businesses. Most women who start a business normally enjoy their husband’s, brother’s, and father’s support.

11. Question: Under Taliban rule, what was your life like?

    Answer: My family and I had a lot of problems at the beginning of the Taliban regime. My home tutoring practice didn’t observe Taliban’s regulations for separation of boys and girls. Later in 1998 I was forced to immigrate to Pakistan where I was constantly threatened to death by the religious hard liners. Eventually I was supported by the security forces of Pakistan and could have a safer life in exile.

12. Question: How has your life changed since the war?

    Answer: After the fall of Taliban, some circumstances, including the establishment of my NGO have made great changes in my life. I started my own business through which I could educate thousands of Afghans. I could rub elbows with men to achieve the freedom of running my business and dive into the future.

13. Question: Are you living in greater fear of terror because you are an entrepreneur?

    Answer: Obviously, no life is without problem, but human beings have a great power of adaptation. We work hard to annihilate the dangers and the risks that we take every minute of our lives. Over the past four years, since I started my business, I have never been threatened for doing business per se.

14. Question: What would happen if America pulled its troops out of Afghanistan?

    Answer: The US forces allied with the international peacekeeping troops are the major support for peace in Afghanistan. Without their active support, bloodshed will cover all the country and people of Afghanistan will no longer experience peace.

15. Question: What can someone who’s just a “regular person” do to help your country?

    Answer: Anybody in any country can help his/her fellow human being. However, in an advanced capitalist country such as the US, entrepreneurs can greatly help the Afghans who are novices in investment. Americans can further provide social, economic, and humane support for Afghans. I need your support in order to better help the women in Afghanistan who are expecting my support.

Hey

Hey!

Ten Best Presentations Ever

I lifted this from Know HR's Squidoo lens. I've linked to it before and I'm linking to it again. If you study all of these you will instantly be in the top two percent of all people presenting today. Have fun and a thanks to the Know HR guys for some great compilation work. 

Steve Jobs Introduces the Macintosh in 1984 

Hello, Steve.

Steve Jobs introduces the Macintosh in 1984. Back then, Steve dressed like Tucker Carlson circa 2006, but black tee shirts and jeans or double-breasted jacket and bow tie, this Macintosh unveiling rocked the house. Steve has perfected the sense of theater, and none is better than this one. Check out how he pulls the 3.5-inch floppy from his jacket pocket. Flair, baby.

Dick Hardt and Identity 2.0 

Watch fast, listen faster. You'll know Dick.

Dick Hardt's Identity 2.0 presentation at OSCON 2005. Hardt's preparation and energy sets the standard for presentation quality. He uses hundreds of slides in this 20-minute, high buzz work. Heck, I didn't even care about virtual identity and still watched this one five or six times. It has a chance of becoming my presentation Dirty Dancing (which I've seen 100 times), where "nobody puts baby in the corner."

Guy Kawasaki and The Art of the Start 

Create meaning.

Guy Kawasaki's Art of the Start speech at TiECon 2006. In the 40-minute presentation (PDF of slides here), Kawasaki talks about innovation and business evangelism. When he talks about "Make Mantra" it's well worth listening to. The beauty of his speech is that he uses a Top 10 approach and is unafraid to speak plainly and with great humor (which is sadly lost in public speaking).

MLK and I Have a Dream 

Let freedom ring.

Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech in 1963. Who can argue that Dr. King's speech in Washington on August 28, 1963 was anything but brilliant and changed the trajectory of America? But the rheotrical beauty of this speech is also unparalleled. At a time when our language has been reduced to the common, it's essential to look upon the preparation and thought that Dr. King used for this monumetal speech.

Lawrence Lessig and Free Culture 

Think Open.

Lawrence Lessig's Free Culture talk at the 2002 Open Source Conference. The master of the simple slides shows us how it's done. And since, as he says, this is his 100th time for this talk, he has this bad boy down solid. Even though this talk is from 2002, his slide presentation style is still as fresh today as Axe Body Spray.

Malcolm Gladwell and Blink 

You'll get it in an instant.

Malcolm Gladwell's Blink presentation at SXSW 2005. I've seen Gladwell talk a couple of times in person, and he's brilliant. He talks fast and he makes points by telling stories. He doesn't lecture, he paints a picture. All this from one of the foremost thinkers of our age. Gladwell makes the points, "We can do more with less. And there are real dangers in giving people too much information." Hey, that reminds me, Where are his slides? Oh, he's presenting without slides. How about that?

Tom Peters and a Ham Sandwich 

Thriving on high energy.

Tom Peters presents A Ham Sandwich in 1990. Okay, this isn't a Peters presentation, but the guy has so much passion that he can make a ham sandwich sound compelling. I saw him a few times in the late 80s during the height of the Thriving on Chaos days, and that was some rallying cry. In the link here, Peters outlines what makes a great presentation. No one can leave a Tom Peters presentation saying they weren't energized and entertained.

Seth Godin at Google 

Mark his works.

Seth Godin talks about Marketing at Google in 2006. "Technology doesn't win, but it sure gives you a chance at marketing." Godin knows the story, lived it, and tells it. He also uses slides to his advantage to persuade his audience that he's right. Check out the slide he calls "No one cares about you." Is there anything wrong with getting people to laugh and think at the same time?

Andy Kaufman and Here I Come to Save the Day 

Mighty Mouse is on his way.

Andy Kaufman sings along to Mighty Mouse on SNL in 1975. Mies van der Rohe would have been proud, because Kaufman showed the essence of "less is more" in this Saturday Night Live skit. I'm not suggesting that your presentations should be filled renditions of superhero songs, but negative space is important, and this presentation was both ahead of its time and pointed in its simplicity.

Rupert Everett and Say a Little Prayer 

The moment I wake up...

Rupert Everett sings I Say a Little Prayer for You in MBFW in 1997. Okay, this is just one of our favorites and isn't exactly a "presentation." In fact, it's from a movie - My Best Friend's Wedding. But isn't a lot of what we do a "presentation" designed to persuade people to believe our story? The beauty of this one is the lead-in and then the music. Oh, the power of music. And if you haven't seen this movie, the last scene is just fantastic.

The Art of the Pitch

This is a cool idea from Jim at Marketing Profs:Daily Fix. I know a few people who should sharpen their pitches who are wallowing in the quagmire of marketing departments letting their skills go saggy. Get to it guys. 

"If you own a business, or are responsible for marketing a business, you know that two of the most important things you need to have fine-tuned is your USP (unique selling proposition) and your elevator statement....

Now, normally, most businesses start with those things in a business plan. However, more often than not in today’s Web community, ideas are rapid and businesses form quickly, and those “minor details” get left behind to be filled in later.

What to do? Well, I have an idea that may help.

Pitch your business to TechCrunch.

Or at least just pretend to. It doesn’t matter if your business isn’t about online technology; this exercise still works. The form on TechCrunch is the perfect tool to help you fine-tune your pitch.

It requires you to briefly describe what your company is/does in hopes for a review. You answer things like, “describe your product or service,” “key competitors,” and “please tell us anything else that you consider important about your company.”

I suggest that all marketers take this exercise for each product/service they work with. I recently did it myself and what I ended up with was a lot different/better than what I started with.

Oh yeah, if you get accepted & reviewed by TechCrunch (142k rss subscribers), that’s not such a bad thing either. :0"

The Art of Sharing and Social Networking

This from Tom Peters (my take on it is after): 

"Oddly enough, I've run into two situations in the last 24 hours where someone wanted to restrict the activities of a competitor relative to seminars I was giving or products I was developing. It's a position that I adamantly oppose on both moral and commercial grounds.

At the top of my business priority list, I want my overall market to grow by leaps and bounds. My market share will go down (It was about 100% after In Search of Excellence, when I was more or less the only public "management guru"), but my revenue will soar—the "bigger pie" axiom.

In short, I want my competitors to thrive. And I welcome their presence at my events. I go so far (see our "Cool Friends" interviews, for example) as to enhance their careers!

Does all this suggest an altruistic streak? Perhaps, but I actually think mostly not. I think that when one badmouths one's competitors or tries to limit their activities, the "word gets around." And one develops a reputation as prickly and egocentric—and, well, as a selfish jerk.

More important, my only effective long term defense (think Apple) is to do better and different work—and earn and retain the custom of those who would engage me.

In the original glory days of IBM, one of the legendary Thomas Watson's Golden Rules was "Thou shalt never badmouth a competitor." In fact, to violate this rule was a no-debate firing offense. As IBM struggled in the eighties, the rule slipped into disuse, and the company's reputation suffered as a result. Back to my basic premise, IBM's real problem was the loss of product distinction.

I come down hard on Mr Watson's side. It is my goal—selfishly, actually—to be a highly regarded member of my professional community. Speaking crudely, I think that is an incredibly strong and sustainable competitive advantage. And, yes, I bloody well do want to win more than my fair share of business.

Your opinion?"

 I'll tell you what I think Tom, my opinion is French people I talk to can't seem to get their heads around this idea either. Even the idea of blogging and sharing information and ideas about work practices apparently is a way to total ruin from people stealing from me. This is bollocks and is the type of thinking which is driving the economy here at a snail's pace.

I have participated in social networking groups and I'm not convinced the French are ready to operate using a spirit which is beneficial for everyone. People are passive and clan-like. This means they will stay in small safe groups viewing people from outside their group as intruders. They will share limited information for fear of someone ripping them off and talk crap with people they already know. It's instant aristocracy and it's obvious from a mile away. Newcomers are seduced by the prospect of meeting new contacts but quickly recognize the school yard atmosphere. 

Get talking everyone. For God's sake pull your fingers out and give the idea of real social networking a chance. There are great structures in place for people to be doing business rapid-fire instead of chipping away at icebergs. If France wants to go from zero growth to playing with the big boys she must stop preening herself in front of the mirror and stop prattling on about les trente glorieuses and start interacting, working intelligently, thinking differently and stopping the perpetual bleeding of the wound of suspicion.  

Peekaboo Moments

I want to link to this blog just about everyday. It's always posting articles I wish I had written or wish I had thought of when talking to groups. I will definately rip this idea off... 

Brains are turned on by puzzles. Brains are turned on by figuring things out. Brains are turned on by even the smallest "aha" moments. And despite what some of you (*cough* men *cough*) might believe, the brain is more turned on by seeing just the arms of a naked woman behind a shower curtain than it is by seeing all of her. So if you're trying to engage someone's brain, don't show everything. Let their brain connect the dots.

At least, that's what the neuroscientists say in the latest issue of Scientific American Mind. In their article The Neurology of Aesthetics, our favorite brain guy V.S. Ramachandran and Diane Rogers-Ramachandran describe a series of "laws" of aesthetics (they put "laws" in quotes) and how they're supported by what we know of the brain. My favorite--and one that we've been talking about (minus the festive name) for a long time here--is known as Peekaboo.

From the article:
"An unclothed person who has only arms or part of a shoulder jutting out from behind a shower curtain or who is behind a diaphanous veil is much more alluring than a completely uncovered nude. Just as the thinking parts of our brain enjoy intellectual problem solving, the visual system seems to enjoy discovering a hidden object.

Evolution has seen to it that the very act of searching for the hidden object is enjoyable, not just the final "aha" of recognition--lest you give up the chase.

Otherwise, we would not pursue a potential prey or mate glimpsed partially behind bushes or dense fog."

If something dangerous is hiding in the bushes, it's damn useful for the brain to reconstruct a complete tiger from just a few bits of orange and black peeking out between the leaves. Apparently it's all the little mini-aha moments that send messages to the brain that prompt still more searches and more mini-ahas until the final BIG aha where your brain nails it.

It goes on:

"The clever fashion designer or artists tries to evoke as many mini "ahas," ambiguities, peak shifts and pardoxes as possible in the image."

We're always trying to leave something to the reader/learner/observer's imagination. Something for them to fill in. (This relates to our earlier space between the notes post).

In my workshops and talks, I show a series of photos where things are not fully resolved... a face hidden behind a hand, a (potentially naked) woman staring intently at an object you can't quite see, the lower half of a young man suspended in air next to a tree, where you can't see the ground OR anything above his waist (is he hanging from the tree? on a trampoline? in the midst of an alien abduction?) To the brain, these "Hmmm... what's the story here?" images are virtually irresistible. The brain needs to figure it out, and enjoys the experience.

This applies to non-visual things as well, of course. In learning, the more you fill things in and hold the learner's hand, the less their brain will engage. If they don't need to fire a single neuron to walk through the tutorial, lesson, lecture, etc., they're getting a shallow, surface-level, non-memorable exposure of "covered" material, but... what's the point? Obviously this doesn't mean you just never tell them anything period. This is about graduated hints, mental teasing, cognitive treasure hunts, sparking curiosity, etc. Things that engage the brain. (This is part of the brain-friendly strategy we use in our books.)

Whether you're trying to get someone's attention, keep their attention, motivate them to stick with something, or help them to learn more deeply and retain what they've learned, leave something for their brain to resolve. Do something to turn their brain on.

[Disclaimer: this does NOT apply to something like reference docs, where you don't want their brain to become engaged. With reference material, I want to get them in and out as quickly as possible--with the accurate info they need--and where retention and recall is not a goal.]

The Limit of Fluro Bikinis

Now maybe I'm not a marketing genius but I'd like to be a fly on the wall in the debreifing sessions for this one in my beloved Adelaide. I adore the last line. I can't figure why internet visits have gone up either... 

 

THE $180 million Where The Bloody Hell Are You? international tourism campaign is an expensive flop, with a drop in the number of visitors in the past year.

Tourism numbers released yesterday showed the expensive campaign - which cost $40 million in its first four months, and a further $140 million to roll out internationally over two years - has not worked any magic in the UK, Japan or Germany. These were the three countries the Government touted as having the greatest exposure to the campaign.

In October, 60,400 UK tourists visited our shores - down 2.3 per cent on the same time last year. While there was a jump in Chinese tourists and a small climb in the number of Americans visiting our shores, there were 5.7 per cent fewer from Japan and a drop of 4.7 per cent in German tourists.

The dip in British visitors came despite Tourism Minister Fran Bailey's high-profile dash to London to salvage the campaign earlier this year when the advertisement was banned by UK censors.

While there, she lived the London high life, spending $50,000 in just a week, to promote the campaign.

Expensive air fares, top hotels and spending money were afforded to the minister and one of her staff members during the whistlestop March trip.

The pair was accompanied by the public face of the campaign, glamour bikini model Lara Bingle, in their bid to reverse the British ban on the controversial commercial.

Labor tourism spokesman Martin Ferguson said the campaign was costly and not yet proving effective.

"We've been told it was a huge success and generated all these hits on a website but the latest tourism figures show the numbers are down 2.3 per cent."