Seth Godin [+] Designing Better Books?

I am a HUGE fan of Seth Godin. He is doing in marketing what I am aspiring to do in design. He is indeed a Marketers Marketer, and in this video (http://tr.im/desigingbooks) he talks about a situation that I have thought about a lot. A WHOLE LOT. The book industry. The question I have always had is... "Will the book industry dissolve into the noise...?" OR will we find innovative new ways to design books (not simply from an aesthetics standpoint) BUT from a marketing and distribution standpoint? Why does this concern me? As a Designer? Because it's about design thinking. It's about thinking from a designers perspective - "creatively".

As Designers, what is our role in saving the book industry? IF IT NEEDS SAVING... This has not been validated yet... BUT IF IT DOES, what is our role?

I think we need to start designing new ways that books are not only created aesthetically, BUT we need to start thinking about new ways to distribute books... Enough of my rambling, Seth Godin shares a video that I feel should not only inspire you to rethink how you are marketing and creating books, BUT he is also giving you a glimpse into the future of book marketing...

Enjoy.

How to create bestselling books...
http://tr.im/designingbooks

Tagged Rocket Ships

Remixing Soul Camp 2010: Soulful Intervention

A few days ago I posted a update to my Facebook page that went something like this...

Rethink. Redefine. Reinvent.

This is something that I have always believed in and something that I have always "preached" to people I am coaching and or mentoring. TODAY however; I had to quickly preach it to myself. After a day of pondering ideas for a workshop that I am designing - geared towards helping organization leaders re-connect with the soul of their project[s] - I called it "Soul Camp 2010: Soulful Intervention" and this was an idea that I pulled from a recent creative/strategy session that I had with a non-profit group that is about to do something TOTALLY amazing... More info on that coming later... ANYHOO! This session was like no other I had ever experienced. At the end of it - I was so connected to the project, that I knew that the format and structure of the session had great value. Throughout the course of the session the idea "Soul Camp" was like a vapor filling the atmosphere - AND ultimately we started calling what we were experiencing "Soul Camp".

Here is where it get's tricky....

Today I sat and reflected on that experience and I wanted to give the idea some legs, some legacy, and I named my up-coming workshop - Soul Camp 2010: Soulful Intervention... WELL shortly after building intro graphics and starting my collaborative efforts I received a tweet from a team member, that the term "Soul Camp" was the brainchild of one of the earlier session participants... NOT only was I thrown back, BUT I was dismayed because I would never steal an idea... NEVER!! And if you know me... I have far too many of my own!!

Long story short... I had to take my advice... Rethink. Redefine. Reinvent.

Sorry @Kindness girl (http://twitter.com/kindnessgirl) for steppin on your toes!! You rock, and I am sure you will rock "Soul Camp".. Let's go!

Soul Camp 2010: Soulful Intervention

Thinking about Soul Camp 2010: Soulful Intervention - Reconnecting leaders to the soul of their project [s] for the purpose of innovating and designing new products and services... Looking for collaborators and thinkers...

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Rethinking the branding on this idea... Stay tuned!! 

 

The sustainability of love

How love comes into being is indeed magical. If you are are reading this, you can probably account to a time (or two, or three) in your life where this magical manifestation called "love" has happened. As I get older, I come closer and closer to the stark realization that though the manifestation of love is magical, the nurturing and developing of love is quite fundamental. Honesty, transparency, the willingness to stay in a state of learning and both parties yielding to the will of the other - are all fundamental practices (among others) that are quintessentially the keys to the sustainability of love.

Terry Graham [+] Future Journalist

This post is going to be a little off topic for me BUT I love the idea that is being spread here...

If you have been following me for all of a week, you would know that I am currently in the role of Interactive Managing Editor at WFXL FOX 31 under the direction of Barrington Interactive. They are changing the game. I am blessed to be part of it. BUT this is NOT what this post is about... What this post is about is a statement that the stations Executive News Director said... He was conducting his usual morning strategy meeting with the journalist and reporters and he says...

"You will NEVER be a great journalist if you fail to read the news, both online and off..." ~ Terry Graham

Sitting in my lab, I over heard this, and it literally sent a chill up my spine. The way that he said it and the conviction in his voice was indeed compelling. At that moment, when I heard him say "...both ONLINE and off" I not only became a fan, but I gained a whole new respect for Terry. This is the future of journalism.

After he was done with his "rant dressing", I went into his office and I thanked him. He shared something that I fundamentally believe will be ONE of the game changers. Tomorrows journalist will have a greater touch with the information, the single most valuable commodity in the world, and from his statement, I KNOW that Terry Graham is in the game.

Thanks Terry Graham. You rock my friend.

Twitter #futurejournalism

My iPhone App Addiction

(download)

Screen shots of my current iPhone apps

From time to time...

From time to time you encounter creative directors who can read your mind... Kinda like a Jedi, or Ninja... Josh Boutwell is one of those types. Since I have been at WFXL FOX 31 under the direction of Barrington Interactive - Josh Boutwell (@JoshBoutwell) has always been able to take my vision for a project and make it tangible. This is a gift, and a craft. Josh Boutwell can hear me sketch a thing out in words and bring the imagery sound and atmosphere to it just as it is in my mind. For this I am totally grateful. I have worked with many creative people - BUT Josh Boutwell is one of those people who not only takes a project to a new level, he commands that the project is soulful and excellent.

Thanks Josh

Project: { mojo } - Cell Journalist, WFXL FOX 31 (www.mysouthwestga.com)
Creative Direction: Josh Boutwell (@JoshBoutwell)
Production: Ben Mcleod
Vision: Vincent Hunt

Project Link: http://tr.im/A0pG

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Why I do what I do... Legacy.

Photo

The girl in this image depends on me. Not simply for her shelter, food and clothing, BUT she depends on me for her creative well-being. She depends on me to shape a future, a brighter one, one that is sustainable. She depends on my courage, and my tenacity in a very profound way and the totality of her dependence has an end road, and this end road is called legacy. See... One day she will have an image, and in that image will be someone that depends on her. And the things that I forward to her, she will in fact... Forward to them. So in all that I do, I am forever reminded of the Big Why of it all. I am reminded of the unspoken truth that prevails in my every waking moment. I am reminded of legacy and the importance of it.

Thank you John Haydon (@JohnHaydon) for being a reminder, a voice and an influence. You rock brotha!!

Daddy loves you soooo much KaRiana Hunt (@KaRianaHunt)...

Ideation: Blogging with passion - Soulful Excellence

This morning, as I do from time to time, I asked the question (on Twitter)... "What should I blog about?" As normal I got a few chimes that came my way with interesting ideas. Now, the people who follow me on a regular basis kinda know my "vibe", so they offer up really great ideas - BUT you always have the random ideas, that even if I wanted to blog about them, I couldn't because I have no love for them, no "passion" - SO this leads me to the idea that I want to spread...

Ideation, the process of generating ideas: passionate blog post

I am a firm believer in ideas, but I am an even bigger believer in passionate, soulful ideas, and though I am going to talk about the ideation process as it pertains to generating blog post that are passionate and relevant, I want to make it part of public record that this process should apply to EVERY IDEA that you generate... It will indeed matter...

Ideate in your field of passion. Period.

I can feel blog post... So can your readers, so when you write a blog post MAKE DARN sure that it's something that you are passionate about. Do not blog, just for the sake of blogging... That sucks. Blog about things that really matter to you, blog about things that are compelling to you. IF you take just this one bit of advice, your blog post will be stickier, and your ideas will spread. Your content will be sustainable - revisiting the content FOR YOU will be a delight, and you can build on the knowledge share of your content with grace. So on to the Ideation process, or at least MY ideation process...

1. Crowd Source - Find out what your audience has concerns about. Your readers want to be talked to, not talked at.
2. Sift - Sift through the noise, capture the ideas that line up with your field of passion
3. Refine - Take what you discover and shape it to an idea that you can get fired up about, for example:

One of my Followers (@LifeofSubstance) tweets... "@VincentHunt blog about ideation... as in how u get ideas about what to blog about"

I took this and asked myself a few questions, internal ones, and I discovered that though I think it's important to talk about the ideation process, I think it's MORE important (to me, and hopefully you) that I dig deeper and talk about the "vein" that the ideas need to come from, THEN support that idea with a process - THUS...

Ideation: Blogging with passion - Soulful Excellence

... becomes the blog post. This idea is something that I can get fired up about, and it allows me to feed my readers content that matters to them, while also giving me the space I need to fully rest in my passion field (no worries... I will be blogging about "passion fields", I have mentioned it quite a bit in this post).

4. Deliver - Deliver the idea with the passion that created it. Write it in YOUR style, and make the words come alive on the screen.

In conclusion..

The Ideation process behind finding topics to blog about should be an organic one. One that supports and nurtures your passion field, delivers relevant and meaningful content to your readers and last but not east, compels your readers to engage your content in a way that is sustainable.