THAT’S HEAVY MAN: Totally floored by gravity wave discovery

Illustration showing white dwarf stars creating gravity waves as they spiral inward. PHOTO CREDIT: NASA

WHILE THIS BLOG is mostly about things related to my new company, one thing you should know about me is that I’m a bit of science geek.  Once upon a time, I actually thought I was going to be a scientist (I studied earth science in college) before getting a crazy idea to be a journalist. The curiosity is still there - I just use it differently.

So, while I work with images and words today, news of amazing scientific discoveries often thrills me or humbles me. Sometimes, that news does both. And the gravity wave news last week was, in a word, awesome.

I won’t get into the science component of this, which others can do far better than I. But I understand enough to perhaps describe why we should care, and why it should be big news to everyone.

I mean, gravity is one of those things that humanity has been struggling with since Adam and Eve. Like death and taxes, it’s one of those inevitable, irresistible, and unfathomable powerful forces that seem uncontrollable.

Yeah, sure, we have learned to mimic birds by flying, but our solutions to gravity (costly, fuel-guzzling vehicles) only get us in the air briefly and even then, a slight malfunction can be repaid with disaster. (My wife and I often disagree on how long a flight is. I measure flying time, she measures door to door. Why? Because we’re only defying gravity while we’re airborne).

And there you have it — the phrase “defying gravity.” Defying whom, exactly? If gravity is a law, who passed it?

So, the confirmation that gravity waves exist is huge. It's amazing we (sort of) have a chance at understanding how this invisible, silent force pulls us to the planet and the planets to each other. Like a thread that if pulled on unravels a garment, so too is the detection of a gravity wave.

Gravity, Einstein said, is tied up with our conceptions of what time and space truly are (it’s now sometimes called the same thing, i.e. “spacetime”). Evidence now in hand, perhaps this mysterious force can somehow, just maybe, be tamed — as we have learned to do with electromagnetism, one of the the other fundamental forces (the one behind everything from lasers to smartphones).

More importantly, and forgive me for getting a bit metaphysical, the notion we might be capable of understanding space, time, and gravity is so fundamental to questions of existence and our relationship to creation that it’s hard not to be excited. And, it gives this writer hope — hope that if we really understand how intricate, beautiful, and special creation is, we can use it as the basis to see and value each other the same way.

Sentimental and silly to some, I suppose. But it's thoughts like that one that lift my spirits and thereby defy gravity every day for me.

IT'S ALL GOOD: You're Not Off Message If You're Authentic

LOTS OF RULES are being broken these days - and you don't have to look any further than the headlines to see the evidence. In the field of storytelling, rules are always being broken. But we're here to say: it's all good, even if the language feels different.

Case in point: people once believed any effort to tell an organization's story had to have at least a token "hard sell" component -- or it was a waste of effort and advertising dollars. If you were selling cars, for example, you needed to place images of cars in the ad. And, you had to ask people to buy them. This doctrine (sort of) made sense, back in the days when communicating your story required large investments of time and money.

Well, guess what? In today's world, where we're all bombarded with nonstop selling, positioning, and spin, there are new rules.  And we're increasingly learning that often, the best message is one that is simply real. (Often, you'll hear the word "authentic" used to describe this). Now, I could do a deep dive and attempt to explain this phenomena with fancy philosophical terms like post-modernism and existentialism -- but that would probably put you off, right?

See what I mean? If you're reading this, you just want me to get to the point.

I submit that the most-sought-after quality today isn't necessarily wealth, status, or fame. It's a desire for real relationships. We want them with our elected leaders and the companies we do business with. We want them at home and with our friends. Just stop the baloney. And that's why storytelling for your organization can be (and actually should be) "off message" if it's speaking the truth and demonstrating the real character of you, your organization, your employees and their hearts. 

With this understanding, stories can really get out of the box. They are all good. Let's take a simple hypothetical case: your organization sets aside time for employees to "take a child to work day." Why not do a story about it and share with your clients? It actually says a lot about a lot about your company and its values. Who cares if it totally omits your product or service? After all, it's a story about one of your employees and it's on your web site/blog/newsletter/Facebook. That's plenty of connection. 

Now, I'm not knocking traditional ads - they have their place, and also benefit from real storytelling. Nor am I saying that you should not blog or post about traditional topics for your organization. I also am not endorsing the "any publicity is good publicity" theory.

Far from it.

I'm merely saying the doors are open to other kinds of stories, and that today's much more accessible self-publishing options empower organizations to tell a rich variety of true stories in many formats and platforms. In turn, those stories demonstrate the core values of your organization in all the new forms of media.

Got an idea? Hit us with it.

PS - No disrespect to philosophy majors. I actually enjoy those discussions - maybe a future post?

FRESH BREAD: What does your storefront window say?

ON FISHERMAN'S WHARF in San Francisco, many shops try to stand out as they offer their wares to the thousands of tourists. Locals may cringe at the crowds, perhaps even more so this past Super Bowl weekend, but it's hard to turn down a trip to Ghirardelli Square. Through the big picture window of another landmark, the Boudin Bakery, this young woman was making the famous sourdough.

She was also telling a story.

Can't you almost taste it? If the delicious smell of the baking bread didn't lure you inside, the friendly smile certainly would.

I hate to to be too obvious, but what is currently showing through your organization's picture window right this moment? Do you have a blog? Is it fresh and engaging? How often is it updated? You don't have to be selling bread to know that things left out too long quickly get stale.

Here at Key Content, we're on a mission to kill stale websites and moribund social media postings.  And while we haven't figured out a way to transmit mouth-watering bakery smells across the Internet just yet, we'll make sure your cup of content is fresh. 
 

WAR STORIES: Everyone has them, and they can be your biggest assets

THIS IMAGE from photographer John Gaps III showed up in the inbox the other day, and it transported me back 25 years to the Saudi Arabian desert, bringing with it a flood of war story memories from Operation Desert Storm. I covered the war and its aftermath as a network radio correspondent.

Saddam Hussein had been firing the Scud missiles at U.S. forces every night. This particular missile I am standing over (jokingly holding my trusty microphone for an 'interview')  landed near Dharan, where most media were based during the war. It reminded me that one night, I had been sharing notes with an editor in Washington. He asked me if I'd seen any Scuds. Just at that precise moment, a Scud magically appeared on the horizon, fire flickering from the nozzles in its tail. It was surreal. I started giving play-by-play. "Why yes, there's one out my window right now. It's moving left to right along the horizon."

The photo and the memories it triggered made me think about the nature of war stories, which of course don't have to be about war. It's part of the human spirit to cast events as stories, from Greek plays to Marvel blockbusters. The war story, whether factual or fictional, has the most ancient of pedigrees. Our heroes and villains stand in sharp relief and live long in our memories.

The point is, war stories are so powerful you probably have noticed that you tell them over and over again. And more than that, people ask you to retell them. It could be anything from a lawyer's great courtroom moment to a nonprofit's courage in responding at a disaster scene. Not every story has to have a happy ending, either. Think back to campfire tales and you'll know what I mean.

Told well, your war stories are an asset. Don't be afraid about telling them. They can -- and will -- connect you to your audience in unexpected ways. Take a moment to think back about a time of adversity or triumph. Maybe even a defeat and a lesson learned.  I think you'll find the revealing nature of the war story can generate respect, empathy, camaraderie, and shed a little light on the character of your organization and its staff -- and even its clients and customers.

Those are stories worth telling - and retelling.

GETTING IN GEAR

A photographer joke running on the web these days makes a bit of fun at the expense of a dinner party host. The host compliments a guest's photos, saying "what a great camera you have." At the end of the night, the shooter in turn compliments the host's delicious meal, saying "what a great stove you have." 

Kidding aside, it's a truism that some of the strongest content in history was made with primitive equipment. This persists despite the fact that almost no one judges writing technology ("that's a great word processor you have").

Gear can be important, of course. And yes, like many media folk, I talk tech all the time, from microphones to lights. But the story always remains at the center.  So, while I'm hardly the first to note the web publishing revolution nor to advise every organization to publish (and publish often), I hope to be at the forefront of a wave of trained 'all format' storytellers who will empower businesses and employees to get their own stories out. Sometimes it will be with images we make -- but it could easily be a humble smartphone selfie if it fits the story. 

The old days of the town crier are in some ways coming full circle. When organizations publish, the most loyal readers and viewers are naturally the 'townies' in our own virtual town square. This audience stands in sharp contrast to traditional mass communication, with a twist: the power of "share" button. We all know that if your stories are good, your reach will expand. Your firm'sfollowers definitely want to hear your stories. We want to help tell them well.

What are the economics of this? That's what the major broadcasters, cable providers, newspapers, magazines and ad agencies are all trying to figure out. Some thoughts on this in the next post.