PSFK's Good Ideas Salon, London-Style

PSFK will be hosting a full day-long Good Ideas Salon, in London on January 30, 2009. From a varied mix of PSFK hand-picked innovators and leaders in creative thinking, attendees will gain insight into such areas as: arts & culture, collaboration, design, digital, marketing, mobile, and youth.

Friedlander Photography at MIA

How do you shape the way Americans see and understand their world?

Attend the Friedlander photography exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts June 29-September 14 to see how Lee Friedlander through his photography has shaped how Americans see and understand their world.

Then, take a step back in your world and look at how you shape it. Shift to a different lens and create new shapes. Do these shapes help others (not just Americans) see and understand their world?

Tagging People At The Airport

While I was sitting at the Orlando International Airport with a few hours to kill before my flight yesterday, thought it would be interesting to write about my experience from the morning.

Prelude to the story: think about how much airport security blows. The hassles, the lines…must be an easier way, right?

When I flew out of Orlando, first thing I noticed was that security was divided up based on your ‘ranking’ as a traveler- Family, Casual, and Expert. There are a few airports experimenting with this (more deets), but this was the first time I’ve seen it first hand. After making a quick and probably unfair assessment of the three lines, I decided Expert was probably the route I should take even though I’m not sure I am one. But I kept an eye on how things were going in each line to see if this segregation was actually working and making security a less problematic process.

Overall I think it worked quite well (for most people). For me, especially after having a horrific security experience at another airport a couple weeks ago, have to say I was loving the ease of the experience.

Expert
As you would expect, the smoothest sailing of the 3. Everyone in this line had no more than two (compact) bags, said little or nothing at all to fellow passengers (even the ones who appeared to be traveling in pairs or groups). Plenty of casually dressed people in this line, many college-age and twenty-somethings. Lack of business suited-up professionals was likely due to it being a holiday, but not surprisingly its not hard to pick out the business travelers.

The flow of the line was fast, faster, fastest. If you didn’t know the motions, people cut in front of you. Asked to go through the metal detector again? TSA agents asked you to step aside so more experienced and seasoned travelers could breeze through while you got your shit together (and no, I didn’t have to go through a second time). If you weren’t fast in collecting your stuff after it went through the X-Ray, people pushed things aside in order to grab their gear and get the hell out of there. A cold and efficient machine overall, and I can’t say that I minded one bit. From the time I stepped into line till I got my bag and was walking to the gate—approx 5 minutes (and it was fairly crowded, too).

Casual
An interesting observation- there were many people (mostly younger, but even some older) who hesitated noticeably between the Expert and Casual line. I saw people look at both signs, look at each other, move towards one line but still keeping an eye on the other, wondering if they were in fact “experts”. It also appeared that since many people who normally travel for business were, today, traveling for a holiday, they seemed to be torn as to whether they were still considered an Expert on this day. In my opinion, “expert” may not have been the right tag, as the majority of people probably wouldn’t use that word to describe themselves (just like even truly wealthy people often don’t consider themselves as such).

The line appeared to be just about as smooth as the Expert line, but moved slower as many people had larger bags, or multiple bags, and I noticed many more people being asked to go through security a second time. Relatively little to none of the line-jumping or “please-step-aside” attitudes of the Expert line. TSA agents seemed slightly (but not much) more patient, speed was a little more relaxed and there wasn’t a break-neck race to gather your stuff after X-Ray.

Family
Absolute chaos. Children screaming, little boys who didn’t want to give up their back packs or toys, Mothers trying to hold two kids at once while trying to take off their own shoes and jewelry, Dad’s trying to wrangle 5 or 6 bags up onto the conveyor, many times realizing that one or more of their bags was in fact too big to fit. Getting through the metal detector seemed to be an ordeal for many, as kids were either too excited and ran through without their parents, or hesitated and didn’t want to put their toys on the conveyer or in the bins. I saw TSA agents waiting patiently for people and rarely hurrying or snapping at anyone (not sure if this is always the case, though).

The frustration of various families didn’t seem to be directed at others but rather at themselves- for their kids behavior (perhaps feeling like others would assume they didn’t have control of their kids), for making a mistake and going through the detector with keys in their pockets, for dropping a bag off the conveyor after it went through X-Ray. I think the biggest difference was that travelers in the Family line seemed to be the most willing to accept the mistakes of other travelers, maybe because they were cognizant of the fact that they themselves were often holding up the line and creating bottle-necks in the process.

**I found it pretty interesting to be a part of, and it seemed that for most people around me, this was the first time they had encountered such a system, too. I can say that, in overhearing snippets of conversations in the Expert line, people seemed quite happy that the separations were in place.

Anyone else have any experiences to relate? A few other airports have similar systems- do you think this type of setup works? Or does it create a further divide between experts and novice travelers? Between first class and coach?

And from a brand perspective, what role could an airline potentially play here- if any?

Guilty Pleasure: Subway Crush

Subway Crush is a new missed connections site for all those times you were on the train but just didn't get to talk to that stranger at the other end of the car. Simple really, the site just takes what Craigslist already does and focuses on one area where missed connections occur- and puts a little more attention on web design than CL.

Still thinking about that girl you saw on your way to work last week? Now you may have a chance after all...

Music broadcasts more than sound waves

We decided recently to expand our department's musical repertoire beyond Murray's ever-thumping playlist. So last week some Vampire Weekend, Jay-Z, and Amy Winehouse floated from various speakers.

However, new research indicates that we were unwittingly exposing ourselves to association with personality stereotypes based on our selections.

Peter Rentfrow and Samuel Gosling, two longtime researchers in the field of music and psychology, found in 1996 that certain personality traits are associated with music preferences.

This year, their research took those findings one step further to explore the stereotypes associated with certain types of music by asking evaluators describe personality types associated with various genres.


Serious job implications here for the department-wide playlist. Start editing!

Evaluators were also asked to rank perceived drug use among fans of different genres:



(More editing....talk about an unspoken glass ceiling!)

via Cognitive Daily

Social Currency: Cavemen on Primetime TV...But Does It Matter?

Peep a short clip of one of the Cavemen- of Geico fame- on the View:



Whether or not you like the campaign, got me thinking that, despite how much quirky characters can win attention from the masses, it can be a dangerous trap to fall into. Seeing it as an end (ie creating a TV show just because people "like" your characters) and not a means to an end. Attention is great, but if it doesn't translate into results, all is lost.

Example: a lot of people love commercials for Bud Light, Miller Light, and (my personal favorite) Miller High Life commercials. But, as funny as I think the latter are, do I drink it? Hmm...

Nike (and in particular Jordan) are some of my all-time favorite commercials...but I haven't bought a pair of either since I was in middle school.

Point being, it's attention getting creative, people talk about those spots, even love them...but do they act? Surely I'm inserting my own bias with these examples, so back to the point- I'm not saying the Cavemen haven't brought any results for Geico. But who is going to watch a TV show based on them? Who cares? :30 of them may be funny...but 30 minutes? Seriously? And even if people watch it...are they switching to Geico?

Anyone else have an opinion to throw in? Will you watch the show? Do you even like the Cavemen? If you're a Geico customer, what does it all do for you?

I like toys and candy, what of it?

In a world of more choice, and more complicated choice, are we taking shelter in behaviors and preferences whose simplicity offers comfort?

Benjamin Barber believes that pressures from society today and our insatiable consumer culture are making us revert to childhood familiarity. I heard him speak about his book, "Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole” on National Public Radio. He sites three years of Superman and Shrek movie blockbusters, and the number of adults reading Harry Potter books, among other examples (a listener phoned in to comment on the candy-flavored drinks now offered at Starbucks) to prove that our capitalist society has finally cracked our rational being.
While I don’t agree with Barber’s citations (Shrek has plenty of humor and messages unintelligible to 9 year olds), nor his point on capitalism, I think the notion of our instinct to revert is interesting. In certain ways, I can see that coming to life online, in smiley faces that stand in the place of a complex thought, and in the escapism of virtual worlds (Avin and I have an ongoing debate about whether Second Life fits here). The internet is home to endless choice, and yet it’s a sanctuary where people can exist simply, childishly, without someone razzing them about it.

Just something to chew on, I guess.

Culture: Revenge of the Ghost Rider

AllHipHop.com reports that Oakland rapper Mistah F.A.B.'s "Ghost Ride It" video has been banned from all media outlets because of the video's use of the Ghostbusters car and logo. Mistah F.A.B.'s "Ghost Ride It" song exploits the phenomenon of "ghost riding," which is when the driver stands on the hood of a moving vehicle and dances a jig (and preferably tapes it for exhibition on YouTube or those 'Dummies Gone Wild' video shows).

According to reps for Mistah F.A.B., who appeared on Fox's Hanity & Colmes show over the subject, the video for the single had already been edited 52 times to meet MTV and BET's guidelines. The video was being aired on MTV2's Unleashed MTV Jams, MTVU and MTV's Sucker Free Countdown when Columbia Pictures threatened legal action over the usage of the Ghostbuster's logo and likeness in the video.

In Dec. 2006, the song came under scrutiny when an 18-year-old man and a 36-year-old man died in separate ghost riding incidents.

*AKI COMMENT: You would think that the resulting deaths from ghost riding would be more of an issue for banning ghost riding videos, but eh, I guess the misuse of logos is a bit more pressing. Either way, you can't ban these streets - check out more Ghost Riding mayhem from YouTube:






It's all fun and games until...

Trend: White Rappers

Google and Current.tv reveals that white rappers are on the comeback. Recognize.

Supplemental Reading vEl Gaffney
10 Best White Rappers of All Time
10 Worst White Rappers of All Time

Culture: Ghost Riding

The phenomenon of Ghost Riders (not to be confused with Ghost Rider Johnny Blaze) is not so "new", but CNN reported on it this weekend so I guess it's official!

For the uninitiated, Ghost Riding is the practice of jumping out of your 'whip' (translation: automobile), while in motion, and doing a little celebratory shimmy next to said moving car, and then jumping back in before calamity ensues. The key factor is the videotapping of the act and posting on our dearest friend YouTube.

Like so...


And so...


Of course...calamities do seem be ensuing...

Oh YouTube, we so love you!