Photographers: What are your fall foliage tips?

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Sep 30, 2008 in Photography | 21 comments

It’s that time of year again in New England:

One of my absolute favorite times of year. One of the best photo opportunities during the year for really great photos.

That said, I’m still a newbie at photography. Yeah, I own a decent amount of gear, but I’m still getting the hang of it.

Here’s what I’m currently using:

- Nikon D40
- Nikkor 18-200mm VR lens (the ultimate walkabout lens!)
- Nikon SB-600 speed flash with Omnibounce in pocket

Here’s my question to you, fellow foliage fans and photographers:

What tips, tricks, locations, and methods do you use for great fall photos that would help a relative newbie? (I know one of them is just play around and try lots of different things, since DSLR “film” is effectively free)

Please feel free to leave links to your own photos in the comments!

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The press release I wish I could send out

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Sep 30, 2008 in Marketing | 7 comments

When I looked at my marketing campaign brief for October, one of the items is the $10,000 scholarship. This press release immediately came to mind:

Student Loan Network $10,000 Scholarship Will Be Awarded on Halloween

Quincy, MA –

The Student Loan Network blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah industry leading blah blah blah blah blah blah leader blah blah blah blah affordable blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah landmark blah blah blah blah historic blah blah blah blah serving families blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah customer service blah blah blah blah blah blah

We’re giving away $10,000 on Halloween to one lucky student. www.StudentLoanNetwork.com/10K.

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah President and CEO said, “blah blah blah blah blah blah leadership blah blah blah we care blah blah blah number one priority”. Blah blah blah savings blah blah blah blah blah blah thought leader blah blah blah blah blah blah competitive blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah full suite blah blah blah blah oh my god are you still reading this blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah Internet blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah serving tomorrow’s blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

Sadly, this isn’t quite the level of professionalism expected in a press release, even if it’s 100% accurate and gets the point across nicely. Why is it most press releases are full of fluff?

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My presidential address on the economy

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Sep 29, 2008 in Economy, Podcasting, Politics | 0 comments

I figured I’d have some fun and provide a different perspective on the economy. Here’s a link to today’s special from the Financial Aid Podcast – my wishful presidential address.

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How World of Warcraft can make you a better marketer

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Sep 29, 2008 in Marketing, New media, Technology | 5 comments

I’ve been playing World of Warcraft (WoW) for fun the past couple of weeks or so. It was a fun game in the beginning, but now it’s a useful game, at least in the sense of honing two vitally important skills, arbitrage and information asymmetry. (two skills, I might add, come in handy in today’s economy)

To the right is a screen clip of WarCraft as it appears with a few pricing plugins installed. By itself, the doesn’t look at all like this, only with some plugins. (Auctioneer, if you’re a WoW gamer) Take a look at what’s in there.

Pricing
Median buyout price
Buyout prices at the extremes
3, 7, and 14 day moving averages of prices
Item availability from vendors and pricing
Resale valuation and estimated ROI

Bear in mind, the average player of WoW doesn’t install this add-on software, which means they don’t have access to this information.

What does this have to do with marketing? There are two concepts at work here.

Arbitrage is unequal pricing for equal things. In this example, I can tell what items are good deals and what items aren’t, what items are a bargain, what items are overpriced. Arbitrage extends to marketing and new media as well – concepts that work in proven systems can be adapted to new media, and the result is information arbitrage. I can take a concept like a proven sales letter template and adapt it for a blog.

Information asymmetry is even more important in this case. I have access to information that the average WoW player does not. This allows me to be more effective as a WoW gamer, because I can earn rapid profits from better information, especially competing against players with less information or lower quality information. Marketers in new media have an information asymmetry advantage that marketers outside of new media don’t enjoy. Marketers in new media have access to the Twitter stream, to blogs, RSS, podcasts, and so much more. If you can know what your target market is thinking and saying about your product, service, or industry, you have a massive advantage over marketers who lack that information and either have to compete by spending more or can’t compete as well.

Arbitrage and information asymmetry – all from a fun game.

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Recentering your faith

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Sep 23, 2008 in Awakening | 11 comments

No shortage of bad news in the headlines lately, eh? Reading all of it and still being able to face your day is getting increasingly hard sometimes, isn’t it?

Here’s the good news. Despite all of everything in the headlines, basic goodness still prevails.

Go outside and look at the building you’re in. The concrete in the foundation hasn’t shattered just because the Dow Jones fell a certain number of points.

Wake up early tomorrow morning. The sun, bright as ever, doesn’t check the markets before rising for the day. It’s there as a part of basic goodness, a part of life that, for the purposes of mere mortals, is timeless.

Take a look at the money in your pocket. It’s faith based. Entirely. There’s nothing inherent to it that makes it valuable beyond what you think its value is. This is a curse of money (volatility) but also a blessing, because it reinforces that there are infinite things beyond money that have real, tangible value. What price is a child’s unconditional hug? What exchange rate is there for a good laugh?

Chogyam Trungpa calls this sort of outlook the Great Eastern Sun perspective. We open our hearts to life as it really is, and not as we, the media, the politicians, or the pundits would like it to be. We recognize what is real and what is fictional, cutting through all of the crap to see clearly.

Do this: find a song that inspires in you a feeling of closeness with everything that’s real, with all of the things that matter. It can be about family, friends, devotion to your spiritual faith, a good meal, a warm hug, a first kiss you’ll never forget – whatever it is, the song just has to inspire in you a deep love and appreciation for something that no bad news can ever tarnish.

Listen to the song with your eyes closed. Then, assuming it’s relatively nice out, go outside to someplace natural – a local park, your backyard, even a courtyard in an office or dorm. It doesn’t have to be large or majestic, just natural. Sit on the ground if you can – the real ground, not concrete. Close your eyes, sit up straight, take a deep breath, enjoy the moment, and then replay your song in your mind. Enjoy its every nuance, its every tug at your heart, and when it’s over in your mind, realize that you are still firmly in charge of how you experience the world.

Are there troubles? Of course. Are there pressing issues? Absolutely – and there always will be. But allow, gift yourself the luxury of five minutes of deep love for everything life has already given you, everything you’ve created for yourself, and everything that no amount of sensational news headlines can never, ever take away from you.

Your inner superhero will thank you, and you’ll be ready to rejoin the crusade for what you really value in life.

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