In your last hour, what would you write?

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Sep 11, 2009 in Awakening | 27 comments

I took this photo across the street from Ground Zero earlier this year.

Here’s the last piece I’ll post on September 11 for now.

WTC2, the South Tower of the World Trade Center, collapsed after 56 minutes from fire. The people in that building who perished did have about an hour and some communications access to say goodbye, to communicate to some degree, though nowhere near as much communications capacity as today. Some were able to say goodbye, and that’s the basis of this exercise.

For an hour today, I ask you to do something different. From 8:46 AM to 9:59 AM (impact to South Tower collapse), take that time away from media coverage, away from the daily distractions if you can, if possible, and write out what you would say if you were facing your last hour alive. Pop open your email client or word processor or whatever and take that time to put down into words what you’d want to leave behind, and limit yourself strictly to that hour.

Who would you write to? One person, a bunch of people? Close friends? A child? A parent?

What would you say? What words would you want to leave behind, to endure beyond you? Tell someone that you loved them? Compress the most important life lessons you can think of for your children?

Write it down. Put it out of your mind and into a tangible, communicable reality.

Then send it. Send it now, send it today, send it while you are still able, because one day, you won’t be able to any longer.

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September 11: Eight years later

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Sep 10, 2009 in Awakening | 0 comments

I took this photo from the Hilton Millennium’s upper floors.

It’s been eight years since the towers fell, eight years since a morning that few of us will ever forget, nor should we.

It’s been eight years, two wars overseas, a Great Recession, two elections, 34.1 million births and 19.9 million deaths in America since 9/11. A lot has happened in that time, good and ill. Marriages and divorces, arrivals and passings, heroes and villains, life and death in spades.

If you knew that a year from now, on September 11 at 8:46 AM, your life would suddenly end, what would you do differently now? Would you leave that job? Would you treat the people around you differently and let some go from your life? Would you spend more time with the people you love or work to leave the world as best a place as you can make it?

How would we remember you? How would you want us to remember you? What would you want us to do after you’re gone?

“We are each born with death, and grow up dying inside ourselves.” – Zen poem

Your death is certain. It’s mostly a question of when and how we will part ways, and what happens until then. I hope we all find our own ways to honor those who have left us, not only on 9/11 but in the eight years since, and that we live up to the trust left with us to live this life the best we can, while we can.

Are you living the life you want while you still can?

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Marketing with iTunes 9, iTunes LP, and iTunes Extras

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Sep 10, 2009 in Marketing, Technology | 6 comments

No linkbait in that blog title, no sir.

Anyway, yesterday Apple released iTunes 9, along with two new formats of media, iTunes LP (enhanced albums with art, interviews, text, interactive, etc.) and iTunes Extras for Movies (think DVD extra content and features). Some off the cuff thoughts about how these tools, when made available to content creators, will impact marketing.

iTunes LP will obviously help musicians a great deal in selling albums vs. tracks. The idea of being able to buy an album with a concert video embedded in it, or an interview, or whatever appeals most to fans will make selling the whole album as a package a draw over the individual track. That’s a good thing.

iTunes Extras will obviously port existing DVDs into iTunes, helping out movie studios, etc.

What I’m really interested in is how these tools will be made available to content creators, because I could easily see releasing a super-enhanced podcast that contained photos (say if the show were an interview at a conference or something), a book excerpt, transcript, or other enhanced features. Being able to create your own enhanced iTunes LP collection – whether or not your “album” is in the iTunes store, would be a huge benefit to marketers wanting to offer more goods to consumers.

Where I think the juice will really flow is in iTunes Extras. For anyone who does public speaking, imagine being able to take video of your presentation at a conference and embed your speaker notes, photos, handouts, or even a transcript of your remarks in one slick package. You could include bonus footage like Q&A, media interviews, or other pieces of media in the exact same manner as you would on a full DVD – without the DVD.

I look forward to hearing from Apple and independent publishing houses like CD Baby to see how accessible these features will be to folks not affiliated with a big publisher or label.

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A piece of home on the road

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Sep 9, 2009 in Awakening, Ninjutsu, On ko chi shin | 0 comments

In a ninjutsu dojo (like the Boston Martial Arts Center, for example), you’ll find a place of reverence called a kamidana, or spirit shelf. In traditional Shinto religious practices (the native, shamanistic religion of Japan), a kamidana is a place to honor your ancestors and their guardian spirits. In modern times, it’s a focal point for the energy of the school and students, a place to put your attention as you begin class, asking your own mind to wake up enough to get something out of class.

The kamidana traditionally has a few common items in it – a shimenawa rope, designating it as a sacred place, above or nearby. There’s a kagami mirror, signifying that the true source of your power comes from you, if you can only see clearly enough to recognize it, a set of sakaki greens, typically pine or other evergreen cuttings, symbolizing life and growth, tomyo candles that hold purifying fire and light your way, osonaemono offerings of rice, water, and salt (offering food for the ancient spirits, symbolizing giving respect to all who have come before you), and a kagaribitate watch fire stand, symbolic of standing guard against evil.

So what does this have to do with anything? Well, the idea of a spiritual seat, or a place of power, is something that a lot of us don’t have any more. Many have places of power like the church on Sunday morning, the temple on Friday night, the dojo, but rarely do we have a place of power near to us, and for those that travel a lot for business, what places of power you do have (like home) you’re away from an awful lot of the time.

Give some consideration to creating a kamidana for yourself in your own home, and a portable one for on the road. In either, think about the things that you derive power and strength from. The classical Shinto kamidana might resonate with you, but chances are if you’re not of Japanese heritage or an avid practitioner of classical Japanese martial arts, it’ll probably be a curiosity more than anything else. Look instead at your own sources of power, your own culture, personal history, and traditions for these things:

- What designates a sacred place for you? It might be a symbol, like a crucifix or the Star of David, or something as simple as a favorite colored cloth.
- What designates self reflection for you? A small hand mirror might be appropriate, or a crystal.
- What designates growth for you? A freshly cut flower? A few green leaves? A small potted plant? Heck, even a tank of sea monkeys if that’s what means growth to you.
- What designates all that is light, bright, and right in your world? If you’re a parent, perhaps it’s a photo of your child or a favorite drawing they’ve made for you. If you’re a pet lover, maybe it’s your pet’s photo. Whatever you love and whatever you fight for in the world, this is it.
- What designates a connection to meaningful parts of your past? A locket from your grandmother, maybe, or an aged family photo, perhaps. Find something in your past that is symbolic of your roots’ strength.
- What designates watchfulness against negative habits, energy, people, and events? Maybe it’s an icon of a saint in your tradition or another holy figure. Maybe it’s a favorite quote on a small card, or a picture of a hero that you associate strongly with.

Take the time to set up a spiritual shelf, a little place of your own power, something that is in a protected little space somewhere in your home or office. It doesn’t have to be big or obvious – you can even keep it in a desk drawer if need be, but make it a place that you use to remind you of what you stand for, what your true power is, and what you want to achieve in the world. Use it daily, even for just a few moments, to focus your mind and take a few deep breaths, reconnecting.

If you travel a lot, take a small cloth with you and items that designate each of the meanings, and in your hotel room, set up this little place with your stuff that again reminds you of what’s important to you. In those lonely moments when you miss home and all that it symbolizes, looking at your own symbols of what you’re doing the travel for will help you forge on and refresh the connections you have to your own power.

Try it and see how it works for you!

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One pixel away…

Posted by Christopher S Penn on Sep 8, 2009 in Advertising, Marketing, Podcasting | 3 comments

… is the Marketing Over Coffee extra interview with Mitch Joel and his new book, Six Pixels of Separation. Go give it a listen and buy Mitch’s book.

Disclosure: goes to Amazon, affiliate fee paid to Marketing Over Coffee.

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