I love this collection of light art photos taken by a few creative folks with a Roomba iRobot Vacuum and a wild imagination.
The folks who built Twitter never imagined it as a real time news gathering tool. The makers of Jif didn’t foresee it’s use as a furniture polish. Steve Jobs and company didn’t set out to build a better menu, textbook or diagnostic tool when they were creating the iPad.
What unexpected ways are people using your product? There may be a great marketing story waiting for you.
Sacred cows are fattened on the conventional wisdom. Don’t be put out to pasture with the herd.
There are only three responses I’ve ever heard when asking someone if they’re coming to the TEDxDetroit conference:
“Who’s Ted?”
“FedEx conference?”
“YES! I love TED and I can’t wait for TEDx!”
TED has a legion of fans around the world. TEDtalk videos are some of the most watched videos on the web. TED even gets some screen time in the new Apple iPad ad. But still there are people who haven’t heard of TED or it’s independently produced cousin, TEDx.
You can get the full lowdown on TED and watch thousands of interesting “ideas worth spreading at http://TED.com. But I’d like to answer another common question: “What is TEDxDetroit?”
The short answer is “TEDxDetroit is an event to celebrate ideas, innovations and inspiration in Detroit and Michigan.” Which usually leads to a lot of other questions.
“Is it a business conference?” No, but we highlight many cool business leaders.
“Is it a social media conference?” No, but you’ll find twitter, youtube and flickr ablaze with content during TEDxDetroit.
“Is it a tech conference or an art show?” No, but you’ll find many of the top innovators and artists showing off their latest creations.
Hell, we’re not even sure it is a conference.
It’s most definitely a chance to bring together the thinkers and doers together and share ideas worth spreading. We have four goals with TEDxDetroit:
Bring the “charged particles” together to encourage collaboration, optimism and a sense of what’s possible.
Shine a light on the cool people, places, entrepreneurs, innovations and artists creating in Detroit and Michigan.
Act as a big positive PR event highlighting to the world what IS working in Detroit.
Raise money for charities opening children’s minds with art and technology.
You’re sure to find area’s top creators, catalysts, entrepreneurs, artists, technologists, designers, scientists, and students at TEDxDetroit on Wednesday, September 28th. I sure hope you’ll be one of them.
Photos from our talented Photo Team at TEDxDetroit 2010 including Erin Slayter, Becky Johns, Benjamin Slayter, Mira Uncut and more. See their work at http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=tedxdetroit
I’m in love with the new Ford Evos. There’s only one problem, Ford isn’t selling them. It’s a concept car. A design exploration. A glimpse at where Ford may be taking design in the future.
This tends to piss me off. My friend Nicholas Ellis put it best: “Did Apple ever introduce concepts?” He’s right.
Year after year, Steve Jobs introduced kickass, covetable products and built one of the most valuable and influential companies in the world. In that same time period, Microsoft unveiled prototype after prototype of vaporware products that never saw the light of retail or lit up their balance sheet.
Now, I know cars have a few more moving parts (not to mention more regulations and legal liabilities than a mobile phone), but I’d love to see Ford speed this car into showrooms.
Too often, companies release daring, evocative concept designs to test consumer opinions. The research folks listen to every piece of feedback, then the designers go back to work, sanding off all the corners that turned up noses.
And there’s the rub.
The next year, that bold concept is reintroduced as a ho-hum production model. The people who hated it now think it’s “meh”, the people who loved it now think it’s “meh” and the sales numbers usually end up being “meh”.
When you soften the edges that offend some people, you end up removing the edges that infatuate others. Never simply seek consensus when you have the opportunity to enflame true passion. Build remarkable. Piss a few people off. Create LOVERS and HATERS. Never create “meh”.
Evangelists and Raving Fans > Deal of the Day Customers
I’ve always marveled how Nabisco transformed their OREO crumbs and pieces into a new product line as an ice cream mix-in. Or the way carrot farmers peeling down unwanted broken carrots to create the “baby carrot” category.
It makes you want to look at your waste and by-products with fresh eyes to see if you’re missing something of value.
Here’s another great example from Spangler Candy Company: The Dum-Dums Mystery Pop. Why stop the line for flavor change over when you can create something fresh and new!
The Dum Dum mystery pop is a mixture of two flavors (the end of one batch of candy meets the beginning of the next batch). Our candy lines are continuous and the switch over from one flavor to another results in some pops containing both flavors. Source: Dum Dum FAQs via 37Signals
I’m guest video blogging for metromode this week. Here’s my first post.
Risk is the only the activity that continually produces reward. A turtle can find shelter from the outside world inside its shell but it will never change the outside world from inside it’s shell. Stick your neck out there. Take a chance. Take action. The world is waiting.
There are two ways of competing in this business: you can nickel and dime the competition to death, or you can take giant steps that distinguish you from them.
“
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– Herman Miller founder Max DePree as quoted by Fabienne Münch at TEDxDetroit
In order to be successful long-term, every company needs to develop a culture of innovation. Make creative destruction part of your DNA. Fabienne Münch is the Director of the Ideation Office at Herman Miller, a design driven company that has the culture and DNA down in spades.
What can we learn from WalMart, Goethe and taking the long way home?
Customer evangelists are only half the story. First make remarkable products. Let’s create something worth evangelizing.
Hello, Hello. My name is Charlie. I'm a purveyor of attention.
I hang my hat at a marketing strategy, creative design and social technology firm called Curve Detroit. I'm the curator of TEDxDetroit and help run a social network in Detroit called Motor City Connect.
I love big ideas and big mountains and big sandwiches. I hate poorly designed billboards, speed limits and people who flick cigarette butts out the window. I know a thing or two about advertising, marketing and social media.
I'm on a mission to rekindle the fire in your belly.#makeithappen
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