Touch me, I'm SIC

So long, Seattle!

Jonathan Moore, DJ Maseo and Sir Mix-A-Lot!

Sir Mix-A-Lot used to sell mix tapes at local high schools! His appearances took on a mythical feeling to students and the community. He seriously had to hustle to build an audience and get his music in their hands, at a time when there was only radio or cassette sales. Taking outdated equipment and creating something out of nothing heavily influenced hip hop and rap. Never underestimate the power of community to inspire creativity and collaboration. Striking a balance between art and business is challenging. Today it's an artist business, not the record company's business. Artists can create value and do business on their own terms, and don't need labels to build an audience and business. But what does it mean to be an artist who now has to build a business and run it? If you're waiting to be discovered, the spoils go to the discoverer. The Internet provided a direct connection and took away some of the gatekeepers like record labels, and an ability to retain the integrity of your art. But you own your successes and your failures directly. Hip hop gave Sir Mix-A-Lot the ability to create music without a band, without needing to be a singer. He's had to think ahead of where he is now, from being number 1 to Napster and the record industry. The old model broke when music became free. The art consumers consume most had no value to them, because they were used to getting it for free. Now you have Macklemore bringing a follower base to a label and establishing licensing deals to manage contracts. Monetary success may not be artistic success. Fans define the artists and determine what's cool, they don't need labels to tell them what to think. "As a fan, there are a lot of artists I truly loved before I met them." Fans expect artists to be superheroes, but they're just people. That authenticity is ok too. You can't just sell product all the time, fans don't want to hear it from artists. You can have a million followers but get no marketing engagement if you don't engage directly with fans. "I've gotta feel the room just to know my place in it." DJ Maseo "People may get tired of people like me, a fat dude jumping around on stage pinching asses." Sir Mix-A-Lot Success needs to be redefined by each artist. Record sales isn't the metric anymore. It's up to each artist to figure out how to engage their fans and monetize content, which may not mean selling records. Why would people pay for something they can get for free? They appreciate it but don't assign monetary value to it. Some parallels between music and typefaces. "Fans can like you but that doesn't mean they're going to buy you. We gave a lot before we got anything back." DJ Maseo

I'm a girl from Tacoma, and in the '80s that didn't mean much, not even Seattle was a big deal then. Starbucks hadn't blown up, Grunge hadn't happened, the Sounders weren't an MLS team, the Seahawks hadn't won a single Super Bowl. At least we had the Sonics? But we also had Sir Mix-A-Lot at a time when rap was brand new to our new wave ears. You may think of "Baby's Got Back" but I think of Swass, and "Square Dance Rap" and "Posse's on Broadway." I think of hearing this new music in my older step-sister's car an being jealous she got to go to shows in Olympia to hear this stuff live. At 13 I was too young to with her (Tiffany at the Tacoma Dome got the parental blessing). So it's pretty rad that here I am, at a professional conference, getting ready to see Sir Mix-A-Lot share with us how you build a fan base in a free music economy. Amazing!

Real story telling sets you up to be awesome, take risks, care, make people care.

Megan Tweed

Visual communication: graphically represents information to efficiently and effectively create meaning. A visual communications agency focuses on solving client problems by visualize them, using limited text to explicate the meaning. Infographics don't involve large blocks of text. Facebook has changed their algorithm to privilege video. 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. And our attention span is 5 seconds. But we're not getting dumber, we're just overloaded and have to rapidly choose where to spend our attention. Twitter star and heart UI example: http://www.cnet.com/news/these-hilarious-tweets-about-the-new-twitter-hearts-are-stars/ We are hard wired to communicate visually, and we don't think in text. So what's the future of visual communication? Bad Infographics cloud the Internet, and death is coming to the long scroll infographic because they're produced poorly. The visuals aren't telling the story and the concept has been abused. A successful infographic is when you can look at everything all at once. You get the full picture quickly and easily. Infographics are moving offline and getting smaller, finding their pay into print assets to augment text content. What's working in digital is the mini Infographics that supports social content and communication, especially in mobile contexts. By 2019, 80% of consumer internet traffic is expected to be video traffic. 75% of employees would rather watch a video than read a document or online article. What's the opportunity for training, sales, and engagement? Infographics are lower cost than video and can be created more quickly, but adding interactivity requires more time and expertise. Demand for interactive Infographics has grown by 157% in the last 3 years. Develop a style that is appropriate for the audience, know what attracts and communicates best for them. Make them shareable. Know when to visualize and when to use a number, hundreds of icons don't communicate quantity or scale all the time. National Endowment for the Arts 50 year campaign and visual language. http://sevenfigureproject.com/interactive/nea/timeline/ Text isn't dead it's just intimidating. Visuals are the book cover and get people to engage. More text can come after they're opted in to your interactive piece. Just don't overload them at the start. Have a QA process that requires research and credibility. Data comes from original sources. Accuracy is essential. Establish a threshold for what's valid, just as you would in journalism and academia. Have a process to verify that the data has been portrayed accurately. Don't be tempted to sensationalize.

Common sense is like deodorant. The people who need it most don't use it. Brands don't own their content anymore, be careful what you say because it can quickly turn on you even if you had good intentions. Think about your alignments, such as Sesame Street and the Serial podcast. Why does a kids show associate with a story about a murder investigation? Impact the business. We don't need more content, we need more GOOD content. How can we use platforms and reach to change culture? If brands spend 80% of their air time giving and only 20% of it promoting themselves, what kind of impact could marketing have? If you care about people, people will care about you. Think about how the creative creates change, in the business, in culture, in the agency. Innovate on above the line work Try incongruous placements that draw juxtapositions and create tension. Do something unexpected. Build content that's just for each platform, don't place the same thing the same way everywhere. Tailor & test Live A/B testing per platform. Be prepared to monitor and respond quickly. Avoid dead ends What's the next piece? Make a mix that leads people further. Repurpose & sustain You can bring the same content back and reuse it when it's relevant. Make it fresh through surrounding content and add-ons. Target smarter Specific hashtags and social accounts already in the mainstream. Plan to get lucky You may not know when the moment will come but you can plan to be able to respond. Have a POV that helps you know when you can chime in and be relevant. Know how your response ties to you brand and campaigns. A clear strategy will result in stronger communications and better brand lift and engagement. This can help you make choices more quickly!

This is a world of a thousand little bets, not one big bet. Create moments of value and human connection. Find the story and let it drive your work. But don't kid yourself about the value of your story or that you've earned your audiences attention.

Woah, now check out this Honda ad, talk about incredible: http://youtu.be/fLCEd8xk1BE

But it can take 12-17 months to gain traction. Don’t count on one shirt heard around the world.