Yesterday I went to share business advice with my friend Cindi Thomas (@deziner) and one of her partners in Translator Mark Fairbanks (@MarkFairbanks). First, how can you not love that Cindi picked a Twitter name one can’t forget – Right? If you watch the video you’ll see I managed to forget her last name but I never forget her Twitter handle. Think about that moving forward in the on-line space.
The video hopefully speaks for itself. My interest in this project is two fold.
1. I want to see these guys succeed. I’ve met a lot of cool intelligent people in the last year or so and these two stand out like only a few have. Yes, they are smart but let’s be honest a lot of people are smart. It’s that fact that they are unpretentious and willing to help and share with others.
2. This project is all about combining the on-line / off-line experience. One of their chosen off-line tools is print. Even better on demand digital print. If you’ve read this blog for any length of time you know I love print and will do anything to encourage people to see it’s ongoing higher value moving forward. Remember, print gives you access to two more senses touch and smell. (Mark, I saw you smell that example of print I brought along – what a cool reminder of that edge we have).
Lessons learned yesterday. Go with an idea to share. In other words, plan ahead. Give to get and all that fun stuff. Does that sound contrived and manipulative? Well, Cindi and Mark didn’t seem put off that in less than five minutes, after a quick hello and handing me a cup of scary good strong java, I jumped right in with my free advice. Free advice, so in the end it may prove worth exactly what they paid for it.
When someone’s pouring coffee behind you and you think they aren’t listening….they probably are. I’ve been told I do this same thing where I seem totally disengaged and then dish out the good stuff. Thanks for the good stuff Cindi. We figured out a unique innovative way to possibly outsource some very important work I have and help others learn in the process. It doesn’t get any better.
Get outside your circle. Share what you are doing with others and learn what they are doing. It’s quite possible you can model each others success in your own space. I’m not talking group think here. I’d prefer to called it shared think.
What do you think? Ready to go find some big brains who make great coffee and hang out in an awesome space for thinking creativity? Go for it!
Thanks for the nice piece Jim. There's a story behind why I always smell printed pieces. My father used to work as a press man at Western Printing in Racine (he printed Golden Books). When I was 5 years old, he would come home at the end of the day and I would jump in his arms. His hair smelled like ink—it's an unforgettable smell. Years later, as an art director, I would always unconsciously smell the samples of printed pieces when they were delivered to the agency. It was several years before I put two and two together, and realized that it reminded me of my dad coming home at the end of the day.
I love that we can smell print Mark. Also, thanks for the story about your Dad. That's so cool, as I have spent my whole adult life in the printing industry. I suspect parts of your story will work into my story that I try to tell each day. on-line and off-line work best together and print rocks! ('cause it smells)