Let's face it, who’s got time to read the ever expanding recommended reading list that planners impose on each other? And no I haven’t read Sapiens. Have you seen the bloody size of it?
And anyway if we all read the same thing we will all have the same point of view, that’s my cover story.
This week I’m going to load you up with some bits and pieces that might re-fill the references with some new stuff in ways that don’t involve spending all evening reading the first and last chapter of everything Seth Rodin/ Malcolm Gladwell/ those Freakonomics dudes have written.
Three things to go to:
Full disclosure, I live in South Essex and I have a reasonably full on job at the moment during the week and so I haven’t attended any of these. If I had a weekend in London coming up I definitely would though and I’ve heard good reports from all of them.
1. The Wellcome Collection is amazing. This exhibition is getting rave reviews and is suitably brainy for you lot. Plus their site has reading material to expand the ideas their exhibitions tackle including this smasher on the subject of consciousness.
2. The School of Life is hardly a little known source of inspiration but this month its probably worth noting that they are promising to ROADMAP YOUR WHOLE LIFE for thirty quid next Wednesday 9th March. I’m not sure Londoners should walk away from value like that.
3. Where we Live Now: Social Media, Place and Policy. Okay this is a bit of a plug because we are hosting this for NESTA and the British Academy, and we are doing some nice social data analysis about Brick Lane for it. But also the speakers are brilliant, the subject matter is fascinating, it’s FREE and I’m a CMO now, right? Publicity what I do.
Four things to listen to:
I’m told that Podcasts are BACK. I find this information alarming as I hadn’t noticed them going away, and I feel I should have. But anyway, for commuters, walkers, people who do the washing up the podcast is the ultimate multitasking inspiration source. Here are a few recommendations from my brilliant colleague Nic Howell and from me:
Featuring real life tales (yes, like This American Life but British)
On the next phase of cash-and-carry taking the 'Anti-Store’ concept to another level
On how Steinway’s marketing machine maintains its iron grip on the concert piano market:
On using behavioural economics to make more appealing advertising (with the help of Harvard Professor Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness)
Three other things
in a random feature-length article. The quality is very high on here, albeit very very US focused. In fact the list of topics covered includes 4 US cities… Russia and London. But that’s the internet for you, more evidence you need to get out and take a look at the world for real rather than through the illuminated square.
Sign up for these smashing graphs in your inbox, daily from Statista. Actual data on things you are probably interested in will then fall into your lap without you having to lift a finger.
This very clever chap has done you a comms planning presentation template complete with common diagrams and charts.
