music – Page 4 – Andy writes!

It’s always encouraging to find out that people I admire share some of my tastes in music, books, movies, etc. Especially when they’re famous people whose names I can drop in this blog.

So I was especially happy to read a recent blog post by Seth Godin, in which he quotes a passage from Rock On, a book I’ve mentioned here (scroll to item 2) and on Twitter.

The book, by Dan Kennedy (who also contributes to McSweeneys), chronicles Kennedy’s time working in marketing for a major record label at a time when the record business is struggling to maintain its power position in an era of peer-to-peer file sharing. It’s about how Kennedy was finally going to realize his childhood dream of being a part of the big rock’n’roll machine, how he was going to be in the heart of it all, and the ultimate disillusion of the dream that occurs after an Iggy Pop concert. But I’ve probably told you too much. You should purchase this book and read it, not only for entertainment, but for the cautionary tales it offers all of us in marketing, management and leadership.

I agree with Seth’s view (may I call you Seth, Seth?) that Rock On is a very funny book. It isn’t laugh-out-loud Chuck Klosterman funny, but it’s funny enough, tinged with the kind of hipster irony and aloofness that anyone who’s ever droned their days away in a cubicle wondering what it all means can appreciate. But beyond the humor, Seth and I both appreciate the cautionary tale the book brings to marketers. Go read Seth’s entry about it and you’ll see what I mean. But then come back here and leave me a comment so I’ll feel even more validated about my blogging existence.

While I’m here, I should also say that I’ve been a pretty big Seth Godin fan since Purple Cow came out. In fact, we used the concept of the purple cow with our student design teams, and that helped to build our name recognition among engineering-oriented universities. (Of course, that was before we changed our name from UMR to Missouri S&T. Now we’ve got to do some different things. But our design teams are still our purple cow.) The dude is prolific, insightful, knows how to market, and even when he stumbles (with a book or idea that doesn’t quite wow us like Purple Cow did, knows how to get back up, get out in front of us again and stay there.

I hope Seth feels validated now, too.

P.S. – No Friday Five this week. Unless I decide to do one later. But it’s St. Pat’s Week here on campus, and we’re busy blogging about it and having all sorts of mischievous Irish-inspired fun. Play the Dropkick Murphys link below for some Irish-inspired punk.

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Now playing: Dropkick Murphys – Your Spirit’s Alive
via FoxyTunes

It’s late on a sleep-in Saturday morning. I’m sipping the last of the morning pot of coffee, listening to the mellow, dreamy songs of an indie/electronica band from Osaka called <a

href=”http://www.myspace.com/waterfai”>Water Fai* (which suits my mood perfectly), and casually multitasking — catching up on personal and work email, Twitter, RSS, and various blogs and websites. I’m in no rush. This is one of those rare lazy days when I have nowhere to be.

So, I think I’ll blog about some of the social media stuff on my mind and in my inbox/feeds/etc. For instance:

How Twitter can add value. Yesterday, I and some co-workers from Missouri S&T attended the Missouri Association of Publications conference (where our alumni magazine won an award — huzzah!). One of the sessions I attended was about convergence journalism, led by a faculty member of the Missouri School of Journalism’s convergence program. Co-worker (and co-tweeter) Mindy also attended. She’s our department’s go-to social media person. Anyway, one of the storytelling tools students in that program use is Soundslides, which can be used to create audio slideshows. I made a note to check it out when I got back, but Mindy beat me to it and tweeted about it yesterday. I responded, and Brad Ward joined in on the conversation with a link to a nice presentation he made using Soundslides. Then he referred me to a blog post of his from last October about using the tool, with links to three or four other examples. All of this knowledge-sharing via Twitter, in a matter of minutes. Nice.
ideasonideas relaunches with a redesign. “The new ‘look,'” explains the site’s Eric Karjaluoto in a post about the relaunch, “represents both a change in direction and a bit of a revised mandate.” Eric says he wants the blog “to be a great resource for those who create communications and continually work to do so more effectively. With the volumes of content out there, I hope that you’ll find your time at ideasonideas helpful and worthwhile.” If the first post since the redesign is any indication, this one might be reading from time to time.
There’s a New Conversation is a month-old blog exploring the impact of the book The Cluetrain Manifesto 10 years after its release. (Has it really been 10 years?)
Nominations are now open for the EduStyle Awards. Go there and nominate your favorite educational websites. Winners will be honored at the eduWeb Conference in Atlantic City, N.J., in July.
mixx has a group for social media mavens. So, all you social media mavens out there, check it out. (I did not join, because a.) I’ve got too many social networks as it is and b.) I fear I’m not enough of a maven.) Tweet via @fsmedia.

* Water Fai’s style is along the lines of Blonde Redhead and Asobi Seksu, but mellowed like a good shiraz.

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Now playing: Water Fai – Round Pool
via FoxyTunes

Tag: music

Validated by Seth Godin