Writing, right to left

I'm a lefty. I've used a right handed mouse most of my life, switched to left hand in college for a while just because it fit better on my desk. Mostly, though I've been a right handed mouse hugger.

About a year ago I had the opportunity to check out a WACOM tablet. Fell in love. So I picked up one of the lesser models to try it out. The question was which way to set it up. While I can mouse ambidextreously I can only write, well, left handed.

So right it is, but that has made it hard to get anything out of the WACOM really. So today I made the switch. I'm a left handed mouse person again. But while I'm at it I thought why not drop the mouse all together and go with the pen 100% of the time.

The part is pretty easy, I just didn't realize all the other stuff that would have to change, like hitting alt+tab to change programs. I'm used to keeping my left hand on the keyboard so I'm having to relearn all that too.

We'll try it for a week or two and see if I can get used to it.

Left handed mice unite!

A new blog

Yesterday was the one-year mark for this blog. WOW! I didn't know I had that much crap to say.

Sixty something posts in all.

But, it seems fitting that today I started a new blog.

This ones a little different. It's actually sort of a personal journal. I have so many fears it's not funny about posting these things. But, I feel like this is the part where I sacrifice my life for His glory.

I've been struggling a little bit with my faith lately and I want to put that out there for others going through the same thing.

So, not your thing, don't click. If you do click, please don't judge.

Just got the first post up, design and all to come.

As I Step

I love a fast bus

I'm not exactly on the bleeding edge with this but in case you haven't noticed yet the new iMacs are out and they finally crossed a signifigant threshold for me.

The new iMacs on top of crossing the 3 ghz range for the processor and having a beautiful HD (optional) display has finally added a front side bus capable of greater than 1ghz. The best I can explain it the bus is basically the bottleneck between your processor and everything else. It's kind of like a throttle and despite how much RAM you have and how fast your processor is more and more this is becoming the choke point.

Before, to get anything this fast you were looking at a Mac Pro that starts at $2,700 minimally equipped without monitor. The new iMac 24" display (the largest) on the 3.06ghz processor (the fastest) with 2 gig of RAM is running $2,200 MSRP.

Why does all this matter? This now makes the iMac a very viable option for hardcore graphic designers and a good portion of video editors (save Motion and AfterEffects work) at a grand lower than the previous cheapest option.

Branding: a family story

The conversation about branding to students has been coming up a lot around Perimeter. There are at least as many opinions on the topic as there are people in the room.

I really wanted to look around and see what leading youth pastors and church communicators were saying on the topic. Surprisingly no one is writing on it at all.

So I thought maybe I would. [in the words of Mitch Hedberd] I mean who am I, I'm not that cocky:

1. Don't make over-generalities. Adults aren't students and generalizing them to the point of hyperbole only shows how little we know. Their culture just like ours consists of every facet of person and while culture shifts may go one direction or another over generalities act more of an insult as we try to insinuate that we "understand" them.
2. Student aren't opposed to branding, so long as they like the brand: Nike, Apple, Taylor Made, BMW. All of these companies are sought after by both students and adults alike. The fact that a student's parent has an ipod doesn't stop them from wanting on.
   
3. However, students do want to uniquely personalize within that identity. They probably don't want the same color BMW or Nike shoe as their parent but that doesn't mean they are against the brand. In both cases the core value of the company exists. Whether it be fine German engineering and luxury nameplate or a high-quality and durable pair of shoes the brand is intact.
   
4. Students get their brand awareness from their parents. This is something I learned when I got married. Sarah's idea of what a quality product was and mine were different, from each other, but not from our parents. We learn the values of quality, durability, and reliability from our parents. According to Piaget, full formal thought doesn't *start* until age 12 and continues into adulthood, that is the ability to draw conclusions from available information.
   
5. They will like some things their parents don't but it is far more likely that students are more broadly accepting of culture than adults are. Pure experiential info here but my experience has been that adults are far less tolerant of concepts and experiences they don't fully understand than students are. Even given their still developmental state they are *seeking* new experiences while adults already have preconceived notions about most of the world around them.

Application: You don't need to divorce or change the brand of the parent organization, so long as the brand of the parent organization isn't contrary to their values (an anti-skateboarding organization would not do well to market to skateboarders). It does however need to be customized, different from changed. Customized is to take the brand and make it their own, to take ownership. Changing it would be to try and make it something it never was.

Earth hour

In case you didn't hear Saturday night from 8-9 was Earth hour. Surpised me too!!

I actually found out when I logged onto Google that night. Check out what they did. Apparently turning the page black causes so fewer pixels to be illuminated that it saves massive energy.

Funny though, there's been a page doing this for a while now...blackle. Google search with an earth friendly face.

Conflict dissolution

Don't you wish they'd just fall in line. Don't you just love to bring the hammer down. That is if you're perfect...

We all have to deal with conflict. In communications you're always finding people breaking the rules. You know the guys stretching you're square logo to fill an 8.5x11, misspelling your web address on they're promo materials, rearranging the vision statement to fit their needs.

I've been thinking for a long time on how to deal with those conflicts and misunderstandings. For one, I'm a really straightforward guy. Some people like that, they know where I stand immediately, other times it hinders me from being able to be heard. If you rub someone the wrong way they stop listening.

So here's what I've discovered for myself, and it seems to work. I've based it on watching my mentors and hearing what scripture has to say on peacemaking.

1. Affirm that you have a relationship. Let the person know how you feel about them, not the situation. I often love the person that I'm talking to and that makes it all the more difficult. Also doing this helps bring the group together towards a solution and not the blame game.
2. Before you ever start, identify if this a personal, work or spiritual problem. Each has their own unique way of being handled. That's not to say that all of them shouldn't be addressed but some are more clear cut than others.
3. Bring a positive/Be a part of the solution. I learned this from my mentor and friend Randy Renbarger. Instead of ever coming down on someone he always offers a solution. Instead of looking at someone and asking why they did this or that without consulting communications he instead asked how he could help. He knew they weren't out to get him so instead he went strait to the heart of the problem, they didn't know they could get help.
4. If you do need to address the hurts bring specifics. Don't say things like "you always" or "I can't remember when but you did." If you're bringing a hurt it's on you to address the specifics. Most people want to help and don't want to have wronged you. Not bringing examples puts them in the conundrum of wanting to help but not being able to.
5. Go to the person responsible, quickly. Don't talk about it with anyone who does not need to be involved. Do it quickly so that hurts don't fester. We all know times when we've put off discussing something only to find out that once we did the person was incredibly sorry and never knew they had offended. I will always miss time I could have spent with friends over perceived wrongs.

So that's my model. I'd love to hear if you do something different, would add something to the list, or have a hard time with one piece. Obviously different situations and relationships call for different angles, but for me these have proved to be a foundation to build on.

_sl

Identity Crisis

Well it finally happened- I've been victimized. I can now join the ranks of those who have in some way suffered identity crisis.

Doing bills last week I noticed things were way off of where I expected. I started wondering if I had suddenly purchased a new apple product, but realized with the apple backlash day looming that couldn't be.

So I started looking closely and there it was, 440 bones to paypal.



So I called my bank, they assured me that it would be taken care of, not to worry. An investigation would start as soon as it posted to my account and they would temporarily refund me the money until the investigation was over. Cool! They also canceled my card an initiated a new one. Go wachovia! Good user experience abounds.

Then I emailed paypal. Not so happy about having to go the email route. I just lost a signifigant sum of money. I need to hear a carbon based creature assure me. Never the less I was able to follow the progress through a resolution center view. An email was sent to the "seller." The same night the case was closed as the seller had refunded my money.


So I'm mostly feeling ok about it, until today when the fee hits my account. No new stuff has posted to paypal so I'm sure it's the original charge, then I'll see the refund.

All in all a good experience considering a someone from a country we don't have diplomatic relations with stole my money. Ain't the web great.