What we learned this week

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• The rebranding of Starbucks has infused their stores with a vibrancy and playfulness that wasn't there before. 
• The launch of the iPad 2 once again provided long, baffling lines at Apple Store's nationwide. 
• The Elements of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane is a must read for everyone. Really, everyone. Buy multiples and hand them to prospective clients with your proposals. 
• The story behind the success of Angry Birds is as fascinating as the game itself. 
• The massive earthquake that hit Japan moved the island 8 feet and shifted the Earth's axis. It goes without saying, the news from Japan continue to startle us. The destruction is almost incomprehensible, and the repercussions will not be fully understood for days. The Big Picture has some harrowing images. We hope all our Japanese friends and their families are safe. The Huffington Post has a comprehensive list of earthquake relief options and how to help.

 

It's 2011 and it is pretty much safe to say that at this point in the evolution of the human species we all know someone that is different from us, different race, different gender, different sexuality, different nationality. Just different, and yet all the same. Pain unifies us.

When I woke up to see the news of the earthquake I was overcome with a profound sadness and an immediate fear for the people I've met and worked with that come from Japan, live and work in Japan. Like everyone I know I jumped on Facebook and Twitter to try to connect maybe even help. It was obvious, it is still obvious that we are all sad and concerned. 

I wish we would all remember this feeling we are having for the people of Japan and afford each other the same level of compassion day to day. 

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Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

What We Learned This Week

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• Douglas Coupland's idiosyncratic writing style is perfect for a Marshall McLuhan biography.
• All brainstorms should take place in a kitchen while someone is baking cookies from scratch. 
• Every meeting you've ever attended was a small version of Rashomon, everyone present experienced the whole thing differently.  
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,

Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

What We Learned This Week

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• The titans of tech meet with President Obama and Microsoft is not at the table. Zuckerberg even wore a suit.
• You will pay for the 65 degree day in February with snow two days later.
• There is no pressure like sinus pressure.
• A project that's on time and on budget can turn into a project that's over-budget and three weeks behind within one short phone call.

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Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

What We Learned This Week

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• On Super Bowl Sunday millions gather together to watch the game. Many of those millions know nothing of football, yet the NFL does not use social media or their websites to educate and recruit new fans on the one day they will watch a game. 
• Little Vader's name is Max Page.
• One more reason to get more sleep: the body hoards calories during an all-nighter.
• Creating worlds is hard: Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek pitch and Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica bible leaked online, with Moore's bible having an anti-Star Trek (a show he wrote for) take on sci-fi.
• A new kind of horror: a website disappears from the server and even though you can restore from backups there is no logical explanation of why or how it disappeared in the first place. 
• The Daily turned out to be a slow, crash-prone app I've deleted from my iPad. 
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Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.

What we learned this week

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• Water always wins. 
• Rupert Murdoch spent $30M to launch The Daily “with the mission to provide the best news experience by combining world-class storytelling with the unique interactive capabilities of the iPad,” and the editors decided to include a gossip section.
• Sometimes, in order to maintain your integrity and do the kind of work you want and need to do, you have to very politely and very firmly say “No” and sometimes you have to say “No, and please go away.”
• The Volkswagen ad “The Force” has been seen in YouTube over 7M times, proving people will go out of their way to see a good ad. 

 

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Antonio Ortiz

Antonio Ortiz has always been an autodidact with an eclectic array of interests. Fascinated with technology, advertising and culture he has forged a career that combines them all. In 1991 Antonio developed one of the very first websites to market the arts. It was text based, only available to computer scientists, and increased attendance to the Rutgers Arts Center where he had truly begun his professional career. Since then Antonio has been an early adopter and innovator merging technology and marketing with his passion for art, culture and entertainment. For a more in-depth look at those passions, visit SmarterCreativity.com.