|
|
Make a career of humanity, commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.
— Martin Luther King Jr., Washington, DC, 1959
 The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial sits on a four-acre plot between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials on the National Mall near the Tidal Basin. On Sunday, October 16, 2001, I was one of several thousand people who witnessed the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the first such memorial honoring a private U.S. citizen on the National Mall. I live-tweeted the event until the AT&T network became overloaded. Hundreds of thousands of people captured the event on tablet computers, digital cameras, cell phones and chronicled the events on Facebook.
Speakers from King’s sister Christine King Farris, his daughter and son Rev. Bernice King and Martin Luther King III, to Rabbi Israel Dresner, Rev. Joseph Lowery, Ambassador Andrew Young, Julian Bond and the Rev. Al Sharpton, each spoke of the monument as both inspirational marker and gateway to the continued fight for human rights. Speakers spoke of how Dr. King’s efforts represent a global fight for justice and equality recently displayed during the Arab Spring and the ongoing Occupy movement.
 Tens of thousands of people of all races turned out for the Oct. 16 dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Monument on the national mall. My attendance at the dedication was personal. My parents placed their faith in the future by naming me after Dr. King.
My fellow members of Generation X and me are direct beneficiaries of hard-fought civil rights gains in which shed tears, shed blood and sacrificed lives allowed us access to better educations and better life and career opportunities. We were born in the aftermath of the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert Kennedy, Dr. King and the subsequent turmoil of riots, unrest and unease in the United States. Amid all the uncertainty, the sacrifices of our parents allowed us the chance to build on their foundations to take flight and soar.
Equally important was the embrace of our similarities and goals—instead of our differences. But I’ve also seen resistance to change and the rejection of a more diverse America. In my hometown of St. Louis, I was one of several staffers at the Post-Dispatch who created the (now defunct) Conversation about Race blog to examine diversity and racial relations after President Barack Obama’s election and inauguration. St. Louis is known for a history of racial animosity an intolerance, but over the past several years, civic groups and local media like the St. Louis Beacon created regular features, and host civic discussions about the concerns and challenges of race relations in the Gateway City.
My generation took the struggle further. Now, millennials are the most diverse generation in American history. They know no other existence beyond a multiracial peer group with different ethnic groups, religious beliefs and sexual orientations.
Earlier in Sunday’s dedication ceremony, musicians and choirs gave inspirational praise with gospel standards, but for me, the pivotal moment was the performance of the ‘Black National Anthem.’ “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was accompanied by a trio of huge video screens simulcasting the historical Balm in Gilead video.
The song’s lyrics are accompanied by a historic video retrospective of the African American experience. Many in the audience finished the song with tears streaming down their faces. The video chronicles the struggles, sacrifices and triumphs of African Americans, culminating with images of the inauguration of this nation’s first African American president.
Like several speakers, President Obama likened the Arab Spring and the ongoing Occupy movement to King’s efforts to fight economic, political and social injustice. Whether you agree with the Occupy movement or not, the sites in which the principles of non-violent social protest employed by historic figures like King and Ghandi make both men relevant to new generations.
It’s only fitting that new and future generations get to know about King and the movement for which he fought by visiting the newest national park on the National Mall and King’s contemplative eastward gaze, looking forward.
 Facebook Timeline beta screenshot UPDATED (10/11/11):
Facebook is determined to make us overshare.
Among the new features announced at F8, comes Timeline—an impressive magazine-style layout in which a user’s life is displayed in real-time. A huge landscape photo, updates, photos, friends, check-ins, multimedia, activities and media likes from music, literature, film, restaurants, concerts and the like are shown in a matrix layout.
This is cool if you are okay with sharing with your friends everything about yourself to the last minute detail. If not, there’s several permissions settings to change. But in addition to the overshare is this: Facebook is no longer shy about incorporating the amount of consumer choice and consumer tracking CEO Mark Zuckerberg mentioned in his 60 Minutes interview with Lesley Stahl nearly one year ago. The seed was sown with the incorporation of the “like” button into every corner of the Interwebs. Now, Facebook’s “apps” detail your specific listening, viewing, spending, dining and social habits. As Zuckerberg noted in the 60 Minutes interview, among friends, there’s no better advertising than word-of-mouth testimonials.
The result now is that wealth of self-disclosed data in the monstrous Facebook databases becomes part of the Timeline in a major way. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I am not a fan of the GPS data tracking (voluntary or otherwise) incorporated into smartphones, digital cameras and other mobile media. For those who don’t mind sharing with their friends, Timeline will be a hit. But for those with concerns about the extent to which your shared data is used to bring in ad/marketing dollars, we’re that much closer to Minority Report-style personalized greetings at The Gap.
And we all know that Beta versions of new Facebook features don’t stay Beta versions for very long. Resistance is futile.
UPDATED (10/11/11):
Since this post, complaints against Facebook’s advertising tie-ins associated with the new Timeline feature, have increased, due primarily to accusations of browser “cookie tracking” even after users log out of Facebook. These new issues resulted in requests to the Federal Trade Commission to investigate both the social network’s passive tracking and the automated advertising tie-ins that link a user’s selected brand purchases and activities to her or his Facebook friends. A class-action lawsuit has been filed in San Jose, Calif.
According to @NedPotterABC, on the abcnews.com site:
Reps. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Joe Barton, R-Texas, co-chairmen of the Bipartisan Privacy Caucus, wrote to the FTC: “We believe that tracking users without their knowledge or consent raises serious privacy concerns. When users log out of Facebook, they are under the impression that Facebook is no longer monitoring their activities. We believe this impression should be the reality.”
Potter and USA TODAY’s Byron Acohido report groups like the ACLU, Consumer Watchdog and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) have called Facebook to task for what they perceive to be increasing efforts to incorporate auto “opt-in” interface updates, requiring users to manually “opt-out” of facial-recognition tagging and tracking features.
Hundreds of businesses and institutions ask consumers to “like” their Facebook fan pages or create Facebook-tied apps or games. Use of the apps and participation in the games comes along with disclosing general information about each Facebook user’s profile, likes and friends list. The implications and incentives for businesses and corporations seeking to mine and tailor marketing campaigns to specific Facebook user demographics are obvious: the difference between millions of consumer eyes and wallets in an already limping economy.
Consumers already voluntarily offer information about their spending habits and demographics through “loyalty programs” at grocery stores and other businesses. Yes, signing up for that loyalty card discount personalizes you as a consumer and tracks not only your consumer purchases, but how far from your home address you shop and even if you remain loyal to such brands when you travel. Even businesses are creating their own smartphone apps, trading exclusive discounts for access to user spending habits (and indirectly those of a user’s friends).
By Facebook’s move to remove a consumer’s choice to be involved in this process, the immense amount of personalized information cataloged from a user’s Facebook history, and the ability to add real-time tracking and spending behaviors through a combination of “like” and check-in tie-ins with partnerships with companies like Foursquare, Gowalla and even national/international professional conferences and workshops through apps like Guidebook.
Though the company recently lost one of its recent consumer regulation lobbyist hires, the pending rights fight is not just a Facebook issue. Earlier this year, Bloomberg broke the story of a lawsuit accusing Apple of tracking iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch users lead the communications giant to remove the possibility through an iOS4 software update. Tomorrow, with the release of the iOS5 software update, iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users will be able to circumvent cell phone provider texting plans through its iMessage function by delivering texts in the same manner as emails. Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Skype and Google’s Google+ and Android/Chrome interfaces all seek to place mobile advertising/accessibility at the center of the consumer marketing/POS experience.
 Photo by Darryl Swint | darrylswint.com® The globalization of transportation was a significant catalyst upon our lives as consumers. It’s subsequent trappings and dangers are well known: cheaper imported goods available (with negative effects upon U.S. trade deficits); continued growth of an interrelated, global economy and a boon in international travel and commerce.
The old buzzword e-commerce, is in metamorphosis. Thanks to a germinating, ongoing merger of mobile smartphones, GPS-based, social media marketing and a tech-savvy consumer base comfortable with broadcasting its whims, movements and activity through satellite social media sites, the new economy is finally taking hold.
Recent efforts by Twitter, Google, Facebook, Apple, Square and Foursquare to connect and share locations, spending habits, activities and user reviews, enable businesses and marketers to take advantage of real-time marketing.
Remember the Minority Report chase scene in which the Tom Cruise character John Anderton’s transplanted eyes are recognized by a local Gap store, asking him about his most recent purchase? Theoretically, it’s no longer fiction.
Businesses with a social-media savvy branding/marketing strategy can advertise on social media sites, create event-related apps and badges and become event partners. The result? The ability to reach socially-conscious consumers in real time with discounts, ads, information and branded games — all for a targeted consumer base whose habits are well-documented.
Here’s an example:
Next year, the City of Houston hosts the NCAA Final Four. In the semi-finals, two teams win and two teams lose. A restaurant/bar owner who has created a Facebook profile can be “friended” or “liked” by local University A’s alumni group, or current (over 21) students. If University A wins or loses, the restaurant owner can send an update, Tweet, posting or challenge through social media to University A’s networked fans, offering a limited 10% discount on food and beverage with a scan-able bar code ad or by wearing team colors.
Let’s say University A loses. The dejected fans likely want nothing more than to sell their Finals tickets and get out of town. Maybe the restauranteur offers a 15-percent discount to keep them around a little longer.
Who doesn’t like a discount?
University A fans quickly relay the offer to fellow friends and fans and before long, the restaurant has increased both foot traffic and sales — all with a minimal advertising investment. And it is this nexus of technology, providers and consumers that has given way to yet another revenue stream and marketing/advertising opportunity.
THE SLIPPERY SLOPE
Though the applications of where this can lead are myriad, the main area of concern is disclosure. As consumers, do we really want an obvious profile of our spending habits, likes, dislikes, travels and tendencies available for advertisers to hawk products to our individual weaknesses?
Do we really want to be dehumanized to the point of conspicuous consumption? Do we want our brand loyalty to be used as an uncompensated de facto endorsement of a product, a good or a service? And to a more ominous extent, do we really want our exact whereabouts chronicled and recorded on a near 24/7 basis? Can we opt out of consumer tracking by one company or will we have to consciously opt out with each and every business or eBusiness transaction?
And if we opt in, will our personal information and spending profile be secure and resistant to hackers (especially considering Google and Twitter have experienced recent cyber attacks)? Will any of our favorite businesses have the ability to sell such information to the highest bidder? If so, will they need our consent or has that consent been ceded at opt-in?
HAVE CELL, WILL CHARGE
Another facet of eCommerce present for years in Africa and parts of Asia is using cell phones for credit transactions. A New York Times story examines how adaptation of this technology by Americans can impact small businesses and the fortunes of companies like Square, PayPal and VeriFone. Are we streaking toward a cashless society?
PATRIOT GAMES
After 9-11, the importance of security, privacy and disclosure changed in the realm of government and in society. The public outcry of ceding privacy rights to appease government officials was initially loud and swift. Then the objections waned. To date, there has never been a groundswell of grass-roots support or opposition to targeted micro-advertising and social media marketing.
The techies are the early adopters. But as the economy slowly improves and more companies seek higher profits with lower overhead, the herd of the business community will surely follow.
The Dan Ryan Expressway.
Chicago commuters are familiar with the minutes, hours and ultimately days annually lost while sitting in northbound rush hour traffic. A recently released report identified one stretch of the highway as the second-worst traffic bottleneck in the country.
 Courtesy of INRIX For my Chicago Explainer story on windycitizen.com, I examined the 10 worst traffic tie-up locations in the metro area. I also created a couple of graphics. One graphic pinpoints these 10 traffic nightmare areas while another shows just how much time can be lost in a Chicago commute.
 photo courtesy of the Lake Street Screening Room The connection between cinema and Chicago is intrinsic. The strength and beauty of the city’s architecture — durable enough for those frozen winters — were celebrated on film. The Chicago Board of Trade took a star turn in The Untouchables. Wrigley Field was showcased in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Aerial El acrobatics added excitement to the bullet-bending thriller Wanted, while a subterranean take on the Chicago Loop was featured in The Dark Knight.
Likewise, Chicago’s critical cinematic eye drew global respect as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert became household names. Ebert now blogs about movies, but where he screens them — the Lake Street Screening Room — is one of the city’s hidden gems.
The facility is a 49-seat theater at 70th E. Lake St. and hosts Ebert as well as Second City’s other critical scribes reviewing the latest motion pictures. Only, the Screening Room isn’t just for the pros. You too can screen films at the facility for family and friends. Read all about it at my latest Chicago Explainer post.
I read an excellent article from WSJ.com contributor Jason Fry.
Fry posted on IU’s National Journalism Sports Center site about how the embrace of social media by athletes will affect sportswriters and their coverage. The discussion was part of Social Media week in New York (Feb. 1- Feb. 5).
The article caught my eye because the debate has been an issue of interest. In December 2008 while writing for stltoday.com’s Speaking Visually graphics blog, I briefly discussed the impact of Lance Armstrong’s embrace of Twitter. Armstrong, long a technology geek on and off the bike, began communicating directly with his fans through Twitter and encouraged his teammates and coach to join the micro-blogging service.
Last spring, after taking offense to an article blaming him for a rider uprising about safety, Armstrong reportedly boycotted the Giro D’Italia media last year, posting his post-race thoughts and analysis on Twitter. By the end of the race, some cycling journalists were quoting Armstrong’s tweets. Today, Armstrong has over 2.4 million followers while the NBA’s Shaquille O’Neal boasts 2.8 million followers.
Fry notes that the rage of Twitter and Facebook began four years ago — and now a new crop of collegiate star athletes will soon break into the public consciousness having used social media as easily a primary means of communication as they’ve used their smartphones for voice calls.
Fry writes:
So where will that leave sportswriters?
For one thing, they will have to accept that they are no longer gatekeepers through which information must pass – reporting on a team will require not just time in the locker room, but also hours following athletes on Twitter, checking in on their fan pages, and watching their latest Ustream videos.
But that’s already happening – many sportswriters are on Twitter in part because the athletes and agents they cover are on it. As things evolve, I think sportswriters will be more free to let what athletes say through social media stand for itself. Pretty soon specifying that someone said something on Twitter will be as odd as specifying that it was said using a telephone.
The migration to social media by current sportswriters (and the new guard of journalists) likely will change the manner traditional interviews are conducted. While some athletes will use Twitter and Facebook as ways to reach out to fans, other, savvier athletes will expect beat writers and columnists to be just as comfortable using these mediums. Those beat writers and columnists must be skilled in navigating the athlete’s tweets to construct a compelling story — even if the interview unfolds 140 words at a time.
Just over one year ago on the P-D Graphics blog Speaking Visually, I briefly wrote about and linked to a NYT John Branch story about the evolution of the Super Bowl logo. Through the years, the logo (as with all NFL branding) went from somewhat of an afterthought to a primary marketing feature associated with perhaps the biggest game franchise in team sports.
This year, I’ve come across Ken Carbone’s Fast Company blog where he redesigns what he calls “the worst NFL helmet graphics. Carbone gives credit to what he considers the best NFL helmet logos: Dallas, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Cincinnati.
But it’s interesting to see what Carbone does with sketches and renderings of Tampa Bay, Washington and New England’s helmet logos. The Washington prototype is impressive: a nod to the features on its throwback helmet from the mid-to-late 1960s.
Carbone’s Fast Company colleague Cliff Kuang gets a primer on this year’s Super Bowl XLIV logo, designed by Attik, an English communications firm and division of Japanese ad firm Dentsu.
|
|
