[ paul isakson ]

Planning Conference Cocktails & Connections

Kelly and I were discussing plans for heading down to the AAAA's Account Planning Conference yesterday and came up with a couple of ideas we thought would be good to help people connect and socialize a bit more...

First, we have created a Facebook group so we can all see who will be attending and better connect/make plans beforehand. We can also use this as a place to discuss expectations, recap thoughts/takeaways afterward, etc. If you're not going, by all means feel free to join anyway and use it to track what's happening/being discussed.

Additionally, we've proposed a cocktail gathering on Tuesday night at Shore Club's Skybar for people to meet, connect and unwind on the last night of the conference. The details and RSVP can be found here.

Hope you can join us in both of the above and please pass along the links/info to others who might be interested.

UPDATE: Planning For Good will be sponsoring the cocktail gathering. More news to come...

 

Never. Stop. Learning.

view video on ESPN

"A-Rod is not a know-it-all by any stretch of the imagination. He wants... Even though he's 32 years old and he's gonna be the home run king, he still wants to learn." - Pete Rose

Alex Rodriguez is arguably the best player in the game of baseball today. Many believe he'll own the all-time home run record before he's through. How has he come this far and why is he likely to continue? He never stops trying to learn and improve.

I know it goes without saying, but it's another reminder that to be the best at something, you have to be tirelessly committed to it. Always looking to improve, learn and grow.

A couple favorite quotes from this:

"In many ways what I've learned from him [Pete Rose] is that greatness is simple. You don't always try to over complicate it. See it, and hit it hard somewhere. Just take every at-bat as if it's your last one." - Alex Rodriguez

"He's the world's all-time leading hitter. I mean, it's kind of like, if you're a writer, why wouldn't you want to talk to Ernest Hemingway? You know? If you're a painter, Picasso. Baseball ... Pete Rose. That's just what it comes down to." - Alex Rodriguez

This last one, I especially like. Whatever industry you're in, there is a ton of opportunity to learn from current and past greats. Through social media, you can access the minds of many of today's top thinkers and doers in their respective fields almost instantly. You can also pick up books, articles and interviews from many who don't participate in social media or are no longer with us to participate.

Anyway, like I said above, I probably didn't need to say all of this, but since I typed it up already... go learn something.

For those interested in reading more on A-Rod & Pete's relationship, the ESPN eTicket article is here.

Weezer Is The Web

Just a little Friday fun courtesy of Weezer and their new Pork and Beans video.

via

BLU | MUTO

Found this animation from BLU just now and thought it was worth sharing here vs. just on my Tumblr.

Enjoy.

via

Loathing Math = A Career in Advertising

In looking through the set of sketchnotes Mike Rohde took at SXSWi this year, I came across this one (pink stars added by me using Skitch). The statement from Mr. Coudal is exactly why I ended up in advertising.

Upon graduating from high school, I attended Colorado School of Mines* on a baseball scholarship. It was my experience there, bouncing around various majors and really not enjoying any of the advanced math and science classes I had to take, that I realized I wanted to work in advertising. So I transferred and ended up getting a degree in marketing, which led to my first job as an intern at an ad agency.

Anyway, wanted to share a bit about how I ended up in this crazy business but more so, call out these great notes from Mike.

* This was mostly because it was the best education opportunity playing baseball presented me and at the ripe age of 18, I wasn't sure what I really wanted to do with my life other than play baseball at that point. It was also because the baseball coach told me I could major in Environmental Science in my second year because it was on its way to becoming a major (then just a minor). It wasn't.

It's Funny How Things Align Sometimes

Yesterday I shared the little blurb I wrote that appeared in The Next Issue which talked about the amount of content out there and how easily it is now to link one thing to another.

Today, Faris posted on a blatant case of this.

And just now, I went to the YouTubes to see what was on the home page and came across this video:

Which reminded me of another video, that funnily enough, I remembered seeing on TIGS quite some time ago:

Now, certainly art inspires advertising and sometimes vice versa, and these aren't nearly as bad as the case Faris is citing, but it does all make for a fun little coincidence now doesn't it.

A Little Monday Musical Interlude

Solar, with lyrics. from flight404 on Vimeo.

found

Away for the Holidays

I'm heading back to Colorado to celebrate the Holidays with my family and I know I won't be on here most likely, so I thought I'd leave a final note/post of the year on a more personal level.

2007 has been quite the year both personally and professionally. I wouldn't have predicted at the beginning of it all where things have ended up for me. It has all been very surprising and I guess it's just this that makes life interesting and enjoyable.

The posts on here have been infrequent since moving up to Minneapolis and I look to change that and start fresh in 2008. These last four months have been exciting and inspiring. The challenges of starting a new life in a new city have been helping me grow and learn in ways I never expected. I absolutely love it and can't wait to see what 2008 brings.

A lot of what has me inspired and excited is going to work each day at space150. I feel very fortunate to have landed at the space and I know that my move to the Twin Cities would not have been the same were it not for all the great people there who have shown me much kindness and made me feel very at home. I'm proud to work with such passionate, driven, and smart people.

To close, here is some of the work we've done in the past few months that I've been at space. This is just a small sampling of what was done this year and looking back at it now makes me look forward to all that 2008 will bring even more.

Happy Holidays!

See you in 2008!

Paul

good morning, minneapolis

Can't wait for the walk today!

Oh, and if you've not used simple weather yet, you might want to check it out. Much more to the point than some weather sites.

happy halloween

Yup. That's the costume for work today - René Magritte's The Son of Man.

Happy Halloween.