The Vernacularist

Raphael Lemkin

I recently went to a lecture at the New York Public Library.  It was actually more like a conversation between Samatha Power and Kati Marton, two authors of books about genocide. Samantha is the author of A Problem from Hell:  American in the Age of Genocide, which I have been meaning to read since it came out but people keep giving me books to read.  I just haven't had the discipline to read it yet.  I think it's partly because the Darfur crisis weighs on my mind in a very present way.  Reading that book will make the Darfur genocide that much more preventable and tragic. Kati, a former journalist covering the UN, recently published a book  called The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World.   I don't think I'll get to that, but it certainly sounds passionate.

The authors wandered between stories within their books and contemplations about the current state of international diplomacy, the UN and America's diminshed reputation in diplomatic circles.  Samantha argued that America has lost two fundamental characteristics under Pres. Bush: competence and legitimacy. Regardless of what you think about Pres. Clinton's lack of action about Rwanda, Samantha thought we still had a moral authority within international diplomatic circles. I think it's clear that returning to our post-Clinton standing would be a gift.

I never heard of Raphael Lemkin before the event, but we have him to thank for coining the term "genocide." He tried to persuade his family to flee Poland, however he lost 49 relatives in Holocaust.  During the Holocaust, he called this crime "barbarity" and "vandalism." Unfortunately, he found the most eloquent and exacting word in 1943, too late to turn up the spotlight any brighter. Years after WWII, he wondered whether having a better name for the crimes described by the Holocaust would have amplified his families' fears and encouraged them to flee like he did.

I am struck by the power of a single, well constructed, proportionately evocative word. It's a reminder of the complexity and nuance we give to a single word. This blog is inspired by the word "vernacular," my favorite word, for just this reason. Samantha and Kati provided me a reminder on the power of persuation. After all the number crunching I've done the last couple months, I needed some etymological inspiration.

Ideas for Media Conference Please

If I wasn't busy enough, now I also have to help organize the MBA Media and Entertainment Conference, which is managed by MBA students at Stern, Columbia, Upenn, Duke and MIT.  (I know the website is out of date...we are on it. )  I'm revved for it.  Feb 9, 2007 at Columbia University.  It switches between Columbia and NYU every year.

This is what I need from you.  I have the opportunity to organize a panel on anything that falls within these categories...so it's a lot.  Of course, I'm already thinking of inviting executives from new media companies and interactive companies, but what else should I be thinking of?  What would you want to know more about?  I would really appreciate some suggestions from my very fun and creative friends who are paying attention to all this stuff. Don't forget that this is a conference for MBAs, so finance, mergers & acquisitions, and all that glorious business stuff is muy importante too. 

Here are some topics and companies I've been toying with:

Mobile technologies - entertainment companies are dipping their toes in the water, but no one has experimented enough to know what works.  What will it take?  Invite marketing execs who have tried campaigns.

Snakes on a Plane: what went right and what went terribly wrong...lessons learned. Invite the creative team and studio.  I realize this is a long shot, but there are other ways to explore this topic too.

How to make money off of mashups (beyond music)? Invite who??

Help me out, peeps....

Colbert at #1

...on iTunes AudioBooks.  His spanking of the Bush Administration at the White House Correspondents Dinner is best seller.  Shows you what can happen when you put good content and new digital distribution services together in the handy-dandy online drink mixer. Then shake.  Yum. A Colbert Colada. (thanks BoingBoing)

A moment shared by stamps

(Cross-posted at EchoDitto)

I caught this article in AdAge today:

The U.S. Postal Service last week canceled an old law that forbade businesses from placing ads or logos on any type of currency -- including postage -- relinquishing to marketers once-hallowed ground unsullied by commercialism. HP postage stamps feature images of the HP logo as well as its founders and the garage in which they started the company.  

The effort is part of the USPS' push to stem a loss of income as consumers increasingly turn from so-called snail mail to Internet correspondence. First-class mailings have plunged since the mid-1990s from almost 55 billion pieces mailed in 1998 to just over 43 billion last year.  

This isn't that surprising since personalized stamps are already allowed. Stamps.com, Zazzle and Encidia, the three USPS-approved vendors, have sold 17 million personalized postage "units." You have to buy stamps in sheets of 20 and the prices range from $0.90 to $0.65 per stamp, depending on the number of sheets. More than 500 sheets (10,000 stamps) and you can negotiate a better discount.

Most photo-sharing services like Flickr, Webshots, Shutterfly and Snapfish have partnerships with one of these three vendors making all your online photos a couple clicks away from stamp material.

Personalized stamps are still a surprise to most people. It's a great way to capture a moment and share it with friends and family in -- almost -- real-time. Of course, there are some creative advocacy and fundraising uses for personalized stamps too. Try these on:

 
• With your next letter writing campaign, urge supporters to use a photo of themselves or of the campaign message ("Save Darfur") as a stamp;  
 
• Give your newlywed friends or family a stack of stamps with photos from their wedding, which happened...the night before;   
 
• Send thank you cards to their major donors and high targets with stamps of the donors with a celebrity guest or political candidate;  
 
• Send a stamp of a political candidate on the direct mail for fundraising; and  
 
• If you are a real estate agent, place available houses on a stamps.  

It's funny. This technological evolution provides new value and importance to written letters, rather than email.  Businesses that rely on mail will make easy use of this. Robert De Niro might sell his mug for use on American Express literature, which comes every darn month to my place. I can already see Ronald McDonald and The King waving to us on promotional literature.

You bet there is some short-term fun-factor in using personalized stamps now, to add some flavor to your existing campaigns. Try it on for size because you don't really have anything to lose.