Say it Better

Droll Writing That Jabs. Dan Pink's Favorite ...

column of the year and mine. With much of today's TV "news" there is no room for parody. Paradoxically that's why so many turn to late night comics for the unvarnished truth, told humorously.

Make Bigger Dreams Happen by Doubling Up

When a dot com founder and a real estate developer can bankroll successful movies for profit or for noble social goals, then the movie studios better watch their backs. They have more than the writers’ strike to worry about in a power shift that L.A. Times reporter, Patrick Goldstein predicts will crack open the movie business to further ground-breaking alliances (and inspire you to create your own.)

Like other hyphenates (as Marci Alboher knows), the writer-director of “Michael Clayton,” Tony Gilroy, was thrilled with the opportunity to use his multiple talents – and add one - “entrepreneur” to his tool-kit.

Notes Goldstein, “Hollywood is a town awash in hyphenates. TV is loaded with writer-producers. The movie biz is full of writer-directors. There’s even a legion of actor-filmmakers like Clint Eastwood and George Clooney and ....

Your Fastest Path to Greater Success and Friendship

I got this strange idea in eighth grade. To run for student body president is not a surprising decision for most outgoing, popular people.

But I was neither.

In fact I tended to daydream, read books that were not on the required list, and sit in the table at the far corner of the cafeteria with the only two friends I had, Denise and Janice. What unfolded within two months led me to discover the single best method to succeed (sometimes) in new endeavors. Perhaps more importantly, looking back, it enabled me to savor my life with some remarkable and remarkably diverse people who became my friends. Here’s what happened ....

“800 Refrigerators” Approach to Self-Led Teams

Why discover how to make self-led teams succeed? Because, in this flattening world, more of us are thrown into the self-led situation. And, more alluringly, we can have more fun and make more money, according to Alex Linksker. Can’t beat that name for someone who writes on “organizational democracy.” He boasts, “We boosted annual profits by over a million dollars in four months.” Find his “800 refrigerators” real life story for team building in the new normal world here. My favorite: “Big teams had teams-within-a-team.” Then you may go dancing around too....

Hear About Our Whole Human History in 60 Seconds

Got a minute for a recap of what’s happened so far? See the lecture offered by University of Pennsylvania intellectual historian, Alan Charles Kors. Unfortunately, you’ll need Real Player to view it. Below is a written summary. Hopeful notes: (for some) irrigation strengthens community and (for more of us) the many benefits inherent in the “cooperation of strangers.”

• First, tribes: tough life.
• The defaults beyond the intimate tribe were violence, aversion to difference, and slavery. Superstition: everywhere.
• Culture overcomes them partially.
• Rainfall agriculture, which allows loners.
• Irrigation agriculture, which favors community.
• Division of labor plus exchange in trade bring mutual cooperation, even outside the tribe.
• The impulse is always there, though: “Kill or enslave the outsider.” .....

Organize a Meeting. Share Interests. Make Money.

Want to meet other Shih Tzus owners? Find a fellow skier, cyclist, kayaker or climber? Get a pick-up basketball game wherever you are? Start a team?

Organize a speaker series, and charge attendees? Get a free web site and/or social network site where your new group can gather online? Or provide the event calender others use to find meetings?

Jump on a growing trend. Use extremely user-friendly online services (many are free) to enable people with passionate, shared interests or needs to actually meet in person. Quickly, in some cases. Facilitating face-to-face meetings is one social media trend that continues to grow in popularity while others are beginning to wilt. ...

The Gift That Evokes Tears, Laughter and Most Everything in Between

Few people grow up and stay in the same town all their lives, with the same friends and family members just a short drive away. We meet people at college. We jump around in our jobs. Settle down. Life flies by. For many of us, our dearest friends are not down the street.

Yet we want to keep them close. One of the most popular ways we can share the news of what’s happening in our lives with those we hold dear is online scrapbooking - with others or are in our hearts yet far away. You have many ways to share photos, video vignettes and your thoughts and stories with others - without the whole world seeing them.

What a gift - to co-create such scrapbooks for a friend’s birthday, your parents’ anniversary celebration, your club’s annual party - and more....

First-Ever Way to Celebrate the Holiday: Brotherhood 2.0

Literally see how two nerdy brothers, Hank and John Green, became closer by restricting their communication, helped causes – and are celebrating this holiday with the world. Their tightly orchestrated, viral “Me+Me(brothers)toWe” campaign method is one you could adapt for your own purpose. It launched the brothers and their allies to the top five spots on YouTube. A first.

Tips we can glean from their success ...

Make Your Next Conference More Participatory ...

... so they'll want to come back next year.

How many conferences have you attended where you felt talked “at” by a series of speakers up on stage? Then you rushed between sessions to meet new people and catch up with friends in the hallways. Wouldn’t it be great to have a meeting designed to support you in exchanging ideas with the colleagues most helpful for you?

Well, next February many professional meeting planners will be attending a conference that’s designed to in a “Me2We” way – where attendees turn from passive to active participants - interacting more frequently and productively. Then they can celebrate together and to learn from each other. (Not a new idea - just one that is spread too slowly for some, including me.)

MPI Meeting DifferentlyWant your next conference to be more meaningful and memorable? Via Jim Louis, one of the adept More...moderators of a closely-knit online group to which I belong called MeetingsCommunity (MeCo), I discovered MeetingsNet’s coverage of the innovative formats for the conference, “MPI Meeting Differently”:

“To improve the trade show experience, MPI is changing the layout of the exhibit hall. One innovation is something MPI calls "conversation spots," freestanding circular plexiglass towers that are divided into quadrants and placed in high-profile spots around the exhibit hall. The idea is to provide a more intimate meeting area for exhibitors and attendees than they normally find on the trade show floor.

Organizers tinkered with more than just the trade show format. New concepts include:

a. The "Conversation Café"-a learning environment based on a coffee shop.

b. "Book clubs" - discussions led by book authors and subject matter authorities.

c. Wikis - each educational session will have its own wiki pages to encourage pre- and post-session communication and collaboration.

d. Educational sessions in "soft seating" or lounge-style meeting environments. Most of the 80 educational sessions will eschew a traditional classroom setting. Instead they will be held in the round to facilitate interactive learning and discussion.”

My faint hope is that this is the tipping point to make meetings even more interactive so attendees find in each other fresh ways to be mutually-supportive. Even as a "professional" (aka paid) speaker I'd welcome more short (20 - 30 minute) "meet the expert" sessions around 8-12 person tables, with a bell ringing so you could move through three sessions in a block. Then the mix and mingle times are more fun and valuable. That's because you've probably discovered some people who share your interests and gotten a sense of whom you might like and respect enough to talk further.

For an invitation-only gathering, have inclusive, action-inducing rituals like the TED conference or Rennaisance Weekend.

Plus why not let attendees vote on the topics, speakers and session formats they most want?

And why not ask all invited speakers to 1) submit in advance, three of the tips they will present, then 2) receive an email of all speakers' tips and be required to 3) refer to at least two other speaker's tips as they complement the speaker's message. Thus the conference would have more continuing threads of themes.

Also why not have lively panels of inside and outside experts (1. journalists or columnists, 2. researchers at investment banks, and 3. veteran, respected exhibitors) who see, from a different perspective, the sector represented in the conference. Give each panelist just seven minutes to offer their best two pieces of advice for attendees. Encourage attendees to submit written questions as they listen. Volunteers could gather the questions, sort for best mix for the strong and well-liked MC to present to the panelists to answer. As attendees leave the meeting room, they are given the handout with the written version of panelists' tips and their bios. Thus attendees see more candor and pertinent content - in a contagiously active way. Who knows? That may lead to more unconferences.

Speaking of partipatory, hear holiday cheer that's guaranteed to make you laugh with joy. My way of wishing you a (me2we) holiday you savor - with others. See more at http://www.movingfrommetowe.com