Talking and sharing stuff is such a great way for us planners to step away from our desks, get out of our minds for a bit and see things from a fresh perspective. Sharing helps us grow. What’s the use in spending 3 full days researching the ‘grocery shopping habits of moms’ if that information isn’t then collected and discussed? It is our job to put together the stories, using information. Drowning ourselves in numbers, driving ourselves insane and nit-picking over data isn’t the only way to create good stories (nor it is a very good way, anyhow). A single data point can easily be brought to life with real-life examples, examples that exist outside our own personal experiences. Those examples may never surface if we don’t share…

So, don’t keep your mouth shut. Get talking, get sharing and get better! Planners… plan!

Comic Source: http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/

BUT, for good reason. There’s been change and it’s been big… HUGE in fact. Stay tuned for a whole new “…planner in progress…” in 2010. It’s coming. Be excited.

For now, you’ll just have to wait. Please… talk amongst yourselves. I’ll give you a topic…. “Sea Monkeys”

Ok. Go.

For a mere $300 I can store my life in a Swiss Bank account and allow my future family members, and any other parties interested in knowing about my eccentricities and lifestyle for a one-time access charge of $70. That’s about the price of a Dave Matthews Band concert ticket and probably WAY more entertaining (my life has been fairly crazy and comical, worth the admission fee, I promise).

But… still, I can’t help but wonder if social nets, although not protected in an underground bomb shelter (wait, is the internet atomic bomb proof?), would be just as reliable and a much much cheaper way to store my virtual DNA. Hmmm. Think I’ll stick with Facebook for now.

(I just really loved this stock photo from Veer)

I started to wonder this because I just read an article (via Mashable) regarding Facebook beta testing voice chat. There goes using Skype, now I can use Facebook in replace of or close to in replace of Twitter- I publish to both anyways and so do many that I follow; Flickr- everyone puts their pics on Facebook; YouTube- Video sharing and searching; Google Alerts- Those I’m friends with generally post great articles regarding the topics I subscribe to Google for; YahooReader- same as Google Alerts; AIM/iChat- You can use Facebook for that… and now voice chat!

Will we one day be able to simply “log in” to our lives by logging into Facebook. Medical records, financial accounts, email, social networking, etc. all accessible through one location, easily available and all personalized? Imagine the targeting, or Amazon.com-like recommendations on products, music, photos, videos, upcoming events, medical procedures, special promotions, real estate, jobs, etc. that could be customized just for us, based on what’s part of our profile. Seems logical and almost convenient, but also eerily George Orewell-ish.

I can’t help but wonder if it will mean convenience for a world with less time and more interest in aggregated information. Will my “entitled” generation feel they deserve for some site to just “get them” and make recommendations on what they will like. Although we love finding things out on our own, we also love it when our interests and personalities are taken into account. Personalized choices are already starting to appear in Facebook with recommendations of pages we may like to fan or individuals we may want to friend, based on our profile information. And really, who doesn’t love it when someone says to them,  “Oh you would just love this! I saw it and immediately thought of you!”

So, as I grow older and am starting to post more and more things to Facebook, I’m starting to see it as a little footprint I’ll get to leave on this Earth. It’s my documentary for everything… from that one crazy weekend to the path my career has taken to failed relationships and my favorite movies. Facebook has become more than just a way to share my day-to-day menutia. It’s a virtual archive of my life… Fascinating.

#1 – Canned organic pancakes

The first, Batter Blaster. Pancakes in a can? Too weird, yet so interesting!! The thing that REALLY  gets me about this product is that it’s USDA Certified Organic…. wait… it’s pancake batter in a metal can. HOW is that certifiably organic???????

#2 – WARNING if you have a week stomach (like myself) DON’T go any further!!

Presenting, Chicken in a Can…

Oh, yes. It’s an ENTIRE chicken, shoved into a can. A CAN… Ugh and it gets worse.

Oh yeah, that’s what it looks like as it comes out… They call that goop “broth”… I think it looks like Chicken Afterbirth. YYYYYYYYYYYYYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!!!!

Dinner anyone?

The best thing is that when I first saw this (thanks to this blog), I totally thought of this infamous scene from the movie Alien.

Overall… YUCK and EW.

After I say my usual quirky answers like, “the planner of awesomeness… the Dalai Lama of the ad agency… the most kick ass job in the world…” I respond with a more comprehensive look into what it is I actually do and why I love it so much. I recently wrote the piece below, not just for other people, but as a means for myself to provide an overview of what Idea Planning means to me and to my agency. Hope you enjoy!

What is Idea Planning?

It’s my personal take on Account Planning. I got into advertising because of ideas, they are the currency of our industry. They enable brands to connect with the right people in an honest, relevant and timely way.

Since ideas can come from anywhere and anyone at any time, it didn’t seem right to label our new department strategic planning, account planning, creative planning, etc. At the end of the day, it’s about the idea.

So how do these so-called “ideas” get developed?

As an Idea Planner, I get to lay the foundation and provide a theoretical road map for the development of ideas. Creating ideas is a fun, collaborative, messy process and no two ideas are ever created equally – which makes planning them such an exciting endeavor!

Specifically, the position entails:
1.) Having a comprehensive knowledge of a brand and all that it stands for, believes in and aspires to be.

2.) Deeply understanding people, REAL people, not consumers. Asking questions about who they are, what they like, what motivates them, what makes the sad, what are they afraid of, where they came from and where they are going.

3.) Connect the dots between who/what the brand is and who/what the person is. People with something in common are more likely to form a meaningful, lasting relationship than those who have to “work at it”

4.) Sit both down together at the table, let the magic happen.

Now, of course, during each stage are the little details, such as:

- Conducting primary and secondary research
- Getting out and talking to people
- Experiencing the product
- Creating insights
- Identifying the business strategy and the problem
- Telling the story
- Guiding the idea process

….and loads and loads of idea-storming sessions in between. All things combined help an idea come to life and create something bigger than a simple advertisement. They can create a movement, establish a point of view, shape an entire society and so much more.

Now, take a look at the ideas you’ve had or helped create. What have they done? What have you helped develop that has made someone life, changed someone’s life, helped complete a task or simply caused people to question what they always thought to be true? That’s my goal as an idea planner and while I’m not quite there, I’m off to a good start.

So think about it today… what’s your idea and how can it be put to use?

At any given time during the day, I can be immediately reached via ichat, skype, text, 3 different email accounts, facebook, myspace (although I rarely check it anymore) and over the phone. Today, I’ve decided to not log into ichat or skype because I have a lot to do and want to focus… but still, there are numerous ways in which I can be instantaneously contacted. Is this good, bad, distracting? I’m thinking it’s a mix of all three…

With technology evolving faster than I can type, we’ve opened ourselves up to new and speedier ways of communicating. For the most part, especially when I have something very important to tell someone or a critical question I need answered right away, I enjoy the fact that I can engage with another person or thousands of people in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. However, on other days, it seems as though I’ve got too much information, conversation and questions coming at me from entirely too many angles.

Responding to the text, I asked my friend to simply email me whatever it was she wanted me to look at. Sometimes, it’s nice to hide behind the walls of not-so-immediate communication. Having the option to know a message is there and look at it later is something I value in this constantly connected world. I feel this “time” luxury slowly fading as our patience (or lack thereof) for a response or need of information becomes inevitably extinct.

As I said, today I am shut off from my usual communication portals and I’ve already received numerous complaints, questions or concerns with my lack of response time and immediate availability. Don’t we all just need a little time here and there?

How do you all feel about this? Is it just me? Do you feel “too” connected some days??

Well, that was my first Giga Pet… and my last. After a few hours, the thing wouldn’t stop beeping so I hid it in my basement under a pillow. Apparently, if you don’t pay attention to the beeping (I think three beeps meant the puppy needed to be fed) the Giga Pet dies.

When my friend came home she was devastated (we were only 11… give her a break) that her little puppy had passed away. When she asked what happened and accused me of not taking care of her beloved beeping electronic dog thing, I denied. I proclaimed that I walked the dog, fed it, took it out when it had to go to the bathroom, even slept with the mut in my own bed! I blamed her… telling her that as soon as she touched it, the dog died.

She fell for it… and now I’m confessing… I killed the Giga Pet Puppy because I couldn’t stand the beeping.

RIP Giga Pet – 26 days old.