(Video: Audience is listening to Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ backwards)
Why We See Faces in the Clouds
By: Erin Hughes
You learn something new everyday right? At SXSW, you probably learn 10 new things everyday, but my stand out for today is learning the meaning of the word “Pareidolia” during a session on “The Science of Movements” with Maggie Gross.
Pareidolia is a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon or the Moon rabbit, and hearing hidden messages on records when played in reverse. (according to Wikipedia)
Ultimately humans are problem solvers, and want to find a solution – right or wrong.
Really interesting that there is an actual part of the brain that leads you to need to find an answer – when there may not be one.
We turned the table on Talk Stoop host, and supreme interviewer, Cat Greenleaf and asked her the question: If your phone was a person, who would it be?
Catching up with Brandi Milloy, POPSUGAR’s Lifestyle TV Host and Food Reporter/Producer, at the Ipsos Girls Lounge. We asked Brandi: If your phone were a person, who would it be?
Her answer - not a person, but her very own heartbeat!
http://brandimilloy.com/
http://www.theipsosgirlslounge.com/
See this and more on the SouthXMRM blog:
http://www.mrm-mccann.com/sxsw
Erin Hughes, Executive Business Director at MRM//McCann explains why her phone would be The Wizard of Oz, more specifically, "the man behind the curtain". All the answers to all the world's answerable questions are in the palm of her hand. With a simple reference to her phone, she becomes the one with the answers and solutions to people’s problems. She is the Wizard of Oz - theoretically speaking, of course.
Fast Company's 50 Most Innovative Companies - 2015
Ikea #40
By: Erin Hughes
We all know IKEA for its affordably priced, ready-to-assemble, simply designed product. The company has been around for over 70 years, and I think it will see another 70.The reason the company has not just sustained, but flourished, is that it has continued to evolve and innovate its approach while staying true to its original purpose.
IKEA is built on the vision: “To create a better everyday life for the many people.” This idea is not about the product – but about the end goal of making peoples lives better. It is the North Star for innovation, continually changing and adapting, creating new experiences based on the needs, wants and interests of the people that come through their doors (or onto their site) everyday – both customers and employees.
IKEA is about affordability and accessibility, but it’s really about helping the masses make a home. And they are constantly progressing to make that experience even better.
What is IKEA doing now that makes it one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies 2015?
1. By bringingpeople in store.
In an era of online, in hand, digital accessibility, people can review, compare, purchase, and deliver without ever going into a store. But furniture is best seen in person. IKEA has found a way to still bring people into the “brick and mortar” by creating an enjoyable experience with perks like buy-one-get-one-free frozen yogurt and complimentary babysitting services on site.
2. By helping with the big picture.
Customers can download the catalogue app and use it superimpose the furniture they are considering into their space. They still have the opportunity to come in store and see the product in person, but now they come with a plan and a better view of the big picture.
3. By realizing one size doesn’t fit all.
A new series of furniture cuts down degree of assembly – because not everyone is a wiz with an Allen wrench (like me).
4. By focusing on their greatest asset.
The company has recently (2014) turned their focus not just on its customer but on its employees, with increased wages based on the MIT Living Wage Calculator.
It all comes back to the people – their customer and their employees – and their experiences. IKEA is a company that sticks to its roots and its vision; but evolves its product and services, and that’s why it deserves to be on this list of innovative companies.
With all of this, I want to also say of course there is a business strategy that underpins the company vision. Its actually a pretty unique story about IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad – check it out in this CMG partners insight: Eternal Life for IKEA. I like this guy.
And for fun, here’s “13 Facts About IKEA That Will Blow Your Mind” from a 2013 Business Insider article, such as: IKEA’s products use approximately 1% of the entire world’s commercial supply of wood.
But my favorite may be: An estimated one in five children in Britain were conceived on an IKEA mattress.
SXSW Reflection
by: Erin Hughes, Manager, Global Brand Communications, MRM//McCann
Twenty years ago, SXSW added the “SXSW Multimedia Conference” to the event program, later to be known as “SXSW Interactive”. At that time I am sure it was just a bunch of tech geeks.
I would like to clarify that I say “geek” with love. It is a badge of honor. It means you’re smart and passionate, and know a whole lot about a whole lot. {However, I did learn that ‘dork’ is not the same as ‘geek’, corrected by colleagues, who were luckily only slightly offended.}
Myself, I am not a geek. I am smart, and passionate. But I have met people that are SO smart, and SO passionate, who know the world about the world, to whom I reserve that badge of honor for.
What hit me most this, my second, year attending SXSW Interactive (SXSWi), was the move to mainstream. I may not be a geek, but I am a marketer. I know that there have been more and more marketers joining in on the fun down in Austin year over year, as much to learn and understand how new technologies and ideas can help them reach their customers, as to market their own companies and agencies to the industry at large. But this is not what I’m talking about. I noticed that the techies, the marketers, and everyone in between, were playing dual roles. There to see what is new and cool, and what will move us forward, but not just for their business, but also for themselves.
Just as “interactive” is becoming mainstream, mainstream is becoming interactive. Everyone can get the tools, the knowledge and have the scope to affect change in ways we have never seen.
This accessibility to effect change has grown a small conference of specialists in technology and creative fields to expand to anyone with an iPhone and an idea. I had the opportunity to see Jimmy Kimmel Live! in Austin where he opened with the topic of how big SXSW has grown, “A lot of people have been talking and say its gotten too big. To which I always say, maybe South By isn’t too big, maybe we are too small.”
It is getting bigger. They have already announced dates for 2015, and are urging early registration (as in this August). If you don’t get after it, you can expect to be miles away, waiting hours for a shuttle every morning and pay tons for a cab home every night. If you’ve been, you know what I’m talking about
Maybe its getting so much bigger because everyone is realizing this event is not just about the future of gaming, of technology, of social media, or just about “the Internet of things”. This is about the future of the human race, about how technology, gaming, social media and the Internet of things are changing the fate of humanity.
Take Kevin Bacon for example. Yes, that Kevin Bacon. On day two of SXSWi Bacon was the featured guest in a panel moderated Brian Turtle, one of the three guys that thought up the game “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon” one bored night back in college. The idea for the game was about connecting the dots between people, and 20 years later the game is still relevant and still being played {even if the actual board game never really took off}.
But what Kevin Bacon did with this idea was the real reason they were up on stage. He took the power of this idea, combined with the opportunity we all now have to connect with the world via technology, to do good. His organization SixDegrees.org connects celebrities with local causes to bring them the attention and funding they so greatly need. What better use of social media.
All of this change, this technology, this knowledge – seems to be aimed at good. Which is amazing to see.
Chelsea Clinton was a keynote this year. Why? Well, because technology is helping save the world. One of her examples – how the Red Cross raised millions to help after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, all by bringing fundraising mobile, raising more funds via text messages than hours of telethon-ing has ever been able to generate. SXSWi is her stage to tell these stories and inspire even more connections between these digital disruptors, and the good they can bring to the world.
Everyone can effect change. Personal and global issues are no longer left to governments and corporations to solve. People are taking the betterment of the planet, and their own lives, into their own hands. One way this is majorly coming into play, and one of the biggest themes at this year’s conference, was “healthcare and business” - but it was really healthcare and tech.
One quote I heard South by abuzz with summarizes the possibilities at our doorstep, “If you just manage to live for another 25 years, there’s a chance that you might never die.”
It’s amazing to think that some day, doctor office visits will be a thing of the past with apps like Doctor on Demand, an app that allows patients to connect with their doctor via video. Or how about Scanadu, a company working to build the world’s first Tricorder - a multifunction hand-held device used for sensor scanning, data analysis, and recording data. This device could be used to instantly diagnose what’s wrong with a sick or injured living organism. While we are still busy creating bigger, but not better, problems every day (global warming, obesity), digital disruption is making the magnitude of positive change that much greater.
We may live longer, or forever. We can connect in ways we never thought possible. We can take an idea and make it a movement. We can change lives in an instant.
What does the future look like? It may not even be here on earth. I think many of the minds that come together at SXSWi have a better idea of what our future holds, than those who brush off South By as just a bunch of tech geeks with remote control everything and the ability to make tiny Yoda’s with 3-D printers. The thing is, whether you head down to Austin, Texas every March – or don’t – change is happening, digital disruption is happening. If you are not one of the many leading the charge, it will be knocking down your door soon – so be ready.
Mindy Kaling, writer, director and star of The Mindy Project joined Marie Claire Editor-in-Chief Anne Fulenwider for a conversation about her show, her career and herself.
The conversation started out very light-hearted. Mindy, in her sleeve-less, bright coral jumpsuit complete with statement necklace, kicked things off by telling the crowd that she had dressed for the Austin she had thought it would be, but “this is Antartica.”
She also crushed the challenge presented to her when Anne quoted Mindy as saying, “If you cannot tweet in 45 seconds or less, then it’s really not your medium."
Mindy tweeted from @AnneFulenwider in 17 seconds.
Miami? Austin? Antarctica? What am I? #sxsw
The conversation was great, and hysterical – especially after her co-stars (and co-writer) Adam Pally and Ike Barinholtz joined the fun.
But the real theme of the conversation continually seemed to be about how as a successful, Indian, woman she is marginalized by her demographic characteristics, instead of being individually credited for her own success.
While Mindy acknowledged that there is still a long way for women to come in many areas, she also questioned why the conversation around her was always about being a woman…about being an Indian woman.
She said that all the guys on her staff could identify as feminists, and that she is so lucky that she’s always been exposed to smart, nice guys that love women.
But when Anne asked Mindy her thoughts on a recent comparison that has been made via Twitter, “I’m just a Liz Lemon whose biggest fear is becoming a Hannah Corbath,” her point of view was that women in comedy, in film and TV, are too often compared to each other because of the mere fact they are woman. She didn’t necessarily think this example was a comparison of women per say, but of writers portraying characters that are writers.
However she did take on this seeming trend of comparisons of women in comedy, “You don’t hear, Is Will Ferrel too Steve Carell-y?”
“There is this mentality that there can only be one.”
While she seemed genuinely in love with her job (well, jobs really) and the people she worked with, she was a bit exhausted by the additional chore of talking about what its like to be a woman of color who has her own show. “I have to leave my job to come talk about why it’s important for women to do their jobs…”
The topic really came to a head when an audience member asked a question on whether it was a conscious decision that there were no other women doctors or doctors of color on the show.
This is when she hit her breaking point. To be fair, Mindy was kind in her immediate response and this was not directed at the questioning individual, but at the constant societal questioning in general. While she structured her response, she just came to the point where she said, “this is going to just seem defensive, but I’m just gonna say it: I’m a F*cking Indian Woman Who Has Her Own F*cking Show.”
Here she is – smart, talented, successful. She has done something that is hard to do, for “anyone”. She said it earlier in the conversation with Anne, “It’s challenging to get your own show, period.”
It is. I would imagine, because I don’t know that I have the guts and the talent to do it. Let’s give her, Mindy Kaling, some credit – all her own. She most definitely had support in getting to where she is, her family, her friends. She was lucky enough in her upbringing to have the opportunities she had. But I understand her frustration that the entire conversation about her success seems to revolve around her sex, and her ethnicity. What about her late nights in the writing room? Her knack for being charming and funny, without being offensive (even while being offensive). What about the fact that Mindy writes, directs, and stars in this hit show, and has so many friends that respect her within the industry that it is a revolving door of who’s who. Or, the fact that the people that work for her regard her in such high esteem.
When Anne asked her colleagues, "Can you talk about Mindy as a boss?"
Ike Barinholtz responded: “She’s much like Kim Jong-un. No, she’s the best boss I’ve ever had.”
As a woman myself, I hope not to ever be paraphrased as “She is so successful, smart, interesting, funny… for a woman.” Honestly, I have been lucky in my life and career. I have worked with amazing women and men that have respected my work, and me. I think there definitely exists a naivety in me, since I never met this marginalization directly. I’ve had moments where I thought – if I do not dwell or exacerbate the fact that I am a woman, then no one will treat me a certain way because of it. This is of course not true. Being a woman is part of who I am, just like being a New Yorker, or being tall (yes, I believe it is) or being an Irish-German-English-French Canadian mutt is. I just hope to not be qualified, overtly or passively, as succeeding – or failing – in something purely as a woman.
In this same vein, I hope that Mindy gains more fame as writer, director and star of The Mindy Project than of “The Indian Woman Project.”
