Sharon Chang is kind of a big deal. Sure, she was Chief Creative Officer at 19 and has worked on multi-million dollar ad campaigns for the world’s largest brands, and is one of the youngest members on the Board of Trustees at NYU (along with, eh hem, Fred Wilson). But none of that is what impresses me the most. The thing that is absolutely staggering about this young woman in her professional prime, is that she has gathered her considerable abilities – business acumen, creative force, social influence, and the list goes on – and has directed them toward a simple and noble goal: making the world a better place, and with a razor sharp ability to execute at the highest level. She is betting on a very exciting framework that she articulates in the interview below, and the best part for those of us working to create change in sustainability and social entrepreneurship? She’s right.

Yoxi aims to discover, nurture and elevate social entrepreneurs – what Sharon calls, “Social Innovation Rockstars” – via mass-media, business-focused campaigns. Through collaborations with companies that focus on Shared Value opportunities, these Social Innovation Rockstars get visibility to amplify their message by using the global platforms of forward-thinking corporations.   Sharon has seen first-hand all of the energy, creativity and tenacity that goes into making entertainment and sports stars, and now she wants to turn her attention and media prowess toward more pressing matters, like creating a more equitable, safe and sustainable economy for our planet. How does Yoxi do it? To start, by changing the rules of the game from the ground up.

Sharon says, “We find amazing people doing work we admire, and we ask, ‘How can we best accelerate their efforts via powerful stories that will reach a mass audience?’ Good marketing agencies know how to create campaigns that best fit their clients, and good political campaigns know how to tailor their approach to put their candidate in the best light, to increase his or her chances of success. That’s what we try to do for the entrepreneurs we work with who are creating social good, to maximize their chance of success.”

What follows are the best parts of the delightful conversation I had with Sharon last week.

GD: What’s more important in a leader, influence or great ideas?

Being influential is more important. Influence is the secret sauce to fostering high-impact collaboration. People don’t realize that the paradigm has shifted and we’re now in a post-information age. The ratio of the number of good ideas out there to the number of people trying to execute them is changing rapidly. You used to hear a really good idea come along every once in a blue moon, whereas now you hear great ideas every other minute, and there are hundreds of thousands of people trying to execute on those ideas. Ideas are a dime a dozen.

What really matters is if you have the ability to motivate the right people to organize around a single idea and take it from just a spark to a fully executed product, while building a sophisticated, engaging story around it. I think it’s very important for all of us to stay open-minded and humble enough to work with other people’s ideas as well.

GD: You were intimately involved with American idol. What did you learn?

SC: American Idol taught me a lot about how to find talent, elevate them, work with them. We knew how to create stars out of nothing. I’d like to begin from a different starting point, and redirect this energy toward something more pressing. When the best practice of talent management is applied to a strong sense of purpose, we will create stars who can change the world.

To be successful, you have to operate on multiple levels of talent discovery. Running competitions is only one of the tools we use at Yoxi. People come to us through different channels, including relationships with incubators, business leaders, design and creative teams, investors, and our relationships with higher education institutions.

The reality is that stardom operates by the same principles across industries, whether it’s the music and entertainment industry or the story of a successful startup entrepreneur. Talent aside, unique personality traits, unusual circumstances, a strong belief in their work, willingness to fail, curiosity and tenacity are a few of the many qualities that will help people cut through a long arduous process and leapfrog forward.

Those are the qualities we look for in a person, and we teach them to tell their story in dynamic and intimate ways. We often tell them, “You probably don’t have the perfect approach to the project, or the right idea, or even a complete idea right now, but if you can convince the world to invest in you, that’s powerful.”

GD: What in the green space has that much power to motivate people to watch, compete, get involved?

SC: I am personally obsessed with an “energy revolution”. The challenge is that the energy sector is so enterprise-driven. When you talk about smart grids and highly sophisticated new products, it’s hard for most people to relate. However, I believe there is a lot of potential for consumer participation if we look at localized initiatives. I would love to capture community projects around the world that may go on to inspire institutional change. These solutions may not be sophisticated enough to scale up, but they provide seeds for massive innovation because they are born out of real local challenges. A bottom-up approach to drive energy transformation could be amazing.

GD: Right now you’re in the midst of a competition called “Trimming the Waste of Fashion.” What happens when a team wins a Yoxi competition?

SC: With our Reinvent Fast Food competition, we did what we called “100 Days of Action” with our winners. We sent a team to work with them in San Francisco and created a mini-documentary to chronicle their journey. Using filmmaking as a technique to drive results is very effective because being on camera not only helps them to focus on telling their story to the world, it also puts the right amount of pressure on them to perform, to meet deadlines. It’s a motivational vehicle.

After our latest competition, Trim the Waste of Fashion, we’ve begun to refine our approach to working with our competition winners. We will take an even more active role in shaping their success; we’re moving from just discovering Social Innovation Rockstars to creating social innovation rockstars!

GD: How do you choose the people you work with?

SC: Sometimes it’s based on their track record, but sometimes it’s about their ingenuity or their principles. It’s really not about the idea itself. As an investor, I always look at the people. Nine times out of ten, the idea they’re working on right now isn’t going to work. What’s important is the driving force behind their ideas. I want to know who they are and why they do the work they do. Ideas are born and they die all the time. The people behind these ideas are more important.

We also look for people who are charismatic and willing to put themselves out there to promote their meaningful work. If we discover them, it means their work has done something to attract attention.  These are the people we want to groom and nurture, since they have an established platform and a voice.  Or if they’re introduced to us and don’t have a presence, we can elevate their mission and persona via our network. It’s almost like we’re acting as their talent agent – we connect them to brands and investors, provide them with any number of media deliverables, and it’s all centered around the story of their transformation as people and entrepreneurs. We want to increase their visibility, and through that their influence.

GD: What does yoxi mean?

SC: Naming is always hard. We wanted something that was visually striking, short, and meaningful. Yoxi sounds a little bit like the Chinese word for “game.” I have the most fundamental level of fascination with games, not in terms of artificially constructed video games, but in terms of the set of rules that govern the way we live and do business.

This points to some of the strategic thinking behind Yoxi. It’s about redesigning relationships. I’d like to see companies take a proactive role in redefining their relationships to stakeholders, customers and the world at large. This is why we help companies leverage Shared Value via our Social Innovation Rockstars.

How are you changing the rules of the game?

People think that being a non-profit means you don’t have to make money, and you don’t have to execute at the highest level of efficiency or creativity. Often people think of non-profit messages as being pedantic, guilt-driven and it turns into this boring sort of PSA. But the reality is that as a non-profit, the only difference is that you don’t have to answer to your shareholders in the same way, quarter after quarter. There doesn’t need to be this dividing line between non-profits and for-profits. At the end of the day it’s about creativity and what you can do with it. With more creativity you can create more efficiency, and with more efficiency you can create more sustainability.

Often the questions people ask are not contextualized in the right way. We say, Let’s aim for the best work we can create, rather than being restricted by institutional boundaries that we as human beings created. Ultimately, we can change this whole system we call society, because we designed it.

People also typically have an “us versus them” attitude in regards to companies and social entrepreneurs.  The older mentality used to be that it was okay to highlight social change for campaign-focused Corporate Social Responsibility efforts.  We’re changing the game because we believe in deep collaboration between social entrepreneurs and brands. Business challenges are seen as great opportunities to create Shared Value.

GD: How are you using social media?

SC: We’re excited about social media because it’s an incredible tool that allows you to connect with literally anyone, at all levels. It’s provides a more democratic platform than we’ve seen before. Brands have to work to establish a more authentic connection with their customers. Pressure can now come from the bottom up, not just the top down. We want to stay positive.

We’re using social media to create an alliance network of people who think positively. We want to take a playful attitude. Let’s play! Changing the world should be fun, you should be excited to get up and be part of something like that every morning.

GD: Why do you care about sustainability?

SC: Sustainability doesn’t just apply to our physical environment. It’s an attitude. That’s why I care about a whole range of social issues. We only have one planet, and population growth is only accelerating. You see movements around the world, from Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street. I think it’s a good thing that people are getting out there and expressing their frustration. People know that the system is broken, but often they don’t know how to drive change. I think it’s important for everyone to do a little more self-reflection. It’s so much more powerful to fight FOR something than against something. I hope we can all start to understand our own interconnectedness.

GD: What kind of system do entrepreneurs need to get on the same page and into a new paradigm? Do points-based systems like LEED work, and can they be extrapolated to other industries, or do we need something else?

SC: Points-based systems motivate people extrinsically and temporarily. If we use them too much we risk operating on the wrong assumptions. More isn’t better. Once you fill a glass with water, it overflows, and the water is wasted. The same is true of money. We need systems that will motivate people for the long haul, in a sustainable way.

Entrepreneurs also need to understand the critical importance of collaboration.  I talked before about the excessive number of ideas available today.  It’s when an entrepreneur works with stakeholders to execute their idea that they’ll be successful.  That’s why we focus on pairing Social Innovation Rockstars with companies who have problems to be solved or opportunities to be leveraged – when the Rockstar’s expertise is the means that makes visible change, that’s when they’ll reach the next level.

GD: What kind of cultural shift do we need to make this happen?

SC: Innovation is not about setting new trend, rather, it’s about setting disruptive change in motion. Our current culture focuses too much on “high-speed progress” and “disposable lifestyle”. We need to slow down and connect our work to real human needs. Progress for the sake of making progress isn’t enough. We need to direct our energy towards achievements beyond personal gains. I feel the biggest shift we need to see is how we define value. Our understanding of value ultimately drives our behavior.

We also need to get specific.  “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” is great, but it doesn’t motivate real change.  When Social Innovation helps transform the notion of value for a company and all it’s stakeholders, it motivates real change.

GD: Do all consumer-facing businesses need an entertainment component?

SC: Absolutely. But let’s first define entertainment. Our existing entertainment industry doesn’t necessarily do a good job justifying the use of entertainment. I want to go to the most raw and basic definition. To me, entertainment is important because it’s a form of giving. When you devote yourself to entertaining someone, you extend hospitality and generosity – you work to make others happy.

Following that logic, ALL businesses should pay attention to entertainment so they can serve their customers in genuine ways that inspire and delight.

GD: Do you believe in crowdsourcing, or in a group of a few committed individuals changing the world?

SC: I believe in curated crowdsourcing. That means finding the most democratic ways to “listen to the crowd”, then using a highly sophisticated process to filter, synthesize, and distill a wide range of opinions and needs so we can arrive at focused efforts to drive change.

GD: How is yoxi partnering with Opportunity Green this year?

SC: We are a sponsor. We think OG is doing amazing work to bring stakeholders together to drive change. We want to find synergistic ways for the two organizations to amplify each other’s work.

We’re also doing a series of video interviews with key speakers, sponsors and attendees.  We wanted to combine our focus on storytelling with the leaders bringing opportunity to the business world.

Watch the final wrap-up video for “Trimming the Waste of Fasion,” Yoxi’s latest competition:

Trimming the Waste of Fashion Wrap Up

Trim the Waste of Fashion Wrap Up Video- iPhone version

Yoxi is an organization that elevates social entrepreneurs by leveraging their expertise for global business opportunities. It was founded in 2010 by Sharon Chang, former Chief Creative Officer at 19 Entertainment, the company behind mega-hit shows American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.

Keep up with Yoxi: Follow on Twitter and LIKE on Facebook.

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Flow Visualization is going to be a great tool for a variety of different site owners. Flow Visualization can track the path users take when navigating a website. It’s visual representation of data that’s easy to digest for any user of Google Analytics.

Google Analytics has always had sales funnels, to track sales conversations, but Flow Visualization takes it to another level. For instance, you can sort your visitors by browser, determine which pages they visit, and at what point they might abandon your site. You can ascertain which links users are clicking on to navigate your site and if there is an optimal path that you can take advantage of. All of this represented in a graphical, interactive map, for free.

Ms. Wojcicki started her presentation saying that Flow Visualization was inspired by an obscure spaghetti map of Napoleon’s march to and from Russia in 1812. The map visually represents the number of soldiers who died on the journey. As soon as I saw this I immediately knew the relevance of Google’s new analytics tool and was quite enthused at the possibilities.

This very spaghetti map has been framed and hanging in my family’s living room for years. It first became relevant to me when I was a senior in college and finishing my degree with a required cartography class. Little did I know that years later, in an entirely different context, it would again rise to significance in my life.

At Demeter Interactive, we love data and this paradigm shift in data technology is very exciting for us. Which is why when I first saw Susan Wojcicki share the Napoleon spaghetti map I knew how Flow Visualization would impact our company first. When we create promotions on social networking sites, like Facebook, we can directly track how many visitors are sent to our site and which social network is sending us the highest quality traffic. Flow Visualization is going to eliminate a lot of the guessing game for marketers.

Flow Visualization is going to be rolled out to users over the course of the next several weeks. I’ll be sure to let Theridion readers know our thoughts when we first get the chance to experience it first hand. Is Flow Visualization as interesting to you as it is to us or are we just die-hard data junkies?

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Thank you for everything Mr. Jobs. You will be missed.

Love and gratitude,

Demeter Interactive

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Last Thursday night in honor of Social Media Week LA, Demeter Interactive and the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator co-hosted a panel titled Startups, Sustainability and The Social Web: Weaving New Stories Into the Urban Fabric of LA. The purpose of the event was to discuss the new stories that are emerging about Los Angeles and sustainability, and the ways in which they are being manifested throughout the city. With public transportation finally on the rise in LA, the cleantech corridor taking a huge step forward when LACI opened their doors a month ago, and advocates, events and businesses coming together in so many ways to promote a sustainable economy – we felt that it was important to talk about the exciting possibilities that reside in the fabric of this “city of the future,” and spread awareness about the startups that are driving its progress.

// Social Signals //

No longer considered new-fangled and far-fetched, social media has secured its place as a legitimate way for individuals, organizations and even government to communicate – in fact President Obama is conducting a real-time townhall via LinkedIn as I write. There are innumerable opportunities to connect, subscribe, share, filter and curate our digital worlds. What’s more, the social communications flying at dizzying speed through our digital networks are in the public domain, meaning that much of the communication in our vast global village is even more transparent today than live conversations between human beings in the same village were hundreds and thousands of years ago.

// A Universe of Data //

Thanks to these networks, we now have access to massive amounts of data about our taste, habits and consumption that would have been impossible to imagine just a few years ago. To give you a sense of the scale at work here, in 2004 the global monthly internet traffic exceeded 1 exabyte for the first time.

One exabyte of data is equal to one quintillion bytes. In mathematical terms, it looks like this:

1 Exabyte = 1000000000000000000B = 1018 bytes = 1 billion gigabytes = 1 million terabytes

Now, according to Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, every two days we create about 5 exabytes, or as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003, and that number is steadily increasing (source). A significant portion of this data comes from user-generated content, in other words social media, YouTube videos, and the like. The firehose of data, the ocean of data, a universe of data – no metaphor can quite capture the enormity of bits and bytes that statisticians face today. I’m not even sure that these web-based numbers include the data generated by our smart cars, smart grids, and smart toasters!

// Green Business Opportunities //

What are we as individuals and organizations doing with all this data? Where are we forging insights into the data, and then using those insights to make better decisions and create greater efficiency? How is this process being connected into and through the social web?

Our panelists knew a thing or two about using data to drive better decisions.

Chris Welch’s company Syncromatics, a 2007 Cleantech Open winner, is largely a data-driven company that specializes in finding opportunities to create greater efficiency. Syncromatics provides and analyzes real-time data about buses to increase efficiency, convenience, and overall ridership, resulting in great energy savings.

As LACI opens its doors to more startups here in LA, perhaps these are the kinds of applications they’ll be looking for. We have the opportunity to create much greater efficiencies, to make better decisions about our energy usage, food and media choices, our consumption habits, our public transporation grids, the urban layout of the city. Here lie a thousand undiscovered business opportunities.

So, business opportunities that also have a chance at making the world a better place? Sounds like something I’ve heard of before: Social Entrepreneurship. It is this diverse mix of incentives that has been blending together the aims of business and social endeavors. Our panel was very bullish on #socent, as its known on Twitter.

Many of the projects that came up in discussion are a hybrid of social and business, and this seems to be a growing trend. Ian Harris gave a shoutout to Neal Roche, CEO of GridTest Systems, who joined us for the event. GridTest, LACI’s 2nd startup in residence, provides unique portable test equipment to confirm the safety and operational status of Electric Vehicle Charging Systems and will be competing in this year’s Cleantech Open to be held in Richmond, CA. GridTest gives consumers the confidence to know they can safely and reliably operate their electric vehicles, thus contributing to a more widespread adoption of clean vehicles, and less emissions.

Melissa Jun Rowley told the audience, “More and more, this is what younger generations are looking for. They don’t just want a product for its own sake, they want it to be related to and in support of a cause.” Toms Shoes’ 1-for-1 model is an another excellent example of this principle in action, and as a business they’re doing great.

Ian Harris reminded the audience, “It’s important to always know what business you’re in and not get stuck in a particular paradigm of the way you do things now. Use the data at your disposal to inform your decisions on a macro level, and to drive innovation into new ways to meet your customers’ needs. When the rail barons forgot they were in the business of transportation, of moving people and things from one place to another, they lost the battle to airlines, roads and trucks. Keep your eyes open.”

Karen Solomon also talked about focusing more on listening and connecting in social media than mindlessly broadcasting information. She said, “Read your followers’ tweets and blog posts carefully and come up with a thoughtful response. Do that a few times until you’ve built a really solid connection with someone. Go slow, and most importantly, have fun!”

// BIG Thank You //

In their own ways, each of these people is creating a new story and interweaving it into the larger context that is Los Angeles, both its physical manifestation and the stories that are being captured and told visually in a multiplicity of mediums.

Overall, the panel was a great experience. Getting the audience involved in the discussion was the best part, and we all discussed ways to make your organization more social, more green, and also engaged in an interesting tangent about alternative ways to fund projects and ventures that don’t fit the traditional VC model.

A heartfelt thanks to all who attended the gathering, to our panelists, and especially to our venue hosts, the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator.

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// Stay in Touch //

Sign up for our newsletter or become a fan on Facebook to hear about our future events!

Ian Harris, Head of Operations for Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, is a driving force behind this project that has been created out of the Cleantech Alliance in Los Angeles, including the City of Los Angeles, the CRA, Cleantech LA, and the major universities in the area including UCLA, USC, JPL and Caltech. Ahead of schedule with two startups already in residence, LACI is poised to become the center of the new cleantech corridor in downtown LA.

@LACIncubator | LACI on Facebook

Karen Solomon is the CEO of Opportunity Green, a fantastic annual B2B sustainability conference here in LA that brings together leaders in sustainability, design and technology and drives action by engaging decision-makers, accelerating connections and providing the space for real change in the business world.

@oppgreen | Opportunity Green on Facebook

Chris Welch is the VP of Business Development at Syncromatics. The Syncromatics system makes public transportation more efficient and usable, saving their customers money and resources, and increasing bus ridership across the country, including the City of Los Angeles. Chris has also served as Commissioner of Transportation for Glendale, and has long been an advocate for multi-modal means of transportation including biking, walking and ridesharing models.

Melissa Jun Rowley is a social media correspondent at WhatsTrending, as well as an activist, journalist and budding social entrepreneur. A recent graduate of The Founders Institute rigorous entrepreneurial program, Melissa tells the stories that need to be heard to inspire people to do the right thing for the planet. Keep up with her adventures at her blog.

@MelissaRowley | Melissa on Facebook

Gaia Dempsey curated the topics for this event and moderated the panel. She is the co-founder of Demeter Interactive, a digital marketing and communications firm in Los Angeles that specializes in working with tech startups and sustainability companies.

@fianxu | @DemeterInteract | Demeter Interactive on Facebook

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It seems as if Google+’s aim is at Facebook. That’s the company that is challenging their online dominance and has always drawn the most comparisons whenever Google’s social presence was mentioned. However, my first reaction is that Twitter could suffer first.

Personally, I’ve found that my time on Facebook has remained about the same, but my time on Twitter has decreased as my Google Plus time has increased. Like Twitter, Google + is open and there are no restrictions as to whom you can follow and who can follow you. Your feed can be filled with strangers who just think you are interesting. Of the 124 people who have put me in a circle, 52 I have never met in real life or spoken to on Twitter (or another social network). This tendency to have strangers following me is much more similar to the dynamic of Twitter followers than my Facebook friends.

Twitter has also yet to become a cultural staple. According to the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, I’d say that Twitter is at the Early Majority stage. On the other hand, Facebook is at the Laggard stage. Essentially everyone is on Facebook, or knows about it, or has chosen not to participate with full knowledge of the product. Which is why Twitter could be at risk, they haven’t reached the late majority yet and all the innovators and early adopters are fleeing to try the new shiny social network, Google+

But Google’s aim has always been beating Facebook. How are they going to take down their Internet nemesis? We’ll soon find out. As it stands right now, there are no options for marketers and advertisers on Google+, but in two weeks time they’ll start to unveil their business pages. This is in direct competition with Facebook since Twitter has no explicit distinction between personal and professional accounts. Google+ could give Facebook stiff competition if they integrate some of their top products into business pages, most notably Google Analytics. This could give businesses a simple and complete view of their conversion funnel, from social share to website visit, to actual purchase.

Facebook’s onsite answer to Google Analytics is “Insights,” which in my experience are not very informative. The information available has improved over the years, but it still lacks capabilities that Google Analytics has. If you could create funnels on your branded Google+ profile, that would be a very valuable tool for brands that Facebook doesn’t offer. Bottom line, because of Google’s robust existing product line they could offer greater value to brands and companies than Facebook can currently offer and that could help them win market share.

Google+ is the first project/product by Google since Gmail that I personally don’t hate. But I don’t quite love it…yet. I’m very interested to see the progress they make with the product because right now, Twitter has the most to lose, especially in the short term. If Google business pages are dynamite, then maybe Facebook will have the long term troubles with Google+. Obviously it remains to be seen, but I think Google is on to something and with a few iterations, it could realistically take a chunk out of both social networks. It will be interesting how many early adopters and the early majority take hold of it. If they don’t, Google+ may end up as just another has been in the social network game.

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Demeter Interactive started out as a one-man company. I set out to build the company I had envisoned ever since I knew I wanted be an entrepreneur. Shortly after I started and landed my first client, I joined forces with my co-founder Gaia Dempsey. We were introduced to one another by a mutual acquaintance at a lunch. One lunch later, Demeter Interactive officially became a two-person start up.

Over the next few months, Gaia and I began to gel and our company began to take shape. As two first time entrepreneurs, we endured numerous growing pains. We learned not just to be marketers, but business owners. Regardless of our inexperience, Demeter Interactive continued to mature and grow.

Today, Demeter Interactive is one year old. 365 days in business. It’s been a wild journey thus far…and it’s been a fantastically fulfilling journey as well. I am so excited for what the future holds for Demeter Interactive. Gaia and I have put in a lot of hours and created a solid foundation for the future. We have so many exciting things on tap for Demeter Interactive.

Finally, I’d like to thank everyone who has supported Gaia and I during this first year. Starting a business is infinitely more difficult than you ever imagine. The support we received is what has enabled us to reach one year and it is what will help fuel us to year ten. We hope that you continue to follow Demeter Interactive as we move on to year two.

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Embedded in a blog somewhere, on simply surfing YouTube, you might come across a video that appears to be made by a medical firm that has the power to change people’s lives, that can do more for patients than what you think is possible. The video describes possibilities for people who have lost limbs, hands, and eyes – and these people, rather than being devastated, are filled with hope, joy, and even triumph. Here is that first video:

If you click through to YouTube you will see that the video is titled Sarif Industries TV Spot. That title may start to generate some interest. “Huh, I’ve never heard of this,” you think. At the end of the clip, the call to action is to check out the Sarif Industries website.

A cursory glance at the site reveals more video content, links to News, Press, a stock tracker, and an invitation to explore “The Road to Here,” and “Experience Augmentation.” Looks legit.

Digging deeper into the site, you find links to articles tracking the “History of Augmentation.”

A CNN article from 2006 about a robotic arm a man controls with his brain.

A 2009 Enadget article about a prosthetic knee with AI capabilities.

A WIRED piece from last year about a bionic eye.

Aha! The story seems to be fitting together! You can start to see how a company might take all of these disparate medical advances and put them together to achieve one overarching vision of body augmentation.

There’s even a clever function on the site that allows you to “preview” your own augmented body by taking a photo of yourself posing behind a particular augmentation, so that it appears you have replaced a hand or an arm with a bionic superlimb. How awesome!

Now stop. If you look no further, you will be completely amazed, your emotions may be running high, you’re filled with ideas and possibilities. Many people stop at this point. They blog and tweet about the video, and share the pictures of themselves on Facebook. This effect is what this brilliant creative ad campaign counts on for its viral spread.

But some people don’t stop. They want to learn more. And that’s when they see the button: “To learn more, visit Deus Ex.com.”

That’s when you realize, that this is an elaborate ad campaign for a video game called Deus Ex. The website, the video, the images of augmented superlimbs – these are all part of an intricate fictional world that has been created by a video game company to fully immerse you in the story of the game.

Now you wonder, “Could the articles be elaborate hoaxes too? They seemed so real.”

But by that point it doesn’t matter, because you want to play the game and remain in the fantasy.

The Strategy

This is how this video game maker is effectively drawing in their audience of gamers. Hook, line and sinker. They have tapped in to the fantasy of extreme technological evolution, a world of perfect strength where injuries are simply opportunities for augmentation.

Now this may seem like quite the orchestration – they’ve gone so far to create the illusion that this is real. But isn’t that the point of video games? Isn’t the idea to convincingly simulate a complete other world, and aren’t they demonstrating to their audience how well they excel at it? In both form and content, the message is perfectly attuned to the target audience.

The Lesson

The effectiveness of this campaign relies on the initial excitement and confusion that is generated from blurring the line between fiction and reality. When you are drawn in, you can’t tell what is real and what is fantasy, and that is very seductive, particularly to an audience who loves the escapism of video games.

But what is the simplest kernel of truth that lies at the core of this campaign? The deepest lesson in here is not that all ad campaigns should try to blur the line between fiction and reality, but rather that an insight into your target audience’s psyche is more than worthwhile. What is their fantasy? What is the content of their hidden dreams? How can you communicate the fantasy in a way that demonstrates your understanding and creativity, and that will make it effortless for your audience to say yes, to be drawn in, and feel at home?

It is often a marketer’s first instinct to communicate exactly what the product is, what it does, and why you should buy it. But sometimes not talking directly about the product, but rather communicating in the language of desire and leading to the product, is a more effective strategy.

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Here is an exercise to get in touch with your audience’s desires:

Find a calm and quiet spot, and take a few seconds to clear your mind and your focus your energy. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Have a pencil and paper ready.

With your mind cleared and ready, think about the industry you are in as a whole. What are the most basic needs and desires that it serves or caters to? From this “zoomed out” perspective, list 5 completely random words or things that you associate with this basic need or desire. Don’t think about it too much, just write down what comes to mind. After you’ve listed your 5 words or things, jot down next to each item a word or a phrase that describes how it relates to the basic need your industry serves. The goal here is to create a highly simplified list that gets down to the core aspects of your industry.

Now, take a few moments to look at your list, and pick one word or item that speaks to you most clearly. With your chosen word in mind, write out a short scenario that involves that word or thing, and let the plot eventually lead to the discovery of your product. Try to incorporate the satisfaction of the basic needs and desires, tying it to the discovery of your product. Keep it simple, and stick to the core feelings and needs at hand.

This exercise should help you get in touch with the desires and fantasies associated with your business, so that you can use these ideas in your marketing mix. With all of the wonderful social channels for delivering content and narratives to your audience, think about how you can craft the narrative you just came up with into a marketing campaign that will reach your customers.

The Bottom Line

When it comes to your own marketing campaigns, it might not always be desirable or realistic to create a complete fantasy website and series of videos. But putting in the time to consider what your customer’s ultimate fantasy might be just the creative exercise your brand needs. What is the fantasy that your target audience wants to lose themselves in? Give them a taste of it, and they just might stick around to learn more about you, your company, and your products.

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An idea is not a design
A design is not a prototype
A prototype is not a program
A program is not a product
A product is not a business
A business is not profits
Profits are not an exit
And an exit is not happiness.

If you keep these things in mind as you build your product offering, you’ll already be way ahead of the game. Clearly defining your idea, prototype, framework, and product into measurable stages, and being honest about where your company currently stands on the spectrum, will help you be a much more effective entrepreneur overall. You will be able to build a better product plan, wisely determine your current course of action and goals, communicate better with your co-founders, employees, and investors, and iterate your product until it’s ready for market. Once you’re starting to get sales and profits, it’s also important to remember that operations is not the whole business.

The final point, “An exit is not happiness,” is crucial. If you’re in a business solely for the purpose of creating an exit, not only does it make that exit much less likely to happen – because building a functional, desirable product and a profitable business is extraordinarily difficult and without true passion nearly impossible – but you’re cheating yourself out of the opportunity to enjoy the journey and the people around you along the way.

Keeping this brilliant reality-check checklist in the back of your mind will help you get through the whole thorny process effectively and with your head on straight. Don’t make the mistake of mixing up categories, and it will save a lot of time, drama, and good money thrown after bad.

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Whether people know it or like it, we can all be seen as a kind of brand, one quick Google search can turn up photos, social links, and your website or blog. We need to carefully manicure what shows up in our Google searches, how we represent ourselves on social networks, and the associations we make on and offline. The savviest of personal branders are always looking for ways to separate themselves from the crowd, further define who they are, and be clearly remembered by peers. Our client daqri is fueling the next generation of personal branding with dynamic QR codes and augmented reality.

daqri is an augmented reality and mobile web content publishing platform that utilizes QR codes to deliver content. Users can create unique QR codes that are linked to customizable landing pages, populate the codes with the desired content, print them out and utilize them anywhere. Popular use cases include business cards, marketing materials, trade shows and retail environments.

daqri’s value to personal branding is two-fold. daqri significantly changes the functionality of QR codes and increases the value they have to your personal brand. You can bring an array of of highly relevant data to someone you’ve just met. When someone scans your QR code (on the back of your business card) they can instantly learn more about you. With just a quick scan, they can follow you on Twitter, connect on Linkedin, view work samples, and evaluate recommendations from previous clients. You’ll be much more than just another business card stacked on someone’s desk.

Secondly, daqri’s augmented reality feature can make a tremendous positive impact on your personal brand in several ways. Having an augmented reality business card will separate you from the crowd and distinguish you as tech-savvy, forward-thinking, and highly creative. Also, the 3D experience attached to your business card can increase engagement, provide educational or informational value, be entertaining or surprising, and most importantly, be memorable. Augmented reality can take the engagement and participation with your brand a step further. Imagine someone you just met at an event scanning your QR code when they get home and being able to view a 3D image of you with a brief video message. An interaction like that will certainly help with a new contact’s recollection of you, and their opinion of you. They’ll be interested in keeping up with you.

As we progress in a world where everyone has a personal brand, you must give yourself all the tools possible to stand out. The tools are out there, you just have to take advantage of them. daqri is such a tool that offers you dynamic options to set apart your personal brand. Here is a guide to help you create your very own daqri business cards.

How To Create a Business Card with daqri

1.) Add custom content to your daqri code

By logging into your daqri account you’re able to customize your daqri code with content unique to you. This can be social links like your Facebook and Twitter profiles, PDFs of your resume or a factsheet about you, your VCard so that you can be easily added to a contact list, videos that you’ve created or that are about you, and photos. Here you can also add a 3D model that can be seen in augmented reality when your daqri is scanned. If you don’t know how to create your own 3D content, not to worry. You can search the Google Sketchup 3D Warehouse for free models, or buy a model on Turbosquid for your augmented reality daqri code.

If you don’t have a daqri account yet, you can sign up here.

2) Customize your daqri QR code with a QRlicious QR code.

Visit our friends at QRlicious to transform your traditional black and white QR code into a beautiful, custom branded QR code. Simply choose your package and fill out their custom QR code order form, upload your QR code and voilà! You now have a beautiful QR code customized with your brand, logo and colors to add to your business cards.

3) Go to Zazzle to create and print your business card

You now have your custom content on your daqri QR code and custom designed QRlicious code. Now it’s time to print them for the whole world to see. We suggest using Zazzle.com to create and print your business cards. It’s easy, just log in, design your card, add your contact information and your daqri code. Now you’re ready to print.

daqri QR codes utilize a universal standard, so they can be scanned from any QR code reader on any smartphone. Therefore 90% of the content on your QR code is accessible to anyone with a smartphone, with any QR code reader application. But, to access the augmented reality feature requires the daqri mobile app, which right now is available on iPhone 3GS and 4, iPod Touch, and iPad.

You can download the free app here.

To learn more about daqri features and stay up to date on product updates, check out the daqri blog and follow them on Twitter.

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Linda Holiday, Kate Aver Avraham and Carolyn Brigit Flynn created a wonderful event that raised funds and brought together the Santa Cruz community for a good cause. Held at the First Congregational Church and co-sponsored by City of Santa Cruz Sister Cities Committee, Aikido of Santa Cruz, Aikido of Monterey, First Congregational Church, Watsonville Taiko, Santa Cruz Zen Center, Poetry Santa Cruz, Japanese Cultural Fair, and Santa Cruz Sentinel, it was a heartfelt and truly special evening of poetry, music, and traditional Japanese dance.

Much of the inspiration behind this event has to do with the strong bond between Santa Cruz and Shingu, Japan, a bond that has made an impact on many lives in both cities. Santa Cruz and Shingu have been sister cities for 37 years. In 1989, when Santa Cruz was severely damaged by the San Francisco earthquake, Shingu raised funds to help its sister city regroup and rebuild.

When on March 11, Japan experienced the worst earthquake ever recorded, Natori, Shingu’s sister city in Japan, was devastated. So, in the words of the mayor of Natori in a message to the people of Santa Cruz, “We are now in a sister city triangle relationship.” His letter to the citizens of Santa Cruz, read aloud tonight during the event, was both humorous and somber as it expressed his immense gratitude that people an ocean away are raising funds to help his city.

I was surprised and touched that the Mayor of Santa Cruz proclaimed May 20 One World, Many Voices Day, in honor of our ongoing sister city relationship and this event.

The poetry that was shared this evening by Len Anderson, Kate Aver Avraham, Dane Cervine, Carolyn Brigit Flynn, Lea Haratani, Peggy Heinrich, Linda Holiday, and Joan Zimmerman was very moving and poignant. Tanka, Haiku, and free form, all kinds of poetry. It felt so good to hear poems spoken aloud again, it’s been too long since I’ve been to a reading.

Inuyo Conant performing traditional Japanese dance called Fuji

The poets spoke about Japan, their visits, memories, experiences, families. Japan was a life-changing force for them all. Whether it was learning Aikido, building a seemingly miraculous reconciliation on an individual level after Hiroshima, hearing stories about her Japanese grandmother, or experiencing the elegance of a tea ceremony, all had a unique story to share. Some poems read just reflected on the unknowable world, like this one by Len Anderson, a poet as well as a physicist:

On the Nature of Things

The squawking crow
flies down from the redwood tree
to tell me
he is not a crow.

Not bird, not passerine bird
of the family Corvidae,
nor mind nor body
nor thing.

And not a crow.

In fact, he says,
he hasn’t even been
discovered yet.

When I was young I dreamt
I climbed marble stairs
toward the room that held
The Book of What Each Thing Is.
Golden light poured down those stairs
from a room so high
I could never see it.

From that book
I would learn
what is crow
what is redwood,
what am I.

Crow tells me
the black of his wings
is deeper than any book.

Friends, there are hours
I have no greater grief,
no greater joy.

I will never know
what I am.

Crow
flies down often
to tell me so.

And here’s a video I took of one of the poignant, beautiful musical performances featured this evening:
Cheryl Anderson with the Cabrillo Youth Chorus and Il Dolce Suono

It’s a wonderful thing to be able to participate in fundraisers such as this one, where you can feel in the energy of the room that every participant is fully committed to the mission at hand. Japan, though it’s not in the news every day anymore, is still suffering and needs events like this one right now. I’d like to express my sincere thanks to the organizers and sponsors of this fundraiser this evening. You are all inspiring.

All of the proceeds from this event are going directly to the city of Natori, with no bureaucracy or red tape getting in the way. If you are so inclined, you can make donations via PayPal through Aikido of Santa Cruz or by check, payable to Santa Cruz Sister Cities Support (Memo “Natori/May20”), and mail to:

Santa Cruz Sister Cities Support
323 Church Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Sister Cities Support is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, charitable organization. Contributions are tax-deductible. Tax ID# 77-0575231

For more information, please call (831) 476-7653.

UPDATE:Beau Saunders, principal photographer at Rainbeau Pictures has kindly agreed to let me post some of his wonderful photos from the evening. Here are some of my favorites:

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