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Posts from June 2012

BMW Docs: Electronauts: Hold Tight

The next sequence of our BMW Documentaries have just launched!

The BMW ActiveE EV launch program was mapped across many years and was always inclusive of the cars and drivers themselves. 

The Collective Engineering project wraps the cars and the marketing and the data it creates into a cohesive whole, which will inform and pave the way for the BMWi series of electric cars. 

Part of the narrative and strategy for the whole project was to work with pioneers who were interested in beta testing new technologies [cars] and systems [cities] and sharing their learnings. 

We call them Electronauts - a nod to the astro- and cosmo-. 

They are the stars of this series of films, which show the real stories of real people driving these cars, and offer up non-obvious insights, like the tranquil sensation that electric cars create due to the limited sound.

The Thwaites are awesome.

I love the line about how giving up petrol cars is like giving up smoking. 

You can see the other films over on the Activate The Future site. 


Ten I See

Tuesday Ten

We live in a world of infinite content, where determining the signal from the noise is a cognitive task that keeps people and brands up all night, with a deluge of NEW that arrives every Tweeted moment.

This is why curation is 'suddenly' such a big deal.

Those that prove themselves signals provide a great deal of value.

Back in 2008 I wrote this post musing that perhaps the role for brands could be curation, in becoming signals.

People are excellent at curation because they bring their own unique set of interests and context to the ideas they curate.

All of which brings me to:  

HEY are you getting THE TUESDAY TEN yet?

It's awesome.

A weekly cultural dispatch delivered directly to your inbox.

You can subscribe here. 

And available on Tumblr

Disclosure - curated by none other than my Partner in Mind [and life] @Rosiesiman.

No need to take my word for it [although you should trust me by now] - here's this week's excellent edition.



Split2Fit Shorts, Truth or Dare in NYC, Pizza Vending Machines & More

We work. Almost every day. At least Monday-Friday. And work can be exhausting. And hectic. And even annoying. But then, sometimes, you work on a project that really gets you excited about what you do. That labor of love that reminds you why you work crazy hours, why you put in that extra 10%.

For me, that labor of love (well, part of it!) is finally public, as of today! So go ahead and check out these videos we made for Dentyne, showing how their Split2Fit pack fits just about anywhere - including this guy's dong sarong. [Yep, a client-approved video with 'dong sarong' in it - How cool is that?!] Next week, we'll be releasing some cheeky instructoart graphics that will show you how you can better fit in this summer. (Just in case you need some help!)

We'll be releasing more videos (and more instructoart!) for the rest of the year, so if you find yourself running to the store to buy a banana hammock, give Dentyne a 'like' on Facebook or show some love on Twitter. Because you're cool like that, right?!


Just The Links?

1. All these sexist gamer dudes are some shook ones. [Technology]
2. Microsoft announces Surface. [Technology]
3. Letter to Emily White at NPR All Songs Considered. (+ Emily White's original post on the NPR blog) [Resource]
4. Illegal: why honor students across the country are being thrown in jail. [Resource]
5. 10-year-long video game creates 'hellish nightmare' world. [Gaming]
6. The coolest garage ever. [Art]
7. Toy Stories. [Art]
8. Truth or dare, live in NYC. [Art]
9. Celebrity Dinner Party by Strictly Platonic. [Entertainment]
10. Pizza vending machines are here! [Innovation]

*BONUS* Split2Fit Shorts Presents: Banana HammockCrash Test Dummies & God of Surgery

Cheers,
Rosie

Rosie Siman
Social Strategist, Cultural Curator
@rosiesiman / rosiesiman.com / thetuesdayten.com /slideshare.net/rosiesiman

PS - Thanks to all those who came by to see my NXNE talk, 'Year of the People' - You Canadians are pretty sweet! 


With the commentary...


Technology

1. All these sexist gamer dudes are some shook ones. 
Jay Smith speaks the truth with his latest video on "why dudes need to tell other dudes to stop making asses of themselves on the internet." 

2. Microsoft announces Surface.
Could it be? A bird? A plane? An iPad competitor?! Only time will tell, but I'm itching to get my hands on Microsoft's Surface

Resource

3. Letter to Emily White at NPR All Songs Considered.
For those of you who missed it, a recent college grad, who happens to be interning at NPR's All Songs Considered wrote a guest blog post about not paying for music. [NPR argues it's about not paying for albums/physical objects, but I remain unconvinced.] My dad is in the music industry - so to pay or not to pay has a pretty straightforward answer in my book: Pay. Always, always pay. If musicians sell their songs, pay for them. And if they are giving them away, pay anyway. Pay in tweets, in praise, in an email to a friend. But the answer wasn't always clear to me, especially when Napster first came out- And I, too, am guilty of downloading music without paying for it. Not much, but I'm not proud of it. David Lowery tackles the generational divide while showing Emily why her story just doesn't add up

4. Illegal: Why honor students around the country are being thrown in jail. 
An incredibly touching 5 minute movie that shows the difficulties undocumented children face. Many of these children didn't chose to break the law when their parents brought them in 10+ years ago. But now they're forced to deal with the aftermath as they try to apply for jobs or college only to be told they don't have a social security number. 

Gaming

5. 10-year-long game creates 'hellish nightmare' world. 
I'm so glad CNN picked up on this. When I saw this guy's post on Reddit, I immediately shared it with everyone I knew who played Civilization/Civ II, which was approximately two people: my dad & my sister. This guy has played Civ II for 10 years - and started a Reddit chain based on what was left of the world ("a hellish nightmare of suffering and devastation.") Bleak, but fascinating. 

Art
 
6. The coolest garage ever. 
Built into a hillside, these concrete & glass cubes make up quite possiblythe coolest garage I've ever seen

7. Toy stories. 
Single pane stories featuring little toys, captured and captioned by French artist Aled Lewis. Simple, yet charming.

8. Truth or Dare: Live in NYC.  
Chelsea Davison decided she'd had enough of New Yorkers' closing themselves off to people around them. A la ImprovEverywhere, Chelsea invited people in Washington Square Park to a live game of truth or dare. You guys, she's "only" an intern. (I mean how can I really say only when she's so rad?!) And she's a red head. So you should probably hire her. I'm going to try to ;)

Entertainment

9. Celebrity Dinner Party by Strictly Platonic.
You know what Facebook's great for? Stumbling across people you met in college who are super talented and doing cool things elsewhere on the internet. Take Monica Padman for example. I don't think we've talked since college, but today I stumbled upon this video she posted. And it's kind of amazing. Go watch it and then follow her on Twitter where she posts a plethora of tweets that will make you LOL.

Innovation

10. Pizza vending machines are here! 
This one's for you, Allison Weiss! According to this blog post, the Dutch invented a vending machine that mixes flour and water, kneads that mixture into dough, rolls the dough into a crust, adds toppings, cooks the pizza in its infrared oven and then delivers it to you in a takeaway box. Genius.  

 



Vimeo / / Symmetry // Rear Window Timelapse

Symmetry from Everynone on Vimeo.

I went to the Vimeo awards last night, thanks to a very kind invitation, and it was lovely.

Beardyman and Reggie Watts duelled as beatboxers and entertainers against a backdrop of projection mapped visuals

[If you don't know them - have a look, they are both awesome and very funny] 

and lots of short films you might otherwise never hear about were recognized.

The Grand Prix Winner was Symmetry [above] by Everyone, which is very worth the 2.54 it takes to watch it.

I also really like

the winner in the remix category:

Rear Window Timelapse - a reconsitution of all the different things Jimmy Stewart sees as a single, dynamic panorama. 

Rear Window Timelapse from Jeff Desom on Vimeo.

and the winners of the best newcomer special award thing: DANIELS - who have a style of film making that feels heavily web influenced in its hyperkinetic aesthetic. 

Tenacious D - Rize of the Fenix (rough) from DANIELS on Vimeo.

If you are in NYC you can see the winners and selected others at the various VIMEO Festival screenings this weekend.

If you are not you can watch them on...Vimeo