Author: Carl Setzer

A friendly reminder that video cameras are everywhere.

Shout out to AdRants for this. And this is from a promo postcard for an upcoming movie, “Look”.

Days like today are true gems here. It was truly a delight to completely avoid shoes. Though the weather was a bit too cold yet for shorts, I refused to let that deter me. My need for vitamin D was simply too great. An ideal, for me at least, a day with sunshine and freedom. Very close to Zen mastery, my delight somewhat meditative. Bob Marley runs through my head, and I know “Every Little Thing’s Gonna Be Alright”. I feel very calm and centered. Life, truly, blessedly peaceful.

Via BlackBerry

I struggle with competing visions. There is a sense of me as counter-cultural, standing against the wretched excesses of the prevalent culture. Against that, though, is an appreciation of life’s finer things. This dichotomy is painful at times. Finding myself staring wistfully at the latest Mercedes sometimes frustrates me.

Perhaps I misunderstand myself. Could I earn such things without exploitation? I believe it not only true, but that many have already done so. Finding the “win-win”, this place that rewards both sides of the equation. That, truly, is innovative.

Via BlackBerry

Perhaps you would think that being unemployed leaves me with heaps of free-time. You would be mistaken. My days are extremely full. And I was filled with all kinds of ideas, like being able to catch up on my reading, maybe even digesting the daily paper. Ha! I have been mildly frustrated by this, but no more. Fortunately, I do a good job of keeping track of my time, so I don’t end up wondering where the day went.

I love mornings like this, though, where everyone else is still tucked safely away in bed and I’m able to enjoy quiet. Now, if you excuse me, I’m diving back into Scoble & Israel’s “Naked Conversations”, which has been long on my “to read” list. Getting some good insights into blogging’s potential, even though the book was published back in 2006. Much of their basic premise, though, I’ve long agreed with. These notions of transparency and anti-marketing/anti-hype, in particular. I’ve long believed that our ability to filter this stuff has grown, and that the most prevalent response to most marketing is simple annoyance. Or, perhaps, extreme annoyance. Anyway, the long-term affects are this general sense of distrust of “business”. And so many executives are surprised by this tendency to assume the worst of any company in the news.

Via BlackBerry

So, in the interests of expressing my interest in blogs, public affairs and communications, I’ve launched another blog, Digitized Collective. My goal is to focus this on how communications is being changed by the “digital medium”. Sounds cool, eh?

The past few weeks has been one of serious self-evaluation. Though I liked my last position, I suffered from a lingering sense of “blah”. I’ve been trying to figure out what I’ve wanted to do in order to grow. Getting laid off provides a crucial moment to dive into this self-assessment. Besides the time (which hasn’t been as present as I hoped) to do so, there also is the element of necessity. Knowing that I need to find another job, and wanting to ensure that whatever I land next is something with more satisfaction, has compelled me to be deliberate.

So, after all this, I’m thinking of diving into the “communications” space. Particularly, I hope to blend my love of writing with tech and blogs. We’ll see what comes of it. I have seen some companies searching for folks with this background.

With all this, I’ve had several tools recommended to me. Particularly, LinkedIn, Jobster and Indeed. I’m just starting my dive into these sites, so I’ll keep you abreast of my learnings. I can tell you that I’ve found Jobster very interesting, at least as far as the jobs it’s presented.

One last idea that I’m coming to terms with is this notion of “Me, inc”. Basically, I need to look at my career in terms of, well, myself. My attachment to a company needs to be conditional.  I guess another way to look at this is to think of myself as a contractor. As you can see, I’m just developing this notion. Expect me to flesh this out more soon.

Darkness, blue-black, embraces all I see. Everything outside wall-and-window’s bounds blurred, buried within inky thickness; familiar now mystery. Robin’s call pierces, a gentle fanfare for spring. Sunlight slowly blues the black, each moment fades mystery; familiar rediscovered. Black fades, now semi-violet blue, change imperceptible. My eyes close briefly, patiently. Light’s change now clear. Slowly, gently births this day.

It’s been a rather rough week to get a post in. That saddens me, as I’ve not posted much lately and felt a desire to turn that around. I’ve learned a heck-of-a-lot this week, which I’ll write more about later (perhaps this weekend???). However, there’s something I’ve been meaning to write a bit more about: the “demise” of the Seattle PI.

I’m just tired of the word “demise”. Folks, it ain’t dead. The web version is still going strong. Actually, I think it’s quite well. Only the print version has been laid to rest. So, this is more like an amputation than a death. A key piece of the institution is gone, and the entity has undergone a seismic shift. On the other side of this coin, they have unloaded a relic. By removing this element, they should be freed to innovate. And they’ve set innovation up as a must. There’s no way back; it’s innovate or die. Considering the talent onboard, they can make it work. Management’s role needs to be facilitating the innovation. As long as they don’t get in the way, I think it’ll work, and work well. Good luck, folks! Knock ‘m dead!