Just the cat and me

It's always me that goes away. Whether its work working interstate or overseas, I'm the one who says goodbye and leaves the family (and the cat) at home.
This time its my turn to stay at home and with the boys grown and living with their own families (close by, so that's good) it's just me and Smudge.
Janine is in Cambodia with a team of 14 from our local church. I have traveled twice with them to Cambodia and been there three other times with our organisations - video camera in hand on each occasion. (Check out one result here.)
One good thing is that I know each of the places the team is going and have some understanding of what Janine will experience.
This weekend is four days of official mourning for the King who died in October and is to be cremated on Monday. Apparently four million people are expected to attend the outdoor event.
The mind boggles at so many people. The team will also visit a range of projects which we support from our church.
In my experience, the team will come away feeling like they have been helped and ministered to, rather than them coming from Australia to help the Cambodians. Such trips are more about awareness raising amongst the team of the huge need the country has. Despite its history, the people are wonderful and can teach us so much - which is cliche, but true.
Once Janine is home, we can share stories and who know what that might lead to.

Unpacking my Kickstarter goodies

After almost a year, two of my 'gifts' for supporting two Kickstarter projects arrived by courier. I consider myself lucky as some Kickstarter projects apparently never deliver a product to their supporters.
The 'Slingshot' is a tripod/cradle for a smart phone to help you stabilise the phone when you use if it take still pictures or more importantly, video. The handle has a nifty set of extra legs which allow you to sit the unit Ina bench or table. Unscrew the legs and the cradle will mount on a standard tripod thread. Very neat. I have two to give away - FREE, check my video post later in the week for details.
The second items is a Metawatch. This is a pre-release model and it's designed to link via Bluetooth to your smart phone and display key information on the watch face. Things like SMS message, emails, missed calls, etc. I still have to get it all configured as it has a few bugs still.
Kickstarter is one way to raise crowd-funding. The E-Pebble watch, which is similar to the Metawatch, raised $10m after initially asking for $100k. I'm waiting for that to arrive also.
I suppose this is one way of supporting great ideas and becoming an early adopter of new technology.

Catching just a glimpse ...

There are times when you catch just a glimpse of what joy is all about and today was one of these days.  Overnight we had had our almost three year old grand daughter stay and even with a 3am wake period, hearing her sing happily as she woke up (at the right time) was glimpse number one.
Then as she sat with her parents and her Grandmother joined 12 others on stage as they were commissioned for a two week church trip to Cambodia, there was a shy wave to Grandma. A second glimpse.
At our churches second service, our 10 month old grandson and his parents came to be a part of our second 'repeat' service. Although he was too young to wave to Grandma, carrying him at the back of church and have him cuddle into my shoulder as the service took place was another glimpse.
Three glimpses in one day - I think I'm pretty lucky.

Why I love Australia

Like many Australians I've had the opportunity to travel and there's nothing like getting on a Qantas plane in London or New York or Shanghai and hearing that familiar accent from the Qantas crew. Then you really know you're heading home.
Nothing tells us we're lucky to live in Australia better than travel. There is so much we take for granted and travel brings that home like nothing else.
Here's a short list:

1. We live in a democracy that gives us freedom of expression, religion, where we live
2. We've missed the economic downturn being experienced in Europe, the UK and parts of the USA
3. Our weather pattern, while tough at times of bushfire, has none of the extreme cold of much of the northern hemisphere
4. We're a friendly, open society
5. We have a health system that is the envy of much of the rest of the world
6. Our multicultural society is one of the most successful among developed countries
7. On Australia Day (or any day for that matter) we can hop on a mates boat and sail around the most beautiful waterways in the world - Free!

I could go on, but you get the idea.
Happy Australia Day.

Dealing with being rejected?

If you're thinking this post is about love or relationships, then you might be disappointed because I want to talk about being rejected in your work. Others are far more qualified to talk about rejection in relationships.
I mean when you get the phone call that says, "sorry, but we've decided to offer the position to someone else." Or that project that you thought you had a good chance of working on is offered to someone else?
Now I don't have all the answers, but here are some thoughts.

1. When you're in the freelance consultancy business, they are no rules that say your clients have to keep contracting you, even if you maintain a good relationship with them.
2. The worse thing you can do is to allow the feeling of rejection to fester and become something greater. I know this is hard not to do, but each time you start thinking along those lines, you need to force yourself to do something positive.
3. Despite your sense of feeling rejected, if possible, make sure you continue to stay in touch.
4. See if you can contribute in some other way to the project.
5. Nothing lasts forever - there will be other projects and other clients.
6. Rejoice with them when their project is completed, without muttering "I could have done that heaps better," (even if in your eyes, that's what you think.)

I've found the above steps very helpful.
What about you?

Things that need inventing ... a note for Apple

We live in a world of innovation, but here are some things that seem to have missed the innovation train and I think, need inventing. I offer these ideas for FREE! If you pick one up and make a motza, send me a cheque?

1. Whenever I wear a set of Apple headphone - even the new 'stay in your ear' type, the in-line microphone and volume control always catches on my shirt collar (and pulls the buds out of my ear) when I turn my head.
   Although the new type does have a more rounded end, someone needs to invent a non-catching version. Maybe with a more tapered in-line moulding?
2. I use my iPad to watch ABC iView - great app, but I invariably have to hold my hand or a piece of card behind the iPad to deflect the sound to the front. Laying the iPad on a table does this automatically, but when you're holding the iPad in your lap or on a cushion on your tummy when you're lying down (try it) - you can't hear the audio.
   We need an iPad case with a pull-out slide that retracts when not needed.
   Hey - I'd buy one.

First world problems I know, but they need a solution.

Brand consistency - check out your local shopping centre

Walk down any suburban shopping street in Australia and you'll see a microcosm of the branding problem. Some of the shops will be a local branch of a national or even multi-national company. If they're a bank, fast-food outlet or supermarket you'll immediately identify them by their name, colour scheme and 'brand consistency'.
Inside the shop, the counters, signs, wall colour and floor covering will all conform to the 'look' of that particular brand.
If you're lucky, the service you'll receive will also conform to the national identity.
Then there are other shops which are locally owned which don't have the luxury of a head office detailing how their shop should look. This can be an advantage as they can bring a truly local look and feel to their signage, colour scheme, etc
Then there are other shops or businesses that have no consistency in signage, colour schemes or service.
Yes they have signs and they've painted the inside of the shop and there's floor coverings, but nothing works together. Often the sign will have a different font for each line of text with each sign being a different colour.
Nothing is consistent about their visual identity. My point is, this is not hard to do.
More and more we are a visual society - the growth of digital communications and portable screens of all sizes means we learn by what we see, rather than what we read.
Every local business has some form of signage, branding or visual identity. The key thing is to make sure each of these looks the same and presents a consistent visual identity.
That's the start of brand consistency.

Bad video lets down your web site ... badly!

The world-wide viewing stats of on-line video continue to go through the roof.  Up from 1 billion per annum in April 2011 to 2 billion in April, 2012. (Ref: http://soularchmedia.com/blog/tag/online-video-statistics-australia-2012/)
More people are watching more videos for longer. As someone in the business of making videos, these are good figures and show a growing industry.
But if you're going to use video on your web site, make sure it's well done. You may not want to engage Martin Johnson Communications, but you do need to make sure your video doesn't have any of the following too common errors.

1. Poor sound. This is my number one complaint about videos on business web sites. Here's a secret not many people know - the inbuilt microphone on your video camera is there purely for decoration. Don't use it! Get yourself a good quality mic - Rodes make some great ones.
2. Bad lighting. The old saying "film the subject with the sun behind you" is worth repeating. Put your subject in good, even light and video them there. Don't put them against a bright wall (or any wall for that matter). 
3. Keep the camera still. Wobble cam might look funky but it says 'bad video' and its annoying to watch, especially on a business web site.

Bad video on your business web site says one thing very loudly. We don't care enough to do this properly.  Hence, we don't care!

Need some help? Get in touch at www.martinjohnsoncommunications.com.au

Marketing 101

When I studied for my Master of Arts in Communication Management (UTS) there was much discussion about whether marketing was a subset of communications, or communications a subset of marketing. Given that I was studying Communication Management, you can probably guess which side our lecturers came down on - marketing is a subset of communications.
I think I'd agree because marketing is really about communicating specific information about a service or a product.
Here's an official definition of marketing from the American Marketing Association: "Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large." (Italics - mine)
The discussion is a bit like the chicken and the egg - which came first, but here are some simple observations about how you can communication (or market) 'your story' to your 'customers, partners, and society at large.'

1. Your message:  Distill down to a few words what you do in your business. What is the essence of your brand or product? 'Telling your story' is what I use
2. Your audience: Who needs to hear your message? (Once you decided this, its a lot easier to work out what channels to use to get your message to them.)
3. Be consistent:  Make sure everything you do, say, print, e-mail, blog, video, tweet or facebook has the same message. 

So whether you're marketing or communicating, keep these three steps in mind.

Passwords, log ons - how can I remember them all?

A mate of mine has the messiest desktop on his Macbook that I have ever seen.
Why?
Because his screen is covered with electronic 'Post-It' notes - each one containing a username and password for a web site, e-mail service or ftp site.
That's his way of remembering - he 'writes them down' on a Post-It!
If you're like me, you've probably got over 100 different user names and log-ons for a whole range of on-line activities, e-mail, blogs, web site memberships and banking.
It's easy to remember the details for the on-line services we use everyday but ones we might only access once a month or even once a year - forget it.
Every one of these 'activities' wants you to create a multi-character password that is unique to that site. In theory you're not supposed to write them down.
PINs were probably the first codes we had to remember and we were told over and over, don't write your PIN on your card.
But the reality is that we do write them down - maybe not on a Post-It note on our desktop (and NEVER on the back of your creditcard, but they're too important to trust to memory - mine at least.
I do use an app called 'Firebox' which does encrypt the data put into it - so at least I have it in electronic form.
Any suggestions of other apps that work?

Is Courage the right word?

This is a great post from Phil Cooke, a film maker, media consultant, writer and Christian from LA.

At this year's Golden Globe Awards, we couldn't escape hearing the word "courage" again and again. Hugh Jackman mentioned the "courage" it took to produce Les Miserables, one of the producers of Game Change praised HBO for being a "courageous" network and even Jodie Foster's speech was lauded as "courageous." Even CNN got into the game, noting the "courage" it took for the Hollywood Press Association to vote actress Lena Dunham winner for Girls. I'm a big movie and TV fan, and we all love a good awards show, but should we consider Sunday night's honorees examples of real courage?
Read more here ...

I'm sorry, I'm [not] out of the office ...

My inbox still seems to be full of 'Out of the Office' messages this week as my regular e-mails to my clients and contacts come back with this standardised reply.
I first came across this facility when we started using Outlook Exchange at a large not-for-profit organisation I worked for. The messages usually contain information about when the person will be  back and who to contact if the matter is important while the person is away.
I've decided not to use this option, which now seems to come with all e-mail programs including those in the Cloud.
Why?
Here are my three reasons;

1. For me at least, in the connected world, my office is where I am - so I am always 'in'.
2. Whilst there is a movement to 'unwind and disconnect completely', the reality (for me) is that this is just not going to work. I'd rather be connected - even if it is less so on holidays.
3. I enjoy interacting with my contacts and clients and in my experience they all understand about Christmas and New Year and Easter and save their e-mails until the working week starts again. I suppose this is because I'm lucky enough for my clients to also be friends.

So, this is home ...

If you've been following this blog over the past few weeks (and why wouldn't you) you will have seen one about researching my family tree on the Johnson or Johannesson side.
Seems like I've found what I was hoping to find. The small rural farming area of Ostra Hungvik in Sweden (pic from Google Earth) is where my great-grandfather was born and from where he left for Australia as a young man of around 18.
He was one of nine children, most of whom ended up in the USA.
Got some more digging to do I think - stay tuned.

Into the DIrector's chair ...

After 30 years as a Cinematographer in the US,  my good mate Rob Draper ACS has moved into the Director's chair. We used to work together at RVN 2 Wagga Wagga in the Riverina area of New South Wales, Australia.
His first feature is 'Nicaea' - the story of the Emperor Constantine and his coming to power at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Constantine's victory led to the Holy Roman Empire.
As Rob says in the Skype interview on my web site (it's here), this is one of a number of feature films with religious or Christian themes in production or pre-production in Hollywood.
According to Rob, the producers of Nicaea see a lot of parallels between what happened in 305 – 325 AD and today. “They wanted to produce a film that wasn’t about ‘blow them up, shoot them up and crash them up’, but rather had a positive message that despite the problems we’re facing today, we can pull ourselves out of them,” Rob said. I think the fact that people want films to make them think (as well as be entertaining) is shown by the success of Les Miserables,” Rob said. “It’s a great film and deserves the Academy Award nominations it’s received,” he said.
The interview and press release are here.

Managing first world problems ...

You've probably seen the Youtube videos that highlight what is called 'First world problems'. Like the one with the young man from Africa standing outside a hut in his village complaining that he only has one wireless router in his house. Or the young teenager in rural Cambodia complaining that her brother always steals her iPhone charger. They certainly bring what we see as problems into perspective.
But here are a couple of suggestions from this baby-boomer for those trying to manage first world problems in the first world:

• Your smartphone runs off a battery which will need charging. Develop a daily charging routine so that 'sorry, my phone died' is never an excuse to not ring your family.
• Wearing large headphones that cover half of each side of your head is just plain silly. Unless you're driving a tank in the middle of a war, or recording your latest hit single in the studio, that is.
• Walking or running along a beach esplanade with ear buds (or large headphones on) means you're missing out on the sounds of the beach. The sounds of the waves, people enjoying themselves is what the beach is all about. Unplug and listen ...
• It is impossible to type accurately and quickly on a smartphone virtual key board, so when you're in the presence of your baby-boomer family members, don't pretend you can. It's annoying for us 'large fingered' baby-boomers who can't.
• Ring or text if your running late or not coming - simple.

OK - I feel better now.

From Wagga Wagga to the world

I've just finished interviewing (via Skype) a good mate of mine who now lives in the US. I first met Robert Draper (Rob) when we both worked at RVN 2 in Wagga Wagga (1976-81). Rob was a cameraman and I was a Producer/Director. Together we shot news, commercials and documentary programs. (You can see one of the documentaries we produced here.)
After leaving Wagga Wagga, Rob moved to the US to pursue his career and I went to work for Wesley Mission, Sydney. We got together again when I contracted Rob to shoot the Discovering documentary veries in 1984 and 1985, all shot on location in the middle-east, including Rome.
A few years ago, Rob was Director of Photography on 'The Spitfife Grill' - a story of redemption which was partly funded by the Catholic Church.
As a result, Rob was asked to consider being Director of Photography on a new film about the Roman Emperor Constantine called 'Nicea', After some months doing research, the producers offered Rob the Director's position, which he accepted. So after 30 years, Rob will be back filming in Rome from September this year. I'll post the interview and the print story in the next few days.
Well done Rob.

Giving the kids a hand ...

Night Sleep Wear -
Night Sky

This is an unashamed plug for a new web based business that my son and his wife launched today. It's all about pajamas, or as they call their range 'Night Sleep Wear'.
Blacklist Studios - my son's design business - has been producing great posters and prints for a few years but they believe there's a market for men's pajamas for guys who don't want to sleep in stripes or colours and just want to be comfortable. A lot of the other stuff out there is too over the top of just daggy. Now there is cool.
The designs are in T-Shirt and Singlet style and include the top, bottom and a nifty bag to carry them in.
Check them out. Night Sleep Wear.

The day after ...

Today, Sydney at least is breathing a collective sigh of relief as the weather gets back to relatively normal summer weather. Whilst fires are still burning throughout the state, it seems as if we have been fortunate with no loss of life.
A heat wave produces interesting changes to the regular routine. We walk on the shady side of the street and try and work out how we can go about our daily routine without having to go outside.
Movie theatres seem to be fuller - we saw 'Life of Pi' last night and I'm sure there were only a handful of spare seats. (We loved it).
The kids ring and want to sleep the night under our air-conditioner. Seeing as this includes one of our grandchildren as well, we're more than happy.
But heatwaves are apparently the cause of more than the usual number of deaths among the elderly.
It's hard to imagine communities who live in 40 deg plus temperature for much of the year - it's almost beyond our understanding of how anyone could bear it.
We're told of course that we'd be bored with the same weather everyday. We need the variation to make us appreciate it when it is nice and cool. If only there was a way of fully remembering the coolness today and recalling that when we hit the next heatwave.

Chasing history

For all my life I've known the (short) story of my great-grandfather. At age 18 he left home in Gothenberg in Sweden, jumped a sailing ship and emigrated to Australia. At the same time his brother headed for the US. Fridolf Johannsen landed in Melbourne where he married, started a business and had 11 children, the eldest of which was my grandfather.
Sadly nothing is known of the Swedish Johannsens and so I have no idea of the family that was left behind by the two brothers. Apparently it was 10 years before Fridolf wrote to his parents telling them where he was and what he was doing.
Motivated by one of my sons, I've done some initial research and although the on-line businesses that advertise their genealogical promise to make such research easy - it isn't. (They want you to sign up for $40 + a month, just to start a family search.)
So I've contacted a local geneaological society in Sweden to see if they can help.
If I find anything interesting, I'll post it here.

Christmas is over for another year

Today we took down our Christmas decorations. We don't hold to a particular day, it's more to do with when's convenient. I like taking them down, not because I don't enjoy Christmas, but because if means the beginning of a new year. It signifies expectations. Now all the ideas I had over Christmas and New Year can be put into action.
Christmas is like putting life on 'pause' for a week or two and now it's time to push the 'play' button and get on with what the year has in store.
That's exciting ...

My turn to stay home ...

Over the past few years I've been privileged to travel with my business, filming aid projects in Asia and Africa for various clients. One of my favourite countries is Cambodia where I have been five times. (You can see some of the videos and TV I programs made in Cambodia on my Youtube channel. http://is.gd/6VJAT8)
Next month however it's my turn to stay at home while my wife travels with a Mission team from our church. Our church has been sending short-term teams to Cambodia for some time and it has certainly given the whole church a greater understanding of how Christianity can benefit a developing country like Cambodia.
The team will spend two weeks in country and for most of that time will visit local aid projects. At some, they'll get involved by teaching English and building water filters but in my experience, the real value is in what the team will learn. The recent history of Cambodia is truly tragic and the impact of the Pol Pot era is evident still throughout the country,
But there is hope - mainly in the younger generation who were born after the Khmer Rouge were toppled. One of the big problems is trust. In Pol Pot's time, you didn't trust anyone - your wife/husband, your children or your parents. You never knew who might be an informer.
It's hard to build a country without trust - but the younger generation seem to be getting it right.
At least l'll be able to follow the team as they travel to places I have been a number of times and I'll be able to 'picture' what they're experiencing. Here's more on the team.

Getting a clear view ...

We've been spending a few days in the Snowy Mountains staying on our son's property. Things are different down here. On 250 hectares, your neighbours are a fair distance away. New Year's Eve was celebrated here with absolute silence. Nothing. (At least there were no wild parties next door).
At night though the difference is even greater. The night sky looks like it's been digitally enhanced and been hung about 1,000 metres directly above you. The stars are magnificent. The Milky Way is as 'milky' as it's ever been and the evening star almost as bright as the moon.
With no light or air pollution from a nearby city God's creation is magnificent to see.
The stars are the same ones you can see from the middle of Sydney, it's just that there's nothing in the way to cloud your vision. To me, it's a reminder to make sure we have a clear view of what we're doing. What gets in the way of your Vision? Maybe it's worth clearing the view?

The discipline to get marketing

As a self-employed consultant there are the occasional days (or weeks, if I'm honest) when the phone doesn't ring or the e-mail doesn't arrive. When you have no clients to service, the temptation is to think 'woe is me' and do nothing.
Each time this has happened, I've focused on ramping up my marketing. This might be as simple as going back through my business e-mails for the past few months and see if I've missed an opportunity or need to follow up on an enquiry. It might mean writing another of my regular newsletters or looking at what needs to be updated on my web site.
Each time I have done this it has produced new business. So whilst it's not the natural thing to do when business is quiet, so far I've proved that it works.
Why not give it a go?

The right tools for the job

My son and his mate are doing some road building on my son's property in the Snowy Mountains. The mate has his own Caterpillar D5 bulldozer which he imported second-hand from the US.
It's ideal for road building making short work of the scrub and even trees that get in the way. The cab is air-conditioned and there's a CD player and CB radio installed as well.
It's true to say that the D5 is a big boy's toy but one that's very useful for road making.
Got me thinking about the importance of selecting the right tools for the job. The D5 would be no good for a garden path or even for landscaping in the backyard.
How often do we stop and think about the tools needed for the job at hand? Selecting the right one will give you the best start for whatever you're doing.

Lessons from history ...

It's amazing how ignorant you can be about your own country's history. I have just finished reading Peter Fitzsimons book 'Eureka - The Unfinished Revolution'. It's the story of the massacre by government forces of the diggers on the gold fields of Ballarat on the morning of Sunday, December 3rd, 1854. The diggers had agitated long and hard for the gold licensing laws to be repealed. The government at the time was concerned that the new colony might go the way of America and that there would be a revolution against the Queen.
The court cases following the attack, at which all the accused diggers were acquired of treason led to the downfall of Sir Charles Hotham, the governor of the state of Victoria.
Ultimately all the changes the diggers had agitated for became law with a number of the leaders of the revolt ending up on parliament.
It's a great yarn and although I knew of the Eureka Stockade as an event in history, I had no understanding of the reasons behind it and how the diggers ultimately triumphed.
Well worth a read.

Sharing our feelings?

Welcome to the start of New Year. My resolution is to write something meaningful each day on this blog. Not sure it will be world shattering, but if it gives you pause to think, then I'll be happy.
With our local church about to send off a team to Cambodia, I've been reading "The Road of Lost Innocence", by Somaly Man.
Somaly was left orphaned during the Pol Pot era in Cambodia and sold into the sex slave industry.
I'm yet to finish the book, but one thing she highlights as she was cared for by a variety of family and non-family members is that Cambodian society taught you never to share your feelings.
With anyone. If you shared your feelings, this made you vulnerable to attack and abuse. In the Pol Pot era, keeping silent about what you had seen or heard was your best defence.
Its true of course - keeping quiet does 'protect' you, but what a diminished life that would lead to.
One of the biggest problems today in the Cambodian Church is that people still do not trust each other.
This year - find someone you can trust to share your life and thoughts with.