Don’t miss the 2nd Annual Creative Freelancer Conference, the only business conference for “creative solopreneurs,” slated for August 26-28, 2009 in San Diego CA and presented by HOW Magazine and Marketing-Mentor.com. (Group name members get an additional $25 off)

CFC ‘09 will be a high energy networking melting pot of graphic, web and interactive designers, photographers, copywriters, video producers, illustrators and anyone else who is committed to making their freelance life work. Creative-business experts, including Ilise Benun, Peleg Top, Petrula Vrontikis, Lee Silber, June Walker, Todd Henry, Colleen Wainwright, Darryl Salerno, Michelle Goodman and others, will share best practices for pricing, online marketing, building client relationships, dealing with taxes, being creative on demand, maintaining a work/life balance and other skills critical to freelance success. Early-bird deadline is July 15 and Group name members get an additional $25 discount if you use this promo code: TH9. Plus, as soon as you register, you’ll receive a copy of the free report, The Freedom of Freelancing. Details, registration and CFC newsletter sign up here:

http://www.creativefreelancerconference.com/

Thanks so much to my friend Brad for sending this video. I know that I’m often harping on “doing something unique” and how “cover bands don’t change the world” and I think that this can be misunderstood as “do anything you want, whether or not it’s relevant to the situation at hand.”

It’s important that - within the context of our creative work - we understand the importance of relevance. There are a few things that I notice about the “crazy dancing guy” that I think apply to many create-on-demand situations:

1. His behavior - while odd - made sense in this context. He wasn’t dancing in the subway station during rush hour. He was having a genuine - though very possibly substance-fueled - response to the music. We often confuse “creativity” with “novelty”. The main difference is that the “creative” solution is always appropriate to the context whereas “novelty” is simply making a unique connection.

2. He is committed. His enthusiasm is contagious. Once he makes a decision to dance, he doesn’t hold himself back or curb his enthusiasm based upon public response. He is committed.

3. He does what he does, and lets the world change around him. The guy just wants to have a good time. He’s not trying to start a dance party. In fact, I question whether he was capable of that kind of strategic thought at the moment. He’s just having fun and throwing himself into the moment.

Again, I certainly don’t want to be guilty of reading too much into a YouTube clip, but I’m always inspired by people who throw themselves into what they do. Even when it’s a little “out there.”

Surprise!

At dinner Rachel informed me that we weren’t just out for a mellow evening, but that she had purchased Coldplay tickets for us and that the show started in an hour. (OK…first of all, I LOVE my totally sweet wife and second, I had mentioned the concert months ago and immediately dismissed it for a lot of reasons. She didn’t forget. Very cool.)

So after dinner we made our way to the local “so-you’re-a-huge-pop-band-looking-for-a-place-to-play” venue. To be honest, I knew little about Coldplay other than that I really enjoy their music. Here’s a run-down of my pre-knowledge / assumptions:

1. I like quirky pop, and they fit the bill.

2. They’re from the UK.

3. Chris Martin is married to Gwyneth Paltrow.

4. Chris Martin seems very political and I’ve often had the impression he’s angry during TV appearances.

5. They’re very serious about their music.

6. They seem to have exploded in the past few years and appear to be on a trajectory to super-stardom.

Now a few words about my experience:

- From the VERY beginning of the show, it exuded “FUN”. The band came out carrying sparklers and immediately jumped into the show. No pretentious builds.

- The sound was incredible from note one. Having been in the biz for a while, I’m a stickler for good sound. (The opener Pete Yorn’s sound was horrendous, though we loved his music.) Normally there is “tune-it-in” time for the first few songs. Not here. It was amazing from the start.

- From the very beginning the show was remarkably interactive. There was constant audience engagement.

- Chris Martin was a BLAST! He absolutely, totally poured himself into the show. Having seen and participated in tons of concerts in my life, I don’t know if I’ve seen an act of their stature put that much energy into a show for two hours straight. It was a feat of amazing endurance.

- They didn’t take themselves too seriously. They were self-deprecating, silly and sometimes just quirky. They weren’t there for themselves, they were there for the fans.

- They seemed genuinely thankful for people showing up to the show. It felt like we were all a part of something bigger than ourselves.

- They came out into the crowd and played sets from two mini-stages out amongst the audience, including one out in the “cheap seats.” 

- They played all of their hits and didn’t knock people over the head with “we’d like to play a new song from our jazz dance fusion concept album in limited release in South Asia.”

- On the way out we got a free CD of a live performance (which can also be downloaded online.)
 

A few of the top-line marks of a positive brand experience:

1. Was your impression of the product changed in a positive way during the experience?

2. Were you surprised in a good way by your experience?

3. Are there any lasting and favorable learnings that you can continue to apply to your life or situation?

4. Would you recommend the product/experience to a friend? 

So all of that said, here are a few impressions I have of Coldplay based upon my experience. In other words, here is the “Coldplay brand” as I perceive it. (And please understand, I am a skeptical, even somewhat cynical observer of all things music-biz related. I am not a “fan-boy” type):

1. Coldplay is a fun band. They make great music, but beyond that I genuinely like them. They have personality.

2. Coldplay cares about its fans.

3. Coldplay isn’t too into itself, but it obviously cares about its music (as was signified by the several “serious” moments in the show.)

4. Coldplay takes live experience seriously from beginning to end.
 

A few other thoughts:

- Would I recommend that a friend spend $100 on a ticket to see them? Assuming they like their music, absolutely - yes. No question. (And I normally wouldn’t pay $100 to see ANYONE.)

- The idea of giving out a live CD is brilliant. It probably cost them less than a few thousand dollars to duplicate all of those CD’s, but fans continue to live their brand experience for weeks and months to come. If you have a good thing, put it in peoples’ hands as a reminder and continue to provide touch points with the brand.

- I would have purchased a new Coldplay CD when it’s released anyway, but now I will probably do it on the day of its release, which is important for momentum and charting. They turned me from someone who enjoys Coldplay’s music to a Coldplay fan.
 

So…these are just a few morning-after ruminations about the event. I’m curious to get your thoughts about all of this and I’m also curious to hear of any similar experiences you’ve had that changed your mind about a specific brand. Anyone?

I’ve heard several people at companies talk about how travel budgets have been slashed and there’s no more money for training, conferences, etc. I started thinking about the response we’ve had to the 5 Conversations event happening on Sunday evening.

That led to this thought: what if we do a year-long, online conference?

In other words, what if we do one event per month online and bring some interesting topics and a forum for interaction to the AC community? Consider it our “recession boycott.” We would make it free for AC Premium subscribers, but non-Premium folk could access the sessions for a very, very modest fee ($10 or so) or buy a season pass by subscribing to AC Premium (plus get the 160+ back episodes of AC in addition to the weekly ones we’ll do over the next year.)

I’ve scheduled one more session for June, but what do you think about this idea? If you like it, what topics would you like to see covered in our “year-long conference?”

I was reminded of this today when my good friend Scott Hull forwarded me these rules of speaking at the TED conference. I think they are brilliant on several fronts (they fit the TED vibe, they are firm yet playful, they inspire the best) but the thing that I enjoyed the most about them is that PEOPLE FOLLOW THEM. I have yet to see a TED talk where one of these rules has been violated. That’s because they’ve created a very cool playground on which to participate means to follow the rules. 

The TED Commandments - rules every speaker needs to know

   1. Thou Shalt Not Simply Trot Out thy Usual Shtick.

(Via Scott Hull + Via Tim Longhurst)

I was able to spend the afternoon with my good friend Scott Hull and talk about emerging trends in art + commerce, then I delivered an evening talk to the Dayton Creative Syndicate. (I was a little nervous that there might be Tommy guns involved. My fear was unfounded.) What a fun, dynamic group of young creatives!

The reason this trip was especially interesting is that I was able to - in a period of just a few hours - address hundreds of artists who are emerging into the first part of their career and artists who are deep “in the grooves” of their career with the same talk. What I discovered is that the deep, resonant themes of creative growth, rhythm, the assassins of creativity, etc., are present regardless of our experience or where we happen to be in our career. They are realities that we must be aware of if we want to thrive. 

It also reminded me of the importance of relationships in our creating. I love what the DCS is doing in trying to create a pocket of collaborative thought around how to stay creatively inspired. Well done, all!

The reality of the matter is that if something is important to you, you will find time for it. If you really want to watch something on TV, you will find a way to make it happen. If you really want to attend an event, you will move things around until you are able to. If your manager says that you’re going to have to stay a little late, you will adjust your life accordingly.

So if we can make time for all of these things with little pain, why is it so difficult to find the time to create?

I believe that the biggest issue is not time, it’s fear. We will do anything and everything we can to fill our time with random activity to avoid having to engage creatively. Often this is because we’re afraid that we won’t be able to realize our creative vision, or we aren’t confident that we can finish what we start, or we are uncertain that our idea is the “right” idea. We feel the weight of this fear and it prevents us from taking the first step.

In his book The War of Art, Steven Pressfield calls this “resistance” and offers advice for combatting it. Primarily, Steven says that the most important thing we can do is simply get up each day and choose to engage. To make. To do something. We don’t have to finish it, we just have to work on it.

How are you doing on your “unnecessary” creating? Are you making things for the joy of it or are you limited to only creating things that someone is paying you for?

If you’d like to create “unnecessarily” on a more regular basis, here are a few thoughts:

1. Set aside a time each day for creating. You can do anything you want during this time, but it has to be something that you’re doing by choice not by virtue of your job. If you want to write a novel, you can start by thinking about characters, outlining the book, or just jumping into writing. The important thing is that you have your time set aside and it is non-negotiable. Make an appointment with yourself and keep it.

2. Keep a project board. This is a whiteboard or a list of all of the creative projects you’d like to tackle. They can be big or small projects, but they should be something that you really want to do, not things you feel like you have to do. Once you’ve established your project board you can start checking off projects during your unnecessary creating time.

3. Cut yourself some slack. Unnecessary creating is about exploration and fun. Even though it will be a lot of work, it should be something that you enjoy engaging in. This is where you practice your craft and explore new ways of expressing yourself.

Nothing ever got made by someone sitting around and wishing it into existence. Carve out some time and get to work!

Have you ever noticed that some people seem to produce at a high level no matter where you put them? It doesn’t matter if they have the skills or not - they’ll learn them. It doesn’t matter if they’ve never been in that role - they’ll figure it out. It’s the 80/20 rule of hiring and placement. If you hire a good person, they can do 80% of their job without managerial help because 80% is showing up with a critical mind and a strong work ethic. The other 20% is specialized knowledge and nuance. These are good hires.

It seems that the same thing goes for leaders. There are skills that can be developed, but the biggest part of leadership is critical mind and work ethic. But there is another layer to leading that is as or more important than  nearly anything else: mindset. Some leaders seem to naturally attract followers and others rely on the organizational mandate and positional authority. 

So the other day I started jotting down a list of sentiments that would describe a poor leadership mindset. I want to make sure that these things don’t creep into my daily life and leading because they are like poison - we don’t feel their effects until we’re dead. Here are a few:

1. “That’s fine for you, but it’s not my experience, so it’s not valid.” 
2. “I don’t connect with it, so no one else will either.”
3. “I ALWAYS know what’s best.”
4. “We can’t fail.”
5. “We’ll probably fail.”
6. “Never mind. I’ll just do it myself.”
7. “People don’t change.”
8. “What they don’t know won’t hurt them.”
9. “What do they know?”
10. “I’m certain.”

Ouch! Some of these hit pretty close to the nerve for me. Got any others?

Upon meeting him, I was immediately intrigued by his concept. He spent a period of time living in airports across the USA and observing behavior. The resulting book, which has been acclaimed by media outlets including The NY Times, ABC News and others, is called Step Back From The Baggage Claim and captures his key learnings from the experiment. Jason was kind enough to answer a few questions about the project and what he learned. 

How did you originally come up with the idea for the “Step Back”?

The metaphor had been marinating for years.  But, years ago I remember standing outside the baggage claim area in the San Diego airport when I was leading a group of 214 people to build houses for families in need in Mexico. I watched our group try to merge with the already gathered mass of people frantically trying to locate their bags around the carousel. It was clear that the same spirit of compassion, gratitude and pace of life that we were going to be experiencing in Mexico was needed around that baggage claim. The spirit of this project is about seeing everyday life through a new lens.

What were some of the key hurdles you had to overcome to make the project happen?

I had to get over my own insecurities of throwing ideas about ‘changing the world’ out there with my name on them. I knew it would open me up for criticism and draw attention to me in some ways that may not always be comfortable. I had to overcome that hurdle by staying rooted in the purpose and spirit of why I was compelled to work on this project - to encourage more loving and grateful vibrations in the world.

What was your favorite part of the project?

The creation phase - being challenged to live in the present moment, sit in uncertainty, and articulate what I was feeling and observing. Then once it was released, to receive wonderful responses from people I don’t know has been very affirming.

How do you see the world differently now than you did before?

I’m even more aware of the significance that our small actions in everyday life have on others around us. I see the ways in which a message like this is connecting with people in profound ways and providing positive encouragement for those who hope to leave a positive imprint everyday in the world. With the ways in which ideas and creations can be so easily shared with people all over the globe through different media platforms today, we have never had a greater opportunity to connect people. It is a fascinating time to be creating and sharing.

What advice would you give to someone who’s considering taking a “leap” and embarking on an imposing project?

Step back for a moment and get rooted in the purpose of your project. Let everything grow out of an authentic purpose rather than external pressures. Take the time to slow down and dive into your craft. There will be moments of uncertainty as you sit in the ambiguity of not knowing how your project will play out or be received. But, if you’ve worked from a foundation of authentic purpose, you’ll be able to embrace the creative process and enjoy the liberating feeling of bringing something to life in the world. Lastly, a question aimed as a word of encouragement - Who are you not to create excellence in the world? 

Jason Barger is the author of the book recently featured in the NY Times, Step Back from the Baggage Claim:  Change the World, Start at the Airport. Prior to living in airports, observing human behavior, and writing a book about changing the world through small compassionate actions, he led nearly 2000 people to construct 125 houses internationally for families in need. Barger is an author, speaker, consultant, husband and father.  To connect further or join the movement, visit www.stepbackfromthebaggageclaim.com .