Talented Application

Seems like God is weaving a thread made of gifts and talents through our lives right now. From recognizing them, to telling ourselves the truth about them, my family is in a discovery phase.

At this step on our talent trip, we're learning about application. After all, what good is a gift if you don't put it to use?

Any self aware 30 something has long since discovered their talents, right? At least with the obvious ones, we've all probably found the best way to employ them, surely. I certainly thought I knew what I am good at, why I am good at it, and what good I'm supposed to do with mine.

Of course, when you get to where you have discovered your talents, how you're supposed to use them is an entirely other conversation.

One of my talents/hobbies/passions is documenting lives, telling stories. I love, and think I'm pretty good at, collecting and documenting moments for myself and everyone connected to me. From photographs to scrapbooks to...blogs, I am a parliamentarian.

So application of this particular talent is obvious right? My son has had every moment of his life documented. My future daughter-in-law, grand children, great grand children and so on will have a rich picture of life in America in the 2000's. Heck, some archaeologist may someday describe our whole culture based on something cute I wrote to describe some moment of our life. Pretty cool.

But I thought my geeky scrapbooking hobby wasn't really a talent. It was just a way to color, cut and glue my way to relaxation and a legacy. After all, these elementary skills aren't really a talent, right? Everyone learns these skills in kindergarten.

 

But then the definition and purpose of this talent began to really reveal itself. Parents whose kids were on the same team as my son's got their kids documented. Cub Scouts in our Pack, they all got documented too. And their parents began to tell me they thought differently about recording their lives.

And that turned into conversations about moms needing to pick up a camera and photograph themselves. If you have a husband or significant other that will take pictures of you, great. Mine isn't  going to give much thought to it. He loves me, he just thinks it's more important to enjoy me than document me. So I have learned to take pictures of myself because I am an important part of this story too.

A tour of the new Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge exposed a possible new use of my talent. Someone is helping parents of babies in NICU there scrapbook their families' walk through what is always an emotionally trying time. Therapy scrapbooking!

Now revelations like this are serendipitous. It never occurred to me that my talent/hobby was needed as service in my community, or anyone other than our family for that matter. But now that I see it, it's clear to me that ALL of our talents/abilities/hobbies are needed somewhere in the service of our community.

Maybe your talent is understanding technology. There are not-for-profits doing great things in our community who could use tech counseling to keep moving forward. If your talent is public speaking, there are even more area agencies looking for people to be ambassadors for causes that at least one of which you'd be passionate about.

My talent is an important part of my work, my real job. But it looks like it may be an important part of so much more. Your abilities are too. While what you're good at may have gotten you to a great place professionally and personally, now is the time to start looking for where your talents can help others get to a great place too.

A friend of mine is in a phase of discovery much like mine. She has known for years how to use her creativity talents at work. Now, with her own innovation & creativity counseling gigs, Connie is surprising herself, and her admiring fans, with how wide the application of her talents can spread. In fact, you can learn more at her upcoming event with The Arts Council here https://www.facebook.com/events/122198911270706/

Your talents and abilities are needed. They can be the key to success to solving real challenges in our community. Or, they could be the simple comfort a scared or challenged family of strangers needs to find hope. Either way, you win in sharing and we all win in the miracle your gift creates.

Today

There was an hour long wait at our usually lazy polling place this morning. Hunter was so excited to see all of the people out doing their duty. And as I listened to people in line giving hints to their voting preferences and making their predictions, I was overcome with the significance of our right to vote.

Our right to vote gives us a say in our destiny. It gives us a voice in how we think our country or state or city should be led. But once our choice is made...

After another political season of negative and attacking rhetoric, I can honestly say that all I am is prayerful.

Today I will be in prayer for the man who has had the awesome burden of leading our country through some pretty rough stuff. Our President, whom we the people elected, has carried an incredibly heavy yoke for four years. For that matter, every President in the history of our country has. Few of us can understand the awesome responsibility of having men die under our command. Nor can we imagine the sorrow that seeing those we are charged with leading go hungry or homeless. This is why, even if he didn't earn our vote, our President deserves our respect.

Today I am in prayer that win or lose the Presidency, that Mr. Obama and his family be blessed by the experiences they've had over the last four years.

Hunter reminded me last week that it wasn't very nice of everyone to speak so badly of President Obama, after all, he is our President. And he's right. Regardless of your political position, Barack Obama was appointed and ordained as the leader of our country. And I will stay in prayer for him and his family through today's new test of them.

Finally, on our way to school after voting, Hunter and I discussed whether we should worry about how this election will turn out while we're going about our normal school and work life today. We decided we would instead, be in prayer.

In prayer for these two men and their families. That they find the purpose God has for them in this contest and after.

In prayer for our country. That we will, in fact, stand on In God We Trust, trusting that the outcome of this election will be a perfectly designed and ordained part of God's will for us as a nation.

In prayer for our community. That we will all do our part, cast our vote, and find peace in the outcome.

At the end of the day, I voted for some Republicans. I also voted for some Democrats. And neither of those choices defines me more than the simple fact that I VOTED.

Cool Advertising Tricks

My most recent reminder of how cool advertising is came last week while watching Survivor.

A Degree commercial came on during the show. Now, even though I work in advertising, I am quick to fast forward through a commercial. Unfortunately, I thought at this particular moment, this is live TV and I can't fast forward. What happened next both inspired and excited me.

A bar flashed across the bottom of the running TV commercial that said to push the OK button on my U-verse remote to get a special offer from Degree. What? Was this ad really telling me to do something with my remote and get a response from my TV? You betcha it was!

Really Cool Interactivity

When I clicked OK, the commercial paused and I was taken to a form. Even better, all of my required information was already filled in the blanks, I am assuming based on my U-verse account information. Otherwise, this very smart commercial could not only interact with my remote, but it could also tell it was me, rather than David, my husband, driving this experiment.

The form told me to press OK and that my information would be submitted and in 4 - 6 weeks I would receive coupons and special savings on Degree products in my mailbox.

And, so that this interactive experiment didn't make me miss any of my Survivor episode, the commercial had even paused the program so I could go back and pick up watching exactly where I left off.

What!?! Interactive TV that could respond in real time to wants and demands through advertising AND not keep me from my favorite shows? Holy Heck! This was better than a flying car!

Evolving at the Speed of Light

Of course this is just another of an army of amazing and rapid adaptations that advertisers are demanding, and therefore media are providing, to build direct and intimate relationships with consumers. And yes, I strongly believe that the speed of innovation in the advertising industry is increasing at an amazing rate.

Fueled by a desire, or in some cases a primal need to, compete with the click-and-serve mentality that the web and social media have conditioned consumers to, traditional media are having to find new levels of interactivity to remain relevant and powerful.

This is great news for both advertisers and media. Every company's ideal customer is out there, somewhere. Getting to them may not be easier, but the depth that an advertiser can reach into some one's pocket can be deeper than ever before, empowered by new and creative media solutions.

There's an App for that

Whether it's apps on your phone, or your TV, new types of radio contests, or networking events and advertising options for B2B companies, the ante is being raised.

This also means that advertisers have to evaluate so many more options - making actually running the business they're trying to market more difficult.

The other recent cool points reminder came from a group of 10-year-olds in the back seat of my SUV last week. As I was ferrying the boys to a football game, I heard them arguing over a game on their phones. Disclaimer: Yes, 10-year-olds have iPhones and Yes, I think that's crazy. As I listened closer, I realized what they were trying to solve. They were trying to match logo elements to their respective companies! The game is called Logo Quiz and it is every advertising professionals proof that this marketing stuff works.

Pop Quiz

Basically, the kids are given an icon, or even part of an icon, and they have to answer with the right company. As I listened to these boys rattle off brand after brand correctly, I was struck by how, at age 10, they were already so advertising indoctrinated.

Here's a sample of a Logo Quiz. Would you have been able to guess them all?


Advertising is not only cool, it's now pop culture quiz worthy!

The great news about all of this rapidly evolving ad technology and play is that the advertising professionals I know and work with are evolving just as rapidly. From social media to mobile manipulation, today's advertising professionals know more, can do more and can offer more than ever before.

I always caution potential advertisers to make sure that cool new advertising options make sense for their business before jumping into them. If you have to see your clients face to face to do business, even Facebook might not be the right marketing venue for you. But any really professional advertising expert will tell you that.

Because at it's heart, even with it's flying-cars-cool new apps, advertising that builds any relationship, especially the kind that create sales, is about building trust. Between a brand and it's customers, advertising has the responsibility to create chemistry. And any woman will tell you when it comes to chemistry, a slow built burn is always hotter than a quick hot flash.