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Sharing the Central African Republic With You
I wanted to post the full photobook as a slideshow on this blog but it’s a huge file and I don’t think my current theme supports a slide show photo view option. So sorry for sending you off to link where you have to download it. Click on the post title for the link.
It has been a debate for me whether or not to make the photos available for my readers. I desperately want to share my story and trying to put that experience in a blog post was impossible. A deck might have been better suited to effectively curate my experience but instead I opted for a photo book as I already had to make one to send to specific donors.
Yes, the PDF is heavily watermarked. The point is so that the non-profit I traveled with, African Christian Fellowship Los Angeles, can keep the integrity of the footage taken for upcoming and future promotion and fundraising efforts. Basically, we don’t want the photos showing up on Google search.
I hope the photo book will give you a snapshot of what we did in Bangui, CAR.
Feel free to share your reactions and ask further questions below as well as sharing the post on Facebook and Twitter.
I’m going back in 2014 and am actively recruiting for more volunteers!
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Planning-ness 2012
Planning-ness…this week…SO EXCITED!
I agonized over which sessions I wanted to go because every time slot has two amazingg sessions and speakers competiting against each other…grrr. Clearly a well put together line-up.
But then I realized I should just pick because I can’t be in two places at once and I would learn something new either way. I’ve never been to anything like Planning-ness that puts innovative and creative thinkers and doers in one place and asks them to “get excited and make things.”
Of course I’ll bringing along my Moleskine but Planning-ness (so I’ve heard) isn’t the kind of conference wheere you sit in a large conference hall and take endless notes and go about your way…it’s all about the interactive learning expeirnece which is the way I learn best so I’m all for it.
I definitely dropped a pretty penny for the tickets (especially for an unemployed 20-something) but I’ll be reporting back to you all if it was worth the 2.5 Benji’s but I feeling it will be.
If you’re also coming to Planning-ness leave a comment or find me on twitter!
Here are the sessions I chose:
DAY ONE
Sharon Ann Lee: How to understand and analyze cultural trends
Rob Perkins: How to scratch an itch
Craig LaRosa: How to design a service
Daniel Berkal: How to be a social butterfly
DAY TWO
Bud Cadell: How to Play Go … And Navigate Real World Complexity
Andreas Weigend: How to leverage social dat
Fran Hazeldine/ Pelle Sjoenell: How to navigate the creative / planner relationship
Brad Haugen: How to create celebrityrad Haugen: How to create celebrity
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High Res
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Team Natural: Torch Bearers
1. Viola Davis: she made a statement heard around the world, loud and clear. Whether she likes it or not she became the poster child for the natural movement that night.
2. Solange Knowles: sister to Beyonce and known for her avant-garde style, she went bald in 2009 and has been making waves in the hair community ever since. She sports everything from wild free-flowing fro’s to curly textured frocks. She is unafraid, unabashed and rocks hard for the Millennials who want to embrace the movement. It’s fitting then that she’s been tapped for the recent launch of Carol’s Daughter transitioning kits.
3. Issa Rae: Stanford Grad. Baldwin Hills, CA born and raised. This dynamic producer and writer created her own web show, Awkward Black Girl, out of a desire to chronicle her own hair transitioning journey. What started out as a basement project now has over 250,000 fans awaiting her second season. She has proudly rocked her TWA all over America these past few months from her Short Award for best web show, to SXSW panels, to her own college tour to promote ABG and open dialogue about cultural issues.
4. Franchesca Ramsey: Born out of her comedic response to Sh** Girls Say and Sh** Black Girls Say this YouTube comedienne was propelled to internet stardom and started heated dialogue with her video Sh** White Girls Say…to Black Girls. She has been featured on Anderson Cooper, Tosh O’s Blog, Dr. Oz, and was a panelist for NY Social Media Week. The long loc wearing 27 year old actress/comedienne/graphic designer is oh-so-eloquently curating the social dialogue around African American women, their hair, and their changing identity. Fascinating stuff.
5. Lauryn Hill or I affectionately call her, L-Boogie. When has Lauren not been natural? She may not be in the lime-light (outside of her Coachella appearances) but I consider her to be the precursor to the natural movement. Her iconic 1999 album was all about stripping off the bling (that word was totally relevant in ‘99) and glamour and sharing herself with us, even more so with her later Unplugged albums.
6. Jay-Z. Jay? Yes. He generally rocks a closely cropped fade but apparently it is his tradition to not cut his hair when recording an album. No longer are rappers rocking textured curls with accompanying doo-rags. Gone are the days of the dude posted on the corner forever brushing his dome. Instead of the neatly packed and lined afros and fades of the 70s/80s African-American males are mixing a little old with the new; curly and natural with some indie all-black frames. Jay generally rocks a closely cropped fade
7. Donald Glover: bridging the gap from hip-hop to pop media is none other than Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino. The 28 year old writer, actor, and rapper has been rocking his beautiful curly fro for years while writing for and appearing on SNL, 30Rock, and Community.
It seems that the African-American nucleus of influence has changed. Changed as in past tense; as in you have probably already missed the train and need to figure out where the next stop is. It’s vital that brands understand that a rap song, rapper, R&B singer, famous athlete on it’s own - without prior cultural investigation - doesn’t cut it anymore. That’s not to say Rap & R&B or famous athletes can never be used authentically in connecting with African-American audiences but it is to say that there are other overarching cultural threads that tie together African-Americans; particularly those of younger generations.
Feel free to point out more members of “Team Natural” or share your thoughts on the movement.
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Team Natural: Instigators & Agitators
Viola Davis brought the natural movement to the national stage but who are the players in the trenches of the natural movement? Who are those making moves behing the scenes by organically joining the cultural conversation?
The editor started the blog as a way to chronicle her own “transitional journey” but it turned into a world-wide resource for African-American women looking to understand and take better care of their hair. Start here if you’re absolutely clueless and need a jumpstart on all the new lingo you’ll have to learn. The editor also organized natural “meet-ups” where women come together to discuss hair care regimens and tips and socialize with other naturals.
Target
Target? Yes, Target. They are knee deep in the ethnic beauty care market. Outside of the local beauty store (that may be harder to find in certain areas) Targets in major metro cities provide a vast array of hair products catered to the ethnic community: from conglomerates like Johnson&Johnson to emerging independent manufacturers like Carol’s Daughter, Miss Jessies, and Shea Moisture. And they’re not just moving product off of store shelves - far from it; they’re creating strategic partnerships with Carol’s Daughter, hosting Brooklyn Museum first Saturday’s
Take notes…
Target is part of the natural conversation. They have organically placed themselves in the mix and it will be hard for any retail competitor to box them out of that spot. Even more so, it will be hard for any new entry into the ethnic beauty category to make a dent in the market without partnering with Target.
In my last Team Natural post i will point out key influencers in the natural movement. If you have been paying attention none of the key influencers should be surprising; if not, I’m sure you’ll be introduced to some new names.
Stay tuned…
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Starbucks Happy Hour
Checking out the Snickers frap today. Yeeeah boy!
Ok, so I wrote this because I’ve been seeing a lot of “secret” drinks floating around the internet.. and I wanted to contribute. Here are some “Secret Menu Drinks”, and also, some drinks a lot of people don’t even realize we have. Obviously, I work at Starbucks. So here are some “off the wall”…
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High Res
Me in my television debut…all 2-5 seconds worth.
Well that’s not actually true…that’s not my first time on TV.
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The Nature of The Pitch
I wasn’t sure if I was going to post on AMC’s new show The Pitch. Besides the fact that I make a milli-second appearance in the show I just feel that the show didn’t not do the profession of advertising any justice. Wong Doody Crandall Wiener, the agency I was interning with at the time, came up with a total of three solid campaigns - only one of which was actually shown on the show.
Such is the nature of television…the real story is left on the editing floor.
I did make it a point to monitor the twitter chatter from other ad professionals. Lot’s of negative which is fine but if you’re going to trash a whole agency why not check out all the material first. Totally get if you feel like you could have come up with something better but look at the whole picture before you put your two cents. But as Tracy Wong said….such is the nature of advertising. So many man hours and ideas never get recognized when it comes to pitch day.
I personally spent 9a-midnight….9am-3am days on the pitch which pales in comparison to the crazy hours our kick ass production team and creatives from LA and SEA pulled. My hats off to them.
Of everything I participated in, out of everything that ended up on TV here’s what I took the greatest issue with: certain people made advertising seem like it was brain surgery. Now, I have the utmost respect for the John Jays and pioneers of the industry but, I know doctors and lawyers…advertising is NOT that hard. Sorry. I would never compare what I do to standing on your feet for 36 hours straight repairing someones vital organs. It just doesn’t compare. And that’s not to say that a world class surgeon could come have come up with the Apple Think Different campaign. Two different disciplines entirely but I think any true advertiser that doesn’t waste time mired in their own BS would admit that we’ve got it a tad bit easier than a surgeon or 1L law student. What bothered me even more is how certain made excuses about taking care of certain things at home on their profession. Maybe for that personal but I personally witnessed THREE colleagues -all in their mid to late 30s- juggle kids under 5, their accounts, and traveling for new business pitches. They came into work looking amazing every morning, full of energy, and always adding to the team, all with no excuses. Yeah sure, from time-to-time they cut out early but I didn’t bat an eye because I knew how much they added to the team…even answering e-mails into the dead of night after putting their little one’s to be: taking a page out of Sheryl Sandberg’s book and showing the young one’s how it’s done.
That was a little rant-ish but it has been bugging me since the pre-season sneak preview.
For the record, the pitch process was exhausting but so much fun. It’s the time where you see what your co-workers are made of, the time that the agency teams come together and bond. It shakes up the monotony of routine client work and forces you to stretch, grow, and frequently - fail.
Also, yes…Tracy Wong is as bad ass as he looks. I mean who else wears a yellow tie and shoes to a pitch? I don’t think I could even pull that off.
So yes, bad ass yet incredibly humble and approachable for an industry vet with his name on the masthead.
I will leave you with a quote from one of my WDCW colleagues.
Something to put it all into perspective.
21,000 man hours
1,680 hours filmed
2,100 cups of coffee
150 subway sandwiches
84-page background deck
25 people on the team
14 days of work
8 “creative” brains
5 producers
3 Seattle team members in LA
3 campaigns presented
1, 60-minute pitch
10 minutes of “The Pitch”
Wong, Doody, Crandall, Wiener, #ThePitch -
Team Natural?
It has always been a heated subject…the ever changing status of the black woman’s hair.
Though I can’t definitively pin-point the resurgence of the “natural movement” I bet it’s right alongside with the organic food and yoga trends. The push to be “all natural” now extends past what we put in our bodies to what we put on and do with put bodies
But be careful not to call “going natural” a trend, it is a full-fledged movement with vocal advocates and role models, massive meet-ups, and even a geographical hub.
While popular blogs like Black Girl Long Hair have been dutifully documenting this movement since late 2009/early 2010, the mass media did not seem to officially recognize the movement until Viola Davis stepped on to the red carpet with her beautiful TWA (teenie weenie afro), tightly toned arms, and stunning green gown.
Gone were her tired cropped wigs: Viola effectively stole the show with her “coming out” moment.
But why does this matter? What’s so special or important about the natural hair movement? Well there’s two main reasons
1. Hair has always been and will always be an identity piece. Part of your identity, regardless or your race or ethnicity, is entangled in your hair. Much more so for women than men. Natural African-American hair has not been prevalent –and especially not celebrated- since the 70s where the afro was a symbol of solidarity…of community.
2. There is a vibrant, rich, and still unsaturated market in the ethnic beauty care category. If you play your cards right there is money and market share to be had.
In my next “Team Natural” post I’ll point out two key agitators that have placed themselves in the thick of the movement. In the meantime feel free to continue the cultural dialogue in the comments section.
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Better believe I’m amped for this album. B.o.B brings it EVERY TIME! Need to see him in concert ASAP!
(Source: Spotify)
Nigerian
Native Angelino
Trojan Alum
