Change One Thing: Recycle

Web page is at http://jajackson4.iweb.bsu.edu/test/630/movie.html

Files for web page at

http://ilocker.bsu.edu/users/jajackson4/world_shared/changeonething.zip

JohnJ_11_I

Why doesn't all the world tell stories?

I really do admire Simmons. I really think she is trying to reteach the way humans communicated in the day before print. It is a powerful way to teach, entertain, and motivate people. But I think that if your really did just tell stories, it would lose it magic. There is a reason for powerpoints, list, memos; and that is time. Lets take from her these skills and mix with them what we already know. A story is a great way to lead off a meeting, a lecture, or a celebration, but I feel that just as a powerpoint with all text, one with all stories will be just as damaging.

Group Recycling update

We went today and filmed. It was painless. Now we need to edit the footage and start the animation sequence.

JohnJ_10_Q

This is going to touch some ethical questioning so disclaimer (I do not feel this way or wish to offend anyone). And I don't know how I ended up talking about this from this chapter but it came to me while reading it... so i guess its relevant.

As the number of digital natives increases and the line between edited news and armature news starts to vanish, are we by example teaching our children to question everything they read or listen to or are we teaching them to become open-sponges and believe everything?

Here's a story for both sides on the topic of religion.

First, my little brother went away to a week long church camp. It wasn't though our church's demomonation but he did go with a few kids from our church. After he came back, he kept telling mom and dad how we was seeing demons on our house. Needless to say we were shocked and worried. After some digging, the church camp daily did an hour long "celebration" in which they stood and sang songs while the kids one at a time announced that they saw the holy spirit and were touched by it. It reminded me of this video called "Jesus Camp".
Though storytelling they were spinning these kids stories and the bible stories to make them become neo-christians. Scary it was but after everything was done he's for the most part back to "normal."

Second, as young adults and the political events of today, I find that more and more people of this age group questioning everything they read or are told with religion being one of them. With this negative storytelling old-traditionalized religions are pushing younger people away and more and more of them are joining community churches or stop participating in religion altogether. Media then spins these facts and calls America stupid or devalued or on its way to its demise. (this is starting to sound like the fox "news" channel)

Sorry if your lost, I am a bit to, but hey isn't that what class discussion is for? I admit I like to raise these controversial questions, but I do because I want to hear how people feel from both sides.

Final Thought is this anything new? (think the 50's cool dudes, the 60's hippies, the 80's rock groups, the 90's rap groups, the 00's you tubers? )

JohnJ_9_Q

Don't bore your listeners - is it really your fault?

I was talking to a professor of my the other day and we were talking about how she has noticed over the last decade the attention span of her students drop. She then stated how she can no longer show these documentaries about certain buildings because her students fall asleep. Ten years ago the videos she showed were cited in her end-of-year reviews as one of the best parts of her class.

I started telling her how I feel it’s the fast pasted movies and music videos, it's the 15 sec you tube clips and short flash clips, and it's the random song collection of IPODS that have trained today students to desire fast paced, high intensity snippets of information. She responded with a study she read which reported the average attention span for current students is about 7 mins before the topic needs to be changed.

Do you agree or disagree?

JohnJ_8_Q

Does it ever frustrate someone when someone does the pretend to listen to you and they make it painfully noticeable? For example, you get the uhua, oks, yehas, and it becomes even more painful for you to finish your story?

Does anyone have any suggestions for someone like this? Should you just stop. Should you say never mind your not listening anyways, or do you change your story midway through just to have some fun with the person?

And a confession, I talk too much and need to start to listen more.....

JohnJ_7_i

So if you haven't hear by now there is this thing going around in the architecture department. Its called sustainability. Ya its that thing that made your building what it is.
I have rejected joining the sustainability movement and after reading this chapter I know exactly why.

Has anyone seen Al Gore's movie the Inconceivable Truth? It was by far one of the downer movies I've ever seen. His story of the end of the world is near, is repeated over and over by some may lecturers, professors, and environmentalist. I don't want to be told over and over again that by the time that I am 40 that we will have no food, no water, not be able to walk ten feet without running into a natural disaster.

What they should have sold to me are the positives.
The preservations to leave a site untouched except right where the building will be, the way any architect conceives a building in the first place. The use to get natural light into a building, because we all love working under florescent lights all day. The ability to not have to change a light bulb every 2 months but only once every 5 years. The better air quality of the air instead of the photos of lung cancer. or not the last ... The better looking products of wood instead of metal or plastic laminate.

We as architects also have a problem of explaining why we choose to make decisions we do, and its from storytelling that we need to find a way.

Group 4 Wellness update

Our idea ties into either the recycling story or the wellness story.

Ed the whale is a cartoon figure, he is at home on the couch watching TV when the real life story of one of the above comes on. Ed watches TV and seems interested, the screen goes to a full picture of the real story. Throughout the video the screen cuts back to Ed on the couch and he starts to accept the idea beign presented. At the end of the video, Ed turns off the TV and dose the one thing that instanly makes his life better for himself and others.

JohnJ_6_i

Business is personal: Yes I agree with Simmons, all business is personal and I believe some of the best businesses extend that feeling to their clients or customers, but I am reminded of a story that cautions how much personal involvement you should have. One of our architecture professors originally got the grant to do a public-housing project. Living in public housing growing up, this was a sector of architecture he felt very strongly about and made an effort to do the right thing. After spending lots of time on the project, the construction cost were coming in too high and parts of the project started to be value engineered out. Solid doors were replaced with hollow cores, stainless steel kitchen counter tops were replaces with cheap lament, etc, etc. The problem that many of the public housing projects done in this country are just this, cheap materials don't last and turn to slums within 15 years. He finally drew the line when the locks on the front doors were going to be down-grated to the cheapest lock possible. Knowing the future tenants would need locks that can stand up to thieves, and hold up to protect victims of domestic violence, he donated 2/3 of his payment for the project to keep the best locks. he spent a year on the project and only made a merer $15,000 on a 6-city-block development. To make matters worse, he was taken to court by the client after the project was done and lost the full payment of the work and ended out -$45,000.

The moral of the story is while business is personal, be careful not to let your emotions make bad business decisions.

JohnJ_5_i Push and Pull Ads

So i was reading about how Simmons states that pushing ideas are harder to do and recive an push back, but when you pull someone into a story you can receive a push in the right direction with back from the person receiving the story. This is made me start thinking about Advertising and what we have see development over the past few years on the internet and what we can expect in the future.

First we saw the banner ad. They started pushing their message by being the first thing you see. Then people ingored them, then they pushed harder by flashing them. The people fought back and started to block ads.

Next we saw ads that were placed within stories. Viewers would be intrigued in the subject and then see the ad. They were pulled into the story and received the ad. As a result ad blocking programs were created that black-listed ads from the start of the page to the end of the page.

Finally were starting to see environments that are developed around subjects with ads mixed into this environment. Users are pulled into content and actively engaged then must view the ad to continue consuming the product they were first involved with. For example, I want to catch up with the football games of the weekend at espn.com and they put their videos right on the front page, what i want to watch, however they tease the content for 5 secs and then show a 10 second ad, and then show the 3 min. video i wanted to see in the first place. I was pulled in and then delivered the content.

JohnJ_3_i

The labor of love.

I only thought with it being labor day, that I would tie work into the chapter. What is the job of a storyteller? According to Simmons storytellers have many job titles. Here is a list of what I've come to understand so far (not in any order)
1) Entertainer - To break up the grid of the daily life.
The entertainer may be a writer for a movie, a comidien at a night club, a coworker describing the antics of their past night, or a friend talking to past the time.
2) Motivator - To bring together conflicting sides, to strengthen a common bond in a team, or change apathetic to production.
The motivator may be a coach prep-talking before a game, a mediator for a union, or a marketing team at a trade convention.
3) Teacher - To convey new ideas, new methods of solving a problem, and new ways of seeing our soundings.
A teacher may be in math teaching 6 graders algebra, a preacher telling about a better way to live your life, or a manager training an employee the basics of their job.
4) Persuader - To convince that their point of view is right and that you need to change yours
A persuader may be a lobbyist in Washington for the protection of the environment, a lawyer defending the innocences of this client, or a recruiter for the military.

I know there are other categories but I want to see what other ones people come up with.

JohnJ_1&2_I

I find it interesting that during the opening of the book Annette so cleverly broke in the reader (you and I) with many short, quick stories; and if one were to look at the topic of most of those stories you find most about the teaching of trust, enlightenment, and power. To me this is done not by accident, but by Annette done so that you trust her and her knowledge, establishes her power and expertise, and that she isn't another self help artist.

NOT that I am trying to discredit this book or Annette, I am just trying to apply her own words to her situation. I have a good feeling already that I am going to LIKE THIS BOOK. Its clear, an easy read, and the most important, used stories to teach skills:) Every one likes stories. Now only if this were a picture book. (One of many jabs at Architecture I'll make this semester. If you were ever to look at any architecture publications you will understand that we like our pictures.)

~JJ