Thumbs Up for…

- encouraging NBC’s local news affiliates to promote the show on air and via their individual Facebook pages

- featuring a “V-Room” where artists can engage with fans through social media throughout the competition.

- bringing on “V-Correspondent Alison Haislip (G4′s “Attack of the Show!”), who will make appearances during the live broadcasts to engage fans and connect them to artists and coaches from the V-Room via Facebook, Twitter, NBC Live and NBC.com.” (Love her website, by the way)

- showcasing the reaction of judges and celebrities in the form of tweets which are displayed across the bottom of screens during the show (yes, Miranda Lambert tweeted that she LOVES Team Blake).

- permitting viewers to vote online (at NBC.com), via iTunes, via NBC’s Live App, and of course via phone

“Update: NBC won the night in the 18-49 demographic with a 5.1 rating. “It was NBC’s strongest series premiere since 2009′s The Jay Leno Show’s 5.3 rating following 2008′s American Gladiator’s 5.9 rating,” explains TVbytheNumbers. The show also ranked #1 in both Trendrr and SocialGuide‘s rankings of the most social shows on Tuesday.” Thanks LostRemote for the heads up!

How are you using your skills to creatively and positively impact and grow your global community?

If you’re an artist feeling as if you’ve hit a dry spell in your creative well, take a survey of your schedule for tomorrow. If its filled with a series of rote tasks focused on managing your life rather than feeding your passion and creative urge then you may have found the culprit that is sucking your creative well dry.

We Are Makers!

“It is good to be able to celebrate an American invention that, for all its faults, tries to spread around the world a combination of unpaid idealism, knowledge and stubborn civility” - Timothy Garton Ash, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and Professor of European Studies at Oxford U.

At the end of 2011, I promised myself that in 2011 I would give away more free gifts (labor, time, energy, skills, knowledge). This week, I began that journey by publishing my first FREE e-book The Actor’s (Short) Guide to Personal Branding, a 40-page how-to guidebook/workbook for actors interesting in learning how to brand themselves. I chose to make the book free because I feel every artist should know and understand how to brand themselves and should not have to pay astronomical fees to have someone do it for them or show them they way. But I’m disturbed by how many people have asked me why I’m not charging for the book.

Does everything need a price tag?

Growing up in a Nigerian household, reading was breathing and knowledge was life. While there was no Dr. Seuss or Mother Goose, I had our grand and stern, beautifully bound Encyclopedia collection. I devoured each volume – A-Z – over and over again; they were my teddy bears and yes, I slept with the letter “P” faithfully.  So its no surprise that I consider myself a Wikipedian and that I am one of the 400 million researchers that log on to the site daily to acquire (or update) some bit of information that is offered FREE of charge.

I celebrate Wikipedia for holding the torch on this Utopian and idealistic model of “free shared knowledge” for the past 10 years. While those years were probably filled with repeated questions of “who will do what and how,” I’m sure that the answer was always and continues to be “it doesn’t really matter, because we must.” I am inspired by Wikipedia’s sense of obligation to give everyone access to the same well of knowledge, the same opportunity to uncover and discover; to open the doors of innovation by providing everyone access to the same key.

I am sure that all Wikipedians that put in their time and energy to give us the gift of Wikipedia everyday would agree that the payoff of the labor is in the artistic spark that this gift ignitest and the potentiality of the new gifts that it can foster.

Wikipedia, I wish you many more years of sustenance, inspiration and innovation, and I thank you for your insurmountable gift-giving.

Do you agree with Wikipedia’s model? When is the last time you gave a free gift (knowledge, skills, time, energy, etc.)?

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Learn more about the Wikipedia Foundation
Read Timothy Garton Ash’s Op-Ed Piece on Wikipedia in the Los Angeles Times

What is it? – Tumbleweed Tiny House is a developer that builds homes that are minimalist in style and “miniature” in size. Approximately between 65 – 840 square feet, each home is equipped with just the essentials that a person would need for basic living (yes, you can fit a kitchen and a bathroom in a space that is 90 square feet). But this housing Tolstoy-esque model also redefines and shifts the paradigm of “luxury” by forcing a person to evaluate their space and pare down to just the essentials.

So What? – Its very easy to wrap your ego around a page or canvas or stage (or product or service), and overcompensate. But one of the makings of a successful artist is the ability to cut the fat and pare down to just the essentials. Google changed the face of search by doing just that. Williams Carlos Williams placed poetry under his boot by doing just that. Guru/De La Soul/A Tribe Called Quest introduced the rap game to laissez-faire by doing just that. Is your art stifled by too much insulation or fat? What can you do to strip away the excess and pare down to exactly what your artwork needs? Could you live in a house that is just 90 square feet?

Tumbleweed Blog
De La Soul
Guru
Sandra Cisneros
A Tribe Called Quest

When I look at some of the people that I admire (I won’t even begin to rattle off the hundred or so names on my SHORT list) they all have something in common – they are all alchemists. I don’t mean to step on any schools of thought or spiritual beliefs regarding alchemy, but I believe that alchemists are innovators – those who see “base metals” (the world as is) and focus their energy and passion into refining them (people, products/services, art, themselves etc.) until they blaze gold.

I believe that in one way or another, we are all alchemists. We struggle in defining who we are, refining ideas/beliefs/dreams/perceptions in hopes of adding something of value and making a substantial/beautiful/jaw-dropping/life-changing contribution to the world and to each other. A gift from an alchemist always leaves the receiver better off than when s/he met him/her. As an alchemist in training, I always hope that with my writing/music/work/art – I can do the same.

So I’ve decided to refocus this site to showcase alchemists around the world (and in your back yard) in hopes to inspire innovation and dialogue, and challenge (maybe even change) our perception of what is and is to be. Hopefully, this site will challenge us to continue refining ourselves and our art – making us marvel, dream, think and act on our ability to turn our own base metals into gold.

::: Thank You Paulo Coelho for the continuous inspiration :::

If you give the painting an ornate frame (gold would do) or place it in a building that’s known for its prestige and the fat wallets of those who fund it, you may be able to trick some folks into thinking that the painting is one-of-a-kind or even get someone or two to take it home with them. But really, are they taking home the beauty in the painting or the building’s prestige?

If you work on a painting night and day trying to mold it to meet the expectations of a gallery or an exclusive buyer, what happens if both parties change their expectations or if something else seems to fit on their mantle better than yours?

If you make a one-of-a-kind painting and two people want it, ask them both why they want it. If one says the painting is needed to complete their collection, give it to them for free – they’ll be your biggest supporters,  they’ll be back for more and next time they’ll bring friends. If the other says that it reminds them of someone else’s work, give them an imitation; either way they’ll never know the difference and neither will the friends they show it off to.

If your painting is a large installation and there is no frame to put it in; you either create the painting for the experience or be forced to spend your days creating the frame too.

(Hint: replace the word “painting” with “product” or “service”).

The reasons why this event is a home run in terms of engagement:

1) its annual – something fun that people can come to expect
2) its setting contrasts with the nature of the event – throwing around shaving cream in a university square, fantastic!
3) it has a purpose that means something to the majority of its invitees – an actualization of ideals
4) it unifies disparate members – celebrating a common cause
5) it doesn’t take itself too seriously – life is serious enough
6) everybody’s doing it – it impacts everyone on a personal level

Ultimately, if you want to get your fans and followers more involved and interested in what you do, make them co-creators in something bigger and more exciting than just you.

1) Performing from the heart
2) Staying humble even when everyone places you on a pedestal
3) Thanking the people who keep you humble
4) Thanking your teachers
5) Thanking everyone else who believes in you
6) Remembering that its about the art
7) Reminding everyone else that’s its about the art
8 ) Knowing that your artistic masterpiece is the one that you haven’t completed yet
9) Journaling your journey
10) Enjoying the journey

1. You’re a born runner – you’ve been talking and maybe even sharing all your life;  don’t let the platform (social media tools) hang you up
2. Find a support system while you train — there are those who love what you have to say and those who contend with it; find both of these people and let them challenge you to do better and think outside of what’s been done
3. Train! Train! Train! — engaging becomes easier over time, but only participating in conversations with those who love you make it much more difficult to challenge and influence those who do not
4. Run longer, but faster — be consistent with talking and sharing; set a standard and benchmark for how you engage, test the effectiveness of your standard, and overtime, try to make this process more efficient and effectual
5. Research the race course, past winners, etc. — understanding the communities that you want to participate in and the influencers that influence these communities are key to avoiding a false start and wrong turns
6. Dress for all types of weather, eat smart and use the bathroom before you start the race —  in social media, be prepared to discuss anything (the good and the bad) and allow for a certain level of transparency and ultimately, honesty. This will be your saving grace when it starts to pour – just ask Jetblue and The Gap
7. Pace yourself / Find your stride -– if you normally run a 10-minute mile and you begin the marathon running a 5-minute mile, you are headed for a burn out. Just like joining every social media community and trying to maintain a certain level of engagement will exhaust you. Find the communities that work for you – ones that you can manage within your schedule and consistently participate in
8. Stay in the zone — don’t get distracted by the cheers and jeers; focus on your goal and surpassing what you thought you could do
9. Celebrate your achievements — you’ve hit a landmark; don’t immediately start thinking about what didn’t work – celebrate and tell the world (even if that’s your five closest friends/colleagues). Do something awesome to mark the occasion
10. Be ready to do it again — social media engagement isn’t an initiative or a campaign, so be ready to measure your success and use that to find new ways to grow