Okay, it’s MY hometown, but truly a stupendous effort by those involved. You’ll like something in this video, there is so much to see.
Enjoy one of the best hidden secrets of the Midwest – my hometown, Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A.
Just experienced a perfect example of hive mind rumor mongering on facebook, and how the Internet has the tools to deal with it perfectly. It also revealed that sometimes ignorance is simply laziness and not a matter of unfortunate circumstances.
1. Got one of those child kidnapping emergency messages on facebook. Those of course strike fear deep in the heart of anyone, making them even more cruel when they are not true.
2. Since our family likes to use our social media in a proactive, responsible manner, we ALWAYS check out these kidnapping messages before even considering passing them on. It’s simple enough to take the basic details like names, places and license plate numbers and put them into a web search. Click on the “news” link on a google search to see if the information shows up in any current stories. You can also click on the “realtime” link to see if any current details are emerging.
3. The license plate number in the latest rumor hit right away as a match for an existing confirmed false rumor on snopes.com. Notice that the timing alone confirms it as false, unless snopes is in the habit of taking current breaking news and posting it to represent old content. I kind of doubt that they do however.
4. So rumor confirmed as false, instead of reposting it, we put up a summary of the debunking details and ask our friends to stop posting it or not post it in the first place.
5. Now the fun part. One frankly distant connection chimes in with this contribution: “I haven’t checked it out yet, but snopes isn’t always right.”
Okay, two big problems there. First of all, this person chimed in to proudly proclaim that they hadn’t done any work or research on the matter at hand, but they had an opinion. Why?
a. If you’re not ADDING to a discussion, there is no reason to post anything. Even if you’re chiming in to tell us Aunt Tilly’s cherry pie recipe, at least you’re contributing something.
b. Then the contribution to simply cast doubt on an information source. Regardless of the fact that snopes positively confirms anything they state as TRUE with support from EXPERT sources, the correlating facts from an old story to the “new” one confirms the new one as false without needing a blessing from snopes.
The blatant denial of pure logic, connected with the ability to instantly publish any bit of information really, really scares us. But it also starts a fire in our belly and a mission in our minds to CONFIRM any and all rumors on social media before we even consider passing them on. And if you cannot confirm a “breaking emergency” it’s probably better not to pass it on at all. The 911 system still works perfectly for emergencies, and emergency services have better things to do than respond to internet urban legends.
After debating the strengths and weakness of the 2 finalists and a little tweaking, we have a winner!
The winning design possesses a strong visual appeal making it a very memorable identity. The only tweaks made after the second review included making the gray type darker and adding the starburst featured in another version. It’s also very versatile with the ability to convert the logo into a solid color format while maintaining its integrity. The typography is interesting and fresh giving this design a long branding identity life.
Our client is extremely thrilled working with us throughout the entire process and with the final results. Supporting collateral materials are now in the final design process with the project completing by next week.
The timeline for the entire project is just under 30 days.
The initial logo design review process is over and 2 concepts were chosen for further development. In the 2nd stage the typography and artwork are developed closer to finished elements and color schemes are explored. Fortunately, the 2 concepts picked by the client were my front running favorites. I have included the original “sketch” concept with each design along with the color versions for comparison of where the design originated and how it has evolved in this stage.
The image on the left is the original sketch from which these color versions evolved. The client likes the combination of blue and grey text so I concentrated color options in the graphic element. I think the green type in version 3 works well but I thought this design should be explored beyond the original concept by softening the edges and adding the starburst. As a designer, I like to give clients a chance to see what is possible beyond the original sketch.
As you can see, these next 2 versions are variations of the same theme. I like to provide options like this to allow greater flexibility in the use of the logo while maintaining a consistent identity. (The design in the first concept can easily be changed into a horizontal format as well. This option will be discussed during the next stage in the design cycle).
I replaced the lighthouse with a more modern looking one and added details of a longer light beam and starburst. As options, I included versions using a solid lighthouse in different colors that I felt worked well with the existing typography and design elements.
The final phase of this design project should be completed within the next week or two. I will post the final design and client remarks at that time.
design logo design marketing by .
I appreciate and use social media tools in my business and personal life, and know how to analyze their effectiveness. But once again, the kiddies of social media have been promoting the “scoop” of twitter in regard to the Bin Laden announcement without providing a “ROI”. The problem with this is the “boy crying wolf” syndrome where equal importance is given to ANY report until NO report has any significance. I hate seeing the true possibilities of social media diluted by attributing importance where there is none.
What I mean is that the various twitter reports added nothing of significant value or exclusivity to the news announcement. Many mainstream media are also giving significance to various twitter reports, so they cannot hide from lack of analysis either.
I was first made aware of last evening’s event by a push announcement from the New York Times on my iPad. It started with the teaser of a mysterious announcement to be given by the president.
I immediately turned on various cable news networks to get further details. CNN, MSNBC, and Fox all started reporting the same information.
Simultaneously I popped up various twitter trending tools, the Google realtime newsfeed, and I also tuned in international news sources like the BBC, NHK, and Al-jazeera on the internet.
Ultimately nothing came up any faster or with more details than the Mainstream media. Social media played the role of distribution medium, not an insignificant role, but not the news powerhouse that is often attributed to it.
The first significant twitter announcement has been reported to have come from Keith Urbahn, a former chief of staff to Donald Rumsfeld. This was interesting, but insignificant because Urbann simply “jumped the gun” while other media held back similar information they had at the time, to get it confirmed. That could be seen by the reports on news networks only minutes after Urbann, reporting the same news. Later, Urbahn himself tweeted, “Stories about the ‘death of MSM [mainstream media]‘ because of my ‘first’ tweet are greatly exaggerated.”
After the main new announcements, there was reporting of an on-location twitterer named Sohaib Athar, writing under the ID @ReallyVirtual. This was also spread far and wide by media and twitter users as a significant use of social media. Unfortunately, his reports were just random reports of noises and sights, with no knowledge or detail regarding a raid on Bin Laden. They were simply the complaints of curious citizen, and added nothing to the information on hand.
ALL the significant details of what occurred, when it occured and who was involved came from mainstream media – without exception. Excellent international coverage was supplied by Al-jazeera on their live news broadcast available on the internet. They provided confirmation of the event from sources in Afghanistan and Pakistan, comforting those of you who might not trust U.S. news for whatever reason.
The end result is this: Social media got the news out very quickly to those who use social media, but it provided no benefit in speed, details, exclusivity, or broadcast distribution.
I appreciate and even use the power of social media, but the simple announcement of unconfirmed news to a few people is not the same as an inside scoop or exclusive report. A significant social media insight would have been a report from inside the Bin Laden compound, and interview with military persons involved, details from U.S. or international government officials, or other details not provided by the mainstream media.
That did not occur last night, so again there is a failure of social media – actually a failure on the part of reporting about social media as much as anything else.
Reporters and fans of social media crowing about any and all twitter or facebook postings during major news events creates so much background noise that real, IMPORTANT social media reports will not stand out. That would be a shame, as there is a lot of power in the people’s hands IF they know when they’ve used it on target and when they haven’t.