Say Something Nice

This week, I discovered Improv Everywhere and I LOVE it. The people behind the website call themselves a New York based 'prank collective', whose goal is to create moments of joy throughout the City.

'Say Something Nice' is one of their stunts, and it's A----MAZING. The team placed a wooden lectern and megaphone holster and attached a sign that said 'Say Something Nice'. Then they sat back and watched the magic unfold.

You should too.

Watch this, and feel loveeeerly!

Spanair + Brand Integrity

Visit any ad blog and you'll soon be reading how with the rise of digital, brands have to be more transparent. They have to have conversations with their consumers; not talk at them or barge into their conversations. Brands have to become more human. They have to genuinely be seen to give a shit. I'm pretty big on brands acting with integrity and really hate it when I can see the strategy behind the action. But brands are always going to be trying to sell stuff and John Grant would say that at least they're now being coerced to do this in a way that's improving the world a little bit. And I agree.

I fell across this case study a couple of months ago. I've had a few job interviews lately and I was often asked 'what kind of brands would you like to work on?'. Randomly,Spanish airline, Spanair, was always the first brand that sprung to mind! And it's because of this little act of Kindness.

The tune that put a YES back in my step

Today hasn't be great. I got soaked in the rain on my bike, forgot my purse, had to cycle home, got to work (so so wet!) and got a sore throat. But every black cloud and all that...

This tune has put a YES back in my step.

Dougie Hastings rhymes in the Key of YES

I had the pleasure of his performace at Wilderness Festival.

Social Media Helps Looted London

I was in Ibiza during the London riots. I returned home in the wee hours of Thursday feeling pretty anxious and not knowing what to expect. My lovely friend Roland picked me up from the airport at 3.30am and took me home. (Thanks, Roland.) The following day I immersed myself in the mainstream media, watched You Tube clips and read blogs to get a sense of what looted London was like. Mental. But this post isn't going to dwell on the destruction despite how horrendous it must have been. What the Key of YES is interested in is all the wonderful acts of kindness that stem from the madness. And these acts of kindness couldn't have been achieved without social media.

For instance, Twitter feed @Riotcleanup has accumulated over 80,000 followers since the riots broke out. The stream has connected volunteers to charities, informed people of organised clean up missions and perhaps more importantly, it demonstrates the forces of good that can stem from destruction, heightening moral in a period of insecurity.

The Guradian featured an article on Bristolian DJ Leon Piers. Annoyed with the inaccurate reporting of the mainstream media and gossip trails of other citizens, he took journalism into his own hands. Racing around Bristol on his bike (fixed gear, obvs), Leon tweeted bursts of looting. To ensure his feed stayed accurate, he refused to retweet Police messages and if given info from others, he required a picture.

This is Our London is a microsite set up by digital agency Dare. It aggregates tweets which comment on the action surrounding the riots. These are then juxtaposed against heart warming images of London citizens forming groups to embark on the Capital's great clean up mission. It's a simple little site which injects a sense of community and positivity back into London.

Similarly, blogs and microsites have jotted up all over the place in order to raise funds for independent shop owners who had potentially lost their livings. One case that I found particularly heart warming is that of 89 year old Aaron Biber, whose Tottenham barber shop was ransacked. Two advertising grads set up the blog Keep Aaron Cutting and have raised over 35k on Aaron's behalf. As you can imagine, Aaron's well chuffed.

What we see from the above examples is how social media can be used for social good. Yes, as David Cameron has stated, the internet did play a part in the organisation of the riots, but it's also brought communities together in new and empowering ways to act in the Key of YES. I'd like to think that this tool set has been brought into the conscious of society and perhaps next time, it won't take over 20mil worth of damages for these tools to be activated.

And now for a little philosophical reflection:

When looking at how these 'clean up' communities have formed as a result of the riots, it appears that the 'us' (cleaner up'ers) have a commonality with the 'them' (looters). That being that human beings are social creatures, and as much as we've strived for automy and individualism over the past few decades, what we really want to be is part of a group. (Philosopher Mark Vernon gives an account of this thought on the School of Life website.) Similar to this little blog post, the media have latched onto the beauty of our communities pulling together to help revive our Cities. And yes, it is beautiful. But the fact that we've become a society that sees 'pulling together' as 'beautiful' is perhaps also a little sad. It demonstrates that community is a novel, celebratory thing and not an everyday aspect of living. So when looking at our looters, we can ask the question whether it is the want for Adidas trainers or widescreen TVs (or carpets!) that drives them, or is it the need to feel part of a group and connected to something? In all honesty, this discussion is far more complex than an either/ or question, but I think it's a good benchmark for discussion.

Regina Spektor sings in the Key of YES

She gets it.

I love this song.