Chapter 12: "Jumping on the Personal BRANDwagon" - A personal branding assignment.

Advertising class has been a blast this year. Kenton Larsen (@kentonlarsen) knows more about the advertising business than I know about any subject. Our last assignment of the year is one of Personal Branding.

We needed to present ourselves as a brand. Tell a brand story, make a brand promise, and define ourselves based on whatever criteria we choose. 

It was one of the most difficult things I've done all year.

Not difficult in the sense of stressful, or difficult in the sense of boring, or difficult in the sense of time-consuming. (Although I probably spent more time thinking about and preparing this assignment than any other this year, it just didn't feel like work.)

Difficult in the sense that how does one define his or herself in a five minute online presentation?

How do I condense 27 years worth of experiences, thoughts, feelings, and knowledge into something so focused and... permanent? How can anyone make a statement like that with utter confidence?

It was an interesting trip, one that began with me staring at a blank computer screen for about 10 minutes, trying to think of "5 adjectives that describe you as a brand," and ended with me adding and tweaking my presentation until 2:30 in the morning, hoping time would stand still so I could work and add and tweak forever.

Funny thing is, I don't think I know what my personal brand is or should be because I think it changes every day... but here's a little snapshot into who I perceive myself as, November 30th, 2012.

Go fullscreen for full effect, or just >> Click This Link <<.

Nolan Bicknell: Who Am I? on Prezi

                                                                                     -NxB

Playing: Walking Dead, Episode 2:  "Starved For Help" by  Telltale Games

Watching:  Sons of Anarchy, Dexter, Walking Dead

Listening to:  the silence of my Creative Writing classroom.

Chapter 11: "You're not your fucking khakis" - Black Friday Reflections

This might be my least favorite day of the year.  Thank God I'm Canadian.

Despite that, I'll go ahead and say that it is. Least favorite.

Black Friday. I just spent 30 minutes sifting through Black Friday videos on YouTube. I can honestly say I haven't been this angry in a long time. But, I did it to myself. I've angried up my own blood. It's my own fault.

Everything I hate, condensed into one magical day. Celebrated by some, mocked by others, and known by all.

I don't remember it being like this, when I was a kid. I don't remember hearing about people using pepper-spray when they wanted to purchase the Super Nintendo Entertainment System for their children. I guess Xboxes are just that much better:

I don't remember it being okay to trample an elderly Wal-Mart greeter because you need to get a half-price bigscreen TV:

I don't remember lining up with my friends outside a retail store, screaming my head off, and rampaging through a store like a Walking Dead Walker, hellbent on purchasing crap that none of us need for cheap cheap cheap! It's the most! wonderful time! of the year:

\

I could propose ideas about why people do it, but I won't. I'm no psychologist.

I could condemn and mock the people that do it, but I won't. I'm no better than any of those people.

I could stand on my soapbox and proclaim that we, as a species, are nothing more than cannibalistic consumers, hypnotized by a capitalistic consumer culture.

but I won't. I'm in the minority, here.

Everybody's gotta have the new iPad, the new Tablet, the new video game system, the newest, biggest, freshest, most hip, most exclusive, most innovative, most impressive, most ___________ product on the market, because if you don't, then apparently you aren't worth anything.

No.

You're not defined by what you own, what you purchase, what's in your wallet, what's in your room, what's on your wall, or what's in your house. 

Sound familiar?

You're not your fucking khakis.

Happy Black Friday, everyone.

                                             -NxB

Chapter 10: Online Personas - "Are you who Twitter/Facebook says you are?"

I used to party pretty hard. No specifics need to be given but I've done a lot, seen a lot, and experienced a lot. I have a high tolerance for crazy bullshit.

That being said, when I see tweets and blogs about professionalism in the workplace and in your online persona, I tend to disagree with a lot of the comments. Everyone seems so afraid of posting something, saying something, doing something, or crossing someone that will ruin any future chance of getting a job, landing an internship, or making it in whatever industry we end up choosing. I don't think this mindset is warranted.

Without getting too specific here, let's just say I think it's pretty hypocritical of people to call someone out for being 'unprofessional' when said person is simply doing what all of us do, or what all of us have done in the past.

People who work hard tend to play hard. I don't think we need to censor ourselves and pretend that everyone in the world is an angel. Hell, I'm more suspicious of someone without a blemish on their record. Squeaky clean is boring. I like people with an edge.

We've been talking a lot about professionalism when we're not in class. Whether or not, in the future, a tattoo will screw you over, whether tweeting the wrong person will screw you over, or whether posting a questionable picture will screw you over, and I don't enjoy the self-censorship that we're being conditioned to live by.

Okay, now call me hypocritical, but I might not hire this dude...

Not saying we shouldn't watch what we say, not saying we should spew whatever pops into our minds 24/7, and not saying there should be no accountability for our online personas. People need to be held accountable for their actions.

After the 2012 Presidential Election, "Hello There Racists" was set up to publicly shame certain people for things they've posted online. That kind of pure, racist, ignorant hatred needs to be stopped by any means necessary. That's not what I disagree with, though, I disagree with all of us censoring aspects of who we are because of fear of some sort of future retribution.

I get why we do it, though. I understand that having a public persona these days means potential employers can look you up, see what's on Twitter and Facebook, and then decide whether or not you'd be a good fit for their company. So we present a facade. We create a hologram. We are misrepresenting ourselves in order to fit the mold that, we think, will allow us to be accepted and, eventually, hired.

Now, no, you don't want to be smoking meth, attacking people, and/or being a racist bigot - but employers need to take a step back and realize that who someone is online is not necessarily who they are in real life, and that goes both ways. Get to know someone before you judge who they are online. You might be surprised at what you find.

We all hide aspects of who we are, and I honestly value people more when they aren't afraid/ashamed of the things they've done, or afraid/ashamed of who they are deep down.

Cheers to those people.

Chapter 9: The Source Code - "You don't wanna piss off your sources."

Two nights ago I was listening to a local journalist give an interview on TSN Radio 1290. The journalist in question is a respected one. Columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press and host of Lawless and Order, a sports radio show on TSN 1290, Gary Lawless (@garylawless) and he was giving an interview about the NHL Lockout, and specifically a 'secret meeting' that the NHLPA and NHL were having in New York City.

What stuck out about the phone interview he gave, was a comment he made in regards to his sources. Lawless was asked why he and his colleagues were waiting at their hotel for an announcement instead of calling one of the members of the NHLPA, or the NHL, to try to get an update on what was happening at the secret meetings. He said:

"You don't wanna piss off your sources. If your sources are angry with you, you'll have no story."

That line is going to stick with me forever.

I think that statement is an important snapshot of the dichotomy that's developed between journalists and the industries that they're supposed to be covering in a non-biased, objective manner.

Whether it be a sports journalist, video game journalist, entertainment journalist, political journalist, or any mainstream media news coverage specialist... "Don't piss off your sources" is the attitude most seem to have, and Journalism with a capitol J is suffering because of it.

I couldn't help but be reminded of the September 2008 exclusive multi-part interview that Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) gave to Katie Couric (@katiecouric) right before the (at the time) biggest election in American history.

"Um... All of 'em. Any of 'em..." - Someone who almost won the 2nd most powerful elected position in the world.

I understand there is a fine line between being a straight-up asshole during an interview, and asking tough, hard-hitting questions that help to progress the public discourse.

But if journalists are more worried about maintaining their exclusive access than demanding answers to tough questions, then how is the public supposed to remain reasonably informed?

As it stands right now, journalists have none of the power. Political figures, celebrities, and companies hold all the cards. They have the information, they have the answers, and they only allow an exclusive minority in, to ask them questions. Naturally, these select few want to retain their status, so they don't step on any toes or piss anyone off by, well, calling "bullshit!" when they hear it..

Listen, I know I'm making some pretty generalized comments about a very large industry. I know there are hundreds of great journalists out there that ask the tough questions, that demand answers, that have integrity and are trying to do the right thing, day in, and day out.

It just leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth when I hear someone in the mainstream media blatantly hold back because they are concerned with angering the very person they're supposed to be covering. Sometimes, that's the point!

"Don't piss off your sources."

One has to wonder if that'll be a chapter taught in journalism class in a few years.

                                                                                      -NxB

Playing: Angry Birds: Star Wars Rovio

Watching:  Sons of Anarchy

Listening to: Childish Gambino