Curator News Feed: October 18, 2013
What are you doing this weekend? Maybe it'll involve a space jump, hanging out with James Franco, or even sound art. Or, maybe you'll just be reading about those things. Either way, we hope you're inspired.
Ads Tailored for each Viewer? Gracenote Prepares to Transform TV Advertising, The Next Web. Interesting piece about the future of TV advertising...info targeted at individual viewers, so when you're watching The Blacklist and an ad for Doritos comes on, you're iPad could then feature a pop up asking you to like the Doritos page. Cool or freaky? Or freaky cool? -- Dan
How Big Data Can Transform Society for the Better, Scientific American. There are (rightfully) a lot of concerns about how much information we provide about ourselves in the digital space and what it could be used for. MIT professor Alex Pentland wants to use all those "digital breadcrumbs" for good, though. He and his students have used some of those heaps of data to begin to learn how to predict (and potentially stop) things like flu epidemics, car accidents and more. One note: There's a subscription required with this article (I got it at a newsstand and read it in print); if you don't want to pay, you can watch this video where Pentland answers a few questions related to the article. -- Paul
What It's Like to Plummet to Earth at 834 Miles Per Hour, The Atlantic. I'm sharing this out of sheer coolness. It's the POV (three in one, actually) video of Felix Baumgartner's record-breaking, epic jump from the Red Bull Stratos capsule last year. It also shows, in real time relative to the jump, Felix's speed, altitude and heart rate. Needless to say, they all get pretty high. -- Paul
James Franco Pop-Up House Designed By Matthew Lanphier, Emily Henderson. This week I discovered the very cool Airbnb marketing campaign: Hello LA. Airbnb paired five celebrities with five designers to create five very unique Kithauses all over LA. My fave was created by James Franco, Matthew Lanphier and Emily Henderson. Curious about the location of Franco's Kithaus? The Hollywood Forever Cemetery, of course. -- Jennifer
A 12-Year-Old's Take on Everyday Marketing Concepts, PSFK. Move over, marketers. Max is here and he's going to take your jobs and your cars. This lispy 12-year-old may be good for a laugh, but his unscripted marketing quips are surprisingly well-spoken, and he may just be on to something... hello, pester power?! Check it out! -- Megan
6 Lessons To Make the Most of LinkedIn, Inc. There are so many new and shiny social sites out there now that sometimes it feels like LinkedIn is one that gets lost in the mix. But, it's a good reminder when reading articles that, if you leverage it right, LinkedIn can become one of the most useful tools. Here are 6 quick and easy lessons on how to really get the most out of LinkedIn. Hint: You should talk to strangers. -- Annie
How Brands Can Make Themselves Heard Through Sound Design, PSFK. At Curator PR, we believe in programs over pitching. While media relations is a critical part of what we do, we challenge ourselves to create a program with interesting experiences that help our clients connect to important audiences. In the past year, we've thought more about how to use the sense of sound in our concepts. I loved reading about how Red Stripe used sound to connect people to the brand's Jamaican roots. -- Ann Marie
What Does a Real Astronaut Think of 'Gravity'?, Forbes. Even though the trailer for the new film "Gravity" brought me great anxiety, I had to see it. The movie itself is incredibly well done and I have a feeling we'll be hearing about it come award season. However, because space is not my forte, I did have a lot of questions about how realistic everything was portrayed. This interview with former NASA astronaut, Garret Reisman, helped ease my mind a bit and if anyone else has seen the film or plans to, my guess is that you'll find this article as interesting as I did. SPOILER ALRLERT: some of the plot is explained, so if you don't want to ruin it for yourself, hold off on reading it until after you've seen it. -- Chelsey
Why Our Ideas About Work and Happiness Are Backwards, Tech Cocktail. From his TEDxBlomington talk, Shawn Achor (CEO of consulting firm GoodThink), discusses developing a positive mindset, which in turn can help in being more productive. In essence, happiness leads to success. As we head into the busy season of the holidays, this is a nice reminder of how we can all tackle the challenge of work/life balance and re-wire our brains for happiness. Achor even outlines some techniques in this article to help become more positive. -- Noelle