Posted by Jyotika Malhotra, Marketing & Communications Consultant and AIMS Blog Correspondent...
As
some of you may have read, I’ve been working on a series for the past few
weeks, highlighting professional
resolutions for 2007 from members of the marketing and web communities.
Kathryn
reversed the tables on me this week and asked me to share my own goals for this
year, to cap off the series. So here I am – literally talking to myself - and
let me tell you, it isn’t the first time!
I
have to say, though, that I didn’t realize how tough the question was until I
had to answer it myself. So here goes…here’s what I’d like to at least begin to
do this year.
1.
Continue to build and merge different worlds. I’ve always been a strong
believer in the fact that when you mix people from different worlds, good
things happen. By worlds I mean age, cultural background, industry, profession,
etc.
I
want to continue evolving initiatives like UsabilityCamp – an event about
usability that we opened up not only to the web and tech communities but to
product and industrial designers, business types, architects and people who had
heard the term usability and were curious to learn more. It made for a really
great discussion and I learned a lot from the varying points of view in the
room.
I
also do this through my work for the South Asian initiative at the ROM – our events attract people in the media,
business, arts, academic worlds (and beyond) and speak to audiences of all ages
and cultural backgrounds.
So
I want to take that and continue it in my community work, extend it into my
profession and my daily life and really open up people’s thinking, as well as
my own. What can a corporation learn from a non-profit? What can an architect
teach a writer? I’m not alone in this, of course. Michael
Seaton talked about sharing information within our own community. Eli
(Singer) does a great job in inspiring so many of us with CaseCamp.
I
love this return to the sense of community and most importantly, to
conversation and exchange. I think that wasn’t happening for a long time. It’s
certainly what gets me energized and inspired about work.
2.
Be more conscious and aware. Each day, the products I use, the things that I
buy, my interaction with others, the work that I do impacts the physical,
spiritual and human environment around me.
As
a marketer, I want to help promote companies that really are making a
difference in the world, that get this whole global warming/climate change thing,
for example (and no, it’s not just a marketing trend). In general, I want to do
good and interesting work, with a purpose.
As
a consumer, I want to make smarter choices that don’t pollute the earth, demand
smarter products and support smart, conscious companies. Disposable should be a
four-letter word.
Oh,
and as a human being, I agree with Tim Sanders - Love (really) is the
killer app. I think his concept still holds true today, so I’m recycling
the link from his 2002 Fast Company article and sharing it
here.
3.
Filter & de-clutter. Even though I am really organized, I find it hard to
keep up with all the information coming at me, all the time, through multiple
mediums. I’ve already started on this third resolution.
I’ve
ruthlessly unsubscribed from e-newsletters, RSS feeds, sent back junk mail
(sorry to you direct marketers), asked to be removed from call lists, asked my
friends to admonish me for using industry buzzwords (I don’t use them, do I?
Gasp!) and (sigh) even gotten rid of a few pairs of shoes. But the thing that’s
given me the most brain real estate back? I gave up Lost and with it, the
pre-occupation with that silly island.
Now
I have more room for all this new stuff!
Thanks
again to those of you who participated in the resolutions series.
