Darby Strong

Playing point. Delivering the rock.

The UnConference

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Armstrong Center for Professional & Continuing Education, Grand Lobby

Savannah’s new media strategists, visionary entrepreneurs, traditional journalists, bloggers galore, and local interesting characters gathered publicly, in real-life flesh and blood, at the 2nd annual BlogSavannah UnConference yesterday.

Although I couldn’t partake in all of the breakout sessions, my favorite panel was on GPS and Geocaching led by Marvin Heery. I hadn’t ever heard of geocaching, and since me likes to learn, it provided the biggest opportunity to do so. Geocaching is like a digital scavenger hunt, described as “an adventure game for GPS users” on the most prominent geocaching website, (uh, duh) Geocaching dot com.

From my limited understanding on the subject, it seems players all over the world both hide “prizes” in various “secret” locations, as well as hunt for these “prizes”created by other players. Through any number of various geacaching websites, players list the coordinates of a specific spot. Various items are left in the spot by the player that “hid” the treasure, many times a tupperware container with found objects, little toys, etc. There is usually a note in the box explaining the interest of the location, items in the box, etc. Geocaching is also used to bring players to points of interests in an area that perhaps no one else knows about, much like a childhood secret spot in the woods.

While the idea of Geocaching was being explained, it reminded me of the hyper advanced way Trent Reznor and Nine-Inch-Nails promoted their (then new) album, Year Zero. With cryptic messages hidden in a concert t-shirt, USB drives left in concert venue bathrooms, and the slow reveal of unannounced shows, the artform turned out to not only be the album itself, but the interactive discovery of a message created to connect the fans to the band and their music. This speaks volumes of our human and innate yearning for discovery.

Mostly, all of these technologies deliver some truly interesting modes of using the online environment to actually interact offline. Thus, my favorite part of BlogSavannah’s UnConference; Joining with others that have blogging (at least) in common presents the rare opportunity to learn from and meet the real life people behind their online presence and the opportunity for new discoveries.

Words of the day:
Podfade
Geocoding
Peyote Buttons
Libsyn

***DISCLAIMER***My link to BFG Interactive is not unbiased. My other half started and heads the Content Department there.

What’s in a Name?

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I remember being fascinated by National Geographic magazines at a very young age. I was able to explore the world, meet new people, and see animals and structures I had never imagined. It made me feel smart just by looking at it, with all of its maps, colors, and other-worldly images. Of course, when I was older, there was the possibility of seeing naked people, which any curious 10 year-old can appreciate. And this was LEGAL voyeurism, as adults never minded kids leafing through a National Geographic. The taboo was lifted. Long live anthropology.

Founded in 1888 “to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world’s cultural, historical, and natural resources,” just the name National Geographic conjures thoughts of worldliness, professorialism, photographic mastery, and the intelligentsia.

As I was watching the National Geographic channel the other night, one of their “spots” referred to themselves as Nat Geo. Call me old fashioned, but some names are best left to tradition. Attempting to “modernize” one’s name by calling upon 50 year-old ad execs to get into the minds of the twentysomething’s, only to arrive at Nat Geo? Well, it’s a poor showing, at best, and a complete dumbing down and juvenilization of an esteemed brand at worst.

Must everyone attempt to craft themselves into an acronym-like, texting-friendly buzzword? Stick to the tradition when that tradition has over 120 years of solid, culturally infused worthiness, OK? Whether they like it or not, I will continue to call them by their proper, given name. National Geographic. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?