Thoughtopsy: [process]

New Media Jamboree

Some interesting things happening in the new media world recently from a user's standpoint:

• Vimeo, by far my favorite online video community, now in HD.

• Big buzz around Seesmic, a new video hosting site that many are comparing to Twitter for video. Read a review of Seesmic here.

• Tumblr isn't exactly new but I think many people still haven't heard of it. The service is compared to scrapbooking for the internet. The page stylings are much cooler than your standard Typepad or Blogger themes and it allows you to add content to your Tumblr blog by simply clicking on a button on your browsers toolbar and designating it as a link, movie, photos, or quote. Pretty cool. Read more here.

• Good sources for goings on in the new media world written by people that get it are Newteevee and Next Media Update.

• And lastly, New Media Douchebags in Plain English, a guide on how to use all of these services.

Friday Link Frenzy

Here are a couple of things that pushed me through the week, enjoy:

• James Brown and Little Richard on the Wheel of Fortune.

• Collection of unfortunately placed ads.

• Look at this Awesome Dog.

• Daily inspiration from Snake Tail.

• Hilarious Holiday Inn spots: REO & Nature's Public Speaker

• Internet sensations Gabe & Max bring you How to Get the Dreamlife of Your Dreams Using the Internet.

Don't Be the Middle-Man (or the middle city)

As I follow Seth Godin's blog, I must make a comment on one of his recent thoughts; the middle.  You can read the whole blog here, but his point was that Radiohead releasing their album, 'In Rainbows' is seen as 'the future of music' and 'forward thinking', etc...  While both Prince and Madonna have previously made similar 'anti-record label' moves, he also points out the many small bands have been doing this for years (i.e. myspace).  While stating that most industries innovate from both ends he says-

• The outsiders go first because they have nothing to lose.
• The winners go next because they can afford to and they want to stay winners.
• It's the mediocre middle that sits and waits and watches."

As process continues to grow in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a city that I hate to admit is in the middle, we are trying to become a beacon of forward-thinking.  We have adopted new models that attract projects and talent to Michigan while creating projects here that are exported around the world.  Unfortunately with several of our projects, we are attempting to gain support from local players.  What we are realizing is those with the means are not (in Seth's words) outsiders, and while they have money, they are not 'idea' winners.  We are finding that the majority of those who have the means to get involved are waiting and watching to see what others do, how technology advances, how other cities develop, etc... 

We are always concerned when creative local talent leaves to go to bigger markets, but can you blame them?  Can you blame a creative person who is tired of hearing, "No, sorry.  We think it's a great idea but the client just won't go for it."  As long as a person, a company or even a city is willing to wait and watch in the middle, they cannot honestly expect to be taken as an innovator. 

A Walk in the Woods

Surfing around this weekend I came across a cool little application for creating soundscapes. It's called Forester, designed by multi-discipline artist Leafcutter John.

From the website: "A journey into the sonic forest. As you move around the forest your position relative to the trees (the graphic discs) is tracked. This data is used to control the musical parameters of the music."

After watching a short tutorial on YouTube I was off and running. You basically load sounds from a folder your computer or from a CD into Forester. It takes 6 tracks and converts them into "trees." You can then wander beneath these trees and explore the sound relative to your position. You can make adjustments to your forest, tree size, and how you wander.

Forester doesn't pretend to be the be all end all sound composer. It's an application that does some really cool things within it's limitations through a creative interface. The program doesn't offer much in the way on controlling the parameters of sound or effects, so you have to embrace the randomness for now. It looks like he's designing a new version that will include more options and Wacom tablet support.

Oh yeah, it's free (donations encouraged).

The New MetroHealth

Click image to play

3 new spots by Process for Grand Rapids' new MetroHealth Hospital. Here are a few behind the scenes photos as well.