On how adults have ruined Facebook.

I saw a meme being liked and shared over the weekend that was one of those "Back in my day we didn't have seat belts or the Internet and we licked lead-based paint and our moms smoked four packs a day while she was pregnant with us and that's why we're awesome an all you kids suck!" things we old people are fond of sharing and liking. And suddenly, mid-chuckle, I realized exactly why my kids and nearly every person under 30 have all but abandoned Facebook.

Facebook used to be a very cool place, full of cool kids who would post cool stuff and get cool comments. It was theirs, created by college kids and maintained by creative, energetic youth. It was like a kick-ass college party.

For the longest time adults didn't get it and didn't want to, except for a few early-adopting adults who the kids let in because they were pretty cool. But then more showed up. And more. And more. Not just adults. PARENTS. And aunts and uncles and, holy shit, even grandparents.

But that wasn't a problem in and of itself. Sure, it made the kids more cautious about what they shared, and with whom. But it was still cool.

Until the adults started lecturing. Your music sucks. Your movies suck. Your fashion sucks. Your friends suck. Your life sucks. Things were so much better back in MY day. I actually had to TALK TO PEOPLE! I actually had to GET OUTSIDE AND PLAY! I didn't have the Internet to make me brain-dead! YOU DAMN KIDS BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH!

Meanwhile the adults are furiously liking and sharing and posting and commenting and checking every 10 minutes to see if their posts had likes and comments. And the kids? They're with their friends. Sure, they're using SnapChat or Tinder or GroupMe or any other number of apps you've never heard of to coordinate and communicate, but their coordination and communication all lead to them hanging out. Like kids do, and have since the beginning of time, and will continue to.

In other words, all the lecturing and condemnation of the "these kids these days" is not only without merit, it is completely hypocritical. WE'RE the ones addicted to this thing. Facebook is our all-encompassing glass house and we have an endless supply of stones.

It's too late for Facebook. We not only crashed the party, we moved all our stuff into the house and redecorated as all the kids slipped out the back door.

But I suggest that if we start to notice those kids all hanging out somewhere else, we resist the temptation to follow them. Or if we do, let's vow not to fuck it all up for them once again.

ADDENDUM:
On cue, this just got shared on Facebook.

On not posting for a couple years then just reappearing with a post about Super Bowl ads.

Hi. I'm Jeff Kosloski and I'm a terrible blogger. I mean, I'm pretty decent at it when I actually do it, but the quality of my consistency at blogging is about as good as the quality of this year's Super Bowl ads.

Yes, that segue just happened.

This year as I sat writhing during the actual game, watching the Broncos fall apart worse than a Janga game played during an earthquake, I found myself actually more perplexed, even disgusted, by the continual cavalcade of big-budget crap running during the commercial breaks. I swear, saying 95% of the ads were absolutely terrible would be generous.

As I think about it, it seems the quality of the Super Bowl ads has been on a steady decline for the past decade or so, maybe longer. In some ways it parallels the Broncos' performance: So much hype, so much attention, so much money, so little actual execution. 

Bad Super Bowl ads fall into three categories for me:

1. Stupid
2. Manipulative
3. Boring

The vast, vast majority of ads that are trying to be funny are just plain stupid. They're either lowest-common-denominator shit that has nothing to do with the actual product, or they're bizarrely random shit that has nothing to do with the actual product. Either way, they're stupid and forgettable and a big waste of money.

Then there are the manipulative ones. Animals, kids, soldiers, people with disabilities… All designed to make you go, awwwwwww. But they're all bullshit. They are the result of marketers sitting in a room asking, "What can we exploit to make our brand seem like we give a shit about something other than sales?" A company spends money to help bring soldiers home. That's very cool. But then that company spends on advertising 100 times what they spent to get the soldiers home so that you are sure to know they got those soldiers home. That is not generosity. That is exploitation and manipulation. 

Finally, the rest are just plain boring. I swear, someone published a "how to advertise a car during the Super Bowl" manual and everyone followed it like gospel. Celebrity voiceover/featured actor. Dramatic music. Some verbose copy written by a writer who so desperately wants people to call it prose. Then rapid-cut shots of the car hauling ass down the road. This is classic derivative advertising: Everyone trying to recreate Chrysler's ad from a few years ago. Even Chrysler sucked at it this year, using Bob Dylan in a poor copy of the Eminem "Imported from Detroit" ad. All boring and forgettable.

A few were somewhat worthwhile. One of my favorites was the Greek yogurt spot with John Stamos, THOUGH, it should have ended with him dropping the yogurt and her looking down and smiling. END FUCKING SCENE! Bringing in the other two doofuses from Full House took it from clever and fun to… stupid. But still, better than most. 

In the end, the best Super Bowl spot didn't run during the Super Bowl. It was online, and it was hilarious.

On westboro baptist church.

While I pretty rarely post anything but work-related rants here, today I'm veering off course. Because this morning the good folks from the westboro baptist church showed up at my kid's high school in Denver. I took the above picture at about 7:15 this morning.

We knew they were coming. That's the thing with the wbc: They're very detail-oriented. They post their picket schedule on their website (I'm not going to put a link here. If you're interested, a quick google search will take you to their site).

So I dropped my kid off up by the school, drove down past the crowd, parked and walked over to the corner. The students had organized quickly, telling everyone to keep things peaceful. I was impressed by their ability to do that. I confess I sat in my car for about 15 minutes before getting out, debating with myself as to whether I'd be able to remain as composed as the kids or not. But I did. And I'm glad.

Here's what I realized.

I'm glad the wbc showed up. Very.

They brought out the best in the students. The kids banded together. They were behaved. They had senses of humor (some very creative and funny signs). And you could tell that the presence of the wbc made them even stronger in their beliefs in equality. It was very cool to witness.

But even more than that, I found my anger drifting away. After years of hearing and reading about the wbc's antics, and being consumed with anger and hatred toward them, seeing them in person made me realize some important things.

First, they're ugly. Yes, ugly on the inside, filled with hate, blah blah blah. But I already knew that. What I didn't realize was just how physically unattractive they are. I thought, man, have you ever seen yourself in the mirror? If God really is full of hate, can you not see that he directed it toward your face when you were born? One of the women actually looked like a vagina. No offense intended toward vaginas, mind you. There are some beautiful ones. They just don't belong on a face.

Second, they were wearing clothes. While that is obviously a good thing, since the state of their faces would lead one to believe the bodies underneath those clothes resemble something from John Carpenter's version of The Thing, I also found comfort in the knowledge that those clothes were made by people the wbc says are going to hell. The wbc bought those clothes. They also drive cars and use the internet and make videos and live in houses... see where I'm going? They couldn't do what they do without the people they hate. They rely on us. They need us. What a quandary for them. They can't win. If they're right about all their "God H8s You" stuff, then God hates them too, because they're sleeping with the enemy. If they're wrong about it all, well, nice life they're living. They'll either end up in hell because God thinks they're douchebags just like we do, or they'll just end up as worm food.

That has to fucking eat them up inside.

Finally, in all seriousness, they are a small, pathetic cult with tiny brains that have helped to band together a disparate group of people of varying backgrounds, beliefs and orientations. Think about that. They are helping to do what we as a society of millions have not been able to do very well.

For that, I thank them.

But please, wbc. Get some ski masks. And maybe some memberships to 24-hour Fitness.

On working at work.

"Especially with creative people - designers, programmers, writers, engineers, thinkers - people really need long stretches of uninterrupted time to get something done. You cannot ask somebody to be creative in 15 minutes and really think about a problem."
– Jason Fried

Spend 18 minutes watching this. Then spend 18 minutes writing down all the reasons why you can't have that uninterrupted time at your office. Then spend five seconds writing BULLSHIT across that list.

On the art of copy.

I want to talk a little bit about copy. Writing copy, revising copy, editing copy, commenting on copy.

Because our primary means of communication in this world is with words, we all know how to put words together to form sentences to get our point across. We each do it in our own way, our own style, but we all do it. All the time.

Very few of us, however, know how to write. Sure, everyone can put words on the screen or on paper. Some even understand the basics of grammar, sentence structure and punctuation. But still, that's not writing. Especially copywriting. The ability to write good, tight copy is learned over time. It's practiced constantly. It's continually honed. And the people who do it -- let's call them copywriters -- are passionate about putting the right words together to form sentences that are exactly the way they have to be to grab someone's attention and compel them to read. It ain't easy. It takes time and thought and discipline.

That's why we hire copywriters.

So when a group of people who are not copywriters start rewriting copy, it's frustrating and disheartening for the copywriter. Because it's saying, whether intentionally or not, "Anyone can do what you do." But you can't. You might think you can. You may have even gotten lucky and come up with a passable headline before. But you can't do what a copywriter does, just like you can't do what an art director does. That's why you do what you do, and we do what we do.

We need to hold copy in the same regard as we do art direction and design. If the words the copywriter put together aren't communicating what they're supposed to, by all mean, express that. Point out what is or is not coming across. But please don't try to solve it. Let the copywriter take the comments and do what he/she does best.

Write copy.

On leadership.

Whether you're a fan of old time hockey or not -- or if you are, whether you're a fan of the Bruins or not -- you could learn a lot from their goalie Tim Thomas, who pitched a shutout last night against the Lightning.

Unlike a lot of high-profile athletes who take credit and lay blame, he's the opposite.

When things go bad, particularly when the guys in front of him do something boneheaded and put him in a tough spot, he's the first to defend them. To pick them up. And even take the blame with an "I should have made that stop" comment. He takes all the pressure off his teammates and places it squarely on his shoulders, because he knows he needs them at the top of their games the next time they hit the ice.

And when he stands on his head and doesn't let a single puck get past him, like last night, he talks about the guys in front of him. About how they made the tough plays and kept the puck in front of them and kept the forecheck on and kept the pressure up. He deflects all the positive attention from himself and showers his teammates with it, because he knows he needs them to be at the top of their games the next time they hit the ice.

No matter what your job, if you're in a position of leadership, your job is to get the best out of your team. To get them to get outside their comfort zones and go to places they didn't even think they could go. When they know you have their backs, in good times or bad, they'll work their asses off for you. And deliver.

And make you look good.

On T-shaped people.

One of the prevailing topics of conversation at this year's Making Digital Work 4 conference at Boulder Digital Works was the notion of T-shaped people.

It's something that was coined by Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, in an article of Fast Company way back in 2005. It's a fascinating concept. Here's a snippet:

"We look for people who are so inquisitive about the world that they're willing to try to do what you do. We call them "T-shaped people." They have a principal skill that describes the vertical leg of the T -- they're mechanical engineers or industrial designers. But they are so empathetic that they can branch out into other skills, such as anthropology, and do them as well. They are able to explore insights from many different perspectives and recognize patterns of behavior that point to a universal human need. That's what you're after at this point -- patterns that yield ideas."

In other words, have a deep understanding of and experience with something. Be really, really, really great at it. But don't stop there. You have to branch out. Push the boundaries of what you know to the left and to the right.

When I got into the ad business nearly 20 years ago, I was a copywriter. That was it. My job was to write copy. Sure, I worked in different media, but always as a copywriter. After a while, however, my natural curiosity led me to taking some design classes. And learning how to edit video. And doing voiceovers and on-camera acting. And taking photography classes. And diving headlong into social media. And taking a stab at UX for a friend's startup's web site. And...

I'm still a copywriter. It's what I know best and what I have the most experience with. That's the vertical leg of my T. But every day I try to push the ends of the top of my T out a little further. Get a little better at something out there. Or learn something new.

I'm sure you know your specialty. Your vertical.

But what makes the top of your T? How wide is it? And are you pushing it further?

I'll leave you with the words of Robert Heinlein regarding specialization:

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

On 5.

My boy turned 5 today. Seems like yesterday...

On making digital work.

Okay, I figure eight months is long enough to be on hiatus from Just Be Kos. So I'm back. And I have every intention of remaining back, but you know how these things can go.

So I spent the past two days at the Making Digital Work 4 conference at Boulder Digital Works. When I attend a conference I usually figure that if I find 25% of the content inspiring, they did pretty well. I've suffered through a mind-numbing amount worthless presentations at conferences throughout the years -- some poorly masked sales pitches for the speakers' businesses, some completely elementary, some ridiculously impractical, and many just plain boring -- so 25% is actually a pretty high standard.

I'm rating MDW4 at about 80%. It was probably the best professional conference I've ever been to. If you get the chance, don't hesitate. Go.

First, I got something out of every single presenter. Every single one had content that I (and my nine co-workers who were there as well) felt could and should be taken back to my agency and implemented, like, yesterday.

Second, most of the presenters were really interesting. It helped that the room was intimate and every presentation happened in the same place, vs. having to move from room to room. But these were folks who obviously loved and were proud of what they did, and were excited to present it. On top of that, the presenters played off each other. As evidenced by their Twitter feeds, they hung out together. It showed. And that made it all the more engaging.

But thirdly, and most importantly, I discovered that while digital was a platform for the conference, a rather large bulk of the topics and insights went way beyond digital application. They were quite simply about how the hell we need to be running our businesses and serving our clients right now. In 2011 and beyond.

We got some changing to do.

My mind is swirling with ideas and possibilities. Once I'm able to start turning them into semi-intelligible chunks of thought instead of the random chaos they are now, I'll throw some more here.

And I promise I won't wait eight months to do it.

In the meantime, you can actually watch the entire conference here. And download all the presentations here. And read the Twitter feed from the conference at hashtag #mdwboulder.

On storytelling.

Here's a link to a fantastic article entitled Steve Jobs and the Power of Storytelling. Please go read it ASAP. Well, as soon as you've finished reading this post, of course.


It's a great encapsulation of why I've been teaching storytelling classes here at Integer and to our clients for the past couple years. To quote the article:


Stories are more powerful today than ever. Why?

• We are drowning in information. Good stories can cut through the noise.
• Personal stories  feel “real” vs abstract concepts, statistics, or logical arguments
• Stories capture people on an emotional level, creating a deeper, intimate bond.
• Stories are memorable. People forget facts but remember stories.

That last point is the most important, especially for business presentations. Or brands. You want to be memorable, right?

Then lay off the facts.

As my pal and co-creator of our Storytelling class Ethan Decker says, "People don't need to know all the facts. They just need to know that you know them."

So find your point and tell it with a story. Pepper it with a few I-did-not-know-that facts to help hold the story together and give it credibility.

And watch how people engage.