Making Ripples: post-corporate adventures in Floyd County Virginia

2011: Trendspotting for the next decade

Richard Laermer recently published 2011: Trendspotting for the next decade, a business book which he calls an exploration of trends that will affect our lives. It is available on Amazon and has an eyecatching cover.

Richard is a very bright guy, CEO of a PR firm and writes a fine blog.

His PR agency sent me a copy of this new book to review. I read the book over several days, first by reading 15 chapters chosen at random and then from start to finish. He covers a lot of ground but his new book does not measure up to his blog.

The book is a loose collection of observations and anecdotes that goes on far too long. At 295 pages there is something there for everyone. The problem I had was finding something new I could use amongst all of the extraneous comments.

The book would read better if one third of the chatter were excised from the book. This book is like an endless buffet of morsels of gossip, drive-by insights, and personal anecdotes that reflect years of experience. All of these are entertaining, but I left the table overloaded with minutiae and still hungry for basic information that I had not already seen on the Internet.

If you are not a blogger or a trend junkie and are looking for an amusing read, this may be just what you are looking for to while away the hours on your next plane flight.

If you want to get a sense of Richard at his best, read his blog.

Failing to get to the point...

Writing for the Internet and researching on the Internet has given me a new sense of what is important in communicating ideas to readers. This is the order that I consider important:

1 Get the reader involved

2 Deliver the goods

3 Give adequate references

Delivering #3 first, as in lengthy introductions, is a waste of time and turns off readers.

Incredible ideas do not need a lengthy sales pitch. That is so 20th Century!

A recent email from a reader introduced me to Ernesto Sirolli, a man with remarkable ideas about local economic development. His ideas were so persuasive that people copied his book, Ripples from the Zambezi, and sent it to their friends.

I looked up his book on Amazon.com, read a few pages and the premise was so intriguing that I immediately ordered a copy.

I have now had the book for almost a week and have tried several times to get to the substance of his book with little success.

There are at least 15 pages of irrelevant fluff that you have to wade through before you come to the first page written by Ernesto himself. This fluff was written by well-meaning admirers, but it contributes very little to the reading experience of a first time reader.

From the few pages I've had time to read, the power of his book comes from his case studies and this meaty subject is wrapped in layers of trivia written by academics and administrators. This trivia should have been placed at the rear end of the book.

I will read the rest of Ripples from the Zambezi, now that I have clawed my way through the fluff, but I advise others to cut to the chase and begin the book somewhere around page 7 to get a feeling for Ernesto and his ideas.

We need more Swiftboating, not less

In 2004, a determined group of veterans and POWs used the power of the Internet to set the record straight about John Kerry's false portrait of American veterans as misfits, drug addicts and baby killers.

John Kerry is now history, but the major TV networks, PBS, and the New York Times who played a major part in the demonizing of Vietnam veterans are still hard at work creating their version of history.

This new book "To Set the Record Straight" is an extremely well-documented look at the machinations of Kerry's media allies during the 2004 Presidential campaign.

In 2004, television networks and newspapers were able to dominate public opinion to an extent that is no longer possible today. What the media covered then was news and what they chose to ignore was not.

In one sense 2004 was a watershed moment for mass media and those organizations failed the test, big time!

The unmasking of Dan Rather by bloggers and the fact-checking of almost every story of significance since then has created a new playing field for the practice of journalism and the final story has not been written.

Swiftboating is exposing the lies, deceit and fraud of self-glorifying public officials or candidates for office who exaggerate their military service by lying about their feats of heroism and combat wounds.

Those who are exposed have other definitions, of course.

The media that supported Kerry and suppressed information that showed him in an unfavorable light is still losing ground because media bias is so clearly visible to an educated and vociferous audience.

If you wish to see how mass media played the disinformation game in 2004, "To Set The Record Straight" will give you hours of fascinating reading. It is a step-by step recounting of how ordinary people can mobilize to reach out to the public and publicize their side of history when it has been deliberately suppressed.

It should be required reading for all candidates for office and for those interested in changing history...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

My copy arrived yesterday. When I heard the mail carrier slam the mailbox door, I realized that this was "the day".

I strolled down the driveway in the warm sunshine and pulled out the box with its muggles warning and broke into delighted laughter.

I was still standing there holding the book in my hands when the mail carrier came back up the road and cheerily beeped his horn at me.

Through great strength of will, I resisted opening the book until I had finished the chores I had set for myself.

This was a great read. I was able to sample the first few chapters and stop for supper, but once I picked the book up again, I was unable to put it down.

The story line kept me guessing and the tension was maintained beautifully with no let up. When I finally put the book down, it was with the feeling that every loose end was tied up properly.

This was a real masterpiece. J. K. Rowling has well and truly brought the Harry Potter story to a fitting conclusion.

Slow Road Home - a long overdue book review

Preface to the review

I have not been reading books this year, except for those that I can read online, so I have an embarrassing backlog of books I have agreed to review and haven't...yet.

Fred First's weblog was the inspiration for us to move to Floyd, Virginia. When he decided to self-publish selections from it as a book, we cheered him on. I had recently published my own book and knew it would be an adventure from which he would derive great benefit.

Fred is now an experienced author with many book signings under his belt and his second edition of Slow Road Home is gaining acceptance with every passing month. I thought it might be appropriate to share my views on why this satisfying book should be read and given to your friends who ask what country life is like.

Slow Road Home

There is an old saying that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. In Fred First's case, when he was ready to learn new lessons, he let Nature be his teacher.

What he discovered about himself and his connection to his new home in the Blue Ridge Mountains will strike a familiar chord in everyone who has reached the point in life where our goals leave us unfulfilled.

In Fred's book, Slow Road Home, he discusses finding himself with no purpose in life after he left his position as Physical Therapist.

His wife, Ann, had a job and was supporting them both, and he faced the challenge that many face in these changing times, that of creating an existence which includes a means of earning a living and at the same time discovering a worthwhile purpose.

It becomes apparent as you read this fascinating book, that Fred develops a philosophy for his life as he discovers himself.

It is an account of how he set out to find wonder and meaning in the myriad details of life in his valley and in the long string of apparently random events that led them to this place they call, "Here's Home".

His weblog journal, Fragments from Floyd, becomes a tapestry of his days, chronicling his angsts, his sometimes humorous efforts to overcome them, and his epiphanies.

He applies his considerable analytical abilities to the problems he faces, his discoveries about life in the valley along Goose Creek and the bliss he finds observing  the infinite details of life on a calm summer day.

He takes us through several turning of the seasons, the loss of a beloved canine companion, and the tenderly funny incidents that make up married life on Goose Creek. At the very least, this book could be considered a record of his love for the place he and Ann call home.

For the rest of us, the greatest value in Fred's book may lie in the example he sets in so many ways of observing life closely, working to understand what he has observed, while discovering in himself the strength to persevere and share his discoveries with others.

Inspiring, evocative, and moving, with many moments of dry humor. This book satisfies in many ways.

How to Talk to Customers

I just finished reading How to Talk to Customers by Diane Berenbaum and Tom Larkin. It is a good read and is filled with case studies and anecdotes. The authors show how any customer dialogue can be evaluated and improved.

The purpose of the book is to show you how to interact with customers so the customers feel positive about your company and their experience with you. The material in the book is based on their MAGIC customer service training program. MAGIC stands for Make A Good Impression on the Customer.

I think the book does a reasonably good job of this, but my personal observation is that any system that requires long lists of steps to be performed (33 in one list alone) is not addressing the real basics of customer interaction: respect.

This book deals with the actions involved and does a good job of that, but does not deal with respecting the customer. If you follow the steps involved, you can certainly seem like you are granting importance to the customers needs, but attitude stems from personal convictions and a lack of respect will undermine the most careful attempts at making a good impression.

Respect for the customer underlies every successful customer interaction. If you respect customers, this book will make great sense and will help sharpen your skills.

On the other hand, this book and the training system behind it may be viewed with scorn in a corporate environment where call center personnel are rated by how little time they spend on each call. This is, of course, a corporation that has little or no respect for customers. Handling customer calls is regarded as an expense, not as an obligation.

If you want to sharpen your customer handling skills, this book will help you.

If you deeply respect your customers and their needs, you may already know much that is in it.

Ron Rash creates an impact in Floyd

Author Ron Rash was introduced as one of the important new voices of the South and after listening to him, I believe that might be true.

His complex tales and poems tell of loss and redemption, of real people with complex motives, and they leave you with a sense that you have discovered a side of Appalachia that you will not soon forget.

In his soft-spoken way he voiced his concern about the environment, about the importance of family, and explained his abiding interest in the heritage of the Appalachian region.

Ron was there to promote his recent novel, The World Made Straight, which deals with the modern day legacy of a Civil War massacre which still divides an Appalachian community. He is a powerful writer and his work creates an emotional impact.

He is currently the Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University and his contract provides him the time to write and do book tours as well as teach.

His poetry and fiction have been published in more than 80 journals and magazines, and he is author of two collections of short stories and three collections of poetry. His first novel was “One Foot in Eden” and his second novel was “Saints at the River.”

His appearance in Floyd was arranged by Floyd's friends of the Library. Once again, they have done this community a great favor.

Watching a celebrated writer give a book reading gives you an inside view of how the story was developed and what the author was trying to accomplish. It is a treat for the reader and is an education for the would-be writer.

Here are some links you may wish to explore:

An Interview with Ron Rash by Pam Kingsbury, an article by Iris books, and another article by Story South .

Another argument for self-publishing

Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine. wrote The Long Tail, a brilliant article which first appeared in Wired in October 2004 and will become a book, published by Hyperion, on July 11, 2006.

The concept was elegantly captured by this graphic:

The theory of the Long Tail is that our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of "hits" (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail. ...In an era without the constraints of physical shelf space and other bottlenecks of distribution, narrowly-targeted goods and services can be as economically attractive as mainstream fare.

Chris has been developing the concept on his blog and now is ready to publish his work as a book.

Because the publisher feels that the above long tail graphic will be off-putting to prospective readers, they have come up with a cover graphic which is non-offensive, non-challenging, and non-informative!

Does anyone else feel that the use of an enter button is trite, banal, and utterly clueless?

I question what this publisher adds to the project except for possible distribution assistance. I think this cover will not attract any new readers and will make the book a much harder sell than one with the original graphic.

Read the whole story of the cover with comments from readers who have been following the long tail story from the beginning.

Those of you who are self-publishing can add this to your list of questions to ask yourself. Does the cover communicate my ideas to the people I want to reach?

Look at this cover and judge for yourself. The text is fine, but the graphic is aimed at a knee-high culture which probably thinks the long tail is something you order to go.

Tag: The Long tail

Floyd's Friends of the Library are on a roll

Lee Smith, award winning Southern author, charmed a capacity crowd last night with stories of her life and how a college re-creation of Huck Finn's Mississippi raft trip led to the writing of her recent novel, The Last Girls.

With her warm and gracious personality, she is the kind of person who immediately feels like an old friend. When you meet her, the word that instantly comes to mind is "genuine". After hearing her speak for a few minutes, you also realize that she is dispensing pearls of writing wisdom with every anecdote she relates. If you are a writer or wannabe, you have this urge to follow her around making notes, so that you don't lose what she is passing out so freely.

Animated and funny, Lee is a wonderful story teller. Like her mother before her, she seems to be able to spin a story out of thin air. If you go to her website, you will see her describing herself in her own words.

I could have spent hours listening to her. The large audience hung on every word.

After her book reading, I bought a copy of The Last Girls and was well into it by the time I got to the head of the book-signing line. She asked if I was a writer and immediately engaged me in a discussion of a novel I have been working on.

This was typical of the discussions she had with people during the evening. I think I can characterize her best by saying that she is truly interested in others. It is a refreshing difference to encounter someone with this attitude in life.

Lee Smith is an inspiration to any writer. She celebrates the joy in life and also sets an example of how to deal with heartbreak and loss. Find out more about this remarkable woman by visiting her website and reading her story.

This was the second of five Meet the Author events put on by the Friends of the Library in Floyd. This series of reading and discussions by highly acclaimed authors is organized on the theme Celebrate the Past - Look to the Future in honor of Floyd County's 175th Anniversary.

UPDATE:

For different views of this marvelous evening, you should visit two local bloggers who have given their own perspectives of Lee and her work. Go visit Leslie at Top of Squirrel Ridge  and Fred First at Fragments from Floyd.

Robert Morgan visits Floyd

Best-selling author Robert Morgan is a man of many parts; poet, celebrated author, and Professor of English at Cornell University, so it was a treat to meet him recently at a Friends of the Library event in Floyd, VA. Here you see him chatting with local writer and blogger, Fred First.

Morgan is a master storyteller. He had the audience hanging on every word as he described the process of creating Brave Enemies: A Novel of the American Revolution which covers the events leading up to the battle of Cowpens, which took place on January 17, 1781, near Spartanburg, South Carolina.

He explained why he chose to tell the story of this decisive battle through the eyes of Josie Summers, a young woman who is serving as a soldier with the company of the North Carolina militia. Josie is passing herself off as a man and has joined the war in order to find her husband, John Trethman, who has been captured by British soldiers.

He read a few selections from Brave Enemies and it is easy to see why he is such a celebrated author. He transforms the results of his extensive historical research into living, breathing characters with stories that touch the heart.

Interestingly enough, I found his accounts of creating the book to be more gripping than the book itself. His research is a story all on its own, and every word was an inspiration to the would-be authors who were in attendance at this event. It was a fine opportunity to learn from one of the best and I saw many of them taking notes.

In spite of his fame, Morgan is a warm and approachable person who took time to answer questions and chat with everyone who attended the event. I got a much better appreciation of the work that goes into writing and promoting a book after seeing him in action.

He was on the return leg of an exhausting week-long research and promotion tour and would be driving to Ithaca, NY on the following morning, but he remained unfailingly gracious while answering questions and signing books. He sets a great example for aspiring authors to follow and deserves all of the fame that comes to him.

The Friends of the Library are to be congratulated for inviting a writer of his caliber to speak in Floyd. I understand that they have more fine authors to follow in subsequent months. Take advantage of the opportunity to meet these authors and attend the rest of these events.

UPDATE: Fred First's upcoming book Slow Road Home will be available in June 2006 and is already getting marvelous pre-publication reviews. Way to go, Fred!