Action versus execution
I’m currently taking a publications management course and yesterday, instead of a lecture, the class of 12 met with a campus sustainability proponent about creating a document to get people thinking about sustainability (the document remains unspecified at this point, figuring out the particulars appears to be a part of the learning process).
This fellow was super excited about sustainability, and in the course of explaining his excitement, he spoke about wanting some communications effort that reaches “the global community” and “changes peoples’ lives.” When asked what he had in mind, specifically, he said that he liked the Sarah McLachlan video World on Fire and that he’d also been impressed by some people handing out pamphlets on campus.
It was interesting to hear both these techniques mentioned in one breath because I can’t really think of two very different ways to communicate a message. One is old, the other new; one stylish, the other utilitarian. A video like McLachlan’s spreads like a virus. Instead of trying to convince the target to take a pamphlet, the target forwards it to a friend. To hear someone say that both of these methods could be an acceptable answer to the same communications need was interesting. It belied his earnestness, and I suspect his belief that action may be as important as the mode of execution.
We need to take some more action with InsectaPod Cast, even if we haven’t much of a plan for execution. We’ve made six episodes now, we’re halfway through, and it’s time to find some other avenue to gain more listeners, to get the word out. A video might work, but a pamphlet might, too. The only thing I’m sure of is that I’m definitely not going to be standing outside handing stuff to passersby.
