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A gift. A donation. A lunch. A trip. Volunteering. An interview. They’re all grounds for a handwritten thank you note. To me, it’s a big priority. It’s an appreciation I got from my father. Looming is the memory of my brother and I sitting at the dining room table, pens in our aching hands, scribbling thank you’s for everything you could think of, as he watched over our shoulders like a drill sergeant. “That one doesn’t show enough appreciation! Did you appreciate that Highlights subscription from Aunt Maude?” “Sir, yes sir!” My memory tends to exaggerate. And my dad was nothing like a drill sergeant. And I don’t actually have an Aunt Maude. But I’m thankful for his caring. Because now, I really do think to send notes out, even for small things. And the one positive side of the handwritten note heading toward extinction is that people seem to appreciate it more when you write one. With Thanksgiving a … Continue reading
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The Greeks called it their Muse. The Romans called it the Ingenium (the genius). I call it whatever that magic is that gets some meaningful words onto the page. Inspiration. I recently heard a great re-air of a RadioLab interview with Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love. In it, she tells the story of poet Robert Frost working on a particularly lengthy and draining piece for weeks and weeks and weeks. He finally finished the thing, completely dissatisfied, even though he’d put so much effort into it. Sigh. After all that. Nevertheless, Frost woke up the next morning, and sat down to write… “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…” (Arguably one of the most well-known poems of the 20th century… No joke, it was last night’s Final Jeopardy! question.) It was as if Frost was being rewarded for his hard work, Gilbert says. Sometimes that’s how the creative process works. Sometimes it really does feel like 99 percent … Continue reading
As a creative being I live for discovering inspiration all around me, and many times it’s inspiration that finds me. With fall fast approaching I think about the possibility of a road trip to take in the splendor of color that Pennsylvania has to offer, so I begin. Inspire me Pennsylvania. Step one. Visit the website. Hmmm. The site is short on inspiration and so is my time spent on visitpa.com. Where is the story? Where is the adventure? I know our state is beautiful, so why not celebrate it with the many tools a digital experience has to offer? Mediocre = Forgettable Step two. Lolly gag So now that I am uninspired about the Pa. site, I troll around a bit online until I remember a site I saw a while ago about Maine. I believe it was an interactive newsletter? Hello Maine! What a beautiful experience. I am instantly inspired by the elegant simplicity of the user interface, … Continue reading
Posted in: interactive newsletter
I hope you enjoy these as much as we do at Elliance: Designed by Apple in California Productivity future vision by Microsoft https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozLaklIFWUI What inspires you?
Posted in: Inspirations
Mr. Gilka, Director of Photography at National Geographic, recently passed away. He was adored, feared and respected – all at the same time. Two quotes from his Remembrance in the latest issue of National Geographic Magazine stood out. “He pinpointed talent like a heat-seeking missile, assembling a team that would bring the excitement, immediacy and candor of photojournalism to the pages of the magazine.” And “Gilka wasn’t looking for photographers. He was looking for storytellers.” RIP Mr. Gilka. The world will miss you. Photo: Courtesy of National Geographic. Elliance is fortunate to be the home of some of the most talented people I have met in my life. I pray they live long healthy lives bestowing their gifts to our valued clients and to each other.
Discovered these wonderful animations. Guaranteed to bring a smile. Miniscule wasp belle Miniscule 1-12
Thought you might enjoy some inspiring videos: Typolution Words as Image The Ten Commandments
Once in a long while, I come across a book that I just can’t stop reading until I finish it. And then I have to read it again and again to savor it. For a guy who finishes a book every week, only a few books have had a magical impact on me. These include Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “One hundred years of solitude”, John Johnson’s autobiography “Succeeding against the odds”, John Bogle’s “Enough” and Thomas Moore’s “Care of the Soul”. I recently bumped into another gem. At the January conference of Presidents of Colleges, hosted by the Council of Independent Colleges, where I spoke, I picked up a copy of this book titled “From Bottom to Top Tier in a Decade: The Wagner College Turnaround Years”. It’s a wonderful turnaround story of a college that fell on hard times because two competitors ate away at its core base, one from the top and the other from the bottom. Instead of … Continue reading
James Turrell, the artist of light, recently said “In a lucid dream, you have a sharper sense of color and lucidity than with your eyes open. I’m interested in the point where imaginative seeing and outside seeing meet, where it becomes difficult to differentiate between seeing from the inside and seeing from the outside.” I decided to share some inspiring work from him, which was published in a recent issue of Interview Magazine. All photo credits go to Grant Delin. Enjoy.
Posted in: Inspirations
Years ago, at my very first real job, there was one particular person who was known to be Creative. She was the go-to person for ideas, big and small. She led all the brainstorms, complete with tables full of idea starters. She could give you five taglines on a moment’s notice. She could take a half-formed, poorly articulated idea and turn it into a knockout. I was regularly impressed, often amazed. Her whole job was built around thinking in color where others saw only black and white. Ever since then, I’ve noticed that being creative is a quality that’s assigned to certain people at any business, and once it’s assigned, it’s assumed. There are people who are Creative, and then there’s everybody else. Except that this model won’t work in a business that intends to be visionary, ground-breaking, innovative. Traditionally, we think of our creative teammates as being designers or writers. But what about the rest of us? In business … Continue reading