One of my favorite keywords to use in a search is odd and or weird news. I found an odd story on the Huffington Post about a duck that was fitted with booties. Yep booties. Seems the lady who requested the specialized item wanted her pet duck, named Duckie to feel comfy on the beach. Thus the order was placed. Yvonne Cruz and her team at Surf N Sea created a lovely pair of purple booties for the duck. Now this may sound odd but, there is a story here about the importance of getting a wetsuit that fits well. I guess you could say that the idea of a fitted wetsuit is not so quackers after all. I contacted Miss Cruz to ask some important questions about wetsuits, miss Cruz welcome to Candid Conversations.
Yvonne Cruz: Thanks for the interview Cliff.
Cliff T.: It must have seemed strange to you if not funny that a client would want a fitting for a duck, were you surprised at the request?
Yvonne Cruz: Over the years Surf ‘n Sea has had a lot of unusual requests; many dogs, one torpedo, covers for Cat Scan machines a camera *bellows, a tuxedo jacket for a groom who got married on a surfboard among others. We love challenges!
Cliff T.: A torpedo, cat scanner and camera bellows, you do love challenges.
Cliff T: Have you had any new requests to outfit animals with beach gear, or better yet with a wetsuit?
Yvonne Cruz: There has been nothing new since the duck but we did make eight dog wetsuits for the Natural Balance Float in the 2011 Rose Parade. The dogs wore the wetsuits while jumping off a dock into a pond on the float.
Cliff T.: Ok, outside of the funny in this story there is a serious side here. How important is it for people to get a wetsuit that fits well? And why is that important?
Yvonne Cruz: Fit in a wetsuit is critical. A wetsuit works because your body heat warms up the thin layer of water inside of the suit. If there is room for a lot of water, not only can’t your body heat it up, you will keep exchanging new cold water with your movements. The suit must fit snug to keep excess water out but not so snug that movement is restricted.
Cliff T.: Now you gave the duck purple booties, this may sound like an odd question is color important when getting a wetsuit and why?
Yvonne Cruz: The owner of the duck said Duckies’ favorite color is purple. Who am I to argue? Color is so subjective. Most surfers like black for wetsuits as dark colors absorb heat better. Some shy away from black as it is the color of seals – a favorite food of sharks. Many divers like camouflage so they disappear in kelp beds and fish do not see them, other divers, in open water, like the blues. We have dozens of colors to choose from.
Cliff T.: So what goes into making a great wetsuit and what should a person look for when they shop for one?
Yvonne Cruz: A quality suit will have the seams guaranteed for the life of the suit – ours are. The seams must be of a construction that does not leak – ours are. It will be made of the finest materials available and should fit very well. Again, ours are. It’s nice if you like the style and colors too!
Cliff T.: How long does it take you and the team at Surf N Sea to make the suit and do the fitting?
Yvonne Cruz: The fitting usually takes less than 20 minutes. Surf ‘n Sea suits are cut on a bevel and glued together using two coats of a special adhesive. A full length wetsuit can be made in a day including drying time – but just barely. However, usually there is a waiting line
Cliff T.: Is there a special way one needs to store and take care of a wetsuit?
Yvonne Cruz: First and very important is to rinse your suit inside and outside upon leaving the ocean, lake or pool. Hang it on a wide shoulder hanger until the exposed side is dry. Then turn so the other side dries. Do not, if possible, dry in the sun and do not store the suit in your garage if you park a car in it. Car emissions deteriorate the neoprene material.
Cliff T.: I am assuming that it is also better to have a custom suit but, if people want can they get one off the rack?
Yvonne Cruz: Many people do fine in rack suits. There are also some alterations we can do if the rack suit isn’t perfect.
Cliff T.: Miss Cruz, does Surf N Sea do wetsuits only or do you also have other products that you sell?
Yvonne Cruz: Surf ‘n Sea does focus on wetsuits but we have a few water sports related products. Wetsuit repairs and alterations are a big part of our business.
Cliff T.: It sounds like you guys had fun with the duck, do you try to have a bit a fun while educating a client on what makes or does not make a good suit?
Yvonne Cruz: Absolutely! We enjoy people!
Cliff T.: Well I have to say I enjoyed reading the story and learning a bit more about what you and your team do, thanks for being a part of Candid Conversations.
Yvonne Cruz: Cliff, you are a thoughtful and thorough interviewer. I thank you!
Yvonne Cruz helps clients with custom wetsuits, recently she and her team fitted a duck with booties. Surf N Sea has been been in the business of custom wetsuits since 1954 and is located in San Diego CA. I reached her at the store.
* click here to find out more about what a bellows is.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Why Does Time Fly Mr. Wittmann?
We have all experienced the feeling of time seeming to fly by or slow down in certain situations. Science is playing a role in defining why we feel time flying. In a recent article for Scientific America the concept of time flying by was discussed. So I decided to take a quick second and am glad I did as we have one of the researchers Marc Wittmann for a Candid Connection about the topic of time flying by. Mr. Wittmann thanks for taking to time to write for Candid connections.
Marc Wittmann: It is always a pleasure for me to be able (to be allowed) talk about my research, about what matters to me.
Cliff T.: The concept of feeling that time has flown by is not new to most humans. So why a study on this, what prompted you and your team to look into this phenomenon?
Marc Wittmann: As a Psychologist and Neuroscientist studying the perception of time I am interested in the underlying causes for our experiences. We all have the experiences, but the question is what factors can be discerned in explaining them.
Cliff T.: What was the result and were you surprised by the findings?
Marc Wittmann: We knew from earlier experimental work of Virginie van Wassenhove with whom we collaborated in this study that a visual stimulus (a disc) that is expanding (or looming in size) and thus subjectively moving towards the observer is subjectively overestimated in its duration of appearance as compared to a static disc or a disc that is receding (and this virtually moving away from the observer). We then took this experimental paradigm into a neuroimaging setting using *FMRI. We wanted to find out which brain regions are activated during this temporal illusion. The main result is that cortical midline structures (brain areas of the two hemispheres that face each other) were activated during the looming condition. These structures are typically involved in self-related processes when we think about or feel ourselves. Our conclusion was that these self-related processes are elicited because the disc is virtually moving towards the observer (the self) and, moreover, can be interpreted as a threat.
Cliff T.: In the article the subjective experience of time is mentioned, what is that?
Marc Wittmann: We can measure objective time with a clock. However, without the use of a chronometer we still have a sense of time, a sense of duration and the passage of time. Under certain conditions a given time span (objective time, say, ten minutes) can appear very short or enormously long. That is subjective time. Or take our study: a disc appearing for half a second is perceived as longer than a static disc that appears for half a second.
Cliff T.: Why is this important, what kinds of things can this data be used for?
Marc Wittmann: First of all, it is important to understand how the brain creates our sense of time. Surprisingly enough, in the research community there is no consensus on how and where in the brain time is processed. So that is a strong drive for us to probe different experimental paradigms in order to answer such basic questions. Moreover, one could think of applications of our experimental paradigm in various patient populations in Psychiatry who have disorders related to the experienced self (depression, schizophrenia, anorexia).
Cliff T.: Did you study a specific age group or was this a random study with different people from a variety of age groups?
Marc Wittmann: Typically researchers study young students. This has two reasons. One is pragmatic as it is easy to recruit the students on campus. Secondly, however, it is for scientific reasons to have a group of healthy, young, bright students. The heterogeneity is diminished, that is, we don’t have to control for age effects (cognitive performance can decline with increasing age) and other influences that may have an effect on performance. However, and that is a legitimate critic, for many psychological tests it is important to be cautious not to generalize the findings from young middle class white Anglo-Saxon US Americans (the students you typically find on campus of elite Universities) and US Americans with Asian background (another increasingly dominant student group on campus) to all human beings.
Cliff T.: Was there a difference between men and women?
Marc Wittmann: No.
Cliff T.: It certainly is interesting to delve into the mind and to see how feelings vs surrounding can affect perception. Are you planning on doing more research into time perception and the brain?
Marc Wittmann: My working hypothesis is that the perception of time is based on bodily and emotional processes. When we feel time passing we are sensing the physiological condition of our body (levels of arousal) and our feeling states. I will pursue my research in probing this idea.
Cliff T.: Well I have to say this is a unique way to examen how we perceive and feel time if I can put it that way. I wish all the best in your endeavors on this front I thank you for giving us a peek into the study.
Marc Wittmann: I was happy to share my thoughts and ideas.
Marc Wittmann is one of a team of researchers who studied who time and human subjective experience can produce the effect of what we call time flying by. Mr. Wittmann is associated with the Department of Empirical and Analytical Psychophysics, Institute for Frontier Areas in Psychology and Mental Health, Freiburg, Germany, the Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA and Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA. I reached him at his office in Freiburg, Germany.
*FMRI stands for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Shhh Be Very Quiet And Listen er Read Closely, A Candid Conversation About Customer Service With Pat Mcgraw
A lot of people complain that customer service has become a lost art. In a fast paced social media world people are constantly chatting about everything including customer service expectations and experiences. Companies are trying to keep up with their customers by trying just about anything they can to reach out with the message that they care. Funny thing is some clients don't want the fuzzy warm conversation, they just want to get it done.
Pat McGraw is a highly skilled marketing executive who by the way has his own company, McGraw Marketing. One of the things Pat wrote on a site called Social Media Today was that some clients DON'T want to talk to businesses. Ok Mr. McGraw welcome to Candid Conversations and what exactly did you mean when you posted the article back in December?
Pat McGraw: Cliff, thanks for the opportunity to speak with you.
Originally, I was responding to some extremely interesting research that had been reported in an article entitled "Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers" that had appeared in the Harvard Business Review.
That research made the case for letting the customer self-serve and not making the assumption that customers valued live service over self-service.
Successful sales and marketing companies know that the key to retaining customers and building referrals is consistently delivering a unique, valuable experience – and that the customer defines what is unique and valuable.
So, what I wanted to communicate through my article was the importance of thinking like the customer, the importance of never assuming you know what the customer values and how dangerous assumptions can be for your business.
Cliff T.: What is the best way for a company to gauge when to and when not to talk to a customer, is their some sort of mechanism they can use to measure the talk level of the customer?
Pat McGraw: Well, I believe that you should always talk with your customers. Sometimes the conversation is a little longer, more detailed and more focused on a specific topic – but you have to be there and ready to talk because you need to be ready whenever he customer wants to share. That's why am a huge believer in market research that's part of the culture of the business versus the more traditional 'project based' approach.
But that's a whole other topic.....
To your question, I would suggest that your business has key metrics that should be monitored and when they differ from the norm, you should consider reaching out to your customers and finding out why they are behaving in a specific manner.
For example, conversion rate for first time buyers is a key metric that might indicate there is a need to speak with prospective and new buyers. Is there a disconnect between promotional efforts and the buying experience that is causing prospective buyers to buy at a lower or higher rate?
Other key metrics would include order frequency, order size and referrals. If your customers are buying less frequently or are spending less per order – you should consider reaching out to them in order to find out why.
And if your referral rates are dropping off, it's time to find out why.
Cliff T.: I have to admit I am, in most cases, not interested in engaging a CSR. I already know what I want to do. That in mind with so much in the way of social media that is reaching out wanting people to engage in conversations. Where does a company begin to separate the need to talk to the client, at what point should a business say ok we get it you just want this do it and let the client go without the mega sales pitch?
Pat McGraw: Successful sales and marketing companies know that they need to show interest and concern, as well as to be accessible and available. From there, the conversations will happen when the customer wants them to happen.
And successful sales and marketing companies know that research is part of the culture so when a customer comes into the business, the staff knows to ask key questions and capture the responses for analysis. That can be simple questions about what brought you into the business today or what are they looking for and why.
When your staff consistently shows an interest in the customer, and they are consistently available and easily accessible, the customer is more open to the formal research projects. That's because you've developed a relationship and set expectations so the customer isn't surprised or taken by surprise by your 'sudden interest'.
Cliff T.: Working the front line myself for 15 years as a customer care agent one of the things I noted in some of my work was that there seems to be this drive to sell sell sell. I remember a number of times clients asking at the beginning of the call not to have a sales pitch tossed at them, on to hear me toss because the company required me to do so as part of the job. I am sure this does annoy customers. Is there a creative way to make a sales pitch without it sounding like a sales pitch?
Pat McGraw: The best sales pitch is no sales pitch. Early in my career, I attended a seminar hosted by Tom Hopkins and there was one nugget of gold that I walked out of the seminar with that day – and it was to shut up, listen and ask relevant questions.
Most people will, if given the chance, sell themselves. Unfortunately, too many companies and too many sales and marketing professionals seem to think that they have to talk at rather than talk with the customer. So they are too busy talking and not listening – and that means they miss obvious buying clues.
A great leading question can start a chain reaction that leads to the customer remembering that they have a need and should make a purchase. I was recently working with B2B retailer and we had the employees ask customers how their businesses were performing – and if business was going well, we asked about their supply needs because we knew that their success meant higher consumption rates of supplies.
And if the business was sluggish, we reminded them of our payment options, return policies and special offers...so they knew we offered them ways to save money and reduce expenses. That led to higher loyalty.
Cliff T.: Mr. McGraw, you mentioned that companies should make the experience easy and fun for the customer to do what needs to be done, how do companies do that?
Pat McGraw: Keep it human. Keep it real. Be concerned and compassionate. Be accessible. Be honest. And remember that your goal is a lifelong relationship with the customer – so sometimes you need to do what's best for the long-term rather than the short-term.
My favorite example is a retailer that would invite customers to a special evening event – and the customer could invite a friend to attend as well. The event highlighted the new season's fashions and provided food and drink in addition to door prizes. They turned shopping into a party – an exclusive party.
Cliff T.: In your article you mentioned that business leaders overestimate the customers need to talk with the company. How are they doing that and how do they tone it down?
Pat McGraw: Actually the research found that business leaders thought customers wanted and valued live service more than self-service. So they were focusing more on customer service staff rather than ways to help the customer get more accomplished on their own.
For example, I was working with a multi-channel retailer a number of years ago. They took great pride in their ability to process and ship orders within 24 hours and they had a great internal system for tracking the progress of the order so that the staff could make sure the orders stayed on track.
We asked how we could make that same information available to the customer so they could also follow along – and that simple solution made a huge, positive impact on the relationship between this business and their customers.
Cliff T.: Mr McGraw, do you think that it is a good idea for companies to ask customers how they want to be approached?
Pat McGraw: Conversation is always a wonderful, valuable thing. Too many companies lose sight of this – they get focused on 'getting the job done' and they forget to keep it real and keep the human element in the experience.
Yes, I think it's a fantastic idea to stop, take the time, show the interest and ask the customer how they are doing and how you can make their life better.
Cliff T.: How important is simplicity when it comes to talking or not talking to a customer?
Pat McGraw: Keeping it simple is the best. Last week, I got a call from the CEO of a business. He wanted to know how my business was doing and how he might be able to help me grow my business.
A simple 5 minute call. Or it could have been a huge production number in terms of a research firm calling to ask me 20-25 questions that may or may not have been important to me.
Sometimes a quick call from someone that can make a decision right then and there – that's all it takes.
Cliff T.: As a marketing executive how do you approach a client who is being over zealous in their desire to talk to customer, what would you tell them is the first thing they need to do to dial it down?
Pat McGraw: This happens all the time – mainly because the company hasn't spoken with the customer in some time and now, suddenly, there is a desire to do it all at once.
My role is to keep them focused on the primary objective so that the effort is successful.
Typically, what starts off as a very large research project turns into a series of smaller, more focused efforts over time. The end result is much more positive because the customer sees this as an on-going discussion rather than a one-time inconvenience.
Cliff T.: From what I can see on your website, you deliver a suite of services to help clients develop their space in the market. With so many voices out there calling for attention has become harder to get a message through to the customer or is it more of a case of info overload?
Pat McGraw: The key to success is relevancy. Are you saying the right thing to the right people at the right time in order to motivate the right response?
Successful sales and marketing companies know that a qualified buyer is not always ready to buy – sometimes they are gathering information in order to make a future purchase. So the message and offer needs to be relevant, valuable for that buyer at that point in time.
Now, the noise in the marketplace is a lot of ineffective sales and marketing companies screaming “Buy now and Save $$$” - and for 80% of the market, that's the wrong message because they're not ready to buy now. So that message gets ignored and fails to help the company attract and engage qualified buyers so the company is better positioned to help that buyer when they are ready to buy.
Successful sales and marketing firms are segmenting the audience and delivering relevant messages to those segments. For example, for those qualified buyers in the “Interest” stage of the buying process, they receive information that answers questions and helps the buyer identify potential solutions.
Then there are more action oriented messages for buyers that are ready to buy.
Saying something isn't enough – it's about relevancy.
Cliff T.: From the gist of it, what I am sensing is that your suggesting that companies tweet and Facebook less and let the customer pick the mode they want to communicate or not communicate in, would that be an accurate assumption?
Pat McGraw: Again, it depends on where the individual is in the buying process. For those that are early in the process and just starting to search for a solution provider, Twitter and Facebook are great channels for attracting their attention and providing them with the information they need to identify solutions and solution providers.
But as the buyer moves further into the buying process – when they want and need specific information for their own unique requirements – there are more effective and direct channels for communicating with the buyer. And that's a sales person asking and answering specific questions in a timely, accurate manner.
Cliff T.: Well it sounds like marketing today has become a real challenge. I thank you for taking time to speak with me.
Pat McGraw: Cliff, thank you for providing me with this opportunity to take a deeper dive on this topic. I look forward to the questions and comments your readers will add to this post!
Pat McGraw of McGraw Marketing is a an Executive Marketing specialist. His company helps clients in a variety of ways including brand management, market researching and customer relationship management. You can learn more about what he does by visiting his website at http://www.mcgrawmarketing.com.
Mr. McGraw wrote to Candid Conversations from his offices in Baltimore MD
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Robert Barrows In a Candid Conversation About Video Enhanced Gravemarkers
Funerals, not a fun thing to have to attend and going to a grave is even harder as that is a reminder that a loved one is no longer alive. Many people want to be able to remember their loved ones as they were before their death. And those who have died want to be remembered as well. Robert Barrows has a unique way for people to remember their loved one and for the living to keep the memory of what their loved one was like before they died. How is he doing this? In a very novel way; Mr. Barrows has created the Video Enhanced Gravemarker. Mr. Barrows thanks for doing a Candid Conversation. In a nutshell what is a Video Enhanced Gravemarker?
Robert Barrows.: The Video Enhanced Gravemarker (U.S. Patent # 7,089,495) is a video tombstone that will be able to deliver lengthy video content, with smooth transmission, in high quality, just like your home video equipment.
It has been designed to accommodate a wide variety of complex electronic and computer equipment and it will be far superior to other video tombstones that can only deliver brief, slide show content or simple text messages.
Now you will be able to go to a cemetery, get or rent a remote control device from the cemetery office, and listen to whatever a person might have wanted to record for their video tombstone.
Audio can be delivered through speakers attached to the video tombstone. Audio can also be transmitted to wireless headsets, which you could also get or rent from the cemetery office.
Video tombstones will make cemeteries fascinating places to visit. Video tombstones will also change the way that history is told.
Cliff T.: Where did you get the idea for the Video Enhanced Gravemarker?
Robert Barrows: I came up with the idea from a few different directions.
1) In addition to doing advertising, I am also a sculptor. I work primarily in stone. When you are carving a rectangular block of stone, you can’t help but think that you are carving your own tombstone.
Since I also do a lot of TV commercials and spend a lot of time in TV studios, I realized that I could also hollow out part of a stone and put a TV in it
2) There is also a term called “tombstone advertising.” That term generally refers to the ads that big investment houses run when they make an announcement about a financial transaction in a newspaper.
The ads generally just have a lot of text in them about the terms of the transaction. When I first heard the term “tombstone advertising,” I thought "What’s that, a television ad on a tombstone?" That started me thinking about video tombstones.
3) There is another interesting connection…Wyatt Earp! I was watching a movie about Wyatt Earp and at the end of the credits, it said that the movie was based on the book “My Friend, Wyatt Earp” by Doc Holliday. When I went to the library to look for the book, I looked in the card catalog and there were about two hundred books about Wyatt Earp, none of which were by Doc Holliday, and none of which were by Wyatt Earp, but at the end of the card catalogue, there was a listing for the Video: Tombstone. Eureka! Video tombstone! And then I started thinking about designing a real video tombstone.
Cliff T.: What are the reactions you have gotten from people regarding the Video Enhanced Gravemarker?
Robert Barrows: Some people think it’s cool. Some people think it’s creepy. It’s both. But it will also be fascinating.
Imagine the things you might hear from all kinds of video tombstones in the same cemetery.
Who knows what kinds of things people might say from their video tombstones, and who knows who was doing what with whom? You might hear all kinds of stories, many of them intertwined.
They say that dead men tell no tales? Well, not anymore! Wait until you hear what they may be saying about you from one of those video tombstones? And will it be truth or lies?
That’s the premise of a book I wrote about stories told through video tombstones. The book is called “Cemetery of Lies.” It is a collection of intimate, secret confessions, as told from beyond the grave, through video tombstones.
The video tombstone will also create a whole new genre of storytelling, with all kinds of stories being told through video tombstones. It’s an ideal storytelling device for everything from horror stories to love stories and historical pieces.
Video tombstones will also create some fascinating free speech issues, because how can you control what someone might say from their video tombstone?
What if they confess to a crime or make an incrimination?
What if they say something that causes emotional stress?
What if they say something that’s true or untrue about you?
How can you pull the plug and whom can you sue?
Worse yet, how can you collect?
I fully expect that as soon as a cemetery tries to censor or ban the speech from a video tombstone, that the case might go all the way to the Supreme Court.
Also, people may say all kinds of things from their video tombstones. They might just say sweet things to loved ones. They might also say all the things that they never had the opportunity to say, nor never had the guts to say while they were alive.
And who knows what people are really thinking? Even the mildest amongst us may have the wildest thoughts we could never have even imagined, but one day we may be able to hear those thoughts from their video tombstone.
Video tombstones will change the way we look at life and death. When you start recording your own obituary while you are still alive, it forces you to look at things in many different ways.
Video tombstones will also cause some interesting changes in estate law. When you make out your will, you will have to declare whether you want or do not want a video tombstone, and if you yourself don't make the video for your video tombstone, you would have to decide who among your survivors may make a video for use in your tombstone and what they can or cannot say in that video. You could also designate a date at which the tombstone will go "live." You might want it to go "live" as soon as it is erected, or x amount of years after you die, or x amount of years after your spouse dies, depending on the kinds of things you might record for your video tombstone.
Cliff T.: As I mentioned Mr. Barrows, this is novel, I bet a lot of funeral directors and those who manage graveyards must raise eyebrows when they hear that the soon to be dearly departed want your product. How you pitch this to them?
Robert Barrows: When I speak to people in the funerary industry about video tombstones, I generally present the marketing potentials and revenue potentials regarding the video tombstones.
There are several major benefits of adding video tombstones to the memorial items they offer:
1) They will be able to get higher price points for these kinds of tombstones.
2) Cemeteries will be able to charge higher fees for plots that are designed for video tombstones. These sites will be wired for electricity. They may also have lighting around them to accommodate night viewing. They may also charge higher fees for security measures to protect the video tombstones.
3) There will also be income from perpetual care funds to replace the video equipment over time.
4) Funeral homes may also decide to get into the business of producing memorial videos. People may decide to spend a lot of money to produce high quality videos, and they may decide to record them over the course of many, many years.
5) The video tombstones will also be priced so that they will be profitable to the monument builder, the funeral home and the cemetery. Once the funeral industry takes a look at the potential increases in revenue, then they will be able to decide whether they want to offer video tombstones to their customers. Also, as customers start asking about them, and as time goes by, they will probably start becoming very well accepted.
6) Cemeteries may also set aside special sections of their cemetery to better accommodate video tombstones, and make it easier for visitors to view many video tombstones during the same visit to the cemetery.
When I do my projections on the potential market for video tombstones, I base them on the number of deaths. When I went to Google and searched for “How many people die in the United States everyday?” there was a figure (I think it was according to the National Association of Funeral Directors) of about 5300 deaths per day, just in the United States.
If just one tenth of one percent of the people who died wanted to have a video tombstone, that could result in sales of about five video tombstones per day.
At a profit of several thousand dollars from the video tombstone, plus revenues from sales of the perpetual care funds, companies in the funeral industry could make a lot of money from the video tombstone business, even if only one tenth of one percent of the people wanted them. Imagine if those percentages were even higher! Video tombstones could generate a tremendous amount of new revenue for companies in the funerary business.
Cliff T.: Now I know that people reading this are going to say eeew creepy, weird, morbid. What do you do to mitigate that, how do you make sure this does not come off as macabre?
Robert Barrows: It is weird. It is macabre, but it will also be fascinating. Imagine being able to go into a cemetery and listening to what some of your favorite celebrities might have to say from their video tombstone? And it’s not just celebrities. you never know what your relatives might have to say, or your friends and neighbors. The stories will be fascinating! Imagine if we could hear what people had to say about their lives in their own words! Imagine if we could go back through time and listen to video tombstones of everyone from people in the Bible and all throughout history. We could hear it in their own words, in their own inflection, from their own hearts and minds. We could listen to the real words of all kinds of heroes and villains! Imagine all the things we could learn!
And imagine the gossip it might create? Who knows what kind of juicy stories might be told from the tombstone next door?
Video tombstones will create all kinds of controversy and all kinds of curiosity. I am counting on that curiosity factor to help create a market for video tombstones and projects such as my book that are based on stories told through video tombstones.
I also expect that “Cemetery of Lies” will also be the premise for countless television and movie projects that will be based on stories told through video tombstones.
The video tombstone will help promote the book and the book will help promote the video tombstone. And there will always be fascinating news coverage when we can tune in to what people might say from their video tombstone. People might be able to say that their video tombstone will “go live’ on a particular date after their death, and there will be a lot of suspense as we tune in to see and hear what they might say.
Macabre? You bet it’s macabre, and macabre sells! Just look at all the horror movies that do giant box office.
Yessiree, there’s no business like show business, even from beyond the grave!
Cliff T.: Ok, so what is the typical thing that people ask you to do for their Video Enhanced Gravemarker?
Robert Barrows: People who have inquired are very straightforward in their requests.
One person was the son of a famous singer and he wanted to have a video tombstone to play his father’s recordings.
Another woman had a son who was a musician who died at the age of fifteen. She also wanted to put his videos and songs on a video tombstone.
Most of the questions have been questions about cost. Costs will vary since tombstones can be custom designed to any shape and size, and the video equipment
can also vary with the latest equipment available.
Cliff T.: How long are the messages, are there multiple ones a client can make and what format is the message recorded on?
Robert Barrows: Messages can be as much information as you can fit on a disk or other video playback device. Video can also be delivered by “cable” so the messages can be as lengthy as you want them.
The best way to record them would be to record them on what they call “broadcast quality” equipment. You can also record them on your home video equipment. As we go through time, and as video playback equipment evolves, the video content can be continually upgraded to newer media and newer equipment as technology advances.
When people go to a video tombstone, they would be able to use a remote control device to click on a menu of different stories, with replay, fast forward, etc.
The person making the videos can also leave instructions in their will as to what videos might play during what years, etc. They might say “don’t play a certain video until x number of years after their death”…or after the statute of limitations runs out on whatever things they might have done or said.
People will be able to set up their videos any way they want to, just like recording it for your own home video.
Cliff T.: Just as there are different styles of headstones there must also be different styles of your product, or is it a one size fits all?
Robert Barrows: The Video Enhanced Gravemarker can be custom designed. One of the keys to my patent is that the Video Enhanced Gravemarker features a hollowed out chamber with slanted walls and a curved floor so it can accommodate complex audio and video equipment.
Electronic equipment requires good ventilation. The electronic equipment will also produce heat. In a tombstone, the heat will also produce condensation.
The video tombstone I designed, The Video Enhanced Gravemarker, has an inner chamber that has been designed to mitigate the effects of condensation and provide good ventilation.
It would use weatherproofed video equipment, mounted on a platform above a curved floor.
The back of the tombstone would also have a locked door that can opened to give easy access to the chamber.
People can see the details of the patent by going to the United States Patent Office website. The patent number for the Video Enhanced Gravemarker is 7,089,495.
Cliff T.: for the Video Enhanced Gravemarker is there a cost scale or is there one set price and do you have packages that a client can get?
Robert Barrows: The prices will vary depending on the size and shape of the tombstone. If you go to a monument company today, you might see stone monuments that could accommodate a good sized TV screen that might cost about $5,000-$7,000 just for the stone itself.
Weatherproofed TVs, depending on the size of the screen and the range of temperature tolerances, might run anywhere from $4,000-$7,000 depending on the brand and features. Weatherproofed video players will add additional money to the
costs.
When you add the price of labor into the equation, and you plan it for a profit, the cost of a Video Enhanced Gravemarker might begin at about $25,000 and go up to much higher costs, depending on the requests of the customer and the video equipment available at that time.
In addition, there would be the cost of a perpetual care plan to provide for the upkeep and replacement of the electronic equipment.
I am currently looking for companies that would be interested in acquiring the rights to manufacture and market the Video Enhanced Gravemarker.
I am also looking for companies that would be interested in becoming suppliers of some of the materials and electronic equipment that can be housed in this video tombstone.
Those companies will be able to set the prices at the price points that make it reasonable for them to produce and sell the equipment.
I am also looking for a publisher for “Cemetery of Lies.” It is quite possible that a television or film company might realize that they can make a tremendous amount of money off of projects based on stories told through video tombstones, and since I have a patent on the invention, it is quite possible that a publishing company or an entertainment business company that might be interested in the book, “Cemetery of Lies,” might also be interested in acquiring the rights to the patent to help them promote the various projects that they might be planning around video tombstones.
In addition, companies in the funeral industry might also realize that while they might make reasonable profits from the video tombstone, they might also be able to make a fortune off of movies and TV projects based on stories told through video tombstones. It is quite possible that if funeral homes start producing videos for use in video tombstones, it may add a whole new meaning to the words "funeral director."
Cliff T.: Well it seems like you have a very unique way for people to remember their loved ones. However Mr. Barrows I have to ask has there ever been an occasion where you have had to tell a client that what they want to do is not feasible, if so what and why?
Robert Barrows: I have not yet manufactured one of these video tombstones. Once somebody orders one, I will be happy to start the process. It will work with off the shelf equipment, but it will cost a lot of money to manufacture, especially since it is “new.”
I am in the advertising business. Manufacturing tombstones is heavy industry and I hope to be able to find a company that is interested in acquiring the rights to manufacture the Video Enhanced Gravemarker.
With all the new advances in TV technology, I expect that people might also want to think about 3-D. Again, the Video Enhanced Gravemarker is designed to accommodate a wide variety of complex video equipment. The same design may also have many industrial uses for housing outdoor video equipment.
When I tell people that the price may start at about $25,000, that has been a limiting factor. Since prices for the video tombstone and prices for a wired cemetery plot, and prices for the actual video production and the perpetual care funds will also be a part of the equation, the initial commitment to a video tombstone will be very expensive. However, it is quite possible that as the demand for video tombstones increases, companies may start to mass manufacture video tombstones and bring the prices down to levels where they would be more attractive to a wider market.
Cliff T.: Do you go nationwide or is the marker just sold in California?
Robert Barrows: I hope to go worldwide with the Video Enhanced Gravemarker. Again, I am in the advertising and public relations business. Manufacturing tombstones is heavy industry.
Companies that would be interested in acquiring the rights to manufacture and market the Video Enhanced Gravemarker and publishers, producers and agents who would like to take a look at the manuscript for "Cemetery of Lies," can contact me at R.M. Barrows, Inc. Advertising & Public Relations in Burlingame, California at 650-344-1951. They can also email me at barrows@barrows.com
Cliff T.: Mr. Barrows, it has been a pleasure to have you join us in Candid Conversation. Thank you again for telling the readers of the blog more about the Video Enhanced Gravemarker.
Robert Barrows is the inventor of the Video Enhanced Gravemarker and is also the man behind the book Cemetery of Lies. Besides these two items, Mr. Barrows does advertising and PR work and has his own agency R. M. Barrows Inc. Located in California. You can visit his website http://www.barrows.com, for more info on the agency, book and also the grave marker.
Mr. Barrows wrote to us from his offices in Burlingame, California.
Cliff T.
Robert Barrows.: The Video Enhanced Gravemarker (U.S. Patent # 7,089,495) is a video tombstone that will be able to deliver lengthy video content, with smooth transmission, in high quality, just like your home video equipment.
It has been designed to accommodate a wide variety of complex electronic and computer equipment and it will be far superior to other video tombstones that can only deliver brief, slide show content or simple text messages.
Now you will be able to go to a cemetery, get or rent a remote control device from the cemetery office, and listen to whatever a person might have wanted to record for their video tombstone.
Audio can be delivered through speakers attached to the video tombstone. Audio can also be transmitted to wireless headsets, which you could also get or rent from the cemetery office.
Video tombstones will make cemeteries fascinating places to visit. Video tombstones will also change the way that history is told.
Cliff T.: Where did you get the idea for the Video Enhanced Gravemarker?
Robert Barrows: I came up with the idea from a few different directions.
1) In addition to doing advertising, I am also a sculptor. I work primarily in stone. When you are carving a rectangular block of stone, you can’t help but think that you are carving your own tombstone.
Since I also do a lot of TV commercials and spend a lot of time in TV studios, I realized that I could also hollow out part of a stone and put a TV in it
2) There is also a term called “tombstone advertising.” That term generally refers to the ads that big investment houses run when they make an announcement about a financial transaction in a newspaper.
The ads generally just have a lot of text in them about the terms of the transaction. When I first heard the term “tombstone advertising,” I thought "What’s that, a television ad on a tombstone?" That started me thinking about video tombstones.
3) There is another interesting connection…Wyatt Earp! I was watching a movie about Wyatt Earp and at the end of the credits, it said that the movie was based on the book “My Friend, Wyatt Earp” by Doc Holliday. When I went to the library to look for the book, I looked in the card catalog and there were about two hundred books about Wyatt Earp, none of which were by Doc Holliday, and none of which were by Wyatt Earp, but at the end of the card catalogue, there was a listing for the Video: Tombstone. Eureka! Video tombstone! And then I started thinking about designing a real video tombstone.
Cliff T.: What are the reactions you have gotten from people regarding the Video Enhanced Gravemarker?
Robert Barrows: Some people think it’s cool. Some people think it’s creepy. It’s both. But it will also be fascinating.
Imagine the things you might hear from all kinds of video tombstones in the same cemetery.
Who knows what kinds of things people might say from their video tombstones, and who knows who was doing what with whom? You might hear all kinds of stories, many of them intertwined.
They say that dead men tell no tales? Well, not anymore! Wait until you hear what they may be saying about you from one of those video tombstones? And will it be truth or lies?
That’s the premise of a book I wrote about stories told through video tombstones. The book is called “Cemetery of Lies.” It is a collection of intimate, secret confessions, as told from beyond the grave, through video tombstones.
The video tombstone will also create a whole new genre of storytelling, with all kinds of stories being told through video tombstones. It’s an ideal storytelling device for everything from horror stories to love stories and historical pieces.
Video tombstones will also create some fascinating free speech issues, because how can you control what someone might say from their video tombstone?
What if they confess to a crime or make an incrimination?
What if they say something that causes emotional stress?
What if they say something that’s true or untrue about you?
How can you pull the plug and whom can you sue?
Worse yet, how can you collect?
I fully expect that as soon as a cemetery tries to censor or ban the speech from a video tombstone, that the case might go all the way to the Supreme Court.
Also, people may say all kinds of things from their video tombstones. They might just say sweet things to loved ones. They might also say all the things that they never had the opportunity to say, nor never had the guts to say while they were alive.
And who knows what people are really thinking? Even the mildest amongst us may have the wildest thoughts we could never have even imagined, but one day we may be able to hear those thoughts from their video tombstone.
Video tombstones will change the way we look at life and death. When you start recording your own obituary while you are still alive, it forces you to look at things in many different ways.
Video tombstones will also cause some interesting changes in estate law. When you make out your will, you will have to declare whether you want or do not want a video tombstone, and if you yourself don't make the video for your video tombstone, you would have to decide who among your survivors may make a video for use in your tombstone and what they can or cannot say in that video. You could also designate a date at which the tombstone will go "live." You might want it to go "live" as soon as it is erected, or x amount of years after you die, or x amount of years after your spouse dies, depending on the kinds of things you might record for your video tombstone.
Cliff T.: As I mentioned Mr. Barrows, this is novel, I bet a lot of funeral directors and those who manage graveyards must raise eyebrows when they hear that the soon to be dearly departed want your product. How you pitch this to them?
Robert Barrows: When I speak to people in the funerary industry about video tombstones, I generally present the marketing potentials and revenue potentials regarding the video tombstones.
There are several major benefits of adding video tombstones to the memorial items they offer:
1) They will be able to get higher price points for these kinds of tombstones.
2) Cemeteries will be able to charge higher fees for plots that are designed for video tombstones. These sites will be wired for electricity. They may also have lighting around them to accommodate night viewing. They may also charge higher fees for security measures to protect the video tombstones.
3) There will also be income from perpetual care funds to replace the video equipment over time.
4) Funeral homes may also decide to get into the business of producing memorial videos. People may decide to spend a lot of money to produce high quality videos, and they may decide to record them over the course of many, many years.
5) The video tombstones will also be priced so that they will be profitable to the monument builder, the funeral home and the cemetery. Once the funeral industry takes a look at the potential increases in revenue, then they will be able to decide whether they want to offer video tombstones to their customers. Also, as customers start asking about them, and as time goes by, they will probably start becoming very well accepted.
6) Cemeteries may also set aside special sections of their cemetery to better accommodate video tombstones, and make it easier for visitors to view many video tombstones during the same visit to the cemetery.
When I do my projections on the potential market for video tombstones, I base them on the number of deaths. When I went to Google and searched for “How many people die in the United States everyday?” there was a figure (I think it was according to the National Association of Funeral Directors) of about 5300 deaths per day, just in the United States.
If just one tenth of one percent of the people who died wanted to have a video tombstone, that could result in sales of about five video tombstones per day.
At a profit of several thousand dollars from the video tombstone, plus revenues from sales of the perpetual care funds, companies in the funeral industry could make a lot of money from the video tombstone business, even if only one tenth of one percent of the people wanted them. Imagine if those percentages were even higher! Video tombstones could generate a tremendous amount of new revenue for companies in the funerary business.
Cliff T.: Now I know that people reading this are going to say eeew creepy, weird, morbid. What do you do to mitigate that, how do you make sure this does not come off as macabre?
Robert Barrows: It is weird. It is macabre, but it will also be fascinating. Imagine being able to go into a cemetery and listening to what some of your favorite celebrities might have to say from their video tombstone? And it’s not just celebrities. you never know what your relatives might have to say, or your friends and neighbors. The stories will be fascinating! Imagine if we could hear what people had to say about their lives in their own words! Imagine if we could go back through time and listen to video tombstones of everyone from people in the Bible and all throughout history. We could hear it in their own words, in their own inflection, from their own hearts and minds. We could listen to the real words of all kinds of heroes and villains! Imagine all the things we could learn!
And imagine the gossip it might create? Who knows what kind of juicy stories might be told from the tombstone next door?
Video tombstones will create all kinds of controversy and all kinds of curiosity. I am counting on that curiosity factor to help create a market for video tombstones and projects such as my book that are based on stories told through video tombstones.
I also expect that “Cemetery of Lies” will also be the premise for countless television and movie projects that will be based on stories told through video tombstones.
The video tombstone will help promote the book and the book will help promote the video tombstone. And there will always be fascinating news coverage when we can tune in to what people might say from their video tombstone. People might be able to say that their video tombstone will “go live’ on a particular date after their death, and there will be a lot of suspense as we tune in to see and hear what they might say.
Macabre? You bet it’s macabre, and macabre sells! Just look at all the horror movies that do giant box office.
Yessiree, there’s no business like show business, even from beyond the grave!
Cliff T.: Ok, so what is the typical thing that people ask you to do for their Video Enhanced Gravemarker?
Robert Barrows: People who have inquired are very straightforward in their requests.
One person was the son of a famous singer and he wanted to have a video tombstone to play his father’s recordings.
Another woman had a son who was a musician who died at the age of fifteen. She also wanted to put his videos and songs on a video tombstone.
Most of the questions have been questions about cost. Costs will vary since tombstones can be custom designed to any shape and size, and the video equipment
can also vary with the latest equipment available.
Cliff T.: How long are the messages, are there multiple ones a client can make and what format is the message recorded on?
Robert Barrows: Messages can be as much information as you can fit on a disk or other video playback device. Video can also be delivered by “cable” so the messages can be as lengthy as you want them.
The best way to record them would be to record them on what they call “broadcast quality” equipment. You can also record them on your home video equipment. As we go through time, and as video playback equipment evolves, the video content can be continually upgraded to newer media and newer equipment as technology advances.
When people go to a video tombstone, they would be able to use a remote control device to click on a menu of different stories, with replay, fast forward, etc.
The person making the videos can also leave instructions in their will as to what videos might play during what years, etc. They might say “don’t play a certain video until x number of years after their death”…or after the statute of limitations runs out on whatever things they might have done or said.
People will be able to set up their videos any way they want to, just like recording it for your own home video.
Cliff T.: Just as there are different styles of headstones there must also be different styles of your product, or is it a one size fits all?
Robert Barrows: The Video Enhanced Gravemarker can be custom designed. One of the keys to my patent is that the Video Enhanced Gravemarker features a hollowed out chamber with slanted walls and a curved floor so it can accommodate complex audio and video equipment.
Electronic equipment requires good ventilation. The electronic equipment will also produce heat. In a tombstone, the heat will also produce condensation.
The video tombstone I designed, The Video Enhanced Gravemarker, has an inner chamber that has been designed to mitigate the effects of condensation and provide good ventilation.
It would use weatherproofed video equipment, mounted on a platform above a curved floor.
The back of the tombstone would also have a locked door that can opened to give easy access to the chamber.
People can see the details of the patent by going to the United States Patent Office website. The patent number for the Video Enhanced Gravemarker is 7,089,495.
Cliff T.: for the Video Enhanced Gravemarker is there a cost scale or is there one set price and do you have packages that a client can get?
Robert Barrows: The prices will vary depending on the size and shape of the tombstone. If you go to a monument company today, you might see stone monuments that could accommodate a good sized TV screen that might cost about $5,000-$7,000 just for the stone itself.
Weatherproofed TVs, depending on the size of the screen and the range of temperature tolerances, might run anywhere from $4,000-$7,000 depending on the brand and features. Weatherproofed video players will add additional money to the
costs.
When you add the price of labor into the equation, and you plan it for a profit, the cost of a Video Enhanced Gravemarker might begin at about $25,000 and go up to much higher costs, depending on the requests of the customer and the video equipment available at that time.
In addition, there would be the cost of a perpetual care plan to provide for the upkeep and replacement of the electronic equipment.
I am currently looking for companies that would be interested in acquiring the rights to manufacture and market the Video Enhanced Gravemarker.
I am also looking for companies that would be interested in becoming suppliers of some of the materials and electronic equipment that can be housed in this video tombstone.
Those companies will be able to set the prices at the price points that make it reasonable for them to produce and sell the equipment.
I am also looking for a publisher for “Cemetery of Lies.” It is quite possible that a television or film company might realize that they can make a tremendous amount of money off of projects based on stories told through video tombstones, and since I have a patent on the invention, it is quite possible that a publishing company or an entertainment business company that might be interested in the book, “Cemetery of Lies,” might also be interested in acquiring the rights to the patent to help them promote the various projects that they might be planning around video tombstones.
In addition, companies in the funeral industry might also realize that while they might make reasonable profits from the video tombstone, they might also be able to make a fortune off of movies and TV projects based on stories told through video tombstones. It is quite possible that if funeral homes start producing videos for use in video tombstones, it may add a whole new meaning to the words "funeral director."
Cliff T.: Well it seems like you have a very unique way for people to remember their loved ones. However Mr. Barrows I have to ask has there ever been an occasion where you have had to tell a client that what they want to do is not feasible, if so what and why?
Robert Barrows: I have not yet manufactured one of these video tombstones. Once somebody orders one, I will be happy to start the process. It will work with off the shelf equipment, but it will cost a lot of money to manufacture, especially since it is “new.”
I am in the advertising business. Manufacturing tombstones is heavy industry and I hope to be able to find a company that is interested in acquiring the rights to manufacture the Video Enhanced Gravemarker.
With all the new advances in TV technology, I expect that people might also want to think about 3-D. Again, the Video Enhanced Gravemarker is designed to accommodate a wide variety of complex video equipment. The same design may also have many industrial uses for housing outdoor video equipment.
When I tell people that the price may start at about $25,000, that has been a limiting factor. Since prices for the video tombstone and prices for a wired cemetery plot, and prices for the actual video production and the perpetual care funds will also be a part of the equation, the initial commitment to a video tombstone will be very expensive. However, it is quite possible that as the demand for video tombstones increases, companies may start to mass manufacture video tombstones and bring the prices down to levels where they would be more attractive to a wider market.
Cliff T.: Do you go nationwide or is the marker just sold in California?
Robert Barrows: I hope to go worldwide with the Video Enhanced Gravemarker. Again, I am in the advertising and public relations business. Manufacturing tombstones is heavy industry.
Companies that would be interested in acquiring the rights to manufacture and market the Video Enhanced Gravemarker and publishers, producers and agents who would like to take a look at the manuscript for "Cemetery of Lies," can contact me at R.M. Barrows, Inc. Advertising & Public Relations in Burlingame, California at 650-344-1951. They can also email me at barrows@barrows.com
Cliff T.: Mr. Barrows, it has been a pleasure to have you join us in Candid Conversation. Thank you again for telling the readers of the blog more about the Video Enhanced Gravemarker.
Robert Barrows is the inventor of the Video Enhanced Gravemarker and is also the man behind the book Cemetery of Lies. Besides these two items, Mr. Barrows does advertising and PR work and has his own agency R. M. Barrows Inc. Located in California. You can visit his website http://www.barrows.com, for more info on the agency, book and also the grave marker.
Mr. Barrows wrote to us from his offices in Burlingame, California.
Cliff T.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Believe It Or Not It's A Candid Conversation With Tim O'Brien From Ripleys Believe It Or Not
The tag line, Over 90 years ago Robert Ripley embarked on a journey that would change our understanding of the world. Ripley's journey continues today in the world of the digital media via the web and as a Podcast or should I say, Oddcast. An On Demand Oddcast to be exact. Tim O'Brien, Marcie Pikel, Edward Meyer and Ralf with an f collectively bring stories from the unexpected, strange and bizarre world that is all around us. This very world that Robert Ripley himself explored is being visited again in the digital world. And it what world it is. I got in touch with Tim via email and asked him to join me in a Candid Conversation about this world and the Oddcast,Tim welcome to the world of Candid Conversations.
Tim O: Thanks Cliff. It’s nice to be on Candid Conversations. Hope my answers are candid enough for you!
Cliff T.: I have to say from the get go here that the theme to the Oddcast is amazing. It grabs the attention of the listener and draws them into your world from the first beat on. Of the show itself it is very entertaining. What led you to decide to create the show?
Tim O: Robert Ripley was a communications guru. He was on radio for 14 years in the 1930s and 40s, he produced and starred in newsreels and short features, he was the first person to do an overseas radio simulcast, the first to broadcast live from the middle of the ocean from a ship and the first to broadcast from under the water at Marine World. When TV came along, he had one of the first regularly scheduled weekly network TV shows. He left his radio show in 1947 and was a guest on several shows until his TV show started in Spring 1949. (He actually had a heart attack live on national TV on his 13th show and he died two days later.)
So it was only natural, as our communication team at Ripley’s started concentrating on ways to tell the Ripley story through the new social media methods that we create a new form radio show to go along with our other storytelling tools.
Cliff T.: The team on the show is very well put together, did you have a say in who you wanted or did you hold auditions for the other anchors of the show?
Cliff T.: I have the impression that is something all of you look forward to doing, that Oddcast is like a break in the day, a chance to get out of the office and play around in the world Ripley himself explored. Is that an accurate picture of what it is like for you and the team?
Tim O: We are quite mellow when we walk into the studio, it is fun. I like to gather the group together by yelling out that it’s time to play radio. However, there is a huge amount of preparation for the show that needs to be detailed greatly. For example, I need to line up guests, have a pre-interview with each guest, line up a time to interview them on tape, create subject matter for which to talk about, and then put together a detailed Run of Show schedule that lists all the music and different elements, all in order and timed out. Then I need to schedule studio time, oversee and participate in the recording and then afterward, edit and do post-production work and then make sure it gets uploaded correctly and that the press releases and show descriptions for Ripleyoddcast.com gets created and posted.
Cliff T.: How do you go about deciding what the topic of the show will be and how often do you post an Oddcast?
Tim O: We started out doing a weekly show and it was just too much for us at the beginning. Our first 26 shows were weekly then we started posting a show on the first and fifteenth of the month. We are changing the way we do things and in the process we are simplifying the process, so hopefully by February 2011 we will be able to go weekly again. I have been a Ripley’s fan for 40 years and was a journalist for 18 years covering the amusement park, circus, sideshow and carnival industries, so I am in the Ripley mold. I choose the topics for the shows that I want to know more about and interview the people I want to get to know better. And you know, my choices seem to be what our audiences want as well.
Cliff T.: Besides is this true, what questions do people ask you regarding the people and things you talk about on the show and at your various sites?
Tim O: The most common question I’m asked about the radio show right now is when are you going to go live so I can participate and be a part of the show? Unfortunately, that’s a ways off, at least until June or July 2011. Our group of four co-hosts live in three different cities and it would be a logistics nightmare to pull us together each week. However, with the technology we are looking at, we could do it live, but right now I’m concerned that our quality wouldn’t be as good as it is now.
Cliff T.: It would seem that what you are doing or trying to do is draw attention to a world where different is not so uncommon, that the so called weird and bizarre is not so weird after all but, rather unique and special. Is this the goal of Ripley Entertainment, to entertain and educate and maybe even dispel some myths and fears about the people and the things they have or do?
Tim O: The simple answer to that multi-level question is YES. Our goal for all of our attractions, as well as our books, is to entertain and to open a window that might not be otherwise opened to the rest of the world. I’ve had teachers and parents both tell me that our books were the reason their children or students got interested in reading. Some teachers use topics in our books as idea generators for class projects, research papers and speeches.
Curiosity is an amazing thing and it never seems to wane. People love to hear about and see things that are new and somewhat foreign to them, be it a full sized toothpick airplane or a portrait of Lady Gaga made out of candy. Our goal of course is to present such unbelievable truths that are so “out there” that our readers and listeners question the claims of being true!
Cliff T.: You have been at Ripley's for quite some time, I bet there is never a dull moment in your day. That said would you say that this is the dream job for you be?
Tim O: Above all, I enjoy opening my email each morning. You wouldn’t believe some of the bizarre correspondence I receive! Yes, being the VP of communications for Ripley is great. It’s my second career, after being a journalist for the first 35 years of my professional life. It was a natural move for me to go into being the corporate spokesperson and voice of Ripley, following my years of dealing with the media as a journalist. Yes, it’s the latest phase of the “perfect” career path that I am on.
Cliff T.: How did you get to Ripley Entertainment, did you pursue a career with them or did they contact you and ask you to join them?
Tim O: As I said before, I was a senior editor for the trade weekly publication Amusement Business for 18 years and covered attractions such as Ripley’s. I knew the people at Ripley’s quite well and had written dozens of stories about this amazing company. I often kidded that the only place I would want to work if I left Amusement Business would be Ripley’s. So when I was ready to cross over from journalism into publicity, I made that phone call.
Cliff T.: For something, or someone to draw your attention there must be some criteria. What are the key things that you look for in people and things in your world and are there times you say sorry this does not fit our genre?
Tim O: Foremost it has to be real and genuine. In keeping with Robert Ripley’s mantra of “This is REAL, and YOU can believe it or not!”, we verify everything we say, write or display to make sure it is real. Of course it also has to be somewhat bizarre, unusual, weird and/or unbelievable, and we try to present things that are so strange (and true) that people immediately think we are liars! And are quick to say “I don’t believe it!” We like to hear that.
Cliff T.: Besides the Oddcast what else does Ripley Entertainment do?
Tim O: We are a huge company with 85 attractions in 11 countries. We have 12 different brands among those 85 attractions including Believe It or Not!. Guinness World Records Museums, Ripley Aquariums, Marvelous Mirror Mazes, Ripley’s Haunted Adventures and Ripley’s Moving Theaters. In addition to all that, we still sell more than a million books each year, license our TV show worldwide and the cartoon that started it all 92 years ago, Ripley’s Believe It or Not! still runs in nearly 200 newspapers in 42 countries. I am honored to be the editor of that cartoon, the oldest running cartoon panel in the world.
Cliff T: You touched briefly on your careers at Amusement Business and Ripley Entertainment, what else have you done and where did you go to college?
Tim O: I am a proud graduate of The Ohio State University. I received an undergrad degree there in journalism/radio-tv, and two Masters Degrees, in Broadcast Journalism and in film production. I got interested in photography while still in grade school and was the official high school photographer and I ended up being a wedding photographer to put myself through college. I shot exactly 500 weddings in six years! (and happily to report, none since!) I also worked as a photographer for the OSU Athletic Department, mostly for the football games. I worked the midnight to 6 a.m. shift at a popular radio station for several years as well.
I have loved being a photo-journalist and have based my entire career on photography and other forms of communications. I have had more than 5,000 different articles published and more than 3,000 photos published during my career. I have also written and had published 13 books and have been on countless documentaries about theme parks, Walt Disney parks, and roadside attractions. Also I’m happy to point out that, as a hobby and as part of my journalistic career at Amusement Business, I have ridden nearly 500 different roller coasters in 27 different countries.
Everything that I have done has seemed to prepare me for my next big adventure, and all of my skills and experiences have certainly helped me promote and represent Ripley’s Believe It or Not! I am truly blessed!
Cliff T.: Tim it sounds like a great place to work for and you and the team all sound like you have a real blast doing the show and being a part of Ripley Entertainment. Thanks so much for taking part in Candid Conversations. Tim O'Brien is the producer of Ripley Radio an On Demand Oddcast and VP of Communications for Ripley Inc. He is joined in studio by Ralf with an f Director of Ghost Tours in St. Augustine Fl. Edward Meyer VP Exhibits and Attractions Ripley Entertainment and Marcie Pikel Manager Marketing and Promotions Services at Ripley Entertainment inc.
For more on the Oddcast visit http://www.ripleyoddcast.com Tim wrote to Candid Conversations from somewhere in cyberspace.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
A Dream And A Space = Brainspace.me And A Candid Conversation With Dr. Andrew Nelson
Years ago I watched the Never Ending Story. The premise of the film was about keeping our dreams and stories alive and that without stories and dreams our world would be a not so pretty place. This was back in the 80s jump to today and we have the internet and there are lots of places on the net where people tell stories espouse ideas and showcase achievements. Social networking has and continues to create vast amounts of data and brings out some of the most creative ideas imaginable. One site authored by Dr. Andrew Nelson is being built with the idea to become a focal point for bringing together ideas dreams and stories together and then putting them into action. Brainspace.me is set to launch at the end of this month and to talk more about the idea behind the project I contacted it's creator Dr. Andrew Nelson.
Cliff T.: Dr. Nelson thank you for writing back to Candid Conversations. Can you explain what Brainspace is about?
Dr. Nelson: Hi Cliff, thanks for your interest in the project. Brainspace.me is essentially aimed at providing a personal space for people to think and create and record their own thoughts, ideas, life stories and dreams. It occurred to us that many of the social networking spaces rely heavily on people interacting with others in short twitter like grabs, rather than providing a space just for yourself to play and think and develop your ideas. As you say, story telling and the ability to share stories is a core part of how we all learn from each other. The Brainspace.me site seeks to provide a unique and private place to develop and record your thoughts and then to make some of them available to other members or even the general public. Combined with some really unique tools to help you link and explore your own musings and make connections to other peoples thoughts, it will provide a way to connect with other people based on a thought or idea rather than just an overly used and often abused friends list!
Brainspace.me has two distinct parts, the Personal Journal space mentioned above and the World Compendia of thoughts, ideas, stories and dreams. The Compendia provides a space to store the best of the information you have developed in the personal space. It is designed to provide a central database where we can record and share our personal stories, ideas and thoughts. A registry if you like, a central place where we can all share the benefits of each others knowledge and ideas. It is not a blog space, or a forum, rather it is a place for people to store their knowledge and ideas for others to explore interactively online or for research or educational or news bodies to have access to information in a database format. Of course we have designed it to strictly protect the privacy of contributors while giving them a place to record date, location and contact details. it’s a free space, but a secure place.
Cliff T.: there are many outlets for people to go to to express ideas dreams and stories, what are you going to do with this portal to get your head above the crowd, so to speak?
Dr. Nelson: Yes, it’s a crowded space already. The major difference with the Brainspace.me project is that it is all about you! We provide the space to play and explore your own mind and then to choose what you wish to share with others. We see it as a place where you visit every day, like a diary or personal journal, a place where you can make direct links to all your other web activities. It is designed to act like a hub which provides space to add notes and links to other sites like Facebook, or Twitter or YouTube or your favorite blogs. We provide the tools like an online word processor where you can add pictures or video clips or text.
You can essentially make and post your own web pages with its own URL link if you like and show them off to others using all the rich media available today on the net. We think we have simplified the process of putting information together in a form that uses the best of the web tools.
Apart from the many writing tools on Brainspace.me you can also use it to record a series of bookmarks on a topic, make notes on them and store them for later use. You can make links between one thought or idea and another and then explore them interactively, thereby creating over time a personal web of connections that can consist of just text or media and links to other sites or other peoples thoughts. We found that most of the other blog site software and social networking sites make you conform to their way of interacting.
On Brainspace.me. you are fully in control of the space, of what you record on whatever topic and what you choose to share. You can turn the public view on or off at any time. It is a private personal space just for you, but it is also a powerful public space that allows you to control what you share.
Cliff T.: Do you anticipate or want to find the next Albert Einstein or someone akin to that or is this site designed to bring out the extraordinary in the ordinary?
Dr. Nelson: Well, rather than the next Einstein, I think we hope to find or uncover unique possible solutions to problems or issues that we all face, whether they be social, community, personal, political or technological. To use our catch phrase “We believe, every person has at least one idea, story, wish or dream that could change the world” Too many good ideas or valuable personal stories are lost in the great web void, buried in a blog or forum post never to be seen again and often buried with comment threads that go way off topic. We know we will get a lot of junk, that’s the nature of the web, but we also know that true gems and pearls are waiting to be revealed and shared. That is our mission, that is the core reason for providing this space.
Cliff T.: What kinds of things are you looking for from people or to put it another way what do you expect to find as you compile data in the compendiums on Brainspace.me?
Dr. Nelson: The personal journal space is private and protected, so what you choose to store there or how you choose to use it is entirely up to the individual. What you choose to share with others is also entirely up to the users. But, using our unique interactive key links you will be able to explore, both your own minds thoughts and others too if they link with you. I expect to see and read and explore some exciting journeys and thought threads that will lead to many ideas I would not normally associate together. If used on mass it has the potential to create a completely new way of searching on the web, a search by connected association, not a replacement to traditional searches but a powerful extra tool that simply does not exist today.
The World Compendia is rather more easy to predict. The 4 databases suggest the type of material we will accept in each category. Thoughts, Ideas, Stories, Dreams. The last one being quite unique, in that it will only accept actual dreams you have had. Why? We found there is no place that forms a human dream record, no place where people can record the content, symbols, date and locations associated with a dream experience. You may think, who cares? But it occurred to us that without such a database, it is impossible to see commonalities or connections or synchronicities between what each person dreams and when. A dream map of the human subconscious if you like. It may hold only limited value to a few dream researchers, but, when you think that every person dreams and that some dreams leave a lasting impact, it seemed obvious to us that this part of the human subconscious and imagination needed a place to be recorded.
In regard to the other areas. Thoughts is a place to express yourself, a place to have your say on almost any topic. Ideas, is a section to place more well thought out concepts, a new plan or method or invention that solves or addresses a problem or issue, a better way of doing something.
Stories, is a place to record your own personal experiences that you think may be of benefit to others. This is my favorite, as I think, in this modern age of controlled and filtered media fed to us in short bites, we too often miss out on hearing so many personal accounts. Sure there are blogs, but many people have just one of two stories to share and making their own blog is too much time and effort. Passing on information in the form of personal experiences or short accounts is fundamental to human society and personal development. Mass media has to some extent robbed us of personal diversity, tending to put everything into its own box.. like the news stations, ‘the good news story for the day’ ‘the sports section’ the ‘local’ or ‘world’ news sections as if that is all there is. Many stories do not fit to mould, or cross several categories and never make it to our eyes. This part of the Compendia will thrive by its diversity. It will provide a place for journalists to seek new stories and for users to read others accounts and post their own. A very powerful space indeed and of great benefit to us all.
Cliff T.: Dr. Nelson some might say you are searching for utopia in a world that is not so utopian, what is your thoughts about that?
Dr. Nelson: Hahaha, yes I’m a utopian to the core! I do not stand back from that label, save with one caveat. The Only ideas that succeed are the ones which have at least one foot planted firmly in common understanding, acceptance and practicality. Brainspace.me may seem utopian, but it has a highly practical base. A personal journal is a well and long understood concept, the desire to record and share information is core to our nature, witness all the forums and blogs etc… Brainspace.me is about making that process easier, more accessible. Once you see the simplicity and power of having your own space, with virtually no learning curve, a place where within seconds you can start recording or exploring an idea. A place that doesn’t take away from your usual activities, a place that actually adds to and enhances them, then you will see that Utopian ideas can have pragmatic outcomes, they can be a goal with practical results, not just an ultimate illusory destination.
Cliff T.: Overall what kind of reaction have you been getting to the project?
Dr. Nelson: Well, I can’t say we have had anything but good feedback so far. I think some of the positive reasons we have heard about are because it is providing a ‘cloud’ space accessible from any web capable device that is available 24/7 ie that you don’t need to be on your own computer to access all your personal information. Also that it is designed as a personal space first and foremost, and ironically, many people have said they are tired of being thrust into people’s ‘friends lists’, that they would prefer to have a private space where they could interact on their own and not expose themselves to everyone on their friends list but still have the options of sharing parts of their Brainspace with others.
Cliff T.: What prompted you to build the site?
Dr. Nelson: I have worked in the industry since it began way back in the late eighties, I developed 3d media and interactive techniques and when the web came online and was accepted by the public, like many people, my consultancy requests also changed. I spent a lot of my time writing course structures and lecturing at Universities in interactive digital media and effects, through all that time I saw many sites like Live Journal, MySpace and Facebook develop. While interested in the phenomenal growth of these type of social networking sites, I was always left thinking that the friends aspect tended to dominate, rather than the actual content. Of course this can have many positive benefits, but there are many negative ones too, rather than be a personal space, it becomes a very public and exposed space. I wanted to create the reverse, a safe place, where information could be shared or not and a place that didn’t rely on you having hundreds of so called ‘friends’ to make it seem successful or worthy of your time and efforts.
On top of this, being a medical doctor, having also been involved in media and teaching, having made documentaries and been involved with the film and tv business, I saw that so many ideas and stories never see the light of day. I wanted to change that, I wanted to create a way to make the story or idea the core to why people connected or interacted with each other rather than an often superficial ‘friends list’. We thrive by our ideas and thought and stories. I thought it was time to create a more intelligent space for social networking and interaction on the net.
Cliff T.: Besides adding to the data base what other things will users be able to do on Brainspace.me?
Dr. Nelson: Ah, we have fantastic plans! The new key linking search and explore facility is prime to the tools currently being developed. The beta release is set for the end of this month. We will be allowing users to come in and try out the basic facilities and features and to give us feedback on what they like and what they don’t etc…. These sort of sites are always ‘a work in progress’ . The key linking will allow you to link one aspect or record to another and provide an easy navigation facility to explore those connections, a bit like a browser for your mind! It will also allow you to link to other peoples records(minds), if they chose to make them viewable to members or the public.
Another exciting part of the project is a 3D virtual reality simulator space, that will allow members to log in and get access to their own records in a 3D space, to meet with others there and share their material. I’m hoping this space will provide a 3D world island where the World Compendia could be accessible as if being in a real world library. We have this currently under development and it will only be available to members. This may not appeal to everyone but, it adds a unique aspect and way of people interacting around the world in a common environment. We are hoping this will form the core to the social networking aspects of the project. Rather than meeting friends through text boxes, you will be able to meet up in full 3D with full voice and text chat facilities.
Cliff T.: Dr. Nelson can you give us a bit of a history behind this project?
Dr. Nelson: The project started in 2009. It is privately funded at this stage. I took off time from my lecturing and media consultancy business to devote to getting this project off the ground. We are aiming to keep it free for users if we can and have spent a lot of our time looking for potential funding sources to complete the build and keep it going. This is not at all easy and costs can escalate very quickly when traffic and use gets high. We are at the point now where we need investors, partners and supporters to become involved to allow it to proceed in the way it deserves. The project is designed as a true benefit to the world community and as such it will only succeed if it gains popular support.
My own involvement will continue as long as I can afford to spend the time. The project has actually been in very slow development since I wrote some personal journal software back in the early nineties that uses the key linking system. I designed that package called ‘The Seed’ for my patients to use, as a means of them recording their symptoms, thoughts, feelings and even dreams. The idea being to provide a record that could be shared with the doctor. The rise of the internet kind of superseded the old interactive CD concept and I had long wanted to re invent a new version for the web. Due to other work commitments it was only possible to find the time in the past year.
Cliff T.:I noticed that you also have a book called the Nelson Dream Base, is the project an extension of this work?
Dr. Nelson: Direct links: (if you want to link them to the sites mentioned below)
Amazon
Smashwords
Facebook app page
Brainspace
Contact: admin@brainspace.me
Yes, the ebook available on Amazon or through Smashwords has the current compilation of dream words and meanings assembled for use in the online interactive dreamers dictionary on the site. I compiled the dictionary over the last 10 or 15 years and it is updated every so often. It is not designed to tell the direct meaning of people’s dreams, rather it is designed to show common interpretations for certain actions and symbols in dreams. Dream dictionaries have gone out of favor in general psychology but, I felt a need to at least publish some of the commonly used terms and possible associations, its aim is simply to provoke thought in order to help you to find your own meanings rather than to give one distinct meaning. It’s entries are taken from widely diverse views from Jung, Freud, Pagan, etc… We have published it simply to provide some small financial support for the site and its operations.
Cliff T.: Dr. Nelson I appreciate the fact that you took the time to speak with me today. I wish you the best as you continue to build on the Brainspace.me project, when do you plan to have the site fully launched?
Dr. Nelson: Thanks for your interest Cliff, we greatly appreciate it. The beta release is due end of October. We will be accepting people to join as members and to start using the facilities while we upgrade the site over the next 6 months. We welcome people to come and get involved and to help us improve it, also to help us get the word out. The net is a very big place these days and it’s hard without massive funding to get a site noticed by the masses. There is a Facebook app and page too, Every bit helps. I hope that your excellent personal interview blog will begin to find many people from Brainspace.me worthy of interview too in the future. We all have a story to tell for anyone with ears to listen. The world is not made of leaders and stars, it’s made of all the experiences of people with a story to tell. Let’s share our Brainspace!
Cliff T.: Excellent again best of success to you and the site and again thank you for stopping in to chat on Candid Conversations.
Dr. Andrew Nelson is the creator of Brainspace.me a comprehensive data base and free site where people can share stories dreams and ideas. The site will launch at the end of October. Dr. Nelson has also authored the Nelson Dream Base. He wrote to Candid Conversations from somewhere in cyberspace.
C. T.
Cliff T.: Dr. Nelson thank you for writing back to Candid Conversations. Can you explain what Brainspace is about?
Dr. Nelson: Hi Cliff, thanks for your interest in the project. Brainspace.me is essentially aimed at providing a personal space for people to think and create and record their own thoughts, ideas, life stories and dreams. It occurred to us that many of the social networking spaces rely heavily on people interacting with others in short twitter like grabs, rather than providing a space just for yourself to play and think and develop your ideas. As you say, story telling and the ability to share stories is a core part of how we all learn from each other. The Brainspace.me site seeks to provide a unique and private place to develop and record your thoughts and then to make some of them available to other members or even the general public. Combined with some really unique tools to help you link and explore your own musings and make connections to other peoples thoughts, it will provide a way to connect with other people based on a thought or idea rather than just an overly used and often abused friends list!
Brainspace.me has two distinct parts, the Personal Journal space mentioned above and the World Compendia of thoughts, ideas, stories and dreams. The Compendia provides a space to store the best of the information you have developed in the personal space. It is designed to provide a central database where we can record and share our personal stories, ideas and thoughts. A registry if you like, a central place where we can all share the benefits of each others knowledge and ideas. It is not a blog space, or a forum, rather it is a place for people to store their knowledge and ideas for others to explore interactively online or for research or educational or news bodies to have access to information in a database format. Of course we have designed it to strictly protect the privacy of contributors while giving them a place to record date, location and contact details. it’s a free space, but a secure place.
Cliff T.: there are many outlets for people to go to to express ideas dreams and stories, what are you going to do with this portal to get your head above the crowd, so to speak?
Dr. Nelson: Yes, it’s a crowded space already. The major difference with the Brainspace.me project is that it is all about you! We provide the space to play and explore your own mind and then to choose what you wish to share with others. We see it as a place where you visit every day, like a diary or personal journal, a place where you can make direct links to all your other web activities. It is designed to act like a hub which provides space to add notes and links to other sites like Facebook, or Twitter or YouTube or your favorite blogs. We provide the tools like an online word processor where you can add pictures or video clips or text.
You can essentially make and post your own web pages with its own URL link if you like and show them off to others using all the rich media available today on the net. We think we have simplified the process of putting information together in a form that uses the best of the web tools.
Apart from the many writing tools on Brainspace.me you can also use it to record a series of bookmarks on a topic, make notes on them and store them for later use. You can make links between one thought or idea and another and then explore them interactively, thereby creating over time a personal web of connections that can consist of just text or media and links to other sites or other peoples thoughts. We found that most of the other blog site software and social networking sites make you conform to their way of interacting.
On Brainspace.me. you are fully in control of the space, of what you record on whatever topic and what you choose to share. You can turn the public view on or off at any time. It is a private personal space just for you, but it is also a powerful public space that allows you to control what you share.
Cliff T.: Do you anticipate or want to find the next Albert Einstein or someone akin to that or is this site designed to bring out the extraordinary in the ordinary?
Dr. Nelson: Well, rather than the next Einstein, I think we hope to find or uncover unique possible solutions to problems or issues that we all face, whether they be social, community, personal, political or technological. To use our catch phrase “We believe, every person has at least one idea, story, wish or dream that could change the world” Too many good ideas or valuable personal stories are lost in the great web void, buried in a blog or forum post never to be seen again and often buried with comment threads that go way off topic. We know we will get a lot of junk, that’s the nature of the web, but we also know that true gems and pearls are waiting to be revealed and shared. That is our mission, that is the core reason for providing this space.
Cliff T.: What kinds of things are you looking for from people or to put it another way what do you expect to find as you compile data in the compendiums on Brainspace.me?
Dr. Nelson: The personal journal space is private and protected, so what you choose to store there or how you choose to use it is entirely up to the individual. What you choose to share with others is also entirely up to the users. But, using our unique interactive key links you will be able to explore, both your own minds thoughts and others too if they link with you. I expect to see and read and explore some exciting journeys and thought threads that will lead to many ideas I would not normally associate together. If used on mass it has the potential to create a completely new way of searching on the web, a search by connected association, not a replacement to traditional searches but a powerful extra tool that simply does not exist today.
The World Compendia is rather more easy to predict. The 4 databases suggest the type of material we will accept in each category. Thoughts, Ideas, Stories, Dreams. The last one being quite unique, in that it will only accept actual dreams you have had. Why? We found there is no place that forms a human dream record, no place where people can record the content, symbols, date and locations associated with a dream experience. You may think, who cares? But it occurred to us that without such a database, it is impossible to see commonalities or connections or synchronicities between what each person dreams and when. A dream map of the human subconscious if you like. It may hold only limited value to a few dream researchers, but, when you think that every person dreams and that some dreams leave a lasting impact, it seemed obvious to us that this part of the human subconscious and imagination needed a place to be recorded.
In regard to the other areas. Thoughts is a place to express yourself, a place to have your say on almost any topic. Ideas, is a section to place more well thought out concepts, a new plan or method or invention that solves or addresses a problem or issue, a better way of doing something.
Stories, is a place to record your own personal experiences that you think may be of benefit to others. This is my favorite, as I think, in this modern age of controlled and filtered media fed to us in short bites, we too often miss out on hearing so many personal accounts. Sure there are blogs, but many people have just one of two stories to share and making their own blog is too much time and effort. Passing on information in the form of personal experiences or short accounts is fundamental to human society and personal development. Mass media has to some extent robbed us of personal diversity, tending to put everything into its own box.. like the news stations, ‘the good news story for the day’ ‘the sports section’ the ‘local’ or ‘world’ news sections as if that is all there is. Many stories do not fit to mould, or cross several categories and never make it to our eyes. This part of the Compendia will thrive by its diversity. It will provide a place for journalists to seek new stories and for users to read others accounts and post their own. A very powerful space indeed and of great benefit to us all.
Cliff T.: Dr. Nelson some might say you are searching for utopia in a world that is not so utopian, what is your thoughts about that?
Dr. Nelson: Hahaha, yes I’m a utopian to the core! I do not stand back from that label, save with one caveat. The Only ideas that succeed are the ones which have at least one foot planted firmly in common understanding, acceptance and practicality. Brainspace.me may seem utopian, but it has a highly practical base. A personal journal is a well and long understood concept, the desire to record and share information is core to our nature, witness all the forums and blogs etc… Brainspace.me is about making that process easier, more accessible. Once you see the simplicity and power of having your own space, with virtually no learning curve, a place where within seconds you can start recording or exploring an idea. A place that doesn’t take away from your usual activities, a place that actually adds to and enhances them, then you will see that Utopian ideas can have pragmatic outcomes, they can be a goal with practical results, not just an ultimate illusory destination.
Cliff T.: Overall what kind of reaction have you been getting to the project?
Dr. Nelson: Well, I can’t say we have had anything but good feedback so far. I think some of the positive reasons we have heard about are because it is providing a ‘cloud’ space accessible from any web capable device that is available 24/7 ie that you don’t need to be on your own computer to access all your personal information. Also that it is designed as a personal space first and foremost, and ironically, many people have said they are tired of being thrust into people’s ‘friends lists’, that they would prefer to have a private space where they could interact on their own and not expose themselves to everyone on their friends list but still have the options of sharing parts of their Brainspace with others.
Cliff T.: What prompted you to build the site?
Dr. Nelson: I have worked in the industry since it began way back in the late eighties, I developed 3d media and interactive techniques and when the web came online and was accepted by the public, like many people, my consultancy requests also changed. I spent a lot of my time writing course structures and lecturing at Universities in interactive digital media and effects, through all that time I saw many sites like Live Journal, MySpace and Facebook develop. While interested in the phenomenal growth of these type of social networking sites, I was always left thinking that the friends aspect tended to dominate, rather than the actual content. Of course this can have many positive benefits, but there are many negative ones too, rather than be a personal space, it becomes a very public and exposed space. I wanted to create the reverse, a safe place, where information could be shared or not and a place that didn’t rely on you having hundreds of so called ‘friends’ to make it seem successful or worthy of your time and efforts.
On top of this, being a medical doctor, having also been involved in media and teaching, having made documentaries and been involved with the film and tv business, I saw that so many ideas and stories never see the light of day. I wanted to change that, I wanted to create a way to make the story or idea the core to why people connected or interacted with each other rather than an often superficial ‘friends list’. We thrive by our ideas and thought and stories. I thought it was time to create a more intelligent space for social networking and interaction on the net.
Cliff T.: Besides adding to the data base what other things will users be able to do on Brainspace.me?
Dr. Nelson: Ah, we have fantastic plans! The new key linking search and explore facility is prime to the tools currently being developed. The beta release is set for the end of this month. We will be allowing users to come in and try out the basic facilities and features and to give us feedback on what they like and what they don’t etc…. These sort of sites are always ‘a work in progress’ . The key linking will allow you to link one aspect or record to another and provide an easy navigation facility to explore those connections, a bit like a browser for your mind! It will also allow you to link to other peoples records(minds), if they chose to make them viewable to members or the public.
Another exciting part of the project is a 3D virtual reality simulator space, that will allow members to log in and get access to their own records in a 3D space, to meet with others there and share their material. I’m hoping this space will provide a 3D world island where the World Compendia could be accessible as if being in a real world library. We have this currently under development and it will only be available to members. This may not appeal to everyone but, it adds a unique aspect and way of people interacting around the world in a common environment. We are hoping this will form the core to the social networking aspects of the project. Rather than meeting friends through text boxes, you will be able to meet up in full 3D with full voice and text chat facilities.
Cliff T.: Dr. Nelson can you give us a bit of a history behind this project?
Dr. Nelson: The project started in 2009. It is privately funded at this stage. I took off time from my lecturing and media consultancy business to devote to getting this project off the ground. We are aiming to keep it free for users if we can and have spent a lot of our time looking for potential funding sources to complete the build and keep it going. This is not at all easy and costs can escalate very quickly when traffic and use gets high. We are at the point now where we need investors, partners and supporters to become involved to allow it to proceed in the way it deserves. The project is designed as a true benefit to the world community and as such it will only succeed if it gains popular support.
My own involvement will continue as long as I can afford to spend the time. The project has actually been in very slow development since I wrote some personal journal software back in the early nineties that uses the key linking system. I designed that package called ‘The Seed’ for my patients to use, as a means of them recording their symptoms, thoughts, feelings and even dreams. The idea being to provide a record that could be shared with the doctor. The rise of the internet kind of superseded the old interactive CD concept and I had long wanted to re invent a new version for the web. Due to other work commitments it was only possible to find the time in the past year.
Cliff T.:I noticed that you also have a book called the Nelson Dream Base, is the project an extension of this work?
Dr. Nelson: Direct links: (if you want to link them to the sites mentioned below)
Amazon
Smashwords
Facebook app page
Brainspace
Contact: admin@brainspace.me
Yes, the ebook available on Amazon or through Smashwords has the current compilation of dream words and meanings assembled for use in the online interactive dreamers dictionary on the site. I compiled the dictionary over the last 10 or 15 years and it is updated every so often. It is not designed to tell the direct meaning of people’s dreams, rather it is designed to show common interpretations for certain actions and symbols in dreams. Dream dictionaries have gone out of favor in general psychology but, I felt a need to at least publish some of the commonly used terms and possible associations, its aim is simply to provoke thought in order to help you to find your own meanings rather than to give one distinct meaning. It’s entries are taken from widely diverse views from Jung, Freud, Pagan, etc… We have published it simply to provide some small financial support for the site and its operations.
Cliff T.: Dr. Nelson I appreciate the fact that you took the time to speak with me today. I wish you the best as you continue to build on the Brainspace.me project, when do you plan to have the site fully launched?
Dr. Nelson: Thanks for your interest Cliff, we greatly appreciate it. The beta release is due end of October. We will be accepting people to join as members and to start using the facilities while we upgrade the site over the next 6 months. We welcome people to come and get involved and to help us improve it, also to help us get the word out. The net is a very big place these days and it’s hard without massive funding to get a site noticed by the masses. There is a Facebook app and page too, Every bit helps. I hope that your excellent personal interview blog will begin to find many people from Brainspace.me worthy of interview too in the future. We all have a story to tell for anyone with ears to listen. The world is not made of leaders and stars, it’s made of all the experiences of people with a story to tell. Let’s share our Brainspace!
Cliff T.: Excellent again best of success to you and the site and again thank you for stopping in to chat on Candid Conversations.
Dr. Andrew Nelson is the creator of Brainspace.me a comprehensive data base and free site where people can share stories dreams and ideas. The site will launch at the end of October. Dr. Nelson has also authored the Nelson Dream Base. He wrote to Candid Conversations from somewhere in cyberspace.
C. T.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
A Serious Candid Conversation With Howard Sapers
For 35 years the Office of the Correctional Investigator Canada has been the voice if you will for those seeking to file complaints within the correctional system in Canada. The voice is of the offender and besides dealing with this the Ombudsman also looks at the processes that Correctional Service Canada uses to handle inmates and makes recommendations on them to improve the service.
In recent times the office has garnered media attention especially in the light of the death of Ashley Smith in 2007. Howard Sapers is the Correctional Investigator for Canada a role that puts him in the middle of what could be considered a tug of war between the inmates and the jailers. Mr Sapers welcome to Candid Conversations.
H Sapers: “Thank you very much for the invitation. It is indeed a pleasure.”
Cliff T.: I characterize what you do as being in the middle of a tug of war between the inmates and the jailers, would that be an accurate lay description?
H Sapers: “My Office is independent of the Correctional Service and my mandate is to conduct investigations into the problems of offenders related to decisions, acts or omissions of the CSC that affect offenders either individually or as a group.
I would not necessarily characterize the relationship between my Office and the Correctional Service of Canada as a ‘tug of war.’ In fact, we both share a common and mutual goal – safe, secure and humane custody of federally sentenced offenders.
We may not always agree on certain points, but ultimately the relationship between an Ombudsman’s office and the agency it oversees must be built on professionalism, integrity and trust. Both organizations have an interest in assisting offenders to lead a responsible and law-abiding life.
Our investigations promote the safe and humane custody and supervision of offenders in accordance with the law. As a partner in the criminal justice system we help to ensure the safe and effective reintegration of offenders into the community, contributing to public safety.”
Cliff T.: What is the range of complaints that you receive from inmates?
H Sapers: On an annual basis, my Office receives anywhere between 5,000 and 7,000 offender complaints. In FY 2009-10, the top 10 areas of concern most frequently identified by offenders were:
Cliff T.: Besides complaints from the inmates, do you ever get any from the families of inmates and or the general public and what about corrections staff can they file a complaint to you?
H Sapers: “Yes, we frequently have family members of offenders contact our Office. Often the nature of a family member contact with my Office is to seek information or clarification about an issue, event or concern affecting their son or daughter or loved one. A family member may ask our Office to intervene on their behalf, but in order to do so we must have the consent of the offender in order to pursue the matter further.
Correctional Service of Canada personnel do not file a complaint with my Office. The CSC and the unions representing its staff deal with employee issues.”
Cliff T.: How are complaints prioritized and do any just get sent back without any investigation at all?
H Sapers: “Our goal is to ensure that all offender complaints are objectively and fairly addressed in a timely manner. Like most Ombudsman, we encourage complainants to resolve their matters informally, at the lowest levels possible. In the case of federal offenders, we encourage them to attempt to resolve their concerns through the inmate complaints and grievance process, although this is not a prerequisite to our initiating an investigation. The vast majority of the concerns raised on complaints by inmates are addressed by this Office at the institutional level through discussion and negotiation.
Offenders can contact my Office by toll-free phone, by letter or by meeting one of my Investigators assigned to federal facilities. Calls of an urgent or emergency nature – e.g. life-threatening situation, involuntary segregation, medical emergency or involuntary transfer – are responded to on a priority basis.
Not all complaints proceed to an investigation. We are not advocates for offenders or the prison system. We investigate from an impartial perspective and, if we decide a complaint has merit, we will support the offender in achieving resolution of the problem. In other words, my Office has full discretion as to whether an investigation will be conducted in relation to any particular complaint or request and how that investigation will be carried out.”
Cliff T.:Mr. Sapers I have to imagine that some prisoners are afraid to speak up for fear of reprisals by staff, how does your team deal with that fear?
H Sapers: “The law is very clear on this point – ‘every offender shall have complete access to the offender grievance procedure without negative consequences.’
In our case, all communications between offenders and my Office is confidential. All correspondence to and from the Office is to be delivered unopened. A person or group cannot be disciplined or punished because they have contacted my Office.”
Cliff T.: It can also be said that staff at an institution or an inmate may not be completely honest about what really happened, are there tools you have to aid you and your team to sort it out and figure out what really went on?
H Sapers: “My team of Investigators has access to all information and documents that are in the possession of the Correctional Service for the purpose of carrying out an investigation. My staff can interview or communicate with any member of the CSC. We have full and unfettered access to CSC facilities. Through corroborating interviews, accessing and reviewing pertinent information, evidence and documentation, we can usually make a determination based on the facts and merits of the case before us.”
Cliff T.: There many in our society who feel and voice the opinion that prisoners don't matter in our society some just want to have Corrections Canada lock the cell door and toss the key away, what is your take on this mentality?
H Sapers: “We have to remember that the vast majority of offenders will eventually be released from prison back to the community. We have a better chance of releasing a responsible and law-abiding person if s/he is treated fairly, with dignity and respect while serving their sentence. Corrections involves balancing the interests and rights of all members of society, including those of offenders.
I happen to believe that how we treat those in prison can tell us a lot about the kind of society we are, or aspire to be. Offenders often come from vulnerable, distressed and disadvantaged elements of our society. Their life histories are not an excuse for their criminality, but they do help us understand why they may end up in prison and how we might positively intervene. As has often been observed, offenders are sent to prison as punishment, not for punishment. None of our sanctions for criminal behaviour includes the abandonment of human rights. This is what defines our correctional system and our democracy – or at least it should.
Cliff T.: What got you interested in doing this job?
H Sapers: “In my professional life, I have held various positions in the criminal justice field through employment and community service. Immediately prior to my appointment as Correctional Investigator of Canada in February 2004, I was Vice-Chairperson, National Parole Board of Canada in the Prairie Region. Between 2001-2003, I held the position of Director of the Crime Prevention Investment Fund at the National Crime Prevention Centre, Department of Justice Canada. My post secondary education and training is in Criminology. Overall, I have nearly 30 years of work and volunteer experience in the criminal justice sector.”
Cliff T.: There are a lot of bad things one can say about inmates and the prison system and there are a lot of bad things that happen to inmates in the system. However do you ever have a good day or should I ask what is a good day in your job?
H Sapers: “I have mostly good days in my job. I have a terrific and committed staff. I come to work everyday feeling quite privileged to serve Canadians. It is not a perfect job, but I believe it is an important one. By their nature, prisons can be inhospitable environments, for both prisoners and staff. I am struck by the fact that my Office serves an important and necessary oversight function. To be effective and to maintain public trust and confidence, our criminal justice system must operate within, not outside, the rule of law. I cannot think of a better or more rewarding mandate than that.”
Cliff T.: I noted that on the site that the services you provide have been in place for a short time 35 years. Why was the agency formed or a better question is what caused the need to create The Office of The Correctional Investigator?
H Sapers: “The Office of the Correctional Investigator was created as a direct result of a prison riot at Kingston Penitentiary in 1971. The riot, a response to harsh conditions of confinement and punitive disciplinary sanctions, resulted in five correctional officers being taken hostage and a group of prisoners brutally tortured. Two of the prisoners died, 13 were seriously injured, and part of Kingston Penitentiary was destroyed. In the aftermath of the riot, many of the inmates involved in the disturbance were transferred to nearby Millhaven Institution where they were assaulted by correctional staff at that institution.
The resulting Commission of Inquiry into the Kingston riot and subsequent events recommended the establishment of an external avenue of redress. The Office of the Correctional Investigator was established June 1, 1973. It was not, however, until 1992 that that my Office was formally established in statute with the enactment of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.”
Cliff T.: Well it is obvious that due to events of the past and in recent light of a report on 130 cases of in custody deaths 9 of which had eerie similarities to the death of Ashley Smith in 2007 that there is much to do to change the system and the attitudes about it and towards inmates. Mr Sapers thank you for spending time with me and my readers today it was a pleasure to speak with you via email.
H Sapers: “Thank you again for your interest in my Office.”
Howard Sapers is the Correction Investigator for Canada and works out of the Office of the Correctional Investigator. To learn more about the role of the agency and Mr. Sapers you can visit the website at http://www.oci-bec.gc.ca . Mr. Sapers wrote to us from his office in Ottawa.
In recent times the office has garnered media attention especially in the light of the death of Ashley Smith in 2007. Howard Sapers is the Correctional Investigator for Canada a role that puts him in the middle of what could be considered a tug of war between the inmates and the jailers. Mr Sapers welcome to Candid Conversations.
H Sapers: “Thank you very much for the invitation. It is indeed a pleasure.”
Cliff T.: I characterize what you do as being in the middle of a tug of war between the inmates and the jailers, would that be an accurate lay description?
H Sapers: “My Office is independent of the Correctional Service and my mandate is to conduct investigations into the problems of offenders related to decisions, acts or omissions of the CSC that affect offenders either individually or as a group.
I would not necessarily characterize the relationship between my Office and the Correctional Service of Canada as a ‘tug of war.’ In fact, we both share a common and mutual goal – safe, secure and humane custody of federally sentenced offenders.
We may not always agree on certain points, but ultimately the relationship between an Ombudsman’s office and the agency it oversees must be built on professionalism, integrity and trust. Both organizations have an interest in assisting offenders to lead a responsible and law-abiding life.
Our investigations promote the safe and humane custody and supervision of offenders in accordance with the law. As a partner in the criminal justice system we help to ensure the safe and effective reintegration of offenders into the community, contributing to public safety.”
Cliff T.: What is the range of complaints that you receive from inmates?
H Sapers: On an annual basis, my Office receives anywhere between 5,000 and 7,000 offender complaints. In FY 2009-10, the top 10 areas of concern most frequently identified by offenders were:
| CATEGORY | # | % |
| TOTAL OFFENDER POPULATION | ||
| Health Care | 766 | 14.68% |
| Cell Effects | 397 | 7.61% |
| Administrative Segregation | 394 | 7.55% |
| Transfer | 393 | 7.53% |
| Staff | 379 | 7.26% |
| Grievance | 244 | 4.68% |
| Visits | 220 | 4.22% |
| Telephone | 168 | 3.22% |
| Case Preparation | 157 | 3.01% |
| Information | 154 | 2.95% |
Cliff T.: Besides complaints from the inmates, do you ever get any from the families of inmates and or the general public and what about corrections staff can they file a complaint to you?
H Sapers: “Yes, we frequently have family members of offenders contact our Office. Often the nature of a family member contact with my Office is to seek information or clarification about an issue, event or concern affecting their son or daughter or loved one. A family member may ask our Office to intervene on their behalf, but in order to do so we must have the consent of the offender in order to pursue the matter further.
Correctional Service of Canada personnel do not file a complaint with my Office. The CSC and the unions representing its staff deal with employee issues.”
Cliff T.: How are complaints prioritized and do any just get sent back without any investigation at all?
H Sapers: “Our goal is to ensure that all offender complaints are objectively and fairly addressed in a timely manner. Like most Ombudsman, we encourage complainants to resolve their matters informally, at the lowest levels possible. In the case of federal offenders, we encourage them to attempt to resolve their concerns through the inmate complaints and grievance process, although this is not a prerequisite to our initiating an investigation. The vast majority of the concerns raised on complaints by inmates are addressed by this Office at the institutional level through discussion and negotiation.
Offenders can contact my Office by toll-free phone, by letter or by meeting one of my Investigators assigned to federal facilities. Calls of an urgent or emergency nature – e.g. life-threatening situation, involuntary segregation, medical emergency or involuntary transfer – are responded to on a priority basis.
Not all complaints proceed to an investigation. We are not advocates for offenders or the prison system. We investigate from an impartial perspective and, if we decide a complaint has merit, we will support the offender in achieving resolution of the problem. In other words, my Office has full discretion as to whether an investigation will be conducted in relation to any particular complaint or request and how that investigation will be carried out.”
Cliff T.:Mr. Sapers I have to imagine that some prisoners are afraid to speak up for fear of reprisals by staff, how does your team deal with that fear?
H Sapers: “The law is very clear on this point – ‘every offender shall have complete access to the offender grievance procedure without negative consequences.’
In our case, all communications between offenders and my Office is confidential. All correspondence to and from the Office is to be delivered unopened. A person or group cannot be disciplined or punished because they have contacted my Office.”
Cliff T.: It can also be said that staff at an institution or an inmate may not be completely honest about what really happened, are there tools you have to aid you and your team to sort it out and figure out what really went on?
H Sapers: “My team of Investigators has access to all information and documents that are in the possession of the Correctional Service for the purpose of carrying out an investigation. My staff can interview or communicate with any member of the CSC. We have full and unfettered access to CSC facilities. Through corroborating interviews, accessing and reviewing pertinent information, evidence and documentation, we can usually make a determination based on the facts and merits of the case before us.”
Cliff T.: There many in our society who feel and voice the opinion that prisoners don't matter in our society some just want to have Corrections Canada lock the cell door and toss the key away, what is your take on this mentality?
H Sapers: “We have to remember that the vast majority of offenders will eventually be released from prison back to the community. We have a better chance of releasing a responsible and law-abiding person if s/he is treated fairly, with dignity and respect while serving their sentence. Corrections involves balancing the interests and rights of all members of society, including those of offenders.
I happen to believe that how we treat those in prison can tell us a lot about the kind of society we are, or aspire to be. Offenders often come from vulnerable, distressed and disadvantaged elements of our society. Their life histories are not an excuse for their criminality, but they do help us understand why they may end up in prison and how we might positively intervene. As has often been observed, offenders are sent to prison as punishment, not for punishment. None of our sanctions for criminal behaviour includes the abandonment of human rights. This is what defines our correctional system and our democracy – or at least it should.
Cliff T.: What got you interested in doing this job?
H Sapers: “In my professional life, I have held various positions in the criminal justice field through employment and community service. Immediately prior to my appointment as Correctional Investigator of Canada in February 2004, I was Vice-Chairperson, National Parole Board of Canada in the Prairie Region. Between 2001-2003, I held the position of Director of the Crime Prevention Investment Fund at the National Crime Prevention Centre, Department of Justice Canada. My post secondary education and training is in Criminology. Overall, I have nearly 30 years of work and volunteer experience in the criminal justice sector.”
Cliff T.: There are a lot of bad things one can say about inmates and the prison system and there are a lot of bad things that happen to inmates in the system. However do you ever have a good day or should I ask what is a good day in your job?
H Sapers: “I have mostly good days in my job. I have a terrific and committed staff. I come to work everyday feeling quite privileged to serve Canadians. It is not a perfect job, but I believe it is an important one. By their nature, prisons can be inhospitable environments, for both prisoners and staff. I am struck by the fact that my Office serves an important and necessary oversight function. To be effective and to maintain public trust and confidence, our criminal justice system must operate within, not outside, the rule of law. I cannot think of a better or more rewarding mandate than that.”
Cliff T.: I noted that on the site that the services you provide have been in place for a short time 35 years. Why was the agency formed or a better question is what caused the need to create The Office of The Correctional Investigator?
H Sapers: “The Office of the Correctional Investigator was created as a direct result of a prison riot at Kingston Penitentiary in 1971. The riot, a response to harsh conditions of confinement and punitive disciplinary sanctions, resulted in five correctional officers being taken hostage and a group of prisoners brutally tortured. Two of the prisoners died, 13 were seriously injured, and part of Kingston Penitentiary was destroyed. In the aftermath of the riot, many of the inmates involved in the disturbance were transferred to nearby Millhaven Institution where they were assaulted by correctional staff at that institution.
The resulting Commission of Inquiry into the Kingston riot and subsequent events recommended the establishment of an external avenue of redress. The Office of the Correctional Investigator was established June 1, 1973. It was not, however, until 1992 that that my Office was formally established in statute with the enactment of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.”
Cliff T.: Well it is obvious that due to events of the past and in recent light of a report on 130 cases of in custody deaths 9 of which had eerie similarities to the death of Ashley Smith in 2007 that there is much to do to change the system and the attitudes about it and towards inmates. Mr Sapers thank you for spending time with me and my readers today it was a pleasure to speak with you via email.
H Sapers: “Thank you again for your interest in my Office.”
Howard Sapers is the Correction Investigator for Canada and works out of the Office of the Correctional Investigator. To learn more about the role of the agency and Mr. Sapers you can visit the website at http://www.oci-bec.gc.ca . Mr. Sapers wrote to us from his office in Ottawa.
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