Notes From PSFK London:Episode One

After a week of procrastination followed by one of steadily increasing hayfever, I’m finally getting down to giving you the goods on the superb PSFK conference in London Friday before last (June 1st). Before I launch into my notes, I have to let y’all know that there were many, many, fantastically intelligent people present on the day and I would advise that as a starter, you read Amelia’s, Charles’, George’s, Helen’s, I-Boy’s, NP’s, Peter’s, The Pirate Geek’s and Will’s (for a fantastic shot of the wannabe ad man in the flesh, check out my pictures from PSFK, he’s the one in the camera’s headlights) posts on the day before commencing takeoff here.

Having taken my sweet time, and having read everyone’s excellent recaps of the day, I don’t think it would be best if I set off on long stretches of prose about every session for a number of reasons mainly because a) You’d get bored, b) Others have written about it better than I will and c) I’ve had way too much to eat due to the homemade authentically Texan burgers (whatever that means) I had with friends over lunch. So I’ve decided to take every session and distill it down to what I thought was cool / important / relevant / most worth remembering. Hopefully some of you will agree. So let’s get this partay started.

Timo Veikkola, Futures Specialist at Nokia
Nothing technology can produce will ever compare to the intimacy of face to face communication.
Trends are manifestations of values, attitudes and behaviors.
Can the human mind master what it has made?
Ubiquitous connections are the ones that we must strive for, but also the ones most difficult to pinpoint.
The future will be utterly fantastic.

(Timo had without question, the coolest job title, if Doc Brown from Back To The Future ever had an official job title it would definitely be Futures Specialist).

Regine Debatty – We Make Money Not Art
Science can make the impossible and distasteful palatable with time.
Artists are crazy people.
Technology doesn’t always deliver.
Perfect can be borne from the imperfect.

I’d take Regine’s statement that all artists are crazy a little further and say that everyone is crazy on some level, it’s embracing your inner insanity that is the key.

Panel: The Marketing Gap In Green – Karen Fraser, Tamara Giltsoff, John Grant, Diana Verde Niet
We need to embrace sustainability.
Every client/product/brand wants to be seen to be doing something green, but most don’t know what to do.
We live in an era where the macro-economical environment dictates changes that are almost being thrust upon advertisers.
To be successful in communicating the message of green, the product must use itself to communicate a bigger issue, and please, please don’t patronize me.
Being green can be broadly seen as a 3 step process, set new standards, collaborate with the consumer and help them live and feel better.

Niku Banaie – Naked Communications
We all have the needs to Love, to learn, to give back, for simplicity, to play. Our ideas in particular and our lives in general should try to embrace as many of these as possible.
Ideas should Shrink, Hide and Embody (Maeda’s law of simplicity).
Promote the spirit of curiosity, it’s that same spirit that allows us to grow into the adults we do.
Take open source to everyone.
Grow your own future.

Mike Butcher – Journalist
Digital media is a smaller, cheaper competitor to traditional media and can undermine it.
Digital media is the pamphlet from the Pentrich Revolution of our era.
Media owners must change their practices in the face of cheaper digital startups and user-centric publishers.

Panel: Turning Trends Into Ideas – Steven Overman, Beeker Northam, Simon Sinek, Faris Yakob
Jumping at trends is a dangerous game.
If something is not interesting or useful, it has no value
Inspiration is the most powerful tool in the history of humankind. You can either inspire or manipulate, if you manipulate, eventually the effect will wear off. If you inspire, your message will multiply exponentially.
The majority of marketing communication attempts to manipulate and is intrinsically destined to fail.
Words are dangerous because of their power.
Belief, inspiration and the truth create a cult of belief that is the most powerful tool a brand can have (I think one of my favorite TV ads ever, Apple’s Think Different is a great example of this).
Challenge the status quo, and use humor to take the edge of contentious issues.
Tell the truth. Always.

Part two is on the way, come back Thursday, June 14th for the goods.