no boundaries

Hey everyone, A very cool music video that I can only describe by saying that border, boundaries, oceans, ideologies and perceptions are no longer impediments to collaboration… so what do you hear when you put on someone else’s headphones? Watch the whole thing.

Play in the community.

On Tuesday, Play hosted a small group of community volunteers and staff members dedicated to the Richmond-based non-profit agency ChildSavers. Our goal: collaboratively generate ideas to build brand awareness for ChildSavers within the community.

Using Play’s creative mechanisms and the participants’ passion for ChildSavers, we created a long list of brand-building acts for this organization as well as immediate next steps for each group member. The commitment and devotion of this group also left the Play team inspired.

We feel confident that if you’re in Richmond, you’ll be hearing more from ChildSavers soon. But until then, check them out at www.mcgcva.com. And a thank you from Play to ChildSavers, because this session was the perfect blend of community service and inspiration-gathering.

Service. It Does a Body Good.

We at Play love to eat. I mean seriously, we schedule meetings in our kitchen, we throw parties just to eat chili, and we secretly look forward to Wednesday mornings just to eat some cheese and bread. So the fact that thousands of Virginians go hungry each day is simply something that doesn't sit well with us (nor do three bean burritos and a chimichanga).

So, to show our concern about hunger in Virginia, the Play team spent the morning of August 8 volunteerering at the Central Virginia Food Bank. Half of the team worked in the Community Kitchen-- cracking eggs, spooning applesauce, and packaging meals for Meals on Wheels distribution. And the other half helped by sorting, discarding, and distributing foods in their Distribution Warehouse. The Food Bank is a well-oiled machine, committed to their mission that "none shall go hungry." The Food Bank feeds the elderly, children, the unemployed, the "working poor", victims of disaster, and those in crisis through more than 500 partner agencies. These agencies consist of church pantries, senior centers, day care providers, emergency shelters, and more.

What did we learn? That hunger in Virginia is a reality, especially among the youth, and a weak economy and rising food prices are only mitigating the problem. The Food Bank relies on the support and donations of area citizens to curb this widespread issue, and is always looking for willing volunteers to help in both facilities. Want to learn more? Go to their website, www.cvfb.org and find out how you can get involved.

'Look up'

Unexpected Combinations

Unexpected combinations can result in some seriously fantastic ideas. Check out what happens when you combine Rachel Ray, Pee Wee's playhouse, and a Peter Gabriel music video.

Row, row , row your boat

Knowing how much Andy loves quotes I´ll start of my blogpost with one:

"You cannot solve a problem using the same thinking that caused it"

-Albert Einstein

As oil prices are soaring to new highs, the Big Three from Detroit: General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are suffering. GM´s stock price finds itself at a 54 year low and the future looks anything but bright for the trio. When you are faced with a challenge, how do you best solve it? Do you remain on the same course and hope for the best or do you go in a different direction? Are you reactive or proactive?

Perhaps the parable below taken from Fortune can offer some insight:

A Modern Parable

A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (Ford) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.

The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.

Their conclusion was the Japanese had eight people rowing and one person steering, while the American team had eight people steering and one person rowing.

Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of money for a second opinion.

They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.

Not sure how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team’s management structure was totally reorganized to four steering supervisors, three area steering superintendents, and one assistant superintendent steering manager.

They also implemented a new performance system that would give the person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the ‘Rowing Team Quality First Program,’ with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rower. There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices, and bonuses.

The next year the Japanese won by two miles.

Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year’s racing team was out-sourced to India.

Sadly, The End.

-

In times of trouble the easiest can often be to stay on course until forced to do differently, although it may be the easiest it is not always the best. Sometimes you need to change your way of thinking, look for opportunities instead of limitations and solutions instead of problems.

Change your approach and you will get a new perspective.

Change perspective on luxury

Take Vanity Tags to a Whole New Level
By MARGARET COKER
July 1, 2008; Page A1

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- With oil near record highs, the Persian Gulf is awash in cash, stimulating a return to some very conspicuous consumption.

Ferrari S.p.A. says sales in the Middle East leapt 32% last year. BMW Group's Rolls-Royce Motor Cars says the UAE, a country with a population of just 4.6 million, is now one of its top five global markets. All those expensive cars clogging the roads have given rise to another must-have status symbol: a prestigious license-plate number.
Managing Director Abdullah Al-Mannaei displays license plate number '1,' which sold for $14 million.

"Everyone has a nice watch, a nice car," says Abdullah Al-Mannaei, organizer of the city government's monthly auction of desirable numbers. "It's not enough to just have a Ferrari anymore."

Hundreds of men in starched robes descend on an opulent hotel here to vie for the most distinguished digits. Earlier this year, Abu Dhabi businessman Saeed Khouri made headlines and the Guinness Book of World Records when he paid $14 million for the tag simply sporting a "1." (The auction can be viewed on YouTube.) His cousin, stockbroker Talal Khouri, paid $9 million for "5" -- the second-largest sum ever paid for a license plate.



Thought this was a good dose of change perspective. When an entire city is filled with people who ALL have the usually signs of luxury (watch, car, housing) what becomes valuable? It goes to show how everyone wants to stand out and be an individual, even in a place where everyone is just like you. What's next? Luxury toaster ovens?