Happy EOFY from Emily Ross Bespoke

IN THIS REPORT: A bit of David Shrigley, Lt General David Morrison, Charlie Ford, Aung San Suu Kyi, Charles Duhigg, Julia Gillard, Alan "Angry" Jones, angry feminists Toni and Candice, Nell et al; some frightening pop culture including selfies, buzzwords and humblebraggers; a word about Voddio, Coffitivity and more. PIX: DAVIDSHRIGLEY.COM

Expand your vocab poodlecats and twerk it!

askhole: a person who constantly asks for your advice but does the opposite of what you tell them

tl;dr: too long, didn't read

friend jack: when someone who is new to a social circle ends up becoming more important and loved in that group than the person who introduced them to said circle.

gloatgram: an instagram post that features the user boasting about their life, usually in the form of food or leisure/travel.

hipstercrite: someone who claims not to be a hipster, mocks others for being hipsters, but is in fact themselves a hipster.

phablets: a mixture of a smartphone and tablet.

poodlecats: (pictured above) Known as Selkirk Rex, the breed is the fourth type of curly haired cat, but it’s distinct from other Rex breeds

More vocab boosters

phreak: someone who is too freaky for the simple word "freak." This can have positive as well as negative connotations.

preemptively exhausted: when you are exhausted just by thinking about something

SoLoMo: an amalgamation of the words social, local and mobile (marketers have been pushing this one for a while.  Hopefully it will fade very, very soon)

twerk: twerking is a "dance move that involves a person shaking their hips and bottom in a bouncy up and down motion, causing it to shake, 'wobble' and 'jiggle".

SOURCES: URBAN DICTIONARY, SALON, NEW YORK MAG, MY BRAIN, NaughtyBoyVEVO

Embarassing dads

"Dad, take this down," Warne's 11-year-old daughter Summer wrote. Now there's a risk factor for social media strategists - try controlling tweens 'n' teens saying what they really think on social media. It's just not possible.

WIPs

We live in an age of "mutual confidentiality contracts", I've signed a few recently so there is a lot of work I am doing that I cannot humblebrag about in this EOFY newsletter. Instead, I can describe the kinds of things I'm up to:

> new website for classic heritage brand > bespoke media training in collaboration with Boston-based top comms company > crisis media strategy for schools > "inside" beauty brand video > strategic comms coaching > research around customer service > marketing strategy/digital footprint for top tier boutique consulting firms > workshops on website build trends > copywriting for major investment projects > discreet media training for c-suite

The game changer

I have really enjoyed all the bespoke media training work I've done this year, in particular crisis work with a range of clients. Chief of Army Lt. Gen David Morrison's powerful YouTube message in the wake of the appalling revelations about the Australian Army's "Jedi Council" scandal is a masterclass in messaging in a crisis. The video went viral and has had more than one million hits. It's a reminder to all you leaders out there, are you "media fit" enough to get a message out within hours of a crisis hitting?

(I'm here to help.)

Podcast nirvana

My hands down favorite podcast of the past six months is Aung San Suu Kyi's Desert Island Discs recorded at her home in Naypyitaw, Burma. For any hardcore DID fan, it doesn't get better than this. One of the BBC producers who blogged about the trip said the recording time flew by. At some stage during the taping she noticed she had written down the words 'surreal'. Indeed. Listen here. PIX: BBC

Julia Song - menopause, guillotines, communist hyenas and manufactured anger

Regardless of your political persuasions, the standard of political debate in Australia is at an all-time low. ABC's The Hamster Wheel got it right way back... (click thru to YouTube)

Humblebragging is alive and well

SOURCE: @HUMBLEBRAG

Toni and Candice, just because...

MY SENSORY PICKS FOR 2013 (so far)

TASTE Green tea cream puffs from Beard Papa - best eaten on bullet train for maximum effect

SEE Behind the Candelabra - Steven Soderbergh's Liberace biopic with Michael Douglas and Matt Damon

HEAR Daft Punk's Random Access Memories (heaven)

TOUCH Harvey John Mackay DOB 1.2.13

SMELL Stash of Shoyeido incense from Kyoto, I'm a heavy smoker these days... (A CT Carmelite from Franque is a close second)

The Power of Habit

Possibly my favorite read this half year has been Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit. (It was published last year so I'm a bit behind!) It turns out self discipline can have a bigger impact on performance than IQ and that investing in "keystone habits" such as exercise and even making your bed are powerful indicators of allowing other good habits to take hold.

Get back in the cafe and get some work done

I admit that I do spend large amouts of time in cafes with piles of work, a decaf and a large pot of earl grey tea (with the infuser removed), water glass optional. I do it because I get blocks of work done without distractions. Now I have the science to prove it. It turns out cafe noise boosts productivity. In its beta phase, Coffitivity lets you enjoy the 70-decibel sounds of a cafe wherever you are. You can even add your own music to the mix.

Salon reports: "In a series of experiments that looked at the effects of noise on creative thinking, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign had participants brainstorm ideas for new products while they were exposed to varying levels of background noise. Their results, published in The Journal of Consumer Research, found that a level of ambient noise typical of a bustling coffee shop or a television playing in a living room, about 70 decibels, enhanced performance compared with the relative quiet of 50 decibels."

KERB your enthusiasm

In August 2013, I am launching a new video, media training and comms coaching venture with uber media trainer Katrina Byers. KERB is all about generating very, very useful (video) content, getting media fit and offering a range of coaching, media training,  crisis media bootcamps and workshops for small and large groups. The partnership allows us to scale things up. If you would like to preview the service menu, get in touch and watch out for the new KERB MEDIA website.

Catch him while you can

Charlie Ford - Director's Showreel from Charlie Ford on Vimeo.

I'm lucky to be collaborating with a number of great camerapeople - all very much suited to the assignment (Ron Dorre you are a media training legend!). I do have to make a special shout out to Charlie Ford, a very creative director that I love working with. He has a new showreel that's worth an EOFY look.

Danielle - A Free European Woman

My SNL pick for the half-year, with Fred Armisten and Jennifer Lawrence.

What's on the horizon?

Lots to look forward to:

#1 Seeing the brilliant Tate Modern Director Chris Dercon open Walter Van Bierendonck's 'Dream the World Awake' at RMIT's sublime Design Hub in early July

#2 Video shoots for public and private orgs

#3 Website launches

#4 Media training sessions, especially KERB services

#5 Strategic copywriting for major business pitches

#6 Getting back to Phnom Penh for Justice Tour #2 with Hagar International - lots of bi-lingual training, comms strategy/coaching and writing awaits

#7 Rolling out my new social media planning calendars for several new clients. Goody.

#8 Learning how to use voddio quick smart

#9 Introducing more clients to the brilliance of Basecamp.com - an amazing project management tool (thanks client x)

#10 Meditation. "If the mind is not contrived, it is spontaneously blissful, just as water, when not agitated, is by nature transparent and clear". -Sogyal Rinpoche

PIC: NOW #2, DOUG AITKEN, DOOBYBRAIN.COM

Happy EOFY to you

Nell, Love Cries Out From Each Brick In The Wall, 2013