Impermanent Public Art Show in N.E. Minneapolis

On a humid and sticky Friday evening, I roamed away from my commercially hipster Uptown neighborhood that borders two nationally renowned art museums to witness what was perhaps one of the best independent exhibitions I’ve come across. The “Impermanent Public” exhibit in North East Minneapolis examined a new evolution of street art through the work of local, national and international artists.

While some street art communicates messages through destructive means, this exhibit focused on artists using organic materials and non-destructive methods to relate with the public and our shared spaces.

If you’ve ever seen a pink “X” on a tree or a vibrantly painted pothole, you might want to think twice on whether these markings are art, public services or maybe a combination of both. Minneapolis-based artist Nathanial, was shocked to discover how fast the city reacted to his glowing dots on potholes, sidewalk cracks and loose screws on sign poles. Some of Nathaniel’s collection displayed before and after photos of fixed problems in the city’s urban landscape as a result of his tagging system.

Phil Jones's Light Post Ads

Other artists at the exhibition included Andrew Casey, Lee Walton, Light The Underground and Phil Jones. Whether you love or fear advertising, Phil Jones, a day practitioner in the field exercises his talents through bolder public expressions that bring smiles to South Minneapolis communities. He sometimes posts OFF switches on lamp posts and his work at the exhibition included paper advertisements on light posts that would make anyone chuckle.

Austin O'Brion and Mai Chao Vang at Impermanent Public

I’m not a qualified art critic or writer on the topic, but as a pedestrian and civic-minded person, am thankful for what the “Impermanent Public” brought to our community on Friday evening and hope to see more similar exhibitions in the future.

Angry Customers That Boil Brands Online

“Now, the Web is enabling the market to converse again, as people tell one another the truth about products and companies and their own desires.” – The Clutrain Manifesto

The dark cloud of brand crisis can turn up quickly when customers feel angry, betrayed or dissatisfied. Organizations have become increasingly vulnerable to behaviors such as NWOM (negative word-of-mouth) and boycotts because of the social web. In Pete Blackshaw’s post on defensive branding, he notes “the digital landscape is littered with social-media roadkill.” ¹ Twitter, Facebook, online forums and blogs have enabled customer conversations to share truths about companies with the world. While successful brands have leveraged these virtually free conversations to drive unprecedented growth, there are a rising number of companies falling as victims to negative customer expression online.

Here are a few examples of brands faced with tarnishing expressions from angry customers (read more):

Reducing Negative Customer Emotion and Managing Voices that Destroy Your Brand

The growing voice of customers through Web 2.0 technologies like blogs, forums and social media has made brand reputations more susceptible to destructive word-of-mouth and negative opinion. This shift of empowerment toward the hands of customers has brought many humiliating service failures to the surface and established a critical need for understanding broken buyer-seller relationships and getting brands back on track.

In my next blog posts, I am going to explore the following issues tied to solving this puzzle:

• Examples of Brands Under Fire
• Where do Unhappy Customers Come From?
• Angry vs. Dissatisfied Customers: How they differ by definition and outcome
• Getting Back on Track: Preventing and Managing PR Meltdowns and Brand Erosion

Is Creativity a Bad Trait for a Senior Leader?

Austin’s brief perspective

This research caught my attention because of its stark contrast to recent trends pushing leaders to spearhead innovation within their companies. While I think this quote refers more to senior managers than it does senior leaders, the corresponding article brings some interesting points to the surface that warns creative thinkers to proceed with caution when climbing the corporate ladder. The very nature of creativity is born from demand for positive change and it is often the case for any change to be challenged by the steady beat of the status quo. Click here to read the full article text.

Recap: Clockwork Springtime Jam ’11

Minneapolis techies and Foursquare-philes were swarming the @clockwork_tweet‘s Springtime Jam 2011!: Paella Party last night celebrating the company’s recent growth and impressive collection of work with delicious treats and beer. As friends of Clockworkers, my fiancée and I headed over to the interactive firm’s offices on East Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis, MN.

In addition to the Clockworkers and their tech maven CEO, Nancy Lyons, were nerds and wanna-be-nerds from other MN agencies and tech companies. A few attendees that were great to see were Kyle Meyer, Product Designer for Big Cartel and Director of Interactive Design for AIGA MN, Production Ninja, Kevin O’Brien and recent grad from my alma mater, Jake Nelsen.

I’ve watched Clockwork Active Media Systems grow over the past years and have continually been impressed with the company’s talent, culture and best-in-class interactive development. While the company’s work is impressive to say the least, it is worth checking out Clockwork’s Active Media Suite (AMM), a scalable platform that offers robust content management, secure e-commerce engine, survey tools, blogging and many other useful features. Version 3.4 of the suite is now available with 24/7 support in addition to a comprehensive knowledge base.