What you see is what you get

Over and over again I have read that when it comes to grafitti, and the image it creates, this is not good for the crime rate of your area. The pundits say that if you find your property being tagged, it's imperative to clean, and clean again. The suggestion is that it will take six to eight clean-ups before the cycle will stop. I wonder where these folks are in that process?

You have to be there

I was reminded again this evening : you have to be there. You have to be part of the action otherwise you don't get the results.

In simple terms, I saw an interesting framing of a flower that I thought would make a fine photo. Having collected the camera, and selected the lens, I took that picture.

But it was ordinary.

This one I had not planned. It snuck up on me. I would not have taken it, or had the joy, had I not been out, taking photos.

Note to self: you have to be there.

Rule of Thirds

Sunset, Kommetjie Beach, Sunday 17 July 2011

Photography's 'Rule of Thirds' states that a visual focal point should be at the intersections of three horizontal and three vertical lines, equidistant from each other.

My 'Rule of Thirds' about photography is wrapped up in this picture:
1. When the weather is right, go out to get the picture. It won't be the same tomorrow.
2. Always take your camera with you. No camera, no photo.
3. When you leave, always look back. There may just be another picture you haven't seen.

Contemplating "For profit philanthropy"

The business press say that there's a new business model emerging - created from the best of non-profit and profit-based businesses. The reading started here with Not just for profit by Marjorie Kelly .  My first take-out was that the new model appears to accept that the ownership of the investment asset (usually the money) remains the property of the investor.  This is true too for tangible assets when they are not consumed by the organisation (think land, for example). But the outcome of the use of the asset must be 'for social good'.

Following some of the key words I found interesting resources here at The Fourth Sector where they mention Slow Money. This appears to be a growing movement, and one I want to follow to see why it is working. I've joined the Facebook page to follow their story.

The interesting real-life story that's discussed by all is Grameen Danone Foods.  I've stopped to think about the opening comment on their home page:  "Although the company has to be profitable – profits from the first plants are needed to finance the construction of new plants – the success of the project will above all be judged on non-financial criteria." So here is the communication issue between the organisation and the investors: you MUST define the success criteria, and constantly communicate the progress towards those goals, to ensure that the emotional, non-financial component of the investment is satisfied.

Lessons from community chat

There is a saying about business: if you want to make money, find the river and stand in the middle of it.

The river of money in South Africa is where the people are... not in the malls and distant 'exclusive' resorts. It's at the taxi ranks and bus stops. It's on the busy intersections in the townships where people walk. It's in hot, dusty and dirty places.

If you've got to spend your marketing budget to get people to come to you, then you've lost before you start. Go to the people.

Largesse

This is the foundation stone at the Claremont Mosque.

In the modern, politically correct, "let all faiths have their place under the sun" society in which we live, would we see the opening of a new Mosque on the day of the coronation of the head of the Anglican Church?

Twitter, Facebook, and social activism : The New Yorker

Twitter, Facebook, and social activism : The New Yorker

Malcolm Gladwell says that the weak links of social media will never drive real social change in the way that traditional command-and-control activism does. What strikes me, though, is that he does not address the ability of social media to connect people with similar interests and values in a way that face-to-face connections seldom do. The impact is in the consequent ability to disseminate ideas and create new perceptions of what can become a new norm.

My sense is that in time this thesis will be developed to understand that it's not an either-or concept; but rather a "one+one=more than two" concept. They'll work together, and we'll only see that when social media is ubiquitous, rather than a new thing to watch and marvel over.