Strands of Genius: Quantities & Qualities of Attention, The Hidden History of Screen Readers, Why Must We Work So Hard Before Vacation
plus, our thoughts on: disability pride month
WRITING FROM | Nashville, TN (Ashley)
WORKING ON | SOSG assets and some desk research for a client project
LOOKING AHEAD
July 26-July 29 | Nashville, TN
July 30 - Aug 25 | Los Angeles, CA
Aug 26-28 | Scottsdale, AZ
Aug 29 - 30 | Chicago, IL
Aug 31 - Sept 8 | New York, NY
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
After rehabbing my ACL and training for the Deaflympics, I was really feeling the need to start something completely new and fresh and not so controlled. Still within a fitness, physical realm, so… I started golf lessons on Friday. It seems like one of those sports you can play forever, and you always hear about business deals being made on the golf course. It was a rocky start, and I’ve already committed to more lessons from my original plan, but… I’m taking the lessons with my mom and a friend, so it’s nice to have others to help hold me accountable, and it’s fun to learn something new with others. If anyone has recommendations of Par 3 courses to check out anywhere, send ‘em my way — hoping to be able to get to that point by springtime!
This week, I’m especially thankful for:
Erik, Shelby&Mom, mom/daughter dates with Candice&Ingrid, Jeni’s ice cream, TopGolf outings, my Ladies on FIRE investment club, F45 workouts, delicious Grilling Cheesy meal from HelloFresh, Manhattan Beach soccer league, gentle cycle washer, & YOU.
:: THE LINKS ::
WARC ATTENTION ECONOMY PODCAST: QUANTITIES AND QUALITIES OF ATTENTION
Our friends at WARC let Faris hijack their delightful podcast WARC TALKS for a three episode series about attention since his book was published in a brand new updated second edition, and doesn’t everyone seem to be talking about attention nowadays. This second episode is about how attention is measured and valued and features former General Mills CMO Ivan Pollard, Lumen Research founder Mike Follett, and Katie Hartley, managing director - product and innovation at Dentsu Data Labs. (WARC)
THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF SCREEN READERS
“A screen reader allows its user to navigate a computer by audio — it’s a primary interface to visual elements of a computer. In other words, screen readers are to blind or partially sighted users what monitors are to sighted users.” The Verge takes a look at the hidden history of screen readers and how we got to where we are today. A large part we owe to Ted Henter, a former Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He and another man named Bill Joyce are the founders of JAWS which has been the gold standard of screen readers for almost 30 years. (The Verge)
WHY MUST WE WORK SO HARD BEFORE VACATION
In the US, people often have to work almost twice as hard to prepare for taking time off for vacation. It really doesn’t have to be this way. Jennifer Petriglieri, an organizational-behavior professor at the French business school INSEAD, says, “in the work culture of some countries, such as France and Italy, the week before a vacation is generally not much more stressful than any other.” The main difference, according to her, is how American businesses view leisure time. “There’s a sense that you’re doing something naughty by going on holiday” and not contributing at work, Petriglieri said.
In her mind, the problem is primarily a cultural one and one that can be shifted within a company more easily than an entire society. (The Atlantic)
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:: WHAT WE’RE THINKING ABOUT: DISABILITY PRIDE MONTH ::
July is Disability Pride Month, and I’m quite embarrassed to say that I haven’t done much this month. But then again, I haven’t really seen much out there honoring this special month. How many of you were aware that it was Disability Pride Month?
Growing up I always associated having a disability with the handicap sticker/ sign, so I never really identified much as having a disability. It wasn’t until the last few years when I started to explore my own deaf identity journey did I get a better understanding of disability. It’s an ongoing work in progress, but in honor of this specific and dedicated month, I decided to dive into some of the history surrounding it.
It marks the 1990 enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a landmark U.S. rights law that extended civil rights protections to persons with disabilities and assured that all Americans would benefit from their talents…. The first official Disability Pride celebration occurred in 2015 to commemorate the ADA’s 25th anniversary.
The disability pride flag helps increase the community’s visibility. Ann Magill designed the flag in 2019 with feedback from community members. She then worked with photosensitive people to produce a more accessible version.
Five diagonal stripes of different colors rest on a black background. The black field mourns the victims of violence and abuse against persons with disabilities. The diagonal suggests cutting across barriers that separate the disabled from society.
The flag’s five colors represent different types of disabilities: red (physical disabilities), gold (neurodivergence), white (invisible and undiagnosed disabilities), blue (psychiatric disabilities) and green (sensory disabilities).
While many in within the disability community talk about and celebrate this month, we need others to help advocate and speak out. I was particularly drawn to these observations…
Mashable author Cathy Reay says:
Even in a month that is supposed to be about us, I haven’t seen any big brands include disabled people in their advertising campaigns.
Social media activist Disabled Eliza shares:
I would love to see more brands talking about disability pride and more non-disabled people mentioning it too.
Content creator and model Shelby Lynch (@shelbykinsxo), said:
I feel like it's celebrated by the disabled community but nobody else really cares about it. 99 percent of brands don’t post about it or they won’t pay disabled people to make content.
I’ve been trying to repost bits of insight from some disability advocates and educators. One of my personal favorites is Catarina Rivera (@blindishlatina) who is blind and deaf and works as a DEI consultant and public speaker. Her graphics and videos are easy to absorb and are super helpful, in my opinion.
What about you? Have you been celebrating Disability Pride Month? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
:: AND FINALLY… A DOG AND HIS BRUSH::
Denver, my new puppy, and his brush which he believes is his toy.
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faris & rosie & ashley | your friends over at geniussteals.co
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@rosieyakob hangs out on instagram
@ashley also writes for deaf, tattooed & employed
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It's called Genius Steals because we believe ideas are new combinations and that nothing can come from nothing. But copying is lazy. We believe the best way to innovate is to look at the best of that which came before and combine those elements into new solutions.
Co-Founders Faris & Rosie are award-winning strategists and creative directors, writers, consultants and public speakers who have been living on the road/runway since March 2013, working with companies all over the world. Our Director of Operations is nomadic like us, our accounting team is based out of Washington, our company is registered in Tennessee, and our collaborators are all over the world. Being nomadic allows us to go wherever clients need us to be, and to be inspired by the world in between.
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