Strands of Genius: web3, Augmented Creativity, Wordle from Wardle
plus our thoughts on: moving forward
WRITING FROM | Nashville, TN
WORKING ON | Coming back online, responding to new business enquiries, writing proposals
LOOKING AHEAD
Jan 26-TBD | Mexico
:: WHAT’S NEW & WEEKLY GRATITUDE ::
A friend texted me today to see how we were since they hadn’t see a newsletter in a while, which was really kind and also gently reminded us that we were due to write one!
We took a break and stopped the newsletter for the holidays having planned for a month-long break, but during the holiday period, two of the three of us lost a parent.
There’s never a good time to deal with death, and rarely does grief follow a schedule anyhow. The break may have been a break from email, and from client asks, but we want to be honest with you, dear readers: It’s been tough. We’re tiptoeing back into the real world, shifting gears ‘back to business’ a lot more slowly than we planned. There’s a lot to be excited about in the year ahead, but we’d be lying if we said we weren’t hoping for a slightly more joyous start to the year.
Still, as is often the case for us, we’ve found the solution is in the doing, in the moving to move forward, in connecting with our community here (and on Twitter) in helping others to help ourselves, in getting back to our lovely clients and getting our minds sharply focused on specific things for them. The obstacles are the path, as they say in Taoism.
This week, we’re especially thankful for:
Ashley, Judy, Eric&Erin, Alex&Collin, Michael & Rach, Leffe Blonde, Laith&Ramzi&Abdullah, Pam, therapy, snow days, melting days, ginger sparkling water, Max Frost, Encanto, Janelle Monae, Stella&Chase&Noodles, good food with great friends, Antonia, the memories we keep & YOU.
S C H O O L O F S T O L E N G E N I U S >> H I G H L I G H T S
SOSG | Think on These Things: Trends in 2022 | Community Meetup
Join us for our first community meetup of 2022! // MON, JAN 24 | 12p ET
Rosie and Faris will share a few things for you to think on about what 2022 things will be worth keeping an eye on and we can all have a chat. We look forward to seeing you there!
:: THE LINKS ::
WEBTHREECRYPTONNFT
Some parts of the social web now seem exclusively about web3/crytp/tokens/blockchain/nfts &c and it can all be a little overwhelming, in lots of ways. The tech, the jargon, the hype vs the opportunity, the spam, the scams, the wallets and keys and tokens, the virtual goods. Former global CEO of Havas and founder of the holdingco-formerly-known-as You and Mr Jones that just rebranded as the “Brandtech Group” has penned a well informed, nuanced examination of the whole scene, with a funny title, that’s worth reading: THE METAVERSE IS A GIANT OVERHYPED NOTHING BURGER WITH NO FUTURE…is a view held by many people. (Brandtech)
WHAT AUGMENTED CREATIVITY MEANS FOR ADVERTISING
Faris collaborated with some creativity software to write his column this month, about augmented creativity, where we use software in combination with humanity to get to something better. Or at least different. The Seenapse platform, that fuses GTP3 to a human created associative database can generate hundreds of ideas in minutes, which can then be developed by teams.
(If your agency is interested in getting involved in the invite-only beta ofSeenapse, reply to this email and we can connect you.) (WARC)
THE FOUNDER OF WORDLE IS WARDLE
You may have noticed people playing a new, simple, viral-smash-hit game called Wordle. It was built by a software engineer who works at MSCHF (who we love and admire from afar) just for their friends and family. Also his name is Josh Wardle, which is just fantastic (nominal determinism or nah?), as is this line of his 'People have an appetite for things that transparently don’t want anything from you.' (Techcrunch)
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:: WHAT WE’RE THINKING ABOUT: MOVING FORWARD ::
We had some sad news over the holidays and we are grieving. And grieving is a whole thing. Something that is private and yet public, so strange, confusing and painful. The death of a parent can create a sense that the world has dissolved, become something less stable, the ground suddenly shifts beneath your feet - but it was ever thus, the sense we had before was an illusion.
We’ve found the graphic below helpful as we process our grief. We hope that you don’t have anything to grieve at the moment, but if you do, we hope this brings you some comfort.
So.
(Deep breath.)
We can do this.
Despite tragedy, uncertainty and pandemics, there is so much to live for and look forward to.
Here’s to all the adventures that 2022 has in store for you.
We can’t wait to hear how it goes.
You’ve got this.
(Reaches through the computer for a hug.)
:: AND NOW… METAMART::
This concept video of a metaverse Walmart suggests it will apparently be like going around a wal-mart in vr with additional ‘sales advice’. Like with a virtual shopping trolley. No doubt skeuomorphism is inevitable as new media emerge but this doesn’t seem like a significantly better experience - see what you think here.
If we can ever be of help to you, even outside of a formal engagement, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
rockON,
faris & rosie & ashley | your friends over at geniussteals.co
@faris is always tweeting
@rosieyakob hangs out on instagram
@ashley also writes for deaf, tattooed & employed
Know someone who could use some inspiration in their inbox? Forward this email to them! We appreciate you spreading the word.
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.
Hit reply and let’s talk about how we might be able to work together :)