Creative Sydney - Finding Your Followers

Here are some take outs from last nights panel discussion at Creative Sydney “Finding your Followers”...

"There’s a world of fans waiting to discover you – so how do you reach them? Discover global and local marketing, publicity and distribution strategies for artists and makers. Presented in association with Pages Digital."

- Creative Sydney

Virginia Hyam (The Studio), Sydney Opera House

• Digitally enabled word of mouth (WOM) is seen as a move from the traditional WOM to new media – the fundamentals don’t change.
• Massive support from press helped change perceptions of expense, exclusive to Opera performances and open up opportunities in the music industry eight years ago.

Jean-Claude Abouchar (The Grand Social)

• In order to keep their Twitter account exciting, they invite friends/colleagues going on Fashionistic trips abroad etc. to have account access and report on their experiences on Twitter. I think this would be a great idea for film companies i.e “Guest tweets” from actors, producers, directors etc.
• They create parallels online and offline, e.g. For launch they had a “pop up” store in Paddington and created the same online to increase WOM, accessibility and distribution which got a lot of press coverage too.
• Initially they targeted their communication to designers and encouraged networking between them by hosting events and with that grew a larger market place online as more and more designers got on board via WOM.
• A strong selling point for The Grand Social is that it encourages consumers to discover other similar brands, hence a good opportunity for designers and consumers.

Adam Ferrier (Naked Communications)
Four rules to a successful product:

1. Be different, what’s your point of difference? Create your own sector. Get it right!
2. Have purpose – what’s the consumer need / motivation?
3. Be believable – prove your credibility.
4. Visionary – think big, think forwards, think differently

Another point touched upon was distribution... No point having a great product if you can’t distribute it.

Almira Pizovic (Picaholic)
Some rules for a good website:

1. Be compelling
2. Be easy to use and navigate
3. Search engine friendly
4. Browser / screen compatible
5. Mobile enabled
6. Live feeds / social media integration

Innovative new art sites and products which I really like that were presented by the following:

Tim Brady (Freshly Baked Gallery)
A virtual art gallery where geography isn’t an issue for accessing art. You can purchase art online and envisage this art on your own wall... Original idea, another winner in my books and I like Tim’s story that he went from being a construction manager making the pay check but not feeling satisfied with his life decided to take the risk, quit his job and start up Freshly Baked (example art below).

Madeleine Boyd (Stupid Krap)
This site is dedicated to the community of artists, underground and street creating an artist-run portal and on-line store, featuring limited-edition high-quality art prints and collectibles. I can see myself making a few purchases on here.

All in all, it was a good night I enjoyed the discussion although the crying baby started to tickle my clearly un-maternal nerves somewhat. I recommend anyone interested in learning more as a creative, marketeer or curios to attend some of these free seminars at Creative Sydney at the MCA... besides its a great opportunity to see the beautifully lit up MCA and Opera House.

let the right one in

I watched this movie a few weeks ago. It just blew my mind away. If you get chance to see this at the movies, I really recommend it. It is a vampire movie but it is a massive leap away from the typical action packed vampire movies that we see these days.

The director Tomas Alfredson filmed it beautifully so that each delicate moment is captured and felt. I think what I love most about it is the way it uses special effects in a dated looking movie. It's actually quite refreshing and makes the movie all the more realistic and dependable.

Be prepared for a scare (but a big romantic sigh at the same time)

Meditation

Now before thoughts of tree hugging, smelly dreads and any general hippie stereotype come to mind, I would like to assure you, I am not a hippie. Or may be I am. Like a modern day urban hippie who enjoys living in the chaos, the city rush, coffees and cocktails, fashion and good food.

I suppose the fact that I have to defend myself in my first sentence addresses the premise that meditating isn't seen as a mainstream past time or at least one spoken of (in Sydney at least). It brings about thoughts of Buddhism and well, the relinquishment of worldly pursuits for the sake of spiritual/psychological gain is alien to the prevailing values of capitalism today, I mean, you can't make money with your eyes closed and legs crossed all day!

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, on a wee whim, I escaped the city and spent the weekend at a meditation retreat in order to learn techniques and practice a touch of yoga.

Since my dabble in the "quieting of the mind" I have tried to keep up my practice by having some down time at the end of each day. Trust me, its a difficult thing to start. Be it intimidation, boredom, restlessness or just lack of time. For me the concept of staying still is incredibly alien to me. Hell I even fidget in my sleep. Still I have noticed quite a remarkable change and empowerment following these "sessions" each night.

I am a pretty chilled bean anyway but there is no denying, the noise, the chaotic rush of peoples, the relentless propagation and information that we absorb in to our everyday lives is arguably unnatural. For ants perhaps not but definitely for people. So I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that switching off for a while was like pouring water on to parched land, I felt refreshed. The things that annoyed me to a point where self expression had elevated to foot stomping and huffing became seemingly minor. I know I am a long way off from tapping in to the serious benefits of meditation, what I've managed to get from these few invested hours, Buddha gets in a sneeze. So I've only had a taster, but I'll still advocate that its very good exercise, even if you do run the risk of social ridicule amongst friends... (you'll be too chilled to care anyway)

So whether it be a little 'out there' to admit this, I am going to try to keep it up... or at least for those moments of foot stomping and recommend any curios to do the same.

Peace & ommmms
Jecta x

Surrealist Naoto Hattori

I stumbled across this beautiful print by Naoto Hattori Japanese surrealist at my friend's store, DISRUPT in Surry Hills today. The image blew me away. Something about it, enchanting, beautiful yet horrific at the same time which stirred up weird emotions prompting a series of impulse purchases...

Hattori was born in Japan and moved to NY to study Illustration. His style can be quite dark and mystical and yet each piece has a sense of realism with the degree of accuracy he paints which makes me feel like he's seen these images before, just on another universe. He captures skin tone perfectly.

I found this quote from him (Portsort.com) which I really like:

"Why was the surreal painter so important back in his day? Why did the royal residence hire those artists? Not because of their love for surreal paintings, just because the camera had not been invented yet. Now we have a computer, a video.. and numerous other things, so that contemporary art became abstract and people rely on a computer and tend to forget to about the traditional art. I'm young but I just want to show them that surreal style of painting is still not dead. I keep making fresh pieces and amaze people through my vision," says Naoto.

See why I like this guy? Hence I bought all these prints ;)
Check out his website here

How hard it is being good...

I tell you what, cutting out certain food groups (albeit unhealthy) along with alcohol and caffeine does suddenly dawn upon the realisation that without them you are practically a social outcast.

Obviously this statement is exaggerated, however let me put this in to perspective.

Every morning quite ceremoniously, my colleague and I would head out to our local favourite cafe where the baristas know our names and always make us smile (Single Origin) to get our super strong coffees to wake our minds and start our day. This is no more.

Friday night, a friends birthday. I paid a visit, stayed sober although surrounded by chocolate cake and cheese plates the experience was incredibly tortuous. That said, I still enjoyed the company and being the only sober person there - had the privilege of driving my friends new BMW home at the end of the night.

Saturday night. This was harder, much harder. A group of us, mostly from the UK (which tends to = Trouble) went for dinner at Dragons Den in Darlinghurst for a delectable meal, well at least it would've been delectable if I didn't have to resist certain elements of the banquet i.e. red meat. Then comes tip toeing the alcohol issue when the bottles get passed round and I have to hide my wine glass. As a consequence, I had numerous people coming up to me saying "So you're not drinking" which translates to "What the hell is wrong with you?" and "Well done" which translates to "Ha, you're missing out!" Not that anyone had issues with me not drinking but it certainly did mean that nearly every conversation I had with people circled around that decision and although I was happy, I did start to realise that my state of mind was getting further and further away from everybody else's.

Anyway, so far physical changes I've noticed following the first week:

1. I no longer crave caffeine: my addiction may have been curbed(!)
2. Using the bathroom more regularly
3. More spots: apparently this is the toxins leaving the body
4. More energy: this could be part of the lifestyle
5. Slimmer around the hips!
   

I guess as a distraction for me, I am managing to focus my energies in an old rekindled hobby, painting. I'm currently working on my first conceptual piece using acrylics on canvas. Its quite exciting for me and I am enjoying it much more than I expected.

Anyway, watch this space. More more exciting news to follow.

Time to be good...

Whilst I like to think myself as a balance person. I tend not to drink too much, eat healthily, adhere to a routine which incorporates fitness and fun, there's little doubt that the last three years have probably had an affect on body and mind.

According to Diana Ketchen Natural Health Consultant, 'modern day life has resulted in an exponential increase in our exposure to chemicals, drugs and pollutants. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics, over dependence on alcohol and a fast lifestyle have all contributed to making out bodies unhealthy. The modern generation seems to have forgotten that to get to the top of the rat race we need a healthy mind coupled with a healthy body.

Our body’s detoxification system comprises of the digestive and urinary systems, skin, lungs and liver. It is a perfect system in which the organs supplement and complement each other. There is, however, a limit to how much it can be stretched.

What happens is this. The frontline defense of the intestines is broken due to the large quantities of toxins that enter our body. This intake can happen through food, exposure to the environment, drinking water and other points of contact. The breakdown of the function of the intestines leads to a condition where the liver needs to work more than its capacity.

Over time, if we have not had a natural body detox, the toxins start to leak out of the intestinal walls into the blood stream. And a situation like this causes diseases like bowel toxaemia (blood poisoning caused by bacterial toxic substances in the blood) and candidiasis (an infection caused by fungi). These diseases are characterized by symptoms like diabetes, chronic constipation, vaginal thrush, loss of libido and increase in blood cholesterol'.

In my final year of University I quit alcohol for 3 months, walked everywhere, did yoga and cut down on my carbs. The results were incredible, I lost weight, I felt great and my mind was tuned in. I was also very happy and more confident than I'd felt in a long time.

Then, well I fell in love, moved to the big smoke, got a full-time job in the city and commuted a good hour or so a day in London.

This was the start of my naughty period. Oblivious at the time (until obviously too late!) I indulged in mars bars from the work vending machine, drank half a bottle of wine a night and always ended up eating late after work which usually contained man portions of potatoes! That along with being unhappy in my job and taking up voluntary work for Oxfam coordinating events in whatever spare time I had certainly added to the stress.

So the waistline broadened and brain cells depleted... The thing is although I will openly admit to being somewhat lazy in London along with eating irresponsibly, it is a lifestyle suited to the big smoke. Time is tight - it is the London mentality, people moving in and out of the city tend to commute long distances (house prices, family etc.) and the weather is predominantly terrible, or at least it was for the duration I was there. Which if you're anything like me, means one will scoff on comfort food further escalating the unhealthy lifestyle already accustomed to.

Now I am in no way slating London. I love that place. But I can't deny it triggered a downward spiral in terms of my health. I was constantly ill, managed my time badly and ate/drank as much as my boyfriend (who is much bigger than I am)!

So now I have decided it is time to face the music and work off that too easily accrued load. It is time for the D.E.T.O.X.

My aim is to get healthy and feel firstly and foremost confident in my skin.

So the plan?

• Gym at least twice a week (cardio & weights)
  
• No meat aside from fish & chicken
• No alcohol
• No caffeine
  
• No wheat
• No dairy
• Only organic/gluten free food where possible

In addition to doing the bod some good, I am also going to attend meditation and yoga classes to get some peace and loving in to my mind. That and some clarity.

I'm going to stick to this for 3 weeks, starting from today. Time to lose the London load, time to be good...

Will keep you updated. Wish me luck!

P.S. Don't expect too much - I'm already bored.

P.P.S. Typical, my work mate's announced she's bringing in chocolate cake tomorrow.

My favourite song...

I love this song. Peter Doherty, sure he's had issues. Its not good. But his writing is poetry and I like this one especially.

Tofulicious

I wish I could eat tofu, all the time. Ok it’s a weird texture, makes your teeth furry and looks like an alien creature that’s shriveled up in to an ice cube mold, but its good for you. And not only is the tofu little creature good for you but its good for the planet…ahh…

As a child I refused to eat my veggies (except for broccoli because it reminded me of trees and made me feel like a giant), fussy eater me, now however I am advocating for more consumption of a food made by curdling fresh hot soymilk with a coagulant… if you told seven year old Jess that she would find herself eating such a disgusting thing in the future, she would have sworn on her little pony “NEVER!” before spiking her brother’s milk with strawberry Nesquik.

Still I am a little wiser and understand that farming uses up much larger landmass than vegetables and tofu. Hence reducing the destruction of rain forests, wildlife and also produces less pollution. Yes indeed, more vegetables and tofu are a great alternative.

All they need to do is make tofu taste like chicken… or steak… or salmon…

Coldplay Rocked My World Lastnight...

Coldplay and I, well we've had our moments. I listened to their first album relentlessly until I found out my Dad was. Then I subscribed to the common thought that they were relentlessly depressing.


This has changed, along with new albums, their evolving sound and my own musical maturity. I saw them last night performing at the Acer Arena, what a show. Highlights included:

• Finding out our seats were wrong and we were actually meant to be at the front!
• Befriending the stage crew who gave us beer and the set list at the end of the show
  
• Dancing to Yellow
• Singing to Green Eyes
• Relentlessly smiling
• Confetti butterflies falling from the high ceiling glowing in the UV lights
• The realisation that Chris Martin albeit hyperactive, is a humble and incredibly talented musician

Their songs are gorgeous. Sighs...

Playground Weekender

Its been a week since I returned to the real world following a hot weekend at Wiseman’s Ferry for Playground Weekender music festival.

How was it? Well first and foremost I can describe the experience in one word: HOT. Seriously hot. That kind of heat where you feel somewhat paralysed and the most energy you can muster is to head to the store and buy a bag of ice or jump in to the river. We struggled to move and talk for a period in the early hours of Saturday.
Enough about the heat though, that message was drilled in I am sure.
Pros & Cons?
Pros:
1. Beautiful setting. I was blown away by the gorgeous layout of this festival. The organisers ensured there was a quirky hippie slant on the deco and sitting along the riverside was a welcome break.
2. Not too crowded. I hate festivals that get too crowded. Being a little lady myself I can’t stand the prospect of having my head up someone’s baby wiped armpit and having my feet trodden on. Playground was roomy enough to dance but not to the point where it lack in atmosphere.
3. Leading me to the next point, atmosphere. Atmosphere was great, upbeat, and friendly at Playground. I met and chatted to so many randoms and there was this sharing caring vibe that can be hard to find at some festivals.
4. Great acts. I was very excited to see Jose Gonzalez, sadly his act was really short and a little uninspiring but the sound was great and I think it was quite a relief to have an act less high energy. My favourite acts included: Crazy P, Lyrics Born and The Streets.
5. Laissez-faire attitude, trusting patrons to look after themselves and one another. Nothing worse than being hounded by sniffer dogs and the intimate searches to welcome you at some of Australia’s festivals.
6. Fancy Dress, need I say more (see images = lots of fun)?!
Cons:
1. Cuing for the ferry. That was a joke. Aside from sweltering in the heat carrying bags we had to wait a good 3 hours to get on to the ferry. Of course one fills the time with a beer or two but it did feel very frustrating after rushing tirelessly to get there and make the last act to then be waiting with a strip of water between you and the fun.
2. Water cost $7 a bottle. A painful joke. Being that tap water came out an off brown colour which was far from refreshing looking, I did thinking it was a bit mean charging so much for bottles of water especially in the 47 degree heat conditions.
3. Norman Jay was a no show. We were really disappointed after trundling from The Streets at the main stage to catch a bit of Norman Joay to no avail. I suppose this does happen at concerts so I shouldn’t sulk too much (but will anyway).
4. Last bus back was at 10pm! We would’ve much preferred to get a coach to and from the festival but departing at 10pm from the other side of the ferry would’ve been far too much of a stressful hike.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Playground and will be sure to revisit it next year.

Hunter S. Thompson

Oh Hunter S Thompson, what a legend you are... I remember reading about his funeral years back, the man had his ashes blown out of a canon. Nothing but admiration for the king of gonzo.

Respect

Holiday Begins!

Well its Christmas eve, work is over, hugs and cuddles all round and after a wonderful get together with friends last night (and far too much champers), I feel really happy.

Its a time of year when you can't help but realise how far from home you are and how far from friends and family.

Tomorrow Chris and I embark on a week long adventure with a camper van, map and torch around Tasmania. We are traveling all over before arriving at Marion Bay to sport my new wig and dance under the stars at Falls Festival. I can't wait...

I thought it quite fitting to put the video that my friends sent me saying goodbye when I left the UK. I watched it moments ago and I was filled with nostalgia. There's no denying I miss them a lot. If only they'd smell some decent coffee (namely from Single Origin cafe) and get their sexy backsides to the warmer climates of Oz.

Anyway, I'll be away for a while. Happy Christmas to everyone, I hope its a wonderful day and you appreciate having your loved ones near (as annoying as they might be at times).

Ho ho ho...

nb. All images/video content has been sourced from student days, thus I am in no way responsible for my actions. Obviously.

The Mountain Goats

Friday night I saw this band called The Mountain Goats, I've listened to quite a bit of their music in the past and was a bit curious as to what they would be like live.

I was pleasantly surprised - these guys absolutely rocked it and they also had a huge following here in Sydney. Clearly this was a show dominated by fans, and the energy of the room really demonstrated this, with most (though, sadly, not all), hanging intently on every word.

I can't work out what makes them so good - the lead singer is a little gawky and whiny, the lyrics are somewhat narrative and songs - very wordy, but yet it has to be that little bit of quirky cult lyrical genius which makes them win the crowd over. The lead singer was an absolute diamond when it came to making everyone laugh and truly entertaining us through his jet lag and random rants. I remember at one point he said: “Australia responded to this song more than anywhere else, so feel free to sing along, I’m not gonna stand in your way... well because obviously I can't, I'm on the stage and you're down there and I have a job to do."

Anyway, overall a good show and Manning Bar (the student union bar) even caters for small people - so I got a view!!! Spoilt!

Birthday Spaghetti

I made spaghetti on my birthday. I know its not the coolest of feats but I have to admit there was an overwhelming sense of accomplishment in doing so and its another thing I can tick off my list. It also tasted delicious.

We used the Jamie Oliver recipe and all that was required was

• 600g of Tipo ‘00’ flour (a really fine flour made specifically for pasta).
• 6 large free-range organic eggs.
  

I think the best things in life are often the simplest.

Its my birthday.

I love having a birthday in Summer, bearing in mind this is all very novel to me. Gone are the days where we'd all huddle ourselves in to a warm pub watching out for ice on the footpath as we stumbled home. Oh yes. Now, I have sunshine, daylight, beaches and BBQ's. I thought I was over getting excited about birthdays - prospect of aging has starting to sink in - but this is quite a treat and I have reverted to a child getting really enthusiastic about my birthday.

Tomorrow, there'll be a BBQ at a lovely little beach in Sydney called Red Leaf with proverbially pommy pimms and lemonade and am looking forward to the prospect of just chilling out in the sun OUTDOORS!

On Sunday, my real birthday, I'm going to Palm Beach to stay at my friends beautiful holiday home. I do feel spoilt. I can't deny that I will be missing my gorgeous friends in the UK, if only they could be here too...