The Tisch interview
First, congratulations on getting a call to interview. You’ve already made it past the biggest cut in the process. And I know you won’t believe me, but really, there is no way to prepare to “ace” this interview. It’s primarily because there are different faculty members in each interview and so it could go in any direction. Every classmate had a different experience based on who was in the room.
Love
Since this blog was named after the original cartoon, I had to post the Valentine’s Day version.
N.E.D. – The Rocking Docs
One of the wonderful benefits of blogging is the serendipitous contacts. I’ve written about cancer on this blog only twice, but because of those posts, someone wrote and asked if I would talk about a unique band. And while I’m very late, here it is.
N.E.D. is a band comprised of six board certified Gynecologic Oncologists who’ve come together to put out a really cool CD. What impresses me about these specialized doctors is that in addition to their day jobs, they have taken the effort to put out a CD where all sales goes to fund research at the Gynecologic Cancer Foundation. In addition, one of the doctors, Dr. Nimesh Nagarsheth, recently released a book called Music and Cancer: A Prescription for Healing.
The music is really wonderful – these are professional musicians and look the part.
I’ve bought the CD and I encourage you to the same. Great music and a good cause – a perfect mix.
And I absolutely love the name! N.E.D stands for No Evidence of Disease. The best words a cancer patient can hear.
How not to “do innovation”
A case in point
Back in 2003, a small team made the recommendation that eBay should offer blogs to buyers and sellers on the site to enable them to share their experiences on eBay and also make eBay more of a home than just a selling location. The idea was rejected.
Around 2006 (not sure of the exact date), eBay decided it was time to offer blogs. These blogs were not integrated with the seller’s experience. It was a separate place, off to the side, something random and clunky.
In 2009, eBay decided to close the blogs since they were merely a distraction from the core business (I am extrapolating this from the language in the announcement seen below).
Let’s assume for a moment, that closing the blogs was the right business decision. But I was taken aback by the sentence “we encourage you to print out or save your blog entries before we close this section of our site”. Print or save? Do people even know how blogs work? How about offering a very easy xml export?
This kind of thinking has been the issue at eBay and likely many large companies trying to “do innovation” for the sake of it.
Large companies and the innovation circus
In most large corporations, a small team is tasked with innovation. But they are not empowered in any real way. The buy-in is limited and they run around trying to convince people of “little” ideas that seem “far away”.
When someone is finally is convinced, the implementation is usually an issue – “Oh, this is cool and hot, let’s throw it on there”. No thought on how it can be different or game changing. No new thinking. Copy, slap on. And, very late. After everyone else in the world has already done it. Of course the original team that came up with the idea is not involved…
It continues with the ongoing execution – “This is not core, don’t waste time”. Pushed off the side, no integration, no support.
It finishes with the end-of-life decision – “Told you this was going to fail. This is not what we do. Close it down”. And the customers, who had no idea the execution and ongoing management were going to be so poor are left even worse off than if they hadn’t invested the time and effort in the new product.
Frustrating for everyone involved and it reinforces the idea that innovation can’t be done.
At some level, having a team focus on innovative ideas is acceptable (versus the dream goal of every person being empowered to innovate). But the issue is how this team is empowered and enabled. And the real tolerance for trying things. The first idea may not be perfect – but which startup has the perfect first idea?? The team has to have the time and ability to morph the idea just like a startup does. And the powers that be really have to believe this is worth it. Not just pay lip-service to the idea because then they’ll seem cool and hip. And every large company that wants to stay relevant has to solve this problem.
It is frustrating and depressing to think of the ideas that were “out there” and therefore not invested in – like digital goods in 2002/2003. And where is eBay today in the digital goods space? The space that’s seeing explosive growth? No where. This one still causes physical angst when I think of the opportunity lost. Most people in other large companies could probably list their pet
Yes, eBay probably has to focus on the core business. But it can’t be at the expense of all other innovation. The companies that survive for decades and keep innovating don’t think like this. eBay needs to change the way it thinks or it will remain a solid e-commerce site which milks the core business. Not a bad thing, but a terribly uninteresting place for anyone interesting driving innovation. And every large company that wants to stay in the lead and keep its best people has to figure out how to do more than just “bolt on” innovation for the sake of checking a box.
SMS instead of voicemail
I’m in India and I have my Indian SIM card in my phone. The thing I don’t have is voicemail. I investigated turning it on, but I got a long and convoluted set of options from the cell phone company that I couldn’t comprehend. So I just lived without it.
I actually love it.When people want to reach you and you’re not picking up, they just send you an SMS and tell you who they are and what the deal is. It is perfect -
You get a message you can read faster than listening to the voicemail.
By default it is pithy instead of a long, rambling message.
The phone number to call back is right there and you don’t have to write it down.
Landlines would have to be enabled to send SMSes in order for this to really work (think doctor’s office or some service provider calling) but I’m a fan of eliminating voicemail as a concept entirely and replacing it with text messages. Once landlines are enabled, I don’t see the downside. Already, companies like Simulscribe transcribe voicemail and send it to you in an email because it is easier and more convenient for people to read the message, thus proving the concept. Eliminating the concept of voicemail entirely would be awesome – one less thing to check.
The one downside to my cell phone service in India is that I don’t have call waiting. And it appears that many people don’t. So if someone is on the other line, you get the busy signal and you have to keep trying or they won’t even know that you tried to reach them.
Oh wait… I guess one could just send them an SMS instead!
Happy New Year, 2010
And happy new decade. Am I glad to be done with 2009 or what?? I think that’s true for almost everyone I know.
What a crazy decade it’s been. I still remember standing on the beach in Hawaii watching the fireworks to welcome the new decade, the new millennium. It feels like yesterday in many ways. It feels like a century ago in many ways.
It is incredible to think about how much media production and consumption has changed in the past decade. We’ve had the iPod, YouTube, Kindle, xbox, netflix all emerge and flourish in the past decade. And it really feels like just the beginning. Entertainment will continue to democratize but I believe true quality will still (and always) be valued.
Anyway my fellow adventurers – here’s being cautiously hopeful for the decade to come!
Please vote for this blog
My Tatvam blog has been nominated in the Indibloggies in two categories – best entertainment blog and best designed blog. If you enjoy reading this blog and agree, please do take a moment to vote for Tatvam and Tatvam Productions.
You can vote here – Indibloggies Vote Form (http://multivote.sparklit.com/web_poll.spark/21900)
#8, Best Entertainment Indiblog
#14, Best Designed Indiblog
And if you are going there, why not vote for my personal blog, Almost As Good As Chocolate in #16, Best Personal Indiblog? 
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The classes
Aesthetics is all about how to construct your shots, scenes and your film. Shot design, movement of the frame, movement within the frame, camera strategies, color, lighting, depth of field… The list is endless. We watch films that do an incredible job and deconstruct why they are in fact so powerful. It is an incredible class. Brilliant. I’m learning to notice, to think this way, to appreciate the incredible detail filmmakers go to get their desired effect on their audience.
Thanksgiving
Is a really good idea. Makes one pause and be grateful for our wonderful lives. Whatever is going on, if you can read this, you are blessed compared to many in this world.
The only thing I hate about Thanksgiving is the turkey massacre. Tofurkey for the win!
Peace, love and vegetarianism to you all.
NYU, Tisch School of the Arts
I liked NYU because it was focused on production. It is also focused on the independent film and not on the Hollywood system. It is very international (I’d say 40% of the current class). It is very diverse. And very importantly, every single student gets to make a thesis film. This is huge. [...]
I also blog at
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Design