Have you ever been in the midst of a lousy situation and gone, "Man,
if I'd just negotiated differently a few months ago, I would not be in
this mess" We negotiate every day, with ourselves, our spouses, our
kids, our business partners. When I want to understand things better,
I usually start doing research and drawing pictures of what I'm trying
to learn. Here's one of the basic concepts you will find in many
negotiation books---positions versus interests. Positions are a what a
party states they want, and interests are what motivate those
assertions.

You can think of interests as the tip of the iceberg---they are what
are visible. But dive deeper and you will find the interests that
underlay those positions.

So how do you find out the interests of your negotiating partner?
That's coming later! For now, try thinking about the interests that
motivate the positions you are taking. Are your positions actually
going to satisfy your interests? Just a thought.

I am delighted that I will be taking visual notes at the 2010 140 Characters Conference, as I did last year. Only this year, I will be creating the notes on an iPad that
award winning digital super agency R/GA is lending me.

Since the conference is about the business and social implications of
the emerging real-time web, I thought it was appropriate to use the
"nowest" device, the iPad, to capture the ideas and energy
of the event.

If you are attending, be sure to say hi, and if not, I hope my
viznotes will help you glean some of the knowledge and energy that
will be coursing through the 2 day event.

Keep it Visual!

---Jonny Goldstein

This was all done with my fingers. While it was fun, it is highly limited.

Limitations:

1) Not pressure sensitive---that means you have no control of your
line weight in real time. This is caused by the iPad, not the
software. The iPad interface is does not allow for pressure sensing.

2) Not precise--Hey, I was drawing with my fingers, so I had to let go
of precision.

3) 7.99 cents. A little steep compared to other apps.

Awesomeness:

1) It's fun to fingerpaint/fingerdraw, once you let go of the fact
it'll be a little loose. There's a visceral connection to the drawing
when one uses fingers in the making.

2) Great to be able to zoom in, zoom out, and rotate the image with
finger gestures

3) Nice to have layers

4) Easy to email yourself the image once you are done

I am not going to run out and by an iPad quite yet. I would rather
have a tablet that allows for pressure sensitivity. Still, super fun,
and it's a lovely device. I would probably opt for a simpler and less
expensive drawing app if I had an iPad. I think all the features of
SketchBook Pro are overkill given the limitations of the iPad
interface.

I created these illustrations for a video that promotes Philadelphia
as the perfect testbed for the google high speed fiber initiative. The video will go live on Friday, but
I thought I'd get them up ahead of time. To find out more about the
public-private partnership in Philly to promote the City of Firsts as
a site for this project, please visit gigabitphilly.com
And if you have ideas for how Philly could use an ultra high bandwidth
data network that connects individuals, industry, and government,
please submit your ideas here.

You can also show your support by coming to the press conference with
Philadelphia Mayor tomorrow (Thursday, March 25) at 2:30 at City Hall
on the 2nd floor.

A high speed data network in Philly has the potential to accelerate
our medical, film production, university, technology, financial
services, and community sectors by letting people share massive
amounts of data rapidly---that means rich interactivity, problem
solving, and communication.

Gigabit Philly Videos
GigabitPhilly Site
GigabitPhilly Facebook Fanpage
Follow GigabitPhilly on Twitter

Enjoy!

---Jonny Goldstein

RSVP HERE

In the upcoming VizThink, we will look at some processes and visual tools to make group collaboration more  productive.

Justin Witman and Fraser Marshall will lead a mini-workshop on visualizing individual character and group profiles, which can then be used to find collective group purpose.

When a group has a shared sense of purpose, collaboration becomes much more productive.

The duo are in the last semester of University of the Arts'innovative Masters of Industrial Design  program. At UArts, Justin and Fraser are focusing on "The science and design of sustainable collaborations, founded on basic principles of human behaviors that govern learning, motivation and purpose." They call this focus, humantic design.

When:
6:30-8PM Weds, March 10

Where:
Where:
Room 116 SHDH (downstairs)
Steinberg-Dietrich Hall
3620 Locust Walk
University of Pennsylvania
Between Spruce and Locust Walk along what would be 37th
street. Note: Locust walk is a pedestrian only area on UPenn campus.

RSVP HERE

Took this picture of the crowd at the NYC Chinese New Year celebrations at the dragon dances. The crowd was enthralled by the dragons, but I was enthralled by the crowd, which was so deeply engaged with the spectacle. I was particularly struck by the photographer, straining for the perfect shot. That look on his face--that's what flow looks like.

My friend Scott Stead asked me for my impressions of Arizona. I'm visiting my Dad who moved here recently.  This is regarding the Tucson area.

Here they are in no particular order.

1. Visually spectacular. Clear vistas to snow capped mountains.

2. Lots of wildlife---So far seen Coyotes, roadrunners, rabbits, deer, and many other birds.

3. The age skews older than anywhere else I've ever been. This part of Arizona is a big retirement destination. In particular, my Dad lives in a retirement community, so it's even more pronounced. I do not like this age segregation. People aren't made to be cut off from people of different ages. It's bad for everybody.

4. Low density. Tucson is sprawling and diffuse. Again, I'm not a fan of this kind of development---But....

5. Architecturally sensitive. The design of the houses blends in nicely with the scenery--low slung houses in sandy colors.

6. Intelligently landscaped---no grass, desert plants only in peoples' yards. I wish communities in other water poor regions, like Colorado, would landscape in accordance with their local environment.

That's all I've got for you, Scott. Hope it was fun and educational.

Had a fantastic experience at the PhillyChi Design Slam. Here are a few photos and short video clips.

Here is how the slam was described before the event:

"Contestants will participate in a fast-paced race to create the best design solution to a "made-up" real-world problem. Awards will be given to the victors!"

"During the meeting, participants will be teamed and introduced to a full-fledged hypothetical project, including appropriate client-side deliverables. They'll then have an opportunity to interview key players on the client's team. The session will conclude with proposal presentations from each of the groups to the "clients" and the assembled audience.

Then the "clients" team will choose a winner. Members of the winning team will receive a plethora of praise from your peers and an award."

My Experience:

Was put on a team with several other folks, only one of whom I already knew--Ruth Kalinka. The hypothetical project was to create a new strategy for a general retailer "Archer Inc." who competed with Target at the high end and Wal-Mart at the low end. They wanted to build a bunch of new locations that would have higher profit margins than their existing stores. They also wanted to make inroads into two distinct market segments, "Eco-Fashionista" Moms and "Sportscenter" men. They also wanted to lower their costs while going in a greener direction.

After hearing the brief, we had 45 minutes to come up with a presentation. We had no trouble coming up with ideas, but filtering them and synthesizing them was more of challenge. That did not stop us from trying though! We had very diverse group--from mechanical engineer, to information architects, to visual designers, to a graphic facilitator. I pulled out all the stops giving a musical intro when it was our turn to present. We took turns presenting different pieces of our proposal, but unfortunately ran out of time before everything was presented.

Todd Warfel and Kelani Nichole's group gave what I felt like was the most coherent and businesslike sounding proposal, and indeed their team won. I was told over beers later that our group came a close 2nd.

The main thing is it was fun, challenging, and a great way to stretch and meet new people.

Special Bonus: One of the stakeholders in the fictitious company played the part of founding family member, Jake, who had completely different ideas from the company's management team. He went from group to group throwing wrenches in everyone's ideas. I loved this detail.

Thanks to PhillyChi for producing the event and Messagefirst for  hosting it and all the participants and specators. Great stuff.