I'm an ideas person who merges pop culture and technology with advocacy. I'm available to run your social media campaign to reach your unique audience. No limits is my life motto.
If You Build It Your Life Will Come Together
It’s a new year and people often make grand gestures of a wanted lifestyle change with the full intention of following through. As it stands most haven’t planned a solid course for execution and peter out rather quickly. Life continues needling us in certain ways to remind us to become our most authentic and powerful selves.
We’re on a finite journey of limitless opportunities to get to the core of who we are and what our place in the world will be. It has nothing to do with anyone else but ourselves and our Creator and we would do well to remember that. Acts Of Faith In Love And Life has been my digital record of what is my personal journey to growth and fulfillment as I’ve asked the tough questions about who I want to be as a Gen-X, heterosexual female living in Western society who holds certain philosophies and was born into a particular race/ethnic combo.
I have shared many of my observations with a continually-growing audience as well as a complete re-ordering of the world as I’ve known it. Thank you for joining me and sharing your insights as well. We have all been enriched from those that agree with core issues we’ve addressed. We’ve also learned from those who have been in opposition to the messages shared. I’ve personally had my ups and downs which have caused me to question, examine and re-evaluate all of the above often. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Check out the rest of the post at Acts Of Faith In Love & Life blog.
As a social justice advocate I often cover topics related to women's empowerment. In my other online forum, Acts Of Faith In Love & Life I've often discussed ways black women in particular should reevaluate the status quo and their participation in situations or support of people who do little to elevate them.
One area of alarm is related to the cause and effect of the near saturation percentage of never-married women who are also rearing children without adequate support. Check out my latest post: An Un-PC Look At The Negative Impact of AA Single Motherhood and share your thought at the blog.
Note I said feminine not feminist.
We all know how strong we are as women.
While I'm certainly not encouraging a regression of the overall improved status of women as featured in such television shows like Mad Men (good grief!) I do think we need to revisit certain aspects of how women were automatically treated from a chivalry perspective.
Some women have sought for us to be seen as the equal of a male i.e the same.
We are NOT the same.
Nor should we want to be!
Just as our regional, cultural and national variances should be acknowledged so should our gender and how we choose to express that.
As a cis gender hetero woman have you noticed the amount of effort males in drag undergo to look like an uber glamourized version of us? Or when trans women have taken steps to fully acclimate themselves?
Blog host Kimmoy wrote a post asking what role body size plays into perceived feminity. We've all gotten the message about why being larger than the size of a grape is bad bad bad! I exaggerate - only slightly. While we cannot ignore our body size in relation to the current social mores we have to be careful not to fall into a pattern of self-loathing.
I think special attention should be paid to our best assets and as long as we behave with decorum it should not be an issue being accepted as feminine. We do have to reevaluate our social graces when moving amongst different social circles though.
In dating we may also have to consider how our size may or may not appeal to various men - and note why. Some adjustments may be in order, but let it be said some of the most universally-agreed upon attractive women have yet to find adequate mates.
The bottom line is we want to be ready and available to receive and share love with someone who loves and supports us. We have to do whatever it takes to get that. We deserve no less.
There was an interesting exchange between Apple CEO Steve Jobs and a writer from Gawker when Ryan Tate sent Jobs an email questioning the usefulness of the iPad.
Now had it been about the name of the tablet that may have justified. As most women have pointed out there was clearly a lack of consideration for broad appeal by the decision-makers. Further, it shows the lack of foresight in ignoring the impact to various genders in naming a product akin to feminine hygiene products.
Enough of that though.
Since it's release on April 30th, Apple has sold upwards of one million iPads and it is a runaway success. Companies remain profitable in part by staying ahead of trends and promoting consumerism (in offering products that may or may not have mass appeal by creating a demand for them).
While I've personally questioned why we "need" yet another Apple product - and this is coming from an Apple fangirl - the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
Well, except from some like Ryan Tate.
Jobs gave a very telling response that will certainly be analyzed for some time. Amongst other things he said he asked:
"By the way, what have you done that's so great? Do you create anything or just criticize other's work and belittle their motivations?"
Boom!
Pow!
Bam!
It is a legitimate question though. While there should always be room for criticism and evaluation there does come a time where being innovative and following-through on ideas is key. Apple isn't going anywhere anytime soon, although imposed restrictions discourages innovation.
What ways are we as users of technology and gadgets responsible for their creation and implementation? It's our use that adds value and sparks new ways of doing things. There can't be one without the other.
So it’s been more one week since SXSW ended and more than two since the Blacks In Tech event was held during the first evening of the Interactive portion of the conference. Inquiring minds want to know why the panel and especially the Q&A content that followed has been pulled from UStream and not re-aired as indicated. Considering James Andrews some made rather wild accusations, one would think the evidence of such outlandish behavior would have been prominently displayed.
We Want Answers!!
Jeffrey L. Bowman, Partner, Marketing Strategy Associate Director at Ogilvy served as moderator and host of this event. As the corporate mouthpiece he’s not only put his reputation on the line but the entire company. So what are they hiding? After all he concurred with the puffery of the self-appointed “Key Influencer” in claiming they were Kanye’d by yours truly. They also claimed what I asked had no place at their event. If not then….when?
I’d also imagine SXSW would like to maintain its reputation of transparency and not be inadvertently tied to those who would undermine their efforts at inclusion.
Ogilvy Worldwide has always had a corporate policy where employees contributed to communities and society at large. The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) has a Code of Ethics whereby professionals are urged to:
- Protect and advance the free flow of accurate and truthful information.
- Foster informed decision making through open communication.
- Protect confidential and private information.
- Promote healthy and fair competition among professionals.
- Avoid conflicts of interest.
- Work to strengthen the public’s trust in the profession.
I can’t help but wonder what David Ogilvy would think about an employee or contractor who has no such standards representing the company that bears his name.
This is also part of a larger issue of those who want to contribute tangible means that empowers a collective to keep them competitive with the rest of society versus those who wish to gut, dissect and misdirect resources for individual gain. If anyone claims to be a conduit to the black community (especially when it's for their personal profit) but isn't willing to be held accountable they shouldn't be allowed to speak on our behalf!
I suspect the curious silence from Andrews and Bowman is akin to an admission of guilt for lying about what took place. After writing a blog post and resending it on Twitter every two hours for two days Andrews suddenly has nothing more to say? If you yell, “Fire” there had better be smoke! My name may have been dragged into it by this dynamic duo – with Andrews overfiring – but I can assure you this is no longer about me. This is about the public behavior of two male executives who saw fit to demean and castigate a woman who held up a mirror to their selling black folks out for a buck.
According to this professional there is no separation between online and real-life reputation anymore. We’re not without flaws but should those who claim to be experts and influencers be held to a higher standard? What do you think about that? What real progress has been made for those others claim to speak for?
If, as Andrews claimed I had introduced inappropriate topics or whatever twisted logic he used then Bowman should have no problem airing the content. After all, if they are the professionals they claim to be it would have been relatively simple to just replay the video and let the evidence of the alleged infraction be presented to the world. After receiving some scrutiny Andrews has since deleted Tweets and sanitized his original post of its most inflammatory content. Which is something a confident, competent man would have never done to begin with.
I stand by everything I said…but can they?
Their hiding the content of the event at SXSW is reprehensible but we can demand they release it – unless they took the cowardly way out and destroyed it. Either way they should be held accountable for their actions since it was they who initiated the charge of sedition to begin with.
We Want The Tape!!
Since they’re so fond of Twitter I’m urging interested parties to send them a message demanding they produce the evidence, unaltered and unedited of course. Every day they continue to hide it their credibility sinks a little bit further into oblivion. How long will their white patrons continue to support the lying liars and the lies they tell?
Jeffrey L Bowman is at @jeffreylbowman @blacksintech and @whyogilvy.
James Andrews is at @keyinfluencer and @beeverywhere
Of course the focus should be on contacting Ogilvy directly. They have an interesting hierarchy structure but as best I can tell Carla Hendra is the CEO and Chair of Ogilvy’s New York office. Their main switchboard is 212-237-4000. You can call and inquire how they plan to respond to the removal of the content from the Blacks In Tech event and when we can expect it to be posted.
Everyone should be able to watch and listen to it and judge for themselves.
I have an expanded version of this post at my personal blog Acts Of Faith In Love And Life.
Think about how legislation like DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) has a title that can be misconstrued. Labels can attract powerful connections. When they are misused confusion can result. Such was the case with the event titled "Blacks In Tech" held the first evening of SXSW Interactive Conference. It was not only all fluff and offered zero substance, but worse the response showed an utter lack of respect for individuals attending SXSW who would be dismissed as unimportant by the so-called Social Media VIPs. At a conference which is often chided for its lack of diversity, I was surprised to find myself under assault at an event that was hyped as a "safe space" for people like me.
People spend a lot of money and put resources to attend SXSW with limited time in attending events. While there is nothing wrong with a multi-cultural focus had the organizer been more forthcoming about the details of Blacks In Tech it was unlikely to have had a majority African-American female audience in attendance. I went with reservations but observed the event before rendering a final judgment. I waited patiently for nearly 15 minutes to speak during the Q&A session that followed. I addressed the moderator, Jeffrey Bowman, a Partner at Ogilvy & Mather's Consulting Practice directly about my concerns. Specifically, I asked how such an event that had been billed as part of a Blacks In Tech initiative featured a panelist who consistently named-dropped specific male record executives as people to emulate when they had actively promoted music that denigrated black women - to an audience that was a majority of black women.
When great minds come together people can accomplish a lot! Several industry professionals have decided to pool their individual resources collectively to form HAPPO which stands for Help a Public Relations Pro Out. It was initiated in the vein of HARO. The convergence of public relations with social media has never looked so good. Despite the fluctuating economy people decided they would take steps to connect viable candidates with companies who need to fill positions.
Utilizing the microblogging site Twitter people have generated hashtags such as #HAPPO to encompass the entire campaign. Fortunately it will be an ongoing effort and one I hope inspires others to pool talent with resources. Today HAPPO will be hosting a career fair from 11-3pm Eastern. (We'll have to segue in between the Tiger Woods press conference).
Hyper local efforts which have the abbreviated cities attached to the end of the hashtags such as #HAPPODC as well as other social media connections are underway.
Here are some of those links:
Open Forum Page by Mike Schaffer (DC local organizer)
I'm an ideas person who merges pop culture and technology with advocacy. I'm available to run your social media campaign to reach your unique audience. No limits is my life motto.
I'm an ideas person who merges pop culture and technology with advocacy. I'm available to run your social media campaign to reach your unique audience. No limits is my life motto.
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