Big Data, Megatrends and Meta Trends

We use the word megatrend so often today; it’s a trend all of its own, it has passed from neologism, to buzzword, to vernacular. I was however curious in my digging around in what I believe to be the most talked about megatrend today: Big Data, what the commonly understood definitions of mega- and meta-trends would be. I wrote about megatrends a few months back. 

I understand meta as a prefix to be referencing a higher hierarchy, or description of the word it’s affixed too (it also happens to be my sisters nick name – just in case you were wondering).  Meta-linguistics would be the science about linguistics rather than the science of linguistics. Metadata would be a definition or description of data.

Content Delivery

Back in 2011 I wrote a post about owning a TV.  This week my friend Gary Delfiner posted an article about the future of program delivery and I agree with all he observes, but that the water cooler effect is gone. It’s not it’s just different.  And before ANY water cooler talk with colleagues about a TV show you do have to set some spoiler alert rules; that’s all. I actually found it very helpful to be a season behind with Scandal in a recent situation as it gave us a much needed opportunity for a bonding moment when I finally caught up to the final episode of season two (OMG!). 

Context – Part 1

After posting Part 2 before Part 1 – I should get with the program, so eight months later, here’s Part 1 with some more general thoughts about context.  It’s really about content within context. 

 

I think content and context are intrinsically linked. We watch plays or listen to an opera today with the understanding that when they were written there were other times. We take them as a social comment on their times and within that context they become understandable. Of course there are the great classics that tell us truths that hold true to this day. And I take the word truth in its broadest sense, as there is no absolute truth as we so well know (or should know).  

Reading and Responding

Patience is not one of my strong suits. It serves me well in the heat of production to be comfortable to make quick decisions and to act on instinct. And I am usually right.  But I do have some ground rules. 

 

I have learned (yes, the hard way), to never respond to an email that elicits an ‘emotional’ reaction, or a complex answer on impulse, or as I might rather call it, with efficiency. Best case scenario I can afford to sleep on an answer, or go for a walk in the park.  If not, I get up from my desk and wander around the office for a bit.  We are so trained to answer immediately, be it because we feel it’s expected – the 60 minute rule - or be it that we desperately try to stay ahead of the curve on our in-boxes.  We’ve all come back from a meeting or lunch break to the mother-load of all inboxes.  That’s the moment we are thankful for the few spam messages that eluded the filter.

Copyright, Copyleft and Other Considerations

Since we just recently were on the topic of right vs. left I thought I’d educate myself a bit on copyright law. My interest in the topic came up during the recent Digital Hollywood seminars here in New York on a panel about the art of the deal.  Lawyers on the panel used a lot of verbiage that I had certainly heard of, but lets face it, had little educated knowledge about.  Did you know what a “sunset provision” was? No, not a deal involving Sunset Boulevard, nor Before nor After Sunset. 

 

Here a quick overview of some of the concpets that came up during this and other pannels: Copyright, Sunset Provision, Creative Commons Licenses, Copyleft, Public Domain, Fair Use, and FRAPA and what they mean to me as a content producer and filmmaker.  Texts in italics are copied if not noted otherwise from Wikipedia or other sources (noted). 

 

To bring it to a point:  this is really a discussion to be had about the space between all our first Amendent rights (as US citizens) and our rights as content creators. With the event of the internet in general and social media in particular the landscape has shifted into a new dimension. Legal concepts and structures like Fair Use, Creative Commons Licenses and FRAPA give us protection, rights and options to negotiate that space between our right of freedom of speech and our right to protect our work as content producers.   

Storytelling

Attending the event I posted about last time was an amazing experience. My friend Susanne Mueller put on this evening at the PSYA at Marymount College where 15 of us where sharing stories about our lives involving holistic women’s leadership and mentoring. Each had about 2 minutes to share. I wasn’t sure what to expect and I had prepared the thoughts and story I shared in my previous entry called “Mentoring”.  

 

The evening was powerful. The fact that 15 people shared a story without holding back and the other panelists and the audience listened captively created an amazing energy around the room.  The women came from nearly all continents and backgrounds; some from academia, some from the arts, or with business backgrounds; a real hodgepodge of ethnicities and the ages ranged from students to retirees.  

 

Mentoring

I’m speaking at a panel tonight at the Marymount Manhattan College’s Psychology Alumni Society on Women and Holistic Leadership.  The topic is Mentoring. I’m curious to see what I learn, and in the interim, here some thoughts on the topic. 

 

I’ve met some pretty fantastic people, men and women, both in my personal and professional lives. Some I only realized later had been mentors; some were clearly in a mentor role to me from the start. I thrive to emulate what I admire or value in a mentor the most and try to apply it to my own live where possible. I feel however, being “infatuated” with a person and wanting to be just like your mentor, no questions asked, is not a mentor relationship, that’s just being a groupie or member of a fan club.