Maybe love is the one quality that is uniquely human…
One Love
Every Friday between half six and half eight, to mark the end of the working week, I go through a familiar ritual.
I plug in my record decks, turn on the mixer and amplifier, lift the perspex covers off the top of the decks, take the tripod which my good friend Sam Sloan, photographer extraordinaire (who sadly passed away during Covid 19 pandemic) gave me, take the adapter out of the drawer to attach my iphone to the tripod, and the charging cable to connect the iphone to the Mac.
So much for the physical preparations.
Now for the software and social media setup!
I open OBS on my Mac and make sure that I can see myself on the screen, to confirm that the iphone is sending the video signal to the Mac. Adjust the positioning of the iphone so that I can see the decks and the top of my head (It’s my best feature). Open up Chrome and Restream, Facebook, LinkedIn, Mixcloud and make sure that I’m signed in.
I know that I need to select the vinyl records that I plan to play.
How do I do this?
Fairly randomly, to be honest.
Fourth, I need to do the sound check!
I put my headphones on my head, and listen to the vinyl playing on the right-hand deck…
Are the volume levels correct, is the microphone volume at the right level so there’s no feedback?
Are the dials on the mixer in a functional position?
Are the styluses clean?
Finally, I slide the volume on the right side of the mixer to halfway, turn the stream on, start the deck, and say “Good evening, it’s Friday, it’s six thirty, time for another Modern Soul Session”, and slide the control to a fraction below full.
It’s an act of unselfish, unconditional, universal love!
And, most weeks I’ll either put a record on at the wrong speed or put the wrong side on!
But I do get to chat with regular listeners from all around the world on Facebook, LinkedIn and Mixcloud who love the music I play as much as I do, and I always play a special request for my partner, Wendy Ashman and for my good friend Andy Isaac 🙂
Love it!
But, wait a minute…
What’s This Got To Do With AI and Digital Marketing?
Well, it’s an expression of being human…
Art, Performance and Communication are so important to preserve our humanity.
And what do you think…
How likely is it that AI will ever experience Love?
Alan Moore, in his writing course on BBC Maestro, says that he decided early on in his career to love what he does, even writing about a subject that superficially is of no interest to him, like football, to find an angle or something that he loves.
For me, it’s a love of learning, and acting collaboratively to help people to fulfill their potential, whether it’s a colleague, a team member, a client, or a random member of the public.
I’m constantly seeking to learn something new in marketing, to stop me from getting bored, and to “sharpen the saw”, to realise even better results.
Another Andy, one of my old colleagues when I worked in Ericsson, said that I change things for the sake of it, even if they don’t need changing!
But, slowly, just like DJing, I have devised a daily ritual for writing copy, designing marketing campaigns, and testing and measuring using mathematics and statistical analysis, to achieve a greater degree of consistency.
As Peter J. Carroll writes in Octavo “Without mathematics (some theory of ’how much’) you cannot understand philosophy. Without philosophy (some theory of ‘how’) you cannot understand anything… at root mathematics merely involves a consideration of ‘how much’”.
And you can’t really measure Love in that way.
How much do you choose to re-write copy or revise graphic design and imagery? Even though it’s called Digital Marketing, many things remain stubbornly analogue.
And just lately I’ve been learning how to apply AI, combined with copious helpings of human ingenuity in marketing, courtesy of the AI Bootcamp I recently completed with CREATIVE PROCESS DIGITAL LTD .
And, to my surprise I recently got the chance to share the process I have devised through years of experience with some aspiring marketers and creatives. And amazing as AI is, it’s not the same as the process of discovery one goes through in mastering something new. And often knowing what questions to ask is so much more valuable than having all the answers…
Spread the Love
So, last Friday,, I went to Yolk House for a Digital Stars Day with Jim Lewcock and Christian Mealing and Jack Hiett …
Really enjoyed it…
It’s a lovely environment and a great group of people attended the day.
At the beginning we did a kind of warm up exercise to describe your biggest success and biggest failure. As far as success goes, the answer is obvious, starting Digital Freelance in 2016 and training Connie, Reuben and most recently Zac to become superstars of the future. As for failure, well I’ve been through quite a few business partners or potential business partners.
But, despite this, I still love everything I do, and I love life, what more can you ask for?
To quote one of my favourite philosophers…
“I am a fanatical lover of liberty; considering it as the only medium in which can develop intelligence, dignity and the happiness of (wo)man”.
Feel free to drop into our office at 71, St James’s Street if you want to ponder how AI and human ingenuity combined together might work for you or drop me an email graham@digitalfreelance.co.uk.
