The conference's namesake quotation as displayed on the program.

As a result I’ve been doing my best to get out of the weeds and explore other fields to get inspired for the next move. Part of that personal journey happened last week at Behance’s 99% conference¹.

The conference is targetted towards “creatives” and focuses on turning ideas into action. Speakers included Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, How to be Black author Baratunde Thurston, Graphic Designer and Partner at Pentagram Paula Scher and many others. Also, Behance was kind enough to anoint me a 99% Fellow for the conference.

Below are a few larger takeaways from the conference.

Key Takeaways

Know your one thing – In our professional lives, it’s easy to be torn in dozens of directions. Several speakers mentioned the almost maniacal focus they had on their core goal and mission for their projects and credit that focus as the reason for any success. Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian mentioned how he tries to give all of his products personalities and have those personalities permeate everything he does.

Jason Goldberg demonstrates how he figured out "design" was his company's "one thing."

Jason Goldberg, founder of Fab, mentioned that knowing your “one thing” is the key to success. When Goldberg and his team had to “pivot” fabulous.com to Fab, they drew this chart on a cocktail napkin to emphasize design as the “one thing” that Fab would focus on.

“Creativity is the residue of wasted time” – If we don’t stop ourselves, it’s easy to spend every waking moment consuming some sort of content. It’s also easy to mistake “working” with “being productive.”

Many speakers spoke of inspiration finding them in their idle moments (usually in the shower). Jonah Lehrer, author of “How Creativity Works” told the story of Bob Dylan writing “Like a Rolling Stone” after recovering from touring by taking time hiding out in a cabin in upstate New York while he swore off the music industry. Our inspiration is more likely to come when we’re relaxed.

The real hot startup? Cities – When companies get bigger, they are less productive due to bureaucracy and processes. However, when cities get bigger they are more productive and more diverse people become loosely organized. In a large city, citizens are more likely to bump into inspiration. The business/city comparison was drawn again by Union Square Venture’s Partner Brad Burnham in his “studio session” when he told listeners that businesses built on network effects² are move like governments than businesses.

Be bold – Keith Yamashita, partner at SYPartners, spoke of working on teams and urged the crowd to be bold. ”If you’re uncomfortable, you’re doing it right,” he said.

Alexis Ohanian during his talk at the 99% conference

Other notes / choice quotes:

Fortune 100 companies live an average of 45 years

“If it feels tedious, you’ll never stick with it.”

Email has us in the age of “reactionary workflow.”

The number one source of happiness at work, even above money, is ANY form of progress – Teresa Amabile, Hardvard Business school

“On the internet know one can hear you fail” – Alexis Ohanian

“Ship stuff. If only so your team has something to put on their resumes” – Tony Fadell, Founder of Nest

“Just try shit. Please.” - Alexis Ohanian

Final Thoughts

The conference was impeccably organized. As someone who has planned an event or two, I know how hard these things are to pull off. Big thanks to the Behance team for putting it together and inspiring me to push a few ideas forward.

If you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.

1. Which is derived from the Thomas Edison quote “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration” and has nothing to do with Occupy Wall Street.
2. like Digg, Reddit, Twitter, Etsy etc.

Now for the scariest sentence in the history of this site: effective June 1, I’ll no longer be involved in the day-to-day operations of Technically Philly and Technically Media.

The reason: we’ve had great success running Technically Media as a tribunal, equally dividing roles and responsibilities between the co-founders: Brian James Kirk, Chris Wink and myself. As our business grew and diversified I had a growing opinion that we needed more leadership by having less leaders. It was time for me to lead, follow, or get out of the way.

I want to make perfectly clear that this is not because of any specific event that’s happened in the past few months. Chris and Brian are like brothers to me, I’m tremendously proud of what we’ve done and I hope to work with them again some day. Instead this choice was deeply personal, a choice to try something new and embrace change.

I’ll still maintain a stake in the company and will be involved in long-term strategic planning, but the company will be in the very capable hands of Brian James Kirk and Christopher Wink.

This is usually the part of these “changing jobs” posts when the writer mentions what’s next. The honest answer is “I don’t know.” I will be traveling for a few weeks in June and July, but I’m mostly interested in taking this time in-between projects to recharge my batteries. I’m not looking to hide-out on a farm somewhere, I’m still very much fascinated by media, editorial/content strategy, entrepreneurship, online content, and journalism. I still see a tremendous opportunity in all of these things.

If anyone has ideas on something you’d like to work on together or would like to explore new ideas, please reach out. My calendar this Summer is wide open. In the meantime, I’ll be busy helping plan Philly Tech Week, speaking at SXSW and attending the 99 percent conference in May.

And to anyone that ever emailed me a story about how Technically Philly has helped them or came out to one of our events or purchased our consulting services: Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

But lately, my bookmarks folder in Google Chrome has been filled with articles about the following six subjects, which I think will have a big impact on the upcoming year:

It's not a roo-mah. The Internet Fridge is coming this year.

The Internet of Things – One of my favorite action movies is “The Sixth Day.” In the movie, which takes place in the future, the main character finishes off his milk and his fridge automatically orders a new carton¹. The “Internet of Things” is the concept of everything in our house being connected to the Internet and to each other. Imagine shades that automatically dim when you turn on your television or getting a text every time your door opens. Connecting our physical to our digital can have effects beyond the living room, it can even help make our cities more efficient.

I’ve even ordered a few Ninja Blocks, small open hardware devices design to help people experiment with the Internet of Things, to play with and I encourage you to kick in a few bucks as well.

Lack of innovation in content delivery – Despite the innovation in tablets, smart phones and internet connection speeds, we’re still consuming content in the same ways we did when it was printed on dead trees. Not since Twitter² has there been a new way to deliver information. We’re still writing hundreds of words with a single byline and a picture or two. Why haven’t other forms of content become more streamlined?

The Facebook Open Graph – Just like the Internet of Things connects the Internet and the physical world, Facebook’s Open Graph promises to connect everything on the web with our social circle. Evil? Maybe. Awesome? You bet.

The end of free – The culture of the web is starting to change. This first, and perhaps most public, sign was the Pinboard versus Delicious story. In a nutshell, Delicious founder Joshua Schachter followed standard Silison Valley startup protocol and sold the social bookmarking service to Yahoo for “between $15 and $30 million³.” The service atrophied as Yahoo struggle to find a home for it. Soon after Yahoo sold the service to YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen for $5 million. The total revenue generated by Delicious during this time? $0 ((One could argue that Delicious served ads and therefore had some revenue. However, those ads were likely served by Yahoo and the revenue was negligible)).

While Delicious was going through its second sale, users were flocking to Pinboard, a similar service. The difference? Pinboard unapologetically charges users for its service. This difference in philosophy led to one of my favorite blog posts of 2011: Don’t be a Free User by Pinboard founder Maciej Ceglowski((For an even more detailed break down, I suggest this story in the Guardian))

The ethos of the web is the same as business in general: provide people with value and they’ll pay.

The end of average – With two brothers in college and a mother in the education field, I’m constantly pondering the state of education in America. My conclusion is that we need to tell our children that the era of average is over.

Tony Hsieh’s Las Vegas project – What happens when a personable millionaire barrels into a forgotten downtown area of an American city and attempts to revitalize it by attracting small business entrepreneurs? We’re about to find out.

1. There’s even a Tumblr dedicated to Internet Fridges
2. Circa 2005
3. Says Wikipedia

I’m not here to convince you about the musical talent of Jack White and the White Stripes, this video of their performance on Conan can do that for me.

While the band’s music made me a fan, what’s kept me interested is Jack White’s unique takes on creativity and business. There’s nothing subjective about business success.

Jack White soloing on Conan's desk.

The band is curious for a couple of reasons: the whole husband-wife/brother-sister thing, there are only two members and the band’s monumental success at a time when the infrastructure of the music industry was crumbling around them. Likewise, White’s latest venture Third Man Records, is selling custom, hand pressed vinyl records and making waves in the music business.

As a fan of White’s music I’ve probably read nearly every mainstream press attention he has received and Jack White’s thoughts on business and creativity have had a profound effect on who I am as a businessman.

Below are some takeaways I’ve gathered and try to live up to in my professional life.

Contraints produce creativity

“Little Room” is one of the White Stripes shortest songs, but it’s also one of the most important in understanding White’s business philosophy. The lyrics:

The White Stripes have build a strong, but limited framework for their music and their business. Much like good business can boil down their messaging to a simple phrase¹, creativity is best produced when faced with strict limitations. The White Stripes only have two members, limited color scheme and (for a while) only used analog equipment.

True creativity is born of a struggle of some kind. Build a strong framework you believe in and the limitations will empower you. Put a deadline on that meeting. Limit that product to only three features. Constrain. Ship the damn thing.

In a digital world, we are tempted towards excess constantly. When things are easy, they are boring. They are paralyzing. When we have numbers on every aspect of our business, the information can overwhelm our sensibilities and gut instincts.

“Telling yourself you have all the time in the world, all the colors in the palette, that just kills creativity”

Own it

During its entire lifespan the White Stripes never signed a contract where they would not own all of their content. This resulted in the self-publishing of their first two records. The success of the first albums enabled the group to negotiate favorable contracts for their rest of their career, including a one-album deal with industry giant Warner Brothers. In fact, all of the band’s contracts were short-term arrangements.

From the LA Times: “The band retains ownership of its master recordings–an arrangement almost impossible with major companies, and a major bone of contention between many artists and labels with an eye on growing digital distribution opportunities.”

We’ve seen this tactic employed by Bill Gates with much success when it came to DOS. Owning your work is an important long-term strategy for any creative product.

However, this Jobsian-like control can extend to the manufacture of the product itself. The reason Apple can innovate hardware and software simultaneously is that it remains tight fisted over the entire production process.

So when Jack White transitioned from rock star² to a record distributor he made sure to retain control over all processes.

From the New York Times:

“The [Third Man Records] building would include a rehearsal space, a small record store concentrating on vinyl albums and 45s and even a darkroom: a full-service facility for bands to practice, record and release music as fast as possible.”

Indie Nashville takes a tour through Third Man records and the vinyl factory nearby.

Omit needless words

White is unabashedly obsessed with the number three. From the White Stripes FAQ:

The White Stripes contain no more elements than needed. This serves not only as a gimmick but a way to keep costs laughably low while streamlining the entire operation. White often says that this simplicity also gives him nothing to hide behind, forcing him to put on a good show.

A simple stage set up for a White Stripes concert

Your profession is not a cartoon

Some people choose the profession they are in because they like the idea of that occupation more than the actual practice. In journalism, this disconnect was possible until the digital disruption. Yet journalism professors often tell me that their students are still chasing the romanticized ideal of a journalists, the archetype made possible in All The President’s Men or Good Night and Good Luck. But we can’t ignore our the business realities and we must do what we can to learn the business of content.

White talked abut his love of theatrics holding down his early business ambitions as an upholster. “I was an apprentice for years, but when I opened my own place, I just didn’t have that love for money that’s necessary to run a business. I was so into the cartooniness of it.”

While he never stated this explicitly, White wised up when it came time to turn his music into a business.

1. The iPod’s “A thousand songs in your pocket” comes to mind
2. A REAL rock star, not a fake “I know Ruby” rock star

My morning routine often had me firing up Google Reader and reading through 96 RSS subscriptions to be up on the latest juicy news. Most often it was some “huge” mistake that some legacy news organization made that proved they didn’t “get it.” Sometimes it was a Clay Shirky or David Carr column that had everyone fawning. But almost always it was like watching the same movie over and over again but with different characters.

Sound like you? I have one word of advice: Stop.

Stop caring about what the New York Times is doing. Stop taking part in arguments that have no end and stop wondering about nebulous concepts like “Will [insert company X] save [your industry]?”

Instead, worry about you.

Have your own site, your own application, your own initiative or your own event. Whatever it is, make it yours. Once you have something that’s yours you’ll find that it opens all kinds of doors.

I’ll be the first one to roll my eyes at a Steve Jobs quote, but a few months ago Valleywag’s Ryan Tate got into an email fight with Jobs. In the back and forth, Jobs wrote one line that haunts me to this day:

“By the way, what have you done that’s so great? Do you create anything, or do you just criticizes others work and belittle their motivations?”

Don’t just talk about what other people are doing. Make something. Experiment. Collaborate. But whatever you do, don’t just talk about it.

As of last week, we can check that one off of our todo list.

Starting at the end of this month I will be leaving my position as editor at Vital Business Media to begin working full time on Technically Philly, the news site I co-founded with Brian James Kirk and Chris Wink in February 2009 to cover tech news in Philadelphia. More appropriately, I will be working full-time at its parent company which includes our work on News Inkubator and Technically Media.

Why?

The business has grown beyond our initial aspirations, and the exhaustion is beginning to affect our growth. However, thanks to that work, we’ve amassed enough of a runway to make a serious go at a journalism startup, something that’s been a personal dream of mine since I was in high school.

It’s also a chance to address the incredible frustration that builds up when you can see the path you need to walk but don’t have the time or resources to do so. I would often attend journalism conferences or read about innovative media entrepreneurs and become overwhelmed with a feeling that Technically Philly could have a deeper impact on Philadelphia if, damnit, we just had more time.

I feel that Technically Philly sits at a crossroads of a growing technology community and a rapidly changing journalism ecosystem here in Philadelphia, an amazing opportunity if we are able play our cards right. I’m tired of seeing wonderful things happen here in Philadelphia with not much coverage from larger or national media outlets. The community here deserves to have a louder voice, something we hope to do a better job at moving forward.

Vital

I also want to take the time to thank everyone over at Vital Business Media. I had a blast working there and I’ve learned a great deal about startups and the media world through our work at emediavitals.com. Covering the media industry while working for a startup gave me a unique perspective on both worlds and I will surely apply the things I’ve learned as we build Technically Philly to be a more sustainable media company. As I’ve told them many times, it felt like getting an MBA.

If you’d like to work for those guys (and you really should) they’re hiring.

Also, I’m putting this out in the open so I force myself to hold to it: I want to blog here at least once every other week with an update of the things we’re trying and how they are working out. I hope you follow along.

First order of business, this site has a new design! For all of you in feed readers, please stop on by.

My old layout got to the point that I cringed every time I loaded the page.  As you may be able to tell, I drew a lot of inspiration from Muxtape and Subtraction.  My goal was to create a site that used very few images, loaded quickly, was valid, and was easy on the eyes.  The design is a modified sandbox theme, and was completed in about four days.

I am considering making this theme available for public release, so please drop a comment it you encounter any bugs, misspellings, or ugliness.  Please be harsh.

Traveling

And now for the slightly bigger news. Come October 1st I will start a typical post-college backpacking trip of Europe (and maybe somewhere else).  I have one brother who is finishing up what would be considered tech school in England, and another that is entering an exchange student program in Hungary.  The plan is to visit them both, see the sites, and possibly take over the world.

This also means that I will be moving out of Philadelphia, and I have absolutely no idea where I will be living when I return.

On top of that, during the last week in August I will be driving from Philadelphia to Seattle with a group of friends to attend the Penny Arcade Expo.

Whew.

photo by TonytheMisfit

I Googled the term only to not find a link to my site in the first 10 pages.   Then I clicked image search, and I saw the image I used in that post (now removed) as the second result.  The hits we’re not “legitimate” but were just people scraping the image from Google search.  Usually not a big deal, but then the hotlinks started to come.

Seriously, I warned them.

Ron Davis and I while waiting to be seated. Photo by Bri Barry.

I remember sitting in the nurse’s office in the 5th grade as she looked up my name on the computer. In my file, right below date of birth and next to my address, read “Date of HS Graduation: 2004″. I remember thinking: “2008. That’s the magic year when I’m done school forever.” Fast forward to this past Thursday, and there I sit in Temple’s Liacouras Center with thousands of my closest friends listening to a former dessert spokesman.

Two things I thought would never happen.

In 2004, Bill Cosby promised the Class of 2008 he would speak at our commencement. Yet, as the date approached he was never announced as a speaker. I, thinking he wouldn’t come, even wrote an op-ed lamenting Cosby’s broken promise. He then surprised the class by speaking. In a cheesy way, it made my graduation.

But now that my diploma is in the mail (or so they say) it’s time to move on to that pesky “real world” thing. Starting this Tuesday, I will be working as a part-time Web designer for the Philadelphia Citypaper. The Citypaper is one of the two alternative weeklies in Philly, and a publication I have read every week since I was a freshman. The Citypaper’s location allows me to work in beautiful Old City Philadelphia, which is a subway ride away from my house. I also enjoy the fact that I will be working with a small independent paper as opposed to one in a national chain.

I will also hesitantly admit that I am not ready to dive full-time into journalism (or any job). The time after college is one of minimal obligations, and I plan to take advantage. There is a great deal of traveling I want to do while I have the chance (and while the student loans are deferred). I also have a list of side projects and business ideas I would like to explore.

In other news…

I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the UWIRE 100. Special thanks to all of my fellow Temple News staffers, many of whom you can find in the blogroll to the right. Fellow Temple Newser (and commencement speaker) Christopher Wink also shared honors.

Recognitions are also due to fellow nominees and Twitter addicts Greg Linch, Kyle Hansen, and Chelsea Otakan. I’m currently on a quest to find the sites of the other 95…

The purpose? To show of your sweet CSS skills and promote web standards. However, the jigsaw puzzle of my banner shows I still have a ways to go…

Edit: no more CSS naked day!