I've Just Been Tagged

As I was about to go to bed, just thought I would check my gmail and I discovered that I had been tagged by Neil Perkin- a marketing director based in London. Thanks Neil. Feels good to know that people whom I do not know(in person) have an interest in my thoughts, ideas and observations(often from the ordinariness of life around me). As I first discovered on John's(Grant) blog - “Tagging is this meme/viral that is going on for few weeks now where bloggers share 5 interesting personal stuff and then pass it on to 5 other bloggers.”

Before I tag 5 people I know, must download the few thoughts that are swirling in my head.

I have written in Blogs R Ushow blogs are changing our world, one tag/post at a time:-) and also about Blogging in India - Facts and Future.

Few new thoughts(and emotions), in no particular order...

1. Before Aug 18, '06 - the day I wrote my first blog post - Viruses of the mind, I was largely a lonely planner in a country where I feel there are plenty of planners but planning itself is in a stage of nascency. Well, we are planning to change that. Tomorrow might be a beer meeting(at Sports Bar)of at least 8+ planners(inter-agency). Looks like a first for Indian planners!

2. While there was Google and YouTube and sundry technology to get unfiltered and abundant data, as a non-geek, there was little I could do to connect with a global brain/ conversation/ POV(that's what I feel the blogosphere is turning out to be for me). And POV(new) is in short supply in the media space. Don't just go by the ra-ra press and mass media self-congratulaory gurgitations(of the media, by the media, for the media)!

3. I haven't read the James Surowiecki book - 'Wisdom of the crowds' beyond a few pages but funnily enough have written on the subject. And what a journey these last 6 months have turned out to be. The wisdom of the crowd through the blog world is a humbling experience. In the past 6 months, have gained/ gleaned more than I did in the last 6 years(maybe, most thoughts/ analysis these days are coloured by the recency effect.)

The blog world allows one to think like a micro-consultancy of one!

On Google amongst the millions of (lately badly matched data)pages, one still doesn't learn/ discover as one does linking through the nodes of the blog world.
It's like searching through the 'mind of people'(and it's more decent and fun and not as macabre as it may sound:-)

4. I haven't had much time to read too many blogs. Think am slow and am still low on experimentation. But John(Grant and Dodds), Russell. thotblurb are staple diet...
They keep me pre-occupied through the day and the week-end!

5. Coming back to the lonely planner syndrome. With the conversations in the blog world, I feel lonely no more:-)In fact, soon the problems might be of never being alone.LOL

Blogs are also the Low Cost Carrier of thoughts. They flit and travel at the speed of electrons. I feel there is so much positive energy all around. Some of the best minds are connecting and much good will happen sooner than later...

6. Why aren't more Indian planners a part of this. But that's one strange thing about many Indians(at least within the advertising/ media fraternity). We are too hierarchy driven(excluding the young planners on thotblurb:-). When I started my blog, I passed on the link to six of my ex-colleagues(no soured relations here:-) and 'three' of them didn't even bother to reply. The most enthusiastic response was from a planner friend who is at ChiatDay(therefore not in India technically).
I find most of the media guys(over 30) wanting in collaborative working. The few times when they do, its purpose driven. WIIFM(whats-in-it-for-me)variants!

7. The average number of thoughts I entertain on any given day has shot up dramatically. Does 'Technorati' measure that:-) I realise I also have become more observant because of my blog...And I sorely needed that...

And more aware of issues that I wouldn't have cared/ had the time to think about.

8. Blogs have also allowed me to discover my voice. It even forces me to be true and honest at all times. As a culture we find it difficult to retort and be aggressive(although we argue all the time - read the Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen). IndiAdRant has helped me release the pent-up emotions and thoughts...

And now let me get back to the tagging business. Okay 5 interesting facts about me...
Although as I trudge through the web, I realise every day how boring I am compared to the rest of you! And Neil, you make me look even duller:-)

1.I believe am as good(or bad)a creative as a planner. But agencies in India stuck as they are in the narrow silos are unwilling to buy my creative services LOL
This piece of creative strategy won us the account at TBWA Mumbai. Of course the great rapport which the branch head enjoys with the client had helped.

2. My favourite planner is Javed Akhtar and the planning book(Indian) is Talking Films - Conversations with Javed Akhtar(he is amongst the best Bollywood script-writer, lyricist and poet of our times!

3. I have changed my career 4 times in the last 12 years - from a 'network marketer' to a 'school teacher', 'computer engineer' to a 'creative strategist'.

4. On my current to do list, the most exciting item is to start a picture blog for my 3 yr old son - Neo.
5. Sometime soon, I want to start a social communication agency. Looking for partners and some funding! I might call it SCAM - Social Communication And More LOL

Okay now to tagging 5 of my fellow Indian planners
Saurabh Sharma(Inquiring Eyes)
Roop Mukhopadhyay( Tissue Issues)
Meraj Hasan(On Movies books, music, poetry and life)
Fink
Pooja Nair(Seeing Things Clearly)

cheers
M\