Innoveo was again this year partner of the InsuranceCom congress in Zurich.
Lot of very interesting presentations (main topic was innovation this year) and many very good contacts and exchanges!
Innoveo at the InsuranceCom conference
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Tag Archives: communication
Defining goals is a pain in the neck, BUT…
via Seth Godin
A good one, to (re)start properly the new year with some inspiring quotes from Seth!
Having goals is a pain in the neck.
If you don’t have a goal (a corporate goal, a market share goal, a personal career goal, an athletic goal…) then you can just do your best. You can take what comes. You can reprioritize on a regular basis. If you don’t have a goal, you never have to worry about missing it. If you don’t have a goal you don’t need nearly as many excuses, either.
Not having a goal lets you make a ruckus, or have more fun, or spend time doing what matters right now, which is, after all, the moment in which you are living.
The thing about goals is that living without them is a lot more fun, in the short run.
It seems to me, though, that the people who get things done, who lead, who grow and who make an impact… those people have goals.
Vincent Laforet is just great!
via Marc Silber
Marc Silber, who is regularly bringing very interesting information and inputs concerning photography and visuals (his blog, his portfolio, his press-room), has posted a link to a video from Vincent Laforet.
I haven’t known the work of Vincent before and … what for a visual shock! This is a MUST-HAVE-SEEN to my mind. Very innovative, fresh, emotional, and just beautiful at the end.
“Waiting for the swell”
http://cdn.smugmug.com/ria/ShizVidz-2008120101.swf
The absolute must-seen HD (720p) version
“Taking off”
http://cdn.smugmug.com/ria/ShizVidz-2008120101.swf
The absolute must-seen HD (720p) version
Who is Vincent Laforet
From his blog, impressive bio!
Vincent Laforet is a New York based commercial and editorial photographer who is regularly commissioned to work on a variety of fine art, advertising, corporate and editorial projects. His approach to aerial photography has been singled out as one of the most unique and interpretive amongst photographers today.
At the age of 33, his work has been published in most major publications around the world and he has been sent on assignment by Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek, and Life Magazine. In 2006, Laforet modified his staff position at The New York Times to become The Times’ first national contract photographer.
Vincent’s fine art prints are exhibited in galleries internationally including the International Center of Photography in New York City, and Visa Pour L’Image in Perpignan, and are part of numerous private collections.
Vincent was recognized as one of the “100 Most Influential People in Photography” by American Photo Magazine in 2005 and was named one of the “30 photographers to watch under 30″ by PDN in 2002. He and four other photographers were awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography for their post-9/11 coverage overseas in 2002. His work has been recognized in the Communication Arts Annual, PDN Annual, The SPD Magazine Cover of the Year, The World Press Photo Awards, The Pictures of the Year Competition, The Overseas Press Club, The National Headliners Awards, The Pro-Football Hall of Fame. Vincent is a Canon Explorer of Light and Canon Printmaster and serves as consultant to companies such as Apple, Bogen, Lexar, and X-Rite. He and his work have been profiled on CNN and Good Morning America.
Vincent has been invited as a keynote speaker by a variety of organizations and universities from around the world. He has served as an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, and the International Center of Photography. Vincent is represented by the Stockland Martel Agency. He resides in Manhattan with his wife, Amber, and son, Noah.
What you should look at
A lot of great visual material are available online on the portfolio website of Vincent Laforet.
Have a look, for example, at the Paniolo cowboys Hawaii in the Adventure section, or at the Golf digest in the Sports section.
Firefox Add-on – ScrapBook
I am not using so many Firefox Add-ons but this one – ScrapBook – is just great!
You can download it here.
What is ScrapBook
ScrapBook is a Firefox extension, which helps you to save Web pages and manage the collection. Key features are lightness, speed, accuracy and multi-language support.
Functionalities
Major features are:
Good tutorial here (pdf, 692KB)
Screenshot
All the best for 2009!
Some thoughts concerning 2008+ and wishes for 2009.
Looking back to … 2008+
Actually, 2008 started for me already in 2007 :-)
Difficult to make the cut in January 2008, as we have started Innoveo in October 2007…
So, below, some pictures which are representing my 2008+, a mix of private and professional stuff, as usual.
And, without explanations, for sure ;-)
All in all, 2008 was again extremely “different” and “stable”.
- Different, because I could learn a lot of new stuff, a bit more about myself, meet a huge amount of persons, very smart and people-oriented. A lot of new experiences, in so many different fields, wow :-) And, on top, a strong and deep feeling of being very lucky to be able to lead our own company with Nick . Different also, because it is the first time that I feel so clearly the quite high pressure, even positive, of leading a company and being “responsible” for this company!
- Stable, because I had the chance, first, to work with and for the same great people! I like very much this ecosystem! Stable, secondly, because my family and private life is solid, full of happiness and great private moments. I don’t like stability, excepted in these two fields ;-)
What about 2009?
Looks interesting, isn’t it? As during all the downturn and crisis time, we will all have our ups and downs.
Hopefully with more “ups”, and not too deep “downs”!
Flexibility will be essential, as speed.
I wish you and your beloved ones all the best for the exciting coming year, a lot of fun, good wines and meals (!), success in your new business(es), and a lot of new learnings!
And keep dreaming :-)
Take care, Didier
[click on the calendar-zone to enlarge]
Lake Wobegon effect
via vowe
We all have – at least one time ;-) – the impression that we are delivering better outcome/results/outputs than the “average”. At work, during our education, by making sports, etc.
I haven’t know, as Volker, that this kind of positive illusion or overestimating was studied and has a name. Actually it is called the “lake Wobegon” effect. Have a look at the Wikipedia’s description.
The Lake Wobegon effect designates either: the human tendency to overestimate one’s achievements and capabilities in relation to others (in academic sources this is more usually called the above average effect or the better-than-average effect); or the finding that in many educational tests a vast majority of participants achieve results above the norm.
It is named for the fictional town of Lake Wobegon from the radio series A Prairie Home Companion, where, according to the presenter, Garrison Keillor, “all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.” […]
The above average effect or better-than-average effect is one kind of positive illusion. It describes the tendency for people to evaluate themselves as ‘better than average’ on desirable skills, characteristics or behaviors. It is a characteristic bias of social comparison where people usually compare themselves to an unspecified peer and, despite the mathematical odds, en masse judge themselves to be better than their average peer.
I am learning every day! Or is that also a “lake Wobegon effect”?
;-)
New U2 album announced – March 3, 2009
via U2log.com
No Line On The Horizon
Mark your calendars! U2.com reports that ‘No Line on the Horizon’, the new studio album from U2, will be released on Monday 2nd March, 2009.
More on U2.com:
No Line On The Horizon, the new studio album from U2, will be released on Monday 2nd March 2009.
Written and recorded in various locations, No Line On The Horizon is the group’s 12th studio album and is their first release since the 9 million selling album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, released in late 2004.
Sessions for No Line On The Horizon began last year in Fez, Morocco, continued in the band’s own studio in Dublin, before moving to New York’s Platinum Sound Recording Studios, and finally being completed at Olympic Studios in London.
The album calls on the production talents of long-time collaborators Brian Eno and Danny Lanois, with additional production by Steve Lillywhite.
Actually, the new album is already available for pre-order on amazon.com!
Wow, that’s a *very* good news.
The oldest dot-com domains
via PC World
PC World published the list of the 100 oldest dot-com domains registered.
This first one was reserved on March 15, 1985 – symbolics.com.
Below the Top20:
- symbolics.com: March 15, 1985
- bbn.com: April 24, 1985
- think.com: May 24, 1985
- mcc.com: July 11, 1985
- dec.com: September 30, 1985
- northrop.com: November 7, 1985
- xerox.com: January 9, 1986
- sri.com: January 17, 1986
- hp.com: March 3, 1986
- bellcore.com: March 5, 1986
- ibm.com: March 19, 1986
- sun.com: March 19, 1986
- intel.com: March 25, 1986
- ti.com: March 25, 1986
- att.com: April 25, 1986
- gmr.com: May 8, 1986
- tek.com: May 8, 1986
- fmc.com: July 10, 1986
- ub.com: July 10, 1986
- bell-atl.com: August 5, 1986
Also interesting to notice that Microsoft first reserved its domain in May 1991, Yahoo in January 1995, and Google in September 1997!
Steve Lukather
For a while I had a discussion about the guitarist Steve Lukather with a friend of mine and I have discovered that Steve is not the most well-known guitarist, although he has played on over 1’000 albums in the last years!
Some information about
WIKIPEDIA /
Steve “Luke” Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American Grammy Award winning guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer best known for his work with the rock band Toto.
Lukather has also released several solo albums and, as a studio session guitarist, has arranged, composed, and recorded on over 1000 albums.
Lukather was recently voted #1 guitarist worldwide in over 40 countries at VoteNumber1.com.
While his work with Toto is predominantly based on pop rock music, Lukather’s solo work spans many genres including rock, prog, jazz and funk.
Lukather has been nominated for a Grammy twelve times, and has won five awards.
[…]
Influenced by blues-rock guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page, jazz guitarists such as Larry Carlton, and jazz fusion players such as Al Di Meola and Frank Gambale, Lukather is known for fast, melodic lines that often combine blues phrases with jazzy ‘out’ notes.
His vibrato is very pronounced and his exaggerated wide bends are instantly recognizable.
Well versed in theory, Lukather can follow chord charts and changes as a jazz musician would, and this enhances his value as a session musician. In interviews, he has explained how he thinks of the guitar in a “chordal cluster” format, and not the typical “linear scale” format.
INTERVIEW /
You said many times that your heros are Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Stevie Ray Vaughan, George Harrison and so on… You also got to work with Jeff Beck at one point… I just wondered if you ever got to meet these “heros” you’ve mentioned as being so important in your (musical) life and how it was to finally be “face to face” with them?
Luke: All these players are so awesome and have inspired me more than words. Jeff Beck… I have known him and played with him many times. We did a record together that never came out ’cause he wanted to get into electronic music but he’s a main influence and a great friend. Jimi… Well I never met him but if he was alive I would most certainly know him. Major influence. Clapton… I did his Behind the sun record and played live with him with Elton John at the Hollywood Bowl. WAY cool. Jimmy Page… What a gentleman. He made a point to take me aside and tell me that he really dug my playing, I have never worked with him but I would love to sometime. I felt up my first girlfriend summer of 1969 listening to Led Zepplin 1, hahaha. SRV… never met him but I LOVE his touch. What a player! George Harrison… Well HE is the reason I play the guitar. I met him right after we lost Jeff Porcaro and I talked him into playing with us at the tribute at the Ampitheatre in L.A. What an honor. He took me out to dinner that next year and Bob Dylan was there, Jim Keltner, Jeff Lynne and we had a jam at Jeff Lynne’s house after. What a trip that was.
SHORT-LIST OF ARTISTS HE PLAYED WITH/FOR /
Among others, he has played with/for:
- Jimmy Cliff
- Alice Cooper
- Gilberto Gil
- Elton John
- Eric Clapton
- Lee Ritenour
- Barbara Streisand
- Aretha Franklin
- Donna Summer
- George Benson
- Al Jarreau
- Quincy Jones
- Herbie Hancock
- Michael Jackson
- Joni Mitchell
- Lionel Richie
- Diana Ross
- Joe Cocker
- Paul McCartney
- Chet Atkins
- Rod Stewart
- Trilok Gurtu
- Van Halen
- …
PART OF HIS DISCOGRAPHY /
http://www.stevelukather.net/Discography.aspx
SOME INTERESTING VIDEOS /
- 6:14 of chorus, alone with his Ovation electro-acoustic (specially around 1’45 and 2’45, pure technique!)
- http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/steve%2Blukather/video/x1job_steve-lukatheracoustic-live
- Steve Lukather playing Purple Haze (J. Hendrix)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-Eklqbovpw&feature;=related
- Steve Lukather playing Little Wing (J. Hendrix)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6amczqaEfc (Live in Paris, absolutely great)
- Steve Lukather playing Smell yourself (fusion!! With Simon Philipps on drums)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GEFfx29Njs
- Other videos listed there:
- http://www.stevelukather.net/Live.aspx
Business Restaurant in Zürich / Switzerland
I was establishing a list of 3 different choices for a friend of mine, in order to organize a good (whatever that could mean ;-) business lunch with one of his customer.
I am not the “Guide Michelin” but I know some of the restaurants in Zurich, and, to my very subjective mind, these 3 below are very good and interesting, as they are all 3 offering “something special”.
1) CANTINETTA ANTINORI /
2) SEEROSE /
3) TRIIBBHUUS /
Surely not exhaustive, the question was “3 possibilities”, not 10 ;-)