OLSON O-Tern Search Blog you butt in the door!

Food in my social circles from Sonja Rostad on Vimeo.

When I think about social circles, I think about the different events in each circle and how food is a common element. The food we eat in our social circles is different depending on which circle we are in at the time. 

Here is a link to the video I made to illustrate my concept. (I apologize for the technical issues but my video was a bit big to upload onto wordpress). 

Thanks!

Let’s get one thing straight. Social circles have been around a lot longer than “social networking” (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc). Social circles aren’t inherently online. They are inherently human. They’re made up of people who share stuff.

The internet has allowed people to share stuff in new ways. Some of them are really cool! But it would be a mistake to forget about the people who have not embraced social networking. Their social circles still exist, mostly offline. They participate in them at work, baseball games, church, and the neighborhood bar.

It’s time for some hypothetical statistical evidence. We ask a perfect random sample of Facebook users the following questions:

1. Have you ever purchased a product because a Facebook friend became a fan of it?
2. Have you ever purchased a product after having it recommended by a member of one of your offline social circles?

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the second question garners far more yes answers. Don’t get me wrong, social networking is important to understand and utilize. But it’s just one way in which people communicate in social circles. When done well, communicating through these channels can be very effective. OLSON’s work is proof of that.

Alright, rant over. How do I think in social circles? I just launched a t-shirt line called COLLECTION. We don’t have any money for ads. We have some really cool shirts. We’re relying on social circles to drive sales. Here’s an example of how:

Our shirts feature artwork that is bold and sometimes provocative. They are produced in limited quantities and priced from $30-$40. Perfect for liberal, fashion-conscious young adults who pride themselves on their good taste. To reach these people, we’re using a tried and truly annoying tactic: handing out literature. But not just anywhere– only outside select indie rock concerts in Minneapolis. And our literature isn’t something people expect to be handed. It’s actually vintage Minnesota Twins cards circa 1980s. The real deal. On the back is a sticker with our web site (www.collection.tc) and nothing to indicate what we do.

I think curiosity will get the better of most people. Many will go to the site just to see what it’s about. Some might not even wait until they get home, considering the social circles we’re targeting have a disproportionately high number of iPhone owners. We’ve made our site mobile browser-friendly specifically for them. The website is interesting. We’ve put the products in an unusual context. It delivers an experience that is unique to the product category.

The more scarce a product, the more likely it gets talked about once one person in a social circle owns it. Our shirts are individually numbered. Some are limited to only 19 prints. When you are one of very few people in the world who have something cool, it’s hard not to talk about it. With that in mind, we’re also sending out shirts to handpicked fashion bloggers. Getting these clothing evangelists excited about our products is just another way to cost effectively promote our brand by thinking in social circles.

I think in social circles by viewing them as a way to expand my knowledge through trusted opinions. Whether it be recommendations of the latest products or must-see tv shows. Only those in my social circles have the ability for their opinion to be valued. If a recommendation doesn’t come from my social circle it bounces off into the atmosphere. This is why great advertising must connect to people and then spread by word-of-mouth. Social circles extend the reach of advertising.

Thinking in social circles is about moving beyond the limitations of the individual to cultivate and harness a more dynamic group identity. Humans are pack animals, and to tap into our need for (inter)connection is to possess the power to leverage our most basic instincts.

Like that of the auto-coiffeuse in the film, the individual’s capacity for innovation, influence, and identity is limited. While her desired result (like an awesome hairdo) is not always within arm’s reach when she acts alone, tapping into the collaborative creative potential of friendship and community allows for a dynamic braiding together of individual want with the ability of the communal to answer that need for something more.

Everyone knows what it is like to feel cut off. By thinking in social circles we can leverage the (hair)ties that bind us all toward a heightened sense of identity and fulfillment.

My parents  always told me, “Don’t burn bridges.” This commonly used phrase is often followed with their wise words about making a great first impression and keeping in touch with people (even when you’d rather not), because you never know when you will meet again.

Don’t burn bridges, they keep your social circles intact. I have learned the many meanings of this phrase, after graduating college and becoming a fixture in many networking communities. Bridges, both metaphorically and physically, connect one person to another through endless disciplines. Similar to social circles, they need to be constructed with a well-crafted foundation and common bonds. They are the start of a new path to travel and new “bubbles” to break into.

Social circles are nothing new to New York. The “Big City” is the home to many circles, ranging from socialites and Hampton homeowners to the starving artists and servers waiting to be called actors. Yet, despite the diverse range of social circles, bridges unify them all. Manhattan would be nothing without the Brooklyn Bridge .  Staten Island wouldn’t be a viable living option, for me, without the Verrazano bridge.  In terms of MN, the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” would be nothing more than an islands without bridges. The physical and social bridges in the Twin Cities are what keep the area a booming metropolis. Bridges, again physical and social, can create unity in not only a state, but the world.  Technology is a bridge for social circles throughout the world .This common bond , connects people to brands as well. Following companies on Twitter, fans on Facebook,  all give brands a personality and the people who all follow, a certain connection to the brand.

The bridge that has helped to expand my circle is creativity and the Arts. I began creating both ideas and images, at a young age, developed in high school and met a few influential people. My art teacher and others introduced me to MN and St. Olaf, I then loved the art dept there, expanded my circle of friends, and knowledge that the Midwest is actually a sweet place. The alum art network enabled me to connect back home in NY with an internship at the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum, which then sparked curiosity in the  difference between art and design. Besides NY and MN, I have connections in Norway and Italy through this common bond as well. This network  enabled me to meet with Advertising professionals / designers, who encouraged me to attend the Student Ad Summit which then prompted more meetings with people in the field, moving back home, Art in America mag-(in Advertising and Marketing)….and….the circle is still growing. I’m still growing.  This blogpost in itself, is a bridge to what could be another great way  to further expand my social circle.  So choose to find that bridge connecting you to others, and build upon it, without putting up any walls.

You can take a girl out of her community, but you can’t

take that community out of the girl.

And if you’re still not convinced:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/27/greene.fargo/

YOUR INVITED!

WHAT: my social circles
WHERE: here online
WHEN: right now
WHY: the future is now

You are personally invited to join me and connect, exchange ideas, and overall get creative!  You can follow, be-friend, or become linked in with just a click of the mouse.

VIEW ORIGINAL SIZE

When I hear the term Social Circles I think of all the different groups of people that I interact with, the more I considered this idea the more I realized that I don’t just have a social circle, I have a social universe! I have so many different social circles it’s insane, I’ve been told that I am too social…like that’s a bad thing! I quickly realized that I needed to narrow it down to my inner most circles, and that what you see here, they are pretty unique and special.

Some brands merely exist in everyday life but a vital few define ones life. Minneapolis has made this a truth for me and thus, I can’t imagine my life without these brands or the experiences and connections they have given. There is a simple formula to these vital  brands…

Product/Business + The Community + Interaction/Event of both product & community = Endless Give & Receive (Forming a relationship).

How I think in social circles.

http://gallery.me.com/kkleinschmidt#100015

Thinking in a social circle means finding a way to see it from their perspective.

Social circles are all about making connections – connections with friends, family and co-workers, just to name a few. These connections help build and form the immediate social circles that we belong to. The amazing thing is that our immediate social circles of friends, family and co-workers help spread our connections even further – because they all have friends, family and co-workers as well. So with these expanded connections, we are are able to link with other social circles outside our own, increasing our ability to connect with others exponentially.

To think in social circles you need to understand your own. Social circles are universal puzzle pieces that fit together in various ways. Understand how your own social circles function . . . their likes and dislikes, their activities, their personalities, and other aspects of their specific circle. Know how your social circles are connected to other circles beyond your own. Relate to those other circles and learn to walk in their shoes. By fully understanding and relating to your own personal social circles, you are able to make a better connection to those circles outside of your own.

To think in a social circle, one must be in a social circle. To be in a social circle, one must have a sense of his or her identity. My identity continually adapts and references places I’ve been and places I’m going. Therefore, my social circles always revolve around a familiar place.

I believe my current and future
interactions have been and will continue to be shaped by my social circles in the cities I’ve come to know best: Madison, WI, my hometown, and Minneapolis, MN, my new home. Both places are exploding with chances for personal and professional growth and have greatly influenced the shape and size of my social circles.

While people, careers, experiences all have an impact on who I will become and who I will interact with, my sense of environment has the most impact. Places I explore lead me to new opportunities, colleagues, and perhaps best of all, inspirations.

Jen Carley

Upon realizing that I’ve never made a video before, and making a graphic representation of how I think in social circles is difficult, I’ve decided to express my thoughts in a brief, informal essay.

The presentations that I’ve seen from OLSON have made it clear to me that OLSON really gets into the heads of the people they’re advertising to. For the Bauer campaign, for example, extensive research was done to understand exactly how hockey goalies think: their jargon, their thought process, and the things that excite them. This is a clear example of how OLSON thinks in social circles.

I’m currently in Dayton, Ohio, performing in my social circle at Winter Guard International World Championships. Winter guard is probably the least recognized and least understood activity by people that either haven’t seen it or done it before. We usually stick to the old motto of “no explanation possible.” Most of the time, color guard performers get really upset when they’re referred to as “the flag twirlers at the front of the parade.” Believe it or not, we actually have our own jargon: GET IT, for example, is a common cheer to encourage people to grab whatever equipment they’re performing (a flag, a rifle, or a sabre) with so much intensity that they might break it.

The group that I perform with is called Eclipse Independent, and we’re a diverse group of performers from St. Cloud, Rice, Sauk Rapids, and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Despite the fact that we come from different places in the state (and even different places in the world—we have a boy from the Philippines and a boy from Mexico), we come together as one group, one color guard, and take our show to cities around Minnesota and across the country to places like Indianapolis, Indiana and now Dayton, Ohio, to show the rest of our larger social circle exactly what we’re made of.

This post lacks the bells and whistles of a video with cool music, and the flashiness of a cool graphic, but hopefully I’ve made an impression: like OLSON, I think in social circles.

Patrick Puckett

Applicant for the Creative O-Tern Summer Program

P.S. I decided that you all might enjoy a picture of my circle. This is our celebratory picture after winning Independent A class at the Indianapolis Power Regional. I’m front and center.

“What You Bring…Is What You Create”.  I feel every person has a unique and valuable thought process and the value of that thought process is limited only to the amount of effort used to expand on it.  Interacting within social circles is an excellent way to meet and connect with others, welcome diversity and expand a network.

To show this, I display differences in thought processes through the color around the heads.  The significance of the social circles becomes apparent as you see the single person at the lower left grow his/her circle.  As your eye continues to the first circle you see the meeting of two people.  The third circle shows one of the two introducing a third and the fourth shows how huge social interaction can be.  The outcome is limitless, but there is a requirement.  In order to be valuable in a CIRCLE you need to be SOCIAL.

This brief is about creating lasting impressions which turn into social circles.

“Six degrees of separation (also referred to as the “Human Web”) refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth.” – definition from Wikipedia

I was looking at my friend Brittany’s Facebook photos and noticed there was a conversation between her and my other friend Jessica. Jessica had noticed the picture of Brittany and I and wondered how Brittany knew me. Jessica wrote to Brittany that we went to college together and said “funny, it’s like six degrees of Katie Bell.” None of us realized that we all knew each other. I just thought it was funny at the time, but when I saw the post about the blog asking how I think in social circles, it brought me back to that post. Then what came to mind was the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game and how you can trace every actor and actress in Hollywood to Kevin Bacon. It made me think about my own connections with social circles and I thought ‘What if the game was about me? What would my circles be?’ After pondering this for awhile I began to think of all of the people and things I have been a part of in my life and what connections, if any, may be between them. I started thinking about all of my social circles: school, work, friends, family, sports, networking sites, etc., and I realized how small my world can be sometimes.

So I decided to remake the game as to how my social circles connect me with OLSON. Here it is:

My story begins during my childhood in Duluth, MN and meeting my neighbor and best friend, Sara Saline. We lived a block away from each other and would play outside in the neighborhood and tennis courts all hours of the day. While playing night games in our neighborhood, she soon introduced me to the Bofenkamp family which consists of Matt, Daina, and Chad. I became friends with the entire family and still am to this day. I moved to Minneapolis for college and I still kept in contact with my friends and I ended up working with Chad at a bar in downtown Minneapolis. I had already finished college and graduated but I was at a loss as to what to do with my life. I knew that Chad was attending Minneapolis Community and Technological College for Graphic Design. This interested me a lot. I have always been interested in the arts, whether it is painting, drawing, or photography so I thought about it and decided to go back to school. Chad introduced me to MCTC where I have taken classes from Diane Nelson. In my second class that I took from Diane Nelson, I became friends with a fellow classmate, Zeb Carlson. Zeb soon got hired at OLSON and worked there for a couple of years and now he is currently working at Carmichael Lynch. After having lunch with Zeb recently to have him look over some projects of mine and to catch up with him, he gave me a suggestion of getting a hold of Diana Quenomoen, who is a current OLSON employee. Diana has agreed to judge a poster competition that I am putting together for some of my classmates and other design friends as a friendly challenge.

This is my story of my Six Degrees of Separation of OLSON.

The Spread of Ideas – Theatrical Preview

We are only visitors here.  This is the elusive world of social circles.  Rarely is one given the opportunity to see a social circle in its natural habitat.  Through a revolution in technology and countless hours of observation, the intimate behaviors of social circles have now been photographed with minimal disruption.  In this carefully collected photo essay, you will see the journey that a social circle takes throughout the course of its life.  From its inception to its realization, you will witness the spread of ideas.

This young, female social circle was born into isolation.  She is lost and confused.  Her circle has developed around her and she is unsure of its purpose.  The bleak landscape she inhabits seems an unlikely home for any creature.  She has grown accustomed to her surroundings, but the lack of resources have proven hard for survival; without help she may be forever lost in the realm of ignored ideas.

Luckily, social circles by nature are just that, social.  Rising out of hibernation, here you can see a four-legged social being has sought out the comfort of the female.  For him to move so boldly in the open without the camouflage of his social circle is a rare sight.  He passes through her circle as if to show her it has a purpose and should be shared with others.  It is with the help of other social beings that an isolated circle can begin to understand its value.

After showing the female how to utilize her circle, he proceeds to stalk while keeping below the skyline in hopes of warding off predators who feel threatened by a new social circle.  Many immature circles make the epic and unfamiliar migration to reap the possible benefits of meeting others like it.  Other social circles will be able to expose the young female to resources that will help her flourish.  Here, you can see the female social circle is nervous and unaware of where she is being led, but is willing to let the balance of power shift for the prospect of crossing paths with another.

Trekking vast distances, the experienced and more social of the circles has led the female to an oasis.  Here there are others like her that know the benefit of having many social circles in their world.  This male social circle is exhibiting classic signs of advertising for a mate.  Perhaps his wide stance and confident use of his circle will attract our female’s attention.  In all social gatherings there are beings that are more connected who wish to overlap their social circles with others.  In this case the four-legged social circle’s need for the exchange of ideas is great.  Driven by curiosity, he is the connector.  He has set his sights on yet another lone social circle to bring to the watering hole.

There comes a point in all social circles when they see past their different appearances and realize that by connecting they could share a greater purpose.  Here, the social circles are realizing their potential if networking begins.

So long as social circles survive, so can the spread of ideas.  The social circles together have formed a greater, new idea.  Their instinct and resilience has allowed for the species to recover from isolation.  Lack of communication and exposure to others, are a social circle’s nemesis.  Not twenty years ago, social circle numbers were in fast decline.  Thanks to rigorous efforts of people and an age of instant information, the social circle can thrive once again.

Grant Anderson
O-tern Program – Creative Intern Applicant
Blog Submission: Lyrics to an Original Song
Song Title: ‘The Social Circle Shuffle’
Genre: Hip-Hop

Note: Because social circles are driven by the use of words, you will not find an instrumental piece included with this submission. As we all have our own styles of communicating, feel free to sing, rap or shout these lyrics in your own way. This allows you to focus on the words, and, if you’re really into it, the dance, which is a constant turning of the head from left to right. Now, warm-up those vocal chords and sing to your own beat.

Chorus:
It’s the social circle, so it’s time to make some noise;
Grab your friends and some others, I’m talking girls and boys;
Bump the bass, pump the volume; shake your head from left to right;
It’s the social circle shuffle, all day and night;
Now socialize, now socialize, now socialize…

Verse #1:
Look out Cupid, this is the new shuffle;
I’m full of good ideas, just like a packed duffle;
With clients like Target and the Minnesota Wild;
After Olson’s through, they’ll be anything but mild;
We’re all linked through six degrees of separation;
So you can get the word out with some preparation;
Talk it up, chat it up, create a lot of buzz;
Tell you’re neighbor, your barber and your favorite cuz;
From the people in the north to the folks in the south;
Like Ludacris, I’m talking about Word of Mouf;
Networking is what I do, looking for new contacts;
You should see my address book; it’s got all the good facts;
Regardless of the client, the season or the promotion;
I have the skills to create some commotion;
Everyone’s connected, even Family Matter’s Steve Urkel;
So take my word on it and think in social circles.

Chorus:
It’s the social circle, so it’s time to make some noise;
Grab your friends and some others, I’m talking girls and boys;
Bump the bass, pump the volume; shake your head from left to right;
It’s the social circle shuffle, all day and night;
Now socialize, now socialize, now socialize…

Social circles are based around stories. Successful circles are the stories that engage and entertain us with plots and characters that leave us wanting more; craving the next book, movie, video game, TV series, iphone app, etc. These stories drive connections where we share our experiences that grow our social circles. Sometimes these stories are not interesting and fade from our perspective. However, every second millions upon millions of original and exciting social circles are starting, creating new opportunities for connections. It is agencies like OLSON whose challenge is to study these connections and use them to keep brand stories fresh and inspiring. Their goal is to make these stories so engaging that the audience goes out and evangelizes about these brands. This never ending cycle of creating social circles makes these brands successful, and this in turn makes OLSON successful.

I have noticed that great stories trigger multiple reactions and conversations. To illustrate my point I created a basic diagram of a book’s social circle.

It’s on our ipods, computers, and television screens.  It’s in our cars, at our parties, and most importantly in our conversations.  Music is everywhere.  It’s one thing in the world that everyone has in common, and how it’s being shared is changing every day.

Thanks to social networking tools such as blogs, twitter, facebook and many others, music is connecting people regardless of where they are.

I’ve been playing in bands since I can remember, and creating music is something that has introduced me to some of my best friends.  I wanted to find out if music could be created the same way it is currently being shared, so when asked to share how I think in social circles, I decided to start an internet band.

The idea was to have every instrument in a song written and recorded by a different person in a different location; the only thing connecting all of these people would be social lives maintained and nurtured by social media.

I started by recording a drum track that was in the arrangement of a pop song, lacking any other instruments.  I forwarded it to a friend in St. Paul who recorded guitars over it, and from there it went over to Minneapolis, then on to Chicago, Los Angeles and Seattle, and back and forth until we had created something we liked.

In the end we had a song and most importantly something to remember between friends.

Cody (me), Drums, Brookings, SD

Nathan, Guitars, St. Paul, MN

Becca, Vocals, Minneapolis, MN

Reese, Bass, Chicago, IL

Brady, Synthesizer, Los Angeles, CA

Obie, Saxophone, Seattle, WA

Jacob, Trumpet, Seattle, WA

The Social Circles – “See You”

Every day I see, walk past, sit next to, or interact with other people. Although I can’t physically see it, I know they are connected to countless others, maybe even me. To see into this world of correlations, I have to look for clues around individuals: which people they talk to, how they use cell phones or computers, what branding marks appear on their clothing, what language they speak, where they sit. It is in the details of individuals that I can begin to make out the beautiful web of connectedness.

A connected world can be seen anywhere. By conceptualizing my miniature city street, I distilled people from my experiences and snippets of their social world. Can you see yourself in that world? Just draw yourself in. As creatives, we can use our research and abilities to imagine a brand, product, or entity in the social world. We just need to interact and observe to find the right people, the right places, in order to draw it in and watch it come to life.

Everyone is a point on a social circle. To find the world that these meshed circles make, all we have to do is look, listen, and interact.

-Andy Garcia

Matt Wenger shows you why he loves to design…ahem, cook! Cooking and eating are the best of social times, so let Matt share some of his thoughts with you on why he thinks designing… no cooking (but seriously, he means designing), is so great.

Social media has proven itself to be an invaluable way to maintain and expand a person’s social circle. Sites like Myspace, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter have made sharing thoughts, pictures, and videos as easy as sharing a virus. And that made me think… what if our social media founders (Tom Anderson, Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and the dudes from YouTube) were all from outerspace… and zombies…

What better way to showcase this idea than with a 1950’s horror movie in anaglyphic 3D. Get your blue/red glasses ready and enjoy! (i sent 3D glasses to OLSON with my portfolio)

Wrote a little jingle about how I think and use social circles.  So turn up  your speakers and give it a hear.

[ Javascript required to view QuickTime movie, please turn it on and refresh this page ]

Lyrics:

Hi my name is Christopher Sasse

I wrote a little jingle here

And I’m going to dedicate it to

The 2010 O-tern

This is for you

Talk to someone on the corner and my social circle grew

Stopped at the coffee shop and picked up a brew

Ran into an old classmate

I said, hey what’s new?

Ah, nothing new, just grabbin’ a brew

How about you?

Oh I’m just working on a blog

It’s for the O-tern

I’m telling them how I use social circles

When I create or make something new

It generally breaks down a little something like this

I search though my circle for people who share

Common interests that I might want to commandeer

Depending on what I’m doing depends on who I choose

Sometimes I choose many

Other times I choose just a few

Then we all get together

In a big old room

We start brainstorming a little after two

I always bring a whiteboard

It just keeps things moving forward

Then we all get to work

Putting it all together

We all do our part

And before we know it

We’re all done

I keep my social circle organized like a solar system

Grouping my circles together in planetary-like systems

So when I’m in a bind

They’re all very easy to find

My social circles seem to grow

In a blink of an eye

Almost every day I add someone new

Pretty soon

My circle will be larger than the moon

Social circles can be hard to keep organzied. All of my smaller social circles make up the larger, bigger circle, and Post-its help me keep track of them all!

There are many Social Circles to interact with such as friends, family, coworkers, clubs, memberships, organizations, and on-line applications like Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs. Let’s not forget the geeks who meet people through online games, I was offered a freelance job from this sort of thing.

Social Circles are a great tool. There are many mutual benefits that can be gained from interdependent relationships. By having conversations with people inside and outside of your Social Circles you could be put in contact with someone who can offer you a job, a good used car, career advice, law advice, tasty recipes, tips for growing an indoor garden, cheap labor to fix your car, a ride home from work, tickets to shows, a roommate, a critique, and an exchange of ideas. These are examples of ways my diverse Social Circles, their networks, and I have helped each other. How have you and your Social Circles helped each other lately?

A Social Circle that I would like to add to the mix is Ecology. Ecology deals with the relations between plants, animals, human beings and their environment, and the balanced or harmonious relationship of living things to their environment. One way to interact with nature is to take your work to the park or go on a camping trip. How would the understanding of ecology effect you as a designer? Being aware of the relationship you have with nature could give a new perspective and change the outcome of a project. By allowing you to keep an open mind about how things are designed. How a product is built from the ground up, from the materials used and the way it is produced. Including a better understanding of ecology in your Social Circle produces a more complete circle.

by Leiah Stevermer

Each day we are bombarded with information in the media, but now with the rise in popularity of social media, much of that information comes from our social circles. We have a live-feed of social interaction coming into our lives where we must decide which messages are of value and which are not. We often share breaking news, events and gossip as we hear it with our social circles, as well as the latest LOLcatz picture. We choose to friend, follow and interact with the people and brands that provide messages of value to us. With all this chatter going on, brands must now craft messages that actively engage their audience rather than speaking to them through a megaphone. Consumers want to take a stake in the companies they interact with and are looking to have a conversation with them on how their services could be better tailored for their consumers. If brands engage their consumers, they will in turn promote your message throughout their social circles and become an advocate for your brand.

We have entered the age of the Connected Culture, the power to broadcast a message has gone from the few to the many. It is now about conversation. We want to know what the people and companies we interact with are up to and want them to listen to us. Companies must learn to craft these messages of value, otherwise their consumers will begin to tune out,  and in turn they will fade out.

There are some things that bring people together. And music is one.
Seemingly anti-social people, or even just people who don’t appear to be connected, can be linked by their social circles that are hidden beneath their superficial exteriors.

Watch as my band, Nailed Shut, makes that connection.

We’re human. We’re social creatures. We surround ourselves with those who share our interests, values, passions and goals.

Author: Michael Simon

Date: April 6, 2010

Topic: MN Climbing

Tags:  Climbing, bouldering, Jim Merli, Michael Paul Simon, MN, Minnesota, Professional, Sponsored, Midwest, Community, local, news, photography, stop motion, crag, gym, vertical endeavors, nicros, Midwest mountaineering, ltf, lifetime fitness, prairie walls climbing gym, boulders climbing gym, problem.

The small but growing community of local climbers in the Midwest is all but a whisper in the grand conversation of world class bouldering.  At least, that was the case.  Minneapolis is home to some of the worlds strongest climbers and now, to one of the worlds hardest boulder problems.

Local legend, Jim Merli is about to put Minnesota on the map for world class climbing.  Climbers travel all over the world looking for climbing this good.  Which is why Jim has been working on this project for the past seven years.  Watching Jim do every more is inspiring and intimidating at the same time.  All that’s left for him to do is link all the moves together in one fluid motion.  Estimated to be one of the worlds top 10 hardest boulder problems (V15), standing 30+ ft. tall, this boulder problem isn’t just hard, it’s scary!

After a day of Jim’s session on his project he sat down with me for an interview.  “I’ve spent years training for this problem and it feels like it will go any day now.  But, Professional climbers from all over the world are slowly getting clued in on the great climbing here and I’m worried that they will send my project before I do” – Jim.

The professional Climbers that Jim speaks of are Paul Robinson and Daniel Woods.  Two of the world’s top 10 strongest climber’s.  They are flying in this weekend because of a local climbing companies (Nicro’s Climbing Holds, Saint Paul) sponsored photo shoot.  They are gonna get the grand tour of Minnesota from local climbers.

Once this estimated V15 boulder problem gets done, Minnesota is gonna be seeing a lot more professional and amateur climbers traveling through to check out  our local test pieces.

Seven years is a long time to work a climbing problem.  Which is why there is a stop motion illustrating Jim’s process and perception for the worlds eyes to come!

Thanks for reading!  All question’s and comments are welcome!

//_Jim PR ready!  (Climbing mag, Rock and Ice, Outdoor mag, etc.)

//_stand start (V12/13), sit start (V15?)

CLICK ME: Jim Merli working his project (non-linear)
//_Jim on the Crux

//_Jim Merli and his project

Photography:  Michael Simon.  All rights reserved, 2010.

Enjoy!

This image I created illustrates how I think in social circles : )

Laura Murphy

Graphic Design Major

University of Minnesota Duluth

www.d.umn.edu/~murph602

When I think in / of SOCIAL CIRCLES I immediately envision a network of people communicating with one another, either via telephone, email, or face to face.

In this day and age, technology has given us the opportunity to communicate with people anywhere in the world. Therefore “shrinking” our world substantially.

This is where the idea of the Blog POSTER came into fruition. People (myself included) of all ages, ethnicities, and genders are being given the opportunity to Communicate, network, collaborate, and create new friendships.  With technology being the central “link” that ends up connecting everyone together.

Re: Attached Poster – The blue and orange circles represent that “connection” linking each person to the other in addition to the various uses of technology that each individual is using.

Hello, OLSON! For my blog post, I decided to express my understanding of social circles with two subjects I am passionate about: words and dance.

I created a short video explaining how dance circles are similar to social circles and what high school dances have taught me about communication.

Thanks for the opportunity to express myself through your blog.

A video of a few people from my own social circle who are finding out what’s possible.

I am a designer who wants to make people happy through her design and art. I would like to be honest here; I was a very shy Japanese girl, who was timid to go out and join in a circle of people. One day, my friend told me, “Why don’t you give people a chance to get to know you? Have you ever thought what they feel when you don’t speak to them? They are just as scared as you are, because they don’t know you. Just go out there and let people know who you are.”

Since I came to the United States of America, I have learned and realized that America and Japan are located on opposite sides of a spectrum in terms of behavioral differences, which emanate from each geographical, cultural and historical backgrounds. These facts make things hard for people in the opposite sides of continuum to communicate and interact well since they do not simply see things from the other side. However, I have also learned that integrating elements from Western and Eastern designs (artworks) have been one of the major approaches or breakthroughs in the course of art history.

Communication is like music and when I think in “Social Circles”, I think of jazz. Like Jazz and the movie, “The Color Purple,” where they use music to connect with people, social circles are instrumental and collaborative, and have a uniting force of people. Thus, we can broaden our mind and create unique and atypical design through meeting new people.

As far as social circles go,don’t be a wuss, put yourself out there and develop reliable connections.