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By Beth Warren, November 5, 2009 2:04 pm

Everyone on earth has challenges.. problems.. insecurities..

For the sake of the metaphor.. let’s call them Lions and Tigers and Bears…. Oh my.

The Wizard of Oz was on television the other night. It’s one of my very favourite movies in the world.

I’ve met very few people who have never seen the movie.. and most who have tend to list it among their favourites as well.. And as much as it has to do with the catchy musical numbers and heartwarming story, I believe there are lessons to be learned….

Dorothy is a somewhat brave girl.. a bit of a dreamer but seems to have some common sense about her..  She longs for adventure and imagines better things for herself. But really is at a loss at how to make that happen.

Scarecrow feels he could accomplish so much more if he “only had a brain”.  However, throughout the course of the film, he has several good ideas and proves himself to actually be the brains of the group.

Likewise the situation with the Tin Man who believes he needs a heart, yet is actually very kind and sympathetic.

The Cowardly Lion is terrified of his own shadow.. never mind the presumed danger whilst on the Yellow Brick Road.  Yet, he’s willing to put himself out there and take a risk in order to help Dorothy and her friends.

Cowardly Lion: All right, I’ll go in there for Dorothy. Wicked Witch or no Wicked Witch, guards or no guards, I’ll tear them apart. I may not come out alive, but I’m going in there. There’s only one thing I want you fellows to do.

Tin Woodsman, Scarecrow: What’s that?

Cowardly Lion: Talk me out of it.

I know not a single person who hasn’t felt helpless, lost, scared, stupid or confused.  But the difference between those who stay stuck in those situations and those who don’t is sheer belief in themselves.  Believing that they can overcome those feelings of doubt and fear is most of the battle.

Everyone has their Lions, Tigers and Bears (oh my).  But as you may recall.. the foursome never actually ran into any.  They faced many other challenges .. but through believing in themselves and one another, they over came them.

Be smart. Be kind. Love. Have Courage. Believe. …. and you’ll find what Dorothy found.. that she didn’t have to run away to find her heart’s desire. She and her friends just had to look inside themselves for the answers..

But keep an eye out for those flying monkeys.

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By Beth Warren, October 15, 2009 12:35 pm

Serendipity: A very good coincidence, often leading to something really awesome. (Urban Dictionary.com)

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By Beth Warren, July 31, 2009 9:57 pm

“Hi neighbour!” said the little kid next door. “What are you doing?”

The daughter answered that we were just hanging out, enjoying the patio. And what was he doing?  “I’m playing trucks! Wanna see my trucks?”

Earlier we could hear him on the other side of the fence dancing around and singing “I’m five years old! I’m five years old!” in that sing songy voice that little kids do so well.

Of course, we looked at his trucks.. they were very impressive. He was happy we liked his “diggers”.

The whole interchange made me think about social media and how it brings down the barriers that we put up as adults… and essentially allows us to be five years old.. if we want to be.

Think about it.. would you randomly walk up to some stranger on the street and ask if they wanted to see your trucks? Or your dolls, or your business offering or what have you. No. You likely would not, as you would be perceived to be insane or at least borderline creepy.

But if you’re 5 years old, you can do that. It’s socially acceptable. (Mind you, most 5 year olds don’t have a biz offering, but I digress…)

Social media removes that barrier. You are allowed to act like a five year old. You can be forthcoming, friendly and brutally honest like only the really young can be.  You can chat with people,  be a little silly if you choose… ask people to read your blog posts.. take a look at your new application, check out your website…. look at your trucks.   And most will.

And then, like most five year olds do, they share. Introducing you to many new friends who you wouldn’t have met if you hadn’t let down those barriers and in essence, acted a little like a 5 year old.  Without the tantrums, we hope.

Wanna see my trucks?

Comments (1)

By Beth Warren, July 30, 2009 5:58 pm

“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” - Groucho Marx

I was listening to my local radio station the other day and the announcer on air made a huge deal for several breaks about playing the new Pearl Jam tune. I’m not the biggest PJ fan in the world (is it cool to call them that, or did I just out myself as a geek?) but because he was making a big deal out of it, I noticed. So when he said “here it is!” I listened.. and low and behold, there was the intro … which sounded an awful lot like AC/DC’s Back in Black… which it was. 

A couple more songs played, then he introduced the new Pearl Jam again without calling notice to the fact that he pushed the wrong button the first time around.

Now, I went to radio school and worked in the field.. and I have pushed the wrong button. Some programmers will say just pretend it never happened. However, as a listener, I feel as if you are trying to dupe me. I know what I heard. Don’t treat me like I’m dumb. I would have had far more respect for the dude if he stopped the song in it’s tracks, said “I’m a dumbass, sorry…” and THEN played the track.

When you stretch the truth, watch out for the snapback.  ~Bill Copeland

I follow this guy on Twitter who has created numerous Twitter accounts in order to promote his new business.  Which is fine, except that he operates all of them himself, pretending to be other people.  He’ll have Twitter conversations with his various accounts, asking “the guy who works for him” questions and replying.. he’s even gone so far as to create fictitious CLIENTS.  And then proceeds to have “wow you guys really helped me” conversations.

Here’s the thing.. he slips up every now and again and responds from the wrong account. He also phrases all of his tweets the same way for each account, so it’s pretty obvious.   If I notice this, others have to be noticing too. I understand he’s trying to start a “buzz” about his venture, but by creating fake clients and fake employees, I have no reason to trust anything else he’s saying.  So every time he contacts me about something, I am entirely skeptical.  

From the errors of others, a wise man corrects his own.  ~Syrus

Last year I joined the AC/DC fan club in order to take advantage of the advance tickets available to club members. Part of my membership package included a “gift pack”.  So I waited.. and waited and many months later still had not received my “special fan club gift”.

So of course I was a little put out.. I went to their website and looked for a “contact” to complain to.  Finally found an email address and shot off a note.. also noticing that on the fan club page it now said that they had a YEAR to send out the item (I didn’t notice that the first time…. I’m not sure it was there in the first place..)

Then I waited. And still nothing… so I started telling people I was going to boycott AC/DC and blog about it and oh you wait.. they’ll be sorry. (Knowing full well that likely this would have absolutely no affect on this little Australian band…) Then FINALLY (the day before I moved coincidentally!) I received a package from AC/DC Fan Club headquarters!  Got my buttons and stickers and other trinkets.. plus a note that apologized for the delay.

And I was happy.

“Honesty is something you can’t wear out” – Waylon Jennnings

The gift itself wasn’t that big a deal, it was the fact that they admitted fault,  and fixed it.

All anyone really wants out of any relationship whether it be personal or business is that the other party in the relationship is being honest and treats them with respect.  Everyone screws up. Admit, fix it, move on.

Just be real.

Because most people want to be spoken to  honestly and be treated like they have a brain in their head.

Oh, and maybe some AC/DC buttons.

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By Beth Warren, June 4, 2009 11:57 am

Many years ago, I was tagged with the nickname “Evil Genius”.  I can’t remember quite how it started.. but it’s kind of stuck over time.. mostly because I have refused to let it die.  That being said, please keep in mind that I generally use my powers for good…generally.

I’ll be using this blog to comment on marketing, promotion, public relations and the like. My background in such is mostly music based.. (see ABOUT page if you like…)  but I’ve had a lot of different gigs.. and I’m a consumer, so I know both sides.  And I have lots of opinions that I can rarely keep to myself..

Cheers!