MEGAN AUMAN

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what I’m reading: here comes everybody

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After I read about Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations by Clay Shirky on WorldChanging, I immediately put it on my must read list. A book about social media and organizations seemed right up my alley. The books on web 2.0 that I’ve been reading have been really business based, but this book examines the phenomenon from a socio-political perspective.

While reading this book, I found myself thinking a lot about SNAG. SNAG is in trouble (mostly financial), but I think that trouble stems from a problem with relevance. One of the principles that Shirky looks at is mass amateurization, which is fueled by social media. He looks at the the idea of the “professional” journalist, but applies the problem to many professions. This is one of SNAG’s fundamental problems. The idea of a “professional” metalsmith/jeweler is such a tenuous one to begin with, that many in SNAG feel the need to hold onto that label for dear life by clinging to ideas of “training”, while rejecting things like Etsy, which blurs the line between professional and amateur. In doing so, SNAG alienates what could potentially be a huge contingent of new members.

The other idea that Shirky brings up is that new social tools have greatly reduced the transaction costs of group forming. So much so, that many groups don’t even self-identify as groups. For instance, the group of friends I’ve formed around blogging. Its amazing to me that when I write a post, people are willing to comment, to give me support and feedback. This lower transaction cost is trouble for organizations like SNAG, which has a huge overhead and the need to control the collective action of the group. Not only that, if I can get support from my peers on a daily basis through this blog, why would I need to rely on an organization that can only provide that once a year at a very expensive conference.

I don’t believe that SNAG is completely useless, but SNAG needs to reexamine its mission and structure if it wants to continue. Reading Here Comes Everybody would be a good place to start.

Verdict: If you’re at all interested in how group forming works in the post web 2.0 world, then this is a worthwhile read.

what I’m reading: buying in

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I just finished Rob Walker’s book Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are. Walker writes the column Consumed for the New York Times Magazine, as well as a the blog murketing. The beginning of the book details the transition for tradition marketing to murketing (murky marketing), a term coined by Walker to define marketing attempts that exist outside the traditional realm. If you’ve been paying attention at all since the turn of the century, this isn’t really anything new. As TIVO and the internet divert peoples’ attention away from traditional mass-market advertising, companies have had to develop new strategies to market their products. Not really new information.

It wasn’t until chapter eleven, then, that I sat up and payed attention. Walker profiles Aaron Bodaroff, who set out to answer the question, “How do I turn my lifestyle into a business?” This struck me for two reasons. One I’ve been asking myself a similar question lately. Namely, how do I take the things I really want to do, and make them into a business? But more so, it is actually the opposite question around which I’ve attempted to build my business, “How do I turn my business into my lifestyle?” Or more so, “How do I turn myself into my own brand?”

In building my brand, I’ve (hopefully) communicated a brand with a strong aesthetic based around graphic, modern, organic designs and a black, white, and gray color palette. By virtue of the fact that jewelry is one of the few art forms you can advertise by wearing, it seems as though my aesthetic (and therefore my brand) has infiltrated its way into my daily appearance. I was becoming my own brand. Which, according to Walker, my generation sees as a “legitimate form of creative expression.”

But defining myself in such a narrow way (through the lens of my business/brand), may be what has contributed to my recent boredom and my desire to more fully explore other interests. My desire to be more than just a business contributing to an endless stream of consumption has led me to consider other problems such as sustainability, environmentalism, and business ethics. Fortunately for me, Walker addresses these as well. And if chapter eleven made me sit up and take note, chapter twelve resonated with me in terms of a usable business/marketing model.

Or perhaps I should say, an unusable marketing model. According to recent polls, a majority of consumers are increasingly interested in making ethical purchasing choices. (I’m paraphrasing here.) Yet, according to Walker, this majority does not translate to the marketplace. While socially-conscious purchases are on the rise, they in no way reflect the majority of respondents who claim interest in ethical purchasing. Ethically-minded purchasing (whether green, fair-trade, organic, etc.) remains a niche-market. Case in point, American Apparel. Even though the company’s philosophy is based on ethical business practices, they chose a broader, mass market ad campaign based on sex-appeal.

As I read this, I kept thinking this could be a problem for the indie-craft field, whose main marketing ploy is an ethical choice – support independent artists and handmade objects rather than mass-produced items and big business. Gabriel’s post last week on Conceptual Metalsmithing, titled “The Green, The Organic, and The Handmade,” examines this further. Gabriel draws parallels between green and organic impulses and the desire to buy handmade, which I agree with. Gabriel argues that we as craftspeople should draw on the same ethical shopping desires motivating people to buy green or buy organic. But if you expand on Walker’s argument, by positioning craft in a niche market of ethical consumerism, we may never have relevance to a larger market of consumers.

In the next chapter, Walker actually goes on to talk about the DIY movement, including Etsy and the Austin Craft Mafia. Walker describes the DIY movement as a political movement grounded in consumption and marketing. One of the comments that struck me most details the awkward growth that the indie-craft movement is starting to face. We can all only make so much by hand, and at some point we either have to accept that we have hit our maximum level, or consider outsourcing, hiring help, etc. This can lead crafters to, as Walker describes, “the Courtney Love syndrome: too weird for the main stream, but successful enough to be seen as a sellout by ‘the underground that once loved you.'” Which is how I’m starting to feel about my business. Not that I’m that successful, but rather I’m learning that to truly have a sustainable (in the financial sense) business, I might have to let go of some of the handmade idealism that helped me get started in the first place.

Verdict: While the beginning seems a little obvious, there aren’t many books that actually discuss the DIY craft movement. But even if it didn’t, Buying In would still be a worthwhile read for indie craft artists who are trying to understand how they fit into the contemporary marketplace.

what I’m reading: going public

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One of the books I’m reading in my quest to improve bike and pedestrian safety is Going Public: An Organizer’s Guide to Citizen Action. In the book, Michael Gecan details his work with various organizations who worked to improve life in inner cities. While the first sections of the book seem like mostly storytelling, you can get an idea of how ordinary citizens subverted power to accomplish positive change in their neighborhoods. The end of the book gives more pragmatic advice for how you can implement positive change in your own organizations. While most of the groups in the book were fighting serious social issues like poverty, crime, and corruption, its clear that the techniques can be used for a myriad of scenarios.

Verdict: The stories in the first part of the book were compelling enough to hold my interest, but if you want more pragmatic advice, skip to the last few chapters. It will definitely make you rethink the way you approach citizen organizations (and thanks to one of my favorite sections, the way you think about the market and bureaucracy as well.)

Oh, and speaking of organizations, I’m totally jonesing to get my hands on this book. Its been mentioned twice now on Worldchanging, and I can’t wait to read it. Social media and organizations, I’m so there. I wonder if they would have it in the bookstore here at the beach…

what I’m reading: the one-hour activist

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Generally, I have an aversion to anything that sounds like a quick fix. If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. (And don’t even get me started on The 4-Hour Workweek.) Which is why I was a little skeptical of The One-Hour Activist.

But I have to say this is a really useful book. It outlines a series of actions you can take to advance causes that are important to you.

Verdict: This should be required reading for every high school civics class and for anyone who wants to take a more active role in government.

what I’m reading: asphalt nation

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If you read Asphalt Nation at roughly the same time you’re listening to The Omnivore’s Dilemma, you may start to think that American is doomed. Asphalt Nation looks at all the ways the car is ruining America, the historical precedents for favoring the car over other modes of transportation, and some suggested solutions.

The other thing that happens when reading any book while listening to The Omnivore’s Dilemma is that you start to compare the two. And Jane Holtz Kay is no Michael Pollan. While the information is good (and sometimes scary) the delivery is a little bit dry. Plus, the book is a little dated at this point. (It was published in 1998.)

Honestly, I agree with everything Kay says. I think we need to take steps as a society to become less car centered. I also agree that its going to be a long, slow battle that we can never completely win but should keep fighting anyway. But at this point, the solutions aren’t anything new (walk more, bike more, expand mass transit, etc.) and the overall story could be told in a much more interesting way.

Verdict: Most of the information and statistics can be gleaned from bike and walking advocacy websites. Hold off until Michael Pollan decides to dabble in the car-free lifestyle. (A Natural History of Four Modes of Transportation, anyone?)

what i’m reading: the omnivore’s dilemma

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To be fair, I actually didn’t read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, but have been listening to the audiobook. (Hey, I’ve got to pass time in the studio some how.)

Its actually surprising that its taken me this long to tackle this book, given that I loved Michael Pollan’s earlier book, The Botany of Desire, and that I read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (a book with similar themes to TOD) not long after if came out.
Just like AVM, The Omnivore’s Dilemma makes you serious question what you’re eating and why you’re eating it. My question is, why hasn’t it led more of America to question and condemn the practices in most animal feeding and slaughter houses. Didn’t we learn in American history that Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle brought about major reforms in the Chicago meatpacking industry after it was published? Why didn’t the same thing happen with TOD? Some of the stories Pollan tells are down right horrifying.
To be honest, I do eat meat, and will continue to do so after reading this book. Growing up, and currently living in, an agricultural area, I actually have no problems with eating animals raised at a place like Polyface Farms. In fact, one of the reasons I’ll be able to continue eating meat is that Joe’s family butchers their own beef and pork every year, and that is where the majority of meat that Joe and I eat comes from. Its reassuring to me to think that right now, this year’s cow is out in a pasture a few miles from my house eating grass.
What I really like most about TOD is how its so applicable to other things in life that have nothing to do with food. There were two quotes in particular that struck me. Pollan is talking about hunting, gardening, and other activities and says, “An economy organized around a complex division of labor can usually get these jobs done for a fraction of the cost, in time or money, that it takes us to do them ourselves, yet something in us apparently seeks confirmation that we still have the skills needed to provide for ourselves.” Isn’t this why we craft artists make things ourselves? Isn’t this a sufficient argument for why we should still teach people to make things by hand? In fact, I think its telling that the rise of the DIY craft movement coincides with the publication and interest in books like TOD and AVM. That same impulse, of wanting to know where your food comes from, seems to apply. People in a very disconnected world want to feel connected to where (and who) their stuff comes from as well.
The other quote that struck me, because it could be applied to something totally unrelated was, “Eating’s not a bad way to get to know a place.” Except when I heard it, I substituted running for eating. The more I run around my town, the more I think that I must know it better than many of the people who live there. I know the alleys, the back roads, what goes on at different times of day. I feel more connected to my town because I cover its streets more carefully. How else could I tell engineers at a county planning meeting with complete confidence that, “no the Market Street bridge only has a sidewalk on one side, not both, and its on the north side, not the south.” I run it almost every day. That’s my bridge.
Verdict: If you haven’t yet read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, its definitely worth it. (Unless you want to continue mindlessly eating, then you probably shouldn’t read it.) I’d also recommend the audio book, which I downloaded from iTunes. Its great to listen to during repetitive production work.

what i’m reading: how to change the world

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In my recent funk about the state of the world (especially after reading Deep Economy) I’ve been looking for some more empowering things to read and watch. (Such as Big Ideas for a Small Planet.) This search led me to How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas. Overall, I found this book really inspiring. Bornstein profiles social entrepreneurs from around the world who are making a positive impact on the world around them. Its great to read that people really can make a difference (though none of them did this by making jewelry, but that’s a whole other issue).
My one complaint is that you’d think a book title How to Change the World would be a little more pragmatic – giving some insight into how you too can make a difference. Bornstein talks about the traits that all these social entrepreneurs share, but mostly as skills that few of us will ever posses.
Verdict: Inspiring, but a little repetitive.

what I’m reading: deep economy

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I just finished reading Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben. The premise is that we need to stop focusing on the accumulation of more wealth (because its not making us happier) and focus on building stronger communities. In some ways, its shares themes from The Small-Mart Revolution (with a bit of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle thrown in). In more ways, it positions itself as the antithesis (one of my favorite words) to The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman.

I appreciate this counterpoint to The World is Flat, because when I was reading that last summer, mostly I thought, “I don’t agree.” Unfortunately, what I really got from both Deep Economy and The World is Flat is that we, in America, are screwed. Either we’ve become lazy and complacent (TWIF) and everyone in China and India is waiting to take our jobs and or we’ve well outlived our means (DE) and we need a serious shift in attitude before we destroy the world (which frankly I’m hard-pressed to believe will happen for a majority of Americans).

I don’t consider myself a fatalist, or even a pessimist. (In fact, I’ve always considered myself someone who says, “well, the glass is half empty, but here’s how we’re going to fill it.” Which, according to a cartoon I just saw, would probably make me an activist.) Unfortunately, despite what McKibben claims is meant to be a mostly hopeful tone, I ended Deep Economy feeling discouraged. Deep Economy really made me question what I’m doing with my life. By making jewelry, am I really contributing in a useful way, or am I just feeding consumerism and American’s unending desire for more?

Endnote: I would just like to say, that if you’re trying to choose between reading The Small-Mart Revolution or Deep Economy – go with The Small-Revolution. You’ll feel more empowered, and less likely to curl up into a ball under your bench and cry.

what i’m reading: groundswell

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It seems like I’m trying to read about 12 books right now.  But I finally finished Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies in preparation for my trip to Patina Gallery tomorrow.  (Yep, I’m off to Santa Fe tomorrow – I’m so excited!)
Groundswell was a really interesting book.  While geared more towards larger companies, I still found lots of useful insights about using social technologies to grow my business.  I’d definitely recommend it.

what i’m reading: the tipping point

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Sometimes after I read something very academic and dense, I need to follow it up with something a little lighter.  Which means I’m finally getting around to reading The Tipping Point, which seems like a requisite book for anyone even slightly interested in business.  So far, (and I’m about halfway in) even though its an interesting read, I’m still waiting for something to click, for the part that feels really relevant and useful.