It seems like I always see things about parties differently. To the point where, sometimes the things that remind me of event planning and catering parties would seem way off to most people. Case in point, big cardboard boxes.I have to blame Seth Godin, who continues to lead us to great people like Clay Shirky, for this one.
Clay posted an edited transcript from a speech, entitled Gin, Television, and Social Surplus, that he gave at the Web 2 Conference in 2008. His speech stems from his book, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations.
Clay Shirky inspired me to see something in a way that I never would have thought of. I have to thank him for that.
What, pray tell, is the correlation between big cardboard boxes, Clay's speech and parties?
Like when we recently came upon the S.A.G. voting season, last month. Quentin Tarantino's people sent a "For Your Consideration" copy of Inglourious Basterds to me because they wanted my vote. And once again, don't ask me how - finding something that relates to a party (or catering, or event planning) in almost everything, prompted me to write about something that had been bugging me: the bastardization of catering. Hence, I found myself writing Inglorious Food Bastards: The Bastardization of Catering. Go figure. Don't say I didn't warn you...
Cater-Hater might be hazardous to your mental health. Sorry.
I was in the 4th or 5th grade when my parents bought a new double-door refrigerator; the old one finally broke down and died.
And unlike buying appliances today, where you grab your neighbor or brother-in-law, get into a pickup truck and head over to Costco, Sam's Club or IKEA with some rope so you can tie down your new appliance and take it home, back then the place of purchase would deliver it to you.
Back in the day, seeing a giant new appliance box sitting in front of your house meant that you were cool. Similar to when you had a party - but better, if you were in grade school. Because the kids in the neighborhood were left with a new "toy" to play in - your parents big cardboard box. Getting a big box delivery at your house made you damn near a celebrity. Popularity is a child is always fleeting, but thanks to a new appliance box, at least for a moment in time you could be known as the coolest kid to hang out with on the block.
This might come off as a bit schizo. Now stay with me here.
I do have a point.
The Internet is just shy of being 30 years old; 27 years old to be exact. We've entered into this new decade with the critical technology, that we know as Internet technology, shifting itself into it's place - our lives. As this 27 year transformation in the making is whizzing by, we're also trying to deal with the financial shift that has happened, which means that the only thing most people can do to manage is to make a life-shift.
And after 27 years of Internet existence, still many people are just waking up to realize that, like at the mall, we are here.
We've awakened enough to find out that the Internet structures that are here are a big part of "the shift", which is what I call the Internet revolution that is going on right now. I mean, when there are more people getting their news reports on Twitter everyday than actually reading the newspaper or watching television news - which is what things have come to and apparently what we like and want - that didn't just happen. No more than the economic shift, which is making most of us have to make major life-shifts just happened. We can stop being babies - whining about the economy, try to look at what's happened as an asset somehow, and move on - realizing it will never be like it was again.
Think of this period of time as a time of vast Internet surplus - that we better try to figure how to be a part of the design of, instead of viewing it with disdain. Because whether we like it or not, we actually do spend more time sharing conversation, pictures and videos with complete strangers on the Internet than with people that we really know. Thus, making us a true Internet society.
Like Clay said, "We did that for decades." We've spent our time at MySpace. Now we've moved on to Facebook. And for the record, I practically live at Twitter.
In case you didn't get where this was going, thanks to someone that Clay Shirky knows named Tim, I guess I'm writing about an architecture of party participation.I started thinking about the simplicity of the past (like the days when big cardboard boxes were used as a toy) versus modern living today (you know - DVD's, the Sony Wii and all kinds of videos and video games) as I sat writing a book I've been working on called Pimp My Party. I thought about this after a conversation (that I had with my knee surgery friend, Jan) about my book.
Surplus means excess amount, excess money, extra worth, and additional to requirements. Do you think we're in that phase of excess; amount, money, worth, additional requirements? I think, consciously, and subconsciously, we're trying to figure the Internet out; not knowing what to do with our vast Internet surplus, exactly. We're less about TV shows and advertising, and more about hanging out with our friends at Facebook and fun.
This is an interesting time. We've got the escape-ism of the Internet, along with the witness of the escape-ism of finances and jobs. And increasingly our lives are becoming altered from what they once were.
Now if we could just get back to the simple times of being a kid again - playing inside a big cardboard box. We need to.
What Clay Shirky got me thinking about is how in touch we are with each other. Yet, how we're not; we're far removed from a lot of things, physically, because we're on the "Internet/Outernet". The industrial revolution had the "idiot box" known as television and the Internet revolution seems to have the personal-impersonal abilities of itself.
Maybe now is a good time to meld the old with the new to create a new, face-to-face architecture of party-participation. To get true human interpersonal contact to happen, it just seems easier to play "inside the big cardboard box". Or, to simply have a party. In other words, because most adults wouldn't play inside a cardboard box, we would replaced the box today with having an actual party.
Why not pull away from the computer screen long enough for a little face time with your friends? If you ask them, they might be willing to help you plan something. It doesn't take an army to pull off having a good time. Keep it on the small, intimate side.
Heck, I don't think we were ever as content as when we played in big cardboard appliance boxes. We had to be creative then, pretending one day that the box was a space ship and the next day that it was a fort.
If you think about it, there's not a lot of difference between creating a party concept and creating new ways to play in a big cardboard box.
The economy tanked, people are depressed about it and you're not planning a "cheap-as-hell-everybody-chip-in-let's-get-together-and-feel-good" party? Now's the time!
You could even host a "jobs party". What's that? A "jobs party" is a cocktail party with a guest employment opportunity requirement. It's a party centered around not only good food and beverages, but you also require that everyone invited has to bring a current, valid employment opportunity stating information about a position a company is looking to fill. You could also feature a guest speaker; a corporate head hunter or a manager of an employment agency. Or, you could host your own private "Job Fair Party", complete with food, beverages and dessert, along with several human resource directors from local companies in your area.
Instead of climbing out of the big cardboard box like we did, it's time that we go back inside.
It's time to find the creativity to create the perfect party architecture for your unique version of "playing" or whatever reason you can think of to host a party. Only instead of playing inside an imaginary cardboard box, host a gathering of good friends and family at your place. Because it's certainly time to have some quality, inexpensive fun, don't you think? Don't wait until something bad happens, like somebody dies, for a reason to plan a get-together.
Don't worry about things being 100% perfect, either. Just plan something, anything. Because there's a large chance that your friends, that spend so much time talking to you on Facebook, would really like to see you and talk. You know, actually see your face.
Just do something.
You have lots of options. Take an initiative. Take matters into your own hands. Get together with people.
If you're unemployed (or know people who are unemployed, and who doesn't?) that "jobs party" or "job fair party" should sound like a good idea. You know what they say, don't you? "People help their friends."
Look at it this way, there's no excuse not to plan something, no matter how small. Because for every hour that we're on MySpace, Facebook, Ning, or Twitter - and for many of us, this adds up to be a lot - we could have done more than put pictures of Fido on our favorite social networking site. Or, done more than submit our resume (with the highest of hopes to get a response) online, to a corporation who doesn't know or care about us.
Shirky said, "It's better to do something than to do nothing.", and he's right. But why just... do the work, when you can work being smart? Call me biased if you want to. But I'm sorry, I happen to think that having a job-related type of party while catching up with friends is as smarter than looking for one in the sea of online employment abyss. And it's as creative as a kid figuring out a new way to play in big cardboard box. Brilliant.
Since modern media is "actually a triathlon", according to Shirky, comprised of three different events, then get into the race; produce, share, and consume.
What's astonished people who were committed to the structure of the previous society, prior to trying to take this surplus and do something interesting, is that they're discovering that when you offer people the opportunity to produce and to share, they'll take you up on that offer. It doesn't mean that we'll never sit around mindlessly watching Scrubs on the couch. It just means we'll do it less.
Shrink the amount of time that you spend online by just a little and theoretically you might have the chance to turn down 6 to 12 jobs in a year, and gain a bevy of new face-to-face friendships.
A few years ago, I may have felt differently. But I think that's a big deal. Don't you?
You might not think of this is as a big deal. But I can tell you right now that it is. The Internet revolution is real. Even so, you're still in the real world. You still need to play in your big cardboard box. You still need to know people and sometimes come face-to-face with the people that you know.
It's only now that we're finally waking up. Many of us are starting to realize that something "permanent and different" is really going on.
But hey, there's no need for alarm. This isn't a crisis that we need to fight. Besides the fact, we can't fight it. Because you can't stop progress. And, we sure as heck can't stop Internet progress. But, we sure can have a party and talk about it.
Are you an Internet junkie? Or, do you spend time playing inside a big cardboard box?
Leave your opinions in the Comments section below. Thanks.
Image source: Speedboat
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