our thinking for July 2007…

1. July 30th, 2007

   Substance Believes in Brew.

   Here in Portland, the last full weekend in July is always reserved for the Oregon Brewers Festival. For the past 20 years, brewers have been visiting the Rose City to share their tasty alcoholic beverages. This year, 72 breweries from around the United States came to town. For some reason, the mugs this year were these color-changing ones (see above),…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Life and Culture

2. July 29th, 2007

   Coffee Recap, July 27th

   Lots of people out for coffee on Friday… I know I’ll never remember everyone’s name. above: Russell (left) with some people whose names I forgot (sorry!) above: Nicole (center, but I can’t find her blog link…) and friends above, from left: Sam, Chris (with the goatee), Barbara, some others (again, sorry!), and Noel (far right) The conversations around me jumped from…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Events

3. July 25th, 2007

   Coffee, Friday, July 27

   If you didn’t get enough caffeine at last week’s Likemind, or you just happened to miss it, fear not. We’ll be having coffee again at Stumptown on SW 3rd (but let it be known that my vote was for the Stumptown Ace). We’ll be joined by international man about town, Russell Davies. The Details: Stumptown, 128 SW 3rd Friday, July 27 – 11am…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Events

4. July 22nd, 2007

   Substance Believes In You.

   Some people wear their heart on their sleeve. We wear our beliefs on our chest. Substance believes in kids (above), and adults (below). James (above) decided to wear his shirt instead of using it as a protective iPhone carrier. We’re flattered that he felt more strongly about wearing the shirt than protecting his little digital magic. Substance believes in you. What do…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Life and Culture

5. July 20th, 2007

   Sitting around the campfire.

   We’ve talked a lot about the idea of the campfire agency. And on a recent trip to the Oregon coast with the family, I realized what else campfires are good for: creating memories, and tasty treats. Sitting around a campfire isn’t just about sharing stories. It’s about creating shared memories. Even when the kids were tucked into their sleeping bags and…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… The Way We Work

6. July 18th, 2007

   Coffee with Likemind / July 20 / 8am

   Friday, July 20th is coffee with Likemind. 8am at the Stumptown at 128 SW 3rd. Anomaly is gracious enough to buy the coffee. Come on back to the back couches, introduce yourself, grab a Likemind nametag, then go get your coffee. See you there.

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Events

7. July 17th, 2007

   Feature Creep and the Laws of Simplicity.

   “The people who design and sell products are not the ones who buy and use them, and what engineers and marketers think is important is not necessarily what’s best for consumers.” - James Surowiecki on the Financial Page, The New Yorker, May 28, 2007 Through either coincidence or fate, I recently read The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda, and…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Inspiration, The Way We Work

8. July 11th, 2007

   Stinkerdoodle.

   My friend James sent me a map he drew on Stinkerdoodle. Apparently Stinkerdoodle, a shared community doodle site, launched recently. We’ve been doodling around with it at the office… our Wacom tablets play very nicely with the site. And when someone doodles near one of your doodles, it emails you to let you know. For example, someone added a skateboard…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Inspiration

9. July 10th, 2007

   Less About Information, More About Conversation.

   “Companies expect users to come to their site, but don’t support creating an experience. Instead, the customer is given information. We need to turn websites into places where customers can play, learn, enjoy, build communities and exchange information. Ultimately, the experience should be so fulfilling that they are passionately interested in knowing more about your company and its products and…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Brand Strategy, The Way We Work

10. July 9th, 2007

    Voodoo recognized by Fast Company.

    http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/116/column-made-to-stick.html Not telling us Portlanders anything new. For the rest of you, you are missing out. It’s all true. Yum.

    posted by Stephen Landau

    thinking about… Inspiration