Walking home after the class, I thought about how invigorating the present time has become for both students and teachers. New media tools and online spaces have challenged the traditional education paradigm, giving rise to alternative, informal learning. You’ve surely noticed it. Let’s look at some examples:

SKILLSHARE

Skillshare’s mission is to “democratize learning” by enabling common people to teach the subjects and topics that they are expert at and passionate about. That list stretches wildly, covering anything between wine tasting and public speaking to writing code and building business development skills. We are blessed to live within diverse communities whose knowledge spans a range of disciplines. Why not take advantage of it by making real contact with these folks (and rewarding them for what they have learned and the stories they can tell us).

My class revolved around inbound marketing, of course. I covered some of the fundamentals, walking the students through the methodology businesses need to follow in order to succeed with inbound marketing.

Besides picking up a new skill (or teaching it), Skillshare also presents a great platform for networking and connecting with people who share your interests or ambitions.

KHAN ACADEMY

Khan Academy is another innovator in the education space. It is a non-profit organization providing free online resources across various fields, from arithmetic and physics to finance and history.

This is one of the sites I have bookmarked and visit once in a while to watch a quick video and gain some background in a new field. I can only imagine how helpful this could have been to me in high school!

CODE ACADEMY

With today’s emphasis on software engineering, people are ever curious about the potential of writing code. I am one of those people. (I often wonder if I should have specialized in Computer Science in college instead of journalism.) While I don’t regret my academic choice, I have the opportunity to explore this field of new interest and have a taste of that world.

I am now on Codeacademy at least once a week, learning how to use CSS to make websites pretty. This knowledge not only helps me in my day-to-day job, but also gives me a nice insight into what’s behind the pages I see online.

**

Naturally, the innovation in the education sector expands well beyond the sites I have mentioned above. It includes inspirational TED talks, how-to YouTube videos and blog posts by established professors and industry professionals. Yes, it even includes Wikipedia. All this is new and exciting and the more I think about it, the more I feel like a student who has a long way to go till ‘graduation.’

Image credit: dsasso

Now, I realize you might see me as a wildly ego-centric person. Yet I am certain I am onto something here. Yes, I am talking about a Kickstarter project for making birthday wishes come true through Facebook.

Let’s do the math together. A November 2011 research shows that the average friend count on Facebook is 190. Ok, maybe not all of these people are true friends. They probably include a few acquaintances, peers you small talk with during coffee breaks in the office or distant relatives you have never really met in person. Let’s say half of these 190 people will be willing to send you a few dollars to purchase a birthday gift that you have longed for. Here again, Facebook would not expect them to contribute the same amount of money. Your best friend from high school might contribute $35, while a colleague you get along with could just send $5. Let’s be super conservative and assume the average sum per friend would be $5. Then you have $475 which you can use to buy a bicycle, get on a hot air balloon or even go on a mini vacation somewhere!

Aside from being utterly delighted with big birthday gifts, I am fascinated with the scale of something like this. On Facebook, you have a network that cares about you (or so we hope) and that is now coordinated to achieve a common goal. Various social movements have demonstrated the power of coordination through virtual social networks. Why not take this in a direction that can bring us joy on a very personal level?

Photo credit: marjoleinknuit

One of the few guys in the room raised his hand to pose a question, “How can men help?”

After the panelists answered his question, he looked around in search for the mic runner again. He continued to make comments on the same question, holding the mic close to his chest as if he didn’t have the slightest intention of separating from it. One of the panelists tried to jump in and share her thoughts, but the guy kept talking and interrupting her. Finally, we were able to move on to another question.

I stood there absorbing the situation: the panel of speakers encouraging women to stand up and raise their voice and the male attendee demanding the room’s attention with his body language, lengthy comments and dramatic intonation.

A few minutes later, the moderator announced that the next question was going to be the last one for the evening. The mic runner approached a young guy to my left. After he grabbed the mic, we learned that he, in fact, didn’t have a question. He had an answer to the question that the first guy had posed.

The two men waved at each other across the room and for the last few minutes of the panel we listened to the second guy’s suggestions on how men can help women take leadership roles in tech.

Did anyone else see the paradox? I surely hope so.

I have one tip for you (get mentally prepared because this is going to be revolutionary): send personal messages.

I cannot count the times I have received invitations to connect with people without knowing how they have heard of me. Some people would like to expand their professional network, they stumble upon my LinkedIn profile and click “connect.” They might even know me from somewhere, but they still don’t bother writing a line or two explaining how we might be connected. I don’t accept these invitations. (And LinkedIn doesn’t like them, either.)

However, I have accepted to connect with people whose names I don’t recognize if they add a personal message. Some folks take the time to write that they enjoy my blog posts, ebooks or Twitter updates. I’d love to be connected with people who follow my work.

Of course, I am not arguing that everyone on LinkedIn behaves like me. People approach their LinkedIn presence in different ways. Still, the chances of you making a connection by adding a personal message are definitely higher than if you simple left the default “I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.” In fact, erase that message altogether. Instead, add an explanation of how you know the person and why would like to connect with him/her.

With more than 150 million member, LinkedIn is the word’s largest professional social network. Start leveraging the power of this platform.

The work environment nurtures specialists—people who can develop a strict focus on a subject, master it and contribute their expert opinions as needed. However, the world of liberal arts education, one that many of us are coming from, encourages a different type of reality. It pushes us to glimpse into different disciplines, expand our academic interests and develop a broad understanding of the world and how to engage with it. How are we supposed to reconcile this conflict? If the academic world raises us as generalists and the professional world values specialization, don’t we end up suffering from split personality? Which identity should one pick?

Liberal arts, as defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary, refer to the educational curriculum “intended to provide chiefly general knowledge and to develop general intellectual capacities as opposed to professional or vocational skills.” This definition sounds familiar. It’s aligned with the description Mount Holyoke College gives of academic requirements, “The College’s distribution requirement is designed to acquaint students with a wide range of knowledge and encourage them to explore new areas of interest.” In other words, a student here will have to fulfill requirements in humanities, science and mathematics, and social sciences.

Fulfilling these requirements, I distinctly remember, wasn’t necessarily something I looked forward to at Mount Holyoke College. As an International Media & Communications major, I wished I could focus on writing and didn’t have to worry about math or biology. My classmates shared the same sentiment. Yet we knew there were certain requirements that needed to be fulfilled so we carefully browsed through the course catalogue to pick classes outside our main field of interest.

For one of my science requirements, I ended up taking Introduction to Computer Animation. It wasn’t a subject I would have naturally gravitated towards. After all, it involved coding and learning formulas. Yet the class taught me to express myself in a new way, through building short movies with 3D models. Its appeal for creativity resonated with me and by the end of the semester, I spent almost every weekend in the computer lab, creating cylinders and cubes with excitement and showcasing my skills to others. In that class, I also made friends with students I wouldn’t have otherwise spent time with.

Interestingly enough, I witnessed the same type of dynamic in a complete opposite field. One of my closest college friends, a biochemistry major, decided to fulfill her humanities requirement by taking a journalism course. The class was outside her comfort zone and led to the lowest grade she had received in her undergraduate studies. However, she took this as a challenge. The professor’s constructive feedback motivated her. She worked hard in the class, gaining some critical writing and editing skills, and most importantly, an appreciation for a new field.

This appreciation for new fields triggers the flow of the human imagination. It piques our curiosity and helps us make associations between subjects that seemed unrelated. In this way we become creators of a remarkable culture, one full of remixes and unique interpretations that crisscross, borrow from one another and inspire us.

The ability to interpret situations in a unique way is what helps us solve problems in the professional world. It gives us the necessary context to connect the dots when we start new projects, communicate with customers and present in front of our coworkers. Thought leader and technology innovator Steve Jobs argued for the tremendous power stemming from the marriage between different disciplines. At the release of the iPad 2, he said: “It’s in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing, and nowhere is that more true than in these post-PC devices.”

Statements like this guide us in recognizing the colors of our reality. It’s not just black or white, sciences or humanities, generalists or specialists. Our academic, professional and personal lives are ripe with richness that often goes unnoticed. It is time to look around and recognize the diverse aspects of our identities.

I’m happy that my liberal arts education raised me as a generalist. I am also happy that my work taught me about the benefits of being a specialist. Do I have to identify with just one or the other? No, just like I don’t have to identify with only being a daughter, sister, friend or writer. The human mind allows for different skills and perspectives to coexist. It’s their coexistence that makes our identities flexible, constantly evolving and sometimes even a little bit contradictory.

Photo credit: truebluetitan

The release of Booktrack, an iPad app that creates soundtracks for ebooks, must be a signal that the human race is experiencing a failure of imagination. The goal of the product is to enrich the reading experience, to “dramatically boost the reader’s imagination and engagement,” as Booktrack writes. Yet the app is serving a purpose exactly opposite of what it seeks to inspire.

The eBook soundtracks include audio effects matched to the text. If one reads about a storm, I guess the story will be “enhanced” through the sound of thunder. Or if the eBook is about a vacation by the sea, one might hear waves crashing into shore. But what if to me the sound of waves is soft and accompanied by singing seagulls? Will the app know to bend the music through the prism of my imagination? I don’t think so. I think the soundtrack will provide me with a fixed framework and reduce the amount of personal nuances I add to the story.

I understand Booktrack’s idea to take the reader away from his or her surroundings (the approaching train, the subway chatter, the construction noises, etc) in order to focus on the text. But please don’t match sound effects to keywords in an effort to “enhance” my reading experience. Let people fantasize about a world in which music is much more nuanced than any processed sounds.

Photo credit:  jbelluch

Earlier this summer, I had the chance to attend Identity Fest, an electronic music festival sponsored by a whole bunch of popular brands, among which Skullcandy, Rockstar Energy Drink and Heineken. These companies were trying to attract the attention of the audience in different ways–by giving out free stuff, displaying large posters near the stage and placing their logos all over the place.

There were also a lot of booths, but my friends and I were instantly drawn to one that was promoting the movie “Our Idiot Brother.” The two promo girls inside were busy. They were offering folks the opportunity to get their photo taken against, what I assume was, a movie-related backdrop. You could put some accessories on and make faces at the camera. It seemed fun! What is more, after the photo was taken, you could post it on Facebook, thus making sure all your absent friends regretted not being there.

So we went for it. After our picture was taken, and we laughed over our ridiculous poses and faces, we got a little bit upset. Using an iPad, we posted the picture on Facebook but were strictly guided by one of the girls (the other one was busy taking other people’s photos).

“So you can post it on your Wall,” she told me. “And then if you could just ‘Like’ our page, that would be great,” she added.

I had posted it on my Wall, which was my original intention, but I hesitated to “Like” their page. I hadn’t seen their movie. What if I didn’t actually like it? I am not going to lie to my friends, family and co-workers.

While these thoughts were running through my head, the lady rushed to press the “Like” button for me. It’s not a big deal, one would think, but for some reason I felt exploited. I knew that the first thing I was going to do once I got home was to un-Like their page. And guess what, I don’t want to watch their movie at all.

In this case, the border between creative and obtrusive marketing seemed pretty thin. Have you had similar experiences with Facebook?

So it was just natural for me to ask Amrit for the sites she likes to visit for inspiration, new ideas, education, etc. In case you also want to draw knowledge from them, here they are:

1. Brain Pickings
   I share Amrit’s love for this site—it is an eclectic mix of cultural “tidbits of stuff that inspires, revolutionizes, or simply makes us think.”
2. Swiss Miss
   This is a design blog and studio run by Tina Roth Eisenberg. It seems like a neat place to check out if you are into art, UI, typography and other visual projects.
3. But Does It Float
   Similarly to the previous site, this one also covers photography and typographical illustrations.
4. Unurth
   This site is dedicated to street art and features colorful graffiti from all over the world.
5. Springwise
   Headquartered in London, Springwise is a source of business ideas and inspiration to entrepreneurs. This is the first time I encounter the site but I am definitely fascinated with its idea database and considering subscribing to the newsletter.
6. Idea Mensch
   Idea Mensch will introduce you to a community of people with ideas. It features interviews with bright entrepreneurial minds–some of whom more popular than others.
7. Startup Quote
   This site posts a daily wise thought by popular entrepreneurs like Apple’s Steve Jobs and Mint’s Aaron Patzer. Each quote can be tweeted directly from the site.
8. AVC
   This is the blog of Fred Wilson, a VC and principal of Union Square Ventures. I would encourage entrepreneurs to check out his MBA Mondays blog series.
9. Both Sides of the Table
   This is the blog of Mark Suster who founded Koral, a company that was sold to Salesforce.com and eventually became Salesforce Content. This is also a great source of start-up advice and entrepreneurial topics.

“What do you guys do for marketing?” was definitely not the question our tour guide was expecting to receive. After all, we were there to learn how their factory produced chocolate. But after a brief pause, he shared what the main instrument of marketing was for Taza Chocolate Factory.

Sampling, the tour guide said. And no wonder! The place offers eight tours a week, in which visitors can find out more about the magic of chocolate-making. You not only get to touch the coffee beans and examine the old roasting equipment, but can also taste the spicy chocolate bars. In this way, sampling defines the experience of product learning, enjoyment and sharing—a very holistic marketing system, indeed.

The Power of Live Events

Local businesses now have the opportunity to easily organize group activities around their products. Much like musicians at live concerts, companies can build a following by giving out something of value and turning their employees into rock stars.

That’s why the concept of ticket-buying is not unfamiliar to Taza Chocolate Factory. The company uses eventbrite to facilitate the tour registration process, and guess what– their events get booked pretty quickly. (We had to call a week in advance to book tickets for a Sunday afternoon tour.)

Showcase Your Business Quirks

The one-hour tour I attended was fascinating. I learned that one of Taza Chocolate’s founders used to be a scuba-diver. I learned that one of the factory’s coffee roasting machines was imported from Europe and pieced together here, in Somerville, MA. I also learned about the concept of direct trade (not the same as fair trade). All these stories made me really appreciate the final product I was about the experience. So, if you are a local business, think about ways in which you can showcase these types of quirks and fascinate your customers.

Do the Math of Sampling

Let’s check out the math behind this type of food sampling:

I invited my friends to sign up for the Chocolate Factory tour, so we can enjoy this activity together. +
I paid $5 for my tour ticket. +
I attended a “behind-the-scenes, guided tour” and learned cool new stuff. +
I ended up buying some chocolate. +
I told more friends about it. +
I would love to go back! =

= A pretty holistic marketing approach.

The idea here is that this type of sampling defined an experience beyond the product purchase. It is not just marketing; it is a thread of stories that begs to be shared.

You want to have a direction, the female entrepreneur said. I agreed with her. You want to know where you are going in order to get to a place where you will feel comfortable and happy.

Not too late after this talk, I got a chance to attend a networking event for current students and alumnae at my college.

“Who do you want to be when you grow up?” asked me one student with a smile. As a recent alumna, I was supposed to give her some good career advice. Yet I didn’t have a fixed answer to that question. Was I supposed to say “a writer,” “a consultant,” “a manager” of sorts? There was really not one role set in my mind.

My intuition tells me to follow what I love doing and see where I end up. For instance, I know I love writing; I love the idea of bringing social change and I love learning about new media technologies. These are the things I expect to be exposed to four years from now. These are the things that make me happy. Who cares about what my role/title is if I engage in these activities?

This has been my philosophy all along. Thus far, I’ve followed my passion for writing and gained new interests along the way. I kept an open mind and built my academic focus as a hybrid between writing and technology. That led me to my current job and these passions are probably going to take me elsewhere in the future.

So here I am trying to reconcile two very different notions—the search for direction and my love for spontaneity. In William Stafford words, I just want to make sure that “following the wrong god home,” I don’t miss my star. What about you?

Photo credit: rojam