6/29/2008
Artists, Their Brands, Their Products, And You
A couple weeks ago Zade Dirani, a Jordanian composer, pianist and beautiful soul held an open air concert in downtown Amman's Roman theatre that allows for a 5000 person audience. I was not at One Night in Jordan, but there have been many accounts of the event and various opinions about the experience like this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this. I am however a huge fan of events at the theatre with the Amman town backdrop.
I met Zade for the first time at the Aramex 25th themed Unleashing Arab Innovation. I had seen him perform, listened to his music, visited his site, known about the Zade Foundation and Seeds of Peace, and heard wonderful things about him for years. But last summer was the first time we ever chatted.
Zade shared parts of his journey. He spoke passionately about his music and art in general. He talked about the positioning of his brand. He talked about the choice of the English spelling of his name (Zaid, Zeid, Zayd, Zade all work in theory). Zade was a strategic decision, and he has a story there. He talked about positioning. He spoke of the musicians he works with from all corners of the world. He talked about his big performances and the more intimate ones. He talked about audience reactions. And no matter what he talked about- the pragmatic or the artistic or spiritual - his positive outlook never swayed and the sparkle never left his eyes. I found myself smiling back. Zade never pretended not to be a packaged effort as well as talent and hard work, and keen to contribute to a mission. He sat up straight because he believed that's the right posture, and perfects it out of training. He never tried to give me the spiel of the Bohemian artist vs the working man with a calculated plan. I wanted to know more.
I made an effort to find out about this Zade by design.
His talent draws the attention of people in Jordan and the world, who in turn extend their support to him. His efforts pay off and enable him to live his art, and live off his passion - music. He has a spectrum of audiences. He's come a long way since his schoolboy talent his classmates remember. He has skills. He has a plan. He has objectives. He has hopes. He does good. He has disappointments. He has partners. He has challenges. He has successes. He has mentors. He has dreams. And he also has a chance to go after a lifetime of incredible out there, up ahead, waiting to be had.
You may or may not find yourself a fan of Zade's work - that's up to your personal choice in music and performance. Like any artist, he offers good experiences for some, and not so good for others. He uses his art for causes, and his brand for reach. Again you may or may not like that. But what we can agree on though is that Zade Dirani is a creative worker. An entrepreneur. A specialist, in touch with the generalist. He has target audiences. A communication plan. His industry is the artistic specialization of music. Which make him part of the creative economy*. All this doesn't make him less compassionate, nor less cause driven, nor less qualified to garner support. Zade is also part of the experience economy. Economies which you the audience are a huge and vital part of. I often say: a film is nothing without its audience, and here certainly, a concert is nothing without its audience. Artists never stop thanking you for being part of the product that is them.
One Night in Jordan will remain alive through the audiovisual products being created, and thru the message that continues to resonate. If you were one of the thousands on those Roman stones that night, you're lucky. How wonderful to be an ingredient in a product that will live on long past a night - you are a contribution to that night, and beyond. Being part of the message and part of the vehicle. That's big!
*Only the fastest growing economy in the world today. Go ahead, google it. The creative industries are going to be the Arab world's employment challenge saviors over the next quarter century - if we embrace them that is. Remember the day I blogged this! The workers in these industries are an incredible contribution to local and global economies, and quality of life at large.
The only thing you leave behind is that which you create?
She Could Lead a Revolution
Last Thursday night we casually joined the Rap Electro Rock concert at the National Gallery park in Amman. An excellent line up thrilled the crowd with DJ Sotusura, Tarweej who we missed unfortunately, Ramallah Underground rapping their inspiring words out, and Orange Blossom, who just blew me away!!
I had never seen this Nantes based band, Orange Blossom perform before. But I will track them down every chance I get. I want their albums and I want to catch them live anywhere I can. They were exciting and powerful in sound, lyrics and stage presence. Their French-Algerian vocalist Leyla Bounous could easily lead a revolution.... and I would follow her to the end of the world and gladly fight for her cause! Respect.
Know more about Orange Blossom on their MySpace page and listen to them talk about their work in this vid below.
Thank you to LeCentre, OrangeRed and the eclectic crowd (including the perves) that packed the park that night to make it absolutely fantastic every sip of the way. You guys rock!
6/13/2008
Open Everything. Here It Comes.
Language calls it collaboration.
Explore what's next in OpenContent.
Licensing is about Creative Commons.Developers do Open Source.
JUST do it at OpenSourceDay.
Baraniuk talks edu DJ.
Wikipedia is the way of the web.
Journalism is also about blogging.
Bloggers say u comment i follow.
Verve maps the world.
Arianna Huffington lives by it.
Negroponte calls it One Laptop Per Child.
TED is about Ideas Worth Sharing.
MIT does it thru OpenCourseWare.
UC Berkeley offers their Podcasts.
More generous food for intellect.
And Indian institutes share this.
Seth Godin sends you to the clowd.
James Surowiecki finds the wisdom of crowds.
Peaceniks are social networking.
Google does it.
Liza shares open access with awearness.
Maysoon is planning a Christmas in July for these kids.
Volunteering is about the community on the hill.
At 826 learning doesn't make you want to go away.
With Madrasati beautiful minds get a chance.
These guys Aramex it.
Business inspires social entrepreneurship.
Project management lays out Open Workbench.
GNU does copyleft.
These geeks want u to Ubuntu.
Some of us are polyamorous.
You can learn to draw it here.
The Olympics & McDonald's seek The Lost Ring.
Feel free to toot if you're looking.
Then ikbis to see it.
Hang with these weirdos at GroundZero.
Pop filmmaking is sweding it.
A bunch of coolies put it in the Blender.
Orange Elephants Dream.
Plumiferos speaks.
And Apricot is a game.
Passionate hearts are a contribution.
Ko-Mun-Sens says, keep an open mind.
This monkey asks: r u feeling it?
Go ahead. Open up.
Open is a movement.
By anybody, for everybody, driven by respect.
Spread the love.
6/11/2008
Time. Culture. Adaptation.
I arrived 4 minutes late for my 10am this morning. My 10am, a strict European, had arrived at 10 sharp ofcourse. At 10:02 she called to say she couldn't wait and was upset I wasn't there. I apologized sincerely, and I meant it, and didn't feel it was needed to justify that traffic was a bitch across town. That was not her problem. Late is late. Bottom line she got to the meeting before me. She said she had blocked 10-10:30 for the meeting. At 10:02 when she called she said she was already back to her car. We spoke for 2 minutes. Or rather I got lectured.
A European accent and attitude gave me a piece of her mind about my not being there. I kept apologizing. Then I just sat back and smiled as she continued. All of a sudden everything was hilarious. So she blocked a half hour and couldn't wait a few minutes. No one else was involved in this meet. There was nothing serious nor pressing to be addressed. It was just a chit chat meet really. In no way am I saying that she had to, but heck....
I got to thinking about how seriously upset she was, and why I found it all surreal.
It's a culture thing. No?
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I certainly do! I take long lunches followed by guiltless siestas - something I hardly ever do anywhere else.
I'm Arab. I slack off on time - a lot sometimes. It doesn't bother me. Usually it doesn't bother others. I tolerate it, usually gladly, unless I'm stuck in a messy situation with a severed limb and my arteries gushing. Maybe in such a state I may get a bit irked.
Right this moment, I'm exhausted of what's right and what's wrong. When did we get so uptight? OK fine, sometimes lateness just cannot be tolerated. But if there's no body and no blood, and it's just a few minutes, what's the biggy?
Is time really so rigid? Is time really that linear, all the time? Is time so deterministic?
This is my Jordan. My turf. You're in my culture. Adapt. It's part of this game of life. It's part of the joke of being here. It's the hurry-up-and-wait thing. Today, I'm finding it kind of funny. I'm sure one day this is going to bite me in the ass. But right now, it's good food for film.
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