BY JULIE NEUMARK, COO OF MEDIA & MARKETING MINDS
The creative connection of physical distancing
Necessity is the mother of invention. Lately, the inventor in all of us has been active, with the widespread regulations, restrictions and recommendations of how to behave (and NOT to behave) during this pandemic.
We’ve been reinventing ways to connect with one another, via Zoom calls, physical distanced walks, or partaking in birthday car parades. We’ve been exploring innovative ways to entertain ourselves and our families, via online interactive games, reigniting the habit of reading for pleasure, and bringing back the historic pastime of putting together a 1000 piece puzzle. (Or binging on the latest streaming TV series—admittedly, the title of this blog was inspired by Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere,” which I highly recommend devouring ASAP.)
And then there’s the reinventing of your business life—maybe you are a business owner who previously relied heavily on in-person foot traffic—or, maybe you’ve been furloughed and are out of work altogether—or, maybe you are a business who is experiencing even more demand during these times and you are having a hard time keeping up. Whatever your situation, I’m fairly sure that you’ve had to step into the role of reinventor recently.
But what if I feel stuck?
Get into the fetal position, rock yourself back and forth until you get unstuck. Ok, kidding—sort of— but we humans are incredibly inventive and creative beings, when life slows down long enough to allow for it. If you’re feeling stuck, maybe your biggest hurdle is acceptance. Perhaps you are still living in the past (or waiting for it to return) and you haven’t even reached the point of “necessity” yet. And, if you aren’t hangin’ with necessity, you haven’t met her child, invention!
Take a moment and press pause on the thoughts in your head. Look around. Life is different and will likely be some degree of different for the foreseeable future. Instead of letting that cloud your world with feelings of obstruction, reframe it as opportunity. You have an opportunity to find new ways to connect with people more deeply, rediscover your creativity through innovation and expand your professional network.
But...how?
Here’s the thing—this is an individual and personal journey. There is nothing more I would rather do than tell you the “6 things you need to do…” however, there is no one-size-fits-all. So, instead, I will share with you a few ways I’ve been trying to reinvent and maybe it will spark a little fire in you. :)
Connectivity: the distance walk
The other half of M3, Holly Bowyer, is my business partner and my friend. Although we’ve stayed very connected via zoom and phone throughout this entire time for all aspects of our business, I was missing that in-person connection of actually being face to face. So, we planned a physical distance walk! We took all the necessary precautions (keeping 6 ft apart, wearing masks) but were able to actually catch up in person. It made a difference, just getting out for a minute and seeing someone other than my wife, our dog and two cats. I found that it lifted my spirits—not just the walk itself, but looking forward to it before it happened. It’s amazing the little boost you can feel when you create things to look forward to.
Stay safe, but find a way to connect and build relationships with people. Besides, you never know when one of them might be your next client!
Innovation: the in-home summer concert series
One of my most favorite activities in the summer is to go see live music under the stars at one of LA’s fabulous outdoor music venues—usually either The Hollywood Bowl or The Greek Theatre. For me, accepting that live events were not going to be something in existence for a while, was a tough one to swallow. I was in denial about it for a bit and hit a low point as my acceptance of this slowly became a reality.
All of the elements I adored about this experience—the warm summer nights with a gentle breeze, the stars above, the sweet scents in the air, and music that you can not just hear and see, but FEEL—where was I going to go for all those things? How was I going to get my fix? Then it hit me: I would create it!
I told my wife that I had a date planned for us that night and she needed to be ready at 6pm, with a picnic dinner packed for us. When the time arrived, we “commuted” upstairs to our rooftop patio with our picnic dinner and a bottle of wine. I had created tickets for us and a playlist of a live performance. Our headphones were placed in our “box seats” and our 85 lb black lab served as “security.” We wined and dined and listened to a live performance on our headphones together, dancing and singing together for the next 3 hours.
We had transported ourselves into a very real experience that brought us happiness and joy. Sure, it was different, but isn’t that part of innovation’s DNA? In fact, in some ways it was better—there was no traffic and no bathroom lines. Ha, beat that!
Business: expand your network
Last week, my 22 year old niece reached out to me to see if we could schedule a call. As a class of 2020 college grad with a business and sports marketing degree, she wanted to learn more about M3 and what we do. On our call, she shared that she was taking this post-graduation time to try to network and connect with as many people in the field of marketing and events as she could. She said that it was a challenging time to try to find a job so she thought that she would focus on building relationships and having conversations with people who have been living the kinds of careers that she is interested in exploring. She also said that people have been incredibly open to making time to talk with her and very generous about introducing her to relevant people in their network as well.
After our call, I found myself thinking about how she was using her time and realized that we should ALL be doing this right now. We’re living in a really unique time in history. Yes, there are incredibly terrible things about it, starting with the lives that have been lost, but there are also these amazing gems of positivity. There is a slowing down of our daily lives that has led to a tremendous increase in awareness and generosity, a desire for human connection and, for many of us, a bit more time to give.
Inspired by her action, Holly and I made a list of former clients, conference connections and leads from the past year to reach out to and reconnect with. While everyone’s situation is highly individualized, there is a shared global experience that we can all relate to. While this virus may be pushing all further apart physically, it is that shared experience that has the power to bring us all closer together.
A foreword to looking forward
“How long will this ‘new normal’ last?” [the trillion dollar question]
“Should that be our focus?” [my question]
There will always be challenges that require us to rise a little higher, opportunities that ask us to be braver and situations that push us to be more creative. So, embrace it ALL and live a little bolder, innovate a little louder and keep on looking forward!