Me ol’ china* Doug has ‘penned’ a fantastic missive on the lost art of ink and paper combat.

In the post he reminisces over an event from a few months ago when a young digerati gave him several condescending looks because Doug was obviously a Luddite (he’s not, by the way; far from it).

Doug waxes lyrical about the connection one can feel when engaging in the fine art of moving pencil or pen on crisp clean paper, a connection that transports one all the way back to Da Vinci, Dunne and even ancient parchment.

Personally, I love nothing more than the feel of my Parker fountain pen against a virgin sheet of high-grade A4, or equally a lovely 0.7mm #2 pencil on said crisp virgin sheet (cue for old lags to launch into “Bond. Basildon Bond” jokes).

He’s shortly launching a new website (DIYPlanner.com) devoted to things of a paper-and-pencil-or-pen nature and I for one am really looking forward to it (note to paper-planner groupies: Doug has very flatteringly asked me to bash out an article on ye olde ancient keyboarde, a request to which I have duly complied).

Have a wander over to Doug’s post—it’s a wonderful read.

*(note for non-Australians: that means “mate”, as in rhyming slang - china, china plate, mate… keep up!)

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I’ve just uploaded to my website my latest newsletter.

Inside you can read articles on:

• The launch of my new-look blog
• Nonverbal communication: brand identity design and the role of a visual vocabulary
• Nonverbal communication: - an overview

It’s free, so why not avail yourself of a fine read now? You can always print it off and read it later…

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The ever-wonderful Kathy Sierra has written about how ‘marketing’ is getting such a bad rap*

Kathy is of course right - it IS fun for some to bad mouth marketing (like they’ve never read or understood what Seth Godin’s pleading with us to understand).

But in response to Kathy I would argue that we are not necessarily attractors or even conversationalists, we are communicators. In order to share our idea, our passion, our interest, with others we have to communicate that idea/passion/interest to someone else. How we choose to do that is up to us and which particular tool in our tool bag we have available - be it marketing, sales, PR and any of their associated techniques and tactics, such as brochures, conventions ( I know someone who is good at presenting your ideas for you), blogs, podcasts, above the line and below the line promotions, news releases, schmoozing with influencers, etc., etc., etc.

‘We are family’ was a great song; ‘we are communicators’ is a truth.

* and by mentioning the late, great Bill Hicks she’s brought back some wonderful memories of a sadly missed insightful communicator who used humour as his vehicle to deliver stunning insights. I loved his sketch about weapons experts deciding which missile in the armoury catalogue to fire next.

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A day early, but I’m sure you don’t mind

In this issue of Better Communication Results the podcast I talk about brand identity and the importance of a visual vocabulary.

Download the show directly right now, or else subscribe to my webfeed and have each and every sparkling edition delivered automatically to your podcatching software next time you go online. Confused? There’s more information right here.

Comments/Notes/Links: my new blog; Donna Papacosta; Heidi Miller; Erin Ferree - Elf Design

Source article: Non-verbal communication: Brand Identity Design and the Role of a Visual Vocabulary by Erin Ferree

At 11 minutes and 07 seconds long — and worksafe — it’s a bargain!

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With a tip of the Akubra to Shel Holtz, Rok Hrastnik has written a pretty good article on the different uses that RSS technology can be put to.

Key among the uses is the ability to side-step email and deliver content direct to those who really want it.

A really good read that I will be forwarding on to my own clients.

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Courtesy of Alexandra Samuel, it seems you can set Firefox to default open to several sites at once.

In Alexandra’s words:

Just discovered a very cool Firefox feature. If you have several web pages open in tabs, and then click Peferences/General in order to set your home page, Firefox gives you the option of setting your home page to “current pageS“.

So if you like to check your bank info, the New York Times, and your Basecamp projects every morning, just open all three pages in tabs (but in the same window). Then follow the steps above to set up Firefox so you can get to all three in one step.

Neat!

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Allan has it nailed — the new-hires in this New Comms age are going to be VERY savvy about social media. And you will look old and stupid and lazy and slow for not…

My man Jenkins points to a new service for PR folks, a free blog set up by Robert French (with help from my fellow Aussie James Farmer).

Allan has slightly edited his blog post, but I am fortunate enough to have his original entry in my aggregator, which ends with the line:

note to IABC/ PRSA/ AAF members: take notes; your new hires are going to know all about social media, and they are going to eat…you… for… lunch.

Wise words, indeed, mate!

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I’ve blogged about them before, just never mentioned their name.

NotebookLand in Adelaide is the retailer where I bought the notebook that has given me such grief.

I’m not sure I would buy a notebook from their supplier again, because I worry that I might get another ‘Monday morning’ build.

But then again, I might use NotebookLand again because of their excellent level of customer service.

Each time I have been in to see them the two folks there (Ben and Craig) have bent over double to solve my problem. I’m not sure the manager would (I have blogged about his customer service skills before), but certainly his two employees are great.

Having read the various posts about Dell across the blogosphere - both positive and negative - I am not sure I would dismiss a small manufacturer (such as NotebookLand’s supplier) just because they are not a ‘name’ brand. For me it comes down to price and level of customer service — and if the service is great, I am more likely to build a positive relationship with them and become a repeat buyer.

So who knows - I may indeed purchase more kit from them at some future time. Certainly the customer service I have received has impressed me.

Oh, and they informed me today that their website is undergoing a major overhaul (hopefully getting rid of that awful music). Don’t use the support email address on the website - it doesn’t work. Just use the sales email address.

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