"Magic doesn't come to those who don't expect it." Diana Vreeland

"The future has several names. For the weak, it is impossible; for the fainthearted, it is unknown; but for the thoughtful and valiant, it is ideal." Victor Hugo

"Storytelling reveals meaning, without committing the error of defining it." Hannah Arendt

Today's image: lined and ready by Darwin Bell. Great shot. Thank you for sharing.

Everything is impossible until it's done

Excellent post by Web 2.0 ace Steve Safran, Forbidden or compulsory: newsroom culture and the hive mentality...

"It's all impossible until it's not. Then it's required. And here lies a serious flaw in newsroom judgment...How many times have you heard of the news manager who saw blogs or some other feature on another site and insisted the next day the station's site have that feature? We follow, and we do it with ease. We are told something is 'Not Done,' so we don't do it. Then, once it's 'Done,' we do it.

What's the problem with this? It doesn't take experimentation into account. In this binary language, we don't have the luxury of 'Not Done, But Try It Out.' We don't get the message that something is 'Done, But May Not Be Right For Us.'

The media revinvention (sic) requires the reinvention of this code. We have to experiment and be there first."

Bravos, Steve! Spot-on. Read Steve's entire post here.

Charming and delightful: Little Tommy's video intro used at the NAB Radio Hall of Fame induction of Superjock, Ol Uncle Lar here. My thanks to radio programming ace John Rook for the tip. Kudos to all involved.

Off the charts, still in our hearts: Legendary radio star Big Ron O'Brien passes. Dan Kelley remembers and links here.

Mileage may vary: The first tribe of wireless has had a problem with successfully telling its own story since those FM with pictures guys crashed the party. The latest initiative to tackle this creative self-promotion challenge is Radio 2020 a collaboration involving NAB, RAB and the HD Radio Alliance. Predictably, the early reviews are mixed. My friend Kurt Hanson thinks the campaign is misguided. Kurt's post w/comments here. Rather than opine on the creative I'll stand on the critical need for transparency (related post here). Until we get serious and start keeping score this new initiative will remain another brawl without rules. It's fighting about whether a tune is a hit or not after an out of the box first listen, making a final call without benefit of time, research or charts. About as much sense as arguing about how successful a station is without Arbitron and Miller-Kaplan. Keeping this thing at a purely subjective level is just not lucky, playing smash or trash here is less than smart. My thought is that's the last thing we need. Could we please get some adult supervision into the mix. Disclosure, transparency, and serious industry conversation/collaboration are the right things to do. I remain optimistic; you gotta start somewhere and they do deserve kudos (they are not yet getting) for blogging here (George Williams) and here (Doug Zanger). Blog on guys! Related: Branding ace Kelly O'Keefe blogs here. Closed circuit to Debbie Durben - would you please link to the campaign from your domain. A confused buyer, planner, CMO, writer (insert decision maker/thought leader/key influencer here) we don't need. Fix this on the landing page? Help, SEO issues here.

Bonus: Who's Your City. Good stuff. Kudos and thanks to Richard Florida and team. Make sure you check out maps and best cities.

Tonight's hot ticket in Chicago is free: The Second City hosts a chat about bigger than life icon, the great Del Close. In celebration of the new Kim "Howard" Johnson book about Del. Event info. Book info via Amazon.

Congrats & cheers: Carrier, Icon, WETA & PBS. "Life, liberty and the pursuit of all who threaten it." An American Family revisited. This round starring a serious boat, water, warbirds and the US Navy Family. Radio star Alan Kabel in the air with the new syndi offering, 2nd Shift via Entercom. Winter winners, WBLS, #1 25-54 in the city, Z100 leads 18-34, 1010 WINS w/ Lee Harris takes morning drive 12+. OMD on getting Intel inside. John Gallagher, prexy and general manager of WLS radio steps down after leading the charge for three years, stay tuned.

Who do you trust? Data and chart courtesy of Forrester. Click on chart to enlarge. My thanks to Josh Bernoff for sharing.