What Is Your UMAMI?

Sweet, salty, bitter, sour, UMAMI.

Umami is our fifth sense of taste.  "Savory" is how we normal people describe it.  The word derives from Japanese for "delicious taste" ... and I can't think of any better way to describe it than it's direct denotation.

I was enlightened after a dinner with some friends at Umami Burger, the LA phenomenon that has extended to the melting pot of the east coast in New York City.  My "truffle burger" was simple - a grass-fed conglomeration of top beef with truffle cheese and truffle glaze.  After my first bite, I felt like I achieved the peak of Maslow's Hierarchy, self-actualization.

APPLICATION:

Take the essence of Umami into your everyday life.  There are activities, responsibilities, roadblocks, and triumphs that can be salty or bitter or sweet or sour.  The savory ones combine only the best of the other four.

I dare you to find your personal UMAMI.  The one thing that scares you, but is exciting and comforting at the same time.  It coats your soul with a glaze of self-empowerment and confidence, and that's when you know you are YOU.

I read all of your comments: rgold29@gmail.com

Written by, Rob Gold, (c) 2013

Twitter's IPO - The Trifecta Is Complete

Social media makes the world public.  Next to Facebook and LinkedIn, the trifecta will be complete as TWITTER is going public. Seriously and ironically see below:

With an impending IPO and a recent self-valuation of nearly $13 billion, the company has staunch goals.  That includes raising a whopping $1 billion at the point of opening stock sales.  For example, when Facebook made a public debut, the stock immediately plummeted after in the first three months.  Facebook also had 845 million active users at the time while Twitter has a much lesser 215 million.

But hey, that's nothing to sneeze at since these users engage in over 500,000 posts per day.  And a lot can be said in a 140-character post.  As we've seen, there is power in numbers.  News breaks over Twitter, fans fervently follow artists and celebrities, and marketers and brands connect organically to their consumers.

There have been talks and rumors about Twitter creating more value for it's database by bridging the B2C (Business to Consumer) because that is nowhere near perfect yet.  However, foresight may provide venture capitalists (such as yourself) to buy-in to an ultimately lucrative future concept.

Ultimately, TWTR needs to now accrue new users on a consistent and growing basis instead of at a stagnating rate.  One other thing is for certain: they need to get their advertising monetization up to speed with their goals, or they'll fall flat like Facebook.

So... is it worth investing?

Your comments are always welcome.  

And does anyone remember this??

Nothing says "Crash" faster than a host of sparrows trying to fly a whale like James and the Giant Peach.  Just saying.  Less of this means more of this....$$$.

I read all of your comments: rgold29@gmail.com

Written by, Rob Gold, (c) 2013

TV + Film = Tilm? Filevision?

Kevin Spacey on the future of Visual Media

The Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival 2013: MacTaggart Lecture

It all boils down to content.  Two-time Academy Award-winner Kevin Spacey grabbed everyone's attention at last week's iTV festival in Edinburgh when he proclaimed that based on our current in-home/multi-screen TV and film viewing habits that they may soon be categorized as one format.  And ironically, he got our attention across the pond as we watched on our smartphones, computers, tablets, and the like.

Kevin Spacey lectures on TV's future at the iTV Festitval

In its bare essence, both TV and film are rich audiovisual depictions of stories.  But television and film are still widely-viewed as completely separate media types as they always have been.  You can blame that on their respective distribution models:

Film: festivals/theatrical release, DVD/Video On Demand (VOD), and alt. methods (in-flight) etc.

TV: network/cable/satellite distribution, possible syndication, DVD box sets

so... STREAMING.

I'm obsessed.  You're hooked.  Your Great Gam-Gam can't quit this sh*t.  The constant availability of streaming gives viewers CHOICE (as Spacey states, "[It's what the viewer wants]").  But doesn't it also grant us, "the viewers," NEARLY-UNLIMITED access to that CONTENT that we so desperately crave?  BOOM.

Our viewing patterns have changed.  When you started House of Cards, Arrested Development, or Orange is the New Black and didn't get up until it was all over... Spacey describes that as "binge-watching."  We're all guilty, but it's no crime ladies and gentlemen.  It's the future of TV consumption, and the future is NOW.

The existing model's differentiation between film and TV is also largely due to industry sales practices: they are two separate "industries," and sales patterns between content creators and distributors (a la studios or networks) are clearly delineated.

So will these so overly empathetic industry movers-and-shakers side with their unwavering viewers, those who constantly consume and comment on their content?  Or will it take a similar music industry meltdown for them to keep up with the consumption Joneses?  It seems that threat has passed (just look at Netfilx's stock price increase from a year ago).

Word is that Netflix is doing it right.  They listened to their customers, and answered appropriately.  I love my Netflix, maybe too much.  However, with so many options and rich quality productions, it is safe to say that it is a healthy addiction.

So doesn't this all categorize a fantastic narrative TV show like Breaking Bad just one really long film? I'd argue so, just with evenly-spaced and convenient bathroom breaks.  Hey the Golden Globes already combine the formats into one awards night.  So when do webseries get a piece of the pie?!?

Says Spacey, "It's all content. It's all story."

Jesse Pinkman and Walter White on AMC's Breaking Bad

Check out the full speech in this link to the official video

I read all of your comments: rgold29@gmail.com
Written by, Rob Gold, (c) 2013