Dip Central

If you bring a great dip to a party but secretly hope no one eats so that you get to take it all home…how do you ensure your dip goes mostly undipped?

All you need to do is set it a few feet away from the other dips.

When people get a chip they go where the dips are. They go to dip central. Once they arrive at dip central that is where they’re going to spend their time. No need to venture out into the fruits, past the meats, over the vegetables and expect there’s going to be more dips (but that’s where you’ve sneakily placed yours). No. Dip central is where the dips are. If it’s not there it’s not getting much action.

And just like that, you get to go home with your pan of beloved bean dip.

Conversely…

The best way to get dipped, to get discovered, to make a big impression, to be a hit dip might be to be around the other dips but just be a better dip.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

First Time Buyers

There’s certain language you use to sell your wares to someone who has never bought.

And there’s different language used to sell your wares to someone who has bought before.

Similarly…

There’s a difference between getting asked and getting asked back.

You might get in the door the first time by promising the moon and getting someone to believe you. But unless you actually come through with the moon, the next time around is going to be an entirely different, difficult conversation.

On the other hand…

If you find a way to get that first chance and you deliver on all fronts…the second time around is a lot easier.

We find a great amount of security when someone approaches us with ‘look what I did’ as oppose to ‘give me a chance’.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

When To Push

Push when you need to push.

Push when the urgent and important get combined and get cranked up because you need to come through on your promise.

But what’s more important than the push is the vision. The vision is why everyone on the team is willing to push with a good attitude…and happy to push again next time.

Paying people time and a half isn’t vision. Working overtime doesn’t necessarily mean pushing.

And when there’s a shared vision, the need to push is often not a surprise. Everyone can see it coming. Everyone knows the plan, the promises made, the deadline dates, the expected quality…so there’s no surprise announcement, ‘we need everyone to stay late tonight’.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

More Money

What would more money do for your project?

How would it make what you do better?

Would you know how to spend it in a way that it wouldn’t run out…or if it did you’d still be glad you spent it how you did?

These questions are better answered before you get the money.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

The Perfect Venue

It felt right to have that Super Bowl halftime performance in L.A.

I don’t think it would have felt the same if it would have been in, say…Cincinatti.

But it’s always interesting to watch a music performance that has jumped through as many hoops as a Super Bowl performance. Can’t imagine the number of people giving input into that show. Creative, logistical, legal, ethical, financial all to the max. Truly entertainment by committee.

And it worked. The transitions were good (which is super tricky with that many different artists), the flow of songs was good and the production overall was tasteful and not distracting…And for the most part they played the hits. Hits are key. When we’re at a (Super Bowl) party we want to hear songs we know.

The other tip of the hat to this show was that they had to do it with the lights on…a bright sunny west coast evening. It’s a lot easier to direct attention when you can use spotlights.

More than anything, the performance made sense to me. Dre and Snoop & Co playing a big gig in L.A. The show matched the venue.

Playing the Super Bowl isn’t the most important gig anymore but it’s still the biggest.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple

Co-Writing and Writing

It’s really hard to keep high standards in a co-writing session. Everyone in the session knows there’s a limited amount of time to make a song happen and so there’s a slant toward agreeability…because if you work for an entire afternoon and come out with a mediocre song, it feels better than having no song at all in the name of ‘we were trying to find something great’.

In a co-writing session you’re not just sifting through ideas, you’re also juggling the attitudes and emotions and energy of the room. There’s (at least) two games at play. The game of the song and the game of the people writing the song.

ie...Someone seems checked out and despondent so you incorporate one of their crappy ideas just to make them feel better. It happens all the time.

On the other hand…When you’re writing by yourself the exploring is endless. You can keep molding your bad ideas until they get better and better. No rush. No pressure or impatient on-lookers. You go into the abyss alone and follow the bread crumbs.

You don’t care how long it takes because the only goal is to create something good…while the goal of many co-writing sessions is to get something good enough to act like you have something good. You are more patient with yourself when you’re by yourself. You’re not annoyed by your own tinkering. And the freedom to tinker is what it takes.

You don’t have to go it alone…but when you do, you get back to just you and your imagination…and there’s a lot of great stuff there.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple