Real estate on social media.

Something to really think about. How is our local market evolving with the advent of social media? We know that some property portals have been advertising pretty aggressively lately. How can marketers prepare themselves to be ready for the real estate shopper via social media? How important is it for sales advisors to be on social media? How does that change conventional sales pitch and CRM? How does that change the personalization and believability of these sales advisors? How does that change the brand they represent?

Click the image to enlarge

Via: Fixr
This may be foreign stats, but extrapolate it for local market. Something to really think about.

The new horror story and the next level of architectural mapping.

We thought we had enough of building mapping projections, until this comes along and challenges the newly instate status quo.

PERSPECTIVE LYRIQUE from 1024 on Vimeo.

What would new horror stories look like? So much possibilities!

Sparks for Social Economy.

I promise you, the web will change all things capitalism. It will not be overnight, but there will be a tipping point.

"I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate (the) grave evils (of capitalism), namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow-men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society." - Albert Einstein, Why Socialism?, 1949

Yes, you do have a point Albert. It's 2011. We shall see :)

Books: Matsushita Leadership by John P. Kotter.

The last book I read which really made me reflect upon my own management skills and life goals was 'The Honda Myth' by Masaaki Sato. See, there's something about Japanese management (or related) books that implore you to reflect. At least, working in a Japanese environment has taught me that it is not uncommon for the culture to do so especially when something goes awry.

I used to think that Soichiro Honda was one of the most revered person in Japan and it was not just because he built cars. The man built dreams. But Kotter has given me another perspective of what it means to be admirable. In words, actions and thoughts, Konosuke Matsushita is no stranger to this group of islands from Far East.

Born in a comfortable environment, Matsushita went through hell (literally) when his family fell apart before he even reached his teenage years. In a family of 10, he was the last surviving one in his tender years. He had nothing but a savings of a hundred yen. And he created what today we would call, a start up. No one could have guessed that a global electronics giant called Panasonic was once upon a time, an entrepreneurial dream of a boy who literally gained his riches from rags.

Soichiro Honda taught us the challenging spirit - to trudge on, no matter how difficult the task is. Konosuke Matsushita propagated the same. The difference is, Honda probably had equal parts of ups and downs but Matsushita was most of the time, nose-diving to the bottom. Of course, the phoenix always rises from the ash, he overcame most of the challenges as what we witness the state of Panasonic today. But what was immortal was his spirit. His relentless spirit in his belief of humanity and that everything he does, encapsulates that belief. He built a company to serve society, so that everyone could prosper. So that customers could afford electrical goods to have a more comfortable life, so that his employees when trained to produce efficiently could afford more time to enjoy their prosperity. Such noble cause. Such humble spirit.

I'm not sure how much of that philosophy is translated into Panasonic's global working culture today. I certainly hope that that spirit itself has been immortalized even though Konosuke Matsushita is long gone. Here's a poem that the man himself took fancy and it kind of reminded me of some conversations between friends and associates. My peers were worried about hitting the big age 30. Why big age? I have no idea. 30 to me is where the fun starts because one is now in a position to put in use what one has learned for the past 8 working years and in the words of Matsushita, prosper. But they were worried because it's a sign of old age. If 30 was old, then what about 40? And what on earth would we do when we hit 60? Retire from life!? Then what happens to the rest of our lives? Why in our youth, we're so resigned and hurried to grow old? So to everyone who feels that way... here's Matsushita's favourite poem for you:

***

Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind, it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means the temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust. Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what's next, and the joy of the game of living.

In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young. When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty. But as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.

***

Cheers to you. To a life of infinite learning.

p/s: Sorry you can't borrow this from Sparks because it belongs to Dentsu :)

Something about old skool type of rendering animation ;)

That just steals the attention. Ironically named The Illusionist.

Yes, I would like to watch this :)

The true position of leadership.

"Any person in a position of responsibility should always pay close attention to the problems that are crucial in bringing a certain task... to completion. Examining them in a free or creative frame of mind, he will be able to find a workable answer. At the same time, it is also necessary to approach a project with the conviction that it can be done, and not to waste energy worrying about its difficulty. Truly able people do not let the difficulties get the better of them. This is one of the things that a person in a position of leadership should keep in mind" - Konosuke Matsushita.

Amen, sir!

Let Google be my travel guide.

So, I'm gonna do a bit of different travelling this time. I'm gonna let Google decide where I should sleep, eat and play. So the destination's confirmed. Langkawi ;)

So where about in Langkawi? Obviously the first step is to Google the word 'Langkawi'. And then, I'll pick the best ranked (option to pick sponsored links) from the top navigation bar like the ones in Google's page:

So what does Google, my handy travel friend suggest?

Search web: Learn about Langkawi from http://cgi.members.interq.or.jp/blue/marino/

Kinda strange that a Japanese page will turn up in my search results. No idea why. But anyway, from the site it beckons us to the top 5 things that we should be doing in Langkawi, which are going up the cable car (been there, done that, not too long ago so don't think wanna do that again), going to the Eagle Square (a giant concrete Eagle... hmm...), going to the night market, going to the Underwater World and going to the Langkawi Legend Park (?).

So after much researching, Google has decided that we should:

1) Go to the night market on Friday at Air Hangat

2) Visit the Underwater World which is supposedly Malaysia's largest aquarium with over 5,000 varieties of marine species. Since I'll be working very closely with WWF this year, I really should equip myself with more knowledge

3) Langkawi Lagenda Park which is supposedly right next to the lifeless Eagle, the place to truly be enlightened on Langkawi's legends and myths. I was having a conversation with a friend the other day and I'm hard-pressed to acknowledge Langkawi's unfounded myths as part of our official history. I'm pretty sure I've read about Mahsuri in our history books in school, or did I get that wrong?

Search image: Sleep at the Four Seasons Langkawi (whoa! But dang, that does look tantalizing...)

Done. 'Nuff said. With a place like that, you don't need to go anywhere. Next.

Search video: The beach, the beach, the beach. Spend a lot a lot a lot of time on the beach ;)

Search maps: Watch sunset in Langkawi (and a whole lot of other stuff) as recommended by ChrisJBrunger from YouTube

Oh yeah baby :)

Search news: Le Tour de Langkawi 2011

Too bad we've missed it because the annual bike race will be kicking off tomorrow. So perhaps next time.

Search shopping: Buy a piece of Tanjung Rhu for home

Wow, it's actually for sale in Amazon. I didn't know we could possibly do that. Take really awesome photos of our country, photoshop it a little and introduce it to the world. This 48x72 Tanjung Rhu costs about $124.99 which is approximately RM382.47. I could spend the same amount on an air ticket to see the real thing. At least from where I am now ;)

Search blog: Langkawi is a place with throngs of Japanese and it's nice to see someone trying really hard to practice his English ;) (to buy beer, that is... he he he)

So I commented > 英語を話しますがんばってください。あきらめないでね！

Which really means, [don't give up in speaking English] in REALLY bad Japanese.

Search real-time: I have to stop Google from returning me with all these Japanese feedback! Anyone has any idea to switch it back to English!?

From the above, Twitter Shohei_Ishii says that he's begun his exciting [journey] in Langkawi an hour ago. Brackets mine for contextualizing. Wish he said what he was excited about though... And most of the tweets are either about Japanese getting very excited about/in Langkawi OR about the kickoff race of Le Tour de Langkawi tomorrow. So next search...

Search photos: Jason Chan has got some really nice shots of marine life so I'm assuming the Underwater World should be a good place to go to (okay, now I'm a bit more convinced).

I wanted to comment on his photos, it's nice to be supportive when someone's done a good job but I hate it when Picasa wants me to sign up. Hey, get on with the programme of universal connectivity! Which is Facebook!

Search groups: Langkawi Club Eco Tour which is... ran by a Japanese :P (sigh)

I can't believe that the Japanese are more entrepreneurial than locals. They offer many nature and eco activities for kids and adults but it's quite expensive, RM220 per head (adult). But I'm sure it's good. Japanese quality is always good ;) I think this will be a good back up plan in case we get too bored over the weekend.

And there ladies and gentlemen, we're done searching for today. There. I really don't need to invest in another yellowpages-sized Lonely Planet to go travelling after all. It's amazing what the web can open our eyes to. Seeing the same thing but from a different perspective altogether and in the process, minus the risk because you know it's from someone real who had been there, done that. Good job ;)

Looks like we've got loads of plans now and they're all pretty much user directed. Come the traveling day, we'll see how far off reality is from expectation :)

Up, up and away!