Author Archives: Steve
Autism: What the label means to me and my daughter
The autism label would be used less frequently, under a proposal by the American Psychiatric Association. I don’t know what this will mean for my daughter, but I do know what the label has meant. The doctor who told us that Kai was on the autism spectrum immediately wanted to know how that made us [...]
Inspiring words on MLK Day
I am inspired by quotes. My all-time favorite, Margaret Mead: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever does. Today, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the controversy over an out-of-context quote at his D.C. memorial allowed TV annd radio to replay one [...]
Speech of the devil: Words That Work
Imagine: I recommend reading a book by the guy who gave us “death tax,” “energy exploration” and the Contract with America. Frank Luntz helps Republicans choose words that resonate with Independents. I held my nose and bought his book, Words That Work, hoping to learn the devil’s secrets so I could twist them to good [...]
Do you want to read my book, a chapter at a time?
Molly Barton, VP of digital publishing at Penguin Books, has me resurrecting my whacky idea to write the great American novel in serial form and in collaboration with readers. In a wiki. She writes in Mashable about crowd sourcing books online, giving undiscovered authors the opportunity to build audience and attract publishers. I don’t know [...]
Posted in media, storytelling theory Tagged crowdsourcing, Journalism, media, storytelling, wiki Leave a comment
Social networks: From campfires to Facebook
It’s alchemy: A group of people is greater than the sum of its parts. A hunting party keeps the tribe fed. A bucket brigade douses the barn fire. Thirteen colonies become mightier when they unite. An assembly line mass produces autos. A tech firm creates dazzling innovation. A Twitter community brings a despot down. What’s [...]
How about a Support Our Troops tax?
For the first time in our nation’s history, we went to war AND cut taxes. I propose a Support Our Troops Tax. Figure out the past, present and future costs of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and set a tax to pay the tab now instead of passing it on to our kids and [...]
My favorite signs from Rally for Sanity and/or Fear
I looked at all 300+ signs submitted to the Huffington Post (I couldn’t stop!). Here are my favorites. Tweet
Posted in Opinion, Visual storytelling Tagged health care, language, Opinion, President Obama, public opinion, racism, rhetoric, visual Leave a comment
Imagine all the people: Living life in health
Four conferences over two weeks … there’s so much swirling in my head that I could write a post for each of eight different topics. But tonight I landed on a central theme after watching the video of Regina Holliday describe the painting she created during the Health 2.0 conference in San Francisco. She captures [...]
Posted in Health movement, Marketing and PR, Visual storytelling Tagged change, communication, culture, health care, marketing, PR, public opinion, research, storytellimg, video, visual Leave a comment
“The Checklist Manifesto” has a hold on me