The Power of Visual Communication

Have you ever had to sit through a boring presentation at your job or community meetings? well, who has not? Are you bored of and lately have become completely disinterested in threat of global warming? If answer to both of these question is yes, then take a look on this site -

http://www.storyofstuff.com/ And play the video on the home page.

See the power of visuals, see the impact of statistics if related well to the audience. Its simply amazing. Basically its one more desperate plea to all of us to start behaving responsibly towards our planet. Though the message will hit you hard seeing the video, here are some startling numbers:
1. Out of the world's top 100 economies, 51 are corporate houses. So we live in a world of consumers and not responsible citizens and governments are not really governing, they are being driven by the corporate world.

2. The US, consumes 30% of the world's resources with 4% population of the world. If this is how everyone in the world consumes, we will need 4 or 5 planets !!

3. Whatever US consumer buys, do you know how much of that is trashed with in 6 months ? 99% !! ( The data is available for US only, that doesn't mean rest of us are not culprits)

4. Amazon is loosing 2000 trees per minute !!

5. Corporates are driving our consumption behaviour using 2 types of obsolescence:

Planned Obsolescence - So that your existing product can not be upgraded to match with the enhanced product. e.g. a computer might have only handful of better components, but there is not just any way to replace those components in your existing computer and you are forced to buy a new one.

Perceived Obsolescence - Using adverts and other marketing hype, your existing products is made to look so out of time or fashion, that you are forced to buy another one which is 'in fashion'. e.g. would you still like to keep a Walkman instead of sleek ipod. I know you would say its so easy to carry one, but would you even like to carry a MP3 player which is smaller than ipod.? Or are you still using those bulky monitor on your desk? No? What was wrong with that?

Do watch the video on the link given above, probably your thinking would change for ever. I know its a tall claim, but please believe me.

This video also explains what visuals can do to your communication.

Networking sites as knowledge tool

Like so many others, I also have an account on linkedin but so far was wondering if its really worth spending time on. After all, adding countless people into your network is not going to do a great deal of good to you personally or professionally unless a networking site enables and even encourages frequent interaction with each other. e.g. I have few contacts in my list to whom I have not interacted ever since I added them into my network.

However, recently I have started using questions and answer sections a lot. For a professional site like Linkedin, I think this is the biggest USP. Have a look on the range of questions asked and answers given by people coming from different industry, culture, geographies. This is pure practical knowledge available at will to EACH member.
e.g. being someone from outsourcing industry, I had a look on the questions asked for this industry and I am amazed by not only the questions, which of course prompt you to think differently and widen your horizon, but also by the answers from a variety of people. And as you start participating in discussions, you will invariably have more people in your network and I think that's real power of networking sites like linkedin - not merely to add people to your network, but to encourage them interact on common issues.
So for me, the power of linkedin is not only networking possibilities, but its use as a knowledge tool or even a innovation tool due to shear range of thought process you get access to through it.