Cherry 

Best of the past week

Hey ! This week has gone in a flash, fairly busy with work as I've been wrapping up and getting ready to go on holidays. By the time this is sent I'll be flying to Arizona! I'm spending the next week at the White Stallion Ranch near Tucson and the Saguaro National Park. I'm adventuring in areas I don't usually: it's the first time ever I go on any kind of organised holiday (I usually travel independently, what do you think I am, some kind of sheep..? ^_^ ), going anywhere near cow-boys isn't the kind of thing I had in mind ever, I've never been on a horse and I've never been rock climbing.I'm really excited about it all!Moreover, I know I've been writing about the courses I've been doing lately; this is doubling up as one as well. It's apparently about body language and decisions made about physique - like I have a thing that I think I'm awkward and like uncoordinated, if I understand correctly I may well be looking at where that comes from and similar inquiries. It should be pretty fascinating.

 Sprinkles What's the GIF? 

Whipped Cream

In the news

I received my electronic absentee ballot to vote in the U.S. presidential elections!

Caramel Fudge

What's sticky in the communications industry?

You may have noticed this is a fairly short Sundae edition. As mentioned, I've been busy with a few new things at work - a few different exciting new business opportunities coming up that I can't talk about just yet unfortunately.In the meantime, I got started on a new internal initiative to keep researching emerging technology and consumer trends, exploring potential opportunities for brands and noticing interesting things people are getting up to. In the midst of this, I came across this article about how Buzzfeed's "Tasty" video channel is driving all of the popular publications' video marketing efforts. Food content has been popular for several years and now it's taking even more space on Facebook newsfeeds. I particularly enjoy the French food channel Chef Club, they are quickly mastering delicious and visually compelling short bits of food porn made to be shared far and wide on Facebook.In terms of advertising communications, I guess I'll connect with the following section about gaming with the announcement of Nintendo's new console: Switch. According to the launch marketing video it's the new console for mobile lives, adaptable to any size screen and any situation. Let's see if it catches on; I'm certainly intrigued.

Chocolate

What's going on in gaming?

My father sent me this great article about the ongoing success of the "Legacy" format of board games that started with Rick Legacy a few years ago. The principle is elegantly simple and pretty revolutionary at the same time: rather than a plan board you play on over and over again, the board game is played as a seasonal arc, like a TV show. Each game played has consequences, game elements are unveiled, cards destroyed, the board changes permanently with every game played. Typically the game is meant to be played over the course of say 10 game sessions, more like a movie or a TV series, it's an experience.I haven't had the chance to play any of those but I'd really like to. I've completely been leaving my gaming to the side for months now, I really need to make an effort to get back into it... I might have mentioned I've just received Joking Hazard, I'm taking it with me to Arizona. I also received behavioural economist Dan Ariely's Irrational card game that I'd backed on Kickstarter and I'm looking forward to trying it as well.

Vanilla

What else is interesting this week?

I came across this cool video of a group of researchers in Turkey who created a real live Transformer car!And in more serious reads, this is from last years though was recently updated and shared around - I can't remember where I got it unfortunately. As a man, this is a fascinating kind of sad and yet important read about all the little (and not so little) things women put up with and how much they're not listened to:"The Thing All Women Do That You Don't Know About."It's interesting how this also came at a moment I've been realising in past month or two how much I tend to blurt stupid comments meant to be jokes of off hand comments without paying attention how they land for people and this has happened with women in particular where I say those things that can be upsetting or offensive without realising at all (like making a disparaging comment about something a friend really loves and hadn't realised it had upset her - I apologised afterwards).I'm paying more attention to the way my comments are landing with people listening now. If you hear me say something you don't like, please make sure you tell meI think that's about it for this week, I'll go on and finish packing for tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and please share with a friend if you've liked reading the newsletter!Yee haw!Willem