Murs Allison Influencer Reflection

The presentation Murs Allison gave on himself was comical, uncomfortable and somehow devoid of substance that I could apply to my creative process or research methods. Through the duration of his presentation to us, Murs Allison gave conflicting descriptions of his Identity, motivations, and values he holds in his personal life. While he did break down some of the technical aspects of his job most of his presentation came off as a pitch, built on the back of a sob story for us to follow him on his internet celebrity journey. I think our time would have been better spent with a social media management or PR representative. I would have much rather spent time listening to how internet media is quantified, and what the different qualities of a business profile vs a personal one look like from behind the screen.

I can remember a time in his presentation when he described that his friends began to not like who he was becoming, I found a lot of interest in how he narrated the situation. While I cannot know the type of relationships Murs carries I have made the assumption that he is not a great listener. He described his friends as jealous and upset with his new lifestyle, material possessions, and that their lack of understanding for his passion to be famous lead to his disconnection from them. At no point in that statement did Murs take responsibility for any part of his loss of friends. I think that becoming so involved in himself Murs has lost the ability to take a step back and listen to the people around him and himself off the Internet. It was uncomfortable watching someone who I did not perceive to know themselves pitch me on a brand built around their identity. I would not attend a similar lecture again.

IFP Visit

The IFP media center in DUMBO was a great visit but I do not think I will be returning anytime soon. While certain parts of this visit were great there were other things about it that were not. IFP is a coworking office, it is supposed to inspire collaboration and be comfortable while maintaining innovation. The approach that IFP took to their workspace, while built on these ideals did not reflect them. The first thing I noticed about the space was how bland and uninteresting it was, everything except a few beanbags lacked color and texture, all the desks were uniform, and cables cluttered the workspaces. Nothing about the space was particularly engaging or stood out from the rest of what surrounded it, it maintained the homogeneity of a traditional office space. In addition the place was mostly empty, and while I understand that people were working nobody seemed to be having a good time. For a coworking space I think there is better out there, IFP is a great workspace but I do not think it could live up to is coworking ideals.

The parts of the trip that was particularly enjoyable though were the walkthrough their library and the podcast presentation by Marlon Peterson on his Decarcerated podcast. The collaborative library at IFP was the most intriguing book organizing I have seen, I would go back purely to read the collections they have put together. I also enjoy that the library works off a trust system that you will bring the books back. It would be interesting to see this collaborative library at the new school. As for the Decarcerated podcast I have listened to a couple episodes and it is one of my new favorite podcasts.