We had an amazing day on campus Thursday, and I will detail some nuanced takeaways in a few days...27 speakers, just under 600 attendees, nine hours of amazing content on everything from the NHL to Amazon, the NCAA, sports fashion and pop culture, the business of tennis and the disruptive growth of golf, sports finance and The World Cup…but in observing and talking to some of our students I noticed something that sometimes gets lost, but we have mentioned before.
In addition to having everything like the day’s schedule online, we had printed cards, some with both sides, some you could use as a note pad if needed, so that you could follow along. I had heard someone call them “old school,’ and then several students went out of their way to remark how valuable they were. The printed skeds kept them off their phones, helped when the wifi would go in and out, and gave them the opportunity to write some things down when their laptops (which we by the way don‘;‘t allow in class) were put away in a very crowded auditorium.
It gave people a simple, affordable choice on how to follow and absorb, not unlike the choice in many restaurants for people who want a hard copy of a menu vs scrolling on their phones. It’s not quaint, it’s a simple option which is useful in a world where we are running for a mobile device every five seconds.
Tangible media.
It is a valuable phrase that one of our students, RJ Kranz, talked about in class last year. (listen to RJ’s story here on out podcast) when he framed an ideas that made sense.
Now I consume “media” in every way.
I get A LOT of newsletters I scroll through on various topics each day, in the morning and at night. I bookmark what I see as interesting or noteworthy…actually I cut and paste the links, hopefully not all paywalled…into a file so I can go through within 48 hours. I also go through X and Facebook and see what’s trending from people I trust, all of which is helpful to save time and cut through a lot of the nonsense out there.
But I still need, and I see more and more younger people using devices like tablets, or printing things out…we had a student ask if “two sided”…using both sides of a piece of paper… writing was allowed how old school is that!…because it provides an easier way for me to bookmark, share and revisit things my crowded brain just forgets. I can literally hold a thought, or a phrase better, if it’s away from my device.
For me it also means for long form stories literally printing them out so I can touch and feel them and refer back while not relying on a device. It means a pile of books, newspapers, magazines and the like that I have next to my desk to go through (here is a picture of President Andrew Jackson’s office and his pile of tangible media I noticed at The Hermitage outside of Nashville during a September visit last year) and revisit and clip and write on.
It means that going through the great profiles of the Time 100 online was nice, but buying the copy of the magazine that I can touch, and look at and follow-up with is even more important. I scroll and I lose thoughts. It also means I can figure out what’s paywalled and why, and find ways to share pieces that others may have missed. I read The Athletic and some of the great stories and I lose the moment because more emails come in. I PRINT a story from The Ringer or Wall St. Journal or the Washington Post, and I have the ability to fully digest the meal and assimilate it out.
Now that doesn’t mean that things online have less value to me, or that videos and spoken word are less in my word of a curious listener. It just means I consume in a way that is unforced and works for me. Maybe you can call it old school, but its not. I was told even this morning that some legacy magazines are INCREASING print runs because they are finding that consumers…of ALL ages…have screen fatigue.
You have to find the balance…and it was refreshing and interesting to hear and learn that some of our students…RJ wasn’t alone…actually are learning to consume more away from their device just like we did in the old days.
Tangible…tactile…flipping the page. Maybe not so old…amazing how things come around, or how you can combine thinking and absorbing into the style that works.
Just ask RJ….maybe even President Jackson would have approved. The printed schedule worked, and not just for the older folks. Holding on to value…literally.
Texting, Letterwriting And A Teachable Moment…