I know I'm supposed to write about CRM, customer engagement and customer experience and that's what you expect from me. And far be it from me to fall below your expectations. But, if you know me, one of my major themes for the last two or so years around engagement and experience has been not just personalization, but humanization – which translates broadly and very roughly into empathy and the need to be empathetic as a business and as individuals. It also has been themed around communicating that empathy with your customers, your employees, your friends, your family, even absolute strangers. It should be part of your soul, and in a different way at the heart of whatever institutions you are involved with.
Thus, for the last now month, I've been doing the "Let us not forget hopeful news" a.k.a. the acronym-awkward LUNFHN (Lunfin?). The purpose was to separate the good, the warm, the hopeful news signals from the non-stop litany/noise of the sensationalism of the media premised on their head-scratching decision to double down the old saw "if it bleeds, it leads." I have a degree in journalism and a major in English from Northwestern and honestly, I am ashamed of the way that the press makes sure that all the horrors are evident all the time and when you watch the broadcast media, you see them going into excruciating detail of the worst of the worst. For many it becomes suffocating and even traumatic as they see what they believe is a never-ending horror. To punctuate this, the media makes a point of interviewing grieving people who have lost a loved one to COVID-19 and make sure they ask questions that make the heartbroken person relive what they just saw and felt so that the media can push the point home. All in the name of realism and news. So, what you get if you watch the news is an overwhelming, suffocating feeling of both horror and uncertainty and at minimum a nasty headache.
I say otherwise.
If human history means anything, you find always that we manage to get past these crises and once we do, we've learned something that at best ends the crisis and prevents future similar ones, or at worst gets it under control in a way that allows us to continue on with our lives – even as changed as they may be. We are often better as a result of the worse. World War II was an uncertain horror of a different kind. But we ended up with a prosperity that led us to the generation of the greatest wealth in human history – and to the benefit of a larger part of the population than had previously been imagined, though of course, there were struggles along the way.
But what has been phenomenal as we approach May -- the third full month of this pandemic -- is that the human spirit is not only not lost, it is flourishing. The level of creativity, the transformation of norms and changes in memes and weathering storms (note the poetic turn there) has been just inspirational. It is amazing what people can do on their own, with their families and friends, or professional colleagues when physically unable to communicate but virtually in communication all the time. Also, its genuinely astonishing how many beautiful voices are out there singing to and for all of us – and themselves of course. Just as amazing is that we have the technological infrastructure to allow a massive increase in volume and velocity of digital communications that, while it might be stretching the system, isn't breaking it – allowing us to continue to connect. And equally as impressive is the imagination of people and the creativity and humor they manage to bring to themselves, their families and the world in the midst of crisis. And despite all the dire warnings of the length of time it will take to arrive at a safe enough vaccine and to develop the treatment to help resolve the illness and to end this pandemic even if it doesn't eliminate the virus,the level of global cooperation is unprecedented with scientists/medical professionals working together around the globeto come up with an answer. The results of ongoing and just starting, efforts?In record time, we've begun human and animal trials.
Hopefully, this is a source for you of some positive but real information, news and entertainment. I spent hours auditioning the videos to come up with the best of the best that I find each week. I spend hours and hours finding what can be random but always interesting and useful (I hope) posts and articles and videos on things that might do anything from keep your hygiene at human levels to entertain you – but all of this is to remind you of both the resiliency, creativity and general goodness that characterizes our species and that manifests even more powerfully during crises like the current one.
So, event though we are in a pandemic….enjoy.
These are some of the most creative things I've ever seen - virus or not - the level of parody, production and great singing voices arenonpareil.(I've inserted the link to the definition because I know you don't want to bother to look it up but you're not sure I'm using it right).
Zach Timson seems to be a really talented parodist and his lyrics are exceptionally clever – leading to Corona cover medleys of Broadway tunes. And he has a decent Broadway-ish voice too! Here is his Broadway Corona Medley recorded 3/21/2020. The reason I mention the date- he makes a point of saying, updated info please wear masks.
This comes from a very talented someone who calls himself "The Kiffness." Not sure where that comes from, but the guy not only writes funny parodies but also does spot-on imitations of the artists singing the songs he parodies. This was my favorite though spoiler alert and warning, it's a politicized one. It's called "Crappy" parodying of course, Pharrell's "Happy."
Once again, my favorite Corona Cover artiste (yes, artiste) Chris Mann, has an original from his album on what a date night looks like under quarantine. His wife is in this and she's pretty good too. Called "Old Fashioned."
Broadway wins again in this one. This is the official London Theatre Company Quarantine Zoom Production of the Mamma Mia theme song. The sheer fun they have singing it is worth it alone. Just great!!
There's no competition with this guy with his funny, sweet, empathetic, brilliant show and audience connection. So, from, now on he is hall of fame and will be featured in each of these LUNFHN posts I do. In this one, John realized that no one was going to the prom this year so he staged a prom with the Jonas Brothers among others and lots of shots of kids dressed to the prom eights (hey, the nines dressing comes when you are older) dancing to the music. Kind of touching to see these high-schoolers dressed up and smiling as they danced to an audience of millions on the internet – and music that, most likely, they wouldn't have heard at their actual proms.
If you are interested in joining the hit event The CRM Playaz Present: Playaz Place Bar and Not Grill Happy Hour any time in the next 38 weeks,here is a link to register. Warning: We are sold out (don't worry its a free ticket) for April 29 and now May 6. There is some availability for the rest of the month of May but we are getting daily registrations. We do have other weeks available, so feel free to sign up for them. Or put yourself on the Waitlist for an already sold out Happy Hour. If you are interested, the Happy Hour is 3:30pm ET every Wednesday. Bring a glass of a drinkable liquid with you. You will be asked about it.
We will be announcing some super cool stuff throughout the Happy Hour (called, by some of the attendees, the Magic Hour), though for those of you who are willing to date themselves, I'm not a big fan of that, because if you do remember, Magic Johnson had a TV show called the Magic Hour that lasted all of six episodes and was the only thing that I think he ever failed at. Thus, the Happy Hour it stays. Come join us. All are welcome.
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