History for modern times

Congratulations to The Wichita Eagle and writer Roy Wenzl for the latest acclaim for his series on Father Emil Kapaun, a Korean War hero from Kansas who could become just the third American-born Roman Catholic saint (left).

"The Miracle of Father Kapaun" has won a 2010 National Headliner Award for writing and reporting. The series, published in The Eagle in December 2009, has a considerable online presence — I found the historical photos and recording of Kapaun's voice especially moving. Add the first-rate video story produced by Eagle photojournalist Travis Heying — which was picked up and aired by the local PBS affiliate — and you have a great example of how newspapers are competing in today's tech-savvy media market.

Stop, focus and read

Long before it was called "multitasking," researchers have been looking at just how well people can do two things at once. An article in The Chronicle of Higher Education gives a fascinating — and for many folks, counterintuitive — update. More than 100 years ago, the Industrial Age saw young factory workers rolling cigars while listening to books, newspapers and political or religious tracts being read aloud; the Tech Age finds today's college student sending text-messages in class while listening to the lecture, watching a PowerPoint with imbedded videos, taking notes and googling facts in anticipation of the professor's questions.

The multimedia experience, conventional wisdom tells us, enhances learning as it "lights up" more parts of the brain, but now it appears that people may be merely buzzed by over stimulation.

"Heavy multitaskers are often extremely confident in their abilities," Clifford I. Nass, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, told The Chronicle. "But there's evidence that those people are actually worse at multitasking than most people."

Nass and colleagues published a study in 2009 revealing that people who described themselves as multitaskers performed much worse on tests of cognition and memory that involved distraction than their counterparts who said they preferred to focus on single tasks. And a newer, as-yet-unpublished study by Nass, et al., shows that people who give a lot of time over to media screens fare worse on analytic questions, too.

"One of the deepest questions in this field," Nass says, "is whether media multitasking is driven by a desire for new information or by an avoidance of existing information. Are people in these settings multitasking because the other media are alluring — that is, they're really dying to play Freecell or read Facebook or shop on eBay — or is it just an aversion to the task at hand?"

So glad you dropped by to read this post — hope it didn't distract you for too long from your other tasks!

Quote of the day

"Businesses today fall into three camps – the social 'denyer,' the accidental socialite, and the socially aware.

— Michael Fauscette, IDC

"Wichita" on video

Have you ever been watching a movie or TV show (or music video) and realized that you recognize the location? Maybe it's the 10,000th shot of Central Park featuring that little lake that you cruised past in a pedacab on your trip to New York City. Or a house with a lot of character near your old school. It gives you a little thrill, eh?

It's even better when the camera captures familiar images but gives them back to you in a way that opens your eyes. Lonny Quattlebaum and Wade Hampton, a couple of talented videographers and fellow Wichitans, took a quick nighttime tour through our hometown the other day and produced a startling little video. Thanks to the soundtrack by local musician Gooding, Wichita has never looked (or sounded) so space-age and gritty in the space of about two minutes. But that pretty much sums up the spectrum here!

WICHITA from Wade Hampton on Vimeo.

Creative video projects

I love working with videographers and editors because the time they spend with a new tool (camera, graphics software, etc.) is just one more reason to let their creativity run loose.

This "playing around" isn't wasted time — it's all about learning how to get the most from your resources. As a bonus, it usually produces something that's fun to watch, too!

Consider this "videoscrapbook page" from Wichita State University video/editing guy Rik Dubiel, who incorporates footage from a Cannon HV20, some fun music, nicely choreographed color effects, and one cute as a bug little boy exploring his back yard.

My Backyard 3 from Rik Dubiel on Vimeo.

Did you catch the basset hound wagging his tail to the beat? Nice work, Rik!

The 3 R's for the new economy

I'll be speaking at the Wichita Professional Communicators' March lunch meeting on a topic that's become hot in this chilly economy: Career reinvention.

I happily took on this task because I've built my work life on the principles of taking calculated risks, accepting creative challenges and other key factors that help keep life interesting and rewarding.

My presentation is called "Reinvent, Revitalize, Renew: The 3 R’s You Must Master Now," and here's the pitch: "As a professional communicator, you’re a whiz at readin’ and ’riting, and thanks to calculators, you can even handle ’rithmatic. But your old reliable skills may not be enough to help you ride out these rough economic times. Media consultant L. Kelly offers practical advice for rejuvenating your job skills — and your life — at the March 4 Wichita Professional Communicators luncheon meeting.

"L. Kelly spent 26 years with The Wichita Eagle, working a variety of jobs as a writer, editor and page designer in the news, features and opinion sections. After directing the paper’s coverage of the BTK investigation, she was project leader and co-author of the true crime book 'Bind, Torture, Kill: The Inside Story of the Serial Killer Next Door' (HarperCollins 2007). She is now a media consultant, TV producer and communications trainer with her own company, L. Kelly Media Services, and teaches at Wichita State University."

RSVP to Becky Funke by noon Monday, March 2, at bfunke@activeagingonline.com, call 942-5385, or reserve and prepay using WPC’s online PayPal account at www.wichitaprofessionalcommunicators.com.

DATE: Wednesday, March 4
TIME: 11:30 a.m. sharp-12:30 p.m.
PLACE: Larkspur, 904 E. Douglas
COST: Members $12, students $10, guests $15

Wake-up call

As I've noted here before, I'm a statistical junkie.

Not the memorize-the-back-of-a-baseball-card type, but let me log into the online Statistical Abstract of the United States, or the Department of Justice's research section on violent crime, or a well-executed attitude and opinion survey, and I'll be gone for hours. I'm a miner at heart, digging up little gems and following veins of information this way 'n' that, hoping to reach the mother lode of knowledge and insight. I'm constantly finding stuff while on my way to look up something else.

Today's treasure is a 2008 video that challenges viewers to consider the necessity of career reinvention — given global pressures and technological advances — in the Information Age.

The video asks: "So what does it all mean?"

It's a competitive world. Position yourself accordingly.

Fun with words

Pop art, poetry and technology merge in Wordle, an applet that allows users to create a "beautiful word cloud" from a blog, RSS feed or copyblock with one click.

Fun to do, but even more interesting to people watch: The gallery includes everything from love poems to a master's thesis.

Thanks for sharing

One of the perks of my work is making contact with so many smart, interesting and curious people. Invariably, they are a generous lot - happy to share what they know, and eager to learn from the people they encounter as well. So, to everyone I've talked/networked/Tweeted/e-mailed/blogged/and otherwise communicated with this week: Thanks. You're the reason I'm in a great mood today.

Loving work a little too much

Not that long ago, I didn't think of myself as a workaholic. I wasn't the sort who'd get up at 5 a.m. to hit the gym for a pre-power-breakfast workout or take a briefcase crammed with documents to the beach. But I loved my work more than anything. I'd put off lunch till 2, 3, 4 p.m., then go back and stay as long as I was needed - and there was always something else to do. It took a real toll on my health & my family. A lot has changed since then. I still work hard and I love what I do, but now I build a little down time into my day. I walk more, pace less. I'm out of the office and into life.