The Travel section of the New York Times April 22 asks “are travel agents back?”  After years of declining sales as consumers went online to find their own deals, agents are once again playing a relevant role in travel choices.  It appears that customers are turning back to human beings because of drawbacks on the Web.  There is just too much information and at the end of the day, consumers want a one-stop shop.  The Times points out that after years of losing ground to online sites, a new breed of tech savvy, specialized and collaborative agent has emerged.  Today consumers are doing their research online and then coming to agents to narrow the search.

Don’t break out the champagne just yet.  Web 3.0 is just around the corner.   According to Travis Katz, founder and CEO of Gogobot, it is impossible to name, for example, the single best hotel in Cabo San Lucas.  “It depends very much on who is asking the queston.”  And that reality is about to change the world as we know it.

Web 3.0 promises to filter the information overload and personalize it so that, if you search, as I did recently, for a Paris hotel, you won’t pull up a list of 1,ooo hotels.  Rather you are going to see a short list of half a dozen that reflect the kinds of places you and your friends have chosen before. And this isn’t something that is just germane to travel — it is going to make sense for marketers in almost every sector.  For those of us in public relations, this is a gamechanger.  Web 3.0 will be capable of reading and understanding content and context and filtering the information for specific, individual interests.  This means that when we are creating content for our brands, we will have to define the context that links tht content to our audience.  And we are going to have to get very creative at ”social design.”

With consumers bypassing media hubs to see what their friends like and recommend, online media releases will have to be more content rich and content specific than ever before. Brands must be relevant to situations and settings.   To get the right message at the right time to the right person — on the right device – we will need the full arsenal of content including intriguing data, video clips, tags, links, rss feeds and podcasts to name a few.  And we are going to have to get our clients comfortable with the idea that we can release rather than push assest into social networks in order to enhance the virtual experience. Nothing we can’t handle, and the team here at Jesson is about to push “refresh” on our content delivery systems.  Watch for it.

With one of our most important clients — William Grant & Sons, the legendary distillery – based in Scotland, I take great interest in all things Scottish. Thus it was that my attention was piqued by a story that appeared a couple of years ago about the wild Soay sheep that occupy Hirta Island in the St. Kilda archipelago beyond the outer Hebrides.  Apparently over the past 20 years biologists have been paying a whole lot of attention to these handsome critters.  In doing so they have noticed that the sheep are getting smaller.   Biologists determined that some over-riding evolutionary factor must be at work since generally the larger the animal, the better his chances of surviving the island’s extremely cold winters.

It came to mind again on the weekend when I was talking to a cousin in the UK.  I was blustering on about how disgusted I am by our government which is determined to relax environmental vigilence in this country in the face of the insurmountable evidence of climate change.  Seems my cousin, who is also, by the way, a member of the Richard III Society – is a non-believer.  According to him, perceived climate change is just some big cyclical myth.  This really got me frothing at the mouth – and I remembered those sheep.

Why are they shrinking?  Researchers suspect that it is a direct response to global warming.  By tracking the weather in the St. Kilda archipelago, they found that winters on Hirta are getting shorter and milder.   The suspicion is that this has had two impacts.  First, the sheep do not require large fat deposits to survive the winter.  And with more sheep surviving the winter, there is increased competition for lambs to secure food — so they aren’t growing as fast.    It isn’t exactly a canary in the mine, but it does show how quickly environmental change can impact population.  Scary stuff.

Suddenly storytelling is hot.  From our own Grant’s True Tales to CBC’s “The Story from Here.”   Even Hollywood is getting in on the act with two blockbuster films about Snow White — Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Hunsman.   Even the New York Times recently featured a new storytelling program “Tell and Show” being taught at the Pit, a  New york theatre and bar in Manhattan.   It reports that New York offers hundreds of classes on sketch, improv and joke telling, but storytelling is rapidly catching up.  From the Moth Story Slam to story-based shows at the Magnet and Upright Citizens, the genre’s stage time is growing.  So is storytelling actually coming back into fashion or did it ever go anywhere in the first place?

Growing up we shared stories around the family dinner table  — my Dad was a wonderful racconteur.  And today we all try to say it in 140 characters.  Those of us working in public relations have always understood the significance of  “the story”  but it is good to see that today everyone is talking about the importance of narrative.  The ability to share stories and anecdotes is now regarded as critical to leadership. Good-bye deconstructionist literature, hello to the good yarn.

But storytelling has always had a role to play from helping us to synthesize events and experiences,  creating tropes or metaphors that explain life’s vicissitudes.  Somewhere I remember reading that we all process information by repeating life stories into ”legend”  subconsciously delivering the catharsis needed to move on.  For many of us, our biggest challenge is to find meaning in our lives.  This isn’t easy.  Many of the scholar’s looking at children’s literature argue that to move through this process we have to transcend our own self-centredness by penetrating universal truth.  Stories – shared tales - provide guideposts to moral behavior that aid in the maturing process - enabling functionality in the social order.

In these hyper cynical times, it is good to see so many of us returning to the campfire.

Bullying seems to be pushing everyone’s hot button these day.  The publicity around  a rash of suicides by young people who have been tormented by their peers has found deep resonance in the documentary “Bully“, which follows the struggles of five students who have been harrassed for being gay, or skinny and awkward, too short, too fat or just plain different.  Today a group of students arrived at Parliament Hill to meet with government officials and raise awareness of the issue for International Day of Pink.

Ironic then that they should be meeting up with two of the biggest bullies ever to hold office in this country.  With Prime Minister Stephen Harper about to face off with the new leader of the official opposition it should be interesting to see who comes away the black eye.  No rules of the ring for them.   They make wonderful roll models for Canadian youth – a prime minister who rams through his own agenda and Mr. Mulcair who is certainly not identified with a collaborative style.  Still they may both have met their match in their respective Finance henchmen.

NDP Finance critic, Peter Julian, refused to cede the floor in a three-day filibustre last week reading dozens of tweets and commentaries into the House of Commons record to prevent others from having an opportunity to comment.  But he has nothing on Jim Flaherty whose budget offered the resource-rich west relief from pesky environmentalists and aboriginal opponents, to steam roll developent of the oilsands.  At the same time, he has essentially frozen out the industrial heartland.  Hey, we get it.  Toronto doesn’t vote for Harper.  Who said he was a statesman?

Of course Flaherty tried to sell us on the need for belt cinching measures for future generations.  But who was it who cut the GST, thereby reducing annual revenues by $14 billion without having a plan in place to reduce spending?   But don’t start me.  Suffice it to say, suffer the little children — they are being set some mighty examples up there on the Hill.

On the eve of both Easter and Passover, I thought it was worth remembering that every once in a while humanity does get things right.  Amidst all the killing and the raping, the pillaging of nature and our arrogant belief that we are the only species with divine privileges to the planet, we can, on occasion show a remarkable willingness do something good. Take the recent rescue of dolphins off the cost of Brazil http://elcomercio.pe/player/1384898 – or the man in Manitoba who saw a starving bear cub dying by the side of the road and went to the rescue http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/04/04/makoon-bear-cub-rescue/.  Still if he can’t cut through the bureacracy and get the cub to a sanctuary in Ontario — apparently there are rules about this — he will be euthanized.   And we do have people who think that 1,000 polar bears near Hudson’s Bay means the animals are not endangered and that climate change is not impacting the bear population.   If they took the time to read the fine print that would see that the cub count is less than a third the number required to produce a healthy populaton for future generations, but hey, –  reap the day!

Ah, well, at least the Easter bunny is safe.  It’s only the chocolate ones that are in danger of having their ears lopped off!  Enjoy this lovely spring weather, but remember that some creatures will pay the price. Give some thought to them as you take a time out this weekend.

The New York Times Sunday Book Review reported on Jonathan Haidt’s “The Righteous Mind” (Pantheon Books) which explores the challenge of persuasion.  Haidt’s goal is to enhance political discourse by encouraging two sides of the debate – liberals and conservatives – to hear one another.  But the book holds important insights for all of us engaged in using PR or communications techniques to convince audiences to move from an entrenched position.

Haidt asks the perennial question:  “Why doesn’t the other side listen to reason?”  And his answer leads to some surprising conclusions.  He argues — very persuasively I might add — that we were never designed to listen to reason.  The research shows that particularly when facing moral questions, people reach their conclusions quickly and then scan their brains to marshal arguments that defend their position — producing reasons later only to justify what they have already decided.  And the Internet  has only exacerbated this by offering people a whole new tool with which to research supporting arguments!

According to the review, Haidt posits that  reason is not impartial.  It doesn’t act like a judge or teacher, weighing and evaluating evidence.  It acts more like a lawyer or press secretary, justifying our acts and judgements to others.  In this interpretation, reason evolved to help us spin, not to help us learn.   Therefore, if you want to change people’s minds, the suggestion is that there is no point in appealing to reason.  We have to address the underlying intuitions or emotions that lead to the conclusions that reason defends.

Haidt asserts something we all know:  we are not very good at challenging our own beliefs, but we are REALLY good at challenging what other people think.  The fact that Haidt has written this book, suggests that he does believe in the power of reason, but that the reasoning has to engage in interaction.  We need to create environments that lead to sympathetic conclusions.

While Haidt’s goals are political enlightenment — there is something here for all of us engaged in the process of persuasion from the introduction of a new product to the resolution of a contentious social issue.  We have to begin with the basic intuitive or emotional response and build our arguments to defend it — not the other way round.   My copy of “The Righteous Mind” has just arrived and I can’t wait to dive in —  I am going to try to set aside my predispositions and listen to Haidt’s conclusions!;)

Looks like the Ontario government isn’t the only one betting on the roulette wheel to bail out government coffers.  According to the Economist, the need for revenue has cash-strapped state and local governments in the US scrapping restrictions on alcohol sales, gambling and even fire works!  Last year Massachusetts became the 24th US state to allow casinos.  Ohio opened up restrictions in 2009 and Maryland did in 2008.   Looking to cash in, Maine has just issued its first casino license as well.   We might find some comfort in this if it reflected the puritanical thinking frequently in evidence in the US — particularly on the far right.  But this is a direct result of the fiscal pressure stemming from the 2008 financial meltdown.

Massachusetts is hoping that the three casinos built there could deliver $400m a year plus $300 in initial licensing fees.  And the US isn’t the only country gambling on casinos to provide economic rescue.  In Spain they are counting on a jobs bonanza from a giant gambling resort slated for either Madrid or Barcelona.

Now Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation is promising similar dividends here in Toronto.   There is no question that our dependence on the US has had an impact in this country, particularly in Ontario where the economy depends on industry and manufacturing.    Could the solution to our woes also be similar to those being introduced in  the  US? — In the expansion of the gaming system?  Seems like a false economy.  We aren’t talking productivity gains here but just recycling dollars with the government picking up the greatest percentage. So much for consumers spending our way out of recession.  With everyone getting into the same business, it isn’t likely that new revenues come through tourism.  Looks to me like we are in danger of simply moving dollars from one pocket (ours) to government.   The way I read it, this means fewer discretionary dollars available for consumption of real goods.

Still, there is hope.  Latest reports suggest that, while the US recovery is still weak and unexciting, it is real enough.  Maybe it will kick into high gear and save us from ourselves.  Let’s gamble on it anyway!

I have a friend who regularly asks why I don’t engage more actively politically.  “Don’t you care?” she rails at me.  It isn’t that I don’t care but that I care too much.  If I reflect too deeply on what is occuring politically in Canada, I just feel the rage and impotence boil over.   I have not waded in on the Robocall scandal, not out of indifference, but because I scare myself. What should I do with all this caring?

Michael Igantieff tried very hard to alert Canadians to the erosion of our democracy under Stephen Harper, and we all saw what that got him.  Mr. Harper is a bully.  From the proroguing of parliament to efforts to curtail opposition by undercutting funding, he  has done everything to stifle those who criticize him.  When I hear people talk about his statesmanlike posture I respond, dictators can be statesmen too.   But that doesn’t mean he reflects the views and attitudes of the people he represents.  And if Mr. Harper was unaware personally of the misleading robocalls, he has created a environment where this kind of behavior is acceptable.

Since he first took office, there has been a concerted effort to silence dissent.  Journalists and others who keep the public informed on the workings of government have been systematically denied interviews and answers to queries. The true costs of programs have been disguised and buried and if this wasn’t bad enough he protected a cabinet minister who blatantly changing a funding recommendation made by her department and denied it in the House of Commons.

So if my friend is unhappy with my willingness participate in the public dialogue I hope this post will set the record straight:  I am deeply disheartened by our agenda on the environment; I am saddened that our international standing as a peacekeeper has become corroded; I am outraged by changes to the gun registry which completely overlook the fact that most violent crime is domestic and knowlege about the presence of a gun in the home can be critical to non-violent outcomes; underfunding of the arts, the source of our culture, our creativity and our national joy breaks my heart.  But the loss of our democratic principles of free and open choice is too awful to contemplate.

There was a compelling story in the Toronto Star on Sunday about a Toronto area teen who helped save the life of a teenager in the UK.  The despondent UK teenager had posted on Tumblr that he was attempting suicide by swallowing pills.  Shockingly, a number of people responded online by taunting him to go ahead and do it.  Randomly, his post came up on the Tumblr account of 14 year-old Paige Dayal who was disturbed enough that she and her Mom went into action.  First they called their local Newmarket police who said there was nothing they could do and referred her to the RCMP.  There she was also told that this was beyond their capacity.  Beyond their capacity.  Now this is the team that boasts some of the most sophisticated crime solving tools in the world.  And isn’t Canada the country that pioneered tracking down online child porn operators?  But tracking down one loan nameless teenager in the UK was beyond their capacity.

Undaunted, Laura began to search the web.  Somehow she determined that Luke lived in Melksham, near Bath.  From there she was able to reach the central police station in Bath Region.  And two hours later, local police knocked on Luke’s door, saving his life.  Now if a young teenager could figure this out, why couldn’t the RCMP?  I’d say it was apathy and lack of will.

When I hear about the declining integrity of our national police force, I can accept a lot of excuses.  Crime solving isn’t easy and hindsight makes the smallest detail look obvious.  But when a 14 year-old teen can use technology to solve this kind of challenge, it makes the RCMP look either inept or indifferent.  I can actually swallow inept although it does sort of stick on the way down.  But indifference from our national police is just not acceptable.  Not by any standard.  This is just not the Canadian way.

As the rest of the world increasingly seeks out entertainment through a video screen — I continue to be fascinated by live theatre.  I see almost anything I can from the Toronto Fringe Festival, Soulpepper, Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, Tarragon, Buddies in Bad Times to major Mirvish and Dancap productions.  I am mesmerized by them all even when I think they’re bad theatre.  I see almost everything on the Stratford Festival playbill each summer.  Ditto the Shaw Festival.  Theatre is always on my list when I travel to New York or London.  And I have been privileged over the years to see many theatre legends perform live — Maggie Smith, Glenda Jackson, Peter O’Toole, our own Oscar winning Christopher Plummer, Bill Hut, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Bacall – who my friend Doreen, who is her friend calls “Betty”.  I saw Elizabeth Taylor do Little Foxes.  I am so devoted I commit considerable time to Theatre Museum Canada ,an organizaton dedicated to Canada’s theatre heritage.

But I don’t think I will see War Horse at the Princess of Wales Theatre.  It isn’t because I think it won’t be extraordinary theatre, but because I am afraid it will.  I absolutely know that within five seconds I will believe those puppets are real horses and I will be absolutely riveted by the travesty of war.

I find I have become increasingly sensitive to the plight of aimals — domestic and wild.  We have become so focused on our own rights and privileges, we increasingly destroy habitat and the environment, crowd other creatures out, confine them in horrible conditions and in the food chain dispense them with remarkable indifference.  I squirm when I see a snout sticking out of a transport truck on the highway.  I could become one of those ladies who crochet little coats for chickens.  I worry about polar bears and I just can’t bear stories of cruelty to dogs or cats.  It never used to be this way.  Not that I was ever deliberately cruel, just unaware. Then a little kitten came to live with me — I wasn’t too keen on cats up to that point so I assure you anyone can be converted.  Living with another creature seemed to open my eyes to the entire universe of other life we share the planet with.  (Please excuse the dangler.)

All of which brings me to the subject of horses.  The Toronto Star had a heartwarming story in the Sunday edition about an Irishman who rescues horses.  It seems that during the Celtic Tiger, the Irish were buying horses as status symbols the way North Americans buy cars. Then with the crash, they were simply abandonning them.  The story had a happy ending for some of them so I was able to read it — but I had to skip the parts on abuse.  How can people continue to be such jerks when it comes to animals they take on as pets?

I was at the ballet the other night to see La Fille Mal Gardeé and in one scene the peasants bring in a cart led by a live pony.  I completely lost my focus.  All I could think about was what breed was it, and where did it come from, who would parade their animal around like that and why couldn’t the ballet get one of those damned puppets.  I just couldn’t refocus on the ballet which is why I might just as well stay home from War Horse.