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The secret of the songbook

Welcome to Idealog Weekly, the free email newsletter for New Zealand commercial creatives, entrepreneurs and anyone rich with ideas.

The secret of the songbook

Murray Thom seems to have a Midas touch. In a music industry reeling from the arrival of the digital age, Thom's box set releases (that's right kids, songs actually sold in boxes) of Kiwi music are flying off the shelves. His most recent release, Songbook, went triple platinum in July. He's also the man who brought Piano by Candlelight and Espresso Guitar to an eager nation (well, some of us). What's his secret?

In the latest Idealog, Mark Roach talks to Thom and discovers an industry veteran who remains, at heart, a huge fan of the music. Thom's projects succeed because he creates something people want to hold and to keep. He collaborates with the likes of Dick Frizzell, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the artists themselves to bring the songs and the packaging to life.

Thom is no throwback though: digital music is the future, but he says the industry need to remember a few first principles.

Thom's experience is instructive for anyone dealing with the impact of the Internet: check it out in the latest Idealog or on our website.

TEDx on our telly

We had a blast at New Zealand’s first TEDx event held in Auckland last week. As promised, we were there with our humble videocam, and we talked to many of the speakers and those in attendance. Here’s Dr Robin Kelly on untouched genius.

Who else did we speak to? Well, how about comedian Philip Patston, TEDx Auckland organiser Richard Hollingum, Good magazine editor Annabel McAleer, Kath Dewar of KD Consulting, Justine Munro from the NZ Centre for Social Innovation, headliners Ray Avery and Andy Blood, Nigel Parker of Microsoft, developer Tony Walsh on holographic buildings, and MC and radio host Andrew Patterson. Whew. The interviews are all on our website.

So long, sustainability

It’s not gone without notice that the word 'sustainability' has become much less popular in parts of Wellington lately—in particular, the parts of Wellington that do the governing. Maybe that's not such a bad thing, reckons Celsias.com editor Chris Tobias. The word 'sustainability' has negative overtones for many people: it means frugality, fanaticism, inflexibility, and even poverty and misery. Fear is not an effective motivator, so Chris has some suggestions for moving the sustainability conversation beyond argument and emotion, and onto the wonderful potential of a less wasteful existence. Check it out on our website.

Don’t cry for Argentina—shed a tear for New Zealand

This week the New York Times ran an item on its a Economix blog tracking the shocking decline of Argentina among the planet's wealthy nations. "A century ago, there were only seven countries in the world that were more prosperous than Argentina," notes Edward L Glaeser, and since then it's been overtaken by brash upstarts like Italy and Japan.

Well excuse me Mr Glaeser, but one of those seven countries that Argentina trailed in 1909 was New Zealand—and we haven't exactly threatened the prosperity of Japan or Italy ourselves. Look at this Times graph; everyone to the left of New Zealand was poorer than us in 1909. Everyone above New Zealand is wealthier than us today.

This is why we’re so disappointed that the previous government failed to see through its stated aim to return New Zealand to the top half of the OECD, and why we'd like to see John Key's government commit itself to achieving the task. This isn't about wanting more toys, overseas holidays or dining out more often; it’s about being able to afford the education, health care, infrastructure and quality of life that we want for ourselves and our loved ones. We must reverse this slide.

We've written on this topic on several occasions, and have some ideas for an forthcoming issue. But we'd like to achieve greater awareness than we have so far. Most Idealog readers are well aware of the issue, but we’d like to get more New Zealanders motivated and thinking about how to lift our place on that chart. I'd welcome your ideas; drop me an email or leave a comment.

Get affected

Get ready to welcome the return of two great conferences to the capital, starting with AnimfxNZ, the conference for the animation, visual effects, games & digital film industries at Te Papa on November 5, 6 and 7. AnimfxNZ attracts some of the greatest names in movie and gaming effects to New Zealand and this year is no exception: speakers include Joseph Olin, the president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, Sander Schwartz, a former president of Warner Bros. Animation, and John Stevenson, co-director of Kung Fu Panda. Book your place at the Animfxnz website.

Locked ’stock

Webstock will be unveiling their 2010 speaker lineup on Monday. The Webstock team is in lock-down mode and operating under a cone of silence. However, dedicated Twitter research by the Idealog team can confirm that among the speakers will be Adam Greenfield—Nokia's head of design direction for user interface and services and UbiComp visionary—and John Resig, the creator of the mighty fine jQuery javascript library.

How to market sustainability

Hmmm. Did we just suggest sustainability has had its day? Well, let’s not get hung up on the terminology: a one-day How to Market Sustainability course at the University of Auckland next Friday looks like a winner. It looks at how to sell, promote and market products and services to businesses and consumers who have ethical and environmental concerns and how to avoid greenwash.

It's tutored by Kath Dewar—the same Kath we interviewed at TEDx last week. She promises "heaps" of useful material and case studies to share says "I'm looking forward to a fabulous discussion of the issues among the people who attend." Make sure you're one of them by calling 0800 864-266 or emailing pdcourses@auckland.ac.nz. You can also learn more at the course website and listen to Kath's interview on the subject with bFM.

Quote of the week

"Sustainability was once a word to rally around ... tails wagging, fawns frolicking, rainbows everywhere. That was until everyone from bleach companies to arms manufacturers started touting their sustainability claims"

– Chris Tobias resists the pitch

Also in Idealog Weekly …

2010-08-27 13:26:59: 128 pages of pure gold

2010-08-20 11:51:54: Total Semi-Permanent

2010-08-13 13:18:18: Life through a lens

2010-08-06 13:54:12: Pie in the sky

2010-07-29 12:38:14: Great ideas come in twos (or more)

2010-07-23 14:16:23: The bounce factor

2010-07-16 14:59:03: What doesn't kill us makes us stronger

2010-07-09 13:46:23: The future is now

2010-07-02 14:45:16: Sneaking around

2010-06-25 13:52:07: Making their mark

2010-06-18 14:18:59: From C-student to CEO

2010-06-11 12:59:50: Walking the talk

2010-06-04 12:06:56: Stars of the small screen

2010-05-28 13:27:44: A job well done

2010-05-21 11:38:39: Story of my life

2010-05-14 13:34:52: Where are the asteroids?

2010-05-07 15:03:09: Get your fancypants on

2010-04-30 14:44:05: Ready, aim, fire

2010-04-23 15:11:14: Lean machine

2010-04-16 13:38:34: It's better when it's free

2010-04-09 11:11:34: Good fortune

2010-04-01 13:47:45: Forward thinking

2010-03-26 14:58:28: Back to basics

2010-03-19 12:43:58: End of the road

2010-03-12 14:29:30: Under the sea

2010-03-05 14:32:56: Race to the bottom

2010-02-26 14:43:20: Small but mighty

2010-02-19 14:43:04: A taste of what's to come

2010-02-12 16:27:05: The case for saving science

2010-02-05 11:20:54: Betting on the bell curve

2010-01-29 11:43:43: Urban facelift

2010-01-22 12:46:42: Back to business

2009-12-18 12:32:14: An Idealog year

2009-12-11 11:32:17: Cultivating creativity

2009-12-04 12:41:50: Beating the data maze

2009-11-27 13:20:20: Into the wild

2009-11-20 12:09:59: Clever Kiwi

2009-11-13 15:24:34: Behind the scenes

2009-11-06 16:14:16: The garlic solution

2009-10-30 17:36:54: Man of the moment

2009-10-23 18:20:02: By the numbers

2009-10-16 16:18:27: Pavlova principles

2009-10-09 18:53:36: The secret of the songbook

2009-10-02 14:52:56: Free and easy

2009-09-25 14:58:12: What the world wants

2009-09-18 14:58:12: A slice of the pie

2009-09-11 16:16:54: Walking man

2009-09-06 22:39:01: A calmer kind of business

2009-08-28 16:14:07: We have issues

2009-08-21 14:15:49: Mincing about in waistcoats

2009-08-14 15:16:48: Wired on pop culture

2009-08-07 14:33:11: Trust is not a commodity

2009-07-31 14:05:29: Fuzzy logic

2009-07-24 12:44:11: Game of life

2009-07-17 15:07:41: Grape expectations

2009-07-10 15:55:03: Blade runners

2009-07-03 16:10:16: Free: another word for nothing left to lose

2009-06-26 17:29:25: Poorly pleased

2009-06-19 13:07:47: The giver

2009-06-12 15:09:07: Buggy on down

2009-06-05 13:15:14: Brand Cambo

2009-05-29 14:46:37: When the going gets tough, go proactive

2009-05-22 14:49:27: Bayerische Wasserstoffmotorenwerke

2009-05-15 13:37:38: Rugger blogger

2009-05-08 16:19:47: Get on our cloud

2009-05-01 14:23:55: Easy Tiger

2009-04-24 10:45:23: Tiki tacky

2009-04-17 15:41:21: The not-so-great indoors

2009-04-03 15:41:21: A site for sore eyes

2009-03-27 12:01:53: Dual control

2009-03-20 12:41:29: Worth their Alt

2009-03-13 11:40:07: Biofuels or bio-fools?

2009-03-06 13:06:03: It's electrifying

2009-02-27 12:05:00: Experience-rich and theory-poor

2009-02-20 08:34:12: It's a hundred-and-fourteen-pager

2009-02-13 10:17:02: Own your mistakes

2009-02-05 11:08:46: Rules—made to be broken

2009-01-30 12:13:46: Money: that's what I want

2008-12-05 12:15:14: Framed by the thousands

2008-11-28 11:53:12: Spank-branding novelty next week

2008-11-21 10:07:48: In the Loop

2008-11-14 12:30:00: Your good health

2008-11-07 15:29:37: Misfits of science

2008-10-31 00:00:00: No absence of colour

2008-10-24 12:55:16: Plain-speaking Peri

2008-10-17 15:17:07: Rebels with a cause

2008-10-10 14:53:35: Seoulipsism

2008-10-03 13:18:51: Fall seven times and stand up eight

2008-09-26 13:20:53: Don't label us

2008-09-19 14:37:12: Bloody Graham

2008-09-19 14:17:45: Dream proposition

2008-09-05 15:21:48: Taxi!!!

2008-08-29 11:24:08: Up-Skilling on Idealog TV

2008-08-22 13:16:57: 144 pages of pure pleasure, plus politics

2008-08-15 11:42:43: Wash down that Lovemark with a Steinie

2008-08-08 12:00:07: Strange journey

2008-08-01 15:17:10: SMElly and happy

2008-07-25 13:24:35: What a dive

2008-07-18 12:19:42: Softly and woolly does it

2008-07-11 11:59:13: The saviour from Timaru

2008-07-04 14:50:24: Last laugh

2008-06-27 10:56:38: King Kev

2008-06-20 12:20:14: Slow ART

2008-06-13 11:56:13: Killing two birds with methane

2008-06-06 11:41:39: A combine harvester

2008-05-30 11:55:00: Gold paint

2008-05-23 12:01:40: Rock, out

2008-05-16 10:44:03: Goodwill hunting

2008-05-09 11:53:04: No wine jokes please

2008-05-02 11:51:55: Who's bad?

2008-04-24 13:23:02: Succession success

2008-04-18 13:41:43: Out now or thereabouts

2008-04-11 12:52:49: Paint by numbers

2008-04-04 14:24:53: Reincarnated good

2008-03-28 15:26:16: Making it

2008-03-20 17:03:39: Knock three times

2008-03-14 12:31:52: The customer is always tight

2008-03-07 11:56:55: Beautiful words

2008-02-28 12:55:22: Goodnight, I'm off to work

2008-02-22 12:15:19: The art issue

2008-02-15 11:31:15: Straight to the top

2008-02-08 16:05:53: H for hot

2007-12-13 14:52:13: Nothing in common? Perfect

2007-12-06 12:50:32: Who needs a beer?

2007-11-30 12:37:37: Dirty secret goes public

2007-11-23 13:28:24: Don't speak

2007-11-16 17:01:13: Worthy work (and free beer)

2007-11-02 20:07:12: East meets best

2007-10-25 12:47:59: Raid the fridge

2007-10-19 09:18:05: Looking good

2007-10-13 10:20:34: Can't miss it

2007-10-05 12:55:52: Fresh meat delivery

2007-09-28 11:49:23: If the walls had eyes

2007-09-21 04:13:23: Phoenix rising

2007-09-15 04:32:01: Can we fix it? Yes we can

2007-09-06 19:00:00: Feats of social engineering

2007-08-31 09:01:09: Doesn't bite

2007-08-24 13:21:33: Telling us where to go

2007-08-16 23:00:00: Tomorrow time

2007-08-10 12:15:51: Going West

2007-08-03 12:35:31: How to ... be your business

2007-07-27 14:11:06: Freaky food

2007-07-20 15:05:00: Meet the neighbours

2007-07-12 12:16:19: Free Hollie

2007-07-06 09:03:58: Green queen

2007-06-29 08:59:24: The truth about youth

2007-06-21 16:03:33: Walk this way

2007-06-14 17:58:53: Times ten

2007-06-07 15:13:55: The ape woman needs a label

2007-06-01 08:51:45: Impossible is something

2007-05-25 14:53:52: Yeah, we're still here

2007-05-11 14:43:35: Trophy time

2007-05-03 15:49:14: Friends with the band

2007-04-23 23:00:00: Why worry?

2007-04-19 16:08:21: Done by the big jobs

2007-04-12 22:34:29: A rockin' good read

2007-04-05 13:54:05: No fear

2007-03-29 21:54:07: Out to pasture

2007-03-22 15:38:14: Hip-hop and The Human Touch

2007-03-15 14:27:49: Crazy Frog and Billy T

2007-03-10 01:00:00: The Benadryl edition

2007-03-01 14:30:53: We can be Xero

2007-02-22 17:17:14: Back on board

2006-12-15 12:34:29: Free beer

2006-12-08 11:09:40: December 8, 2006

2006-12-01 10:13:51: December 1, 2006

2006-11-24 13:38:37: November 24, 2006

2006-11-16 12:08:37: November 16, 2006

2006-11-09 12:13:04: November 9, 2006

2006-11-03 13:27:12: November 3, 2006

2006-10-26 13:39:26: October 26, 2006

2006-10-19 16:11:46: October 19, 2006

2006-10-12 17:31:36: October 12, 2006

2006-10-06 10:16:05: October 6, 2006

2006-09-28 16:19:29: September 28, 2006

2006-09-21 15:42:31: September 21, 2006

2006-09-14 13:56:38: September 14, 2006

2006-09-07 00:00:00: September 7, 2006

2006-08-31 00:00:00: August 31, 2006

2006-08-24 00:00:00: August 24, 2006

2006-08-17 00:00:00: August 17, 2006

2006-08-11 00:00:00: August 11, 2006

2006-08-03 00:00:00: August 3, 2006

2006-07-27 00:00:00: July 27, 2006

2006-07-21 00:00:00: July 21, 2006

2006-07-13 00:00:00: July 13, 2006

2006-07-06 00:00:00: July 6, 2006

2006-06-29 00:00:00: June 29, 2006

2006-06-22 00:00:00: June 22, 2006

2006-06-15 00:00:00: June 15, 2006

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