Award Winning Blog - Agitator

Two (Make That Three) Things That Kill Marketing Creativity

Marketing creativity is a favorite theme of Seth Godin's, and his comments here nail it. Still, to his two creativity killers, I'd add a third: Fearful, unimaginative bosses.

Learn More October 26, 2006

Madonna Deserves A Raise

Madonna is being villified for seeking to adopt an orphaned Malawi child. Here, from the Chicago Tribune, is a typical article, which disparagingly concludes: “When the public tires of Madonna’s latest exploit and the media moves on to something else, little will have changed for Malawi and the million orphans she left behind.” To which […]

Learn More October 25, 2006

Pass The Dopamine, Please

In an article titled “The Joy of Giving,” The Economist reports on brain research that seeks to explain the mental processes involved in making donations. Researchers at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke used a standard technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging to map the brain activity that occurred when test subjects were […]

Learn More October 24, 2006

The Philanthropy 400

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has released its annual Philanthropy 400 survey. Get your hands on the full report. But here, from the publicly released summary, are some highlights that impressed The Agitator: Donations to the largest 400 charities grew by 13% in 2005, to $62.7 billion (the second year of double digit growth … 2004 […]

Learn More October 23, 2006

If A Tree Falls In The Forest …

… and no one is there to hear it, was there a sound? I can't make up my mind. Should I be following the meltdown of the ACLU for lessons in how a venerable nonprofit brand can self-destruct? Or is this internecine warfare merely “inside baseball” as one ACLU ally put it … real only […]

Learn More October 22, 2006

Are You Addicted?

No, not to love. According to Reuters, researchers at Stanford University's School of Medicine have reported a new malady … Internet Addiction. Here's the profile YOU might fit (I know I do): 13.7% find it hard to stay offline for several days at a time. (Days? How about hours?!) 12.4% often stay online longer than […]

Learn More October 21, 2006