A Turd Share in Property

Photo sourced from www.gumtree.com.au

You’re going to attract weird looks when you say your property is "ludicrously overpriced" and has carpet “stained like an infant’s undies”. People are expecting the spacious, inviting and warm adjectives like ‘cosy ambience,’ ‘bustling shopping strip’ and ‘sweeping views’. After all would you want to live in a “crap place?”

That’s just how Ben Rawling from North Bondi described his apartment to prospective flat mates on www.gumtree.com.au. Rawling, a spin king himself, decided to try a different advertising approach with tongue in cheek humour. It worked! He got a few date offers, global emails and at the end of the day a jolly good laugh. Social media picked up his quirky style and it went viral.

Who says words aren’t important? All it took to get Rawling’s flat of ‘trailer trash’ into the public eye was the word ‘crap’ itself.

As a bonus you got “a truly appealing paint job.. no, I meant a peeling paint job…"

Whether you read it for fun or were genuinely interested, you knew the type of person your prospective flat mate was. At the end of the day a small apartment would be unbearable if you didn’t get on with your roomie.

Well penned Ben – I hope you have lots of laughs with your new roommate!

Game Set D.N.A

I remember when I first learnt about DNA in biology class at high school. It was one of those important long-winded words that stuck in my mind. DNA name recall came in handy recently for a green ‘piece of pie’ in a Trivial Pursuit game. Deoxyribonucleic Acid it seems now has its own game and children are its pawns.

According to Wikipedia, DNA is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms.

In simple terms it holds our chromosomes that contain all our genetic information. This includes what colour skin, hair type, eye colour and whether or not we have a predisposition to a genetic disorder or disease such as Huntington’s disease.

DNA can be used to help catch a criminal, stop a tomato from over ripening and to research other living organisms and their functions, among other things. Now you can test DNA to see which sport your child will excel in by using a simple ‘Sports X Factor’ DNA kit.

Excuse me? What ever happened to let’s try tennis, footy, basketball, dancing, cricket, softball, gymnastics, karate or golf etc. and see what the children enjoy and feel confident doing? It appears that science wants to take the fun of experimentation and exposure to different codes of sport out of ‘sport’ itself.

With the DNA kit parents can test children to see if they have genes prominent in certain sports and predetermine what sport they will be good at.

It’s already crazy when parents say, “he has his father’s legs, he’ll be a hurdler,” or “ with that gracefulness she’ll be a ballerina.” The DNA kit will confirm whether those dreams are futile: “Yeh, he does have great legs but his DNA is suited to sports with hand eye coordination.” and “sorry enjoy your ballerina now, she doesn’t have any sporting DNA in her body!” Or build a trophy cabinet, this child is going to be a star basketballer.”

According to Dr. Lainie Friedman Ross, a pediatrician and bioethicist at the University of Chicago, “sports and physical activity should be fun for kids. It shouldn’t be, ‘You’re going to be the world’s greatest athlete’ or ‘Give up now, kid, because you won’t have a chance’ because of your genes.”

Elitism in sport is not based entirely on genetics and I question how a commercial test like this will measure will power, passion for the chosen sport and determination to succeed. After all a lot of talented athletes have fallen by the way side because they didn’t have the mental application.

To develop into a successful athlete, being at your peak at the right time, as well as injury-free and training hard are crucial factors. These are essential components in sport that cannot be predicted through DNA analysis.

Will we stop at sport? Perhaps we’ll want to know how attractive our children will be, whether they will be good money managers or have great social skills. Surely DNA can tell us that too? Gasp.

I am thrilled that my children have their own chosen passions in life. For my son so far it’s any ball sport and for my daughter to date it’s drawing and art. I wouldn’t dream of testing them to fabricate a future in sport.

  

References

http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/08/predicting-kids-athletic-skill-theres-a-dna-test-for-that/#ixzz1U1vBNX9M

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/genetic-testing-for-sports-genes-courts-controversy/2011/05/09/AFkTuV6G_story.html

http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/bio99/bio99109.htm

Wikipedia

Copy That

In the words of J. Richardson, ‘when it comes to the future there are those who make things happen; those that wait for things to happen; and those that wonder what happened.’

I’ll admit it’s been a while since I stepped into the corporate arena. My circa 2004 Country Road suit doesn’t quite cut the mustard and social media has become the guts of marketing in today’s world. Cumbersome laptops are so ’99 with iPads and iPhones the latest must-have portable accessories.

You have to be creative to stand out from the crowd when it comes to jobs.  C.V’s are interactive or content letters have links to personal websites or You Tube. Applications are online and everyone (even my Dad who can’t operate a D.V.D player) owns an iPhone. It’s time to show prospective employers my dynamic Cliff …ord edge.

My business wardrobe has now moved with the times and so have I. With a strong grounding in communications, I jumped on board the Facebook, Blogging and Twitter phenomenon to better myself as a communicator.

I saw this ad on Seek and to coin a marketing phrase it ‘grabbed’ me: 


Publicity Assistant - Tennis Australia

Based within the Communications business unit, this entry level position will be responsible for providing administration support to the Public Relations Manager and working closely with PR and digital team to publicise and promote all tennis events and programs.

I believe I have the drive, creative skills and energy required for this position. Seven years out has still been seven years onwards and upwards. After all Lleyton Hewitt can still match the up and coming players despite being sidelined for a while.

Perhaps these ad words were the inspiration I needed to get back on the circuit writing, promoting and doing what I love – Copy That?