Amber Ruffin does evaluation

In Late Night comedian Amber Ruffin’s latest “Amber Says What” she asks a lot of valuable evaluation questions of the Trump administration’s latest political spectacle. We may start incorporating these into our work. Some highlights: Why this? What was the desired effect? Why is this happening and what is happening? Did you know this was …

How can we measure the impact of art and creativity?

Imagine you want to help young people in West Africa use their creative skills to engage their peers in political dialogue about gender violence. Or you want to train artists and scientists to collaborate on truly innovative and creative ways to teach people about pressing science issues like climate change. Or you want to create …

Comedian Roy Wood Jr. on Audiences

Roy Wood Jr. does his own form of audience testing. In this interview for the Good One Podcast, Wood talks about how he developed a hilarious bit called “Black Patriotism?” for his special, Father Figure. In the interview Wood talks about testing his jokes on different kinds of audiences in different parts of the country …

Will changing your Facebook profile picture do anything for marriage equality? | PsySociety, Scientific American Blog Network

As SCOTUS debates the constitutionality of Proposition 8 and DOMA this week, Facebook users all over the nation have become part of a burgeoning social media trend. Supporters of marriage equality have been changing their profile pictures to the icon on the left, a version of the Human Rights Campaign logo designed specifically to indicate …

Design and the end of the world

Comment from Irene Maui about JooYoun Paek’s conceptual design/art works: I’m tired of reading and looking to design as Art, making people to be confused about it. Some people are just looking for fame, and not really thinking on giving creative answers. The world is about to explode, and we have to fill our heads …

Bill Ayers on Fresh Air

Bill Ayers on Fresh Air with Terry Gross This is an except from the end of the interview that I thought was relevant to the questions we’re asking in How to Win. Gross: Do you think some of the tactics that you took on were in some part this youthful expression of anger, something that …

Laugh at a Campaign Pitch? Sure. Visit the Grandparents? Not So Much. – NYTimes.com

MIAMI — When Sarah Silverman told young Jews to get their lazy rotund rear ends to Florida to persuade their grandparents to vote for Senator Barack Obama, one question loomed: Would they go? This weekend was the first big test, a kickoff for the so-called Great Schlep, and so far, momentum has been building with …

good answer to a relevant question by some guy

Q: Of the various projects the Anti-Advertising Agency has been involved in, which ones do you think have been most successful? A: I don’t really know for sure. To know we would have to do what is done in any marketing campaign, which is an impartial evaluation — surveys, testing, etc. And we don’t have …

Loss Aversion, Greenpeace, and Health

Here’s a pattern of tactics I realized have something in common. They all work by presenting a threat. Loss aversion, as it can be called, can be more motivating – using the stick instead of the carrot. ## Example 1 From Greenpeace:## The ranking criteria reflect the demands of the Toxic Tech campaign to the …

Hans Haacke

Hans Haacke lecture Gallatin School, New York University, April 15, 2008 S&S: As a political artist, how can you know when you’ve been successful? Haacke: I’ve been asked that question many times, and that question requires one to go around it before one really avoids it. I believe it is a relatively new phenomenon that …

NYT – April Fool! The Purpose of Pranks

By BENEDICT CAREY Published: April 1, 2008 Keep it above the belt, stop short of total humiliation and, if possible, mix in some irony, some drama, maybe even a bogus call from the person’s old flame or new boss. A good prank, of course, involves good stagecraft. But it also requires emotional intuition. “You want …

NYT – Is the Ad a Success? The Brain Waves Tell All

Neuroscience can provide “a more accurate way to understand what consumers really like,” Mr. Stagliano said, which helps to produce ads and programs that “break through the clutter” rather than contribute to it. “We measure attention, second by second; how emotionally engaged you are with what you’re watching, whether it’s a commercial, a movie or …