It's 9am Monday morning.
I'm staring at my Outlook calendar.
I'm befuddled by my schedule…
"Am I really traveling to Chicago Ad:Tech to talk all things digital and submerse myself directly into the heart of connectivity, AND THEN travel directly to an Ashram for a completely unplugged weekend of yoga and meditation?!"
The answer was yes thanks to my fiancé. Roya (the soon-to-be-wife) had used the Web, in all its glory, to find an article in the NY Times on Spiritual Retreats.
Roya's thoughts…
"Hmmm, void of all technology?
Labor Day weekend seems perfect.
We're booked."
I had never been to an Ashram or on a meditation retreat. I practice yoga. And while I was open to the experience and the 'unplugging' it would require, I didn't realize that Ad:Tech would happen just before the trip.
What I also didn't realize was how extreme my week was going to be, and just how much those extremes were going to teach me about what I appreciate and don't appreciate about the Digital Lifestyle.
Let's go on a journey…
Monday, August 31st, 2:00pm:
· Board my AA flight from LGA to ORD
· Notice 'Wifi onboard' sticker
· Actually say -- yes actually say -- to the flight attendant, "WOW! Wifi on a regional flight, that's amazing!"
Monday, August 31st, 8:30pm:
· Chairman's Keynote with the 'Godfather of Integrated Marketing' Professor Don Schultz
· Debate with colleagues the merit and influence of academia on Digital direction
· Feel inspired to speak on tomorrow's panel about "Building Great Brands in the Digital Space"
Tuesday, September 1st, 11:00:
· Panel begins
· My mother is in the audience
· I speak and walk off
· My mother references Spartacus and tells me "I am Digital"
· Thanks mom
Wednesday, September 2nd, Afternoon:
· Sessions & more sessions
· Mobile, social and measurement, oh my!
· Another debate with a colleague, this time about the 'next great technology', and whether it will actually change the world in which we live like the Facebook & iPhones of generations past
Thursday, September 3rd, Afternoon:
· Board my AA flight from ORD to LGA
· No Wifi
· Slightly relieved
· Need a break
· The result…I check email while 'working offline'
Friday, September 4th, Afternoon:
· Walk off a train in Monroe, New York while on a conference call
· Hop into a shared cab with Roya and two other gentlemen also on their way to the Ashram
· I brush off their introduction, only to do a double take when they introduce themselves as the instructors for the weekend
· Yep, I was 'that guy'
Friday, September 4th, Evening-Monday, September 7th, Morning:
· Yoga, meditation & healthy eating
· No cell phone, laptop or Wifi
· Brilliant music and entertainment
· Wonderful lectures and conversations on topics like 'The Value of Uselessness", and 'The Balance of Responsibility and Dreaming"
Then two things happened before getting back on the train:
1. I met Dave. An NYU business school grad and Grammy nominated musician whose only goal in life is to help under privilege youth. And his means of supporting that…teaching yoga and grassroots sales of is music. He wanted to have a digital marketing conversation and I was TOO DETACHEDto want to engage. Brutal.
2. At the train station the 3 and G showed back up on my phone. I was engaged again without a second thought. Even worse.
A few insights:
· Wifi on a plane is not amazing. What really is amazing is a 150,000 lb. steel bird flying 30,000 ft in the air while carrying 150 people
· The Digital space is evolving and evolving us as a species. It is worth discussing and worthy of passion.
· Detaching is necessary, but having tools like search to gain more insight on desired topics, digital recorders to remember ideas/capture lectures, and even the bump iPhone app (would have been easy to grab Dave's contact info) are all precious
In the debate on the next great technology, and throughout the duration of the week, there were a few conclusions drawn. The first was that there will always be technology advancements and whether it is the Kindle, advanced sensory perception, or a foldable piece of digital paper; and our minds can recognize the purpose of these technologies even before we possess them. Second, and perhaps most important, it is our responsibility as humans, not just to adapt to technology (i.e. Twitter), but to actually determine how the technology's use adds value (instead of merely placing value on its uselessness).
(Insert your favorite tweet here, like my sister's 'I like cookies.')
As Digitalists we need to lead the assessment and help shape the purpose of our technologies. As such, I urge you to evaluate your individual technology use today. Ask yourself whether that IM was necessary or if a text really is more appropriate than a call. Let me know what shakes out. Namaste all, namaste.
Lance Neuhauser, EVP, U.S. Digital Director, PHD Media, an Omnicom Company. You can follow PHD's Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/PHDisSmartMedia