If I were doing what I really want to do, if I could throw caution to the wind and overcome my fears of criticism, failure and success, this is what I’d be doing:
- More videoblogging
- Take requests
- Make them accessible to hearing impared: fully bilingual subtitles, beneficial to EN/JA language students too
- Debunk commons myths about Japan once and for all (there are no goddamn used panty machines!)
- Further research into stories about Japan that make the front page of digg.com
- Make enough money to cover travel, equipment and time expenses
- Foster videoblogging among international high school students in Japan
- Corporate-sponsored online international student film contest/festival
- Discover and uncover independent artists in Japan with potential
- Create high-quality recordings of their live performances for promotion and sale
- Interview them in English/Japanese to develop a personal bond between them and their fans
- Create a library of live performances and behind the scenes videos to show them in real life: a new kind of “personal promotion” that goes deeper than traditional promotion
- Sell exclusive DRM-free tracks online, split the profits as if I were a traditional record store.
- Eventually create a virtual record label that’s focused on benefitting everyone, not just me
- Offer back-office services to independent artists so they can focus on making music for a worldwide audience and I can make a living
- Create a thriving online community
- Change the focus from me to the community: I want to be Tom
- Use the podcast as the community newsletter, like Diggnation
- I have ideas, but need a establish a mutual trusting relationship with a PHP/MySQL developer who will work for free in exchange for a huge payoff that might (or might not) come in the future.
- More podcasts
- Language learning
- (Secret)
I’ve heard it said that you’re a different person every ten years. In the next ten years, I want to be the person who achieves all the above. But there are still some lessons I need to learn, and people I need to meet. That’s what I’m working on now.
One thing I’m starting to realize is that fame, although intangible and ephemeral, has real value. For a reason I don’t yet understand, people are willing to spend money to associate themselves with a figure they trust and admire. Entertainment, in all its forms, is a gold mine. People want to feel better about themselves, belong to a group, feel closer to others and vicariously explore the world outside their daily lives. I enjoy helping others more than anything else, but I have to figure out a way to make money doing it. I see that as a necessary evil, and that’s my greatest psychological barrier right now. Adam Curry doesn’t have that barrier, and that’s the greatest difference between him and me.
I like your idea’s making it more of a community site with chat etc? maybe even a place where we could share our daily lives on camera or something? but I don’t want it to become a U Tube or google, maybe its me but I like the personal nature of this site and would hate it if it was lost.
Donation coming your way. (not much sorry)
My idea is for a community site for people who share an interest in Japan, and Japanese who are interested in sharing their lives with people overseas. I want to facilitate that exchange, and report the interesting goings-on in a podcast. It’s a pretty good idea, so I have to keep the details hidden for now.
there are a lot realy interesting ideas above. I was wondering, as a anime/manga fan I really want to know… Do real Japanese high schoolers actualy spend ANY time in class? It always seems that they are doing something (like preparing for a school festable) and not actualy in class (which would explain why they study so much after school hours). I’m guessing this is just an ‘edited’ version of school (as nobody wants to watch it for pleasure).
The ones who end up digging ditches for a living don’t spend much time in class. The ones who go on to university spend their entire lives studying. Most of their real learning happens in cram schools. I’m not too familiar with the lives of high school students because when I taught back in the early 90’s it was only in junior high.
Japanese high school students are so busy preparing for university entrance exams that they don’t have time for extracurricular activities. International high schools are more flexible, and they have the language skills to participate in online programs. Also back in the 90’s I worked for a company that created and ran corporate-sponsored international educational programs over the Internet. It was the best job I ever had. Didn’t pay much, but very rewarding working with the best teachers from around the world.
Well do it then Rich. I believe you can achieve it and I think there are so many othe people who will agree.
Word.
Go for it, man! Throw caution to the wind and overcome your fears of criticism, failure and success. Entertainment is a goldmine, and I’m sure there’s a huge amount of people out there who’d be thrilled to see you do all the things you envision. And I swear, if I knew anything about PHP/MySQL I’d actually pay money to help you with this.
Normally I would say just go for it and get it done, but I think that would already be happening by now if it was going to be. It seems like that list has a lot of things on it that do involve putting yourself out and open to critics and have room for failure, which is hard to do and even harder to receive. However, maybe you should set some goals and start off with a few things at first. You already have an amazing list going, so try to take some of the things from them and develop them to see how they turn out.
That’s a thought I have trouble believing to be true.
The thing I most admire about my boss is that if he envisions something, he finds a way to make it happen. Nobody thought the Lego Education Center idea would work, and there were many obstacles he had to over come, especially financial, because in Japan nobody will invest unless they know the business will be immediately profitable. But when someone tells him something can’t be done, they might as well be trying to convince him that the world is flat; it just doesn’t affect him at all, so he goes and does it anyway, leaving people scratching their heads, amazed and wondering how he gets it all done.
I think if I can imagine all the above as already existing, and convince people who have the skills and experience I need that it can happen, then it can happen. I like to think of Walt Disney standing in the middle of Florida swamplands and convincing people that they’re seeing Disneyland.
I mean the “I think that would already be happening by now if it was going to be” thing.
Go for it, all of it. Passion and persistence will make all the above happen, and I know you have PLENTY of both!
The typical Western “follow your dream” vs the Japanese “be practical and have a secure future”. For those who do what they believe in regardless of their environment, the rewards are great. Ganbatte Richard-san!