Research: Entertainment Industry

Part of being in an innovator is being good at networking. Within my specific industry I have researched the National Retail Federation as a good source of information regarding building my business.

The National Retail Federation contains over 1.6 Million US retail establishments with more than 24 million employees and 4.4 Trillion dollars in sales globally. The NRF has a broad reach and covers so many channels it provides some great insight into the retail industry and its wide scope.

The NRF also has a pretty comprehensive blog that tackles a variety of subjects pertaining to the retail industry. For example the post from today was centered around patents and obstacles associated with obtaining them.  The post also warns of "patent trolls;" people who's sole goal is to find and patent obscure items related with products and then sue the manufacturer.  Definitely an interesting read.

Another reason I chose to look at the NRF is because of their substantial research base that they provide for free on their website.

This research breaks down consumer trends for the past few years and really shed some awesome light on what motivates people to buy.  I've been using my time on the website to see when and where people are buying backpacks and back to school supplies. The website's content helps me see what makes a successful product fly off the shelves, timing and placement.

The NRF's research is what really sets it apart from other like-minded websites. Their free research helps small and large businesses alike look at their industry and grow their business accordingly.

I would absolutely suggest fellow entrepreneurs who are trying to break into a retail based business to follow NRF and stay on top of what they have to say.

Taking Imagination Seriously: Ted Talks

Recently, I was looking up videos from the TED Talks lecture series. While browsing the vast library I searched specifically under the heading "Innovation." The first playlist that popped up was under the heading "The Creative Spark." In this playlist I found 10 videos that all spoke specifically to the idea of being creative, how to hone your creativity and how to foster it. One video that initially stood at to me was Janet Echleman's Taking Imagination Seriously.

In this post Echleman talks about being denied entry into 7 different art schools and her struggle to find her style. Echleman goes on to discuss her search to be creative and express herself through her art.

The short story is that Echleman eventually was searching for inspiration and found it in a standard fishnet of all places. Echleman began by manipulating the fishnets and starting to hang structures made of fishnets around and watch as the wind manipulated the porous surfaces. The result was a beautiful shifting structure that has a calming effect on all that see it.

Echleman's sculptures are now hanging in some of the biggest and most trafficed intersections in the world. Currently New York City has approached Janet to create a fixture for Times Square.

A consistent message through Janet's speech was to never let your imagination become stifled. Even though she couldn't get into art school or was ever classically trained she still found a way to express her vision.  Her no quite attitude and story definitely inspired me as someone who's working in a field without much previous experience. 

If I learned one thing from the talk to apply to my life it's that if you keep searching and fighting for what you want eventually your dream will come to life.