ACM’s Distraction In Action #10
Heated pools, frosty lakes, and a new UK skate capital: five links that are dominating our chat
Your tenth(!) Distraction In Action email from All Conditions Media is here. Scroll away to get a look at the latest links and talking points from our team chat, so they can successfully distract you from work just as much as they did us…
1. HUG A COPYWRITER
We absolutely loved going in hard on the wafty crappiness of agency jargon earlier this month. Copywriters, we argued, have been zombified. Bitten square in the jugular by years and years of knackered metaphors, hyperbolic overdosing, and the phrase “growth hacking”, we’re watching as they turn milky-eyed and a bit fungusy around the edges. Turns out you loved it too! “I’ve Got 99 Problems With Your Copywriting” is our most read newsletter to date. Big thanks to Time Out London editor Joe Mackertich and Esquire UK’s Nick Pope for proving ACM’s human approach to communicating is absolutely bang on, and that our tone of voice document is the magic pill that’ll save agency creativity from “pivoting to” shit.
We learned: An imaginary pub is the basis of all great copywriting.
2. MAKE A SKATE PILGRIMAGE TO… SOUTHAMPTON?
A while back, we heard about plans for acclaimed skate park designer Rich Holland to turn Southampton’s action sports prospects up a notch. An international designer – with projects like Nike’s skateable Dutch HQ on his CV - transforming a UK city centre with skateboarders in mind? It sounded like another lofty council idea, destined to fizzle out and get forgotten about after making them appear progressive and youth-aware for a week or so. Well, Southampton City Council, we owe you a big old sorry. Rich Holland’s beautiful 3D-printed concrete skate structures - a world first, according the Skate Southampton – are currently sitting in the city’s Guildhall Square, waiting to be hit. We’re huge fans of this; it’s the sort of installation that’d fit right in at this week’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Whether or not we’re huge fans of Southampton City Council using the word “rad” and a shaka emoji in their announcement tweet is yet to be determined. So close, SCC. So close.
We learned: Rich Holland’s functional print-on-demand designs are created to help other cities simply and stylishly increase their skate offerings, too.
3. RECEIVE SOME EXCITING POST
You’ve heard a lot about ACM Away Days. They’re the team get-togethers that have taken us splitboarding in Scotland, hiking in the Lake District, skiing in Europe, skateboarding in London, and to a whole lot of pubs in between. Our latest was an electric mountain bike and sea swim two-dayer in a heatwave-stricken Brighton earlier this month, and our hottest on record. Good thing, then, that we were making a splash in the ridiculously cool and all new Sea Lanes Brighton – a spot with a real claim to being the sweetest hangout on the south coast. You’d love it. Really love it. You’d love it so much, that we’ve made you a few postcards, so you can imagine you were right there with us, sucking back a few frosty ones and rubbing SPF50 into our backs.
We learned: It takes a very special kind of Italian graphic designer to find a fresh way to break an eBike (meet him in the Crew To Do below).
4. UNDERSTAND TBI IN ACTION SPORTS
Whether you’re there IRL, or just swiping through photos, it’s undeniable that the sight of a tiny climber free-soloing up a monolithic wall, dangling above a mile-high drop, squeezes the adrenal glands like not much else can. A visual, adrenaline-jacked internalised high of orchestral proportions, even if you’re sat at a desk surrounded by grey suits and cold coffee mugs. But what journalist Michael Levy’s brilliant new feature for Outside Online uncovers, are the darker lows that – more and more commonly – can lay behind the scenes. While his parents could only speculate that a series of traumatic brain injuries contributed to his depression, there’s no denying that they were huge exclamation marks in climber Austin Howell’s free-solo story and the therapy it provided him, right up until the moment a hold flaked on him in North Carolina in 2019. Granted, talking about huge brain trauma is enough to dampen the stoke in any outdoor pursuit, but, for a number of reasons, we’re pleased to see more and more awareness building within our communities – most notably through Stab Magazine’s telling of surfer Stirling Spencer’s experience with brain injury earlier this year - like it has been in football and rugby lately.
We learned: A research paper published in March 2020 found climbing-based therapeutic programmes are as effective at treating depression as established methods of talk therapy.
5. COOL OFF WITH OUR PAL GILLY
As this is typed, long-time ACM friend and swimming coach, Gilly McArthur, is guiding a hand-picked selection of hardy journalists and writers into the chilly waters of Shepperton Lake, as part of our Great European Trip ‘n Dip media event with YETI to celebrate the solstice. Also as this is typed, Waterbear Network – a free streaming service for environmental movies – has just begun showing Body Of Water, Gilly’s new and award-winning cold water swimming film. Not only does the flick explore the mental and physical benefits of swimming outside the confines of a pool, but, more unexpectedly, it also shows how hard it has become to find icy swim spots in the UK. Stick it on the telly tonight with a nice warm brew.
We learned: Gilly’s swimming kit list includes an axe. Keep an ear out for her upcoming Looking Sideways podcast episode, too.
CREW TO-DO
Every fortnight, one ACMer reveals the tasks that’ve been getting their head cogs whirring, so we can all make sure they’re working hard enough introduce our super talented crew and showcase what they bring to our creative process. This week it’s the turn of the outdoor industry’s deadliest designer: ACM’s karate-mastering Adobe king, Daniele ‘DC’ Chiarantini…
You made it all the way down here? Here’s a gift for your troubles:
END OF THE ROADER’S BONUS NUGGET
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