ACM’s Distraction In Action #14

French bouldering, Cornish fishing, and a Shoreditchian soaking: five links that are dominating our chat right now

All Conditions Media

Sep 1, 2023

Your new 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. RELIVE THE MEDIA EVENT OF THE YEAR

“Fifty journalists walk into a carwash” may sound like the start of a niche media gag that’d end in an unbearably wacky “sud-editor” or “squeegee-Q Magazine” pun. But not here, pal. No time for joking about when, instead, this is actually our very serious description of the best hoods-/hands-on product test in the history of outdoor marketing. Very serious in claim, but weird AF in concept: not only did we manage to peel 50 of the country’s finest journalists and writers away from their desks and deadlines for an afternoon, but we chucked them through Shoreditch’s famous American Carwash, too. How the heck and why the hell is revealed in great detail here.

We learned: Writing a liability waiver that covers carwash-induced injuries is a right laugh.

2. TAKE FIVE FOR NEURODIVERGENCE IN CLIMBING

“Climbing distracted me from how misaligned I felt to the rest of the world.” That’s the gut-grabbing line that most stuck with us after watching this, climber Zofia Reych’s story of autism, ADHD, bouldering, and their definition of success. They’re the co-founding force behind the Women’s Bouldering Festival in Fontainebleau, which returns for another year next week and promises to be all the best kinds of FOMO-inducing, inclusive, environmentally aware, and brilliantly blister-y – and also very, very ACM in vibe. Oh, and as it turns out, they know how to write a killer opening paragraph to a feature, too. Damn, that’s good.

We learned: Font has approximately 20,000 problems, which is also the number of climbers you’ll find at your local wall after work on a weekday. Zing.

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We like the concept of chaos as a tool for creative thinking. We value it as an important part of the process of plucking amazing ideas from the busiest, randomest, and often strangest parts of our heads. And we try our damn hardest to create a culture where we can make that happen. See: that carwash event we mentioned earlier.

But we, like skater, skier, and super respected graphic designer Geoff McFetridge, know the value of a totally cleared mind and open space for ideas, too. ‘The Organic Interface’ is his latest exhibition, over in Copenhagen right now, and is the result of drawing “the opposite of ideas” - creations made from a blank-brain state. Y’know, like the quiet, near meditative headspace that lets unprompted out-there inspiration explode to the surface when you’re running, surfing, climbing, fishing, skating, hiking… you know exactly what we’re talking about. And it’s a process we’ve fully backed in our remote and flexitime work policies, which have massively improved our collaborative creativity. We’re no chin-strokey psychologists, but we’ll bet you a three-course dinner (drinks: not included) that’s down to us all getting the time and space to switch off the cogs in the outdoors, and turn up with ideas that’d cough, wheeze and shrivel in a traditional office space. Outside, eh? Who knew?

We learned: “I’m best when I’m at my loosest” is a McFetridge-ism we’ll be using next time we need an extra push out the door for a lunchtime 5k.

4. SEE BIKES THAT FOLD MAKE INSTA GOLD

We get very excited every time we put up a HEY WE GOT A NEW CLIENT! social post. You wouldn’t know it from the almost nonchalantly minimalist copy and slick carousel format we use to coolly get our point across. But really, we’re spending the next three hours tapping our feet and refreshing our feed to see who else has donated a double tap or parted with a party emoji. And then… quiet. Ordinarily, we need to wait a while before shouting about the ace work we’ve created with our latest signings. Not in Brompton’s case, though. Things have moved real fast ahead of the release of the Brompton BG - their new collab bike with Bear Grylls. So much so that the fruits of our creative influencer strategy are already ripe for the clicking. Outdoor photographer Dani KM’s content is the first peek inside our global social/editorial programme across IG and the Brompton blog, and a little whiff of what’s to come. And hoo-ey, let us tell you, it’s about to get real sweet-smelling in here.

We learned: #Bromping is massive in Asia. Think bikepacking, but 100% more foldable.

5. ENTER THE GREAT TUNA DEBATE

Whether you think Cornwall is the first or last county in the country, it’s a hard fact that ACM has both its north and south coasts covered. As well as our client, Finisterre, a number of our team are dotted around the county, too. Also based there: bluefin tuna. A heck of a lot of them, since returning to our waters ten years ago. The moose-sized speed machines are at the centre of a new ocean/environmental/outdoor culture debate that went up a gear this month, after DEFRA released the UK’s first commercial tuna fishing licenses in 60 years.

Is this an opportunity to explore a new route to sustainable fishing, or is the government too gung-ho about hunting down a species only recently taken off the endangered list? Is it a positive move for an industry in one of the most deprived regions of the UK, or for the millionaire rod-wranglers who’ll pay big bucks to catch a trophy apex predator? Spicy one, this, and one we’re pretty sure you’ll have some thoughts on. Let’s hear ‘em in the comments below.

We learned: Shark fishermen out of Penzance are reporting sightings of BTFs weighing in excess of 1,000lbs.

CREW TO-DO LIST

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 ACM’s all-new destination-hopping, iPhone-hotspotting account executive, Eleanor Mayle…

You made it all the way down here? Here’s a gift for your troubles:

END OF THE ROADER’S BONUS NUGGET

Japan is using an uncharacteristically low-tech method to keep cool during the global heatwave: telling horror stories.

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