ACM’s Distraction In Action #19
Good news, bad ads, and ugly shoes: the big links that are dominating our chat
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. UPDATE YOUR CV
If there’s one thing our comments section has taught us about the art of newsletters in 2023, it’s that you love our “extra 10%ers”. It’s what our handful of former-magazine-editors-turned-ACMers would’ve referred to as “box outs” in their ye olde editorial days, and how we describe our (now retired) Crew To Do lists and Outsider Insider CVs. It’s that extra bit of bonus content that just adds a little summin summin, and a certain – as the French say – juh nay see qwah to a piece, y’know? Most recently, you loved hearing about Demi Taylor, director of London Surf / Film Festival, and the big breaks in the M&S bra department and bouncy castle industry she described in her resume last week. Given that her celebration of all things surfing is well underway in the big city, now would be a pretty good time to go back and re-read all about it in her interview with our co-founder Jojo.
We learned: Porridge, coffee, and feeding two robins might just be the most wholesome morning routine ever.
2. WIN YOUR WAY TO VERBIER
How many photos of white blokes in red technical coats standing on mountain ridgelines has your Instagram sent up today? How many feet hanging out the back of vans did you scroll past this summer? And how deep are the bite marks you leave in your fist every time you see two hands come together to create a heart at sunset? Our pals Klättermusen are as done with the outdoor/adventure photography cliches as we are.
The photo contest accompanying their “phwoar”-inducing new film, A Different Perspective, is a big bold bid to bring a little creativity back to our outdoor playgrounds and the way we photograph them. Give the movie (which features three boss league photo masters) a squizz, then click here for more info on how your camera skills could send you to Verbier next year.
We learned: Writing these bios for photographers Melody Sky, Tero Repo, and Daniel Bernstål was pretty inspiring and extremely FOMO inducing.
3. SEND IT (ALL THE WAY TO 10 DOWNING ST)
Spoiler alert! Oxfam’s Climate Equality: A Planet For The 99% report (which draws on research by the Stockholm Environment Institute) is not suitable bedtime reading. Nah, you’re not nodding off peacefully after learning how, every year, emissions from the richest 1% of the population cancel out the carbon savings made by almost one million wind turbines, for example. But it’s precisely this sort of rub-your-temples intel that makes POW’s Send It For Climate initiative so important. The activation isn’t rocket science – their freepost postcards outline the policy commitments needed to get the UK back on course towards net zero, and will fill the in-trays of The House Of Commons’ finest. “But, like, will they really take any notice?” we hear you say. We’ll let POW UK’s Head of Programmes, Dom Winter (real name, not joking), answer that one.
“The short answer is yes. We've already had an in-person meeting with Shadow Climate Minister Kerry McCarthy, and had confirmation of hearing from us from the Government's Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
“Politicians do what will get them elected, so we need to make it clear how widespread the support for action is. While the stats show the majority of the public are behind more urgent action, politicians don't really get that the data represents a broad cross section of society.
“Talking to politicians and experienced political activism strategists, the advice we repeatedly hear is that the message needs to be personal - even the Shadow Climate Minister said the same in our meeting. A personally written postcard including why every responder cares about this issue, attached to various images of diverse outdoor sports, is much more impactful than a petition or a total copy-paste letter. But we still need the numbers too, so Send It today!”
We learned: Exactly how much carbon goes into creating one kilogram of cheddar cheese, thanks to our carbon literacy training course with POW earlier this year. (There were some other more important things in there, too.)
4. PRAY FOR GLOBAL AD AGENCIES THIS XMAS
Yes, of course we’re going to enjoy a beautiful report into the global brands that get digital advertising so excruciatingly wrong over Xmas. “Over $73B is forecasted to be wasted on digitally suboptimal ads in Q4 2023.” You love to see it!
We learned: Our festive period will now be spent analysing every digital advert we see and guessing how much dosh it’s flushing down the pan.
5. GIVE BANFIELD A BIG UP
Until this month, our favourite thing to come out of Penryn, Cornwall, was ACM’s senior creative, Chris. Every word on our new website, bad pun on our virtual team chat, and badly finished timesheet has come from his desk in the sleepy, scruffy town that hangs off the shoulder of its famous-er big brother, Falmouth. For now, though, he’s been demoted to silver medal position.
Enter Charlotte Banfield, probably the most successful homegrown surfer you’ve never heard of. Earlier this month she nabbed gold at the ISA World Para Surfing Champs in Huntington Beach, California – her fifth world championship medal. Big up to our pals at The Wave Project for starting training with her a decade ago, and big up to Charlotte for not letting cerebral palsy, autism, and epilepsy get in the way of her waves.
We learned: Our regular “bit chilly to surf today, innit” excuse is no longer valid. Ever.
ACM TOP FIVES
So long, Crew To Do list. It’s been emotional. But hello to our very first ACM Top Five – a quintet of stuff, things, and/or bits-n-pieces that proves how nerdy our team members are in their chosen specialist subjects. First up is Stu, our in-house ultrarunner and FKTer…
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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