SASM 014 – Cultivating Curating’s Promise and Storytelling’s Evolution with Steve Rosenbaum

Summary: (http://valueofsimple.com/wp-content/uploads/Smart-and-Simple-Matters-Cover-200x200.jpg)I brought Steve Rosenbaum on with me for this episode of the show and … man! I’m not sure why I sound tired near the end, but it’s probably because Steve overwhelmed my intellect with his awesomeness and original thinking. To give you some context (like any good curator would), here are some of Steve’s bonafides: * Author of a popular book called Curation Nation (http://curationnation.org/) * Had a TEDxTalk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iASluLoKQbo) about curating * Has been granted the title "Entrepreneur At Large (http://www.nycedc.com/press-release/nycedc-announces-steven-rosenbaum-serve-first-ever-entrepreneur-large)" for New York City's Economic Development Corporation. * Is the CEO of Magnify.net (http://www.magnify.net/) * Contributor for Forbes, The Huffington Post, Mashable, and other prominent places * Winner of an Emmy for his documentary film 7 Days In September (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0348816/) about the attacks of 9/11 * Creator of the MTV show UNfiltered (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNfiltered) Without all that to his name, he’s still an impressive fellow. If you’re even remotely interested in curating, storytelling, entrepreneurship, or dealing with the fire hose of the Internet, this will be like brain candy to you. Where else are you going to get original thoughts like this one? Robots don’t curate. Robots don’t write music, they don’t write poetry, they don’t write plays, they don’t paint pictures, they’re not artists, and they don’t choose sophisticated, interesting collections of ideas. - Steve Rosenbaum There will be more groovy curators on Smart and Simple Matters in the future, but I’m super stoked that Steve was the first. Let me know in the comments if you have other insightful curators that you think I should bring on the show. What You’ll Learn Besides knowing whether there will ever be an algorithm that can replace me (*gulp*), you’ll get all this out of our chat. In this episode you’ll learn about: * How 800 people begged Steve to tell their story … and the simple mind shift that sparked it. * The primary reason that curation came to be (it’s not what you think). * Whether you should be a curator or find curators you can trust to filter the Internet fire hose. * How to look spiffy in your physical clothing and digital clothing. * The big change on the horizon of how content gets into our brains. * If people truly want more information or generally believe that less is more. * How many hours a day I curate (and what I spend it on). * A shocking stat about employees checking email in the middle of the night … * … And the crazy relationship between sleep, email, and the curating mindset. * The current and future balance of power between content creators, distribution platforms, and curators. * The responsibility that curators have to their craft and to their terminology. Resources and Items Mentioned in This Episode Include: * Websites: Magnify.net (http://www.magnify.net/), Jason Hirschhorn’s Media ReDEFined (http://www.mediaredefined.com/), Brain Pickings (http://www.brainpickings.org/)   * Resources: Steve’s TEDxTalk in Grand Rapids (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iASluLoKQbo) * Books: Curation Nation * Movies: 7 Days In September * Where to find Steve: @magnify (https://twitter.com/magnify) * Etc.: The Clinical Advisor videos (case study) (http://video.clinicaladvisor.com/), Joel’s initial episode in the curating series (http://valueofsimple.com/smart-and-simple-matters-podcast-005-curating-part-1), Steve’s curating article for Mashable (http://mashable.com/2010/05/03/content-curation-creation/), Entrepreneur At Large (http://www.nycedc.com/press-release/nycedc-announces-steven-rosenbaum-serve-first-ever-entrepreneur-large) Topics * [02:13] The two consistent themes of Steve’s work over the years