Phoenix’ Speech Was More Than A Speech

“I think we’ve become very disconnected from the natural world. Many of us are guilty of an egocentric world view, and we believe that we’re the centre of the universe.”

This have been just one of many inspiring and very true words of Joaquin Phoenix latest speech at the Oscar Award Ceremony as he accepts the best actor Academy Award for his role as the damaged clown Arthur Fleck in Joker. 

Description

Source: Youtube

Forever alone in a crowd, failed comedian Arthur Fleck seeks connection as he walks the streets of Gotham City. He transforms himself into a tortured and mentally unstable loner driven to highly inhumane acts of violence—against humans—in pursuit of a quixotic stand-up comedy career. On camera his cackling laughter, sheepish grin, and slow-blinking eyes channel unexpected heartbreak and humanity in a DC Comics villain from Batman—in fact, erasing any trace of comic books and instead presenting a character study of a fevered vigilante suffering from mental illness, alienation, narcissism, and latent rage. Directed by Todd Phillips as an homage to grimy 1970s and ’80s classics, especially those made by Martin Scorsese with Robert De Niro (who costars), the film’s artful depiction of an alienated white man performing acts of nihilistic savagery has already rekindled the conversation over the relationship between Hollywood violence and the real-life kind seen last summer in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.

Phoenix mostly wants to let the film speak for itself. “There’s so many different ways of looking at it,” Phoenix says of the Arthur Fleck/Joker character. “You can either say here’s somebody who, like everybody, needed to be heard and understood and to have a voice. Or you can say this is somebody that disproportionately needs a large quantity of people to be fixated on him. His satisfaction comes as he stands in amongst the madness.”

Phoenix has always had an intuitive feel for the dark side of the human psyche. In Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here, from 2017, he played a damaged hit man who kills rich men who rape underage girls by hitting them with a ball-peen hammer. Before that, in Spike Jonze’s Her—during which he met his fiancée, costar Rooney Mara—he was a lonely depressive who finds love in his computer’s operating system. In 2010, he flummoxed everyone by playing a semifictional version of himself as a self-destructive actor trying to build a hip-hop career for the mockumentary I’m Still Here—a movie that further complicated the line between reality and fiction when director Casey Affleck was sued for untoward behavior by two female crew members—before returning with a bravura performance in The Master, as the unhinged devotee of an L. Ron Hubbard-like quasi-religious leader. That began a run of finely wrought indie performances.

Observing the darkness in his work, it’s tempting to look for its source in his personal history. It wasn’t long ago that he was still being referred to as “the second most famous Phoenix,” his name associated most closely with the death of his cult-legend brother, River, in 1993, which Joaquin witnessed, along with sister Rain, in front of the Viper Room on Sunset Boulevard, then co-owned by Johnny Depp. The public memory of his brother has faded enough that Joaquin is now the most familiar Phoenix, but the tragedy is never far for Joaquin himself. In part that’s because reporters never stop asking him about it. But he was also deeply influenced by his brother, and by his death, even if he remains reluctant to draw a straight line between his unusual background and his private tragedy and his talent for inhabiting the morose, damaged, violent, and otherwise anxiety-riddled characters he takes on—roles he seems vividly made for.

Phoenix has recently undergone hypnosis to quit smoking, a habit he took up as a teenager, but it doesn’t seem to be working out. His fingernails are chewed to nubs and he keeps two packs of American Spirits and several lighters close at hand. “I eat really healthy,” he says. “I don’t really like junk food. I don’t like processed foods. Right? But I still can—like, I’ll fuck up a bag of chips. Like a fuckin’ Subway sandwich and shit.” For Joker, he went on an extremely restrictive diet—advised by the same doctor who helped him lose weight for The Master—and lost 52 pounds. After the film, he gained back 25, but the oily image of his severe, wraithlike body in the trailer for Jokerarrived like a shock last spring, evidence that Phoenix had once again gone all in on a role. 

As Arthur Fleck, Phoenix leans into his physical features, from the scar on his upper lip (not a surgically fixed cleft, he says, but a nonsurgical scar he was born with) to his leonine gaze, sad-sack grin, and distended shoulder, which he was also born with. Phillips told him he looked like “one of those birds from the Gulf of Mexico that they’re rinsing the tar off.” “He’s got the most interesting form,” he says. “He’s so beautiful.”

To develop the character of Arthur Fleck, Phoenix did research on narcissism and criminology and studied the movements of Buster Keaton and actor Ray Bolger, the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz,which inspired the highly creepy dance that so acutely expresses Fleck’s private madness. During one scene, the screenplay called for Fleck to shut himself in a bathroom after several murders, looking for a place to hide his gun. Phoenix and Phillips decided it didn’t feel right, and while they discussed the scene, Phillips played Phoenix some newly composed music for the movie. Phoenix began dancing, an elegant, tango-like movement, and Phillips asked the cameraman to start filming with a handheld camera, just the three of them in the room while a crew of 250 waited outside. The scene became part of an eye-popping trailer, set to a Jimmy Durante tune, “Smile.”

DescriptionForever alone in a crowd, failed comedian Arthur Fleck seeks connection as he walks the streets of Gotham City. Arthur wears two masks -- the one he paints for his day job as a clown, and the guise he projects in a futile attempt to feel like he's part of the world around him. Isolated, bullied and disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker.

DescriptiForever alone in a crowd, failed comedian Arthur Fleck seeks connection as he walks the streets of Gotham City. Arthur wears two masks -- the one he paints for his day job as a clown, and the guise he projects in a futile attempt to feel like he's part of the world around him. Isolated, bullied and disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker.

Cobbler, stick to your trade

The ever changing event and tourism industry causes a lot of confusion when it comes to the actual job titles and duties. Over the years, we’ve learned that the destination management industry is a mystery to many. If you have questions about DMCs and what in the world we do, you’re not alone (...even our own friends and family have a hard time grasping the services we provide!) As Event & Destination Manager myself I often have to explain what exactly I do.   

In March 2019 our I have hosted a masterclass highlighting what event really means, what the purpose of an event is and why an Event Manager can be of great help when it comes to marketing strategies. People in this day and age seem to get easily confused with the term of Event Management and how it takes place within a decent marketing strategy. A lot of people also assume that meeting or event planners are a one-size-fits-all solution for any kind of corporate event, large or small, and to some degree, they’re correct. 

But there’s a subset of event planners who specialize in Congress Organisation (so called PCO = Professional Congress Organiser) and some who specialize location-specific events that call for attendees to travel (so called DMCs = Destination Management Companies). 

The DMC type of planner does a whole lot more than make an event sing; it pulls together a cohesive series of events — and events between events — without so much as a bump in the road, no matter how long the journey and no matter where the locale. So it is clearly an individual expertise and therefore a different task within the planning industry. 

In travel and tourism terms, DMO stands for Destination Marketing Organization. They represent destinations and help to develop their long-term travel and tourism strategy. DMOs come in various forms and have labels such as "Tourism Board," "Convention and Visitors Bureau," and "Tourism Authority." They are typically part of a political branch or subdivision in charge of promoting a specific destination and enticing and servicing MICE (stands for Meeting Incentive Conferences Exhibitions) travel. DMOs play a key role in the long-term development of a destination, by formulating an effective travel and tourism strategy. 

For the visitor, DMOs serve as a gateway to a destination. They offer the most current information about a destination’s attractions. They're a one-stop shop, maintaining a physical presence where visitors can engage with staff, obtain maps, brochures, information, and promotional books and magazines formulated by the DMO and its clients. A DMOs online presence is particularly important. Statistics show that leisure travelers search a number of online sources during their trip-planning activities. DMO websites that maintain current calendars, list of hotels, events, and other practical travel information are extremely valuable to prospective leisure visitors. Some of the leisure groups are also FIT groups. 

FIT (Free Independent Traveler) is an individual (or small group of <10) traveling and vacationing with a self-booked itinerary. FIT travel is not done as a member of a traditional guided tour not via a marketed package combining transport (air, rail or bus), lodging/hotel, entertainment or local transport (rental car for use at destination). For the travel industry, the business model is driven by prominence of FIT's. The Long Tail of Travel emerges in the presence of some or all of the following:

• wider access to information e.g. the internet
• word-of-mouth to establish trust in taking "the path less traveled", sometimes facilitated by social media
• lowered jet fuel costs 
• stable consumer finances

Here is a step-by-step break down of the difference between a DMC and an event planner when putting together a company event:

In general terms, an event planner plans events, a meeting planner plans meetings (blog post). A DMC, though, does a litany of things: event/program design, tour/excursion planning, logistics planning, transportation management, service oversight, supplier management, and accounting. In other words, a DMC’s expert team will customize a full program from start to finish, utilizing the best resources the location has to offer and drawing on the unique features of the city or town to make the experience effective, memorable and fun for all involved (blog post).

While meeting and event planners are adept at putting together the nuts and bolts of a gathering, the element of destination management fills in all the gaps from beginning to end — local tours between meetings, transportation to and from the airport, partnerships with the best local eateries, tourist attractions and more.

The primary difference

Want your executives to sink their teeth into some phenomenal local cuisine with personalized service from the top chef in the city? A DMC can arrange that in a snap. Need a fleet of luxury vehicles or an upscale coach to get the team from point A to point B, C, D, E and then off to their departure gates when all is said and done? Again, a DMC is the way to go, since those are the sorts of run-of-the-mill tasks these local connoisseurs handle every day. They can (and do) act as site selection partners, creative designers, event marketers, tour guides, welcome ambassadors and more. Much like a concierge on a grand scale, they leverage their deep knowledge of (and relationships with) top local vendors to negotiate discounts while tailoring every aspect of a multi-day event to meet its guests’ specific needs. In the months leading up to the program, they can be a brand’s greatest ally, and the partnership only strengthens as the big event arrives, executes and wraps up with a group of happy campers heading back home.

What services does a PCO provide?

PCOs provide a variety of services, below is an indication of some of the main services you can expect from a PCO:

• Advice and guidance

• Strategic consultancy

• Assisting with bidding process

• Venue selection and negotiation

• Financial management and budgeting

• Tax and exchange rate issues

• Abstract Handling and speaker communications

• Registration and logistics

• Marketing, communication & social media

• Sponsorship and exhibition sales

• Project management

• Technical management (AV, IT, WIFI, etc.)

• Assistance with scientific programme

• Accommodation negotiation and bookings

• Special social events/banqueting/other catering functions

• Risk management & security issues

• Administration of Congress communication

• Onsite communication/delegate Apps etc.

• Ground handling/logistics

• Pre and post tours

What services does a DMC provide?

DMCs provide a variety of services, below is an indication of some of the main services you can expect from a DMC:

Destination Consultancy

• Destination selection - The DMC provides advice and information about the chosen destination, the advantages and disadvantages for a specific meetings type, group size, and the level of security, climate and all the local elements contributing to the success of the association’s meeting.

• Matching destination to association objectives - The DMC, as the local expert, is the insider and in close cooperation with the association selects and matches the destination depending on the association’s objectives.

• Creation and design of meeting - The DMC creates together with the association the desired theme in and around the meeting, assists with the choice of locations, materials and food, depending on the association’s wishes and budget.

Ground Handling

• Meeting, staging and AV management - The DMC offers their own AV equipment if available or selects the best local provider that matches the standards expected and budget available.

• Accommodation - The DMC acts as a local expert and consultant for accommodation issues providing necessary information, booking system.

• Welcome, gala and off-site functions - The DMC acts as local expert and consultant by providing information on prices, discounts, venues etc.

• Airport transfers and hospitality - The DMC arranges all necessary transport by land, sea or air in the destination. Some DMCs will own their own fleet of buses and/or cars, while others will know which local providers will best meet the association’s needs and budget.

• Social Programme - The DMC will carefully tailor the social programme to the needs of the meeting and all delegates, taking into consideration the season, budget and theme of the meeting.

• Speaker logistics and management - The DMC provides speaker assistance - from accommodation, transport, social programme and-, tours, etc.

• Sourcing of local staff - The DMC sources or outsources local personnel - from multilingual staff to industry experts or amateurs that are familiar with the topic of the meeting.

• Design and print management - The DMC assists in or manages the design and printing of all material, respecting the association’s standards and gives advice on trends and options. This part is usually outsourced from a local provider, but can also be managed in-house.

What services does a DMO provide?

‘DMO’ is a newer term that is used in order to be more transparent about how the organization helps planners and other groups. The DMO can provide assistance in scouting, negotiating, and supplier vetting. Some DMOs market only to leisure travelers, while others market solely to meeting planners.

• oversee, create, and implement marketing campaigns and promotions to inspire travelers to visit their destination

• advocate for increased investment to enhance the visitor experience.

• formulate campaigns to attract conventions, meetings, and events to their destination.

• work closely with meeting planners to plan events that display the destination and its attractions in the most favorable and enticing manner.

• interact with leisure, vacation, and MICE travelers, meeting professionals, conventioneers, business travelers, tour operators, and travel agents with both FIT (Free Independent Traveler) and group travel clientele.

The end result

When you’re bringing a group of professionals together in a city that isn’t their own, the effectiveness of the conference, summit or team-building event can hinge as much on the “in-betweens” as it does on the main event itself. As attendees are able to let their hair down together during thoughtfully-curated excursions outside of those daily meetings, bonds form. As they enjoy the local delights of the city they’re in, they learn new things about one another and strengthen their working relationships. And if they’re able to sleep well in the best local hotels, have all their meals planned to perfection and avoid the usual hassles of getting around an unfamiliar place by enjoying pre-arranged transport, they’ll be at their best when it counts.

A good DMC actually has a resounding effect on the attendees’ experience the entire time they’re away from home. In the end, it means an efficient, extraordinary experience for attendees and a glowing set of reviews for the host when everyone departs.

Given the amount of time, energy and money that goes into a major company event, the only gambling that should ever take place is placing your bet on a winning event partner. Now that you’re familiar with the difference between a DMC and an event planner, feel free to check out this company:

www.2b-uk.com

Transition Back to Employee After Being an Entrepreneur

The way back to normal life?

Owning your own business is tough. It’s definitely not for everyone, and even the best business ideas sometimes don’t work out. In fact, this happens more often than not. While the numbers vary by study, it’s estimated that well more than half of all businesses fail - or at least fail to succeed. Additionally, other factors in an entrepreneur’s life can change and require them to go back to seek a day job, whether in the corporate world or even with another small business.

After being a freelancer for 4yo I thought it should be easy to buy into the dream of owning your own business and thinking that it will be better than working for someone else. After a few months into business ownership, I have had clients tell me that however many hours they might have to work in corporate, executing on someone else’s strategy would seem so much easier than having to come up with the strategy, do the marketing, sell the work and then deliver the work. Although being the CEO and the janitor isn’t for everyone, I truly enjoyed to realise my idea of how to deliver services in event management.

As time went by, things started to change a little. The more I integrated, the more I saw, understood and acknowledged. Oblivious as I was at the beginning, I soon realised that I was somehow treated differently than my fellow British colleagues. For a while, it didn't bother me, but after around 7.5yo in business in the UK I didn’t get the required traction back as suppose to. 

Facing political instability (previous blog) was just one of some reasons why my decision had to be made. The cultural approach within the industries have also been more and more of a struggle. As soon you’re not falling into the exact criteria the big competitors dictate, you can be sure not being respected as one of them and you will face certain struggles. Europeans do have indeed a different attitude how business should be done and how competitors play a role within your network - or not. I have since then read a lot about Europeans leaving the UK for the exact same reasons I faced several times (see also this blog).

31st December 2019 ... probably a date I will never forget in my life. After 9yo of self-employment in the UK and 13yo being my own boss I have decided to close down my business and going back to employment, working for someone else. However, us entrepreneurs should get credit for having had the guts to try. Especially us who come from a different country. We can talk about what we’ve learned in the process. We can talk about how much harder it was than we expected. We can talk about becoming a great time-manager and learning to be self-directed. We can also talk about how great it was to start a new life and bring cultural background with you. Or we can talk about being an “intrapreneur” -- bringing our international entrepreneurial mindset into a corporate environment. We can actually be a big plus for some companies out there. But this requires understanding for our “different” thinking and operating style.

I have been delighted for having received a new job offer within the industry. Knowing it would be a big step for me to close down my business I have also been excited to get the chance for exploring a new venture. I knew the further I go outside of my comfort zone, the more I’ll learn. 

The biggest roadblock for me as entrepreneur have been my inner game. There is often some shame or sadness associated with me having left my own business. I have also been afraid that I might lose the contacts I have developed with other entrepreneurs. After now 4 weeks in the new role I realise that the onboarding process is quite challenging. 

The longer decision-making cycles and defined processes and procedures in corporate seem overly burdensome since I have been able to make quick decisions and change directions easily in my own business. I probably have to exercise more patience - with myself and and my colleagues. As strange as it seems but even sitting in another office is somehow quite distracting. I shall try to get myself some decent headphones to listen to some tunes or even an inspirational podcast about creative exercise.

Also, having to go into the office and work a fixed schedule seems to require some adjustment. I feel almost like having perpetual jet lag. I am extremely tired, experience headaches and I struggle to concentrate in daily routines. My plan was going back to a dietary change and eat well again, to exercise again and to finally get plenty of sleep - all of it haven’t been hugely successful yet.

Unlocking my inner creativity again

Creativity isn’t only important for “creative” jobs. In a study by IBM, about 60 percent of CEOs polled cited creativity as the most important leadership quality, compared with 52 percent for integrity and 35 percent for global thinking. Why? Because creativity enables people to solve problems, respond to challenges and come up with innovative ideas. Creativity isn’t something you’re just born with; with some practice and nurturing, you can train yourself to become a more creative person.

To bring out my creative side again, I needed to bring the thoughts from inside of my mind, out onto paper. I started writing down all of my ideas onto paper, no matter how silly or impossible they may seem. Just the exercise of writing down my ideas helps me to boost my creative thinking. Apparently the process of writing down your ideas trains your brain to keep coming up with new ideas. It’s been said that creativity is contagious. In fact, according to ScienceDaily, "leaders can imbue their subordinates with confidence and creativity just by setting an example themselves." So, I also need to surround yourself with creative people again. They say by hanging out with creative people on a regular basis, their thoughts and behaviors can rub off on you, which can inspire you and boost your own creativity.

My plan is also to recall myself to the following 9 ways to rewire your brain for creativity:

1. Mindful observation.

Our ability to create begins with observing the world around us. How we perceive our surroundings and our environment fuels our creativity. This begins with mindful observation, or noticing and appreciating the details of your surroundings.

By improving your observation skills, you’ll tap into your creative energy and discover nuances and details you hadn’t noticed before. This will open your mind to new possibilities and help you build a repertoire of experiences that can ignite innovation. Being observant means paying close attention to the world around you.

It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the staggering amount of visual information that surrounds us. Start by focusing on areas where you want to make improvements. The world is full of interesting patterns and connections. Try to spot the relationships between things. Look for how things form or “click” together, and how people and things affect one another. These connections can be fuel for ideas and spark your creative process.

2. Change your environment.

Your drab surroundings may be zapping your inspiration. One easy hack to rekindle your creativity is to try changing your environment. Sometimes a bustling atmosphere can do the trick, so try packing up your laptop and find a restaurant, café or even a park setting where you can work for a while.

In addition, set up your workspace in a way that is conducive to being creative. This will be highly personal based on your preferences, but make sure you have a dedicated space where you create, and only create, whether in a work office or in your home.

Make the space comfortable, ensuring your desk and chair are at the right height and you’re well supported. Consider what colors you use to decorate. Blue is often considered good for boosting creative thinking, but you know yourself best. And consider clutter -- some people believe that clutter encourages creativity by promoting unconventional thinking. Others feel they can focus better in a tidy space.

3. Take a creative stroll.

We all know a sedentary life is bad for your health, and it turns out exercise is also good for your creative thinking. Simply getting up and going for a walk will improve brain function and boost your creativity. One study found that walking benefited creative brainstorming and enhanced “divergent” or unconventional thinking.

You can also turn a walk into an opportunity to practice mindful observation. Watch people in a crowded area. Take mental note of things that catch your eye and make a quick sketch when you get home. Or take photos along the way and create a weekly collage of the things you see. Try taking a “soundwalk,” in which you focus on the sounds around you and where they’re coming from.

4. Recharge your curiosity.

Creativity thrives on curiosity. Our ability to wonder, to dig into something and search for answers, ignites our creativity and fuels our innovative thoughts. But our thirst for knowledge can dwindle over time. We stop asking and begin accepting. Try sparking your imagination and creativity by asking questions.

Start living a curiosity-driven life. What piques your interest? Delve into it; examine and research it. See where your line of thinking takes you. You may discover that you thrive on the process of discovery. The more you know, the more your mind is awakened, and the more you want to learn. This will open your mind to new possibilities others simply cannot see.

5. Blue sky thinking.

Blue sky thinking means to completely free your mind and brainstorm without limitations. It means moving beyond the standards, boundaries and thresholds that we have built for ourselves and generating ideas that aren’t bound by cost, effort, time, technology or resources. It means freeing yourself of constraints, assumptions and self-limiting beliefs. It’s a great way to ignite your creative engine and spur innovative thoughts.

Start with a clear question with a specific goal. Remember, there are no bad ideas, so don’t berate yourself for a thought you might think is dumb. This is giving yourself the ability to think out of the box and explore ideas without dismissing them too quickly.

The idea is to unburden yourself with constraints that bog down your thinking, so be creative and wacky. When you’re done, look through the ideas. You can weed out impractical ideas or those that aren’t focused on the goal, but there may be nuggets of thought that can help you find achievable, pertinent concepts you can build on.

6. Incorporate “design thinking” into your creative process.

Design thinking is an approach to practical and creative problem-solving. It starts with empathy -- understanding what the end user wants, their constraints and desires. Because design thinking focuses on humans and understanding people’s needs, and then coming up with effective solutions to meet those needs, it can be applied to nearly any field.

The design thinking process consists of 5 stages: empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test. It marries both creativity and critical-thinking skills. It requires designers to generate lots of ideas and prototype them, so they become comfortable with failure.

It forces you to keep your mind open, to try out many ideas early on, so you don’t get too invested in just one. The process harnesses creativity through inquiry. At its core, it’s a structured, systematic way of solving problems.

7. Practice creating.

Creativity is a skill, and it takes practice to fine-tune it. The act of creating something actually spurs your mind to be more creative. Even for the most creative and innovative people, about 10 percent of their work is natural talent and 90 percent is labor.

You can cultivate your creativity by challenging yourself to create every day, in whatever way speaks to you, whether that is writing, drawing, photography, painting, dancing, singing or creating music. Push past your first ideas. We often focus on concepts we already know.

Don’t self-edit, but give yourself freedom to go in different directions. Let your ideas flow, then look at them more critically. Creativity is a process that takes time and effort.

8. Take time to daydream.

Allowing yourself time to “space out” and let your mind wander can boost creativity. Researchers have found that daydreaming can lead to creative problem-solving. When your mind wanders, it accesses memories, emotions and random bits of stored knowledge. The key to using mind-wandering effectively is to direct it toward an area you’re looking for inspiration in.

Focused daydreaming requires you to first research and explore the problem or issue you’re hoping to solve. Having a foundation of knowledge to draw on is important, so the subconscious mind can ponder it all. Then you’ll need to find a way to “switch off” and let your mind go.

Pay close attention to any ideas you come up with, and jot them down. A few ways to create a daydreaming mind include going for a walk, taking a shower or bath, going for a bicycle ride or lying awake at night or in the morning.

9. Build a creative portfolio that inspires you.

Reflect on what inspires you to be your best, creative self -- what helps you tap into your innovative thoughts and ideas? Are there certain blogs, books or videos that shake up your thinking and spur ideas? Are there activities that always seem to relax your mind and help you look at things in an unconventional way, such as journal writing, meditating or going for a run?

Build a portfolio of things that help you tap into your creative energy and original thinking. If you enjoy drawing, try keeping a sketch pad or doodle book. If you like to write, keep a notepad handy to jot down stray thoughts.

Make time to write every day. If you find inspiration in nature, try collecting small items from your time outside, or take pictures of scenes you come across and find stimulating or exhilarating. Arrange the items or pictures in a notebook or collage. Whatever it is you find interesting, motivating and inspiring, use it to help you rewire your brain and boost your creativity on a daily basis.