Things are easy to get but hard to keep.
Welp. It happened. My often-blogged-about six year-old turned seven a few days ago. His celebration was two days long, with opening ceremonies happening at school on Friday and closing ceremonies happening after an eventful Saturday. It was a great mix of friends and family and although he usually steers away from the spotlight, we think he enjoyed it a little bit this time around.
My wife and I decided that it would be fun to turn our living room into an art gallery which showcases local art. Hyperlocal art. Like, artists that are so local that they live upstairs. Yeah, now you get it. It’s a little “extra” when compared to the usual “magnet-on-a-fridge” display of kids’ art, but there’s an enhanced sense of pride that comes with the more formal, official-ness of an in-home art gallery.
At the family dinner/art gallery opening – which included grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles – I was asked by someone what his “big present” was going to be. “Well, this party is his big present,” I replied, “Getting to share some of his latest artwork with his favorite people.”
Experiences > Things
Turning our home’s biggest room into a personal (albeit very homemade) art gallery is no small feat, but as regular “gifts” go, it’s not one of those, either. As parents, we’re trying to provide our kids with memorable experiences in lieu of just stuff. It’s easier said (and haphazardly blogged about) than done, but it’s something we’ve been focusing on.
He walked through the room and gave everyone a tour of his work – his choices of color, when he made it, where he made it (home or school), what inspired him, and what materials were used. He’s one of those kids that tries to hide the fact that he’s having a great time, but his mom and I always notice. He was and we did.
Enable Experiences
The party was a success and we decided to keep his art up on the walls for a while. The whole idea was a good reminder about what to keep focus on at work – building a brand from the ground up.
Magic Room Brand sells things, yes…I get that, but really, I’m trying to build a brand that offers creative people the tools they need to have and share musical experiences.
We live in a time where everyone is selling something. But brands that focus less on the things and more on the meaningful experiences built into the marketing, learning, purchasing, and using phases will be the ones that find the most connections with people. At the end of the day, that’s all I’m trying to do with Magic Room Brand – not trying to change people’s lives, but rather build a brand that can be a part of people’s lives.
The goal isn’t to move product, it’s to enable people to do more of what moves them.
Good hustle out there.
#bewhatyoumake
