An expression of Ho‘ohana: The Plastic Spork by Shawn Chambers

People will ask me, “How will I know something is my ho‘ohana?” They are asking me how they will know that the job they are in is “the one” for them.

The truest answer I can give them is that only they will know, and when they have “found it” they will just know, for the question is about finding work someone is passionate about. It is work they thrive on; work which keeps them growing and inspired, and work which helps them give back or somehow make a difference.

There are many examples online, for this “new media” wonder called blogging gives voice to people who are just that; passionate enough about the work they do to keep writing about it publicly. Blogging has gone mainstream, and there are many to choose from, and for me, a “ho‘ohana voice” is a primary call to action on which blogs I will subscribe to.

The Plastic Spork by Shawn Chambers is a great example; Shawn Chambers is an executive with Warehoused Plastic Sales in Toronto, Canada and he writes about his chosen field of plastics.

Today Shawn posted an article called Gravitas - The Evolution Of The Business Blog. He has been blogging for eight weeks, has gotten over two thousand hits, and he is thinking about it out loud with us, asking if he is succeeding. I loved his last three paragraphs, for I thought to myself, “this is great, Shawn gets it.”

What we have learned is that there is a tremendous void - a need - for experiential knowledge about plastics; that is, there’s lots of factual knowledge out there making engineers salivate, but there’s not enough “done that, been there” stuff for the Average Joe to get his head around how useful plastic really is. And, that’s where I’ve suggested that, as an industry, this blogging thing can pay off - as a tool of inspiration for more people to engage plastics as an alternative design & manufacturing solution to wood, glass, & metal.

Consumer Gravitas. That’s what business blogging really is - the fulfillment of a sense of duty and responsibility to serve the consumer at a higher level than a simple offering of useful goods and services.

Framed like that, business blogging, in itself, evolves beyond the criterion of profit and motive and into the realm of academia and enlightenment able to shift the thinking, and ultimately, the behavior, of an entire society towards an evolution into something greater and more able than it ever thought it could be.

In turn, I left this lengthy comment for Shawn, and I thought I’d share it here as well for all of you, for this is what happens when you live your ho‘ohana like Shawn does. Things will happen for other people as a result of it, and sometimes you’ll never find out that they did.

When I first subscribed to The Plastic Spork Shawn, I marked it as a “ho‘ohana blog,” meaning that it was one that was written to explore and share the writer’s purpose and passion for the work they do – yours Shawn. And I think your ho‘ohana continues to come out loud and clear here. As you’ve said, a business blog needs to deliver some return, just as the business itself does, however the metrics can be much more intangible, and the writer must decide if they’re okay with that. As a reader, I love where you arrive in your last two paragraphs, wanting your ho‘ohana to result in an experiential result for your readers, one that will result at “a higher level than a simple offering of useful goods and services.”

You are doing some really smart things here – like the survey you’ve added so you know who is reading and why, and your testing of various topics and categories to see which will continue to attract. I think you are building a magnificent resource for your own industry, serving them well with more knowledge than they’re likely to get within their own jobs. Once they find your blog, you will definitely help retain the person who started “just for a job” and now needs to discover “hey, there might be more to this than just my paycheck” when they don’t get inspired that way by their own boss. As far as the ‘average Joe’ goes, you can’t sell to us, you have to give us this ache to buy. Have you done that? I’ll give you my own example.

I returned home from a week’s travel yesterday, and as is my habit I brought a small “missed you and was thinking of you while gone” gift home for my husband and my son. This time however, it took me some hunting to find what I most wanted to bring home for my son; a replacement for his favorite plastic cup, one he had finally dropped one time too many and broken. I first had brought that cup home over ten years ago; I was a retail buyer at the time, and it was a vendor sample of logo merchandise for a golf line, with funky golfing emblems between the see-through plastic layers. My son loved it because he never wanted to bother with a coaster, saving our furniture from condensation rings. As he grew older, it was the only cup he trusted near his computer.

So yesterday, I bought him two new Tervis Tumblers from a specialty kitchen store at $16.50 each without blinking an eye. Yes, I wanted the perfect gift for my son (and he was ecstatic) however I’m quite positive I would not have appreciated the genius and beauty of those tumblers without ever having read The Plastic Spork Shawn— and they ARE so artistic without those awful golf logos, which at the time, was my vendor’s only interest in hawking them (I never bought the line). Before reading your blog I certainly would have balked at paying that price for plastic Shawn, looking for something else for my son (he’s now old enough to get over it!) But not yesterday; because of you, when I handed over the money I figured I was saying thank you and “I appreciate your craft” to whoever made those beauties.

Links which may be helpful;

1. Visit Shawn at The Plastic Spork, and enjoy his “ho‘ohana voice.”
2. The article I mention: Gravitas - The Evolution Of The Business Blog. As I write this, my comment may still be awaiting moderation.
3. I was going to add a picture of the Tervis Tumblers here for you, but all images on their site are pretty strictly copyrighted: You can see the logo-free beauty I purchased on this page.
4. For more on Ho‘ohana, the value of worthwhile work: Ho‘ohana: Love Your Work was written for Talking Story, and Break the Mold and Create Your Own Work was written for my guest appearance on Lifehack.org.

Comments

[shawn chambers]

Using other people's images on your blog...

blog servers allow you to "link" to the image rather than having to download it and host it yourself. A business wants buzz... wants people to learn about their product... that's why they spend so much money promoting it... it's why social networking works!

use the tag to connect to the image... and then use the tag to link from the image to the actual product website...

something like

what lawyer in their right mind would advise their client to STOP someone from promoting their client's products and then penalizing that someone for sending a prospect their way? an unemployed lawyer, that's who!

It all comes down to the concept of intent and purpose. In linking to another's website the intent is genuinely about sharing opportunity, isn't it? It would be different if you were orchestrating a promotional piece about your business where you're the only one benefiting from another's creative efforts. That's when you flip the author/artist a few bucks

In the case of the tumbler image in question, it's my humble opinion that they're trying to avoid knock-off companies from using their imagery - not a valued and happy customer, like Rosa, who wants to share useful and valuable information about their product.

So, Rosa... be proud of your plastic and link away!

[shawn chambers]

And, no sooner did I hit the enter button on my comments regarding appropriate appropriation of other people's images then the Government of Ontario sent me a note regarding an article that I'd "acquired" from their website:

We are glad you find our web content of interest.

You should also acknowledge that this information is copyright by the Queen's Printer for Ontario.

See: http://www.gov.on.ca/ont/portal/!ut/p/.cmd/cs/.ce/7_0_A/.s/7_0_252/_s.7_0_A/7_0_252/_l/en?docid=004222

OMAFRA

A perfect example of what I spoke of in my last post -- people want this information to propagate. There's a greater purpose in blogging to share valuable information. Mr. Government didn't say "don't" they just said, "hey, give us some credit and protection, please."

(how serendipitously coincidental was this whole experience? Now, THAT is kharma!)

[Rosa Say]

Yep Shawn, true blue ho‘ohana – no one will get away with raining on your parade for plastic’s glory, and all the believers will happily get in step with you!