We also talk about the responsibility of the media.

A huge issue confronting the media has always been representation and truth.

The Huffington Post brought this little nugget to our attention and I must confess it left me scratching my head.

I am very happy to report that not one of my students thought that there was ever a justification to edit people in or out of a photo that will be used in the media.

What is even more extraordinary is the offending paper is based in the USA!

Here is the commentary from the Huffington Post.

A Brooklyn-based Hasidic newspaper removed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and another woman from the now-iconic photo of the Obama national security team watching the raid that killed Osama bin Laden from the White House Situation Room.

The original photo, taken as the raid was occurring, famously shows Clinton in the center of the room, with her hand over her mouth. But the newspaper Der Tzitung, described by the Jewish Week as “ultra-Orthodox,” has a policy of never printing photos of women in its pages because it thinks they could be sexually suggestive. Thus, Clinton and counterterrorism director Audrey Tomason, who was seen standing at the back of the room, were removed from the picture.

Here is the original photo.

And here is the altered photo.

Ethics 101, clearly the editors need to re-take the course, tells you that you do not alter images. If the image doesn’t work find another.

I am shocked that this paper could think that religious grounds justify image alteration.

Without ethics our media is worth nothing.

The grocery store is a great place to get a sense of how global and local ideas are being worked out.

Here we have a classic Special K box with a variation of the promotion to lose a dress size.

Great, the message is eat healthy and look healthy.

But what happens when the global campaign brushes against local sensibility  that has no issue with the message just the visual representation of the message?

In this case the offending image is blocked with stickers!

Who decides what is and is not offensive?

And maybe even more interesting is who has the task of applying the stickers?

Special K and Kellogg’s had a great opportunity to reach out to the young and health conscious population of the middle east with a simple packaging change, maybe even a different image applied with a sticker and they blew it.

Was this a case of arrogance or just plain stupidity?

After a while in Bali you start to ask yourself, ‘how can I make this lifestyle more permanent?’

One of the obvious answers is you need to create a way to make your skills of some marketable value beyond sending out a CV to a variety of hotels or whatever your desired occupation might be.

An obvious start is to brand yourself!

Well, Tom Peters has been talking about this since at least 1987 YET so fe seem to get it!

Marissa Woods of Image Factor totally gets it and is helping you and me to get with it.

I had the pleasure of speaking to Marissa about brand me!

So, the question is are you thinking about your brand?

I drive a 1.o litre engined car with flowers on the doors and I feel very good about myself and my driving habits.

Up until a week ago, even when I put surf boards on my car it was a neutral tool.

A week ago I started to also drive a jeep.

You know what? The jeep may not be the most refined vehicle, it is not.

But no matter the weather, where we are going, when you climb into the jeep you can not brish the smile off your face.

We met up with a couple that we have never spolen to and they saw our jeep and instantly said that vehicle has you written all over it!

I never thought I would say that a vehicle can define you and your lifestyle, I stand corrected.

I wonder if we need to think like this more often?

Do, say, be as we want to and not as we think people want us to be!

We don’t think like that enough and you know what?  I think that is a piece of the puzzle of why people fail when they should not.

In the waiting room I struck up a conversation with Mr. Julian Miller of MillerExecutive Search.

Nothing new about talking to people in a waiting room except that the conversation started with the simple sentence, from him to me, “I wish I could get away with wearing that shirt”.

The shirt is a classic James with 12 colours and hidden animals, very loud and very me, it was tempered with a sea blue blazer.

Julian got me thinking, about the image package.

Why can I get away with meeting senior executives looking like I am just about ready to catch surf while others have to wear suits that cost more than my monthly grocery bill?

I wonder if we don’t create and perpetuate expectations that demand a certain veneer, in this case clothing style?

I am certain that Julian and I were able to sustain the attention of the executives we met yet I am 100% certain I was more comfortable. I am also certain that my presentation was taken with every bit the importance as the next guy’s.

So I suspect the lesson is build your image, work it and make it sustainable!  Whether you are walking the dog or meeting a CEO your image needs to be clear, palpable and consistent.

Mine is.  I walk into a room and instantly become the surf guy everybody knows. Interesting how colour attracts people. I walk onto a pool deck and again I am there in a big way without saying a word.

I suspect we need to be taught how to create, manage and sustain our non verbal communication as manifest in our body language and clothing, not to mention hair… Yet another area that our education seems to let us down.

Don’t worry too much there is still hope, I am here!