The High Concept for EH

The High Concept for EH
There is an idea in the world of advertising called the high concept. Heath and Heath in their book Made to Stick note that high concepts are among the best examples of core and compact ideas. They convey a lot of information in a few words. High concepts are often used to convey an entire plot of a movie or project in five words or less. High concepts usually used a word heavily laden with meaning the listener already has and then qualifies that meaningful idea with one more idea. One of my favorite old cartoons Inspector Gadget could have a high concept of “Get Smart for kids” for example. Get Smart itself might be described as “James Bond as a idiot.” High concepts also can become an important way of unifying people within an organization to a singular vision. As Heath and Heath give the example “the low cost airline” is not just a slogan for Southwest Airlines but their entire philosophy for doing business.
I’ll be talking more about high concepts in my storytelling learning laboratory session Monday afternoon at the NEHA AEC in Tucson, and why they are so useful to storytellers in EH. But the NEHA meeting has a theme struck by the Keynote Who are We and What do We Want to Be? In the Keynote, we will be talking some specifics. I’m interested in the Who are we? question in terms of high concepts. What could be some high concepts describing the identity of Environmental Health Practitioners? What high concept could unify our vision of EH?
So let’s brainstorm a few! Leave a comment below of your high concept. Keep it to less than ten words. Don’t explain yourself. If you want, you can comment on other people’s ideas.

Ladies and Gentlemen, start writing those high concepts!

To Blog..or not to blog (the music video)

While I was working on my Blogging 101 presentation for NEHA AEC 2008, I came across a funny video by Maurits Fondse, a Pianist and performer which I guess just became my theme song for the course.

Listen and enjoy.

Tomatoes Update

For those who don't have links to the Salmonella saintpaul outbreak information, here's some links:

CDC information: http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/saintpaul/

FDA updates: http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html

Here's some photos of red roma and round red tomates implicated in the outbreak courtesy of the FDA website. Some sources have been ruled out as contaminated. Check with the FDA website for more information about the current list. From what I've read this happened during a transition between growing seasons in different countries, so it's not clear where the tomatoes came from.

How to do your own EH blog

Okay the surprise is over! here's the blurb from the NEHA AEC blog:

EH Blogging 101 Session

What’s a blog and how could it help me, you ask? Check out our Learning Laboratory session, EH Blogging 101 on Sunday, June 22 from 1:00-1:50 pm! In this session, the communication phenomenon known as blogging will be introduced. Attendees will learn what blogs are, how to use blogs, and also learn how to create and maintain their own blog. Participants will write and post to the NEHA AEC & Exhibition Blog. For those with laptops, please bring them to this session for some hands-on demonstrations. Presenter: Steven J. Lipton, MEd, LEHP, CFSP, President, Biotest Services Inc., IL.

For more information head over the to the NEHA AEC website.