Normally, the biggest story I would write on coming out of NRF would be technology related: evolution of a new platform approach to mobile retailing... next-generation digital signage... new retail analytics... that sort of thing. But this year is quite different.
It's not that there wasn't fascinating new technologies and developments on the show floor and in the conference sessions, but rather that, for me personally and professionally, all of that was eclipsed at 4:53PM on the 12th of January when a 7.0 magnitude quake tore through Haiti.
It truly took time for the news to filter through our consciousnesses... NRF is like that, one 96-hour flurry of meetings and events, heads down, maybe Tweeting out occassionally but on the whole utterly and totally focused. It's like the world consists of the Javits Center and a few blissful hours of sleep in the hotel room, and that's it for both New York City and our awareness of the world.
So, as the true magnitude of the tragedy in Haiti began to burn its way into our psyches, most of us were wrapping up our business at NRF. The mobile retail panel, last minute meetings, store visits...
Last year, when US Airways Flight 1549 went down in the Hudson River on 15 January, most of us held our breaths as we waited to find out which (not if any) of our retail friends and colleagues were on that flight, and by the grace of God the one good friend I had on that plane survived body and soul intact. So this is the second NRF marked with a tragedy, and I hope 2011 proves kinder to the world than the start of this year has.
On Thursday night, I had the opportunity to see a Broadway musical in New York... a new experience for me. We ended up being able to see Fela!, which chronicles the latter years of Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician active in the anti-colonial politics of the late 1960s and 1970s in that country. I was, shall we say, skeptical... "Musical" to me conjures up images of Cats and "jazz hands," so I was honestly expecting to sit through it cheerfully, but walk away with my mind unchallenged and my own soul intact and unaffected.
Nothing could have been further from the experience.
This blog post is half theater review, half technology "wow" story, and half an impassioned plea to all to remember the lessons that the first couple weeks of this year have brought home in a very personal way to many of us.
Fela! is an amazing musical, and perhaps on its own one of the best-written theater pieces I've ever seen. I'll leave the glowing reviews of the musical itself to professionals, but what was TRULY amazing (and relevant to the retail audience) is the seamless integration of digital projection and incredible set design. Any retail designer who witnesses what was accomplished in the musical would be utterly transfixed and absolutely inspired by what the designers of Fela! have pulled off.
For starters, the "screens" on which elements are projected are completely integrated into the set design, so there's no "look up here" but rather "look here, no here, no HERE!" as the projected videos subtly reinforce what's happening on the stage.
The effect is used very powerfully to illustrate when Fela's mother, Finmilayo Ransome-Kuti, is influencing his words and actions: in an effect so eerily similar to the "moving" pictures in Harry Potter, the painted portrait of her facing toward the audience appears to turn its head to look down at Fela on the stage. This perfect integration of physical art and digital projection simply must be seen to be believed and should inspire anyone designing physical spaces like stores.
And finally, beyond the incredibly inspiring retail technology experience of watching the musical, the content itself left me grieving and aching all the more for what has befallen my beloved Haiti. It was almost impossible to watch any part of Fela! with dry eyes, and at the end, when the entire cast slowly walks through the audience and up onto the stage carrying coffins marked with the things that we all mourn, from Fela's mother to concepts like "hope" and "integrity," it brought home to me a very personal lesson that sometimes those of us who are privileged to live in an affluent country and live relatively fear-free sometimes forget.
We are all children of Africa, from Fela Kuti in Nigeria to the survivors of Flight 1549 to the victims of the Mumbai massacre in 2008 to the millions hovering between life and death in Haiti today. The color of our skin may differ, and the languages and cultures we embrace may not be the same, but in the end we are first and foremost human beings, and now those of us with the most have a sacred obligation to those of us who have just had the fragile, tiny least they used to possess be ripped away beneath tumbling walls and newly erased roads.
The need is great for urgent relief in Haiti, and we have seen truly a modern miracle of technology in the incredible outpouring of support via text message: as of Tuesday 19 January, $24 million had been raised for the Red Cross via text donations. The total for all charities in 2009: $4 million. This outpouring of support and embracing of the mobile phone as a vehicle for paying for things has brought millions of Americans into a new realm of technology usage. I was at Forrester Research when 9/11 hit, and there were over 2 million Americans who made their very first ecommerce transaction online to make a donation after that event. Haitian relief is a similar watershed moment in mobile payment, and one that on both a personal and a professional level, I am deeply grateful for.
But, getting food, water, medical help and shelter into Haiti is only the beginning. The entire country will need rebuilding help. The infrastructure needs to be brought into the 20th century, then into the 21st. There were 50,000 plus orphans waiting for adoption before the quake, and doubtless tens of thousands more after. In short, there's a lot to do.
So, we'd like to do two things as the Global Retail Executive Council. The first is to strongly urge each and every human being with a pulse who reads this to help; do something, whether it's texting HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross, or getting involved personally or financially to help the millions of orphans around the globe through the Retail Orphan Initiative (RetailROI). The people who have started and run that organization represent some of the best of us, and as they dedicate a large part of their lives to helping orphans, we are asking all of you to join us in supporting that work. They're good people; it's our industry, and it IS making a difference.
And second, and in honor of the only American to have a holiday solely dedicated to him, we were further inspired this week by the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King. I don't think this holiday has ever fallen at a time worthy of more introspection, thought, and inspiration, and one of Dr. King's quotes seems particularly apropos this year:
When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love.
Now is the time for all good people to plan... to build and bind... and to commit themselves to the glories of love. Solving the problems created by the earthquake in Haiti needs more than donations, it requires good kind smart people putting all their talents together to solve the unsolvable and fix the shattered. No one quite yet knows what form this will take, but as we march into 2010, GREC invites... well, actually, we expect... all of you to participate in the conversation and use your talents and ideas and thoughts to help in ways that money simply can't. Be good, be smart, and speak up. Your voice will join the others who are dedicating some part of their life to making a difference, and it is through the harmony and dissonance of those voices that we in retail can make a difference, not only in our industry, but in the world.
Thank you.
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