kfitz

BlogTalk Reloaded 1.5

Keynote 2: Matt Mullenweg, “WordPress and Jazz”

(tags: blogtalkreloaded)

“Originality’s the thing. You can have tone and technique…” –Lester Young

— originality’s important, sure, but much of what we do is building on other people’s work

‘find the best teachers…’ –Wynton Marsalis

— you have to start somewhere; researching what comes before us is important

— blogging as development of content management (and diaries and pamphleteering…)

‘knowing the lyrics of a tune… ‘ –Dexter Gordon

— too often we’re just going through the motions, not thinking about what we’re doing

“Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple.” –Charles Mingus

— every project needs a tag line — no more than ten words. better to have half a project than a half-assed project. wordpress is about writing on the web. keep it simple. put it on a post-it note

“It’s taken me all my life to figure out what not to play.” –Dizzy Gillespie

— keep the software focused; you can put more features in, but you can’t take them out

“If I don’t practice for a day, I know it…” –Louis Armstrong

— need to have something you’re so passionate about you’ll work on it every day

“A goal is a dream with a finish line.” –Duke Ellington

— write your goals down!

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing a flatted fifth or a ruptured 129th, if they can’t dance to it” –Dizzy Gillespie

— what we’re making is a tool; make it and get out of the way

“I say, play your own way. Don’t play what the public wants…” –Thelonious Monk

— believe in your vision! either the public will come around, or you’re wrong. and if you’re wrong, the best thing to do is to fail fast and move on

“You know why I quit playing ballads? Because I love playing ballads” –Miles Davis

— get outside your comfort zone

“If you don’t make mistakes, you aren’t really trying” –Coleman Hawkins

— fail fast: it’s cheaper than ever; launch early and often

“There’s no such thing as a wrong note” –Art Tatum

— improvisation is key

(I agree with Jill’s assessment: all aphorisms, all the time.)

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