Wait–did I just say “church” and Advent “Conspiracy?”

Yes, I did. Keep on reading, even if you are one of my many non-Christian readers. And keep on reading even if you are one of my Christian readers who think “conspiracy” doesn’t belong with Advent.

Still with me? Good.

The Advent Conspiracy kicked off in 2006. It’s an incredible movement that has now expanded to thousands of churches who are changing the way they celebrate this Christmas season.

Let’s face it. With the celebration of Thanksgiving, people are now in Christmas overdrive and for far too many, this means stress, frustration, financial woes, etc. etc. etc.

Advent Conspiracy changes this. I love the concept and the movement.

You can check out the promo video here.

[AC] Promo 2011 from Advent Conspiracy on Vimeo.

Even if you don’t go to a church…
Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas…
…we can all do this.

We can spend less money and spend more time with people. We can take that money that we would spend and donate it to a worthy cause.

I’m still going to buy gifts this Christmas, but I’m going to work to spend a lot more of my time with those that I love, and I’m going to do my best to give more to those who truly need.

I’m going to spend a small section at the end of each blog highlighting one of my favorite charities. If you have some I should also check out, please let me know.

Before I get to the blogs from this week, I wanted to to highlight an important cause. Last Sunday, the people of Joplin, Missouri saw their community devastated by a tornado. I encourage any and all to consider donating to the American Red Cross as they help with this disaster and many other disasters that affect communities.

Okay, here are the blogs.

Posts by Patrick
Chloe
Oprah

Posts by Others
The Brittany Barton Guide to Filling the Room by Scott Ginsberg
Underextended by Seth Godin
The Disease of Low Expectations by Michael Josephson

Finally, here is a great video my friend, Josh, sent me this week. Enjoy

Posts by Patrick

Toolbox: Television Upfronts
Principal’s Dance Party
Consider This::007 Cat (video entry!)

Posts by Others

How Else Are You Supposed to Take It? by Seth Godin
5 Awesome Success Lessons from Stupid Characters in Disaster Movies by Avish Parashar
Banish Busy, Promote Productivity by Russ Perry
#244 Kids Helping Their Little Brother or Sister Across the Street by Neil Pasricha (from 1000 Awesome Things)

Finally, just a fun video to close this Friday out (especially if tomorrow is the end of the world). Real life Angry Birds.

Posts by Patrick

Toolbox: The Launch
This Train is Bound for Glory
Consider This:: 006 Toilet (video entry!)

Posts by Others

The Flip Side by Seth Godin
#259: The Good Kind of Stomach Butterflies by Neil Pasricha (from 1000 Awesome Things)
Entrepreneurs are Iron Chefs, Managers are Swedish Chefs by Daniel Pink

And just in case you missed the link above, I finally posted a new video.

I hope more of us can find these moments when things aren’t going well. I read deeper into the comments of the video, and the dad responds to a few talking about how much he loves his baby and his life. It’s that bigger perspective that helps in the long run.

So today, if you’re feeling a bit sad, frustrated, or disappointed, maybe this will help you smile just a bit.

At the same time, I really do agree with many of the blogs I read last night about this being more of a stunt than anything real. I don’t believe the bands instruments were stolen. I don’t think that part was necessary to put in the video.

But it’s undeniable Atomic Tom created something pretty cool. Last night, I checked out the video and it had about 300,000 hits on YouTube. Now, about 14 hours later, it has almost a million more hits. It’s now a viral video and this band is getting a lot of recognition.

This March, I wrote about OK Go’s great video for “This Too Shall Pass” and how OK Go adapted to the changing music video scene in the wake of MTV becoming just a reality show network. I think Atomic Tom is doing the same thing. They’ve successfully promoted themselves in a very inexpensive way (well besides the initial sticker shock of an iPhone).

Can we do this? Can we work to create viral campaigns for our own events?

It’s time for us to get creative and reTHINK the way we present.

I don’t understand a single word in the video, but you can tell there is great meaning in it. I had watched the video several times before I started hearing news stories on it. Turns out this was a special birthday surprise put on by the bus company for its employee. It was part of a larger campaign to find unique ways to recognize the service of their workers.

In a day and age where most companies tend to cut back or make rewards simply monetary, it’s nice to see creativity that recognizes that special part of the human spirit.

How can you do the same this year? What creative ways can you recognize those that help you? How can we make the people around us truly feel special?

These are a few of the questions I hope you wrestle with in the coming months. Please let me know the cool answers you discover!

I’ve included the music video here:

I was a huge fan of the song when it first came out, first enjoying the similarity between the vocals in Nada Surf’s Popular, and later for the mix of instrumentals. When I purchased the album, I really started to listen to the lyrics, ultimately loving the song for them. Most people (including me) initially focus on the “ride my bike with no handlebars” chorus and enjoy humor within the song. A deeper look reveals a song with so much more. It’s one of the reasons I included the music video in this post. The song is (at least in the way I see it) about the one-up-nature that we tend to do as people. We lose sight, focusing on our ability to be better than doing what is right. We fail to celebrate those around us as we acquire more things. Of course this isn’t everyone. We, like the characters in the music video, have a choice as to which path we are going to take.

Yes, you can ride your bike with no handlebars, but which path will you walk?

(I truly would recommend the whole FIGHT WITH TOOLS album by the FLOBOTS. After hearing Handlebars on the radio, I tossed it on again and have been enjoying it for the rest of the day)