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Taft Club

“Taft Club” is in the Building”

Yianni founded Taft Club and Taft Artists as a forum in which creatives in entertainment explore True Art for Truth, with some incredibly talented people back in 1982 in Hollywood, California.

Yianni moved from the City of Angels to Manhattan, NYC in 1988 and is still based out of the Big Apple today making it now the headquarters of Taft Club and Taft Artists internationally.

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Taft Club

Yianni Stamas on the Key to the Magic of Audience

For many years Yianni Stamas has been creating media arts blogs one at a time. It all started in 2011 with the creation of the Yianni Stamas blog that you are reading right now. And now this collection includes sites like Video Film Web, Abeify and the 2018 entry Celebify (that has added a video mini podcast component).

From the very beginning of his career and work in the Industry of Entertainment for him the most important part of his process to create entertainment is to attempt to connect his own experience of something into an outcome creatively that in turn connects with others.

That is the goal anyway, but of course as in all things in life there is what we are aspiring to and there is what the result actually is. And this same kind goal and result approach when it comes to creating an “Experience” comes into play with the process to “Grow Your Own Audience”.

One place to start the mission of to “Grow Your Own Audience” is in the area of the “Magic of Audience”. The “Magic of Audience” if you tap into it when developing an artistic experience, can be helpful. Because if you are in a sense seeking the “magic” or your relationship with your own “audience” it can potentially result in a connection with them that is not just a by route approach of settling for just making data driven decisions.

As we always say, there is nothing wrong with taking the stance to “Act on the Data” but we believe that this is not the end all, be all, approach. The human factor comes into play. And that is what the “Magic of Audience” is key in.

We believe that the “Magic of Audience” can be the key to opening up and experience and connection with your own audience that will ultimately get you closer to the result and outcome you seek, than focusing just on the visible data.

This involves vision, creativity and intuition, all qualities of the artist. And everyone is an artist and has creativity within them. Harnessing this is a choice and only comes with a focus on it. Of course, not everyone is interested in the “Magic of Audience” take on things that is generated through your creative self. But knowing that it is available within you can for some prove to be of value.

Beginning at the beginning could involve starting with ruminating on your message. What are you trying to communicate to your own audience? What do you want to educate them on about your offer and how it will benefit them and maybe even solve a pain point for them?

It is recommended to think in terms of whether or not you also have that pain point and did seeking a solution to it and then implementing your resulting discovery actually make a difference in your own life?

Have you faced a problem and solved it that can be of interest you your audience?

If you have an “Insight to Share” it can be of great value to your own audience.

Why? Because you are sharing with them an insight that you acted on and that worked for you.

And now when sharing it to your own audience you can let them know how they can use it to achieve the outcome they wish for.

The “Magic of Audience” when utilized can be a means of building communication with your own audience, with your insight to share.

And of course be sure to get feedback to see if what you are offering is of interest to others.

Grow your own audience.

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Taft Club

A Book of Quotes I am Reading

Why We are Friends is Clear

I am reading a book by a friend of mine. I have just begun reading it and already am getting a lot out of it. He has written some really wonderful and powerfully simple statements, phrases and insights that are definitely resonating with me and making it clear why we are friends because of a similar way of looking at the world and life.

ABEIFY and the Art of Problems and Solutions

His topics are universal and I am finding myself very quickly connecting with the ideas he mentions, especially those that relate directly to projects I am working on right now.

Humility and Giving Back

For example, the importance of humility that should go hand in hand with celebrity, along with I believe, vital acts of giving back to your sector in any field and not necessarily in the industry of entertainment, although I believe that all business is in show business.

Take on Problems with an Emphasis of Solutions

Despite Challenges and Realities, Enjoying Life Can Continue

What I love about the written resource my friend has created, is that as I read it I discover the he is able to juxtapose optimism with realism in such a way that recognizes that despite the challenges we face as human beings in today’s climate, it does not exclude being able to enjoy life.

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Taft Club

What Motivates You Artistically?

If you are a creative person who creates art of some kind, chances are you have asked yourself why it is that you do what you do? Why do you create? Do you enjoy the experience?

Do you loath the process but somehow feel that it is urgent that you engage with it?

Chances are that it is a combination of all of these kinds of things. Ultimately it is a process, that for reasons you may not fully understand, keeps you moving forward. Going from project to project to project.

If this sounds like you, know that you are actually quite lucky. Because not everyone has this innate drive toward discovery. A curiosity about what motivates you artistically?

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Taft Club

What do you do if you have a business model that has lots of moving parts?

Depending on your industry and company, you could have a multitude of components needed to run it.

If this is the case, then there is the potential that the process can be overwhelming. Especially if it is a new business and you are trying to find your way with it.

What do you do? For starters you might want to consider looking into developing a management system.

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Taft Club

Cult Movie Actors and Real Life Soap Opera

In 1989 I made a feature length movie that I wrote, directed and acted in. I thought of it as being in a new genre I described at the time as “real life soap opera” in which everyone in a motion picture plays themselves.

This real life soap opera was prior to the official genre designation of “reality show.” Another inspiration involved, was my being a big fan of cult movie actors. Years earlier I had written a couple of different screenplays that integrated a satirical take on this world.

I now realize looking back that I probably wanted on some level to become a cult movie actor. There is something appealing about the lowered barrier of entry that low budget filmmaking offers to the performer.

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Taft Club

Is it All in Your Head?

Monday, April 15 was the deadline for taxes here in New York City, as well as was the day that I embarked on another philosophical experiment where I began to look at the question “Is it all in your head?” Each day, leading up to today, April 22, I jotted down what was on my mind.

Is it all in your head?

Making a difference in our lives and work can start with a thought. There is talk in certain arenas of taking action on a thought as a way to achieve what we want in life. And this seems true. But how do we get a tangible outcome from this approach? If it was truly as easy has having a thought and then acting on it to make it happen, why do so many of us get stuck from the very beginning?

Is the goal to get the art to gush?

A person has a thought about a project they desire to make into something concrete. They wish to take action on that thought. Some would decide that to get a result would next require to become creative about it. To implement opening the tap so that the art starts gushing. For certain individuals this works. Or, another approach is to launch an analytical thinking process. To start analyzing ways to bring about something tangible. Again, for a particular kind of human, this could open the door as well. But what happens if you harness the analytical and creative simultaneously? Some in in New York call this being a NYC analytical creative.

What is an Industry Achiever?

The term industry achiever can mean different things to different people. But essentially for our purposes we are going to look at it from a business owner’s perspective. An industry achiever being someone who owns a business and has expertise in that company’s sector and field.

What is meant by the saying story is key?

On thing that story is key can mean is that story is key to a person being able to realize a goal.

Become a Mentalist to Develop Strategy Magic?

A person does not have to be able to read minds to develop strategy magic. Strategy Magic is developed by tapping into the analytical part of the mind for strategy and the creative side of thought process for a sense of magic.

Be Good AI Can Mean Following the Guideline that Humanity Use AI to Help Humanity

AI can be used to solve problems. But the most important thing to look at is the problem itself being solved and asking one’s self whether or not it can help the greater good.

Bigfoot Zombie Learns What it Means to Re-purpose Thought

In a general sense to re-purpose thought is a term that means to take a thought that is connected to an experience had in the past and then to re-purpose perception within one’s self of what was learned from that experience, so that the thought now has a positive use in life and work.

Bronx News NYC Explores the Concept of Personal Story News

Personal story news consists of relevant updates shared with others.

How does a business become a celebrity?

That question can be answered by asking another question. How does a celebrity become a celebrity?

To Celebify or Not to Celebify, that is the Question

If a person is thinking about embarking on the process to celebify one’s self as well as their business, it might be prudent to think through what achieving those goals would look like and if that is a desired outcome.

Make a Community that Knows You

Business brand is you.

Can AI help a human being to become a super duper achiever?

To start down the path of becoming super duper, begins with understanding the tasks that need to be done, Next, determine which ones can be accomplished using AI.

Embrace Your Difference

Differentiation leads to differentiation.

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Taft Club

In Our Lives and Work Story is Key

AI Do Good or Human Do Good with Story?

Story is powerful. Humans have told humans stories since ancient times. Gathering around the fire to share tales, either make believe ones about magical things or a sharing of the day’s life and work. We as human beings relate to story because we ourselves are living a story. We share our stories with others on a daily basis. What is AI’s role in telling our stories?

Does AI Do Good with Story or is that Better Left to People?

We as human beings are the ones who live the stories and then share them with others. And although AI is not human, it is trained with data from real live people. So it can arise in the creative process of developing a story: “To be AI or not to be AI, that is the question?”

A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the AI Go Down

AI is not always fun. But then for that matter many things are not always enjoyable when it comes to business. If you are an industry achiever, as in someone who has a successful business and is an expert in the sector of that company, you of course have an advantage. But even though you know your field well and use this knowledge and experience to make your entity soar, you may not always have the greatest time doing it. That is where the spoonful of sugar analogy might prove helpful. You can ask yourself a question. What is the spoonful of sugar I can use to make the task I face more pleasant?

Do You Need AI or Not?

You are an industry achiever. You are an expert in your field. You have a business that is doing well that is in the sector of your expertise. Nice. But do you need AI or not? To put it a bit more focused, what aspects of your business do you really need AI for? One way of looking at it is the human perspective. Consider the outcome you desire. Is it most effective being done by AI? Or is the human touch more powerful? Always involve a human being if you can.

AI is Magic, or is it?

AI is magic, or is it? AI is science of course, but what it can do can seem at times magical. The role that AI plays in the lives of people is undeniably expanding. Sometime consciously on the part of the individual and sometimes not. But regardless, it is impacting all of our lives either directly or indirectly.

AI is You in which Story is Key

One way of looking at the concept of AI is you, is that inevitably AI now plays a role in many of our lives either directly or indirectly. So much of the automation we interact with, often on a daily basis, is AI powered. So AI can seem at times to be large and overpowering. There is still something though that lots of us use, either consciously or unconsciously, that is bigger than AI. It is the fact that story is key in the lives of a large amount of human beings. And it has been since ancient times. Many of us cannot help ourselves but to integrate our stories into how we express our observations and opinions to others.

New York, NY, AI Do Good with Strategy Magic

Let’s face it, AI is making some sectors obsolete. That is the way of evolution, yes, but it also makes it necessary that those behind the development or market integration of AI stay on a path of AI do good.

Strategy Magic with AI to Market

Whether we as human beings think we believe in magic or not does not really matter. Or to put it another way, we believe in our own version of magic regardless. That is why strategy magic is so powerful, because whether you’re taking AI to market or whatever one’s industry offers, as long as one keys into that magic, one has a better shot at success.

Story is Key in Our Lives and Work

Story has been my thing since the very beginning. Even in my early years and was practicing another art form, I took a new approach and integrated storytelling into its presentation. Story allows one to look at good versus evil. It is an opportunity to do good by showing how the other path inevitably ends badly/

A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the AI Go Down

I recently became captivated with AI and its possibilities for doing good for humanity by integrating the telling of stories. My first inclination was toward AI helping to tell the stories, but have come to realize that actual human people do that best.

Personal Choice

Quite frankly, I believe AI is good for the corporate world as long as it is used responsibly, but as an artist, at least at the moment, do not feel it is as useful as I originally thought. Look at what has been showing up with artists potentially losing their jobs to it. For example, writers of stories and even those acting out those stories. Whether one needs AI or not is a personal choice. Whether you are a teller of stories or not, one’s own story is bigger than AI.

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Taft Club

The Creative Process When You Least Expect it

A good friend and I were making each other laugh last night. We were caught up in creating a concept for providing guidelines for a participant to write about an important moment in their lives. But the ideas were completely absurd. I couldn’t tell you exactly why we were chuckling so hard, but it probably had to do with that our ideas were all cliques, metaphorical names given to things by self help gurus. I scrawled it all down in a notebook and it might show up in some project, somewhere.

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Action

ABEIFY

ABEIFY, the literal acronym, was only developed relatively recently. But what it stands for, Artistic, Businessperson, Educator, Innovator, Facilitator, Yourself, describes a kind of person that may have been around since ancient times.

As a concept, it ties in with the desire to create an online educational resource or sites for learning, in the arts, business and education.