No.01
So sometimes I get invited to give weird talks. I got invited to speak to the people who dress up in big stuffed animal costumes to perform at sporting events. Unfortunately I couldn’t go. But it got me thinking about the fact that these guys, at least most of them, know what it is that they do for a living. What they do is they dress up as stuffed animals and entertain people at sporting events.
Shortly after that I got invited to speak at the convention of the people who make balloon animals. And again, I couldn’t go. But it’s a fascinating group. They make balloon animals. There is a big schism between the ones who make gospel animals and porn animals, but — (Laughter) they do a lot of really cool stuff with balloons. Sometimes they get in trouble, but not often. And the other thing about these guys is, they also know what they do for a living. They make balloon animals.
But what do we do for a living? What exactly do the people watching this do every day? And I want to argue that what we do is we try to change everything. That we try to find a piece of the status quo –something that bothers us, something that needs to be improved, something that is itching to be changed — and we change it. We try to make big, permanent, important change. But we don’t think about it that way. And we haven’t spent a lot of time talking about what that process is like. And I’ve been studying it for a couple years. And I want to share a couple stories with you today.
ボキャブラリー
So sometimes I get invited to give weird talks. I got invited to speak to the people who dress up in big stuffed animal costumes to perform at sporting events. Unfortunately I couldn’t go. But it got me thinking about the fact that these guys, at least most of them, know what it is that they do for a living. What they do is they dress up as stuffed animals and entertain people at sporting events.
Shortly after that I got invited to speak at the convention of the people who make balloon animals. And again, I couldn’t go. But it’s a fascinating group. They make balloon animals. There is a big schism between the ones who make gospel animals and porn animals, but — (Laughter) they do a lot of really cool stuff with balloons. Sometimes they get in trouble, but not often. And the other thing about these guys is, they also know what they do for a living. They make balloon animals.
But what do we do for a living? What exactly do the people watching this do every day? And I want to argue that what we do is we try to change everything. That we try to find a piece of the status quo –something that bothers us, something that needs to be improved, something that is itching to be changed — and we change it. We try to make big, permanent, important change. But we don’t think about it that way. And we haven’t spent a lot of time talking about what that process is like. And I’ve been studying it for a couple years. And I want to share a couple stories with you today.
weird: a. 奇妙な、変な、変わった
dress up in ~: 〜でドレスアップする、着飾る、盛装する、飾り立てる
stuffed animal: n. 動物のぬいぐるみ
costume: n. 衣装、扮装、着ぐるみ
perform: vi. 演じる、上演する
sporting event: スポーツ・イベント、スポーツ競技、スポーツ行事
for a living: 生活のために
convention: n. 大会、集会、代表者会議、協議会
balloon animal: 風船で作った動物
fascinating: a. 興味をそそる、魅力的な、うっとりさせる、強く心を捕える
schism: n. 分裂、分派、派閥
porn: n. ポルノ、【形容詞的に】ポルノの
get in trouble: トラブル［面倒なこと・厄介ごと］に巻き込まれる、災難に見舞われる
the status quo: 現状（維持）、状況、情勢、そのままの状態、体制
bother: vt. 〜を悩ます、困らせる、困惑させる
itch: vi. [通例be itching to do/ for ~]〜したくてたまらない、〜が欲しくてたまらない
that way: そのように、あのように、そんなふうに
spend: vt. （時間）を使う、費やす【注】spend a week (in) writing a paper（レポートの作成に1週間を費やす）のように動名詞を従える場合, 前置詞は省略されることが多い)
process: n. 過程、進行、経過；手順、方法、工程、製法
a couple: = a couple of ~ ２,３の、少数の、いくつかの
解説
セス・ゴーディン（Seth Godin、1960年7月10日 – ）
アメリカ合衆国の著作家。マーケティングに関する著作で知られ、パーミッション・マーケティングの提唱者とされる。
代表作『「紫の牛」を売れ！』は世界的なベストセラーとなる。
公式サイト→ http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/
著作 → セス・ゴーディンの著作
『「紫の牛」を売れ！』