Dear readers -
We are celebrating a centenarian in this issue.
I’m doing my best to keep you on your ties this newsletter. No patterns forming here. Let’s jump in.
And thanks for being here today.
🎨 Surrealism turns 100 🎨
The Surrealist Manifesto by André Breton was first published in October of 1924.
I am so thankful to this movement. I love the work of Dali, Man Ray, Magritte, Miró and more. The work has captured, fascinated and mesmerized. From my first experience, I felt: these are my people.
The revolution in thinking has always appealed to me; merging the absurd with the logical, the unexpected with the norm, the dream within the reality. This quote from André Breton (used in this newsletter before), captures it perfectly.
The man who cannot visualize a horse galloping on a tomato is an idiot.
Surrealism has influenced my own thinking, writing and creativity and has simply made this a better world. I am full of gratitude. And with that, I sign off this section with my own The Big Ben + Nunchucks Limited Edition Set.
Surrealism is also a reminder that we’re all trying to figure out this life thing and that there is not one path to happiness, success or fulfillment.
In this world, be surreal™.
🏢 LinkedIn Hacking 🏢
I’m still in the midst of my professional vision quest. Advising has been enjoyable but I am also considering full-time roles. In order to give myself the best shot at finding something incredible, I’ve been analytical and open in my approach.
I saw this post from Robin Daniels and it hit me with such obviousness (yet, I had not some of the ideas). Robin seems like such a nice guy, with an impressive career, and seems to give great advice. Let’s put it this way, I wouldn’t say no to a Copenhagen coffee with him. His advice inspired me to look at my profile differently, and I immediately found areas to improve. Here’s what I did.
Headline: I went from a somewhat boring headline to something bolder and more agreeable to search terms. You should too.
Work Experience: In my many years on LI, I have never done anything more than place the boilerplate company description within the experience section.
For each of my CMO roles, I went back and added bullet points capturing my main achievements and highlights. I also added sample work as attachments and selected the top-5 skills related to this role. It’s much more impressive and illustrative of my professional impact.
See example from my time at Conga below:
I did not list my first job - 2 years at a Burger King in Basingstoke, England. If someone ever asked for extra pickles, I made it my own personal challenge to fit as many pickles into that burger and wrapper as possible.
Recommendations: I have never requested a recommendation but have written plenty. So, I went for it. I asked a ton of people and they all said no. Just kidding. I got great responses and went from 2 recommendations (from back in 2008-9) to now 21 and counting. I don’t know if anyone looks at these, but I ended up getting some powerful testimonials that I will not hesitate to reference in conversations.
And not gonna lie, a lot of these were really touching. How about this for a quote?
Of all of the people I've come across in my professional life, no single person has made a bigger or more positive impact on me than Daniel Incandela.
I’m getting this as a giant torso tattoo in Comic Sans.
Thank you to everyone that gave their time and thought to write these.
For those reading that work in tech and in marketing (and maybe other industries), I have never seen such a strange and scarce job market. There are roles out there, but we all face a more competitive landscape. It requires us all to shift our strategy. In 2021, I had dozens of recruiters/companies reaching out about roles. In 2023-4, I’m still in the single digits. Things have changed. We should too.
I’ll keep you posted on this vision quest. And if you know of a great role for a surrealist like me - lmk!
🇰🇷 Chicken Nugget 🇰🇷
How do I get to South Korea asap? I have become obsessed with Korean entertainment. So many great movies, starting with Oldboy, Parasite, Train to Busan and Seoul Vibe. And then there’s TV - Sisyphus, Silent Sea, Sweet Home, Squid Game and now…Chicken Nugget; which is based on a Korean webtoon.
From Netflix: A woman steps into an odd machine and becomes... a chicken nugget?! Now it's up to her father and her admirer to embark on a zany quest to bring her back.
From Me: Chicken Nugget is an absurd, whimsical, mystery sci-fi comedy with elements of a musical wrapped up in 10, less than 30 min episodes that make you laugh, love, and pray for a season 2.
I am going to leave it at that. Sit down, grab some twizzlers and relax for a mother-clucking good time.
🧠 Consumption 🧠
Everything going into my brain.
Movies/TV:
A Quiet Place - so good!
The Woman in the Window - not bad at all.
Chicken Nugget (duh)
Milli Vanilli - these poor guys.
Links:
Surrealism Is 100. The World’s Still Surreal
Warner Bros. Announces ‘Matrix 5’ From ‘The Martian’ Director Drew Goddard
In good spirits: Cocktails at the Connaught with Stanley Tucci
AMC Exec: We Wouldn't Have Made the Dune Popcorn Bucket if We Knew You'd Be Sickos About It
The 20 Best Sneakers in Movie History
The Wagyu Beef of Charcoal Is Japan’s Secret to A1 Grilling
We break down J Dilla’s signature off-beat timefeel (THIS IS AMAZING)
Well readers. All good things must come to an end. Thank you for joining me.
Much love, Daniel