Incite Kitchen

Yahoo! Shine too antisceptic for me

It's clean.  It's easy to read.  It's built on a worthy premise--to provide content that reflects the whole woman, not just one dimension.  And its backed by a big brand with even bigger numbers of women already hooked on its content. 

So why don't I love it?  Because its too big and broad.  It doesn't speak to me, it broadcasts content at me--content which seems more suited to people in their twenties and thirties.  Its like cotton candy.  Fun to eat, but not very filling. 

I think the problem with Shine and other women's communities is that they try and serve too broad (no pun intended) an audience.  They mistakenly think that because we share the same gender we share the same interest in content.  On a macro level, the answer is yes.  With the exception of Astrology, I agree that women of all ages and life stages are interested in the categories of info covered on Shine:  fashion & beauty, food, entertainment, parenting, love + sex, healthy living, work + $, speaking-up.  But on a micro level, we are looking for different things.  Trying to find middle-of-the road content to speak to all of us feels too bland.  Providing content that speaks to where we are in our life-stage may be too cumbersome in one community. 

Perhaps the better solution is to create separate communities with more specific missions.  They could be linked to each other to facilitate info sharing and collaboration where it makes sense--just like in real life.  I tend to hang out with like-minded/like-life-staged women, regardless of age.  Occasionally, we get together with women in different life stages and have a blast, especially when we are united around a shared passion such as books or jewelry.  But day in and day out, I'm most comfortable learning from and sharing with women who are walking the road with me.   Sure would be nice to find more of them online as well as off.   

CRAFT provides glue for content and community

Growing up, I always looked forward to visiting my cousins over the summer...or more precisely, visiting my Aunt.  She was a Kindergarten teacher and a skilled seamstress.  Kid translation:  crafts and clothes.  For those few days, I fancied myself a creative type.  I sewed and glued and painted and sculpted without fear of failure.  It was pure joy. 

That's the feeling I get from CRAFT magazine and their companion e-zine.  And I'm not alone.  Thousands of people...of all ages... are getting into (or in some cases back into) the homemade movement.  With web sites like Etsy to sell your work, along with craft fairs in local communities, there is no excuse for anyone not to get in touch (and stay there) with their creative side. 

But what I love about CRAFT even more, is their latest effort to bring content creators and consumers together to celebrate their shared passion.  On the eve of their 6th issue launch date (Sunday, March 9), the clever people at CRAFT decided to stage celebrations in 6 cities across the country--LA, Milwaukee, Portland, Chicago, NY and Atlanta.  Local contributers, bloggers and crafters hosted the event at shops in the area.  Talk about cementing the connection they feel to the brand and each other?  Brilliant! 

Reinventing the Bottle

I completely missed the pomegranate craze a few years ago.  Not that I didn't give it a try... seemed every other aisle in Trader Joe's had a pomegranate concoction of some sort and pomegranate samples were a daily shopping occurrence.  But the flavor was just too tart for me and I haven't paid much attention to anything at all resembling a pomegranate since determining that blueberries work for me.

Last weekend, I came across the magic that is POM Tea.  Truthfully, I haven't tasted the stuff yet, but my wife had purchased two, and the empty bottles (or shall I call them glasses) were cleaned and in our cupboard when I reached for a cup for my water.  I love the POM Tea packaging for a variety of reasons.

1) It's unexpected - functionally and visually
2) I can only imagine that drinking cold tea out of a glass, as opposed to a bottle, would naturally make the product experience feel more homemade and less manufactured
3) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - I don't even want to recycle my POM glasses... I like them enough that I want a complete set to reuse for several years.  Hats off to POM for permanently placing ads for their product in my house.

Despite my natural inclination to avoid pomegranates, I think I'll have a POM Tea with my lunch today.  Funny what good design can do for a product.