I just read the article “What Kind of Genius Are You?” in the latest issue of Wired magazine. I enjoyed this article for many reasons including the fact that David Galenson, the article’s subject, is an economist and art history buff. I thought I was the only economics, art history double major out there. Plus, trying to map the creativity genome always makes for an interesting story.

According to Galenson’s theory there are two types of geniuses. There are conceptualists. They’re the bold renegades who make big impacts while in their youth – think cannonball off the high dive before knowing how to swim. Then, there are experimentalists who want to make a splash, they’re just not sure how they’re going to do it – think dipping a toe in the pool, then maybe venturing down the stairs. They take their time and use trial and error. I suppose I would be an experimentalist. That suits me just fine. I always liked the tortoise better than the hare.

Made me think, though, about how things come to be considered creative, or better yet creative genius! Galenson used the frequency of appearance in art history textbooks as a meter stick for importance. How is it that certain works are considered historically significant and placed in books while others are not? One person’s creative, is another person’s “I don’t get it.” Do you get this?

It’s funny how some things (art, trends, inventions, technology) are first perceived as weird then as they become embraced, accepted, or just ignored by the majority, weird morphs into normal, or better yet revolutionary. Do most of us even know why it is creative, or do we just go along for the ride a la the emperors new clothes?

You’ve met one half of the founding team of Oddpodz, so allow me to introduce myself as the other half. Not the better half, maybe the taller half. I am not afraid of lions, but I find elephants intimidating. This new venture is very exciting and a tad daunting, like the prospect of eating an elephant. It is possible, though, if you do it just one bite at a time. I am ready to dig in.

I’m Jocelyn, the other founder of Oddpodz. I’ve always been an oddpod. I learned all the practical stuff in college, at work and during graduate school, but always found a way to be creative. I majored in economics, but balanced that out with art history. I worked in finance and became an Excel whiz, but liked spending time making our marketing materials prettier than, and different from our competitors. I went to business school full time, but also took graphic design classes at night.

My imagination, creativity and risk taking have served me well, thus far. My latest bet has paid out handsomely. I left the northeast and everything familiar to follow a horse to Tampa, FL. People said I was crazy. I was born and raised in New Jersey then spent my 20’s living and working (mostly working) in New York City. I love trying new things, learning new stuff, offbeat humor and meeting interesting characters. That’s what I hope to do here.

By the way, the elephant is delicious.

Odd is a beautiful thing. By our definition, odd can be unusual and distinct. It can look conservative, but have a wild side. It can be a mix of many quirky, wonderful things. Odd, to us, refers to ourselves, our pals, associates and acquaintances, and is a state of mind that proclaims your right to be individual and have your own style.

This is your community. We’ll post odd news, updates and stories, but mostly this is all about the diversity of podz that exist in this world and make it an interesting place to be. We will continue to make this site more interactive as we expand, so thanks for your patience while we go through our beta phase.

Fear of not getting it right? Fear of falling into a pigeon hole because of content subject matter? Fear of no spell check in the blog software and I am a published writer? It is a pre-holiday day and most of my friends are not working, why should I be? Or, maybe it’s so difficult because I am just plain tired. After all, for the last 6 months, I have been working about 20 hours a day, taking a dream and trying to turn it into a real deal. And yesterday it happened. Oddpodz and Odditeaz launched. Two baby ventures were born.

Someone once told me when you see a big ass lion and you are scared to death, don’t run from it. Face it head on and he will likely not hurt you. If you run from him, he will chase your slower butt down and have a nice snack.

OK, so here goes. I’m Karen. One of the founders of Oddpodz. Many of my friends and colleagues call me the Branding Diva because I love branding, marketing and anything creative. I have been fortunate that my life has brought me many cool opportunities. Owning a great ad agency for twenty years, being a professional speaker and a published author.

I am a card carrying oddpod. I have a huge imagination and thought a community dedicated to folks like me would be a blast. I have some left brainer friends and certainly do business with that crowd. Some get this oddpod thing and others are clueless. That’s OK.

The sites and blog are about having fun, exchanging opinions, learning from others, getting inspired and just sounding off when something bugs you. There’s no set agenda. No content rules. Just random whatevers. Look forward to lots of good dialogue and new connections with other oddpodz.

by Branding Diva