Egypt, Google and The Intersection of Creativity

On a recent vacation to Egypt, I read the book, “The Medici Effect,” by Frans Johansson. He asserts that the most powerful creative ideas and path-breaking innovations happen when we bring concepts from one field into a new, unfamiliar territory. He calls the territory an intersection, and in today’s world they’re happening faster than ever because of the movement of people, the convergence of science and the leap of computation.

I agree. I believe there are amazing opportunities for innovation and creativity when you connect with other people – especially people who are different from you. (It reminds me of our company merging an advertising agency, video production house and web development company just seven short years ago.)

So how fascinating that on a ride to an ancient temple in Luxor, our Egyptian tour guide asked about my work. I explained that I worked for a marketing and technology company and he excitedly asked, “Do you do websites?” Yes, I replied. “How do I get my website seen better by Google?” It was a question I wasn’t expecting in the desert. Nevertheless, after our tour, my husband Jim and I accompanied him to a local internet café, looked at the code language on his website and gave him advice on search engine optimization through the use of keywords, meta descriptions, title tags, naming graphics and other basic web writing tools that I use in my work at Sundog. Funny to find myself in the intersection half-way around the world; different people, from different fields and different cultures coming together to find a creative solution.