I introduced a regular feature called Moes Takes last month.

As a refresher, I worked with Rob Moes who was VP of marketing for Philips in the mid 1980s. During an interview at COMDEX, a reporter pressed Moes for projections on how many CD-ROM drives would be sold looking out five years. Rob responded “That’s like asking Mrs. Magellan how many lunches to pack.”

That’s why I call these fresh quotes culled from recent publications “Moes Takes.”

Here’s Round II.

“If you’re going to climb Mount Everest, you can’t do it with gym shorts and sneakers.”

Alan E. Salzman, Chief Executive, Vantage Point Venture Partners
Venture Capitalist Dick Kramlich’s Last Stand
BusinessWeek (January 21, 2010)

It’s not enough to be clever. Accuracy counts too. I challenge anyone to find a photo depicting Sir Edmund Hillary in gym shorts and sneakers.

Dulled-down version:

“If you’re going to address a major challenge, it’s important to prepare properly.”

Thank you Amy Gooch for sending along the following:

If there’s one place the proletarian can visualize the bobbing of a cork in water and recognize something dodgy has transpired, it’s the UK.

Dulled-down version:

“Instead of changing his mind, David Cameron should make and communicate his decision to the British people.”

Next up:

“I am certainly not an acolyte or even a fan of the Holy Church of the Carbon-Free Atmosphere or its leader, the Reverend Al Gore.”

T.J. Rogers, CEO, Cypress Semiconductor
CleanTech: Silicon Valley’s Next Great Wave of Innovation
San Jose Mercury News (January 30, 2010)

T.J. Rogers knows how to turn a phrase, which explains a profile that belies niche semiconductor status. I haven’t seen him bust out the religious terminology since ‘96 when he publicly crushed a nun for questioning the diversity of his board.

Dulled-down version:

“I do not support the initiative for a carbon-free environment or the leaders of this movement.”

And last, from the sports world:

“They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, but what if the tree is on a hill?”

Jim Irsay, Owner of the Indianapolis Colts
A Jam Session with Jim Irsay
Sports Illustrated (January 25, 2010)

I like this one because it shows how you can take a cliche and make it fresh by adding one simple twist.

Dulled-down version:

“According to the saying, sons are like their fathers, but there are exceptions.”

If an extraordinary quote catches your attention, please e-mail it my way (lhoffman at hoffman dot com).

We associate the “sound bite” with television.

Capture your idea in an entertaining 20 seconds and increase the likelihood of making the 11 p.m. news.

The same concept exists in print journalism.

At the risk of oversimplifying, given a choice between dull or exciting, reporters will take exciting every time.

One of my all-time favorite lines goes back to supporting Philips in the mid 1980s when they were launching CD-ROM technology. A reporter was pressing Rob Moes, the VP of marketing for Philips, for projections on how many units (CD-ROM drives) would be sold looking out five years. Rob’s knee-jerk response: “That’s like asking Mrs. Magellan how many lunches to pack.”

In honor of this classic, I’m creating “Moes Takes” which joins “Iron Reporter” as a regular blog feature. Moes Takes will call out entertaining quotes from recent publications as well as how they might appear if dulled down.

Without further adieu -

“The market may be crazy, but that doesn’t make you a psychiatrist.”

Meir Statman, Finance Professor at Santa Clara University
Inefficient Markets Are Still Hard to Beat
The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 9, 2010)

The juxtaposition of crazy and psychiatrist makes for great wit.

Dulled-down version:

“The markets are erratic so it’s extremely difficult for the average person to understand.”

Next up:

“States are cutting bones and they’re big bones. These are all femurs.”

Arturo Perez, Fiscal Analyst for National Conference of State Legislators
48 States Desperate for Revenue (only available in print)
San Francisco Chronicle (Jan. 17, 2010)

Any time you can channel from your high school bio class, you’ve got a winner.

Dulled-down version:

“The states are reducing budgets to the bare minimum. Everyone is making large reductions.”

And finally:

“Pennsylvania has the potential to become the OPEC of natural gas. It’s mind boggling. It will have an impact on Pennsylvania’s economy not seen since the collapse of the steel industry.”

Robert Watson, Associate Professor Emeritus of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering
“Natural Gas Changes the Energy Map” (only available online by subscription)
Technology Review (Nov./Dec. 2009)

Can’t see the”OPEC of natural gas” being adopted as the state slogan, but works nicely as a quote.

Dulled-down version:

“Pennsylvania could become the world leader in natural gas. It should provide a boost to the state’s economy which never recovered from the decline of the steel industry.”

If you’ve uncovered an extraordinary quote or two, please post a comment or e-mail them my way (lhoffman at hoffman dot com) and I’ll try to use them in future posts.

If you ask people what’s the one digital device they absolutely can’t live without, the mobile phone comes out as the clear leader.

That’s why you have industry heavyweights like Google’s Eric Schmidt calling mobile advertising the  single most exciting opportunity for the do-no-evil guys as far back as 2006 (The Wall Street Journal).

It also explains the strategic importance of the Android platform for Google. Mobile search and the ads that come along for the ride will be a massive market.

While predicting the size of such an embryonic market is a little like Mrs. Magellan asking how many lunches to pack, this hasn’t stopped the prognosticators from taking a shot. Industry analyst firm Informa, for example, forecasts annual expenditure on mobile advertising reaching the $11.4 billion mark by 2011.

Whether you buy this number or not, the point is that people are increasingly turning to the phone for content … which brings us storytelling on the “small screen.”

Rudy De Waele’s blog called Mobile Media Lifestyle looks at this very topic. In fact, De Waele delivered a presentation called Mobile Digital Storytelling in Seoul last week (appreciate Kathrin Eiben in Spain flagging it) that even touches on the tools emerging for packaging a story for display on mobile phones.

Obviously, a tiny screen puts a premium on the visual element.

You can check out the early days of visual storytelling on Flickr via its “tell a story in five frames” initiative, which offers the following guidance:

Guidelines are not rules, but a formula that can be used to suit your creative imagination. Several avenues exist for story telling, such as journalistic reporting, sequential photos that reveal a moment, photographic poetry, and narrative. The following guidelines are for narrative.

A good story has characters in action with a beginning, middle, and an ending. Fortunately a lot of information can be given in a single photograph, enhancing the limitations of five photographs for your story. Location, time, and atmosphere aid viewer imagination. Keep standards of pictorial beauty, but pack as many storytelling elements in one photograph as possible to develop an action.

1st photo: establish characters and location.

2nd photo: create a situation with possibilities of what might happen.

3rd photo: involve the characters in the situation.

4th photo: build to probable outcomes

5th photo: have a logical, but surprising, end.

Like any form of storytelling, drama keeps an audience engaged.