What My Nametag Taught Me About Diversity

Every culture responds to my nametag in its own unique way.

Latin Americans are engaging.
When I walk in their stores, they smile and say, “Buenos dias, Escott!”

Indians are proper.
When I shake their hands, they always call me, “Mr. Scott.”

Australians are affirmative and humorous.
When I tell them I wear a nametag everyday, they nod and say, “Good on ya mate! I reckon that’s helpful when you’ve had a few pints.”

Canadians are non-confrontational and inclusive.
When I meet them they say, “Nice name tag. Eh?”

Asians are enthusiastic.
When I walk into a sushi bar, the chefs bow and say, “Scotto!”

Jamaicans are hospitable.
When I walk through the airport, they yell, “Scott my brother! Ya mon! Anything you need, no problem.”Brits are dry and sarcastic.
When they see my nametag, they ask, “I take it your name is Scott?”

French people are snobby.
When I walk into their store, they look at me like I’m crazy and said, “Scott.”

Russians are playful.
When I meet them at conferences, they joke, “You have memory problem?”

Hasidics are inquisitive.
When I interact with them, they ask me a million questions, “Why do you wear the nametag on left side? What about color? Where do you buy them? You get good deal?”

Middle Easterners are accommodating.
When I shop with them, they say, “Scott my friend, come inside. I like you. You have nice face. I give you good price.”

What’s amazing to me is, in eleven years, the people who responded most negatively to my nametag were Americans. All the hatemail, insults, negative feedback and death threats came from my own people.

So much for winning the war at home.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How do people from different cultures respond to you?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

Download a Copy of “The Nametag Principle” For Free, In Its Entirety, No Strings, Right Now!

Thanks to my friends at esbjournal, you can now download my latest daily devotional, “The Nametag Principle”, in its entirety, for free, no strings attached, right now.

Yes, you can also buy the book on Amazon.

But I just figured, what the hell. Why not give it away? The more you give away for free, the wealthier you will be.

Markets reward generosity.

Enjoy the devotional.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Will you take a moment to make a memory?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

Help Scott Ginsberg Write “The Nametag Manifesto” On ChangeThis.com

After 4000+ days, I am convinced the societal implications of everybody wearing nametags could change our world forever.

I’ve written my official manifesto, and to publish it, I need your vote.

It takes ten seconds. Please help!

Here’s the synopsis:

Everyone should wear nametags. Every day. Everywhere. After eleven years of constant experimentation, research and exploration, Scott Ginsberg, who has worn a nametag for 4,000 consecutive days, believes that the societal implications of nametags will change everything:

Higher intimacy. Greater social belonging. No more human commoditization. No more social conflict. No more untruthfulness. Lower threat level. Higher social captial. The end of incivility.

The end of cultural barriers. The end of disconnectedness. Mass generosity. Deeper mindfulness. Deeper humility. Less formality. Less hierarchy. Less insecurity. Less discrimination. And of course, no more anonymity.

Vote now!.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What would happen if we all wore nametags?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

The Bridge Between Opportunity and Profitability

Wearing a nametag every day isn’t much of an accomplishment.

Making a successful career out of it, is.

That’s leverage.

Killing two stones with one bird.

And it all pivots on one question:

Now that I have this, what else does this make possible?

That’s not just a question, that’s a catapult. And if you’re willing to adopt leverage as a way of thinking, as a way of living – and not just another downloadable skill – you’ll be amazed at the change you can create.

Leverage is the bridge between opportunity and profitability.

Cross it daily.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What did you leverage this week?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

How Do You Practice Being Vulnerable?

Wearing a nametag doesn’t just encourage people to be friendly.

It also invites people to stare at me, make fun of me, point at me, spatially violate me, yell at me, curse at me, share overly personal information with me, attempt to sell drugs to me, start fights with me, kiss me in the middle of a crowded bar, and on a few occasions, stalk me.

No wonder nobody else wants to wear one everyday.

Still, it’s great practice being vulnerable.

Allowing yourself to be seen as you truly are.
Allowing yourself to be affected by the world around you. And in my experience, the more vulnerable you are, the more open you are. The more open you are, the less you have to hide. The less you have to hide, the more relaxed you become. And the more relaxed you become, the more effectively you can communicate with others.

Yes, you’re risking your truth, risking standing out and risking being rejected.
Yes, vulnerability requires confidence in yourself and implies security in yourself.

But.

But nothing.

Stick yourself out there.

It’s worth it.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How vulnerable are you willing to be?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

What Social Gift Are You Known For?

Humans don’t like to think, choose or remember.

It’s too much work, takes too long and causes anxiety.

That’s the upside of technology: You no longer need to remember or know things – only where to find those things.

But you don’t always have a computer. Sometimes you have to depend on your brain.

That’s why a nametag is a social gift. It’s one less name to remember. People don’t have to do extra work to figure out who you are. Your act of generosity relaxes their already overloaded brains, pampers their memory and frees up their heads to focus on more important things.

That’s why complete strangers will actually thank me for wearing a nametag.

You’re welcome.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What social gift are you known for?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

When Laxatives Aren’t Enough

The problem with laxatives is that we never learn how to push on our own.

It feels good. It cleanses the system. And it gets the job done. But when we give ourselves a crutch we don’t need, we develop a limp we shouldn’t have.

As artists, the goal is to get things moving without outside assistance. To fire inspiration into ourselves, instead of waiting for lightning to strike and then chasing the flame.

We create from the inside out, not the other way around.This approach is hard. Took me several years to figure it out.

It challenges us to trust our own ability to sit down and spontaneously respond to life. Like a like a jazz saxophonist, there’s no preparation because our life is our preparation.

We have to believe in our own resources. To have faith that we’re richly supported by something bigger, and that we possess the will to channel that spirit. That way, when the creative moment comes, we become the convergence of everything that’s ever happened to us, and just start riffing.

And hopefully, it doesn’t sound like poop.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How do you get things going?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

Isn’t Gender Strange?

I was supposed to be Jessica.

My parents were expecting a girl all along.

Which makes total sense, considering how girlie I’ve always been:

I cry at movies. I’m ultra sensitive. I’m touchy feely. I don’t care about sports. I hate beer. I’m not macho. I love shopping. I’m obsessed with my hair. I have way too many shoes.

I’m the daughter they never had.Still, I’m proud to be Scott every day of my life. I’m proud to be a man everyday of my life. Wouldn’t trade it for anything. Considering women are the most oppressed minority on the planet, I think I lucked out.

Besides, there aren’t as many branding possibilities with, “HELLO, my name is Jessica.”

Turns out, the name Scott actually translates to “painted warrior.”

Considering the tattoo, I’d say my parents made the right choice.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Isn’t gender strange?

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* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

A Different Philosophy on Being Different

My whole life, I never quite fit in.

I was always just a little different.

Not so different that nobody wanted to be friends with me. Not so different that I felt excessively entitled or self-righteously appointed. But different enough to feel like an alien wherever I went.

And then I moved to Portland.

The city where different is the default.Everybody fits in – because nobody fits in. It’s so fantastically unique, so delightfully weird and so endearingly eclectic, that you can’t help but acknowledge and applaud people’s differences.

The place is so weird, I almost felt normal. That says a lot.

I remember my first day. I was riding the bus when a guy asked, “You’re not from around here, are you Scott?”

“How did you guess?”

“Nobody uses umbrellas here. When it rains, we either celebrate it or ignore it.”

That’s when I said to myself: “These are my people.”

I fell in love with the city. Had some of the greatest times of my life. Made lifelong friends I’ll never forget. And learned lessons that changed me forever. And although I only spent fourteen months there, the spirit of Portland will always remain under my fingernails.

You have to understand, I grew up in suburban St. Louis. I went to college in rural Ohio. So it was a nice change of posture to live in a community where accepting people’s differences is a given – but celebrating them is the gift.

Can you imagine if more places adopted that mentality?
Can you imagine if we stopped holding ourselves hostage by our intolerance?

Sadly, our society still operates on the outdated, close-minded cliché that the nail that sticks up should be hammered down. That being different is the enemy.

I don’t care how open we claim to be: We still actively avoid contact with people who are not like us because of a fear of social contamination.

It’s time to adopt a different philosophy about being different.

Not only that it’s acceptable – but also that it’s encouraged and edified.

Fit out.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How do you put yourself on equal footing with the people around you?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “31 Questions to Test Your Listening Skills” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

Scott Ginsberg’s Keynote Speech: Hire Yourself! Burn Your Resume & Create a Career That Counts

This clip is fromThe Go Network on Vimeo!

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Have you ever thought about hiring yourself?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
For the list called, “16 Ways to be the Best,” send an email to me, and you win the list for free!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
Author, Speaker, Publisher, Artist, Mentor
[email protected]

Never the same speech twice.

Now booking for 2011-2012!

Watch The Nametag Guy in action here!

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