The Pretender TV series ran from 1996 to 2000 and was viewed by critics and viewers as good science fiction. It enjoyed above average ratings as it also enlisted a few die-hard cult followers that are still clamoring for its return. Appealing to the audience for good-guys always overcoming an evil corporate giant, it was a story about Jarod, a child prodigy and genius with a special gift: pretending. The story begins with “The Centre†kidnapping him to be exploited as a human simulation research tool. Of course, he eventually escapes [30 years later?] and the plot develops into right v. wrong motivated by [the ever righteous?] revenge motive. During the 3rd year of the series, it became glaringly obvious that they had begun scraping the bottom of the barrel for location names. “Well Steve, what will we call this new country?†“I don’t know, Craig. How about Donoterase?†he said as he looked up at the previous day’s planning session on the whiteboard… with the words “DO NOT ERASE†scrawled at the bottom. So Donoterase was born.
This is a familiar sight in most conference rooms: multi-day meetings end each session with notes from the day etched in erasable marker on a whiteboard. Most have “DO NOT ERASE†or a similar message daring any interloper to tamper with a work in progress. Smaller rooms will have easels with butcher paper strategically situated around the room with those same delicious smelling markers begging to be set free. Some people think that the smell of the markers is offensive, but nobody can deny that it seems to be some sort of aromatherapy that stimulates inactive synapses in the brain. Electrical impulses originate with the sense of smell, sight and sound and race down the arms to the fingers holding the marker. Brainstorming, where no idea is a bad idea and all ideas are important, also excuses spelling errors and sloppy writing done in haste.
If there is any more obvious remnant from cave drawings in our society today it would be this creative process. Architects of the office of the future are still relying on cave-like drawings to exchange ideas and information. One company opened a new engineering R&D facility with large break areas consisting of a coffee maker surrounded on three sides by walls made of the same material as whiteboards. Another designed conference rooms with sliding floor to ceiling whiteboards to increase the area of drawable space. Teleconference rooms are designed with special camera hookups to display handwritten sketches across oceans. Innovation is born in these caves, teamwork is facilitated by interaction, and creativity thrives there. Since most creative efforts start with a story, the graphical storyboard starts the process of turning it into reality.
By the way, the smell of those dry erase markers has been tested and found to be absolutely non-toxic. Mice were exposed to open markers in a confined space for hours with no ill effects. However, they were sufficiently motivated to write on their cage walls and subsequently sketched out a cure for cancer.
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