While on assignments leading global experiential organizations, developing accredited courses, and producing award-winning commercial branding campaigns for educational clients around the world - over the course of a decade, numerous excerpts have been compiled into the following:

Flying across the sea, assigned to produce a documentary film in the remote areas of ancient Sanskrit Buddhas and Bon Shamans, we find no glass skyscrapers, cell phone selfies, nor wifi hot-spots. The fleeting moment of travel breathing life with every hilltop overcome, every smack of palm leaf to face, misty-eyed learners absorbing elements of experience that could never be instituted by way of powerpoint or projector.

Jumping out of the idling jeep, just 6 Kilometers from a Nomadic school in the Far East of Ladakh, with Gyaltsen, our Ladakhi translator, and international exchange students studying traditional living and alternative energy utilization in the rural Himalayas; we disembarked for the small settlement lying a few hundred metres ahead.

The culmination of the need for new generations of Nomads to be able to compete in today's educational standards, and the allure of the newly formed world of convenience has created an influx of Nomadic refugees into cities like Leh (the capital of Ladakh), and surrounding settlements like Choglamsar.

Standing mid-conversation with a leather faced Ladakhi man, he’s trying to explain to us why Bob Dylan’s “Blowing in the Wind” is the greatest American rock song. We give the typical half nod of India – whether it means yes or no, we still have not the slightest inclination. As our heads return to their balanced position between aching, arching shoulder blades, we spot a golden reflection off in the vast distance.

Trying to remain unbiased to these effects of modernization and globalization, it’s similar to when we studied television's impact in Bhutan.

"When home, I watch twelve hours (of TV) a day in the summer," said Dawa, a 19 year-old, second-year computer student. "This is not uncommon for children my age. The television has even caused problems between our family members over what programs to watch."

Interviewing college students from Sherubtse College in Bhutan, we asked about how television had changed the country since its arrival in 2001. The most common answer was that it had greatly impacted the people of Bhutan. Back in Ladakh, we found similar answers to slightly different situations.

"We have a problem in the Nomadic way of life," states Dolma, a mother living in a Nomadic region of Ladakh. "Our children go to school to get educated, but they either do not complete their studies, and become laborers in the city, or if they succeed they don't come back."

While on assignments leading global experiential organizations, developing accredited courses on Media Literacy, Cultural Visual Media, and Buddhism, and directing/producing award-winning commercial branding campaigns for educational clients in remote areas around the world - over the course of a decade, numerous excerpts have been compiled into the following:

The road was barely lit as we bumped corner to corner inside the small Maruti. Traveling from the ancient ruins sitting high overlooking the Paro valley, the sun setting, a waning reminder of the impermanence of our stay here and the gravitas of the decreasing light. The freedom of the fleeting moment and the beauty of every turn, an adrenaline laden injection for the traveler’s soul.

A last glimpse, beauty on the hillside. The Himalayas giving us one more defining moment, embracing our liminal stay and our eternal desire to stay. She looks up as the sun peeks behind the Goliath peak and time stands still, a tension transferred; the last photo of the day.

Surrounded by the calls of Himalayan Pashmina Goats, analytics far from the measure of success, we threw our arms around the old man and humbly felt smiles unravel from dusty lips. Our translator snapped a photo and we gave thanks, then departed from the Nomadic settlement.

"Education is very important now-a-days. It is difficult to keep the Nomads Nomadic," says Tsering Phuntsok, a 67 year-old Nomad with 300 sheep and goats, and 30 yaks. "The children are greatly affected when they see TV, cars and modern life. It creates a desire for them. I’m upset at the balance of education and the Nomadic way of life. If a family has enough children then maybe they can continue this lifestyle."

Leaving our computers behind - in effort to understand the repercussions education’s created in the Nomadic world - we headed far from the urban noise of Delhi:

[Strategic Embedded Market Research]: out of thirteen eleven-year olds when questioned where they would like to be in the future, ten - over three quarters of them - stated that they wanted to live in Leh, or another city. Half stated they had parents who already had left the Nomadic life, and moved towards a more convenient life in the urban areas.

"The children used to come back to see the family for vacation from school, but today they don't come back," states Phuntsok. "I’m not happy with the children not coming back. We need the educated ones to come back and help our traditional Nomadic roots. Then maybe I can be happy."

We often contemplate the effect we have on the world around us, but how was it that education could be to blame for an increase in Nomadic family disruption? It wasn’t until travel made us reimagine what we considered to be concrete, did we see how multi-faceted life and education truly are.

While on assignments leading global experiential organizations, developing accredited courses on Media Literacy, Cultural Visual Media, and Buddhism, and directing/producing award-winning commercial branding campaigns for educational clients in remote areas of the world - over the course of a decade, numerous excerpts have been compiled into the following:

Day 7: Traversing 1600 km in seven days, planning eighteen months for this moment; defining identity for key stakeholders, developing strategic direction, identifying countries of interest, and sourcing tickets, all for the unknown of the story and the potential the challenge has to change the narrative.

Looking back we think aloud, “Why do we go out and search stranger’s faces for portraits, why the need to harness simplicity for otherwise convoluted messages? Why can’t we sleep if we haven’t created for a purpose?”

We remember what it means to be human, the means to tell a story; a video camera does not distinguish the integrity of one’s life narrative, nor does a neutral density filter block out the cliché jargon of the past twenty years of advertising. Seeking adventure, reigniting the child in us all, sourcing creativity while shining a light through the current media marketing landscape; that’s why we’re here.

Formulaic analytics drives our world, and by measuring attention in impressions and ‘likes’, we simplify the process of creation. Myopathy found in the ‘templatation of data’ and the passé nature of customization, never has it been so primed for a world of personalization.

We don’t do tourism branding... we climb up the mountain, write this copy on birchbark, then [re]brand through the human experience. A late night photo and video shoot in a remote and very serene valley led us to our moment of clarity.

Documenting some of the finest traditional weaving, traveling around the world for a story you believe in - that’s impactful. It's not about branding or advertising, analytics or search engine optimization; it's all for the moments you hadn’t planned for. It's all for the instant you stop the scroll, and appreciate life.

Rugged rural roads revolve this planet, and we search for the stories that we’re drawn to inherently.

Day 8.

While on assignments leading global experiential organizations, developing accredited courses on Media Literacy, Cultural Visual Media, and Buddhism, and directing/producing award-winning commercial branding campaigns for educational clients in remote areas around the world - over the course of a decade, numerous excerpts have been compiled into the following:

What does it mean to be human, when everyday we’re rewriting what being human means? We fast-track our day accomplishing as much as we can, all while staying as connected as possible to the ones that matter most. Resumes are now profile pages, and profiles are quickly becoming ambient videos and a brand.

Content Marketing is the new open road, and the signs leading the way are constantly changing. Today, by being online you’ve built a brand, and if you’re representing a brand, you know how important it is to stay human, authentic, and relevant.

Whether you’re a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company searching for the way to connect your annual summary to both your key stakeholders, and to the very people your mission statement represents, or an entrepreneur looking for the right visuals and underlying diverse and consistent brand message - you must dialogue with your audience, not to them.