Andy Nulman

Andy Nulman is the President and CMO of Airborne Mobile, a company celebrated as a pioneer in the burgeoning new industry of mobile media and marketing,  successfully strengthening consumer brands like Maxim, Family Guy, the NHL and Taco Bell through the creation of innovative, revenue-generating mobile content and applications. In 2006, Airborne was honored as North America’s 4th-Fastest Growing Tech Company in Deloitte’s Fast 500 ranking.

Prior to Airborne, Andy was best known for his 15-year tenure as CEO of Montreal’s renowned Just For Laughs International Comedy Festival, the world's first and largest comedy event.  From 1985 until 1999, he transformed it from a two-day show to a month-long cultural happening, attracting over 2 million visitors per year to see talent the likes of Jay Leno, Drew Carey, Jim Carrey, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Ray Romano and Adam Sandler.

An acclaimed and thought-provoking public speaker, Andy Nulman has also written two best-selling books, was named one of the “Top 40 Under 40” business leaders by the Financial Post in 1997, voted one of the Top 100 Montrealers of the 20th Century by the Montreal Gazette in 2000, and honored as a distinguished recipient of the McGill Management Achievement Award in 2004.

If that isn’t enough, Andy Nulman is  also a prolific blogger on the art of Surprise in marketing.(check him out at www.andynulman.com).

Interview

Apathy is Boring: Why did you start caring about social issues? Was there one reason, or a certain point in your life that prompted it - what’s the story?

Andy Nulman: I’m not the greatest social issue “care-er” and many people think that I do more than I do. But, I think trying to give back is part of the normal way to live … there are some who are radical about it, some who are passionate about it, and some who have it as part of their daily regime.
 
I think that I fit in the last group. Sure, my wife and I support a number of charities and causes; since we sold the company she really spends a lot of time on boards and in the community. But it isn’t what I wake up each day to do; however I do try to work it in.
 
Doing good can be simple. Not having a recycling bin in this day and age is irresponsible, but there are plenty of people who still put their papers in the trash. Another simple thing we do is the non-perishable food box (for Sun Youth) we keep at the reception desk of our offices during the holiday season.
 
Small things add up. If you do nothing, it’s almost criminal, because it’s so easy to take small steps to change things. You don’t need to commit to it being your life’s work [in order to make a difference].
 
In the Jewish religion there is this idea “Tzedakah”, the notion of giving back. Some people think it is only about giving dollars, but it’s more than that, it’s about giving skills, time and talent.
 
There is NO EXCUSE for not being involved. But there is no shame in not being TOTALLY involved.

AisB: Do you see a role for technology in social change?
 
AN: Technology is the great equalizer.

It is the most incredible tool to rouse people up, to communicate a message, and so far, it is an uncensored way to have your message heard. Misuse is inevitable, like when messages that are not 100% accurate or correct are distributed, but word still gets out.
 
I think that the mobile phone will be used much more extensively in the future - to get people together, to communicate a message, and as a tool for activism. It is also going to be an incredibly important tool in politics.
The impact will be similar to when music was really used as a political and social tool in the 60’s. Music is used to an extent now, but the messages are a lot more commercial and less innocent and heartfelt. I think that the mobile phone will be the next wave.

Almost nobody is interested in taking the time to read a 20,000 page doctrine on policy … especially youth. Right now, the trouble is the screen is VERY small, and so are the visual sound bytes, or “retina bytes” (the term we use). If you figure out how to boil down what you want to say so that it fits on a phone screen, imagine how fast that message can travel.
 
Eventually people might even vote on a mobile phone - it’s pretty easy to do in theory. You would get a number, and so on, and instead of schlepping out to the polling stations, you can vote as easily as sending a text message. That might lead to an increase in the number of voters.
 
AisB: You mentioned music - do you still feel that music is connected to democracy?
 
AN:  Sure, great music and great messages come from the heart. People are going to know what is contrived and what’s not, though these days popular music tends to be more commercial and less innocent than it once was.

Artists usually are the ones who take the first shot at important social issues publicly, before anyone else … before businessmen, that’s for sure.
 
I see that kind of social commentary in art all the time. For example, I saw a great Fernando Botero exhibit in Milan. This artist who normally paints big heavy chubby nudes did a series based on themes linked to Guantanamo & Abu Ghraib.  It made a statement and was controversial, and it made a point.
 
AisB: What music are you listening to?
 
AN: I’m revisiting Tom Waits from ‘Closing Time’ to ‘Orphans’ and Robert Plant. (You know, I still buy CD’s, I feel terrible for artists these days.)
I listen to all kinds of music, at the moment I’ve got some tunes on repeat, I’m singing in this Battle of the Bands benefit coming up so I’ve got ‘Jump’ by Van Halen, ‘I Hear You Knocking’ and  ‘Anarchy in the UK’ that I’m listening to, continuously.
 
AisB: What first drew you to Apathy is Boring?
 
AN: Well, you e-mailed me. But really, I thought it was (and I hesitate to use the word) cool. It is a positive message to kids who normally get such bullshit messages.

If you don’t get this thing in people’s heads young, they become ignorant.
I’m amongst ignorant people every day and it’s frightening.
 
AisB: It’s like there’s a fork in the road; statistics show if you don’t start voting when you’re young, then you’re likely never to vote.
 
AN: My wife and I even took our kids with us to vote when they were little.  We’d take them into the booth with us, so they could see; this is what you do.
 
I think we have it too easy here in Canada; in some places there are people who risk their lives to vote, they risk having a limb hacked off by a machete or something to do what we take for granted.
People think the right to vote is bullshit, till someone threatens to take it away. That’s when people really freak out.
 
AisB What do you expect from your Member of Parliament?
 
AN: I expect them to introduce themselves to me. I expect to know who he or she is.
 
I have a lot of pity for people in government. It’s an underpaid, under-appreciated gig.
 
Politics is a bit of a sucker’s game. I don’t know anybody who goes into politics without the desire to change things for the better. Then you get into a schoolyard shouting match, with a bunch of people yelling down your every comment, and you can’t even really speak your mind, it all has to be partisan … it’s terrible.

I hope my MP lives through their term without going out of their mind.
 
I think that the political system is a mess, and it often attracts the wrong people. You get farmers struggling to make 25k a year – realizing that as a Member of Parliament they could make 65k a year. Inversely, other people who have earned lots, say they’re worth 400 million, run for office to ‘give back’ and then when they get out of office they use their gained influence to make a billion!
 
I know some people who went into politics and really gave a damn, like Danny Williams (an early investor in my company), who was faced with a decision after having made a ton of money.

a)    Retire to any island

b)    ‘Retire’ to a different island, and become its Premier.

He took Newfoundland from a ‘have not’ to a ‘have’ province, because he had balls and he gave a damn. How many people are going to make a decision like that?
 
Unfortunately, I don’t have a ton of faith in government. But the faith I do have is that at least we are free enough to fight it, and free enough to get things done on our own, within that larger system. That is what makes the system great. At least they aren’t shooting at you.
 
AisB: Young people are a big demographic.  If we all voted, we could swing elections, and perhaps that could change the system.
 
AN: I think it’s better to work within the system, to work around it, and to take it for what it is.
 
The worst thing you can do is say - I don’t care - and not be up to speed on the issues you care about, whether it’s healthcare, education, or the environment.
 
It is a terrible thing to throw your hands up, or become apathetic, and the worst thing you can do is not vote.