After following Marty Coleman aka @TheNapkinDad on Twitter for a while, I invited him to share his story at the 2011 Social Media Tulsa Conference. As I watched the #SMTulsa stream during his talk. I saw a Tweet that read something like; “@TheNapkinDad Just made me cry #smtulsa.” I thought: Either Marty was clubbing people on the head with a stick, or his story was resonating with the audience. To my joy, it was the latter.
Marty Coleman is the blogger/owner of The Napkin Dad Daily. He became the Napkin Dad when he was unemployed and making his daughters’ lunches for them to take to Middle and High School. Being an artist he would draw a drawing with a quote on the napkins he put in their lunches. His hope was that he could impart a bit of wisdom, humor and insight to his daughters in a way that wouldn’t require them sitting down and having to suffer through a lecture from dad.
That small, insignificant daily effort for his daughters lasted over 4 years and ended up getting him national and local attention, exhibitions, speaking engagements, and is a major component of his work as the owner of MAKE Studio – a creative studio of art, photography and design in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In response to requests he has created Napkin Dad merchandise including books, t-shirts, cups and greeting cards. He continues, over 12 years after the beginning of the story, to draw a napkin every day that goes out to an international audience on his blog and other social networks.
The take-a-ways from Marty’s session, The Napkin Dad Explains: Six Stop Signs on Creativity Road:
1. You will learn the reasons why YOU put that stop sign in front of you in the first place.
2. For those times the stop sign can’t be removed, you will learn how to use your creativity to go ‘off-road’.
3. You will learn that helping others see their stop signs will help you move faster to your goal.
If you’re in Tulsa, you still have a few days to catch Marty’s Velveteen Women Exhibit at the Living Arts Museum.
Don’t miss Marty’s session.
