#encouraging people to spend more time becoming familiar with the site instead of starting dumb shit ('lurk more')

[yakourinka]

every other day I'm mildly surprised by how similar this website has become to 4chins in its heyday. and, surprisingly, I don't mean it in a bad way

[makomaragi]

I!! finally!! finished it!!!

I started this fic in 2011 or 2012 when I first got in to Scientificshipping. People had asked me about how I thought they got together, and I was always like “lol I’ll just write a fic about it one day it’s too hard to explain”

This is that fic!!! my magnum opus. 

It’s long, and awkward, and definitely not perfect. But I’m pretty pleased with myself to finally be able to put this out in to the universe.

Pairing: Professor Aurea Juniper/Fennel

Rating: G/PG?? No sex or anything, just dumb gay babbies being useless lesbians.a lot of drawn out feelings. gets pretty straight to the point. 

song recs: 

the mountain goats - old college try

blue october - picking up pieces

blue october - the follow through

Try as she may, Fennel simply couldn’t concentrate on the paperwork in front of her. The thought of telling Aurea of her feelings was beginning to overwhelm her, and she couldn’t avoid the paperwork nor the woman she thought of so often forever. Not that she ever needed an excuse to speak to Aurea, but lately she was beginning to make them to herself. Aurea was far busier than she ever was with this or that, and Fennel felt selfish for interrupting her schedule with her own business, even if Aurea had said repeatedly that she didn’t mind. Aurea had always said that when something was bothering her, she threw herself in her work instead, but Fennel quickly realized the solution to her problem wasn’t as simple as it was for Aurea. It seemed that the harder she tried to concentrate, the more her thoughts drifted off to thoughts of her.

She had tried once before. She invited her to lunch at the Striaton Cafe a month or so ago. It was innocent enough, meeting for coffee and brunch as they had countless times before. Fennel had showed her a few things she was working on, none of which she had much much progress towards at the time. Her intention had been to make her aware of her feelings, but the timing it didn’t seem right. So they went back to talking about science, as they always did, the professor far more involved in the project than Fennel was in the moment.

There were points that she decided that, maybe it should stay a secret. But that didn’t feel fair to herself, or even to the professor, somehow. Fennel began to look at it as if she were on the receiving end of someone’s unrequited love, she would want to know. Feelings she had been harboring since they had studied together, though she managed to keep them at bay. They would come and go by her own doing. As of late, Fennel wouldn’t say the thoughts or feelings were consuming her, but weighed more heavily on her mind than they had before. The only reason she could conclude was that they had simply been spending much time together than usual, though not nearly as much as they had in college.

She had moved back to Striaton about four months ago now, having spent the few months before that living with the professor in the apartment above the regional lab after the explosion at the Dream Yard. It had been the most traumatic experience of her life, losing her lab, losing her life’s work and everything she had been working toward, leaving her without anything and relying on the kindness of her best friend to get her out of the city it all happened in. She didn’t want to move back – Aurea had offered her various jobs at the lab, none of which she felt qualified for in having destroyed a lab already. No, it was her younger sister that moved to the region from their home in Kanto, and in to the apartment that Fennel still had a lease on for another six months, that led her back there. Mentally, she wasn’t prepared to return, nor did the professor pressure her to. But her sister did, and she decided a distraction was the best answer.

It all seemed distant now. Maybe it was the medication that was helping her, or the combination of that and the project she began developing. The idea for it had come to her long ago, in college, but she never had the time or resources to invent something until now. She had told her sister and the professor about her idea, both who encouraged her to go forward with it, but even months after the fact, she didn’t have much to show for it besides mountains of paperwork containing her drawings and diagrams of how she thought it might work. It was the money that was the problem, nor did she feel comfortable asking her family, let alone Aurea, for anything towards her idea that might not come to fruition. Especially not after everything she had done for her already.  

No matter how she looked at it, however, the repercussions would change them both completely, and she fought herself with wondering if she was ready to handle whatever the effect would be of her confession. It would be perhaps the boldest thing she had ever done. Nor did there ever seem to be an appropriate time or place for the conversation.

It happened much too quickly between the phone call and organizing her own thoughts that Aurea was seated on her couch, looking over the paperwork Fennel had put a half hearted effort in to. Fennel usually would have been seated next to her, leaning over her shoulder and translating her messy hand writing to her, but instead she rested on her desk, deep in thought how to approach this. There was a pang of guilt in using the paperwork as her ruse, but it hadn’t been completely irrelevant either. She had completed enough to have something to show for her work at long last, and truly had wanted the professor’s opinion on it before moving forward.

“This all looks really good, Fennel…” Aurea started, flipping a few pages over to be sure she hadn’t missed anything. “Have you submitted your paperwork to the League to get funding for your project?”

“Err…no…I didn’t know that was something I had to do,” Fennel felt embarrassed, having not even thought of doing so when it seemed like such an obvious task to Aurea.

“If the League approves it, they’ll give you a budget for it. How else do you think I have enough resources to work on the machines at the lab?” Aurea gave a small laugh and a smile to follow. “It’s not too hard, just time consuming.”

As Aurea turned back to the blue prints before them, Fennel couldn’t help but to hold her stare on her a bit longer, even if Aurea wasn’t looking at her anymore. The way she carried herself, ever the professional when it came to discussing the meticulous details of the machine Fennel wanted to build, but a caring smile between glances of paperwork was all Fennel needed to see. Even the way she pushed her hair out of her eyes with her delicate fingers when it slipped out of place when she was leaning down had a sophisticated air to the simple motion.

They were all mannerisms she had grown used to concerning her best friend over the years, but in recent weeks, it was becoming more and more difficult not to be entranced by them when she was with her.

“Fennel?” Aurea’s voice interrupted, and she realized she had been staring. Fennel cleared her throat in a weak attempt to recover.

“Hmm?”

“I was just asking what your plans were for this. Do you plan on eventually making it available to trainers?”

“Oh…I hadn’t even thought of that yet. Er…are there benefits to that?”

“The League is more likely to approve of it,” Aurea shrugged, winking.

Fennel let out a small laugh, blushing ever so slightly. Was she teasing her? “Right, then. Yeah…I don’t see why trainers couldn’t use it eventually.”

“Anyway, you need to come up with a budget. Figure out how much you think all of this will cost. All of it, including paying your assistants should you choose to hire any to help you in this endeavor.”

Fennel caught herself starting to stare again, and put a stop to it as soon as she felt her eyes glaze over. She could tell by the seamless confidence in Aurea’s voice that she believed her project was worthwhile; she knew her well enough to tell when Aurea was disappointed by something, not being sure if it was familiarity in her stance of if the professor was too forceful in faking sincerity. “Um, okay,” was all she could manage, not entirely sure how to go about completing such a task.

Aurea laughed. “I can help you. Next time we get together, we can sit down and figure it all out.”

“Thanks. That would help me a lot. I’ve…I’ve never done anything of this magnitude before, is all. Not on my own, anyway.”

“Of course you have. The Dream Site project was all your own, yes?”

“Yeah…but…I never had to take this much initiative with it.”

“I do have a few pointers for you. Well, first I think that you need to clarify what you’ll be doing with the Dream Mist, and how it affects the Pokemon. Be sure to emphasize that it won’t hurt them. And I know it’s obvious to you, but make sure that you clarify why the Pokemon has to be in the REM stage of sleep for this to work.”

“Okay,” Fennel said with an accidental dismissive tone, looking at her feet.

“Anything else, then?” Aurea looked up at her, concerned by her friend’s shift in body language. “Err…I hadn’t meant to offend you. This is all written well enough, you just need to elaborate on those few statements, is all.”

Fennel let out a deep breath. “Aurea…” Why hadn’t she had a drink or two before this, if only to give herself any sort of imaginary courage?

The professor held her gaze on her, only moving to push her bangs out of her eyes, the action in itself throwing off Fennel’s concentration on what she wanted to say. She bit her lip, standing up from where she was seated. She wanted to go sit next to her, to take her hands in her own, it would make it more meaningful. But it didn’t feel right, not now, not with how flushed she was sure her face was becoming.

“I…I have these feelings for you…I’m not sure what to make of them. I think about you more than I should, in ways I know I shouldn’t.” Fennel turned away, pretending to organize some papers on her desk.

“I don’t know what that means.” Aurea gave a deadpan reply, too quickly for Fennel's liking. The professor’s mind was still on the research in front of her, surely.

Fennel stopped shuffling the papers, her hands now planted firmly on the edge of the desk, hanging her head down, her shoulders tensed. She could feel Aurea's stare on her, even though she wasn't facing her. The option of choosing her words carefully came and went, completely over Aurea's head. "I think I'm in love with you," she surprised herself how easily the phrase escaped her, not once even having the thought in those words to herself.

There was a long silence, Fennel was half tempted to turn to see if the other woman was still seated, though she hadn't heard her move. Aurea had only subtly re-situated herself, learning forward on the couch, her hands folded together on her knees.

"When, um..." There were a million more questions on her mind, why was this the one she chose?

"A long time. It took me a while to realize it..."

“I see.”

“I’m…I’m sorry..I…I just…you have a right to know. I can’t help how I feel. But I have feelings for you, and I’m pretty sure I always have….” As difficult as it was, she forced herself to face Aurea. Aurea still carried a blank expression, taking it all in. Fennel leaned back on her desk, tilting her head to the ground, smiling to herself, thankful her hair had fallen in her face. This was it, right? This was when the object her of affections realized their own feelings in return, and they’d kiss, and live happily ever after.

“I think I’m going to go,” Aurea stood up, the noise catching Fennel off guard. She picked up her coat off of the back of the chair, throwing it back on haphazardly, staring at the ground. “I…”

“I’m so sorry, Aurea…” Fennel felt the tears started to slip down her cheek now. She wanted to run after her, to grab her hand, and as she turned to take her leave to kiss her gently. But all she could do was watch as Aurea silently gave a small nod before she was out the door.

“I…I don’t know if this is a good idea, Fennel,” Aurea’s eyebrows were raised, eyes wide as if she were frightened, a force driving her out of the room.

No, this certainly hadn’t gone the way Fennel had thought it would. In a perfect world, Aurea would have admitted that she, too, had harbored such feelings for so long, but instead, she was gone before Fennel could imagine the rest of the scenario.

Where Aurea had gone off to, Fennel had no idea. She tried calling the lab after two days, only to be told she wasn’t there – or maybe she had been told to tell her, specifically, just that. But it didn’t make any sense, especially from a scientific point of view.

She tried her Xtransciever. She tried her phone. She went as far as to take a taxi to Nuvema one day, only to find her lab apartment seemingly abandoned. Her Jeep wasn’t in the driveway, she was gone. Her interns and assistants were of no help in knowing where she went exactly, just that she had left in a rush.

Fennel told herself she had gone too far too quickly out of desperation for any sort of answer. What did “not a good idea” mean?

Carrying on with the project Aurea helped her with brought her both frustration and a sense of purpose. Would it impress her? Or would the thought of working on something she helped her with drive her to insanity? She forced herself to fill out the paperwork the professor had encouraged her to do so, giving her some sense of accomplishment.

There was no point in dwelling on her feelings for the professor in the moment, let alone the professor's feelings for her. She allowed herself to cry once over it, realizing how selfish she was, and there was nothing left to do except allow Aurea to come to her own terms on how she felt. Worst case scenario, she wanted nothing to do with her ever again. It would be difficult, especially seeing as how their work often led them to collaborate together on projects; but Aurea was ever the professional and would be able to set anything personal aside far better than Fennel ever would. She wasn’t sure what she considered a positive outcome anymore, besides Aurea agreeing that they would forget entirely about the encounter. Fennel decided, should this be the case, she would move back to Kanto. It would be the best possible outcome for both of them with only herself to blame.

A few thousand miles away, Professor Juniper hovered over some ancient Pokemon bones sprawled out before her.

The more she worked, the less she would have time to think about what was going on in Unova. The team of scientists she was assisting didn’t seem all that surprised by her sudden appearance, nor did they ask any questions. It wasn’t the first time and wouldn’t be the last that she caught wind of an excavation and decided to take part – Lenora always gave her the best tip offs.

She was quite good at keeping herself busy throughout the day and well in to the night, keeping thoughts at bay for as long as she could. Going home would mean facing Fennel again and she still had no idea what that would entail.

Aurea told herself she had taken the trip to clear her head, but truly, it was avoidance. She had no idea why she left the way she did that night, not even giving Fennel, or herself, any chance to talk about any of it, rather than being driven by fear far away to other regions in avoiding it all.

Until one day, four or five nights in to her research expedition, the weight of it all collapsed down on her. Fennel had surely wondered where she was – they had a habit of speaking at least once a day in their normal lives, sometimes multiple times. It wasn’t right of her to disappear like this. Fennel had tried to reach her, multiple missed calls, some even forwarded from the lab, all of which she didn’t know how to handle yet.

This had been a mistake on her part, one of which she mourned having not had handled better in the moment presented rather than almost a week afterward.

The professor had never considered the idea of being in a romantic relationship with Fennel, or any relationship at all for that matter. There was a thought that if it had to of been anyone, she supposed it may as well of been her. She was the most comfortable with her. They had lived together on and off for their entire adult lives.

The thought that continuously crept up on her was that of hurting her if things didn’t work out. Just because they were friends didn’t mean that they would be compatible romantically.

The more her thoughts were left to linger, the more she realized she wasn’t entirely opposed to it. There were certain qualities in Fennel she always deemed adorable,  now realizing it may have been some hint of unconscious attraction. Was she attracted to women and simply never considered it until one presented herself to her so openly? She had never looked at women exclusively, but the idea of looking at Fennel romantically seemed more realistic once the realization crossed her mind. Simple motions that were simply part of Fennel’s personality came to mind – the way she tapped her fingers together under her chin when she was unsure of something, the way she shoved her fist against her cheek when in deep thought, but mostly, the way her face looked when she was presenting something she was passionate about.

This was certainly no way to begin a relationship – she wasn’t sure of anything herself.

But Fennel was.

And it went back to what she feared, in hurting her if this didn’t pan out. What was Fennel’s endgame? She couldn’t imagine a world in which she didn’t speak to Fennel – besides the circumstance she found herself in now, of her own doing – the worst case scenario of them having a bad break up didn’t seem realistic for some reason. They had disagreements over the years, like any friends, but always patched things up rather quickly. She supposed this maturity of their familiarity with one another could carry over romantically.

If she was being honest with herself, it was the subject of intimacy, let alone sex that scared her the most. It was embarrassing to admit even to herself that she never had any such encounters, nor did she ever find herself in a position that they were ever presented to her, until now, hypothetically.

The longer she waited, the worse it would be when she arrived home. Fennel was hurting right now, she was certain of that, and to her own doing. They weren’t even involved romantically and she had already hurt her, just as she feared.

There was a distinct, determining thought that the idea of Fennel hurting, and worse yet, because of her, left her sitting up in her tent in the dark.

Maybe she’d make other mistakes, should they pursue this, but reflecting on her thoughts in all of it only made her promise to herself that she would never hurt Fennel ever again. There were still many bridges to cross when she returned home, and maybe they wouldn’t be together forever, but if she was still thinking about it and not dismissing it entirely, there must have been some merit.

If she was going to do this, she needed to be honest with her. Honest with why she left, and honest in all of her uncertainties.

The professor didn’t feel in control of her actions when she booked the flight back to Unova for the next morning, surely confusing the research team more than anything. They never asked her any questions, probably assuming she came out of boredom in a lull of trainers stopping by.

She had hardly made it off the plane when she turned on her Xtransciever, finding Fennel’s name and initiating the call, her stomach in her throat.

Fennel was preparing for bed when her Xtransceiver buzzed. Who would be calling her at this hour? At the name appearing on the screen, she hesitated. Was she okay? Was she just going to ignore what happened and everything would go back to normal? Certainly it couldn’t after their last skirmish, but she couldn’t avoid her forever, and she didn’t want to.

“Aurea...” she couldn’t help but smile at seeing the other woman’s face appear on the small screen.

“Are you at home?”

“Yeah, but I’m going to sleep soon.”

“Can we talk?”

Fennel became suddenly alert, “Right now?”

“I’m on my way. I’ll see you in a bit, if that’s okay.”

“Okay.”

Aurea had hung up the call before she could ask any questions, supposing it was best to have whatever conversation they would in person, even if it was quite late.

She wanted to lash out at her, tell her how upset she was at her for disappearing, but it didn’t seem fair to, either. Aurea had a right to distance herself from what she had suddenly dispelled on her at their last meeting, and Fennel accepted she wasn’t the one that had any right to be upset.

The drive from the airport in Nuvema to Striation City didn’t make sense, especially as it was now past midnight. Was she sure about what she was doing? Fennel didn’t deny seeing her, nor did she seem angry or even upset. Surprised was the only adjectives that came to mind. Nothing was making sense anymore. Were her feelings simply in vain now?

Knocking on her door seemed to be the loudest noise heard throughout the city at that time of night. Fennel must have been waiting close by, answering within a few seconds.

“Fennel...hi.”

“Hi.” Fennel held the door open in her night gown, rubbing her eyes as if to emphasize how tired she seemed to be. She ushered her inside, quickly closing the door, both of them standing in her living room now awkwardly.

They both started talking at the same time, interrupting each other continuously a few times before Fennel realized what was happening and conceded. She was the one that caused this, it seemed fair to hear what Aurea had to say first.

“I’m sorry for the way I left, um...last time.”

“I’m sorry for coming on so strong to you...that wasn’t fair of me...to put you in that position...”

Aurea was staring at her for a long minute after she had trailed off, Fennel unable to read the exact expression etched on the professor’s features. She wasn’t angry, or even upset, she just seemed...oddly calm.

“We can forget it ever happened. I should have never done that to you,” Fennel’s eyes darted to the floor, no longer able to suppress the tears stinging the corners of her eyes, nor was she sure what there was for her to say that could rectify where they found themselves now.

Before she could decipher her friend’s expression further, she was cut off by the professor’s lips against hers, the force of the sudden push knocking her back a few steps.   Without thinking, she had put her hands around her, in those short few seconds, if it was even that, before Aurea had pulled away.

Fennel’s eyes were wide, her cheeks stinging with tears, still unsure if she was seeing correctly through the saline blocking her vision. It was incredibly forward and out of character of the professor, never one to be so direct in much of anything unless it involved scientific theories or discoveries.

“Is...is that what I was supposed to do? I’m sorry if that was inappropriate, it just seemed-”

Her thought wasn’t finished, in a daze the scientist’s lips pushed against her own again, this time Fennel wasn’t holding back, wrapping her arms around her torso to bring them closer together. She had thought about what it would have been like, kissing her best friend, her sense of urgency taking priority over relishing anything tactile about it. Maybe she would regret it later, but in some way, this seemed oddly perfect.

“I always thought I’d kiss you first,” she let out a laugh through her sob.

Aurea was smiling, but still stiff and trembling to her touch, Fennel quickly releasing her hold on her at the realization.

“Are you okay?” the dream scientist asked, increasing the space between them.

“Yeah.”

“What….what happened? Where did you go, what made you do that?”

“I went to Sinnoh for a while...I don’t really have an answer why. I just needed to get away from here, give myself some time to think.”

“I still regret how I acted the last time I saw you. I shouldn’t have put you in that position...you had every right to never speak to me again.”

“I shouldn’t have disappeared on you, though...”

“This is no way to start a relationship,” Fennel chuckled a bit. “Wait. So...are together now?”

“If you want to be,” the brunette was giving way to a sheepish smile.

“You know my feelings on it,” Fennel directed her eyes to her feet again. “So, are we?” Maybe she was being persistent, but she needed to hear Aurea say it, if it was indeed what she wanted.

“Yes.”

Fennel felt as though all she had been doing since Aurea entered her home was cry, the tears that were beginning to dry being replaced with fresh ones again.  “Okay,” was all she managed to say for some reason. In front of anyone else, she probably would have been embarrassed, but she was far past the point of feeling foolish in front of her anymore.

Aurea still had the remains of upturned lips, placing her hand on the door handle. “I’m going to go home now and go to sleep.”

“You can stay if you want, it’s pretty late,” the dream researcher proposed without realizing what she was saying.  “You certainly don’t have to if you don’t want to, or if you aren’t comfortable, but you know you’re always welcome.”

For whatever reason, Aurea hadn’t considered this as an option. She supposed it did feel weird coming over to her apartment past midnight, confirming the direction of their relationship, and then going their separate ways.

“Okay,” came her delayed reply. It meant a trip back out to her Jeep to retrieve her suitcase, but at least she had been prepared for what came of the evening. Far preferable than making the evening even more awkward by having to borrow some of Fennel’s clothes, if it had come to that.

Settling in to bed next to Fennel felt natural as it had the countless times before. They lay a bit apart, facing each other for some reason, Fennel’s grin not wavering, fixated on those emerald eyes across from her. She had turned her lights out, save the night light plugged in next to her night stand.

“So you’re my girlfriend now,” the dream scientist couldn’t help but grin when she said it out loud.

“Yeah,” the professor confirmed with a small smile.

“I’m your girlfriend,” Fennel repeated, reaching for the other’s hand and giving it a light squeeze, her grin becoming more defined when Aurea returned the gesture.

Aurea’s smile feigned, though her eyes were still vibrant as ever. “I, um..I don’t know that I’m going to be any good at this, Fennel. I’ve never done this before.”

“It’s okay. We can figure it out together.”

Aurea was certain Fennel had a boyfriend at some point when they were in college, it not seeming like an appropriate time to question her about it. Nor did it at all seem like a fair comparison to the situation they found themselves in now by any stretch.

“We need to take this slow,” the professor added.

“I think so, too,” Fennel nodded. But there was still the obvious question that weighed on her mind. “What made you change your mind?”

“I didn’t change my mind, I just realized it was something I needed to think about.”

“It’s okay if you still don’t know how you’re feeling. I don’t want to pressure you in to anything. But please tell me now if you want to just….forget this ever happened, and we can go back to how it always was”

“I don’t think it’d be that simple,” the professor replied calmly. “When I was gone, all I was thinking about was how hurt you were, and I never wanted to be the cause of that. I’m not perfect….and I’m sure I’ll still make mistakes...but I promise, I’ll do my best never to hurt you.”

“You’ve never hurt me, Aurea. But you can’t just go running off to other regions to avoid things anymore, not if you’re going to be my girlfriend. You have to talk about it with me, okay?”

“Okay,” came her hazy agreement. “I told you I wasn’t good at this stuff.”

“I don’t think I am, either. And I don’t want you to be with me because you feel you owe it to me or something.”

“That’s not it,”

“Then what?”

“I...when I was thinking about it...I did realize that I’m….attracted to you. I guess I just never put it in that context before. Nothing of this sort ever crossed my mind until you brought it up.”

Fennel couldn’t hide that she was reeling in that moment,not able to hide any blush that came across her face, or how her toes curled upon hearing the object of her affections for so long admit such a private sentiment. She hid her face under the covers for a moment, squeezing her eyes shut, biting her lip.

“Are you alright? I can go, I’m sorry-”

“So you think I’m pretty?” Fennel revealed her face, flashing her most charming smile she could muster through her elation. It was childish, she felt that she should be about ten years younger having this conversation in her childhood bedroom with a crush, not with her long time best friend in their mid twenties.

“I just said that.”

The dream scientist let out the giggle she had been holding. “Well, I’ve always thought you were pretty, too.”

Aurea gave way to a slight chuckle at that, not sure she ever heard such a direct compliment as such from someone that wasn’t family.

“What do we do now?”

“Go to sleep,” the brunette stated, her thoughts on any of it were interrupted by a yawn, now realizing how exhausted she was now that she was lying down in a bed proper. She had not meant to be as dismissive as she was over what Fennel had said, but the traveling and what unfolded afterward had left her simply wanting to sleep.

“Are you okay with me staying here, or do you want me to go on the couch?”

“You can stay.”

Fennel didn’t want to push any boundaries, but she supposed her boldness had already landed her in hot water once. All Fennel wanted to do was push herself the few inches over, wrap her arms around the professor, snuggle in to her back, and fall asleep to the scent of her hair against her face. But, she hoped there would be other nights for that closeness. She certainly didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, especially with how tired she was, she best give the professor her space for the evening.

“Good night, Aurie.”

“Night, Fennel.”

The professor had closed her eyes almost immediately, Fennel feeling a bit scandalous still staring at her. At the thought, she forced her eyes shut, finding herself too excited to fall asleep as easily as she usually did.

Aurea woke up as early as she always did, an internal alarm set for the sunrise even without a literal one. Fennel had her arm around her, she could feel her breath against the back of her neck, her hair moving in time with her breathing. They had slept in close quarters before, but this was different. Her knees were pressed against the back of her legs, becoming aware of it when she went to stretch.

It felt wrong leaving, at least until she woke up.

At the sense of the other woman stirring, Fennel pulled her limbs off of her to stretch as well. “Mmm...you’re still here. So it wasn’t a lucid dream,” the dream scientist purred, eyes still closed, probably still mostly asleep and unaware that she had said it out loud.  

There were questions Aurea wanted to ask her later about that.

[stormdoors78476]

Mark Cuban, the first trillionaire and chatbots on the edge

By Mark Schaefer

To me, SXSW is the most exciting place in the world, featuring all the coolest breakthrough thinkers in media, publishing, technology, and marketing. I did my best to pluck out a few meaningful sessions and here are some interesting highlights I picked up from my trip. This is PART TWO of my report from Austin. You can see my earlier notes here.

Automated Assistant Revolution

Many predicted that consumers would be spending more time with chatbots than real people. But research shows that 70 percent of chatbots are not meeting consumer needs or brand expectations.

Panelists from Twitter, Facebook, and Viber explored the gap between the reality and expectations.

Still early days. The technology is the hurdle right now. Also, the cost of creating an effective chatbot is relatively high. The big brands may have to build an app in Twitter, Facebook, Google, etc. although some of the back-end programming and logic might be reusable.

The potential is to make automated assistants the most empathetic, service-oriented consumer system. Some companies are using fictional movie characters as their chatbot personality, adding an element of entertainment and fun. These character bots have been shown to have very high customer satisfaction and engagement levels.

Value-adds to an app (like alerts, new deals, bonuses) can create unique customer delight and loyalty. An example is Absolut Vodka — a bot helped you find a participating bar, provided a free product sample, and then a complimentary Lyft ride home.

A key issue may be discoverability. If you have built a great chatbot and nobody engages with it, you’ve wasted your money.

Measurement is another interesting challenge. There is a tendency to try to use traditional measures but there are opportunities for new ideas like change in consumer sentiment between the beginning and end of the session. People tend to engage with a bot like it is a real person, observing typical conversational courtesy, for example, or giving them best wishes on a holiday.

Mark Cuban

I didn’t go to a lot of the celebrity SXSW appearances because the lines were so long, but I did stand in line to see Mark Cuban. A few quotes:

“You only have to succeed once. Nobody will ever know how many times you failed, they’ll only focus on your success. And once you get that taste of success it starts to become familiar.”

“If you can go public, you should go public because it provides liquidity and options. People say you become a slave of quarterly earnings but look at Amazon — they don’t care about that. It’s harder to accelerate your growth if you stay private.”

“Silicon Valley is only good for exits, for selling your company. For new businesses, it sucks at everything else. The culture is terrible there because everybody is poaching everybody else. They just want to make money and don’t care about building businesses. I think their power is moving to other cities in America that are more business friendly.”

“AI will be the biggest business changer we will ever see. We will see more advances in the next 10 years than the last 30. Applying AI to industry knowledge will drive the innovation. The world’s first trillionaire will come from a person that is in the AI industry.”

“Shark Tank shows people that the American Dream is alive. Any kid in any school can create something special and start a company. We do that better than any nation in the world.”

“If you’re a disruptor, you ignore the noise. Steve Jobs said it best: Everything is a re-mix. There will always be challenges, there will also be dumb shit regulations. What Trump is doing right is getting rid of regulations that are in the way of business success.”

“The reason we are all here at SXSW is to learn and become inspired so we can go back to our small towns in America and create new businesses and jobs. That’s what we need you to do. Our current administration is not going to bring back factories. The new jobs will be created by you, the people who are in this room.”

Responding to a poll showing that he would be a popular presidential candidate: “It’s not my lifetime dream to be a president. It’s not a life ambition. But I have a long time to decide. Somebody has to run that looks forward instead of acting like it’s 1975. You have to understand tech a little bit to lead today.”

Social activism

I attended a number of sessions about using social media for social good — there was a whole track dedicated to this. My view is that much of this is still slacktivism looking for likes and shares that may not translate to real action or real impact. However I did come across one or two organizations I am exploring more carefully. I would not make any recommendation to anyone unless I was certain it is working so more to some on this.

One issue with global non-profits is that they are striving to make “system changes” but donors need an emotional hook.  It’s hard to fund meaningful systemic initiatives because people are more likely to fund emotional pleas that are short-term fixes.

A personal highlight

In 2012 I published the first book on influence marketing, Return On Influence. This book would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of Dr. Robert Cialdini, the foremost authority on influence in the workplace and the author of the new book Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade. I got to meet Dr. Cialdini face-to-face for the first time. This was a thrilling moment for me!

The trade show

SXSW has a huge exhibit that is usually a highlight — lots of exciting tech and ideas. I walked the floor with my friend Nick Westergaard and we both came to the same conclusion — there was NOTHING really interesting there. We laughed at an app that was pitched as the “Snapchat for pot growers” but I literally did not have one “oh wow” moment. My personal theory is that people are learning that spending money on a SXSW trade show is not the best way to ignite a product idea.

Ray Kurzweil

Ray Kurzweil is one of the greatest inventors and futurists of our time. I was really looking forward to this but unfortunately he spent most of the time promoting his daughter’s book. He said one smart thing in the hour:

“I don’t see AI as being one thing. It is a brain extender. Every smartphone and computer is a brain extender. We can’t work without them. Will they be inside our bodies or outside our bodies? That’s irrelevant. We have always needed tools to reach for the higher branch.”

Virtual reality is still virtual

Yeah, it was everywhere. But it’s not ready for prime time.

VR does not have a “home.” Where do you go for VR?

How do you stream VR? Takes enormous bandwidth.

Because of the size of the files, resolution on the headsets is still pretty low.

Hope you enjoyed these notes. I am reporting out — All views are not necessarily my own and I welcome your observations and ideas.

Mark Schaefer is the chief blogger for this site, executive director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, and the author of several best-selling digital marketing books. He is an acclaimed keynote speaker, college educator, and business consultant.  The Marketing Companion podcast is among the top business podcasts in the world.  Contact Mark to have him speak to your company event or conference soon.

The post Mark Cuban, the first trillionaire and chatbots on the edge appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2n52rVH

[porchenclose10019]

Mark Cuban, the first trillionaire and chatbots on the edge

By Mark Schaefer

To me, SXSW is the most exciting place in the world, featuring all the coolest breakthrough thinkers in media, publishing, technology, and marketing. I did my best to pluck out a few meaningful sessions and here are some interesting highlights I picked up from my trip. This is PART TWO of my report from Austin. You can see my earlier notes here.

Automated Assistant Revolution

Many predicted that consumers would be spending more time with chatbots than real people. But research shows that 70 percent of chatbots are not meeting consumer needs or brand expectations.

Panelists from Twitter, Facebook, and Viber explored the gap between the reality and expectations.

Still early days. The technology is the hurdle right now. Also, the cost of creating an effective chatbot is relatively high. The big brands may have to build an app in Twitter, Facebook, Google, etc. although some of the back-end programming and logic might be reusable.

The potential is to make automated assistants the most empathetic, service-oriented consumer system. Some companies are using fictional movie characters as their chatbot personality, adding an element of entertainment and fun. These character bots have been shown to have very high customer satisfaction and engagement levels.

Value-adds to an app (like alerts, new deals, bonuses) can create unique customer delight and loyalty. An example is Absolut Vodka — a bot helped you find a participating bar, provided a free product sample, and then a complimentary Lyft ride home.

A key issue may be discoverability. If you have built a great chatbot and nobody engages with it, you’ve wasted your money.

Measurement is another interesting challenge. There is a tendency to try to use traditional measures but there are opportunities for new ideas like change in consumer sentiment between the beginning and end of the session. People tend to engage with a bot like it is a real person, observing typical conversational courtesy, for example, or giving them best wishes on a holiday.

Mark Cuban

I didn’t go to a lot of the celebrity SXSW appearances because the lines were so long, but I did stand in line to see Mark Cuban. A few quotes:

“You only have to succeed once. Nobody will ever know how many times you failed, they’ll only focus on your success. And once you get that taste of success it starts to become familiar.”

“If you can go public, you should go public because it provides liquidity and options. People say you become a slave of quarterly earnings but look at Amazon — they don’t care about that. It’s harder to accelerate your growth if you stay private.”

“Silicon Valley is only good for exits, for selling your company. For new businesses, it sucks at everything else. The culture is terrible there because everybody is poaching everybody else. They just want to make money and don’t care about building businesses. I think their power is moving to other cities in America that are more business friendly.”

“AI will be the biggest business changer we will ever see. We will see more advances in the next 10 years than the last 30. Applying AI to industry knowledge will drive the innovation. The world’s first trillionaire will come from a person that is in the AI industry.”

“Shark Tank shows people that the American Dream is alive. Any kid in any school can create something special and start a company. We do that better than any nation in the world.”

“If you’re a disruptor, you ignore the noise. Steve Jobs said it best: Everything is a re-mix. There will always be challenges, there will also be dumb shit regulations. What Trump is doing right is getting rid of regulations that are in the way of business success.”

“The reason we are all here at SXSW is to learn and become inspired so we can go back to our small towns in America and create new businesses and jobs. That’s what we need you to do. Our current administration is not going to bring back factories. The new jobs will be created by you, the people who are in this room.”

Responding to a poll showing that he would be a popular presidential candidate: “It’s not my lifetime dream to be a president. It’s not a life ambition. But I have a long time to decide. Somebody has to run that looks forward instead of acting like it’s 1975. You have to understand tech a little bit to lead today.”

Social activism

I attended a number of sessions about using social media for social good — there was a whole track dedicated to this. My view is that much of this is still slacktivism looking for likes and shares that may not translate to real action or real impact. However I did come across one or two organizations I am exploring more carefully. I would not make any recommendation to anyone unless I was certain it is working so more to some on this.

One issue with global non-profits is that they are striving to make “system changes” but donors need an emotional hook.  It’s hard to fund meaningful systemic initiatives because people are more likely to fund emotional pleas that are short-term fixes.

A personal highlight

In 2012 I published the first book on influence marketing, Return On Influence. This book would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of Dr. Robert Cialdini, the foremost authority on influence in the workplace and the author of the new book Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade. I got to meet Dr. Cialdini face-to-face for the first time. This was a thrilling moment for me!

The trade show

SXSW has a huge exhibit that is usually a highlight — lots of exciting tech and ideas. I walked the floor with my friend Nick Westergaard and we both came to the same conclusion — there was NOTHING really interesting there. We laughed at an app that was pitched as the “Snapchat for pot growers” but I literally did not have one “oh wow” moment. My personal theory is that people are learning that spending money on a SXSW trade show is not the best way to ignite a product idea.

Ray Kurzweil

Ray Kurzweil is one of the greatest inventors and futurists of our time. I was really looking forward to this but unfortunately he spent most of the time promoting his daughter’s book. He said one smart thing in the hour:

“I don’t see AI as being one thing. It is a brain extender. Every smartphone and computer is a brain extender. We can’t work without them. Will they be inside our bodies or outside our bodies? That’s irrelevant. We have always needed tools to reach for the higher branch.”

Virtual reality is still virtual

Yeah, it was everywhere. But it’s not ready for prime time.

VR does not have a “home.” Where do you go for VR?

How do you stream VR? Takes enormous bandwidth.

Because of the size of the files, resolution on the headsets is still pretty low.

Hope you enjoyed these notes. I am reporting out — All views are not necessarily my own and I welcome your observations and ideas.

Mark Schaefer is the chief blogger for this site, executive director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, and the author of several best-selling digital marketing books. He is an acclaimed keynote speaker, college educator, and business consultant.  The Marketing Companion podcast is among the top business podcasts in the world.  Contact Mark to have him speak to your company event or conference soon.

The post Mark Cuban, the first trillionaire and chatbots on the edge appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2n52rVH

[rtscrndr53704]

Mark Cuban, the first trillionaire and chatbots on the edge

By Mark Schaefer

To me, SXSW is the most exciting place in the world, featuring all the coolest breakthrough thinkers in media, publishing, technology, and marketing. I did my best to pluck out a few meaningful sessions and here are some interesting highlights I picked up from my trip. This is PART TWO of my report from Austin. You can see my earlier notes here.

Automated Assistant Revolution

Many predicted that consumers would be spending more time with chatbots than real people. But research shows that 70 percent of chatbots are not meeting consumer needs or brand expectations.

Panelists from Twitter, Facebook, and Viber explored the gap between the reality and expectations.

Still early days. The technology is the hurdle right now. Also, the cost of creating an effective chatbot is relatively high. The big brands may have to build an app in Twitter, Facebook, Google, etc. although some of the back-end programming and logic might be reusable.

The potential is to make automated assistants the most empathetic, service-oriented consumer system. Some companies are using fictional movie characters as their chatbot personality, adding an element of entertainment and fun. These character bots have been shown to have very high customer satisfaction and engagement levels.

Value-adds to an app (like alerts, new deals, bonuses) can create unique customer delight and loyalty. An example is Absolut Vodka — a bot helped you find a participating bar, provided a free product sample, and then a complimentary Lyft ride home.

A key issue may be discoverability. If you have built a great chatbot and nobody engages with it, you’ve wasted your money.

Measurement is another interesting challenge. There is a tendency to try to use traditional measures but there are opportunities for new ideas like change in consumer sentiment between the beginning and end of the session. People tend to engage with a bot like it is a real person, observing typical conversational courtesy, for example, or giving them best wishes on a holiday.

Mark Cuban

I didn’t go to a lot of the celebrity SXSW appearances because the lines were so long, but I did stand in line to see Mark Cuban. A few quotes:

“You only have to succeed once. Nobody will ever know how many times you failed, they’ll only focus on your success. And once you get that taste of success it starts to become familiar.”

“If you can go public, you should go public because it provides liquidity and options. People say you become a slave of quarterly earnings but look at Amazon — they don’t care about that. It’s harder to accelerate your growth if you stay private.”

“Silicon Valley is only good for exits, for selling your company. For new businesses, it sucks at everything else. The culture is terrible there because everybody is poaching everybody else. They just want to make money and don’t care about building businesses. I think their power is moving to other cities in America that are more business friendly.”

“AI will be the biggest business changer we will ever see. We will see more advances in the next 10 years than the last 30. Applying AI to industry knowledge will drive the innovation. The world’s first trillionaire will come from a person that is in the AI industry.”

“Shark Tank shows people that the American Dream is alive. Any kid in any school can create something special and start a company. We do that better than any nation in the world.”

“If you’re a disruptor, you ignore the noise. Steve Jobs said it best: Everything is a re-mix. There will always be challenges, there will also be dumb shit regulations. What Trump is doing right is getting rid of regulations that are in the way of business success.”

“The reason we are all here at SXSW is to learn and become inspired so we can go back to our small towns in America and create new businesses and jobs. That’s what we need you to do. Our current administration is not going to bring back factories. The new jobs will be created by you, the people who are in this room.”

Responding to a poll showing that he would be a popular presidential candidate: “It’s not my lifetime dream to be a president. It’s not a life ambition. But I have a long time to decide. Somebody has to run that looks forward instead of acting like it’s 1975. You have to understand tech a little bit to lead today.”

Social activism

I attended a number of sessions about using social media for social good — there was a whole track dedicated to this. My view is that much of this is still slacktivism looking for likes and shares that may not translate to real action or real impact. However I did come across one or two organizations I am exploring more carefully. I would not make any recommendation to anyone unless I was certain it is working so more to some on this.

One issue with global non-profits is that they are striving to make “system changes” but donors need an emotional hook.  It’s hard to fund meaningful systemic initiatives because people are more likely to fund emotional pleas that are short-term fixes.

A personal highlight

In 2012 I published the first book on influence marketing, Return On Influence. This book would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of Dr. Robert Cialdini, the foremost authority on influence in the workplace and the author of the new book Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade. I got to meet Dr. Cialdini face-to-face for the first time. This was a thrilling moment for me!

The trade show

SXSW has a huge exhibit that is usually a highlight — lots of exciting tech and ideas. I walked the floor with my friend Nick Westergaard and we both came to the same conclusion — there was NOTHING really interesting there. We laughed at an app that was pitched as the “Snapchat for pot growers” but I literally did not have one “oh wow” moment. My personal theory is that people are learning that spending money on a SXSW trade show is not the best way to ignite a product idea.

Ray Kurzweil

Ray Kurzweil is one of the greatest inventors and futurists of our time. I was really looking forward to this but unfortunately he spent most of the time promoting his daughter’s book. He said one smart thing in the hour:

“I don’t see AI as being one thing. It is a brain extender. Every smartphone and computer is a brain extender. We can’t work without them. Will they be inside our bodies or outside our bodies? That’s irrelevant. We have always needed tools to reach for the higher branch.”

Virtual reality is still virtual

Yeah, it was everywhere. But it’s not ready for prime time.

VR does not have a “home.” Where do you go for VR?

How do you stream VR? Takes enormous bandwidth.

Because of the size of the files, resolution on the headsets is still pretty low.

Hope you enjoyed these notes. I am reporting out — All views are not necessarily my own and I welcome your observations and ideas.

Mark Schaefer is the chief blogger for this site, executive director of Schaefer Marketing Solutions, and the author of several best-selling digital marketing books. He is an acclaimed keynote speaker, college educator, and business consultant.  The Marketing Companion podcast is among the top business podcasts in the world.  Contact Mark to have him speak to your company event or conference soon.

The post Mark Cuban, the first trillionaire and chatbots on the edge appeared first on Schaefer Marketing Solutions: We Help Businesses {grow}.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2n52rVH