Tanya or At the heart of a good production

I love Tanya Memme!

Who?

Tanya Memme. Tanya was a 1993 Miss Canada and is now presenting the television home-fixing-selling program 'Sell this House' on A&E. My wife knows, and even she agrees. So, I love Tanya.

Now, before jumping to any conclusions and 'What the hell is a statement like that doing on an IT/Business blog?' comments, it is absolutely what I try to tell here. The reason why I love Tanya is simple; she is one of the only television personalities who really seems to enjoy what she is doing, and it shows. Everywhere where you go, if it is in corporate businesses, media or in the entertainment sector, you see people acting happy, but with the well known fake smile. Especially when the boss walks in. Anybody who has a bit of a personality can recognize a real and fake smile - mostly.

It is the same thing with software, with sites. I have been mentioning design earlier on, and why better visual designs might damage your website. Also, I mentioned late last week that a site should mostly run around maintenance, not redesigning. This falls together with the essence of being happy at what you do, or be honest in what you do.

I love good visual designs, especially when they are combined with excellent usability (hard to come by though) but still I try to advice companies who might have a crappy designed website that works, to resist the urge to redesign. In that perspective, I love Craigslist. I dislike a lot about that site, but they keep their site the same. It works. And I have the feeling that when the moment comest that Craigslist falls down, they will simply let it go, and don't make too much of a fuss about it.

The people behind most of these kind of sites, even like mySpace and FaceBook made a tool because they wanted to make it. Even Google wanted to create a better search engine, not a better designed one. You can easily recognize the productions that are good at heart, from the ones that are there to form a piece of the market.  I think that is why we all still massively chose for Google and post on Craigslist. It does not have to be the best of the best... it has to be good and you have to feel that it is handled by people who know why you are there.

This is why I also love ModelMayhem, a meeting place for photographers and models, make-up artists and photoshop experts. Visually, the site is boring, has a lot of issues. Still, I think it is one of the best photography-related social networks around. Simply because it is clearly set up by someone with a passion for photography and lacked something, something that was not online yet.

And this is why I love Tanya Memme. When we watch her on the tv, you see someone who actually loves what she is doing. And that is the best selling feature for the program. Because Sell This House is not the best fixing program, not the best selling program, and not really professionally done. But it is a joy to watch.

True, it helps she is good looking.

Comments

[Judy Bland]

I agree. Tanya is smart, funny, and yes..one of the most beautiful women on television. She has learned much over the last 8 years about staging houses, and digs right into the work instead of just doing a hosting job. I have had several personal e-mail conversations and even a phone call from her. She is a genuinely nice person.

[Peter Zuidema]

Then you are absolutely privileged to know her. At this moment I cannot name a single person who, in my opinion, shows more joy in her work on the tv. She seems like a very nice person, and I really think that a lot of people and companies can actually learn from her passion and joy in her work.

[Judy Bland]

Know her just a little. But she does know who I am and I do feel really privileged. She is also a very good actress, singer and dancer. I have always been disappointed that she hasn't fallen into more acting roles. I know that is what she would like to do most. Even though that would take her away from Sell This House...but how many people can say they've been on a series for 8 seasons?

[Peter Zuidema]

If you talk/write with her again, you can tell her she has two fans also in Pennsylvania!