The exchange often goes like this:
Stranger: “Where do you work?”
Me: “O’Reilly Media.”
Stranger: “O’Reilly …”
[Long pause while he or she works through the various “O’Reilly” outlets — the TV guy, the auto parts company.]
Me: “You know the books with the animals on the covers?”
Stranger: “Oh yeah!”
And off we go. Those covers are tremendous ice breakers.
The story behind those covers is also notable. Our colleague Edie Freedman, O’Reilly’s creative director and the person who first made the connection between animal engravings and programming languages, has written a short piece about the genesis of the O’Reilly animals. If you’ve ever wondered where those animals came from, her post is worth a read.
(Something I learned from Edie’s post: the covers that get the best response feature 1. animals with recognizable faces and 2. animals that are looking directly at the reader.)
Edie’s “Short history of the O’Reilly Animals” is part of a larger effort to raise awareness for the plight of the O’Reilly animals, many of which are critically endangered. You can learn more about the O’Reilly Animals project here.