One for you narrative designers.
Here's a simple but true piece of advice from Margaret J. King, Director of The Center for Cultural Studies & Analysis, interviewed in The Immersive Worlds Handbook.
"There's an intuitive cascade of questions the mind asks when it enters a new place. It never varies. Before they can do anything else, designers have to answer the Cascade. The first question a designer needs to answer is "What is this place?" The answer has to be clear and instantaneous, which means that the first element of the design must be the Mindsetter. The Mindsetter is the capsule, the thumbnail portrait, the abstract - the first thing people see that gives them an impression of what they can expect the place to be. Without it, you have uncertainty, and uncertainty leads to avoidance. Time and time again I've seen people walk into museum lobbies - stunning architectural statements - look at the admission price, and see nothing that gives them any idea of what experience they are being asked to buy into. They turn and walk out. Without an effective instantaneous Mindsetter, the rest of the designer's work is wasted because it will never be seen."
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Thursday, 14 February 2013
Wednesday, 13 February 2013
Monday, 16 July 2012
Wisdom of Seth
I just rediscovered some screen grabs I used to take of pertinent Seth Godin posts. Here's a good one (click it to view).
Thursday, 5 July 2012
New Conferencing
I haven't been writing much here recently, but have been posting things on the Live Union site, including this piece on the changing drivers behind conference attendance.
There was a time when people predicted the demise of the conference, digital channels ending the need for audiences to come together in the same physical place. In fact, the reverse has happened, in spite of our economic woes more people are finding the time and money to get out of the office and go to events. But their reasons for attending and what they want from a conference have changed.
Successful event organisers need to understand the changing dynamic of conference attendance and respond with a new type of exciting, brave and fit-for purpose events – what we call New Conferencing.
So, firstly what are the new drivers behind conference attendance?
1) Concentrate
The brilliant book The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working highlights just how distracting the modern work place is. Increasingly conferences offer that rare chance to get away from the office and spend time thinking about the things that really matter.
2) Collaborate
Pre-internet conferences had a role to play in simply sharing inspiration. Today we’re overwhelmed by the amount of inspiration we receive, whether through twitter or our RSS feed. People go to a conference not simply to hear more inspiration but to do something with that inspiration, to discuss it, to apply it to some scenarios, to test out a few half-baked thoughts on other attendees.
3) Contribute
Thanks to blogging, forums and social media many of us are more confident about creating our own content. Where in the past people were largely happy to go along to conferences to listen and maybe tentatively ask a question, today a growing sector of the audience want to help shape the agenda (both in advance and on the day) and have a platform for their own voice.
4) Catalyze
Ideas first raised at conferences are given oxygen by the online conversations that continue around them. As the number of digital channels and the sheer volume of discussion around conferences grow so does their ability to catalyze innovation. People are attracted to the very best events to be at the epi-centre of new thinking.
5) Connect
Ok, so people have always gone to events to network but in the age of digital social networking, real world connections are becoming ever more highly valued.
So how can those of us who create events for internal and business audiences ensure that we are meeting these changing audience needs? Here are five things to think about:
1) Build more hallways
Architects use the expression ‘collision zones’ to describe the important areas in buildings where people bump into each other and chat. Conference spaces should be designed in the same way to help people network and collaborate.
2) Drop a few speakers
Too often conferences are jam packed with presentations and workshops and don’t leave enough time for delegates to chat amongst themselves. Think about longer breaks, and allocating more time for discussion and networking.
3) Open up the agenda
Most people have heard of unconferences – events organised around a particular topic that turn over the entire agenda to the audience and encourage people to host their own sessions on areas of interest to them. Whilst this might not be right for your event, the spirit of pushing boundaries and turning attendees into participants is a good one. Perhaps you could have a part of the day where groups of people facing similar challenges can get together and share experiences?
4) Try some new technology
The printed conference pack will soon be a thing of the past replaced by event Apps that not only supply the information people need but help them hook up with other attendees and contribute questions and opinions. At the same time virtual conference technologies are getting much better at helping remote audiences play an active part in an event. Consider trialling some of these things.
5) Make it fun
As many of us become more desk bound, we crave an excuse to get out and have some fun. Conferences should be the antidote to the flat-lining corporate HQ. How about trying some new presentation formats such Pecha Kucha? Or, perhaps you could use gamification as a way to involve the audience in the content?
Audiences are willing you to do something different, hopefully this list is a useful start-point.
There was a time when people predicted the demise of the conference, digital channels ending the need for audiences to come together in the same physical place. In fact, the reverse has happened, in spite of our economic woes more people are finding the time and money to get out of the office and go to events. But their reasons for attending and what they want from a conference have changed.
Successful event organisers need to understand the changing dynamic of conference attendance and respond with a new type of exciting, brave and fit-for purpose events – what we call New Conferencing.
So, firstly what are the new drivers behind conference attendance?
1) Concentrate
The brilliant book The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working highlights just how distracting the modern work place is. Increasingly conferences offer that rare chance to get away from the office and spend time thinking about the things that really matter.
2) Collaborate
Pre-internet conferences had a role to play in simply sharing inspiration. Today we’re overwhelmed by the amount of inspiration we receive, whether through twitter or our RSS feed. People go to a conference not simply to hear more inspiration but to do something with that inspiration, to discuss it, to apply it to some scenarios, to test out a few half-baked thoughts on other attendees.
3) Contribute
Thanks to blogging, forums and social media many of us are more confident about creating our own content. Where in the past people were largely happy to go along to conferences to listen and maybe tentatively ask a question, today a growing sector of the audience want to help shape the agenda (both in advance and on the day) and have a platform for their own voice.
4) Catalyze
Ideas first raised at conferences are given oxygen by the online conversations that continue around them. As the number of digital channels and the sheer volume of discussion around conferences grow so does their ability to catalyze innovation. People are attracted to the very best events to be at the epi-centre of new thinking.
5) Connect
Ok, so people have always gone to events to network but in the age of digital social networking, real world connections are becoming ever more highly valued.
So how can those of us who create events for internal and business audiences ensure that we are meeting these changing audience needs? Here are five things to think about:
1) Build more hallways
Architects use the expression ‘collision zones’ to describe the important areas in buildings where people bump into each other and chat. Conference spaces should be designed in the same way to help people network and collaborate.
2) Drop a few speakers
Too often conferences are jam packed with presentations and workshops and don’t leave enough time for delegates to chat amongst themselves. Think about longer breaks, and allocating more time for discussion and networking.
3) Open up the agenda
Most people have heard of unconferences – events organised around a particular topic that turn over the entire agenda to the audience and encourage people to host their own sessions on areas of interest to them. Whilst this might not be right for your event, the spirit of pushing boundaries and turning attendees into participants is a good one. Perhaps you could have a part of the day where groups of people facing similar challenges can get together and share experiences?
4) Try some new technology
The printed conference pack will soon be a thing of the past replaced by event Apps that not only supply the information people need but help them hook up with other attendees and contribute questions and opinions. At the same time virtual conference technologies are getting much better at helping remote audiences play an active part in an event. Consider trialling some of these things.
5) Make it fun
As many of us become more desk bound, we crave an excuse to get out and have some fun. Conferences should be the antidote to the flat-lining corporate HQ. How about trying some new presentation formats such Pecha Kucha? Or, perhaps you could use gamification as a way to involve the audience in the content?
Audiences are willing you to do something different, hopefully this list is a useful start-point.
Friday, 17 February 2012
Reprogramming the city
In 2009 Volkswagen started something called Fun Theory, most of you have probably come across it. The was that the best way to change behaviour is to make something fun and they invited people to put forward ideas, the best of which they made happen. So we got piano stairs, each step playing a different key as you walked up them, encouraging people to take exercise rather than the escalator, and the world's deepest bin to encourage people to be tidy.
Volkswagen's programme is part of a wider trend to make urban spaces more playful, the great Pop-up city blog calls this trend Urbanism Made to Like. Often intended simply to encourage more interaction between people or challenge how we see our surroundings, these projects are growing in number and you can expect to see many more of them in the future. Here are some that are either running right now or very recently.
Word-a-Coaster
Currently living in a Selfridges' window in London the Word-a-Coaster fortune dispenser, designed by It's Nice That and Stewdio, contains 30,000 different fortunes for shoppers.
City Swings
21 musical swings installed in downtown Montreal. Each one triggering different notes when in swinging to create a changing soundscape.
Bus-Tops
This Cultural Olympiad art project, currently underway in London , features 30 red and black LED screens placed on the tops of bus-tops and hence visible only from the upper deck of a bus. Anyone can have their idea displayed simply by uploading an animated gif to the website.
Responsive Railings
One day these fantastic railings designed by Cinemod Studio appeared around the corner from our office. Twenty meters of fun.
Finial Response from Cinimod Studio on Vimeo.
These projects are a street level reflection of a general trend for planning fun into cities. You see it in the vogue for giving London buildings silly names; the gherkin, the walkie talkie, the cheese grater, not to mention that there is currently a boat grounded on top of the Southbank.
Perhaps they'll come a point when we stop wanting our cities to be like playgrounds but for the moment we seem happy to for these projects to challenge how we see our everyday surroundings.
Volkswagen's programme is part of a wider trend to make urban spaces more playful, the great Pop-up city blog calls this trend Urbanism Made to Like. Often intended simply to encourage more interaction between people or challenge how we see our surroundings, these projects are growing in number and you can expect to see many more of them in the future. Here are some that are either running right now or very recently.
Word-a-Coaster
Currently living in a Selfridges' window in London the Word-a-Coaster fortune dispenser, designed by It's Nice That and Stewdio, contains 30,000 different fortunes for shoppers.
City Swings
21 musical swings installed in downtown Montreal. Each one triggering different notes when in swinging to create a changing soundscape.
 |
 |
| Photos by olivierblouin |
Bus-Tops
This Cultural Olympiad art project, currently underway in London , features 30 red and black LED screens placed on the tops of bus-tops and hence visible only from the upper deck of a bus. Anyone can have their idea displayed simply by uploading an animated gif to the website.
 |
| photos by 4lfie |
Responsive Railings
One day these fantastic railings designed by Cinemod Studio appeared around the corner from our office. Twenty meters of fun.
Finial Response from Cinimod Studio on Vimeo.
These projects are a street level reflection of a general trend for planning fun into cities. You see it in the vogue for giving London buildings silly names; the gherkin, the walkie talkie, the cheese grater, not to mention that there is currently a boat grounded on top of the Southbank.
Perhaps they'll come a point when we stop wanting our cities to be like playgrounds but for the moment we seem happy to for these projects to challenge how we see our everyday surroundings.
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
The Rebirth of Real
"Paradoxically as we spend more time online, demand for stuff that can't be faked becomes greater... authenticity as compensation." David Byrne - Bicycle Diaries
Thursday, 22 December 2011
How to read a book
Via Brain Pickings.
... hardly anything captures both the utilitarian necessity and cultural mesmerism of marginalia better than this excerpt from the classic How to Read a Book, originally written by Mortimer Adler in 1940 and revised with Charles van Doren in 1972:
... hardly anything captures both the utilitarian necessity and cultural mesmerism of marginalia better than this excerpt from the classic How to Read a Book, originally written by Mortimer Adler in 1940 and revised with Charles van Doren in 1972:
When
you buy a book, you establish a property right in it, just as you do in
clothes or furniture when you buy and pay for them. But the act of
purchase is actually only the prelude to possession in the case of a
book. Full ownership of a book only comes when you have made it a part
of yourself, and the best way to make yourself a part of it – which
comes to the same thing – is by writing in it.
Why is
marking a book indispensable to reading it? First, it keeps you awake –
not merely conscious, but wide awake. Second, reading, if it is active,
is thinking, and thinking tends to express itself in words, spoken or
written. The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express
it usually does not know what he thinks. Third, writing your reactions
down helps you to remember the thoughts of the author.
Reading a
book should be a conversation between you and the author. Presumably he
knows more about the subject than you do; if not, you probably should
not be bothering with his book. But understanding is a two-way
operation; the learner has to question himself and question the teacher,
once he understands what the teacher is saying. Marking a book is
literally an expression of your differences or your agreements with the
author. It is the highest respect you can pay him."
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Monday, 28 November 2011
Friday, 11 November 2011
Textile Field
If, like me, you find yourself inexplicably overcome with tiredness as soon as you set foot inside an art gallery then this is for you. The V&A have, as part of the London Design Festival, installed Textile Field. Take your shoes off, lie back, and enjoy the art from a different angle.
The art happens to be the Raphael Cartoons, not something I - or I suspect many other people - would normally dwell on, by changing the viewing context the V&A has succeeded in engaging a new audience with these works.
Good lesson here for other types of experience. If something isn't working we often rush to change the content, a different approach is to think about the context.
I can't bring myself to find a torturous link with the below photo of Wilco's recent gig at the Roundhouse, but the upside down standard lamps above the band were inspired.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
HitchFry
Next week I'm going to the Southbank to watch Christopher Hitchens in conversation with Stephen Fry. Except only one of them will actually be there. Very sadly Christopher Hitchens is too ill to travel, so he'll be taking part from his home in the US via a large screen. Despite this and a fairly chunky ticket price the event is sold out.
Thirteen cinemas are also selling tickets to people who are happy to be in a different location watching this cross-location conversation, in addition, there is a pay-per-view live online stream and, if you miss that, a recorded broadcast on BBC Worldwide.
All of this an interesting indication of peoples' appetite for live and indeed what they actually consider live to mean.
Thirteen cinemas are also selling tickets to people who are happy to be in a different location watching this cross-location conversation, in addition, there is a pay-per-view live online stream and, if you miss that, a recorded broadcast on BBC Worldwide.
All of this an interesting indication of peoples' appetite for live and indeed what they actually consider live to mean.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Digging
Due to a combination of busyness, laziness and not coming across too much interesting stuff the blogs been quiet of late. With this in mind, I've been doing some digging.
Mid-course corrections is a very active US blog, focused on the paid for conference world and contains good stuff like this about social isolation within events.
If your event interests aren't in the conference room but in public spaces and on the city streets you may well enjoy Scott Burnham's series Reprogramming the City written for the Boston Society of Architects.
The Do Lectures have been and gone for this year, but the ideas and positive energy generated by those few days in that Welsh valley continue to ripple across the internet. According to a friend who was there, Tom Fishburne's session was a highlight. You can watch it here. Follow Do Lectures on twitter and you'll come across all sorts of interesting bits and bobs.
Last Friday I went along to Playful at Conway Hall, it felt a bit like crashing someone else's party - lots of game designers - but in amongst it all I heard somethings that are highly relevant to live experiences. I'll blog about this soon.
Mid-course corrections is a very active US blog, focused on the paid for conference world and contains good stuff like this about social isolation within events.
If your event interests aren't in the conference room but in public spaces and on the city streets you may well enjoy Scott Burnham's series Reprogramming the City written for the Boston Society of Architects.
The Do Lectures have been and gone for this year, but the ideas and positive energy generated by those few days in that Welsh valley continue to ripple across the internet. According to a friend who was there, Tom Fishburne's session was a highlight. You can watch it here. Follow Do Lectures on twitter and you'll come across all sorts of interesting bits and bobs.
Last Friday I went along to Playful at Conway Hall, it felt a bit like crashing someone else's party - lots of game designers - but in amongst it all I heard somethings that are highly relevant to live experiences. I'll blog about this soon.
Thursday, 22 September 2011
BarCamp
Can't move in the event world these days without coming across an unconference or a 'camp'. Typically they are watered down versions of the entirely agenda free events that software geeks first pioneered, but hey at least people are trying new things. At Event 'Camp' Europe I was lucky enough to meet Cristiano Betta, founder of BarCamp London, during the day he shared some of the things that have made it a success.
- No speakers - everyone is considered a speaker
- The 'two feet rule' - if a session isn't for you, use your feet and move on
- A small number of people signing up for a session is no bad thing, if only two people are interested in a session that's fine
- BarCamp is free, to ensure a low drop out rate on the day, people who initially register have to 're:opt in' as opposed to 'opting out' nearer the event date.
- And there was a great paper string wiki concept for bringing to life the content at the event
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Event Camp Europe
Went along to Event Camp Europe at Down Hall on Friday, it was billed as an experiment - an opportunity to look under the hood of a hybrid event. The content was provided by ten or so presenters talking about innovations within the event world, everything from gamification to unconferencing.
There were three audiences; face-to-face, pods, and virtual.
The face-to-face audience was made up of about 40 people, there were four remote pods (Croydon, Sweden, Poland & Belgium) each with between 5-10 people in a room and a virtual audience (i.e. people participating on their own via their computer) of between 100 - 200.
The pod audiences connected into the event and with each other using Google Hangout, in addition, individuals within the virtual audience formed their own pods using Google Hangout.
Twitter provided the 'back channel' for the virtual and pod audiences to communicate with the event.
At various points the pods were patched directly into the event but a rather long delay made talking to the pods difficult. What did work well was having a host at the event representing the remote audiences. This person shared the highlights of the twitter stream and during breaks ran interviews with speakers for the pod and virtual audiences; in short they ensured that the audiences beyond the room were given a tailored experience.
What became clear is how introducing additional audiences can diminish the face-to-face experience, too many distractions and superfluous activities. That said, a decent venue and budget would alleviate a lot of the problems. There is also the danger that having additional audiences acts as a straightjacket on the event - traditional presentations from the stage work well for the audience beyond the conference room, more deconstructed formats are less successful.
All in all it was interesting to take a closer look at this type of format, its limitations and possibilities. The day wasn't without its hiccups but that happens when you try new things.
There were three audiences; face-to-face, pods, and virtual.
The face-to-face audience was made up of about 40 people, there were four remote pods (Croydon, Sweden, Poland & Belgium) each with between 5-10 people in a room and a virtual audience (i.e. people participating on their own via their computer) of between 100 - 200.
The pod audiences connected into the event and with each other using Google Hangout, in addition, individuals within the virtual audience formed their own pods using Google Hangout.
Twitter provided the 'back channel' for the virtual and pod audiences to communicate with the event.
At various points the pods were patched directly into the event but a rather long delay made talking to the pods difficult. What did work well was having a host at the event representing the remote audiences. This person shared the highlights of the twitter stream and during breaks ran interviews with speakers for the pod and virtual audiences; in short they ensured that the audiences beyond the room were given a tailored experience.
What became clear is how introducing additional audiences can diminish the face-to-face experience, too many distractions and superfluous activities. That said, a decent venue and budget would alleviate a lot of the problems. There is also the danger that having additional audiences acts as a straightjacket on the event - traditional presentations from the stage work well for the audience beyond the conference room, more deconstructed formats are less successful.
All in all it was interesting to take a closer look at this type of format, its limitations and possibilities. The day wasn't without its hiccups but that happens when you try new things.
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