The Meaning of Place: Keynote Address from CIVSA 2015

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twitter: @kateo @koinsights#civsa2015

Presented by Kate O’Neill

The Meaning of Place

twitter: @kateo @koinsights#civsa2015

[imagine a picture

of me in college.]

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“Home and Wandering.”

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What does a place mean?

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What do I mean by “meaning”?

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Let’s back up.

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My work has always been about relevance and meaningful

experiences.language:

the vehicle of meaning.how we convey

intent and significance.

the Web / Internet:how we capture

and transmit knowledge globally

data:how we model

what is potentially meaningful

marketing: how we understand

what has value to whom in what context,

and influence intentthrough alignment

and relevance

experiences

human understanding

meaning

relevance

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speaker intent message

listener takeaway

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speaker intent message

listener takeaway

shared understanding

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context

speaker intent message

listener takeaway

shared understanding

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…back to "Home and Wandering"

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(pho

togr

aph

cred

it: Fl

ickr

use

r Z

ol87

)

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planned center of town

(image source w

ww

.cnuil.org)

my first childhood

home

my second childhood

home

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twitter: @kateo @koinsights#civsa2015 Maybe “home” is

where you are empowered to

create your own experiences.

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Why do we "wander" or travel?

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Why do we* encourage students to leave home?

* “we” as a society, I mean

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"how very college of you"

twitter: @kateo @koinsights#civsa2015 Maybe we

“wander” or leave home

to be jarred into seeing ourselves.

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“We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. … And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again — to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.”

― Pico Iyer

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So to make people want to “wander”

towards your place…

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Help people see themselves

there.

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To make people feel at “home” there…

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Help people feel empowered to

create their own experiences.

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Part of the meaning of place is…

in how empowered we feel to create our

experiences.

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How can we architect meaningful

experiences without being contrived?

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Distill everything about a place,

its identity, culture, etc.

down to an essence.

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By the way…Digital experience should

not impede physical experience 

It should empower it

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Metaphor, Significance and symbolism: what

does a thing signify?

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How to distill a brand's essence without being

reductive or overly simplistic

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Let’s look right here: at Nashville.

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(pho

togr

aph

cred

it: w

ww

.nas

hville

reco

very

.com

)

The Flood of 2010

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(imag

e cr

edit:

ABC

Stu

dios

/ am

azon

.com

)

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How do you promote something with so

many stories?

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recognizable truths.

And a bit of mythology.

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Meaning is relative and contextual.

And it’s inseparable from

relevance.

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Part of the meaning of place is…

in the stories we collectively tell

about it.

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How do you get it across to someone what a place could MEAN to THEM?

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Sign up for our upcoming webinar with promo code CIVSA for 20% off: “Meaningful Stories” bit.ly/mgflstories

June 30

Want more help with brand storytelling?

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Take inventory of your stories.

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Identify your prompts.

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“Never let the facts get in the way of a

good story.”— Mark Twain

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“Never let the facts get in the way of a

good story.”— Mark Twain

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“Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.”

— Mark Twain

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“The difference between comedy and tragedy is

where you stop telling the story.”

— Neil Gaiman

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context

speaker intent message

listener takeaway

shared understanding

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Community is meaning writ large.

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Part of the meaning of place is…

in the community we create there.

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For a college campus

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For a city like Nashville

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For a conference like this.

twitter: @kateo @koinsights#civsa2015 The Meaning of Place:

‣ is in how empowered we feel to create our own experiences there.

‣ is in the stories we collectively tell about it.

‣ is in the community we create there.

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thank you!

Facebook: /kateoneillpage

LinkedIn: /kateoneill

Twitter: @kateo

connect with me here:

Image credit: Robbie Quinn (http://robbiequinnphotography.com/)

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What questions do you have?

Twitter: @kateo

Facebook: /kateoneillpage

LinkedIn: /kateoneill

twitter: @kateo @koinsights#civsa2015

Sign up for our upcoming webinar with promo code CIVSA for 20% off: “Meaningful Stories” bit.ly/mgflstories

June 30

Want help with brand storytelling?

Don’t forget!

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