CONTENT CREATORS & TECHNOLOGISTS CREATING THE FUTURE OF NEW MEDIA

Conference Recap What today’s storytellers & makers need to know

OCTOBER 24 - 26, 2014 EDMONTON, ALBERTA CANADA

RECAP BY MATT DOHERTY @THEMATTDOH HTTP://MATTDOH.COM

What’s Storyworld Quest?A three-day conference that discussed the latest in storyworld design and telling, bringing together experts from the digital, film, television and transmedia spaces. Keynotes, panels and open forum discussions took place that defined the latest in narrative strategies with insights from filmmakers, producers, technologists, broadcasters, developers, game designers, writers, academics, and marketing executives. Here is just a brief recap and key takeaways that stood out in my mind.

The Connected AudienceWe can learn a lot from how marketing agencies connect with their consumers and apply this thinking to how the storyworlds we create connect with our audiences. Building an “audience” centered organization needs:

• Connection: make a lasting connection with the audience member • Curation: let the audience discover content by properly curating the

right types of content your target likes to engage with • Content: have your content meet their expectations to drive increased

engagement • Audience Preferences: let the audience shape the value of the

experience and you’ll create an advanced relationship with them

“REACHING THE CONNECTED CONSUMER AND YOUR AUDIENCE”, LISA COULMAN, PWC

What’s a sexier way to say role-playing?

Projected Storytelling.

Think of all those times when you were a kid playing with your favorite franchised toys. You started telling your own stories through G.I. Joe, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers or Barbie. You projected yourself through these characters.

Anytime we “play” with our toys we’re projecting extended stories of those characters’ worlds and becoming part of the larger narrative at hand.

Projected Storytelling

“THE FUTURE IS NOW: CONTENT STRATEGY FOR MULTIPLE PLATFORMS”, MARK SWIERSZCZ, BELL MEDIA

Give your story room to explore.

If you start with your story in a city, think of what state, country and continent the narrative inhabits. Give yourself a world with the ability to grow. Think bigger.

Don’t stay stuck in the city.

Three Levels Up

“THE ART OF CREATING A ROBUST STORYWORLD”, HOUSTON HOWARD

We used to go to parties and retell stories from ten to fifteen years ago, reveling in those moments. Now we bond over what happened 15 minutes ago.

Points of reference of nostalgia and culture have been disrupted.

Bridging timelines of all types in our stories is acceptable.

Disrupted Nostalgia

“THE FUTURE IS NOW: CONTENT STRATEGY FOR MULTIPLE PLATFORMS”, MARK SWIERSZCZ, BELL MEDIA

New Art Arises from Emerging TechThe novel exists because the cost of paper became cheaper. Movies exist because someone invented the camera. When we make technology, we make new forms of content consumption.

New advancements in technologies also change our human behaviors and definitions of tools and objects of the past. A map used to be a way in which you were told directions to a destination. Now Google Maps lets you know the exact time it will take for you to get to your destination (and directions too).

Exploit tech’s capabilities. Use it to innovate the past.

“IT STARTS WITH THE STORY”, MAUREEN MCHUGH

You have to think through every, single, motive and action your audience members will take and be prepared for it. Because if you don’t, the inevitable will happen to your story. The complete loss of control and utter breakdown, like the death of your beloved character, can happen, even if your story is a hit.

Winning should not be losing.

Winning Should Not Be Losing

“IT STARTS WITH THE STORY”, SEAN STEWART, XBOX ENTERTAINMENT STUDIO

We live in a conflicting world of anonymity and authenticity. We have the freedom to voice our opinions and live anonymously online, but at the same time that freedom is taken advantage of. Audiences need authentic voices.

This creates trolls, lurking, and negative environments that impact the stories we want to tell. You have to ask yourself, how do you filter engagements? What kind of comments by anonymous players are allowed and what’s too far? What kind of posts are harmful to the story at large?

It’s a careful balance and a handicap you must acknowledge as we develop our storyworlds across any genre of storytelling.

Authenticity VS Anonymity

“USING SOCIAL & ONLINE TO ENGAGE YOUR AUDIENCE”