New Courses for the New Year
We are pleased to be ringing in the New Year with two new Interactive Storytelling Courses for Professionals at BCIT and Capilano University.
Photo Courtesy of John Biehler
The focus of both these courses are to inspire the participants to use digital tools, such as social media, to make your online communications more engaging, build community and to learn to use storytelling elements to impart information, whether about yourself, a brand or a more traditional story, such as a novel or a television series. We will look at the new world of transmedia storytelling and will explore the development of digital media strategies around your properties. The courses are hands-on and the goal is for participants to choose a project to focus on and build over the 8 – 10 weeks.
A review from a past student:
“Erica has the gift of making a very “technological” subject accessible and understandable for everyone… even those who are not quite up to speed yet with all the ins and outs of Social Media. Her wealth of examples and stories infuse what could be an overwhelming topic with a sense of normality and fun. Her willingness to go above and beyond when it comes to encouraging the learning process, creativity and support is highly appreciated and mark her as a very generous educator.” ~ Ina Stockhausen, April 5, 2010
Winter 2011 Interactive Storytelling Courses:
- BCST 1073: Interactive Storytelling (A Credited BCIT Course in Broadcast Communications)
Audiences today want to access media from multiple platforms: online, offline and on the go. Learn the art of interactive storytelling and learn how to use the tools, such as Twitter, WordPress, Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, podcasting and blogging, to tell your stories.
- 10 Wednesday Evenings, January 12 – March 16
- 6:30 – 10:00 pm
- Instructor: Erica Hargreave
- 3 Credits
- Burnaby Campus
- CRN: 77465
- $349.30
- Interactive Storytelling (A Capilano University Continuing Studies Course)
The face of media is rapidly changing. Join traditional and digital storyteller, Erica Hargreave, as she introduces you to the art of interactive storytelling and how to use tools such as Twitter, WordPress, Flicker, YouTube, Facebook, podcasting and blogging to tell your stories. Audiences want to access media from multiple platforms: online, offline and on the go. More and more audiences are demanding the ability to interact within the story, and with the characters and authors. The collective “voice” of media is changing, audiences desire a much more personal tone in what they read and interact with. This personal tone and voice extends beyond the story to the corporate brand as well. Audiences want the story behind the story, to feel that they are part of the story, the creators and the brand itself.
- 8 Tuesday Evenings, January 25 – March 15
- 6:30 – 9:30 pm
- Instructor: Erica Hargreave
- North Vancouver Campus
- CRN: 10047
- $329
Launch Party 10: A Vancouver Event Not to Miss (and where to win tickets)
Back in the days when I was a children’s and educational writer for television and magazines and first exploring the digital sphere, I was incredibly fortunate to be welcomed into Vancouver’s technology scene and shown the lay of the land by a few of the early leaders in the space. My guides and translators in the digital realm included Boris Mann, Megan Cole and the gang at Strutta. My first encounters with the folks at Strutta were at their inaugural Launch Party, which very much became an event that help me to meet and mingle with some of the brightest minds in technology in this fine city of ours and to spark my imagination on how some of their technologies could be used in telling stories. I’d be remiss here if I were not to mention one of the founders behind Launch Party, Maura Rodgers, who I have found to be one of the key visionaries in building Vancouver as an International Hot Spot in technology. Not only is she a forward thinker and a believer of life long learning, but she has been incredibly giving of her time over the years and has always offered her guidance and advice when I’ve needed it. While still involved with Strutta, Maura’s main focus these days is on Bootup Entrepreneurial Society, a community and mentor driven non-profit organization that was formed to inspire entrepreneurship in Canada and help Internet startups take their idea from conception to commercialization. And it is this organization that now hosts Launch Party Vancouver (LPV).
Launch Party Founders - Maura Rodgers, Danny Robinson & Dimitri Sirota - at LPV3, as taken by Phillip Jeffrey.
I’m telling this story as the next Launch Party – LPV10 – is this coming week on Wednesday December 1, 2010 at 6 pm at Canvas Lounge in Gastown, and I happen to know that Emme Roger’s is giving away a pair of tickets to the event. All you need to do is comment on her post, before 9 pm on Saturday November 27th, 2010, as to why you wish to go to LPV10 and she will stick your name in a hat and draw the name of one lucky commenter for the pair of tickets.
Regardless, as to whether you win or not, LPV10 is worth checking out, if you are already in the tech community and want to reconnect with others in the industry and check out the latest tech launches or are new to the world of technology and are there to learn and immerse yourself in the community. Just be sure to purchase your tickets before Wednesday December 1, 2010, as after that tickets jump in price.
Look forward to seeing you on Wednesday!
Erica
Liz Joins #mobilersca to Experiment with the Android Galaxy Smartphone
Love any excuse to sing the praises of our team and I am most pleased that Liz Kearsley just gave us such an excuse.
Liz has been selected to be one of Canada’s first Mob!lers! Samsung Canada picked her and 29 other 20-somethings living in Canada to take part in a competition with their new Android Galaxy S Vibrant Smartphones. Liz and her Team Vansung will duel it out against five other teams in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver for cash and prizes, including a trip to Korea, in 4 challenges designed to experiment with transmedia with their Galaxy Smartphones.
Before the fun started, Samsung set the guys a mini challenge in Toronto which Liz’s Team Vansung won.
Mohammed Hassan-Ali
Here are Liz and her teammates:
Mohammed Hassan-Ali - @skysurfer64
Desired Superpower: To change the weather, so everyday he can avoid ever getting caught in those Vancouver downpours.
In Real Life: Grad Student studying Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology
Gyslain Lalonde
Gyslain Lalonde
Desired Superpower: Batman Wannabe
In Real Life: Server and reality TV talent
Chris McGuire
Chris McGuire @chrisonhismac
Desired Superpower: To be untouchable, yet imperceptible.
In Real Life: Web & Mobile Developer
Peter Verge
Peter Verge @peterverge
Desired Superpower: Snooping on Other’s Text Messages (a fly on the cell, if you will)
In Real Life: All Round Personality, MC and Broadcast Journalist in the making
Liz Kearsley
Liz Kearsley @LizKearsley
Desired Superpower: Information Osmosis (not surprising, as we see her similarities with an amoeba)
In Real Life: PhotoJournalist
Please help us to cheer them on in their last 4 competitions by keeping an eye on the Samsung Mobile Canada facebook page. Go Vansung Go!
Exciting Times for Media
Times are a changing in the Media World and we are highly excited by some of the most recent evolutions. Particularly here in Canada where the new Canadian Media Fund (CMF) has been announced bringing in an experimental element. This is a perfect opportunity for members of the digital media community to get funding and branch out, trying new projects that funds would not have previously been available for.
This is the first year such funding options have existed here in Canada and although the fund’s guidelines are still evolving, it is this open invite for submissions that we feel can allow the creative juices to follow. The CMF are also widening their view towards the advantages of transmedia storytelling for their more traditional television fund with the convergent program. This provides exciting opportunities for traditional media to discover new avenues with their storytelling and really have fun with the new challenges and opportunities that the changing landscape of media offers.
In keeping with the times, the Yorkton Film Festival has really embraced the idea of Interactive Storytelling, and has contracted us to help them to tell their online story. They are rebranding their image, doing a bit of marketing for the festival and the Golden Sheaf Nominees, and acting as a case study example to festival delegates of how interactive tools can be incorporated into their stories. Way to go Yorkton! And thank you for inviting us along for the ride!
To follow along on the Yorkton Film Festival’s online story, check them out on:
-
yff avatar
- youtube
- youtube group
- flickr
- flickr group
In keeping with this model of forward thinking and moving towards the future of media, the Yorkton Film Festival is hosting some great workshops on Friday May 28th, 2010 aimed at thinking convergently, including a few with our own Erica Hargreave. Here is what you can look forward to:
Friday May 28
- 8.30 am – 9:00 am: Blast Off – Social Media at the Festival, Ramada Yorkton
A look at telling the Festival’s story using social media and how filmmakers can use this to build the buzz around their productions, with Erica Hargreave.
- 9:15 am – 10:15 am: Panasonic Workshop and Presentation, Ramada Yorkton
Panasonic Canada presents and discusses the latest Panasonic video cameras and technology, including notes and news on 3D.
- 10:30 am – 12:00pm: Let’s Play CanCon Convergence Roulette, Ramada Yorkton
A fun filled game show where panelists compete by trying to adapt new convergent technologies and applications to classic Canadian TV shows. Hosted by Robert Hardy. Panelists Cam Bennett, Trent Haus, Rob Bryanton, Brenton Sawatzky and Erica Hargreave.
- 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm: Which Way To The Future? Ramada Yorkton
Spend an afternoon with some of the biggest names in the industry, as they try to make sense of and figure out where the rapidly changing screen based media industry is headed. Hosted by Richard Gustin. Panelists Cindy Witten, Daniel Cross, Norm Bolen, Valerie Creighton and Rudy Buttignol.
Saturday May 29th, 2010 at the Yorkton Film Festival hosts some always needed industry staples, putting you face-to-face with the broadcasters, talking finance and actual production, and discovering how to get your proverbial foot in the door.
Saturday May 29
- 8:30 am – 9:00 am: Blast Off – Social Media at the Festival Part 2, Ramada Yorkton
Explore ways to use social media as a storytelling device on your projects, with Erica Hargreave.
- 9:15 am – 10:15 am: Now’s Your Chance, Ramada Yorkton.
Table-hopping group discussions with industry leaders, broadcasters and distributors. Ask the questions you’ve always wanted answered. Join industry leaders for straight talking, small group discussions. A rare honesty that Yorkton offers, unlikely to be found at larger festivals.
- 10:30 am – 12:00 pm: Oh, Oh! They Said Yes – Now What? Ramada Yorkton
You’ve finally pitched a project that a broadcaster/investor likes enough to make an offer. Join the panel of experts as they share insights and ideas of what has to happen in order to get the proposal into a finished project. Hosted by Joanne McDonald. Panelists Stephen Onda and Peter Raymont.
- 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm: My Big Break, Ramada Yorkton.
Five successful Saskatchewan film and television producers discuss their first big “success” and how they found it (or how it found them). Hosted by Bruce Steele. Panelists Michael Snook, Jeff Beesley, Dennis Jackson, Melanie Jackson and Anand Ramayya.
Click here to register for this year’s festival.
We hope to see you in Yorkton!
A New Classroom & Course for the New Year
Photo from The Hague’s Nationaal Archief
I’m excited to be embarking on a new educational adventure this year! My new classroom will be in the Broadcast Communication Program at BCIT and the Continuing Studies Department at Capilano University. At both schools I will be teaching Interactive Storytelling. Not completely sure, but I do think these are two of the first Interactive Storytelling Courses at Post Secondary Institutions in Canada.
So what is Interactive Storytelling?
I define Interactive Storytelling, as storytelling across platforms of media, some of which are interactive, allowing the audience to interact with the story itself, if they so choose.
For the purposes of these classes, whilst we will be looking at examples of other forms of interactivity, such as ARGs and Gaming, the focus of the class will be on using different forms of social media (such as blogs, twitter, facebook, blip.fm, flickr, podcasting..etc) to make traditional stories (such as novels, films, tv, articles, radio, plays, brands …etc) more interactive. Through the course of the class, the participants will use these social media tools to build an interactive component to a project of their own. This can be a project that they have developed in the past, are currently working on or are just using as a tool to experiment with telling stories interactively.
Who is this course for?
Anybody who has a story to tell, whether it is that of a place, a brand, a novel, a play or a film or TV series.
Here are the details on the two courses:
- Course Code: CRN 10020 – Interactive Storytelling
- 6 week course
- Tuesday Nights from 18:30 – 21:30 (6:30 – 9:30 pm)
- North Shore Campus
- March 2, 2010 – April 6, 2010
- This is a non-credited course through Continuing Studies.
- Course Code: BCST 1073 – Interactive Storytelling
- 10 – 12 week course
- 3 – 3 1/2 hours a week
- Course Date Pending: Either April or September
- This is a credited course through the Broadcast Communications Program, but don’t let that scare you off, as it is open to the public and you do not have to be a full time student to take it.
Also stay tuned for an Interactive Storytelling Course for Youth during the Spring Break with the Delta School District!
Emme Out & About Kissing Calendars for Dyslexia
It’s been a year now since we pushed Emme Rogers out from behind her computer screen and out into the real world, and we are proud to see her flourishing in real life as well as cyberspace. Like any proud parents, seeing your kid making their way in this world, and in this case, truly embracing the reality of cross-platform storytelling, is rewarding to see.
Emme at the Launch of Reading is Sexy (Photographer: John Biehler)
This Saturday we will be proudly looking on as Emme makes her debut in Toronto society, kissing calendars for dyslexia! If you are in Toronto, come and meet Emme Rogers from 1 – 3 pm, Saturday December 19th at Ben McNally Books (366 Bay Street). You can also support The International Association of Dyslexia and promote literacy by buying a Reading is Sexy calendar. Calendars are on special for $18 at the event or $20, if you want to kick in an extra $2 to dyslexia. Cash or cheques will be accepted.
Stick around afterwards and Emme will be heading to a pub with anyone that wants to join her. And knowing Emme, she will buy a couple of plates of nachos and a few pitchers of beer for the table.
All in the Name of Literacy
Our sincerest of apologies to the Vancouver Community for any over-inflation we may have done to the following individuals egos, by placing them in a calendar, entitled Reading is Sexy:
- Monique Trottier – @somisguided
- Lori & Richard Yearwood
- Patrick Tubajon – @iheartgudrun
- Raul Pacheco-Vega – @hummingbird604
- Ian A Martin – @atomicfez
- Rayne
- Lorraine Murphy – @raincoaster
- Mark Leiren-Young – @greenpieces
- Monica Hamburg – @monicahamburg
- Ian Ferguson
- Emme Rogers – @EmmeRogers
You see, it is for a good cause and all in the name of literacy. Aside from sadly feeding Emme’s ego and launching her into a new-to-her form of media, the calendar, we are helping her to raise funds for a cause that both she and we believe in - literacy, and more specifically, dyslexia. A healthy portion of the proceeds from the calendar and the photo auction will be going to The International Dyslexia Association to help them get kids (and adults) with dyslexia to overcome their literary hurdles and have fun with words.
As our way of apologizing to the community, for allowing the above individuals to call themselves Miss, Ms, Mrs or Mr (Insert Month here) for the next year, we are helping Emme to throw a Reading is Sexy Literary Celebration this Thursday. Here are the details:
Cost: Free
Local: Gudrun Wine & Cheese Bistro (150-3500 Moncton Street, Steveston, BC)
Date: Thursday December 3, 2009
Time: 7 pm until late
Festivities:
- general revelry and enjoying of Gudrun Goodies (We will buy a few plates for the room, but bring some money with you to enjoy more Gudrun Goodies and some of the delicious wines and beer)
- readings from a few of our authors (Ian Ferguson, Mark Leiren-Young, Lorraine Murphy, Raul, Rayne … to name a few …Emme may even read something from my yet to be finished novel)
- special guest reading by comedian, Kirsten Van Ritzen
- calendar signings by the ‘models’ on hand
- auctioning of some of Robert Shaer’s photos from the shoot for charity
Come, heckle our various months and enjoy a good night of laughter.
And once again, our sincerest apologies, and please don’t blame the photographers, Robert Shaer and Tris Hussey, for this.
Oh and if you can’t make Thursday, but do want a calendar, you can order one here. (If you are in and around Vancouver, ignore the shipping costs as we or Emme can figure out physically getting it to you. Similary, you can ignore shipping costs and pick up a calendar directly from the Canadian Branch of The International Association of Dyslexia, if you are in Toronto.)
Brands Can Be Storytellers too!
A common misconception that we encounter with people when we tell them that we are interactive storytellers is that we create dynamic stories for children or that we strictly work with traditional stories in the form of books, movies, television series and films to make their stories more dynamic and interactive. This is a myth (although we do indeed work with traditional stories to make them more interactive, but our stories are not limited to traditional stories).
Storytelling is an age old art and tradition that allows us to pass on information in a manner that will be remembered. The most powerful ad campaigns build a story around their product or company. Similarly the most powerful political campaigns or actors have been adept at building stories around themselves. This is what creates brands that people remember. It doesn’t matter how old we get, everybody loves a good story and if you can create one around your brand, people will remember you. Dove for example was brilliant in the building of ad campaigns that made them synonymous with embracing the real female body in all of it’s curves.
Photo by Selca Morales
Now when we talk interactive storytelling, we are simply referring to making your story more dynamic and allowing your audience or customers to become a part of your story by interacting within it. Storytellers have done this for ages with dance, sound effects, song and costumes, when they have their audience present. The beauty of technology and the age of social media is we can now allow our audience to become a part of our story, even if they are not in the same room as us, the same city, the same country, or even the same hemisphere.
Photo by Rusty Stewart
To explore interactive brand storytelling some more, join me (Erica Hargreave) for a Back to School with Kontent workshop tomorrow (Tuesday September 1st) evening on Creating Interactive Brand Stories.
Back to School With Kontent
Summer is winding down, and with it my days of zaniness. Time to buckle down to more serious matters, like interactive storytelling!
Excited to be a part of Kontent Creative’s Summer School with a workshop on Interactive Brand Storytelling:
Creating Interactive Brand Stories
Tuesday, September 1, 2009 at 7pm – 9pm
No matter how many new technologies and forms of media we invent, the most powerful form of communication will always be the most ancient, the art of storytelling. The beauty of these new technologies and forms of media is that they are vehicles for stories that allow us to tell them in new ways and spread them to new audiences. They also allow our audience to interact within the story itself, allowing them to feel a part of it.
Often we think of stories as medium strictly for entertainment sake. The reality is that we are all storytellers, telling our own stories, that of a company or a brand, or those of the culture in which we live. The trick is recognizing what our story is and learning how best to tell it.
In this workshop, we look at examples of brand storytelling, identify what others stories are and how they are using the online space and social media to tell their brand’s story and engage with their audience. Just like the stories online, this workshop will be interactive and we will be doing some story building of our own.
Click here to register.
So what do you think - should I go with my summer look:
…or move on to the autumn wardrobe?
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