Research and Design by: Online Colleges Site

I look back at how it used to be, am I really that old… anyway the process knowledge retrieval is much changed from how I used to do it. On my book shelf behind me is a book from my day’s at University of Oregon called Information Gathering and retrieval. I cracked it open and honestly had a good laugh. I love the references to something called “print”;-) and all this info on reference librarians and microfiche.

WOW! I totally remember those days and how utterly painful it was to dig deep. Going to the library looking at current periodicals, hunting through the card catalog and then requesting the librarian retrive some microfiche to scroll through to find the NON-searchable images to find the info.

Even in the early days of the Internet it was not so easy. Do you remember Archie and Gopher? What about the endless hours of hunting on usenet? It was at least searchable but still poorly organized. Then came Yahoo and it got much better but the real revolution came with Google. The logarithm that changed the world.

I started this article thinking I was going to talk about how much we may have lost with the instant access to information and how critical thinking had been disrupted. However in culling through my memories I am realizing that if you apply a few simple rules to the Google brain we are eminently better off.

1. Fact check – Just like any good Journalist get multiple sources for information whenever you can.
2. Take some time to absorbe the knowledge you are getting from your Google brain when it makes sense. (*Often we end up down a Google rabbit hole at these times you don’t need long term retention — I am looking at you Lolcats)

see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!
3. Understand thy source – If you are at a site who’s URL is something like www.the-best-digital-camera.com or www.high-fashion-handbags.com these are not a good source of unbiased information they are SEO fodder.
4. Formulate your knowledge and discuss topics beyond flamewars on a comment thread or forum i.e. talk to real humans face to face and get other perspectives on information.
5. Spend some time in deep thought.

If you we don’t I guess Jack Handey will some day be out of work.

What:

The Portland Creative Conference—a showcase of the inspiration, imagination,innovation, trends and technology that fuel the creative process and our creative industries—is now in its third year after its successful re-launch in 2008.  The original conference ran from 1990 – 2001.Proceeds from the conference support K-12 arts education programs in Oregon.  As a result of the 2008 and 2009 events, $9,000 as been distributed to such programs.The target audience for the Portland Creative Conference is creative industries professionals—those who work in disciplines such as design, advertising, animation, architecture, arts, film & video, audio/music production, comics/graphic novels, fashion, creative writing, video games, immersive environments, marketing, music, performing arts, photography, public relations, publishing, software, video games, virtual worlds, innovations in sustainability and the Web.Thought-leaders from throughout the region will take the audience on a tour of their creative process, influences and inspirations as well as current market innovations surrounding today’s creative economy.

Web: http://www.cre8con.com

Videos: http://www.youtube.com/cre8con

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/cre8con

When:

Saturday, September 17th, 2011, 9:00am – 5:00pm

Where:

Portland, Oregon–Newmark Theater at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts

Who:

Speakers Confirmed so Far:(more to come)

Brynn Bardacke, Global Creative Director, Coca-Cola

Rob Legato, Special Effects Supervisor, Avatar, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Titanic, Apollo 13, Armageddon and others.

Peter Richardson, Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner fordocumentary How to Die in Oregon

Robert Thompson, architect & design director at TVA Architects (Nike campus, Matthew Knight Arena at the U of O, Fox Tower, Proctor & Gamble HQ)

Robyn Tenenbaum, Producer of OPB’s Live Wire! radio show

To get your cre8tive juices flowing check out this flashback of conferences past -

PLEASE come out and support OPIF + HB 2167 in Salem!

Join fellow industry members and show your support of HB 2167 to keep the film incentive program alive and well in Oregon! Meet at the steps of the Capitol Building and a “chain” of industry members will connect the Capitol steps to the historic Elsinore Theater and a special screening of Meek’s Cutoff.

RSVP at www.ompa.org. We need 200 RSVP’s this weekend! Join us today! * Free admission to 7pm screening for first 200 people to RSVP for the 4pm event * And Free Bus Ride from OMSI for first 60 who RSVP! (We’ll get another bus if we need it!)

Thanks to support from @Large Films, Kamp Grizzly, Koerner Camera, Gearhead Grip & Elecric, Funnelbox, Gales Creek Insurance, David Cress, and Bonnie Roseman

RSVP AT WWW.OMPA.ORG

(Not sure what OPIF and HB 2167 are? Read up on www.ompa.org or www.OregonConfluence.com)

For more information on the screening:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=125539190850856

I was very impressed and really felt the creativity in me stir. The Jane showed up on The Colbert Report:

and well I knew I needed to listen anything she had to say if Mr. Wikiality was having her on. Then as if that weren’t enough then I catch her on NPR’s Science Friday and in my book if Ira has you on you must be on to something.

Games and game culture have been an integral part of my life since my first Pong game in the 70′s. It has shaped our culture and how we interact with each other and the world around us and it’s good to see that it can also be good or us. Although as a parent of a young boy I locked in on this passage

Well, I don’t necessarily mean that every person should spend more time playing. In fact, there’s a pretty clear cut-off. It’s at 21 hours a week. If you play more than 21 hours a week, you start to see a decrease in the positive impacts. And at 28 hours a week, you start to see negative impacts in terms of social anxiety or depression.

So go on and play but just remember your cut off.

If you want to know more about Jane McGonigal you can check out her website - http://janemcgonigal.com/

How will Xbox Kinect evolve gesture based interfaces?

To make creative work that is contributory and sensible to its culture and environment; to be exploratory and sensitive with regard to materials and media; to wonder what magical visions (as opposed to the familiar dystopias) of the future of media might look like.

What a great statement and so true. The evolution of media and its cultural impacts will affect how we work, play and love. The ability to create magic in this coming future is essential to nurturing the essence of what it means to be human. With the potential for technology to de-humanize us a little bit of magic brings emotive connectivity re-humanizing the experience.

Making Future Magic: iPad light painting from Dentsu London on Vimeo.

Read more about the experiment over on the Dentsu blog.

Interactive Media Experience
3:45pm-4:45pm Session, Main Auditorium

The relationship between man and media has evolved from a passive to an interactive experience. We will explore the changing nature of this experience, looking at convergence and cross-media engagement. Considering the current state of interactive TV as well as how HTML 5 and CSS3 are changing the digital interactive landscape, we will shed some light on how social media is effecting these interactions and how marketers can create effective interactive experiences in this new mediascape.

We have some great people on the panel -

Looking forward to a great conversation.

*** If you are interested in attending the conference I have a deal on a group rate for three or more people. Call 503-725-4832 before Thursday 12-9  and register with code GROUPDMC10 to get 25% off admission.

Off to go do a radio interview about the conference hope to see you on Monday.

UPDATE: I have another code for you TALKdmc10 (15% off conference fee for individuals) – register online (www.pdxdmc.com ) hurry price goes up on Thursday.

Star Wars is a quintessential example of a Story World that continues to evolve in amazing new ways with technology. What I am seeking to do is extend media and create interactive media using new and emerging technologies to tell stories in interesting ways. I am also very keen on tools that might be used to help craft the transmedia narratives.

A transmedia project develops storytelling across multiple forms of media in order to have different “entry points” in the story; entry-points with a unique and independent lifespan but with a definite role in the big narrative scheme

Building out story worlds across media is a way to enhance and extend a story. It allows you to develop richer characters and create extensions of a story that just cannot be achieved through a single medium. It extends the life of a narrative and engages the modern media consumer much more than just a one off.

The ability to extend the mythology of a story world and play out the patterns of legend by enriching the lexicon is a powerful tool in a creators belt. Transmedia gives you this power. Alas with great power comes great responsibility. You must know that if successful user generated content will extend your story world in entirely new directions. Some of which you may not like. However to be true to the audience and the story world you must accept this. Any good parent knows someday your baby will grow up and leave home, all you can do is teach them the right lessons and be there when they need you.

One of the problems faced when crafting transmedia is that you must keep track of endless threads of story and understand how the varying platforms interact. Part game theory part alchemy the mastery of these skills are achieved by some wizards like Jeff Gomez. Remember that he has been practicing his magic for some time and just like any sorcerer’s apprentice sometimes the magic doesn’t work right. Know this and prepare to be trampled by brooms



The best defense against wayward brooms is to arm your self with tools that will help keep track of all your threads. Mind mapping in my opinion is a must and I like Mindmeister. Another critical tool I can’t live without is Inform an interactive fiction writing tool. OmniGraffle or Visio are two great tools as well that can help you map out you universe. Another great tool is an open source production tool called Celtx, I LOVE this program!

Examples

Historic

The Wizard of Oz

“author L. Frank Baum, and after his death, his estate were, I believe,  pioneers in transmedia storytelling.

There were stage plays, books, Sunday comic strips, toys, board games, amusement parks, dolls, an annual television event since 1956 and movies. Lots of movies; here is a list which I found on Wikianswers:

Wizard of Oz (1910) – based on a 1902 stage musical – Silent film
Land of Oz (1910) – Silent film
Dorothy and the Scarecrow in Oz (1910) – Silent film
The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914) – Silent film
His Majesty the Scarecrow of Oz (1914/1915) – Silent film
Wizard of Oz (1925)
The Land of Oz (1932)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)

In other words, the Oz world was communicated by all the available platforms of the time. The more you read and see, the more you immerse yourself. “ Richard Gottlieb

- http://www.playthings.com/blog/Out_of_the_Toy_Box/37530-Understanding_Transmedia_Story_Telling_The_Wizard_of_Oz_as_pioneer.php

Modern

The Matrix, Star Wars, and Lost are some good examples of transmedia. Let’s take  a look at Lost

A myriad of entry points exist to this compelling and intricate series on ABC. The mythology of the series is amazing and the audience engagement factors take it from a 34 nielsen ranking to a 2 (taking into account the new CPR rating). That is powerful magic indeed! How much money would a network or studio pay to get that kind of ranking?

The entire story world was first and foremost well written but beyond that the game mechanics behind it created a media frenzy. User generated content is off the scale and there are even YouTube videos of Cats recreating lost

Users also created an entire Lostapedia and I am quite sure a new form of mystic religion around the powers of the Island may be forming.

Here is the Keynote I did on Transmedia for IABC and a shorter form at Cre8Camp 4.
Understanding Trans Media – How Story World’s Are Changing the Art of Communication