Transmedia Social Change

1. Transmedia Social Change Building a Start-Up in the Digital Age

3. Just how noisy? Meet Jonnie • Jonnie wakes up in the morning and reviews RSS on a iPhone • On the way to school, Jonnie twitters breakfast plans which automatically crosspost on Facebook • At school, Jonnie invites friends to lunch through planypus • During class, Jonnie opens a Google Doc to collaborate on notes • Also during class, Jonnie opens an IM session to pass notes • Jonnie’s professor projects lessons onto the students’ computers – Jonnie hacks a second screen to surf the web • Afterschool, Jonnie goes to a MeetUp at a friend’s house • In the evening, Jonnie meets the parents and downloads their favorite show, liveblogging the experience

4. What’s changed? • The world has changed: the world of today is radically different than the world of even five years ago. • The name ‘Information age’ focuses on means of production; ‘Digital Age’ focuses on essence of existence • The digital adds to the atomic to create a more robust essence • We are no longer the same being as we were even ten years ago—thanks to the online profile’s digital existence

5. The Digital Age’s Human Effects • Human Beings are constantly exposed to the wider world beyond their immediate social sphere • Ubiquity of media leads to hypercompetition for the individual’s most precious resource: time • To compete in the Attention Economy, everything must make its case for personal relevance So how does this affect a start-up?

6. Narratives define experience We are all stories: “We inhabit a nomos - a normative universe. We constantly create and maintain a world of right and wrong, of lawful and unlawful, of valid and void...[And yet] No set of legal institutions or prescriptions exists apart from the narratives that locate it and give it meaning. For every constitution there is an epic, for each Decalogue a scripture.” – Robert Cover, Nomos and Narrative

7. The Digital Age’s Effect on Narrative • The inherent property of a story is that it is told • The Digital Age creates multiple channels of possible experience • Transmedia narratives are, at their most basic, stories told across multiple media, which depend on multiliteracy: the ability to process and aggregate multimodal representations • Multimodality is important for organizations since the individuals who make up communities seek to connect according to their individual wants, needs and level of social comfort

8. Example: Heroes

9. Heroes Extensions • Recaps & Web Extras • Clips With two-minute summaries of every episode, plus season walk-throughs, featured clips, and video dossiers on each character, there's no excuse for falling behind. • Behind the Scenes These mini documentaries introduce the composers, set designers, stunt coordinator, et al. • Global News Interactive Mock news reports provide clues to the show's mysteries. • Two-Screen Episodes While you watch the television broadcast, follow a barrage of polls, quizzes, and other real-time pop-ups on the Web site. • Video Commentary Within 24 hours of an episode's TV broadcast, NBC posts a Web version with video commentary from writers, producers, and cast members. - source: “The Wide, Wide World of Heroes” by Ellen Gibson in FastCompany (April 15, 2008 )

10. Fan-Generated Content Wiki Open-source explanations to all things Heroes. Did you know that the license-plate number of Hiro's father (played by George Takei from the original Star Trek) is NCC-1701, the same as the registration number of the Starship Enterprise? Fan Site Named "Ninth Wonders," after Isaac's comic book on the show, the Heroes fan site lets obsessed fans post short videos describing their theories, upload their own Heroes artwork, and exchange messages with the cast and crew. Alternate Reality Blogs and MySpace Characters Hana and Hiro maintain blogs, while three others have official MySpace pages. Claire, a cheerleader, has more than 11,000 MySpace friends. Vote Petrelli A bogus congressional campaign site for the character Nathan Petrelli, VotePetrelli.com [2], includes downloadable posters and other propaganda. Corinthian Casino & Hotel The Web site for the show's Vegas casino (corinthianlasve-gas.com [3]) gives such straight descriptions that you might be fooled into booking a room -- until Hana hacks in with one of her secret messages (e.g., "I have something to show you"). Primatech Paper On the show, Mr. Bennett's company may be a front for a covert organization, but the illusion of legitimacy extends to the Web site primatechpaper.com [4] and a real phone number viewers can call to apply for a job. Corporate Spying When Cisco Systems wanted to promote its new Web-based video surveillance, it sponsored a site that enabled visitors to spy inside the fictional Primatech Paper facility using a mock Cisco security-cam interface. Yamagato Fellowship This site (yamagatofellowship.org [5]) tells the tales of historical heroes, with a five-part documentary devoted to Takezo Kensei, a mythological samurai whose sword Hiro tries to steal on the show. Activating Evolution Dr. Suresh's novel about genetic mutation is the bible of freakishness on the show. A fake PR site for the book (activatingevolution.org [6]) allows you to read an excerpt, participate in a dream study, and listen to interviews with geneticists. More Heroes Extensions… - source: “The Wide, Wide World of Heroes” by Ellen Gibson in FastCompany (April 15, 2008 )

11. Video Games For Gaming Systems NBC signed a deal with Ubisoft last summer for a superhero title for PCs and game consoles. In stores by the end of the year. Online PlayIn Suresh's Loft, you wander the rooms looking for clues. In Claire's Game, you navigate a fiery train wreck to save a dying man. Isaac's Loft is a 360-degree interactive room; clicking on paintings reveals key plot points on the show. Online Comics Interactive Novel A full-length Web-only graphic novel about secondary characters includes a Flash-animated version. Weekly Comics After each new TV episode airs, nbc.com/heroes [1] adds an online comic-book chapter that provides back-story and fills gaps in that week's plot. Sponsored by Nissan. Mobile Mobile Game Designed by Gameloft, Heroes: The Official Mobile Game has 11 levels you can download to your phone. The goal is to save the world, of course, but it also helps obsessed fans unlock spoilers. Text Updates If you text Hana's name to the number on her blog, she replies with clues that lead to other Heroes Web sites. Viewers who "apply" for jobs at Primatech Paper receive texts regarding "next steps" from a company rep. Trivia Contest You know Hiro is lying when he talks about: a) thin sumo wrestlers, b) angry samurais, or c) ancient swords. Fans earn the chance to win $1,000 each week by completing weekly quizzes (either online or via text message). Also sponsored by Sprint. Create Your Hero Sponsored by Sprint, this application lets fans create their own Heroes characters and compete to have them featured in an online comic. Print Novel Charlie, the Texas waitress with the Kodak memory, appeared in only two episodes, but she left a major imprint on Hiro, who failed to save her life. A novel called Saving Charlie delivers "the untold story of Hiro and Charlie." Graphic Novel Wildstorm, a DC Comics subsidiary, compiled the first 34 weekly online comics into a $29.99 hard-cover graphic novel (Heroes, Volume One). After two months, it was in its second printing. Magazine The bimonthly Heroes: The Official Magazine sells for $6.99 and features cast interviews, quizzes, foldout posters -- and plenty of advertising. Even More Heroes Extensions… - source: “The Wide, Wide World of Heroes” by Ellen Gibson in FastCompany (April 15, 2008 )

12. What can start-ups learn from Heroes? • Passive interaction is in low demand • Activity increases demand, providing incentives for virality • Narratives should seed and permit extensions • Brand (or for a nonprofit, mission) as a platform • Digital access points lead to physical interaction

13. How do we enable our start-ups to operate free from the restrictions of space and time?

14. Walzer Points Out Wherever you are, it’s probably Egypt. There is a better place, a Promised Land. The only way to this Promised Land is through the wilderness—there is no way to get there except by joining together and marching. - Michael Walzer, Exodus and Revolution

15. Workshop: Tell us of your quest • If your venture could boil down its reason for existence into one desired future state, what would it be? • A quest has two main temporal elements: • The imperfect present • The liberated future • Remember:To compete in the Attention Economy, ventures must make the case for their quest’s relevance • The case for relevance lies in the story the venture tells about itself and the world it would like to come

16. Workshop: Who will lead the charge? • What do you require from your hero – the first “customer” who joins your quest to change the world? • Where are you searching for a champion? • What are the qualities of the champion you believe can fulfill your quest?

17. Workshop Assignments • In groups of three, work on the following: • What is your quest? • What is your imperfect present? • What is your liberated future? • Who is your hero? • What qualities are you searching for in a champion?

18. Break Take a few moments – get something to drink. Stretch.

19. The Business Plan’s Story • The Business Plan is a tool for conveying why you are doing what you are doing • A good business plan is similar to a good bedtime story: • Set in a time and place • Clear challenge to overcome • Clear hero that will solve the challenge • Clear beneficiary that wants the challenge solved • General understanding of the means needed for the solution

20. What is your Once Upon a Time? • Customer/market • Addressable Market Opportunity (the need that exists in the segment of the public that you can currently address) • Future prospects of market (how large is the total need across segments that can be potentially addressed

21. Who is your Damsel in Distress? • What is the burning issue you are addressing? • How did this issue come to happen? • Are there other organizations out there trying to rescue this “damsel in distress” – i.e. attempting to solve this social challenge? • If there are other organizatons seeking to solve the challenge, what are they not doing? What will you do differently?

22. Who is your White Knight? • Who are the People on your team? Joint track record Knowledge of industry • Proven expertise • Integrity • CEO skill set (should NOT include all elements of the • project, or project will seem like one-person-show) • Who are the others heroes who will join you on your quest? • How will you leverage assets in the community to complete the quest?

23. What is the path to the castle? • What are challenges which your venture will have to overcome on the way to completing your venture? • Competition • Barriers to Entry • Current Offerings of group or organization • Current competitors in market • Future competitors • Service competition • Potential Alliances • Who could enter the space • Alternative solutions to need in market

24. What will you pack your horse with? • Financial model – to cover your venture’s material need as it works towards solving the challenge it identifies • Requirements to get to a proof of concept • Resources needed – non-financial as well – to grow from proof-of-concept to on-going venture • Use of resources during on-going operations • Anticipation of future capital needs

25. How will you conquer the castle? • Fit/Deal • Round size needs to complete phases or core milestones • Added value to potential funders portfolios • Fit into funding market segment • Allies that can be tapped

26. Workshop: Now Let’s Test the Story In groups of three, let’s do some Business Plan Triage for one of our ventures to identify weak aspects of our venture’s plans: • Customer/Market • People/Team • Competition • Financial Model • Fit/Deal

27. How does the Fellowship help? During the program, you will have to provide 6 deliverables, each of which address the topics that make up a business plan. • Visioning • Value Proposition • Environmental Scan • Social Impact Model • Project Proposal • Executive Summary