In the labs that I’ve been running for the past couple of years, we’ve been telling people that they build five credible stories when they’re developing projects and preparing pitches.

The User Story.

In an age when it’s never been easier to publish, it’s never been harder to get attention. You need to be able to convince a potential commissioner or investor that there is an audience for what you’re making. The methodologies of user centred design which originated in product design, pioneered by companies like Ideo, and now widespread in web agencies are increasingly important across the creative industries.

The Platform Story.

Very few projects are confined to a single platform any more; there are not many that are ‘360’ but most will play out across more than one medium. Whether you’re developing a transmedia experience or are predominantly aiming at a core medium with enhancements elsewhere, you will want people to get access to your story in a number of different places. You need to be clear about where it makes sense to focus for your audience and how much resource to invest in reaching your users in appropriate places.

The Impact Story.

Or, to put it another way, what are the quantifiable benefits of your project to its audience, the people you’re asking to pay for its production or to your business. This is clearly important if you are doing something which is intended to have social, educational or public service impact, but you may also refer to the size or quality of the audience you will reach. If the main impact is commercial then it will form part of….

The Money Story.

What form this takes will depend on the stage the project’s readiness. You may know your overall budget, you may need funds for development. What’s the size of the market you’re targeting? How will you get customers and how will they pay? If you’re pitching to potential investors, how much do you need from them and what will be their return?

And finally….The Story Story.

You still need a great story, whether it’s entertainment, a product or service you’re making.

People working in new media will often know more about platforms and the way that they’re used by audiences or consumers than commissioning editors, angels or other investors. To convince them to part with money, you’re going to need to master all 5 Stories.

Alex Stanhope proposes three filters for analysing the process of convergence: technology, relationships and activity.

These provide a very useful perspective but do they cover all the territory in the emerging digital ecology?

What are the major opportunities and obstacles to creative and commercial growth contained within these interlocking processes?

There was an excellent letter from Professor Saville Kushner published in the Guardian on Monday asking why no-one is challenging the current narrative:

“There is no formal opposition in parliament to the flawed political narrative – that we are in economic crisis and in need of deep fiscal surgery. None of the leading political parties question it – Labour now actively suppresses its questioning – the BBC promotes it, the print media relish it, the citizenry didn’t vote for it but have no choice but to comply with it. Forget that economists from Martin Wolf to David Blanchflower, from Will Hutton to Joseph Stiglitz oppose it – and that “the markets” are not calling for it. Forget that our debt-to-GDP level is historically low, that our tax take is among the lowest in the OECD and that the calculation of “fiscal deficit” is crafted, not magically given. Forget that it is the duty of the opposition to oppose. Forget that the welfare state will disappear with no contestation, and that it is far easier to dismantle than to rebuild. Forget that we now risk recession on top of austerity with the poorest and most vulnerable in the firing line – and forget, not least, that the charge to this economic cliff is led by self-interested millionaire classes and suntanned, svelte politicians.”

Professor Kusher has compiled a presentation offering a different perspective which is very illuminating. You can read it for yourself here: http://www.slideshare.net/kushnerbarry/is-there-an-economic-crisis-v2

This is a nascent cultural ecology in which it is impossible to make confident assertions about the future. Five years ago the demise of conventional broadcast television and its replacement by new media was still being widely forecast but in practice, as the 2010 Ofcom Communications Market Report shows, television viewed in peak time remains by far the dominant medium in the UK. The power of the broadcast networks now co-exists with the power of the social networks. At the same time/ no-one foresaw the emergence of the most influential new media platforms: Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace just at the point it was about to be consigned to near insignificance; in a map of the ‘new media landscape’ drawn up by the BBC in 2005, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube do not even appear.

Ask leading figures in the television and film industries today what the impact of convergence is on their business and you will not often get a coherent answer. Most are understandably preoccupied with shoring up old business models, attempting to retain respectable ratings or, where they do engage with new platforms, exploring the potential for digital distribution of traditional content.

So, in an environment where nothing is certain apart from continuing, disruptive change, what investment in R&D will help to prepare creative businesses to meet the challenges of convergence? There is certainly a need for further technological development to provide better tools for producers and consumers of media content and services – for ideation  and conception, production, distribution and adaptation. It should certainly be a priority for the TSB to ensure that the UK stays at the the leading edge in developing hardware and software that meet needs in these areas, but the key questions which research and development should now be addressing are as much cultural as technological.

R&D competitions should be framed in such a way that they encourage collaborations capable of exploring new formats, new relationships with narrative and storytelling, new ways of doing business and engagment with audiences, communities of interest, with users as much as they do new applications of technology.

Why Digital Revolutions?

Digital Revolutions aims to build the largest ever creative picture of how information and information technology affects our lives. In today’s information society, information and information technology touches nearly every aspect of our lives. With an ever-growing number of internet-enabled handheld devices, always being connected has never been easier. Yet there are an estimated 10 million people in the UK who have never accessed the Internet.

The mission of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, is to enable this information society. This involves both improving IT literacy skills as well as helping people to better access, use and manage information to lead richer, more fulfilling lives.

The competition has been devised to encourage people to look more closely at how information and information technology impacts them.

For many (particularly younger) people, it’s difficult to remember a time before the convenience of online shopping or Internet banking, or being able pull up a map or a recipe on a mobile phone at any moment.

Access to information has never been greater, but what does this really mean? Public services are easier to access, but has this reduced social exclusion? Do you feel safer because of the number of CCTV cameras in place, or do you consider this a violation of your privacy? Have you ever exercised your right to make a Freedom of Information request?

How?
1. Make a 2-3 Minute film about how technology has changed your life
2. Upload it on YouTube and tag the film “digitalrevolutions”
3. Fill in a submission form email to digitalrevolutions(at)bcs.org
4. Get people talking about and watching your film. Use the wonderfully rich digital world!

Who?
1. You must be at least 18 years old
2. You must be a British resident
3. Your film must be in the English language
4. Make sure you enter the correct category: Amateur or Professional.

The Professional Category is open to anyone with a broadcast or theatrical credit, including anyone working in a paid capacity on a film or television project that has been broadcast on UK television or released theatrically in the UK

The Amateur Category is open to members of the general public aged 18 or over

If you are a winner….
Professional Category: Winner gets £5,000!
Amateur Category: Winner gets £10,000!

Enter Digital Revolutions Competition and Win an Apple iPad!
Our deadline for entries is October 15, but we want people to start sharing their stories sooner. Therefore if you submit a valid entry into our Digital Revolutions competition in the next month (until 6 September), you could win a brand new Apple iPad in addition to having your video considered for the top Digital Revolutions prize!

For each valid Digital Revolutions entry (meaning the video is successfully uploaded to YouTube, properly tagged, and you’ve submitted an entry form to digitalrevolutions@bcs.org) we receive between 4 August and 17th September, we’ll enter the submitter into a random draw to win a 16 GB Apple iPad.

How can you maximize your chances of winning?
Crossover Labs will be running four workshops across the UK, to offer you guidance from some of the industry’s leading names who will give tips and advice on how to get your idea across in your video and also how maximize its impact once its online…

31st August – London
1st September – Cardiff
2nd September – Sheffield
3rd September – Edinburgh

The purpose of the introductory mini-labs is

- Provide potential competitors with informationn about the competition, its scope and how to enter to
- Stimulate debate about the impact of digital technology on society, politics, the economy, education, culture
- Inspire participants to generate ideas for subjects and topics to cover
- Give practical tips and advice on making, digitising and posting their films

Only fifty places are available at each workshop on a first come first served basis.
To make sure you secure one of these exclusive places you must register your interest

Enquiries please contact us – digitalrevolutions(at)bcs.org

Over the next few weeks I will post some views on the question: ‘what does convergence mean in the creative industries today, and what are the research and development challenges which should be addressed by the Technology Strategy Board.

A good place to start is the definition proposed by MIT’s Convergence Culture Consortium:

“’Cultural Convergence’ is not just another buzzword (or two). The phrase describes an emerging pattern of relations bringing together entertainment, advertising, brands, and consumers in creative and often surprising ways. These new relations are underpinned by three key concepts: transmedia entertainment, participatory culture, and experiential marketing.

Transmedia Entertainment describes the flow of stories, images, characters, and information across various media platforms. The coordinated fashion in which this takes place deepens consumer experiences.

Participatory Culture describes new ways consumers interact with media content, media producers, and each other as they explore the resources available to them across the media landscape. Consumers are active participants, shaping the creation, circulation, and interpretation of media content. Participation deepens emotional investment in media properties, expanding their awareness of both content and brand.

Experiential Marketing refers to key ways to capitalize on participatory culture and a transmediated media environment. Developing novel brand extensions and strategies that play out across multiple media channels enhances consumer identification with both products and brands.

Convergence describes a process rather than an endpoint. More than just technological consolidation, the process of convergence is distinguished by changing consumer flows through the media landscape. It represents a tectonic shift that has altered the relationship between existing technologies, industries, markets, genres and audiences. As advertisers look for new ways to engage audiences, content creators search for new audiences, and audiences seek new ways to connect with culture, the nature of what counts as entertainment, advertising, and culture are rapidly changing. We are seeing the blurring of aesthetic and technological distinctions between media platforms, of ‘advertising’ and ‘content,’ and of ‘creator and ‘consumer.

This altered landscape privileges ‘expressions’ over ‘impressions;’ engaged consumers draw together information across multiple media experiences, creating new touchpoints for brands and properties. Convergence culture calls for a re-negotiation of the expectations of media content producers, advertisers, and audiences.”

The TSB published a strategy paper for the Creative Industries last year. It had five key priorities. The first of these concerned meta-data and a competition was recently announced for projects which addressed challenges in this area. The next two priority areas were contextualised as opportunities arising from ‘convergence’, a word rather like ‘innovation’: much used in the context of digital media and emerging technology but ill defined and imprecisely understood.

This is what the TSB said about the challenge of convergence:
“Technology convergence is blurring the boundaries between sub-sectors and creating both challenges and opportunities. The Technology Strategy Board has most to add by focusing on crosscutting areas.”

The two priorities related to convergence specifically identified in the paper as are:

“Improve interoperability and increasing convergence cross-platform”
“The goal here is to achieve increased technical and service interoperability between content, products and services, platforms, networks and devices. We anticipate significant benefit beyond the Creative Industries, in particular delivering broader societal value to public service sectors.”

“Promote knowledge sharing and multidisciplinary collaboration”
“With technology convergence blurring the boundaries between sub-sectors, there are benefits to be gained from transferring know-how between different Creative Industry sub-sectors. There are also opportunities to learn from industries outside of the sector. “

Against each of these priorities the TSB outlined some proposed actions. On interoperability and cross-platform convergence:

“The Technology Strategy Board will:
•    stimulate the development of new skills and cross-media collaboration to aid the development of brand new product or experience concepts that exploit integrated, pervasive environments;
•    ensure business models and transaction (including micro- transaction) systems are available to support commerce;
•    encourage the development of interface technologies and standards, where required, to increase interoperability between networks, applications platforms and devices; and
•    foster solutions to support the trading of digital assets between content creators and distribution platforms. “
And on knowledge sharing and collaboration:

“The Technology Strategy Board will:
•    provide a trusted source of knowledge on technology and market developments and provide the mechanisms for creative businesses to explore potential impacts and opportunities;
•    promote partnerships between business and academia through collaborative projects and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships;
•    signpost creative businesses to other support-agencies within the broader innovation landscape and, where needed, develop the mutual understanding necessary to facilitate successful relationships;
•    promote multidisciplinary cross- fertilisation between the Creative
•    Industries sector and other technology and market application areas supported by the Technology Strategy Board;
•    transfer creative industry know-how to other sectors, in particular to apply design thinking and creative industry solutions to societal and industry challenges.

It’s not unreasonable to assume, given that meta-data has now become the focus of a call for funding applications, that the TSB is likely to call for proposals against some of these proposed actions.  But are they the right ones? Is investment in these areas the highest priority for companies doing business in the converged media ecology?

The TSB does listen to advice from industry. They held a series of consultative meetings this time last year with businesses in the games, music and television sectors while they were planning this year’s competitions.

Now would be a good time to make your views known.  The best place to do so is in the discussion groups on the Creative Industries Knowledge Transfer Networks’ (CI KTN) site.

The TSB’s funds were described at an event recently as one of the last remaining pots of gold in the public sector. Let’s make sure it’s invested where it’s needed: join the discussion here.

http://www.nma.co.uk/news/nesta-issues-templates-for-ip-rights-deals/3011008.article

Summary of the Frameworks and the templates and how they can be used can be accessed here

http://www.nesta.org.uk/areas_of_work/creative_industries/digital_innovation/ipr_frameworks

He has now followed it with Havana/Miami which looks at the different aspirations of and challenges facing young Cubans on opposite sides of the Straits of Florida.

“The Cuban Revolution happened more than fifty years ago – long before they were born.
All of them are young, with a rich Cuban heritage.

Living just 90 miles apart,

in the USA and in Cuba,

They share common dreams, hopes, worries and desires.

They are the future.

Each week,
3 videos from Havana,
3 videos from Miami,
Over 3 months.”