On August 4, 2010, a post appeared on a new website, http://www.shaydoran.com, with the apt title, “Where it begins.” In the post, the blogger, Shay Doran, describes his arrival at Vail, a small mountain town in Colorado, and shares his hopes that his latest relocation will turn out better than the last few. The next [...]
One LARP, one queen, and lots of steam
or “How I spent my weekend” I spent last weekend producing a LARP experience for the Steampunk Symposium, a steampunk-themed convention held on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. My contribution ended up being a lot of narrative work and experience design, plus a minor role as an NPC (David Bainbridge of Sotheby’s). For details [...]
Fans, Funds, and Value Co-Creation
Note: you should read Andrea Phillips’ post on this topic before reading my response below, and be sure to check out Carrie Young’s expanded thoughts on the topic! Earlier this year at the StoryWorld Conference, Andrea Phillips approached me and proclaimed, “You know, I really, really, really hate the term, ‘value co-creation!’” It was not [...]
UGC Sucks (or, the Winter of My Discontent)
Warning: I’m donning ye olde cranky pants for this post. The culprit for my discontent? An increasing dismissal of audience contributions (i.e., user-generated content) to commercial entertainment as unfit for inclusion in professional entertainment experiences. The most common argument I hear against including UGC in any entertainment property fail is, “UGC is awful,” which reduces [...]
Next up: Designing a Steampunk LARP
Although I signed up for this a while back, I’ve been awful about spreading the word: I’m on a team of designers crafting a LARP experience for the upcoming steampunk-themed Her Royal Majesty’s Steampunk Symposium convention in Long Beach, CA January 13-16, 2012. I’m thrilled to be working with some heavy-hitting LARP veterans like Aaron [...]
‘Shared Story World Design Primer’ (DIY Days L.A.)
After posting several entries at Shared Story Worlds, I had the chance to expand on them at DIY Days L.A. 2011. Although I had about an hour to make the presentation, I barely had time to cover the absolute basics (I hope to go into more detail future posts at SSW). Still, the exercise of [...]
StoryWorld Conference Council
I was honored to serve on the StoryWorld Conference Council, especially as this was the debut year for the conference. I had the pleasure of working with Alison Norrington and the other Council members over the past year, and I moderated/hosted three panels. StoryWorld brought together some of the leading global practitioners in transmedia storytelling [...]
‘Shared Story World Design Primer’ (DIY Days L.A.)
An introduction to Shared Story Worlds and the primary considerations for designing, implementing, and sustaining an SSW. Presented at DIY Days L.A. 2011. Shared Story Worlds Design Primer View more presentations from Scott Walker
Where I’m going, where I’ve been…
The last month or so has been a blur, and with so much going on, I thought I’d pull the various events and conferences together in one post. Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Brian Seth Hurst of The Opportunity Management Company. Brian hosts a regular video column at InteractiveTV [...]
Moderator for Transmedia Panel at CTIA Mobile Conference
I journeyed to San Diego on October 12th for my first CTIA Mobile Conference, where I had the pleasure of moderating a panel on transmedia as part of a 3-hour session hosted by the Producer’s Guild of America. As it turned out, all of the panelists were also members of Transmedia L.A.!
Meta World
