The only international travel I’ve agreed to in the last year has been the Transmedia International Masterclass in Marseille. That was a great experience not just because of the location, but because it was the first transmedia event I had been to that was primarily directed to emerging game developers. It was lots of fun and really interesting. But now I have agreed to travel to a few places again, and what a trip!
Umeå University, Umeå & Skellefteå, Sweden – 25th Sept-10th Oct
My first stop is Umea University in Sweden. Karin Danielsson Öberg has invited me to be a Research Associate at the Department of Informatics for a couple of weeks. I’ll give presentations and workshops on transmedia philosophy, writing and experience design for the department, and students of Cross Media Interaction Design. I cannot tell you how excited I am about this! This is a lovely full-circle for me, as my first trip overseas was in 2007 to give a keynote at the First International Conference on Cross Media Interaction Design in Sweden. Interaction design, experience design, service design, are all areas I have been drawing on for years with my understanding of transmedia design. I’m sure filmmakers, TV makers, etc, think I speak like an alien, but in UX (specifically service design) the issues and approaches all make sense. 🙂
Cyfle, Wales, UK – 26th Sept
While there in Sweden, I’ll also be giving a presentation (remotely) to the multiplatform students at Cyfle in the UK. They seem like an active bunch and so I look forward to hearing where they are at. I was invited by the lovely workshop coordinate Paul Burke for this one.
I’ll drop home for a few days and then I’ll be off again to:
Cinekid, Amsterdam, The Netherlands – 17th Oct-20th Oct
I’m thrilled to be speaking at the Cinekid Conference about Acclimatising to Transmedia. Jeff Gomez has spoken there, and so I’m following up with a discussion about the various approaches to make transmedia work in environments that are either amenable or not to transmedia. A transmedia approach challenges existing siloed mentalities and production processes. There isn’t one way of doing transmedia because people vary in their understanding of it. There is the ideal transmedia process, and there is the one most of us have to work with. So this is a discussion about the rainbow of activities we all engage in to make it work.
I then fly to LA, and then to Canada for:
International Women in Digital Media Summit, Stratford, Canada – 23rd Oct-25th Oct
This is an event I’m delighted to be invited to. The iWDMS event is about “exploring digital media content creation, emerging technologies and business models, and the role of women in digital media globally”. So not only will we be talking about fascinating topics, but we’ll also be discussing how we make this work as women. And check out my co-panelists!
– A New Creative Process?: with Frank Boyd, Creative Director, Crossover; Christy Dena, Director Universe Creation 101; Jill Golick, multiplatform storyteller, RubySkye PI; Marcia Martin, Senior Vice-President, Creative Content, GlassboxTV; and Caroline Tyre, Director of Programming, TELETOON Canada Inc.?
– The Future of Transmedia Content: with Christy Dena, Director, Universe Creation 101; Ana Serrano, Executive Director, Canadian Film Centre (CFC); Tessa Sproule, Executive in Charge of Digital Programming, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)?; and Anita Lee, Producer, National Film Board of Canada (NFB).
Back in LA, I’ll be visiting colleagues at USC, and around, and then:
Cal Arts, Valencia, USA – 27th Oct
I’ll be giving a presentation to Jon Reiss’ students at the California Institute for the Arts. Cal Arts is all about independent thought, independent artistic practice, and so I’m really keen to talk about the highly personal and intimate potential of transmedia projects.
DIYDays, LA, USA – 28th Oct
Then I’m presenting at Lance Weiler’s DIYDays. Lance gave me free reign, and so I’m jumping into two of my loves: Writing and Experience Design.
Storyworld Conference, San Francisco, USA – 30th Oct-2nd Nov
The final work stop of this tour is the Storyworld Conference. This is also a little full-circle for me as I’m on the board of this event that is run by Alison Norrington. Alison was a student of mine when I mentored her many years ago. I’m really excited about catching up with so many transmedia people at SWC, it is going to be a great chance to be surrounded by people who are all in the same area rather than having to explain yourself to industry people who are just getting their head around the Internet. I’ll also be on a few panels at Storyworld:
– New Business Models – be small, think big, move fast: with Christy Dena, Director, Universe Creation 101; Ian Ginn, Founder, Transmedia Learning Network; Kevin Franco, Founder, Francomedia; Alison Norrington, StoryWorld Conference Council Chair, Founder, storycentralDIGITAL; Mike Knowlton, Founder, Murmur.
– Streets that Tell Stories – How Pervasive Gaming Engages Audiences: with Dan Hon, Interactive Creative Director, Wieden + Kennedy; Constance Fleuriot, University of the West of England; Hazel Grian, Creative Director, Aardman Digital; Jeff Hull, Creative Director; and Christy Dena, Director, Universe Creation 101
– Narrative Design Discussion: with Stephen Dinehart, Chief Wizard, Narrware; Jeff Gomez, CEO, Starlight Runner Entertainment; Geoffrey Long, Transmedia Producer, Narrative Design, Microsoft Studios; and Christy Dena, Director, Universe Creation 101.
I’m then flying to Philly for a few days to see my brother and his family (yay!), and then home 🙂
If you’re in any of those locations and events, make sure you come up and say hi!