I’ve been a judge on plenty of awards ceremonies, both public and private (internal to an organisation or corporation). I’m always surprised (and disappointed) when I assess the material submitted for a ‘cross-media’ or ‘transmedia’ or ‘multi-platform’ etc project. Why? Because nine times out of ten the assets provided are for one media. I cannot tell you the amount of times I’ve been given the trailer to a game or film to assess an entire franchise with. So what I’m really looking forward to seeing more of is pitch videos that describe the entire experience, not just one medium, and ultimately, for the audiences, trailers for an entire experience. A fan-made video I saw recently excited me to this possibility (see The Matrix Trilogy – sans the other transmedia elements – below).

We’re seen some great videos created to describe the experience of alternate reality games and extended reality experiences etc too, such as the Why So Serious campaign for The Dark Knight, The Art of the H3ist campaign video, and the online narrative for True Blood. All of these describe the experience across all the media.

Art of the Heist Campaign Video from Baldwin& on Vimeo.

True Blood Case Study from Campfire on Vimeo.

There are many examples of these types of videos that explain the transmedia-native experience. But you’ll also notice that these videos don’t include the feature film or TV show they’re a part of either. They can’t, that is not their role. These transmedia experiences deserve their own videos as well. But I’m keen to start seeing more media-encompassing videos. I have seen some good pitch videos but they are not for public display, and I’m sure I’ve come across other on the Internetz. Do you have ones to share?

This is another post about what other people have written about. I’m just still head down in the middle of run time for a project, and so that is the reason for my lack of personal contribution. But I’ve been seeing some awesome stuff out there, including these notes from a special workshop run by community and gaming legend Amy Jo Kim (I’ve recommended her Community Building book to many people) for (what looks to be a very exciting company) Big Door. Geoffrey Nuval now works at Big Door, and he shared his notes from Amy’s gamification workshop. Here is a summary of the headings, but see his site for the full post:

I. Identify and Address your Audience

II. Member profiles are very important

III. Types of Users in a Gamified System

IV. Random quotes heard that I felt important enough to write down…

– “Make it easy for everyone to understand: How do I win?”

– “Iterative Development”

– “Show them what they can eventually achieve upfront… establish goals.”

– “Designing a game site for entertainment is very different from gamifying a system”

– “Give new users lots of sugar in the first 15 minutes.”

V. On Building a Community

VI. Mechanics in a Gamified System (what AJK called: “metagames”)

VII.  On Creating a Social Moment

VIII. Gamified System Monetization

A new website is having fun helping/playing: What the Fuck is My Social Media Strategy? It is a random generator of strategies, well, “common wisdom” (whatever that means).

J.D. Meier has done a lot of research to write up a post on lessons learned from Seth Godin. While Godin’s insights are not about transmedia, they’re about your career and life, which trumps all! I’ve summarised the headings of Top 25 Lessons Learned, but see the full post for all the details and lots of quotes and links.

Have a bunch of good runs before the sun sets.

Be remarkable.

Success is a skill.

Being the best is the best place to be.

Be missed.

Everybody is an expert about something.

Success is a hierarchy.

Don’t do A as a calculated tactic to get B.

Be in it for the long haul.

Quit the right things and lean into the right Dips.

Decide if you’re a freelancer or entrepreneur.

It’s like walking through a maze.

Everyone is not your customer.

Feed, grow, and satisfy the tribe.

Small is the new big.

Find the new scarce.

It’s the FREE PRIZE INSIDE.

The third century is about ideas.

Spread your ideas.

Don’t wait for perfect.

Don’t get paid to alter your behavior.

The goal of reading is to choose what to change.

The world changes whether you like it or not.

The game of marketing has changed.

Feed, grow, and satisfy your business.