I’ve been anxious for today to come so I could restart my blog. I was planning to talk about how, after three years of evangelizing Transmedia Storytelling at my company, we’d finally laid the foundation for a Transmedia Story to guide our audience through a connected narrative across our digital touch points. Not quite yet a completely realized Storyworld, but the framework to get us there.

Like most things that require a new way of thinking, Transmedia Storytelling is hard, especially inside a B2B organization. It takes a leap of faith to trust that if you focus on storytelling, the rest will fall into place. Three years ago, when I first proposed a Transmedia strategy, I might as well have been a creature from some far away galaxy, speaking an alien tongue. But the world of media has changed. And so, as we prepared for today’s launch, we took that leap together as a team. But at the 11^th hour, a decision was made to revert to the way we’ve always done things – leaving a hole in our narrative path.

It’s a bit like hiking the Inca Trail only to come upon a spot where some tropical storm has destroyed the path and you’re not sure which way to go. But … you know at the end of the trail is Machu Picchu – a mystical, magical place where you feel like you’ve reached the center of the universe. And so you plod on.

Thus, instead of leading you on a Transmedia journey today, I’ll send you directly to the core of the story world we have created. Even if you’re not in IT, I think you’ll enjoy this video. It’s fun. Check out the NetApp IT Survival Guide:

And if you’re embarking on your own Transmedia adventure, don’t panic. Keep beating down paths. If I learned anything at last week’s Storyworld Conference, it’s that there is a movement afoot. And a force of aliens with you …

 

Last Saturday, I received a message from a friend who lives in the UK, a former neighbor from Pittsburgh, PA. I was up until 4:30 a.m., switching back and forth between knitting and working on a presentation. Awake and online when Barb posted a comment about a photo I’d uploaded when I was at the Sundance film festival in January, I was transported in an instant back to the day I reveled in the utter peace that permeates the Sundance Resort.

Barb’s comment inspired me ...

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As promised, a quick photo connecting yesterday's post with New Year's Eve. << MORE >>

Time to part ways with 2010. Phew, what an interesting year it's been. Eleven months ago, the surgery that removed an aggressive tumor growing between my eyes left a hole in the middle of my face.

As daunting as it may sound to all-of-a-sudden come face-to-face in the mirror each morning with such a radical reflection, the surgery was a medical success. The cancer is gone. And heck, my beauty pageant days were long past anyway, so in truth, it hasn't been that bad to deal with and at ...

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Wow! It’s been a long time since I’ve posted here! I’d planned to start talking about the concept of micro-filmmaking last Summer, but I got too busy and, more to the point, my body started playing tricks on me. My energy waned and I began to feel a general sense of malaise. I kept pressing on though, travelling, enjoying my family, work, work, work. My creative self retreated to the back burner - in fact it felt like that burner had blown out.

Long story short: it turned out I had a tumor laying dormant between my eyes, near my brain. And then suddenly it began to grow and by the Holiday season, became aggressive in its pursuit to take over. I got my cancer diagnosis on January 6th. After my surgery on February 2nd my surgeon described my tumor as "massive with tendrils extending into my brain." Thankfully, they were able to remove it all, but as the joke goes, they also had to remove my nose. All of it. Cartilage, nasal bone, three sinuses - basically I now have a big hole in the middle of my face. 

But I digress ... I want to get back to my original intent here on this blog: exploring Found Storytelling and my new passion of micro-filmmaking.

A few weeks ago, Ridley Scott and Kevin Macdonald announced the "Life in a Day" project in collaboration with Sundance, soliciting video footage from around the world all shot on July 24, 2010. Their vision is to create an experimental film illustrating a time capsule view of a single day on this planet. Talking about found storytelling! They have their work cut out for them plowing through the approximately 40,000 submissions they received (deadline for submissions was July 31^st) to create a cohesive feature film.

I decided to record my little part. So, bringing this entry back full circle, I thought, what better glimpse into my life at the moment than exposing my face and showing what it's like to have a prosthetic nose?

It's been a bit of an adjustment, but there are some advantages. For instance, when not wearing the prosthetic, I now have an unobstructed view in front of my face!

Here’s my micro video story: Reflections on the Nose

On Saturday, June 27th, I'm going on a storytelling adventure. What started out as my annual "where should I go this year to get away and write" travel planning exercise, has turned into a full blown on-the-go, transmedia story development trip. For the past few months I've been changing my hair cut and color until becoming the platinum pixie of my alter ego, Gloria Hankshaw and I'll be travelling as Gloria on this trip.

Gloria (formerly known as Samsa) Hankshaw has been hiding out in the Santa Cruz underground since her dot com went belly up in 2001, all the while continuing product development on her elixir code-named FuNshine. Gloria decided she needs to get back in the proverbial saddle, and is embarking on a road trip to reclaim her inner cowgirl and product test FuNshine. Designed to restore fun to the planet, this potion now comes in two form: a thick goo for use with bubble wands and a lighter aromatherapy spray. 

For eight days she'll be travelling across North-Central California, with bottles of her ylang ylang scented elixir on hand to distribute while parking herself on benches to conduct user-testing interviews. There are multiple channels to follow her adventures:

Gloria's blog: http://cowgirl-incognito.com/
Facebook fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/pages/httpwwwcowgirl-incognitocom/63750084620
Road trip music playlist: http://blip.fm/cowgirl_incognito
Video channel: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=5233CF623B197607

And I'll be tweeting as Gloria here: http://twitter.com/lindaghenry

I hope you'll join the fun!

Sundance Film Reviews

I saw 10 films, which isn't a lot, but I was only there for the second half of the festival and wanted to spend time exploring Park City. Below are my impressions of the films I saw:


Barking Water

When people ask me "what was your favorite film" -- this is the one I tell them. It may have been that it was my first film ... << MORE >>

Finding Stories at Sundance

The Sundance Film Festival experience is all about finding stories. From the discovery of artistic innovation, to inspiration that comes from accidental encounters with strangers, each impression has the potential to materialize in some enduring form. Or at the very least, to provoke a new blog posting.

Cranes, clock towers and park benches were among the Park City images I ...<< MORE >>