I think of PSFK's annual NYC
conference as Next Gen TED in that it brings to the stage a series of wickedly
smart designers, marketers, entrepreneurs, thought leaders, many of whom you
have never heard of. PSFK, a design / research firm and think tank headed by visionary
Pier Fawkes, offers cutting edge insights that span disciplines. Speakers range
from climbing wall developers to wearable technology designers to food
designers with titles like New Worlds Creator (for toy apps) and Revisionary
(for clothing designer).
Take for example food designer Emile Baltz, a food designer whose work crafting designer cocktails (that you lick off of a plate) for the Museum of Sex takes one form and function and transcends it into another experience altogether. Or Billie Whitehouse whose FUNDAWEAR through her company We:eX connects physical experiences to your clothing such as vibrating underwear for those who … ahem … want to remain intimate in a long distance relationship.
Take for example food designer Emile Baltz, a food designer whose work crafting designer cocktails (that you lick off of a plate) for the Museum of Sex takes one form and function and transcends it into another experience altogether. Or Billie Whitehouse whose FUNDAWEAR through her company We:eX connects physical experiences to your clothing such as vibrating underwear for those who … ahem … want to remain intimate in a long distance relationship.
"What does this have to do
with media?" you might be thinking. Well, everything. Media is experiencing
an unprecedented transformation, crossing platforms, expanding its engagement
with viewers, searching for unfathomable amounts of new compelling content and
generally stretching the boundaries of what it is and what we do. So a company
like We:eX that enables us to enhance the sports fans viewing experience with
tech infused clothing that signals us when the athlete is excited, nervous or
elated, helps us more deeply engage with the content as if we are there right
in the middle of the game. It is part of our mission in media – to expand the
boundaries of the viewing experience, making it more intimate, immersive and
creating more connections - literally and physically in this case!
Turn the Media Paradigm Backward and Upside
Down
Whether you are a print
publication transitioning to Tablets or a Content Creator seeking funding, PSFK
believes that there are new approaches that make all challenges easier and more
successful.
Bjorn Jeffery of Toca Boca tackled
the print to digital challenge that many magazines are facing today. He reimagined
the idea of a magazine by starting with the digital concept and making a
magazine experience rather than vice versa; adapting a magazine to a digital
platform. His Popular Science Magazine was one of the first to migrate to the
tablet with a video component. Getting in early and turning the challenge backward
led to a successful result.
His work with Sesame Street
turned the concept of tablet ownership upside down. Coining the phrase the “pass
back effect”, Jeffrey realized that parents were taking tablets and passing it
back in the car to the children in the backseat. “It was a radical notion at
the time where we increased childrens’ ownership of the device” and created
content that spoke directly to the child rather than through the parent.
Rodrigo NiƱo of Prodigy Networks believes that “the crowd has the power to make change” and has put the power of the crowd into real estate, funding multi-million dollar skyscrapers in Colombia via crowd funding. So I am thinking, if millions of dollars can be raised for a real estate project, why can’t the crowd fund television series for those networks with the vision but maybe not the budget for ambitious programming projects?
YouTube’s Kevin Allocca upended
some preconceived notions about what makes a video popular on his service. Providing
social and authentic experiences helps drive viewership. But what constitutes
an engaging experience differs across locales. Example: A 4 minute video of
elks crossing a road garnered over 1,000,000 views … mostly in the western US. “Tech
makes global possible but it is still local.” It is impossible to predict if a
video will be popular or hit the cultural zeitgeist but, according to Allocca,
one thing is certain; “knowing how video works is to understand how
creativity works.”
We in the media are in the
business of implementing creativity but we may be trapped at our desks doing
routine tasks day after day. One day spent in the presence of creative
iconoclasts can help us look at the whole world with fresh eyes.
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