Author: Simon Staffans

The storyteller evolved – the fluid and authentic validator

Last week I had the pleasure of talking at the Documentary Campus Masterschool in Cologne. I’d been asked to speak about things transmedia (which is a term I still find myself using, not for pitching but definitely in my own development work) and multiplatform, and how to use these methods and ways of thinking to…Read more The storyteller evolved – the fluid and authentic validator

Using the user – developing content in 2015

I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago endorsing the building of personas as a tool for content creators. I had a number of positive responses to the post, from people in the academic world as well as people from the creation side of the content business. Since a major reason I got in…Read more Using the user – developing content in 2015

The Great Narrative pt II

Some weeks ago, having just returned from summer vacation, I wrote a piece on what I termed ”The Great Narrative”. My point was simply that stories matter, and the stories we choose to tell and the way we choose to tell them matter even more. This goes doubly for the world of today, when the…Read more The Great Narrative pt II

Think inside your boxes – find new ways to reach and engage an audience

Last week I read a good post by Jay Bushman on ”6 expert tips for multiplatform content creators”. One of the points stood out to me in particular – the need to throw out the manual and think in new ways regarding platforms and tools and possibilities. For Jay, this is about looking at platforms…Read more Think inside your boxes – find new ways to reach and engage an audience

The art of finding an audience

Almost to the day a year ago I wrote a post on audience engagement, talking about five points I believe are essential when it comes to reaching the point of meaningful interaction with an engaged audience, and the harnessing of that power in the long run. I still stand by my points from that post,…Read more The art of finding an audience

Get ready to do a Dark Detour

Last year Steve Peters and Alison Norrington launched the first installment of Dark Detour, a Halloween multiplatform ghost story that gained a considerable amount of interest as well as eager participants. This year they're back, bolstered by the addition of Jenni Powell and with a new rabbit hole to dive into, called "All That Glitters".…Read more Get ready to do a Dark Detour

The Great Narrative

Over the summer I’ve actively tried to avoid doing what I’ve been doing for the past couple of decades – craft stories, design and produce them and tell them to an intended audience. I’ve found that I tend to absorb myself in my own projects to quite an extent, and in turn have found it…Read more The Great Narrative

ForwardSlashStory – the stone that sends the ripples

I’ve been trying to write down my experience of attending F/S 2015 several times already. It’s been difficult. Mostly because I feel what I learned – or, rather, immersed – there has yet to sink in properly. Sink in, and rise to the surface again. I agree wholeheartedly with what people have written about it…Read more ForwardSlashStory – the stone that sends the ripples

The No-Plan Plan

One evening a couple of weeks ago I found myself in deep conversation with a couple of people. Hank and Julia and I were discussing the notion of the Plan-life and its’ counterpart, the No-Plan life, reflecting on how the notion of these two impacted our own lives. The discussion continued sporadically over the next…Read more The No-Plan Plan

The Difficult Client “You”

I’ve had a number of epiphanies over the past few days, mostly because I’ve spent almost every waking hour of those days in the company of a lot of highly intelligent and creative people in the form of the participants of the 2015 version of F/S (ForwardSlashStory). Among those epiphanies a couple stood out, however,…Read more The Difficult Client “You”