[arg_discuss] White Paper: Direction & Audience (was ARGs in Publishing)

[Brooke Thompson]

Far from empty, Evan, it's great advice! And something that I  
struggled with a bit... just who is the audience and how do we make it  
useful for them?

I see three main groups:

1) ARG Practitioners and others who are fairly well aware of the ARG  
world and who are curious as to what we have to say. These folks,  
while AWESOME!, are going to be our harshest critics and find issue  
with and pick at much of what we say. We are not writing for them, but  
we should put this together with their voice in our head - not to  
steer us, but to help us better stand behind what we write.

2) Academic sorts. They will be interested in the history (but likely  
be quite critical about it). While they may be fairly interested in  
methods & models, best practices will be less useful.

3) People interested in an ARG for a future or current project - on  
several levels (from executives to designers). They will want to know  
a BRIEF history (mostly for presentation purposes and so they can  
sound somewhat knowledgeable on the subject) but are more interested  
in methods, models, and best practices. Case studies will also be  
beneficial.

I think the third type is our sweet spot and who we should be aiming  
this towards. Of course, it's going to be a fairly substantial  
document when it's done, which makes it less useful for them. I tried,  
in putting together the sections, to break them up into shorter and  
more useful chunks (you're interesting in publishing? read the  
publishing section!). To make this even easier, each section should  
include an abstract and contain clear and descriptive subheadings. Any  
other tips, thoughts, and advice is more than welcome!


Here is the outline:
    1. Intro (Brooke Thompson)
    2. Overview
          1. The Rise of Transmedia (Geoffrey Long & Brooke Thompson?)
          2. Market
          3. Business Models (Anthony Saad)
          4. Audience (Brooke Thompson?)
          5. General Design Principles (Andrea Phillips)
    3. ARGs in various industries
          1. ARGs and Marketing (Kevin Barnes)
          2. ARGs and Publishing (Michael Andersen)
          3. ARGs and Television (Aaron Smith)
          4. ARGs and Film
          5. ARGs and Serious Games (Dee Cook, Michelle Senderhauf,  
Marie Lamb)
          6. Towards an Independent Future (Brian Clark)
    4. An Academic View into research trends & future directions (Mela  
Kocher & Jeff Watson)

As you all can see, we still need someone to write the Market & the  
ARGs and Film sections. Volunteers?

Not listed... I hope to include an appendix which lists each of the  
games/projects mentioned throughout the White Paper (I've gone back  
and forth in my head over whether or not this should be listed  
alphabetically or chronologically). I have also wondered whether or  
not we should include a listing of companies. Making this complete may  
prove to be difficult due to the fact that there are often a number of  
companies directly involved with an ARG... this is a white paper, not  
the yellow pages.

As for history... each section so far includes a short history. I do  
hope that it will be fairly brief, but it is useful for highlighting  
examples and showing trends & trajectories.

There is also a history specific section, The Rise of Transmedia.  
Geoffrey & I tossed around ideas for it but have not gone beyond that.  
I believe we decided on doing a quick rise from the earliest days of  
storytelling and focusing more on the last 30 years or so. Ultimately,  
I expect this section will be the shortest in the paper for a few  
reasons - 1) we're both quite busy and 2) this topic best when it's  
brief or incredibly rich and detailed and well beyond the scope of a  
white paper. I suppose my personal goals for this section are to show  
that transmedia is not new (in fact, it tends to happen whenever a new  
technology appears as people want to experiment) but that we're at an  
amazing point in storytelling history not only because there are a lot  
of new technologies to explore for telling stories, but computers make  
it easier for everyone to be a storyteller (beyond verbal  
storytelling) and the internet not only enables us to find and build  
an audience unlike any time previously but it allows us to connect  
story pieces in new and exciting ways. So, I suppose, I hope this  
section is a sort of large introduction that inspires people to create  
- while remaining informative instead of turning into an opinion piece.






On Aug 3, 2010, at 9:30 AM, Evan Jones wrote:


> Sure thing Michael - it sounds like you're on the right path and  

> keeping it

> narrow to publishing will aid the project.  Just offering some  

> suggestions

> for historical touchpoints.

>

> I'd agree that it's most appropriate that this whitepaper serve as a

> practical guide.  With that in mind (and just to stir the pot a  

> little), is

> history the most helpful starting point?  I'd certainly argue that  

> many

> disciplines must begin with history (why did I learn chemistry with  

> early

> models of the atom?) - but it seems now that all of the popular  

> books are

> focused more on 'best practices' (ostensibly from some guru).  Is  

> anyone on

> the list able to offer themselves up as the intended audience?  It'd  

> be

> great to ask around to see what they are seeking as a reference tool.

>

> Also - please consider all of this empty rhetoric since I feel I've

> disqualified myself by not dedicating the time to write a section as  

> well.

> ------------------

> Evan Jones

> Stitch Media

>

> Halifax:  902.482.2157

> Toronto: 647.477.1613

> www.stitchmedia.ca

>

>

> On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 10:18 AM, Michael Andersen  

> <mandersen at argn.com>wrote:

>

>> Evan: I've seen how contentious ARG Histories can be, and planned  

>> on using

>> the bulk of my space to concentrate on the latter sections that  

>> focus more

>> on implementation. Rather than presenting a definitive or  

>> comprehensive

>> history, I was planning on presenting a brief paragraph or two  

>> recognizing

>> that while there is some intensely innovative work going on in the  

>> space

>> over the past few years, it didn't start with the publication of  

>> *Cathy's

>> Book*.

>>

>> My intended focus is on methods of implementation and the potential

>> benefits, as I assume the purpose of the white paper is less  

>> academic and

>> more practical, with people seeking out information on what ARGs  

>> are, if

>> they work, and how to do them. If I'm wrong in that assumption, I can

>> adjust

>> my writing and research accordingly. Have any of you on the  

>> listserv made

>> use of the 2006 white paper? And if so, how? (Yes, I realize that  

>> may open

>> up an entirely different line of discussion.)

>>

>> -Michael

>>

>> On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 9:03 AM, Evan Jones <evan at mysteryjones.com>  

>> wrote:

>>

>>> Hi Michael,

>>>

>>> ARG Histories are notoriously contentious - anyone visiting the ARG

>>> Wikipedia revision page will see how challenging this curation has  

>>> been.

>>>

>>> If you wanted to widen it out a little, you might want to toss in  

>>> some

>>> 'non-linear' book concepts like Tristram Shandy, or even allude to  

>>> the

>>> early

>>> days of 'epistolary fiction' like Robinson Crusoe - I've been very

>>> interested to see Adrian Hon's coverage in this area and how it may

>> affect

>>> the trajectory of ARGs in transmedia. My wife and I love the  

>>> Griffin &

>>> Sabine books as well, but as you can see it's the thin edge of the  

>>> wedge.

>>> Pretty soon we're back to definitions again and spinning in circles.

>>>

>>> Looking forward to reading about it though!