webinar 1: the power of cultural storytelling and place-based narrative
TRANSCRIPT
Simple BE Here. Image/text
The power of Cultural StorytellingAnd Place Based Narrative#bHereMainSt
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jstephenconn/5340093717
This Webinar is made possible through a partnership between partnership between theMuseWeb Foundationand the Smithsonian InstitutionsMuseum on Main Streetprogram.1
#bHereMainSt @MuseWeb
Selwyn RampProject DirectorHeather SheltonDigital [email protected]@[email protected]@MuseumsAgo
www.MuseWeb.us/be-here-main-streethttp://www.slideshare.net/MuseWeb/be-here-main-street-project
Photograph by Selwyn Ramp
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What is cultural storytelling?
To put it simply, cultural storytelling are factual events/content told in creative and immersive ways. Voices lending to a bigger picture of a place. Their voices shouldnt be the only one talking about a certain location but about the feel of a place, what it is to be there- what the culture is, what makes the place unique. Like this picture of a homemade pesto burger Its about how it tastes how it looks, how it smells 3
What is a story?
There have been great societies that did not use the wheel, but there have been no societies that did not TELL STORIES.
-Ursula K. Le Guin
Photograph by Ursula Kroeber Le Guin is an American author of novels, children's books, and short stories, mainly in the genres of fantasy and science fiction. She has also written poetry and essays.4
What is a story?
Story is what makes us human, not just metaphorically, but literally.- Lisa Cron, WiredforStory.com
http://wiredforstory.com/
It connects us. 5
Why storytelling?
Stories are one of the most effective waysin which we communicate our view of reality to others.
Background photo by Selwyn Ramp
Whats In it for you: what you you, your communities get out of it:Capacity building using 21st century skils.Opportunities for surprising new relationships within communities.Puts your states and communities on the map. (literaly)Reaching new audiences though digital media.Creating a lasting legacy beyond the MoMS travelling exhibition visit.Opportunity to count the Smithsonian partnership beyond just the exhibition. You are a partner on this nation wide pilot project.
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By creating an authentic meaning and purpose, a story gives something others can believe in, participate in and share. It is the basis for cultural and social change.
-Pamela Rutledge
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Elements of storytelling4321Stories need a beginning, middle and end.Stories should have a main character or even a hero, time lapse, suspense and plot.Stories should have a purpose, a need to tell the story, to propel it.
Stories create an experience that evokes emotional response.
Flickr: quirkyjazz, IMG_2643. (Dixie found this image)
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People dont believe what you tell them.
They rarely believe what you show them.
They often believe what their friends tell them.
They always believe what they tell themselves.
Book cover and this text is by Set Godin.9
What leaders do:
They give people stories they can tell themselves.
Often, these are stories about the future and about change.
Book cover and this text is by Set Godin.10
What is cultural storytelling?
I honestly dont remember where this image came from.
To put it simply, cultural storytelling are factual events/content told in creative and immersive ways. Voices lending to a bigger picture of a place. Their voices shouldnt be the only one talking about a certain location but about the feel of a place, what it is to be there- what the culture is, what makes the place unique. Like this picture of a homemade pesto burger Its about how it tastes how it looks, how it smells 11
The value of a cultural object is only as great as the story that belongs with it.
*this is my own image. Just wish I could find a better copy of it.
What happens when you geolocate these stories? A lot of people ask us what geolocation is. Geolocation has been around for a while. Just think about GoogleMaps. Its able to find a specific location and direct you towards that location because each location has coordinates attached to it. Because of popularity of mobile phones, the uses of geolocation are starting to expand.
Geolocation is the new frontier for the tech industry. and in fact, the story you just listened to, can be located to a specific location- you could SEE the area that the person was talking about-now, and 10 years from now, because that story has a place somewhere on earth.
I first was going to have you all listen to the same story again, with a visual clue as to the location, but I thought that might get a little boring! 12
4321Always the voice of authority. . .
Knowing the exact date . . .The only true or valid story . . .Knowing the exact spelling of a name . . .Cultural storytelling is not
Was it 1847 or 1748?
It was around 1850!
Was it with CH or K?
Her name was Christina.
Everyone loves this road!
This roadcut through my land!
My Professor said
I rememberWhen
Background is image by Selwyn Ramp
The core goals of the Be Here: Main Street initiative are:Make cultural content the engine for driving community transformation through partnerships;Capacity building training with communities for using new (mobile) technologies and the power of cultural storytelling;Recording and ensure the open availability of stories both in situ and off site through mobile and digital media as well as other means of publicity;Foster cultural exchange through sharing and learning about what makes each community unique and important;Create lasting legacy for sharing of location specific content through free and open mobile technologies within communities.
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Cultural StorytellingAuthentic perspectives about local cultural and natural resources Told by the people who know them bestColorful interpretation of dry facts by creating contextA way to diversify and amplify community voicesA means to connect communities, people, and common causesAt home and around the worldA natural way to have a dialogue about cultural history with your audience
The Be Here project is, at its core, a cultural storytelling project that asks interested parties to put their creativity and passion to use in crafting immersive, factual stories about Baltimore its history, art, culture, people, architecture, etc.
----is a storytelling project that connects communities, people, businesses, and cultural institutions through new location-based technologies. Smart phones and social media are essential tools that residents and visitors use for information about their surroundings. Be Here capitalizes on mobile technology and offers explorers new ways to discover the surprising culture, history, and stories in a community.Using free and open platforms like social media and the izi.TRAVEL app its now possible for people to share great stories about locations they know, whether its a local landmark, a popular park, a small museum, a rich cultural site, or a beloved natural resource. The best part is it only takes a smartphone to connect people, places, history, and culture. This, together with the fact that a towns economic success is often tied to a thriving cultural sector and vice versa, means that Be Here: Main Street strives to forge new connections between government, local businesses and cultural institutions. Such partnerships create guided pathways between points of interest in a community that stimulate culture, tourism, and economic activity. As well as connecting them to a national digital network of cultural stories.
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Perspectives Matter
Image from: https://ayseaydinfs.wordpress.com
Not sure if that is the original source.
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Perspectives Matter
Really unclear where this originally came from does that mean we need to leave it out? its one of those that floats online, I have known it for a while. Google: perspective boat land16
audiovideotextimagesElements of Cultural Storytelling
immersion
location
Background image by Nancy Proctor.How can you tell these stories? A digital story can be made up of audio text, video and images, and immersion. The first are logical, the last one is a bit more abstract.- its about being in a place at a certain time- witnessing a story, not just in person, but becoming part of it. I will explain this in the next few slides.
LOCATION IS THE ELEMENT THAT MAKES THE EXPERIENCE IMMERSIVE
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Geolocation is the identification of the real-world geographic location of a point of interest
Background image by google.
What happens when you geolocate these stories? A lot of people ask us what geolocation is. Geolocation has been around for a while. Just think about GoogleMaps. Its able to find a specific location and direct you towards that location because each location has coordinates attached to it. Because of popularity of mobile phones, the uses of geolocation are starting to expand.
Geolocation is the new frontier for the tech industry. and in fact, the story you just listened to, can be located to a specific location- you could SEE the area that the person was talking about-now, and 10 years from now, because that story has a place somewhere on earth.
I first was going to have you all listen to the same story again, with a visual clue as to the location, but I thought that might get a little boring! 18
Immersive stories through geolocation
Images from newspaper website. Google the name of river + flood (I believe)
Therefore, this story is about Becky and Don, and was originally recorded for the Minnesota Humanities Center in conjunction with Water/Ways Exhibition of Museum on Main Street. Please listen & look at the pictures
Though we cannot go to the physical location that this story is about, I have added some pictures that I was able to find online about the river and location they are talking about.- because this story was geo-located to a specific location, and I was able to easily trace where it was of relevance.
Which of the two stories we listened to was more interesting? and did the visual clues help you to relate to the story better?
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story?... Grouping stories
The whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.
Stories grouped around a theme create a greater narrative, a cause or a movement.
So Grouping of stories- What happens to individual stories if you group them together with a theme? you build an overarching . Theme, a cause you could almost listen to them like a novel that is being red to you. 20
A tour is a group of 10-15 stories that are connected by a common theme.
A typical stop on a tour is between 1-3 minutes.
TYPICALLY not necessarily.As we can see- a tour, or collection of stories for example in Minnesota - there is a collection of over 100 stories recorded.
We are probably all familiar with the typical museum or city tours. A grouping of 10 to 15 stories, connected together through a predefined route. Most stops are typically soundbites of 1 3 minutes.
It is probably not hard to imagine that this is possible to do with a smartphone
But what if we think beyond the typical- imagine a city, a community, or even a country to be covered with soundbites of 1 2 minutes, and instead of the content creator to be leading the way- the end user decides the route, and whatever story is near you, and relevant to the location you are in, simply starts playing. and you can create if it were a soundtrack of the city.
THAT is what technology nowadays allows us to do, and the best yet- it is openly available for anyone to use.21
Image using Google.
TYPICALLY not necessarily.As we can see- a tour, or collection of stories for example in Minnesota - there is a collection of over 100 stories recorded.
We are probably all familiar with the typical museum or city tours. A grouping of 10 to 15 stories, connected together through a predefined route. Most stops are typically soundbites of 1 3 minutes.
It is probably not hard to imagine that this is possible to do with a smartphone
But what if we think beyond the typical- imagine a city, a community, or even a country to be covered with soundbites of 1 2 minutes, and instead of the content creator to be leading the way- the end user decides the route, and whatever story is near you, and relevant to the location you are in, simply starts playing. and you can create if it were a soundtrack of the city.
THAT is what technology nowadays allows us to do, and the best yet- it is openly available for anyone to use.22
Connecting Communities
Background image by me.
At the core of the program, is the goal to connect communities to each other, but also to others. Using the power of storytelling development/partnerships development.
Storytelling has the possibility to do this because you are no longer talking about culture, but about the community and everyone has some kind of interest in it- because they are part of it.
- business development/partnerships development.
As Seph Rodney wrote in the introduction to the Storytelling Handbook: We have always told stories. In inventing stories, we invented ourselves, through telling them to each other, we make a community. [now more than ever] We need the light and the warmth of stories authentically told and shared. We need them especially from community members who are not typically heardthe citizen storytellers, corner oral historians who have a wealth of lived experience not found in official records or broadcast reports. Our technological tools now allow us to give local voices a new platform; we can pin content to geolocated areas that are triggered through smart phone apps. This initiative is a new and unique form of storytelling, yet it is also part of a deep tradition of making a world for ourselves in which we dont just survive, but we thrive.
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Questions?
And thats all she wrote! Does anyone have any questions?24
#bHereMainSt @MuseWeb
Nancy ProctorExecutive DirectorSelwyn RampProject [email protected]@NancyProctor
Heather SheltonDigital [email protected]@[email protected]@MuseumsAgoContact Details
www.MuseWeb.us/be-here-main-streethttp://www.slideshare.net/MuseWeb/be-here-main-street-project
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