Talking at the Narrative in Practice conference, Saturday 21 May

Soundings’ Nina Honiball is co-curating a conference on Narrative in Practice, and has invited Associate, Caf Fean (me), to talk alongside a number of design practitioners on Saturday 21st May, 9am – 5.30pm at Toynbee Hall, 28 Commercial Street, London E1 6LS.

Details follow below, perhaps see you there!

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Narrative in Practice

14 creatives explore how they use narrative in their work

Narrative in Practice is a one–day symposium exploring the value of narrative in creative practice.

The event draws together a diverse array of speakers from various disciplines such as architecture, exhibition design, public engagement and participation, interaction design, user–experience and design for urban initiatives.

We understand narrative to be a tool that creative individuals can use in their process and outcome. As a term it is subjective and illusive and has a wide variety of meanings. The speakers will share their insights on how they use it, ask critical questions and provide the audience with new knowledge the topic.

The symposium is curated by Despina Hadjilouca and Nina Honiball.

find out more here: www.narrativeinpractice.com

Imperica interview now live - Communities, Consultation and Cards

Myself and fellow MA Creative Practice for Narrative Environments alumnus, Nina Honiball were interviewed by Imperica to talk about the impact current trends and storytelling are having on the ways we engage with communities.

Click below to read more.

http://www.imperica.com/features/communities-consultation-and-cards#

NearLabs: Community participation + interaction design + storytelling = tangible results

Just wrote this piece for the office blog - I will be helping Nina Honiball and Crystal Campbell of NearLabs to deliver a series of workshops around the themes of Community Participation, Interaction Design and Storytelling to deliver tangible results for people who wish to instil change in their communities.

NearLabs workshop series kicks off this weekend


Following the success of the Emotive Data, Narrative Mapping as a Tool workshop in April 2010 NearLabs return to Soundings office this weekend, Saturday 5th February 10am – 7.30pm to kick off a series of three workshops investigating various aspects of community participation and interaction design, mixed up with a dash of storytelling.

From NearLabs:

“A phenomenon of urban enterprises where citizen participation is implicit is on the rise. These community projects are about connecting like-minded members and localised services to each other within a local setting acting as Urban Apps.”

Find out more and sign up here


Thinkers and Doers:
Guest Speaker: David Barrie (David Barrie & Associates and The People's Supermarket)

Invited Participants: Tessy Britton (Social Spaces and Thriving Too amongst other projects), Kat Davis (Soundings), Pamela Parker (final year MA Creative Practice for Narrative Environments student from Central Saint Martins) and Caf Fean (that's me - creative writer and consultant specialising in public consultation projects)

Workshop Facilitators: Crystal Campbell (Narrative Ecology and NearInteraction) and Nina Honiball (MAKEshift and Soundings)

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Watch out for a posting on Imperica covering our process for developing StoryTelling cards.

Agenda for the first session below.

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AGENDA

SATURDAY 5th February 10.00am sharp

1. Introduction and setting the scene

Themed introductions from each participant.

Guest Speaker.

Facilitated Q&A.

Introduction to Case Study.

Urban Apps Challenge kick-off.

Participants are divided into multi-disciplinary groups of 5.


- Networking and Refreshment Break -


2. Telling Stories & Mapping the Ecology

5 Minutes: presented by Caf Fean (creative writer and consultant specialising in public consultation projects at Soundings)

Telling Stories: StoryTelling work-cards are introduced as the greater framing structure towards effectively designing and creating solution to your challenge. Great stories stimulate both an emotional and a logical response. The StoryTelling cards are used throughout the workshop as aspirational and motivational pointers.

Mapping the Ecology: encourages each group to get to grips with the challenge by using the Sense of Belonging toolkit, -designed to establish key players, identify relationships, and easily examine multiple points of view.

5 Minutes: presented by Tessy Britton (Social Spaces and Thriving Too amongst other projects)

Inspiration Vault: free capturing of the group's collective inspiration examples coming from their individual multi-disciplinary professional experiences.


- Lunch -


Of Superheros: returning to the StoryTelling work-cards to discuss challenges and dream up superheros and superpowers.

Braving the blank page: working together with pens, pencils and sheets of paper, the group begins the search for solutions. This session is divided into two facilitated exercises, the collection of ideas regardless of their percieved relevance, and the combination and extension of ideas.

Design Thinking: clarification and evaluation of the groups collected ideas base, exploring the balance between practical functionality and emotional appeal using Narrative Ecology's FVD (feasibility, viability and desirability) and NWD (needs, wants and desires) scenario-building sheets.


- Networking and Refreshment Break -


Idea Synthesis: After-tea session starts off with a lively group debate, voting on the top 3 promising ideas.

Elevator Pitch: each group prepares a 3 minute Top 3 presentation that will be addressed to the workshop participants as a whole, ensuring shared knowledge across all participants, and opening the ideas to a greater audience for voting, one solution for each group will be chosen to take forward.

Questorming: this technique involves brainstorming the questions around the solution, because at the this stage there are often more questions than answers. The questions will form the framework for constructing future action.

Interactions: developed by NearLabs in partnership with NearInteraction, these cards are an exhaustive set of diagrams of up-to-date interactive technologies, exploring and de-mystifying concepts as varied as social media intergration to smartphone and tablet applications to tangible and gestural solutions. These solution provokers are guaranteed to entice you into talking big and thinking bigger about services that can make a practical difference when talking people to people interactions, matching people with a platform to connect and interact.


- Networking and Refreshment Break -


Wild Card: The StoryTelling work-cards are re-engaged, throwing each group an unexpected curve ball!


3. Good Participation: making it happen

Good Participation: a session intergrating the group's solution with the Good Participation flash set, an essential collection of valuable good participation touchpoints, this flash set creates a jumpstart platform for the analysis and establishment of effective solutions for participation.

Presentations: the workshop will be concluded with a 5 minute presentation from each group in the form of a narrative to the workshop participants as a whole, explaining the group's final solution to the Urban Apps Challenge.

- Workshop Wind Down over drinks -

Article - V&A Innovative London Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

I am managing our office blog at the moment, and have just uploaded an article covering Christina Norton's talk at the V&A as part of the Story of London festival. The talk was coordinated by RCA Innovation. Other panelists included: Chris Wise (Expedition), Nick Talbot (Seymour Powell), Michael Casey (Caseyfierro), and Max Fordham (Max Fordham engineers) - see here for the article.

Theatre Souk - a great show

I went to see Theatre Souk last night, just behind Selfridges in a disused office space.
Very very good. More coming soon - just need to write it up.





British Theatre Guide


Theatre Souk


London Theatre Review


.dash

Catie Wilkins blog about the same

Gnatcrobatics

Mr McFiddle was so very small
when he stood on a pin-head you couldn't see him at all.

He entered a grand competition for gnats,
that was usually won by top tiny acrobats.

For the world's smallest man, a magnum achievement!
He pipped to first prize with his own 'Figaro's bereavement'


The crowd oohed and aahed as he grabbed with both hands
the trophy sponsored by Steptoe and friends.


As he tottered around, pride beamed through his dimples.


He set the prize down

and flew off

in a twinkle


* * *

Franco's

Stormed out the office and into the brightness of an April afternoon.

After circling the block and throwing words down the phone I rounded back, via Tescos, full of uninspiring wet-looking made-yesterday sandwiches and went to join the queue at Franco's.

"Next"

"Chili Con Carne and Rice"

And I fell into a trance, listening and watching the people, until my order was called and I re-joined the life and buzz of the place.

Friendly brown Italian eyes asked me if I'd like pepper and parmesan. Yes.

Then my package was deposited on the counter and I gave him a note and a coin.

I waited for my change.

He held out his hand.

"Ups" he said, as I went to retrieve my money to find only

the stroke of his fingers.

I smiled as he candidly handed me the twenty pence.

Cheap thrill.



image courtesy of bixentro