This is the weekend edition of TheMarioBlog and will be updated as needed. Next blog post is Monday, May 13
Update #1: Bergen, Norway, Friday, May 10, 13:28
TAKEAWAY: I speak today at the Nordic Media Festival conference in Bergen, Norway. What a difference a calendar year makes! As I take a look back at a similar presentation I did for the group in 2012, it’s like rewriting a book. TODAY: Here is an outline of my talk.
Two moments from my Nordic Media Festival presentation Friday in Bergen; photos by Knut Jensen
Bergen, Norway—It’s an annual pilgrimage of media people for the Nordic Media Festival in this quaint city in the west coast of Norway, where rain commands a leading role, no matter what the production is. But,heck, Bergen is beautiful in any weather, and we are all inside, anyway, discussing media transformation and digital fascination.
The speakers come from around the globe, and my session today is called Garcia’s Guide (not my creation), but, I will do as much guidance as anyone can in these challenging days of constant change, evolution, revolution and, in my view, the best of times to do what we do. More than guidance, these presentations must be sharing sessions, where one shares the experiences and the passion.
All this week I have devoted the blog to my preparation for today’s presentation, and I have decided to divide my talk into five main topics as follows:
The Essentials
This is what I think is required to survive and to thrive in today’s media world.
A modern media house publishes through the media quartet: phone, online, print and tablet.
Media practitioners must pay attention to lean forward and lean back modes, to accommodate readers’ lifestyles and how they relate to each platform at different times of the day.
The Mobile is hot
-Editioning comes to the smartphone.
-This is the one platform of the media quartet that will gain momentum fastest.
-We are going to see more “editioning”, the creation of mini-newspapers and mini-magazines on smartphones.
-These editions may be in the early morning, middle of the day and early evening.
The tablet experience
-Not just for lean back, it seems
-What tablet users want….(they want news, they want curated content and they want pdfs of the printed publication if any). So I plan to explain each in detail: Curated content, Newsticker (updates), pdf of printed product.
Designing for the tablet
-Design for the eye, the brain…and the finger. And, while I know that my references to “keeping the finger happy” always make the audience giggle, this is perhaps one of the most crucial and important points of the talk.
I will show the importance of those pop up moments in your tablet edition—readers of news on tablet editions simply do not wish to just swipe screens. There must be engagement with the content via pop ups.
Create your tablet edition in a workshop setting
The most organic way to create a tablet edition is through a workshop setting, paying attention to these four areas:
Storytelling, Pop Ups, Navigation, Look & Feel.
The factor of change
To summarize, I will, as always, encourage the audience to be open to change. More importantly, I hope to inspire them to be agents of change, to engage in the dynamics that bring about evolution in all aspects of our craft, from storytelling across platforms, to engaging with social media and through social media, to discovering all that those smart phones can do, to utilizing the power of audio and video as part of the storytelling process.
All of this in a one hour presentation. It’s possible if we keep our energy levels up, engage with the audience and show through example that these are the best of times to be in our business.
Today, the Nordic Media Festival is also the best of programs in which to share our passion with colleagues who will hopefully walk out of the conference fully recharged and ready to try the ideas presented here. Wish you all were in the audience, but hope my summaries have informed and inspired you.
Previous blog posts about the Nordic Media Festival:
Preparing a presentation allows for some introspection
https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/preparing_a_presentation_allows_for_some_introspection
Creating a new tablet edition? Newsy and pictorial may be the way to go
https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/pcreating_a_new_tablet_edition_newsy_and_pictorial_may_be_the_way_to_go_p
Get ready for those smartphone editions
https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/pget_ready_for_those_smartphone_editions_p
Social media’s impact in the business of storytelling
https://www.garciamedia.com/blog/articles/psocial_medias_impact_in_the_business_of_storytelling_p
For more information about the Nordic Days conference, May 8-10
Program and speakers
http://www.nordiskemediedager.no/om-mediedagene/nordic-media-festival/
The New York Times redesigns website
The days when redesign work stayed in the shadows of total secrecy until the launch of the new product are over.
Transparency is the key, and this week The New York Times is showing us what the redesign of its website will be like. We are invited to take a look and to offer opinions.
I do like what I see: it’s amazing how the total digital experience is coming together, with navigation becoming more sophisticated and easier for users.
Go here to take a peek:
http://www.nytimes.com/marketing/prototype/?URI=http://proto.nytimes.com/2013/05/08/us/politics/pentagon-study-sees-sharp-rise-in-sexual-assaults.html&OQ=hpQ26_rQ3D1Q26&OP=42dda840Q2FfZima.Q3Fhhf.Q2BQ2BcahkGfZihizfZ(zxtZAzcahQ22Yxrz0iYQ2BQ2FQ5DAyQ2BQ5DkQ2BQ5DIQ2BQ3ErQ2BfiBQ22hQ220rQ2Bfxchj@icGrhQ3E(aGrxxrGrQ3FjZfGZQ22rxGQ22cGrxmQ3EjBGjrrjQ3EBhrzQ3FhYB
Interview with Mario
A few months ago I had the honor of being interviewed for Contratapa, a media magazine published by the University of Navarra, Spain, and its School of Communications. Now the digital magazine is available.
In what is an unusual, but interesting, way of conducting an interview, the editor of the magazine asked 12 contemporary Spanish media designers and artists to submit questions for me.
Some were tough as in: Of all the projects you have completed, do you have any favorites?
My answer:
While I have no favorites, there are three that have impacted me for the scope of change and evolution—The Wall Street Journal, Die Zeit (Germany) and El Tiempo (Colombia)
The interview, in Spanish, is available here: