Registration takes place in the lobby.

Carrie Wootten, Ravensbourne’s head of commercial development kicks off the first ever Learn Do Share LONDON by welcoming guests to Ravensbourne’s HQ

Every project is unique, often requiring different skillsets and resources. The struggle to not have to recreate the wheel every time you start a new project is a challenge. The infrastructure to tell and deliver an immersive storytelling experience is fragmented and can be a barrier of entry for audiences. If that were not enough of a challenge the reality is that most forms of pervasive storytelling are underdeveloped and are missing an opportunity to engage audiences at a more meaningful level. Join Lance Weiler as he shares how he is combining empathy, story and code in an effort to create work that is social, pervasive and personalised.

What are you working on? This is the moment when attendees have the chance to do a 60 second presentation between the keynotes. Share projects you’re working on and what you might need from fellow attendees, rather than giving a company sales pitch. Places are allocated on a first-come-first served basis – simply sign up at the registration desk.

Products can tell stories: there are many that ‘talk’ of a place or a time, be that an ancient artifact or mass-produced product that reflected the zeitgeist. But how could the use of products become more purposeful in storytelling? Paula and Michael will share their experience as product designers to inspire you to think differently about the role of products in storytelling and the role of audiences as the new users.

Liz Rosenthal will run through some lessons learned from 5 years of Power to the Pixel’s project development programme the Pixel Lab. As digital blurs the boundaries between traditional industry formats and silos, how can we develop stories that are relevant to and engage today’s audiences across the multiple platforms and devices they now use. 

Social innovation is rich in stories about how to shift thinking and put sustainability at the heart of society. But much of this can be undone by the power of another story that often looms larger in our lives – the all-pervasive story of consumerism and ‘growth’.

This session will explore the role of storytelling as a battleground in which the stakes are high. It will look at the appetite and motivations behind the media and the world of advertising and will argue that the new wave of social innovation will need to be as much about the power of narrative as the practical ability to deliver positive social change.

The stories that we tell about ourselves define us but increasingly our data is creating stories that allow other people define who we are. But am I just the sum of the parts that I share and post? Can I really be defined by an algorithm? And what of my data that I am willing to share (if consulted) which might contribute to improving life in the city? In “I am not an API” Emer Coleman will explore issues of data and identity in the smart city. 

What is the future of the changing urban environment, the role of design in social innovation, and ways of facilitating a more connected community? Emily will explore the latest developments in digital technology and will touch upon a variety of government funding and support opportunities. 

Mix with other participants (lunch not provided).

Step into lab that uses storytelling, play, design thinking and collaboration to explore and design solutions for a better London.

Building upon their talk about the role of products in storytelling, Paula Zuccotti and Mike Webster will host a working session to explore how products could become more purposeful in unlocking stories. Participants will be split into teams to work together across three related activities; identifying areas of opportunity, brainstorming ideas for new products around these opportunities and bringing these ideas to life..

Interactive storytelling is not just about telling stories on digital platforms. It is also about making them relevant to an audience, and using different platforms with a purpose. This involves thinking differently and starting stories with a bottom up approach. This workshop focuses on shaping interactive stories with a special emphasis on collaborative working, design thinking and user experience. The aim is to make stories that can be meaningful to their users/participants. It is relevant to anyone working on an interactive narrative project – or willing to be exposed to the process of iterative design.  Participants will pitch for their idea and groups will be formed – the groups will have to answer the who, what and why questions – groups will work on formulating a design question from the user point of view – groups will start designing a first user interface on paper – groups will present their designs and ideas in a 5 min pitch.

In this workshop, Robert Pratten examines the opportunities for connected cities, homes and people to tell stories. That is, to generate narratives on social media and elsewhere that tell the life and well-being of localities and their citizens. Pratten demonstrates how the Conducttr technology platform can bring the city to life by interfacing with cloud data, wearables and social media to engage people on a human level with community and municipal issues & decisions.

This workshop will give you an overview of a wide range of sources of funding and monetisation option for the projects you want to make. We’ll look at options for building revenue pre and post launch, as well as how to build a hybrid business model that will make your project successful. (Please note, this workshop is repeated on Saturday)  

A special reflection on the day and chance to trade skills and knowledge.

Connect with others over drinks

Registration takes place in the lobby.

How can you design with and for to build better stories, products and services? Join Lance Weiler as he shares processes that he uses with teams around the world to rapidly prototype and build solutions that harness story, play and design thinking.

What are you working on? This is the moment when attendees have the chance to do a 60 second presentation between the keynotes. Share projects you’re working on and what you might need from fellow attendees, rather than giving a company sales pitch. Places are allocated on a first-come-first served basis – simply sign up at the registration desk.

What’s happening now at the intersection of storytelling and technology? Where’s the field headed, particularly in terms of user participation & contribution? What’s the difference between a computer game and a TV show and a social action campaign – and what, if anything, is in between? Chris will use as case studies some of the latest projects and ideas for participative storytelling formats he’s commissioned, contributed to, or is exploring.

In today’s digital economy it’s harder and harder to persuade people to pay for stuff online. Even games, which to date have enjoyed a large user base willing to pay up front, are living through what one developer recently called ‘a mass extinction event’ as platforms like Steam and the App Store drive the cost of content to zero. Alex Fleetwood shares some insights from game development’s front line and offers some ideas for how to re-think storytelling for the free-to-play age.

News organisations are reinventing themselves. Daily news is becoming rolling news and comment and analysis now taking centre stage. Video, live blogs, twitter is all part of the way media organisations now tell stories but it’s the long-form features that has recently found itself as the experimental playground for rich media interactives. Francesca Panetta gives an overview of the work the Guardian has done in this area: the process of turning features into web documentaries, the advantages and impact these can have, and the challenges they present in the making.

An exploration of the resurrection of Virtual Reality. Thanks to the Oculus Rift this new emerging technological platform brings new opportunities for storytellers and social commentators to craft immersive worlds and cities of the future to delight, inform and impassion audiences.

Mix with other participants. (lunch not provided)

Step into lab that uses storytelling, play, design thinking and collaboration to explore and design solutions for a better London.

Coney make interactive theatre, where the audience is present and has scope to play. This workshop opens up some of the tactics and techniques for making interactive experiences, including game design, responsive writing, character creation and theatrical techniques. This workshop is open to a range of disciplines: filmmakers, writers, producers, game designers, app developers, directors and anyone interested in interactive experiences. Participants will develop and test out new ideas within a supportive and playful environment.  

This workshop will give you an overview of a wide range of sources of funding and monetisation options for the projects you want to make. We’ll look at options for building revenue pre and post launch as well as how to build a hybrid business model that will make your project successful. (Please note, this is a repeat of the Friday workshop)

Come and experience MakeSense collaborative workshop called ‘Hold-up’ using collective intelligence and creative methods to tackle specific challenges of social entrepreneurs! The outcomes of the workshop are 100 ideas and 4-5 concepts solving the challenge, presented as video-prototypes (short drawing based videos explaining the solution) created by the participants.

Masters of Pie will offer you an indepth behind the scenes look of their latest project, Museum of the future. You will learn virtual reality storytelling techniques, Unity 3D engine integration and 3D animation approaches we have developed since the Oculus Rift’s release last year to help wow and inform your audiences with this new and exciting technological platform.

The two days closes with a special session