And now, we get to the nitty gritty.
For me, shifting my mindset around how I view my role in podcasting has absolutely been influenced by the concept of transmedia, which I started to actively pursue and teach in 2017.
When I work with folks I see it from this trans perfective.
Trans (as a prefix) = across, beyond, through, changing throughly, transverse
That is from the dictionary.
EXPANDING FROM SHOW TO ECOSYSTEM. That’s how I refer to transmedia. That’s the language that you’ll hear me use and how I refer to this concept.
From show to ecosystem.
But before we get to me, I’ll define transmedia.
Transmedia is, the interwoven experience of a larger storytelling tapestry through all of your media.
From Wikipedia
Transmedia storytelling (also known as transmedia narrative or multiplatform storytelling) is the technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies, not to be confused with traditional cross-platform media franchises, sequels, or adaptations.
From a production standpoint, transmedia storytelling involves creating content that engages an audience using various techniques to permeate their daily lives. In order to achieve this engagement, a transmedia production will develop stories across multiple forms of media in order to deliver unique pieces of content in each channel. Importantly, these pieces of content are not only linked together (overtly or subtly), but are in narrative synchronization with each other.
I’m deeply captivated by this approach. It feels like THIS is very important way to reach our audiences.
It essentially offers us an opportunity to offer an into our work, particularly to our Voices from not A place but many - in a strategic manner - that tells a fuller story that is not bound to ONE form of expression.
It is a holistic expression of your Voice and Story.
What does this look like for us as digital media creators and producers?
That having someone immediately listen to our podcast is not the only way for them to get what they need.
That having someone listen to our podcast is not the only way that they will listen to our message.
That the possibilities for us to grow our audience and our influence becomes less constricted to download numbers and more expansive to our entire online and digital platform.
I even think it has powerful In Real Life opportunities.
Each time someone touches any of our online properties, it’s an opening for them to experience our ‘larger storytelling tapestry.’
Each channel becomes an opportunity to create a deeper layer to the story - a deeper level of immersion, or perhaps simply the first step in to your work.
My curiosity to create more engagement from my audience drives me to experiment with The E-League itself. I’m so fascinated by incorporating as many different ways of getting concepts across as I can, and it’s why I wanted to set up the options for interaction beyond login into a website to get the content or creating a group in a known platform like Facebook.
We become immune to receiving information in certain ways.
In stepping into less familiar situations we are forced to engage more parts of ourselves and in turn (my hope is) that the idea will become more embedded.
Since we are in an educational setting, under fair use, I’m going to read an article from WIRED that I found to be quite fantastic in illustrating transmedia.
I’m not sharing this with you to ‘teach’ you to do it this way. I’m sharing this article with you so that you allow for possibilities around your current work in podcasting to expand beyond what you know.
We are here to challenge ourselves our we not?
Here is the fantastic article that illustrates exactly what this concept is and how it would be applied. It’s called Transmedia: Entertainment reimagined.
http://www.wired.co.uk/article/what-is-transmedia
In the podcast episode I read some of it. Now you get to read it.
Do you understand the concept of taking your show from ecosystem? Will you allow yourself time to sit with this concept and see how it plays out as you establish your platform? Your network? Your work?
NEXT STEPS