the meaning of place: keynote address from civsa 2015

twitter: @kateo @koinsights#civsa2015

Presented by Kate O’Neill

The Meaning of Place


[imagine a picture

of me in college.]


“Home and Wandering.”


What does a place mean?


What do I mean by “meaning”?


Let’s back up.


My work has always been about relevance and meaningful

experiences.language:

the vehicle of meaning.how we convey

intent and significance.

the Web / Internet:how we capture

and transmit knowledge globally

data:how we model

what is potentially meaningful

marketing: how we understand

what has value to whom in what context,

and influence intentthrough alignment

and relevance

experiences

human understanding

meaning

relevance


speaker intent message

listener takeaway



listener takeaway

shared understanding


context


listener takeaway



…back to "Home and Wandering"


(pho

togr

aph

cred

it: Fl

ickr

use

r Z

ol87

)


planned center of town

(image source w

ww

.cnuil.org)

my first childhood

home

my second childhood

home

http://www.cnuil.org

twitter: @kateo @koinsights#civsa2015 Maybe “home” is

where you are empowered to

create your own experiences.


Why do we "wander" or travel?


Why do we* encourage students to leave home?

* “we” as a society, I mean


"how very college of you"

twitter: @kateo @koinsights#civsa2015 Maybe we

“wander” or leave home

to be jarred into seeing ourselves.


“We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next, to find ourselves. … And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again — to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.”

― Pico Iyer


So to make people want to “wander”

towards your place…


Help people see themselves

there.


To make people feel at “home” there…


Help people feel empowered to

create their own experiences.


Part of the meaning of place is…

in how empowered we feel to create our

experiences.


How can we architect meaningful

experiences without being contrived?


Distill everything about a place,

its identity, culture, etc.

down to an essence.


By the way…Digital experience should

not impede physical experience

It should empower it


Metaphor, Significance and symbolism: what

does a thing signify?


How to distill a brand's essence without being

reductive or overly simplistic


Let’s look right here: at Nashville.


(pho

togr

aph

cred

it: w

ww

.nas

hville

reco

very

.com

)

The Flood of 2010

http://www.nashvillerecovery.com


(imag

e cr

edit:

ABC

Stu

dios

/ am

azon

.com

)

http://amazon.com


How do you promote something with so

many stories?

twitter: @kateo @koinsights#civsa2015 Build on

recognizable truths.

And a bit of mythology.


Meaning is relative and contextual.

And it’s inseparable from

relevance.



in the stories we collectively tell

about it.


How do you get it across to someone what a place could MEAN to THEM?


Sign up for our upcoming webinar with promo code CIVSA for 20% off: “Meaningful Stories” bit.ly/mgflstories

June 30

Want more help with brand storytelling?

http://bit.ly/mgflstories


Take inventory of your stories.


Identify your prompts.


“Never let the facts get in the way of a

good story.”— Mark Twain


“Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.”

— Mark Twain


“The difference between comedy and tragedy is

where you stop telling the story.”

— Neil Gaiman


context


listener takeaway



Community is meaning writ large.



in the community we create there.


For a college campus


For a city like Nashville


For a conference like this.

twitter: @kateo @koinsights#civsa2015 The Meaning of Place:

‣ is in how empowered we feel to create our own experiences there.

‣ is in the stories we collectively tell about it.

‣ is in the community we create there.


thank you!

Facebook: /kateoneillpage

LinkedIn: /kateoneill

Twitter: @kateo

connect with me here:

Image credit: Robbie Quinn (http://robbiequinnphotography.com/)

http://robbiequinnphotography.com/


What questions do you have?

Twitter: @kateo

Facebook: /kateoneillpage

LinkedIn: /kateoneill


Sign up for our upcoming webinar with promo code CIVSA for 20% off: “Meaningful Stories” bit.ly/mgflstories

June 30

Want help with brand storytelling?

Don’t forget!

http://bit.ly/mgflstories

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