Telling a story. Or, "What Grog done."

A presentation on Feb. 8 at Walter Library brought Matt Jennings and communications professionals at several universities throughout the U.S. together via a web conference to talk about what makes a story. Jennings is a great writer, currently working for Middlebury College. 

But storytelling, no matter the medium--and these days there are many--essentially maintains similar elements. It likely always has, from the first time a story was ever told, somewhere long ago, probably in a cave. Maybe it went like this: "Grog got up tree. Hit the big thing with club. Surprise! Thing fall down. We eat. Full. Feel good now" (followed by, oohs, ahhs, and some small applause).

That's a story. Beginning, middle, end. Some element of tension. A plot. 

Jennings specifically called out a few key elements I found helpful to keep in mind when considering, first, whether a story is a story at all; and second, how to write it once you decide it's a go. 

First: is it a story or a topic? 

A topic, according to Jennings, is static, passive, and is about "things." "Bill Smith: Alumnus of the Year" is a topic."Alumni in Hollywood" is a topic. Topics by themselves are not stories, but dig deeper and they may become more. 

Elements of a story include characters, dialogue, plot, tension, and scene. Personally, I feel like you get the most out of dialogue and tension. Tension, especially...if you can find some emotional connection and convey that to your audience, you can transfer the emotion. That can mean asking your characters hard questions sometimes. 

A story, then, is active, about people (not things), and shows; it isn't all tell.

Jennings says to find out if you have a story, ask, "Why does this matter?" and "Will people care?" Then, find out the players and how to tell it. Think about visuals or artwork from the beginning, he says--about how to tell the total story. And when it comes to characters, he says, "Don't tell the story of the army. Tell the story of the soldier." Tell the story from a unique perspective and show the audience things they would not see otherwise. A recent story on Northrop Auditorium's renovation is a pretty good example here, as the photographer and I were lucky enough to get access to the interior during demolition. Do all that, and one gets the idea that in the end, you'll be telling the story of the army more effectively simply by telling the story of the soldier. 

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Speaking of storytelling, tell yours. U communicators meet monthly to share stories. Next meeting is Feb. 9, 3 p.m., 510 Morrill Hall.

Superbowl Ads

T-minus 2 days and 5 hours until Superbowl XLVI. Are you excited for the Giants v. Patriots rematch, or are you like me, and more excited to see the new ads? I love seeing what creative advertisements companies pay millions for - sometimes the ads are great and sometimes they, well, aren't great.

Get a sneak peek at some of the Superbowl ads by going to the following link:

http://journalexpress.net/cnhi/x2053730301/Sneak-peek-at-this-years-hottest-Super-Bowl-ads

Happy Superbowl Weekend Forum Members!

Awards Season is Nigh!

Greetings fellow Communicators! If you were at the Experts Insights with Cyndy Brucato on Monday, you heard some exciting news about the Awards this year! If you weren't there, I guess I'll tell you now...

But first! Our new members might be curious about what the "awards" are. Maroon & Gold awards are presented annually to University
of Minnesota Communicators Forum members whose work
best embodies the University's core values: excellence,
innovation, integrity, diversity, academic freedom, collaboration,
sharing of knowledge, accountability, stewardship, and
service. Awards are submitted annually, judged by an independent panel of outside experts in communications topics, and awarded during the annual conference.  Receiving an award is kind of a big deal...not only personally, but professionally. In this day and age where we are all justifying our value to our colleges and units, an award from the UMCF says to your leadership that you and your work are highly valued and respected.

Here is the UMCF Awards website, where you can read all about the categories, eligibility, etc. Please note that we are in the process of updating the pages.

So, the big news for 2012 is that awards are FEE FREE!! That's right! You do not have to pay a single cent towards awards submissions this year. That means you have no excuse not to enter all your fabulous work! The awards submission window is March 1-March 30. The one change to the process due to the free fees is that we had to do a little something different with the MIKE Award. The MIKE Award is the "People's Choice" award, voted on at the conference. In the past, it was an additional $5 fee for an already entered item. This year, we have decided to cap the MIKE entries at 30. Each college or unit may submit up to 2 entries to be considered for MIKE. These 30 entries are first come, first served, so don't procrastinate!

Our last bit of news is that we are adding a new subcategory to the Writing category. In the past, we have noticed that articles of a more technical nature were not receiving the recognition deserved because they weren't as "captivating" to the judges when compared to other work, like magazine features, etc. We feel that technical writing, while maybe not as glamorous as speech or feature writing, is very much worth recognition because when done well, it is really amazing. More information and criteria will be added to the website soon.

We'll be sharing more information on the Listserv once we get closer to awards submission month! Have a happy February!

Member profile: Melanie Zobeck

Ed note: Melanie submitted all of her answers in pink. 

Job title: graphic designer

Which means: communicating with visuals rather than text, and enhancing text with visuals.

What do you like most about your job? besides my sweet iMac, working on diverse projects, and having a supervisor that encourages creative thinking

What's an average day like? gazing at a large screen, plugged in with headphones... I dive into a project. I do at least a dozen google image searches and thumbnail sketches everyday. I problem solve and spatially rearranging as often as Pandora has ads (which is a lot, and more than necessary). When I grab my prismacolor colored pencils or xacto knife it's as normal as someone else grabbing a calculator or opening a word document. My virtual canvas in InDesign, Illustrator or Photoshop gets filled with ideas that I bring to the client to be critiqued and then I refine for a final design. I work closely with my supervisor and communication colleagues who write the content for anything that has text... thank goodness, because I'm not a writer.

Is there an aspect of your job that's fulfilling? being able to come to work everyday and love what I do: solving design problems, working towards an end product, working with print materials, and expanding my knowledge by being forced outside my design "comfort zone"

How does what you do support the mission of the University? designing for Academic Support Resources (ASR) I have a diverse audience, ranging from the President and Provost to students and parents. I support the University's mission everyday through designing visuals for that audience. The designs are sometimes aesthetically pleasing, and other times my designs help to convey important information... information that helps make decisions about research, discovery, teaching, and learning.

I have been at the University since: student from 2004-2009, professionally from 2010-present

Why did you join the Forum and how are you involved? I was first introduced to the Forum as an Intern. My supervisor was on the committee and she let me do all the fun projects, including the program for the conference. I had such a great experience working with the committee, when it was presented to me to be on the committee this year I was excited to get involved again.

Family members: a crazy dog, a sister (and cat) that abandoned me for Williston ND, supportive parents, and a boyfriend

Hobbies: downhill skiing, eating sushi, shoe shopping, and downloading apps

What/who is your muse--what inspires, enthuses or drives you? the color pink, to be specific Pantone 226 C. I try to keep it minimal in my work, but when surrounded by pink I can't help but to be inspired!

People are always surprised to learn that I: used to HATE pink!

Where's home? La Crosse, WI

How would you like to be remembered (it's never too soon to think about mortality! Yay!)? As a creative mind who was slightly outspoken and loved pink!

Fun with Jargon

This is my most favorite Onion rail item EVER. Oh, how I wish it were true.

I love doing media training with faculty. I always learn a lot about a new topic. But about half the professors I talk to don't know how to describe their work in terms that the general public typically understands. So I have a practice that I call "Jargon Translator." As they talk about their work I jot down their $5 words, and then together we translate them to something a little more common. At the end of our training I give them a list of "forbidden words."

We all use jargon. (high-res, vector, phoner, embargo, CSS, EPS, etc.) We just have to pay attention to how our audiences are hearing what we're saying.

What are your favorite academic "forbidden words"? Please share in the comments. I'll list a few of mine to get us started:

Relativizing
Concomitant
Heteronormative
Hegemony
Exigencies

Throwing your work into the ether: measuring value

Everyone likes validation. Validation is tangible evidence that what you do is valuable. For those in a creative field it's essential, if only because for most of us the money isn't validation enough (because it's not enough money). Social media is a shining example of the power of validation. The Facebook "like" button is founded on the principle. Twitter's retweet is the same. Digg is a popularity contest. Everyone wants to go viral on YouTube. Measurement tools, metrics, and analytics are just another way to ask, 'Do people like us (me)?" In a way, it feels very much like an extension of high school. The hormones of it all are quite frankly making me breakout.

Despair
Let's assume for a second that when, for example, I write a story, it's not about me getting any sort of personal feedback--that it's about who or what I'm writing about. Now get rid of that notion. It is about me, dammit. How long would any of us keep doing something without once-in-awhile hearing an "attaboy?" Say what you will about writers having low self-esteem (it's true), but sometimes you gotta hear "good job" to believe it.

I asked a friend in a similar field about this, and, like me, he wasn't afraid to admit his deepest insecurity about self/work-efficacy. He said, "Sure, you're promoting events people might attend, making someone aware of research. They might or might not take action. But that's just too far removed...too hypothetical." His despair is my aggravation. And so, as in every situation, I first ask myself, "who can I blame?"

Assigning blame
First, I blame inadequate metrics. Metrics for online media simply aren't yet where they need to be unless you're selling something (and someone is buying). If your video of an intoxicated squirrel gets 7 million views, what does it really mean (other than being absolutely friggin' hilarious)? Who does it touch? What difference did it make in a life?

For this conversation, I reference a fantastic article on ClickZ about measuring marketing success (related), which says all I might hope to say. Suffice to say, metrics are and will continue to evolve until one day we all have high self-esteem.

Second, I blame you. And I blame me. Because it's not enough anymore to drop your work into the series of tubes (minute 2:12) that make up the internet, hearing only a "whoosh" and then...nothing...into the ether.

Solution: "Good job!"
When is the last time any of us read something wonderful and sent a note to the writer, or photographer? Why doesn't this happen? If someone sat down and told you a story in person, or showed you a slideshow, and you just sat there and didn't say anything afterwards, it would be...a very weird and awkward silence. Direct feedback can't be beat. Most of us, I'd wager, would trade 1,000 "impressions" for a direct comment any day. So next time you read something you like, send a note to say so*.

So, what are some solutions here, and how are you getting your fix? Do comments on Facebook do it for you (certainly more meaningful than "likes")? Is a retweet enough? Should the author always include a byline with an email address? Let us know in the poll.








*The irony here is that most of the time, if someone takes time to send a comment, it's negative. Nothing motivates quite like displeasure. Let's try to change the tone.

P.S. The Comm Forum does a nice job of filling this void with its yearly conference and Maroon & Gold awards program. And members are known to give the occasional shout out. But no one should need to fill out an application in order to receive positive feedback.

What Does Your Unit Do Best?