StoryCode/TransVergence LA Story Hackathon Dates Announced

Hackathons have become a big draw in the tech world over the past decade. These sometimes weekend-long events are where teams of coders get together to stand up a prototype piece of software, aiming to create a “minimum viable product”. If a piece of beta software is a painting, then a hackathon product is a quick sketch.

Last year Mike Knowlton of New York’s StoryCode took that idea and applied it to storytelling. Specifically he applied it to transmedia storytelling, in what he called a Story Hackathon. This week he announced his next event–which will be held this August in Los Angeles–along with an explanation of how the hacker approach applies to stories.

So what does hacking have to do with storytelling and entertainment? Quite a lot, actually. A number of us talk about the idea of “Story as Software”. Software is complicated to create. So is telling a good story. But they each can be broken down into component parts: wireframes, prototypes, story treatments, a character matrix, etc. By focusing on the components parts creators can follow a hackathon approach—and the results can be amazing.

The next StoryCode Story Hackathon is scheduled during the “TransVergence Summit” in Los Angeles, August 7th and 8th.

This post originally appeared on TurnstyleNews.

Special StoryWorld Conference 2012 Transmedia LA Discount!

Haven’t gotten your ticket to StoryWorld yet? By registering before midnight on Thursday you can save $100 off your full conference pass. What’s more – if you use the code TLA12 you can get an additional $25 off – making for a savings of  $125! Make sure you register now to go to the conference that everyone will be talking about.

What is StoryWorld Conference and Expo?

In October 2012, F+W Media will bring more than 500 professionals from the publishing, film, television, and gaming industries together in Los Angeles to examine the planning, development, production, and go-to-market strategy for storytelling across multiple platforms. The program will provide attendees with case studies and how-to advice for driving new revenues and adapting business models to capitalize on cross-platform content strategies, plus opportunities to make deals and connect with potential partners at structured networking events. For more information please visit www.storyworldconference.com.

Meet the new TLA Program Director: Michael Annetta!

The TLA Leadership Board is thrilled to announce Michael Annetta has agreed to take up the banner as the newest TLA Program Director!

Michael has many years of experience in media covering both academic research and hands-on production. He’s bringing that knowledge and his network to TLA to help us plan out our meetup programming, expand our speaker list, and ensure we’re doing right by our generous hosts at the USC Annenberg School of Communication.

Want to request a specific speaker? Want to propose having a Meetup at a special venue? Can you help us with identifying future speakers or getting access to cool locations? Have a workshop you’d like us to run? Please contact Michael and let him know.

We’re very excited to have Michael on the TLA Leadership Board, and we know he’s going to bring a lot of value to the group!

Announcing Susan Bell as the first TLA Program Director!

On behalf of the TLA Co-organizers and Directors, I’m thrilled to officially announce the creation of the newest director-level role in Transmedia L.A. – Program Director.

Even better, Susan Bell has agreed to take the lead in this crucial, much-needed role! As Program Director, Susan will help us identify speakers and venues, as well as coordinate logistics for all meetups. Critically, she’s going to provide long-term program planning and ensure we’re bringing a diverse mix of people, presentations, and places to TLA.

If you have suggestions for meetup topics or talkers (or, better still, have access to speakers or cool venues), please contact Susan. Past events have included talks from creatives, presentations of tools/technologies relevant to transmedia, presentations from transmedia-centric academics, and casual meet-and-greets with transmedia thought leaders.

Once again, thanks to Susan for stepping into this role – her addition to our amazing team of directors will help us continue to meet the needs of our growing group!

Transmedia L.A. Announces New Director Positions!

On behalf of Tara Brown, Jay Bushman and myself, I’m thrilled to officially announce the creation of three new Director roles in Transmedia L.A! Having specific members dedicated to meeting the needs of TLA in these areas will greatly help us with operational and meetup logistics, branding and awareness, and providing value to TLA members.

Content Curation Director – April Arrglington
April’s primary responsibility is ensuring timely content curation and publication, primarily via our official website. She will work closely with the Communications Director to ensure that TLA content is accessible across a multitude of platforms.

Communications Director – Angelique Toschi
Angelique is overseeing all of our social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter. She will work closely with the Content Curation Director, as well as identify and assess any new social media platforms TLA should be using.

Community Director – Hal Hefner
Hal will help bring in and welcome new TLA members, both online and offline. In addition to managing membership at our Meetup and Google Group sites, Hal will actively welcome new faces at TLA meetups and help introduce new members to older ones to better integrate our membership community.

Please note these roles are strictly voluntary, and I want to thank Hal, April, and Angelique for stepping into these positions. They have demonstrated a consistent level of enthusiasm and support for TLA, and their commitment to their new responsibilities in TLA is just one more reason we’re thankful for their on-going hard work!

If you’re a TLA member and are interested in helping with any of the areas above, please contact April, Angelique, or Hal – I’m sure they would appreciate it.  : )