Live blogging PSFK London: Dan Hon

File under: New school follows old ... After Jeremy's talk from Penguin, this was an excellent follow-up. Like Jeremy, Dan is very passionate and obviously knows what he is talking about. He's brought a ton of examples with him and gave a very entertaining presentation. Unlike Jeremy, he is not bound by an old-school brand and business model, and it shows in his ideas and thinking.



Alternative Reality Games
Dan Hon (Mind Candy)
How to serve brand experiences with an injection of adrenalin and fun. Mind Candy is an interactive entertainment company that specialises in puzzles and Alternate Reality Games (ARGs). Our work includes everything from traditional Sudoku-style puzzles to pioneering cross-media projects in the rapidly expanding field of ARGs.

Interactive experiences. Mentions a slew of examples ... The Lost experience. Heros 360. Treasure hunts. MS Vista's Vanishing Point. The Public City Sentinel. Cognivia.

Nice comparison w/ Orson Wells' War of the Worlds ... Put stuff out there that could be true. Looks sufficiently coherent. Consistent. Then, play with it.

Best moment: Immersion breeds passion. Narrative builds ties. It's the experience, stupid.

People who play become evangelists. They become engaged with the story. They become very passionate.

Example: Perplex City

Our audiences are very hooked into web 2.0. They've made Google mash-ups inside games we've built. They've written a 60,000-word book in 3 weeks. Three player editors. 25 contributing authors.

40% UK, 40% US, remainder in English-speaking countries. 50:50 male/female, skewing female. Average age is 26.

How can alternative reality games (arg's, for you hipsters out there) work?

1. Showcasting: Product placement on crack. Brands and products are written into stories. Works well for consumer electronics.

2. Interaction breeds loyalty: An experience that stays with people for a long time.

3. Your story on our platform

4: Foot and click traffic: Flashmobs to local stores for clues in the narrative.

Question: How to end?

Question: How to get people involved once the game has started? We know there is an inverted pyramid in terms of usage. We know this is an issue. Bringing people up to speed tv-style via recaps is being explored.

All-in-all, some very good examples of next-generation storytelling.


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