The addition of “The Taxidermist” DLC reminds me of the bittersweet story that is Heavy Rain. On Feb. 23rd Quantic Dream released Heavy Rain, the spiritual successor to Indigo Prophecy, and has since enjoyed positive sales and favorable reviews (87 from MetaCritic). What’s most interesting about this though is that Heavy Rain was largely marketed as an “Action/Adventure” game in which the player is asked, “How far would you go to save the one you love?”. What they neglected to mention was that to save the one you love, you’d have to memorize the PlayStation 3 controller and unblinkingly spasm key strokes for the length of the 6 hour storyline.
As an avid gamer, I watched with intrigue as this graphically-stunning, experimental game came close to release. The worst fear of every gamer is that their most anticipated game will be uncovered as a series of cinematics or quick time events (QTE) that has no meaningful gameplay. During an interview, the creator David Cage avoided mentioning QTE’s and instead used the term “Interactive Drama” to categorize his game. From a marketing perspective, this oxymoronic term was a wise omission from the commercials and packaging.
This was clever because the title “Interactive Drama” inherently implies a certain amount of un-interactivity. But no matter how many talented writers you bring together to create a Choose Your Own Adventure book, the reader will still only be flipping numbered pages. As such, during Heavy Rain the player is restricted to the narrative presented and given a limited amount of choices to make (few with actual consequences). Thus, it very much mirrors a regular game but without varied gameplay mechanics and more squares (■) than a college library during finals week.
In the end, the gorgeous graphics and powerful story of Heavy Rain break new ground for the genre, but limited and repetitive gameplay keeps it from breaking any sales records.
Mario Halkyer is a guest poster from York, PA who
runs his own blog and regularly plays more games than needed.
Kanawha County Public Library System, in West Virginia, hired Fearless Future to talk about marketing at their staff development day. One staff member remarked, “Everyone was dreading a 3 hour presentation, but Mary Evangeliste was such a dynamic speaker that I didn’t realize we spent so much time on marketing. I felt like we had time to actually settle into a topic and really discuss some issues with our library and how to resolve them.”
I was particularly struck by Mary’s enthusiasm and gift for keeping the 150+ attendees engaged in lively discussion. The staff agreed, commenting that she was ”just what we needed to get us going.” The first thing she did was get everyone up and moving so that they could work cooperatively in groups. The KCPLS staff was skeptical at first but soon found that Mary’s group activities were “engaging and fun.”
During the 3 hours, Fearless Future related marketing to everyday experiences, brought the concept of marketing down to an understandable (and fun!) level, and explained the why behind good marketing (instead of listing “commandments”) all with the purpose of increasing staff buy-in. Mary specifically discussed facebook for the benefit of staff members unfamiliar with this next phase in word of mouth marketing. She led the staff though an exercise to develop their own “elevator talks” in order to make all staff members advocates of their library.
The last hour was devoted to talking and listening to KCPLS’s specific marketing questions and concerns. The staff appreciated “the opportunity to voice marketing concerns without key department heads present,” which was at Mary’s suggestion. We later relayed those comments and concerns to KCPLS’s management.
Overall, Fearless Future had a blast working with the staff of the Kanawha County Public Library System! They were a fun and energetic crowd that clearly loves what they do and want only further success. A special thank you to Marsha Alford and Rachelle Beckner for all logistics and all-around good vibes. We hope to see them again soon—and any other institution interested in having Fearless Future work with their staff! If you are interested in having the Fearless Future crew come to your library for a workshop on staff development day or any other day, please contact me directly: desiree@fearless-future.com.
My name is Mario and I’ll be your digital liaison to the world of tech, gaming, and gadgets. As a guest blogger for Market the Future I’ll be sharing videos, pics, and articles from innovative and controversial ad campaigns. Hope to see you soon!
Below you will see two examples of President Barack Obama and his relationship to libraries. We hate READ posters because even someone as cool as Obama looks stodgy and staged. The other one which has been floating around the internet was made by a smart designer. This design could actually get tweens and teens to come to the library not to mention all us hipsters that still think we’re cool! When I posted this on facebook some of my college friends said we should make T-shirts and I’m still open to the idea.
Fearless Future has partnered with Amigos Library Services to adapt our successful “Can Libraries be sold like soap?” workshop to the online environment. We have conducted this class, in person, at CARL, Palinet, AZLA, and Amigos. The online environment will not only allow for a longer time to absorb and apply the ideas of social marketing to your libraries, but you won’t have to spend your travel money!
Media contact: Larry Godwin
Phone: 1-800-843-8482, ext. 2847
Email: godwin@amigos.org
Amigos Partners with Fearless Future to Offer Online Library Marketing Course
Dallas, TX – Amigos Library Services has partnered with Fearless Future, a design and marketing consulting firm with experience supporting libraries, to offer to offer Selling Your Library Without Selling Out! an online project-based marketing course for librarians.
Fearless Future instructors Mary Evangeliste and Yvonne Mery will guide attendees through the steps needed to create an effective marketing campaign. Class activities will be structured around the actual marketing needs of participants. In true workshop fashion, students will leave the course with a real marketing plan.
The course is scheduled for the Amigos online classroom the first four Mondays in March from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CDT.
Describing the course, Laura Kimberly, Amigos’ Associate Director and Continuing Education Services Manager said, “This is an excellent course to take within the walls of one’s library and at the same time have access to the ideas of other students and knowledgeable instructors who span the country. Online technology allows us to offer students ample time to learn, develop, and apply new skills, and do so without incurring undue expense. Our participants will quickly find that Mary and Yvonne bring abundant energy and solid experience into the classroom.”
About Fearless Future
Fearless Future is a full-service design and marketing consulting firm committed to collaborating with non-profits and organizations that work towards the public good. Services offered include graphic design, visual identity, web design, print design, marketing consultation, marketing materials, marketing plans, workshops, group facilitation, communication positioning, publication audits, grant writing, and copy writing/editing. Mary Evangeliste is the Director of User Services and Outreach at Gettysburg College and co-author of Bite-Sized Marketing: Realistic Solutions for the Overworked Librarian, published by ALA Editions. Yvonne Mery is an Assistant Librarian at the University of Arizona, Tucson.
About Amigos Library Services
For more than 30 years, Amigos Library Services, www.amigos.org, has helped its members obtain affordable services and share library resources and knowledge. With over 600 members, Amigos is the largest consortium of libraries and cultural heritage institutions in the southwestern United States. Through membership in Amigos, libraries collectively gain access to the latest innovations and services in the library community; pursue opportunities for continuing professional education; leverage their buying power; and preserve the region’s rich cultural heritage. This collaboration strengthens each member’s ability to serve and lead its community in the creative and effective use of information resources. ###
Mary will be presenting with her wonderful and supportive colleagues Maureen O’Brien Dermott (Dickinson College Library) and Katherine Furlong (Lafayette College Library) at the 1st ever Access Services Conference at Georgia Tech Global Learning Center, Atlanta, GA on 11/12/09 at 2:30–3:20 PM
Here is some info on their talk:
You are not alone: managing change in user/access services with compassion and commitment.
In this panel presentation three managers of Access Services share the triumphs, disappointments and the “down right uncomfortable” work of transforming a user/access services department. Changes in the user/access service areas are inevitable; systems change and improve, vendors change, production numbers increase or decrease and technology dictates changes in work flow. How can we learn from each other instead of feeling as if we are in this all alone? How can we strive to create respectful workplaces while also asking employees to change when they are comfortable with the current state of their unit? We will discuss how to conduct a gap analysis to identify areas that need improvement, system analysis to aid in the sometimes-contentious abandonment of legacy services, and the most important component of change leadership –how to communicate clearly and effectively with staff so that are informed, educated and feel that they are fundamental in the success of the transformation.
Mary is very interested in respectful and compassion management practices, you can read more about this in her chapter Guidelines for knowing and showing : from good to great bosses in Staff development strategies that work! : stories and strategies from new librarians
But, we have great news, you can now order our book Bite-Sized Marketing; realistic solutions for the overworked librarian!
ALA Editions, the publishing imprint of the American Library Association (ALA), announces the release of “Bite-Sized Marketing: Realistic Solutions for the Overworked Librarian,” by Nancy Dowd, Mary Evangeliste, and Jonathan Silberman. This book shares simple and cost-effective approaches to effective library marketing in a format that reflects the way people read today. Filled with contemporary marketing ideas, the authors provide:
How-tos of guerrilla marketing
Cutting-edge digital marketing practices
Benefits of traditional print media
Visually compelling and thoroughly practical, this book challenges librarians to market libraries in new and original ways.
Are you a Twilight fanatic? Do you keep up with True Blood? Well, you’re not alone! Millions are crazed over vampires (like Tyra Banks asking Robert Pattenson to bite her or my roommate with her Edward Cullen poster). These shows, books, movies all seem new, but the myths are old. The story of the vampire has been told again and again. When I was younger I went through a phase reading only vampire books like the In the Forests of the Night series by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. Each vampire is different whether they can go inside without being invited or can go in daylight on cloudy days. We love them all.
As a way to entertain myself this Summer I’ve been watching the series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The stories are great and always keep me on the edge of my seat. This series had been huge when it was on TV (1997-2003) and it continues to have a large following on DVD. It’s funny to watch this older series about vampires with the dated clothing and pop culture references.
People may think that by following Twilight they are participating in a new phenomenon, but it’s actually been around for ages.
