Omd at ola

friday 3 february 2017
thestoryoftelling:future-proofinglibraries
openmediadesk™| library brand storytelling | story as intelligence tool…and winning the human
heart
OLA superconference 2017 | toronto

‘(We) want to understand/engage in the community. We really want to
understand what the community wants —and who the community is...
‘We want to know the mission and vision of the library is being realized—to be
sure we have a pulse on the community, that our decisions are grounded in
what the community needs from us, not what we think we should be
doing...
‘How do we excavate the community’s stories, so we can demonstrate
impact, so we know we’re changing people’s lives?’
18 branch system serving 750,000 residents|October 2016
:: A LIBRARY CEO’s ASK ::
‘show me the heart of my community’

thestoryoftelling
(in five acts)
✤ prologue (all about flamingoes +
zombies)
✤ the story engine (inspiring change
through story)
✤ Library Digital Relevancy Index (the
community scorecard; why it fell
short)
✤ OpenMediaDesk™ (library brand
newsroom…and why it’s working)
✤ CXI (the next thing: a librarian’s
community strategy tool)

thestoryoftelling
prologue
of flamingoes + zombies

Why are flamingoes pink? Well, one
answer has to do with looking
stunning. (thank you Audrey Hepburn.)

headsup: name the film—win a prize!

The other answer to the pink
flamingo question: recursiveness.
(And a little help from zombies)

recursive |rəˈkərsiv|
adjective
characterized by recurrence or repetition, in
particular:
• Mathematics & Linguistics relating to or involving
the repeated application of a rule, definition, or
procedure to successive results
• Computing relating to or involving a program or
routine of which a part requires the application of
the whole, so that its explicit interpretation requires
in general many successive executions
ORIGIN
late 18th cent. (in the general sense): from late
Latin recurs- ‘returned’ (from the verb recurrere ‘run
back’) + -ive. Specific uses have arisen in the 20th
cent.

Mind controlling zombifying
parasites (tapeworms) compel red
crustaceans (whose pigments turn
flamingos pink) to forget the dangers
and swim closer to the surface
of shoreline waters so the
flamingos can eat them.

I am not making this up.
http://dailyparasite.blogspot.ca/201
3/07/flamingolepis-liguloides.html)
(can you wait to wander dailyparasite.blogspot.ca?)

It’s a feedback loop.
(Recursiveness is all about feedback loops.)
Why?

All so the parasitic worms can
get to where
they long to be…

zombifying tapeworm larva
brine shrimp (aka ‘sea monkey’)

… inside a shrimp-sated
flamingo’s rear end…

… the only place (of course)
the tapeworms can
reproduce their ilk (and
complete the recursive cycle).

Recursiveness.
Of the zombie shrimp/pink
flamingo variety.

The entire ‘pink flamingo’
process is based on
recursive patterns.
That’s why it’s sustainable.
(and has been for millennia.)

here’s why.
Becauseifyouwanttogrow
communitynetworks
throughstorytelling,you
havetobuildstoriespeople
wanttoshare.
Recursivenessbuildsstories
peoplewanttoshare.

To scale shareable stories (‘go
viral’ by design), you need stories
which incite action.
Why?
Because action in turn incites a
‘virtuous circle’ of story, sharing
and yet more sharing.
how’s that work?

…but when people interact
with stories in social media,
they also share behaviours
which are hugely valuable in
understanding the
community sharing the story.
Not only that…

Like this. (More
on this later.)

In other words, the recursive
patterns of how and why
those stories
are shared tells us a ton
about the people who share
them.
Big hairy hint: shared stories
are intelligence tools.
how we share stories
tell us who we are.

Story shareability stands on
relevancy, currency and intensity.
• relevancy: why should I care
about your library programming?
•currency: is this story about your
library important to me now?
•intensity: does this story about
your library programming ‘have
legs’? (how often am I going to
hear this story—and still listen?)
what drives
shareability?

what?
so what?
now what?
(the journalist’s mantra)
three questions drive
storymaking…

…if your story answers the
question ‘why?’
compellingly, then your
story will scale
(that’s why breaking news
and comedy clips spread
like crazy)
…but why? drives
story sharing

http://cdn.phys.org/newman/gfx/news/hires/2009/article_v.jpg

the wins
✤ create a clear, powerful digital brand for libraries
✤ tell the story of your library’s transformation to 'totally
cool , totally relevant cultural destination’
✤ increase rate of borrrower/cardholder adoption and,
overall, a net gain in foot traffic for programming
offerings
✤ drive earned media coverage (local newspapers, radio,
TV) about the library’s ‘hidden reputation’
✤ identify key influencers for future library programming
✤ process interactivity/media/target audience
behaviours for ongoing deployment in successor
initiatives
✤ establish the library as experientially rich for all
comers, without exception

the simple bloody
truth
✤ Every story we ever care about
is about transformation—
there’s someone we care about
who’s about to lose something
they really care about…and the
quest for that loss (the hero’s
journey) is the beating heart of
every great story ever told…

what’s the predicate
for change?

(overcoming something daunting to get to where you want to go)

Quick: who’s this guy
with the Buddha?
hint: he walked these very streets…

He saw patterns in stories from everywhere,
from all of recorded history.

the story engine
✤ here's the thing…
✤ the best stories—
the best
narratives—aren't
one-offs
✤ they're organic,
interconnected,
non-linear...

complex narratives mimic life
✤ these stories grow and interweave with themselves
over time (think: Downton Abbey, The Wire, Breaking
Bad, Game of Thrones)
✤ this is why storytelling is so powerful, so entrancing
✤ taken at its highest, great storytelling sustains deep
interest…even in a 47 second car commercial….

the recipe for compelling narrative
✤ what makes this complex TV storytelling so compelling
to watch is the very thing that makes great brand
narratives…

And libraries are brands.
✤ one of the best brands around, actually…

Q: …so what’s that very thing?

Why conflict?
✤ Because conflict means risk…and risk exposes
emotion
✤ We love great stories because, in their beginning, their
middle and their hair-raisingly moving finales

we see the struggle
of our own life
...released,largerthanlife

Here’s a lifetime of sorrow from
Chekhov’s The Three Sisters
✤ IRINA: ’I’ve never loved anyone. I dreamed about it for a very
long time – day and night – but my heart is like a piano
that’s been locked up and the key is lost’

✤ sustainable stories
keep telling
themselves

✤ they're either infectiously funny (hire a local comic
actor and see what happens when s/he makes a short
video for you)…
✤ …or so human, so wise, so moving, we can't help but
share them (your library is a community crossroads—
you’re marinating in story opportunities!)

✤ all around you, in your library, every single day, there
are people struggling with their lives…
✤ …the conflicts they confront, their sorrows, their joys

✤ these are the stories you want to tell through your
library's social media
✤ I promise you this: in your storytelling, make heroes of
your cardholders, library visitors and community
partners …and your social media will explode
✤ hint: it’s not about you—your storytelling should be
about your community…

✤ …but why?
✤ …so they’ll tell their story back to you, on the library’s
social networks…a perfect circle of connection,
community and library advocacy

Recursive.
Again.
if you're beginning to see the patterns of
successfully shared stories feel a lot like a
‘virtuous circle’…you’re dead right—
they’re recursive, ladies and gentlemen

Life is a learning experience. But only if you learn.
Yogi Berra

Back in 2013, we
saw something.
✤ Digital disruption is a serious
threat to proving library social
return on investment
✤ So…how to ‘future proof’ libraries?

We built a data framework
to future-proof libraries

We designed performance
comparators and wrote
algorithms…

And created the Library
Digital Relevancy Index
framework: this beauty…

For eight months, seven libraries
helped us pilot this framework
✤ Every month, participating libraries could see where their
library stood with respect to digital disruption, their
mobile/desktop/tablet UX efficacy and critical key
performance indicators like mobile bounce rate and
social-to-web efficacy (derived from three stat.s below)

We even developed a strategic
analysis tool for LDRI.
✤ For the first time, libraries could begin to see how their
response to digital disruption affected social media
activity, the evolution of user-generated reviews and
media…
✤ …and even the impact of LDRI-influenced social media on
specific targeted communities

LDRI INFERENCES: THE BIG PICTURE
digital
relevancy
awareness
understandin
g
interest support action
media
activity
• content creation
• social media
engagement
• library staff engagement
• stakeholder
engagement
• live events/destination
events
> > > >
intermediate
effects
• ^audience reach (FB,
Twitter, Instagram+)
• ^ social media
engagement
• ^ library staff
engagement
• ^live/destination events
• key library brand
messages
• user generated brand
storytelling begins
• brand stories align
w/events, programs
• library mention
frequency
• expressed + opinions,
interest, awareness
• FB Shares, retweets,
linkbacks to website,
• ^ media from
journalists/influencers
• ^ community
expressions of support
• ^ social media network
fanbase
• ^ Likes, Mentions,
Shares, Comments
>
target
audience
effects
• unaided community
awareness
• library-mediated
community awareness
• ^ understanding of
library UX
• ^ understanding
community
needs/wants/aspirations
• ^ web visits
• ^ mobile 2 web
• ^ time on site
• ^ e-book downloads
• ^ inquiry chats, calls,
emails
• ^ event/program
attendance
• ^ attitude
• ^ productivity
• ^ endorsements
• ^ social-to-web referrals
• ^ active advocates
• ^ user generated
activism
• ^ event/program
registrations
• ^ cost savings

We knew the solution to
digital disruption isn’t just
better data.

It’s better storytelling,
derived from better data.

Content marketing
on social media.

Why?
✤ Because people don’t buy
advertising spin any more.
✤ When they visit your website or
interact with your social media,
they don’t care about you. They
care about themselves.
✤ Empathy is the goal. Advocate for
your audience…and they’ll respond.
✤ Change the world. People will
support your brand in droves.

But wait: there’s
more…
✤ Tell your story from a unique POV, not as if you’re
convincing Aunt Maisie to switch detergents.
✤ Publish consistently. Don’t miss deadlines. Use an
editorial calendar.
✤ Go with the flow: good content now is worth far
more than perfect content on Friday.
✤ Commit to relevancy and content. And timing is
everything.Right now would be good ;)
✤ Your audience wants to love you. Help them. Give
‘em great stuff.
✤ It’s the relationship, stupid. Nothing else matters.

Why?
✤ Think snack-size. Think what folks
will see on their phones. Prune
and simplify. Rinse/repeat.
✤ Have a clearly identifiable brand
‘champion,’ someone who ‘owns’
the success of your library’s
brand (critical, this.)
✤ That’s about it.

That was and is the problem.
We created a lovely solution
for a different problem.

The real problem was
media design. Not data
interpretation.

Enter the media solution.
(Start the music.)

Federation of Ontario Public
Libaries/BothAnd | OpenMediaDesk®

OpenMediaDesk.
Stories that strike sparks.
That make people act.
✤ OpenMediaDesk is a
proprietary branded content
newsroom methodology
✤ OpenMediaDesk is
dashboard-governed
proprietary process to create,
test, and publish multimedia
experiences in aid of
improving both the quality
and volume of FOPL member
library marketing
communications

What OMD does
✤creates community networks of
storytellers to promote FOPL
libraries as essential community
cultural, educational and social
entrepreneurship services
✤enhances community collaboration
with FOPL member library
communications initiatives
✤optimizes the FOPL member
library's user experience
(UX)/outreach to library
cardholders of all stripes
✤helps design and implement high-
relevance library programming and
community outreach

Better stories.
Faster. On target.
✤ OMD is also a
methodology for
realtime media testing
and data-driven
publishing, which pre-
validates stories
before they're
published for maximum
relevancy to targeted
library cardholder
needs/wants/aspiration
s

Here’s how it
works.
✤ First off, my extraordinary business
partner M’Lissa Story aligns the team
with a ‘coherence check/in’—we get
on the same page emotionally and
creatively before we lift a finger
✤ Then we treat Facebook, Instagram
and Twitter posts as if we were testing
software (the ‘agile’ process)
✤ We take them apart (headline, caption,
image) randomize the components,
then A/B test each variant.

Test. Fail.
Reassemble.
Retest.
✤ The whole idea is to give
ourselves permission to
fail as fast as we can…
✤ …in the process of
identifying the most
relevant story components
we can

Upshot?
✤ The OMD process is
recursive, generative and
emergent…
✤ …and inspires creativity
because, through
coherence, we’ve given
ourselves permission to
fail and support one
another

For the rest of us:
creativity visualized…
a generative topology
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/a0/2b/0d/a02b0db90e6f030be8a97f075660942a.jpg

(M’Lissa even named our
company Both/And:
we’re all about inclusivity
and generative
thinking…without which
there’s little chance of
creativity)

LDRI rides again
✤ Now LDRI tests media experiments which lead to high-
relevancy marketing communications—we prevalidate
stories before we publish them
✤ Through LDRI, we can test each participating library’s story
prototypes on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter…
✤ …and know we’re publishing the most highly targeted
media possible

That’s not all.
✤ Then we turn the process inside out…
✤ …and begin to induce our audience to co-create media with
us…
✤ …our community becomes our communications publishing
collaborator—sharing their library stories on our library’s
media channels

The community tells
the library’s story
✤ OMD is a data-driven 'story
engine' which designs and
shares library-centric stories
from individuals in a FOPL
member library community back
to the greater community,
through library social media and
website experiences
✤ ‘user-generated media’ means
the community helps promote
library initiatives, increasing
media reach and opens yet more
community networks

OMD objectives
✤ highly targeted content marketing/key
influencer/user-generated-content process
(the community tells its own stories about
libraries through library networks)
✤ build and implement integrated FOPL-wide
media (coordinating media/thought-
leadership across FOPL )
✤ design and implement high-relevancy,
sustainable social media (brand stories that
live on memorably)
✤ increase quality and efficacy of FOPL
member library social media through better
team dynamics (team coherence)
✤ document learning improvements via
confidence-based learning metrics

Outcomes
✤personalized library brand storytelling,
tailored to the target community
(grows library-centred conversations)
✤improves cardholder user experience
(UX) to drive engagement with library
offerings (augment user base)
✤integrate library brand
communications across the entire
province, yet responsive to local news
(coordinating layer)
✤create a clear, powerful digital brand
for FOPL member libraries (scaleable,
targeted brand messaging)
✤agile team training increases job
satisfaction, incites creativity, breaks
down departmental silos (culture
change)

metrics.
✤ We’re teaching four
libraries how to use OMD
using agile’s recursive
methodology…
✤ …and we’re testing their
rate and depth of learning
OMD skills using
confidence-based
learning tests weekly

the what if portion
of the program

what if libraries had a strategic
development tool based on
social media insights?

what if that tool shared
relatable data with library
stakeholders?

Say hello to CXI, the
cardholder experience
index

It’s early days yet but we’re
developing a holistic
strategic tool for libraries

CXI contextualizes
library data.
✤ From mobile efficacy to changing
local economic concerns to
technology adoption to your
library’s relationship with
economic development partners…
✤ …the CXI tool unites all useful
metrics a library requires to
demonstrate social ROI,
communications efficacy, and
brand storytelling success

the UX test
✤ A library’s user experience goes
far beyond your website or e-book
catalogue interface…
✤ …it’s every expectation and
interaction a cardholder has with
your library and its services, its
collection and its staff

The why of
future-proofing
✤ Measuring the relative success of
a library’s evolving UX is the best
test of future-proofing
✤ …because UX is the barometer of
how and why cardholders are
behaving the way they are

Remember our CEO,
at the beginning?
✤ OMD ‘excavates’ those stories
which make real-time community
intelligence possible

future proofing is a response
to the collapse
of old relationships and new tensions
because of digital disruption

how do we get there from here?

Friend Brendan Howley or M’Lissa Story on Facebook…
come join the FOPL/OMD sandbox:
it’s a remarkable interactive place
to learn and share and inspire one another

Share in the
process
✤ See for yourself how coherence,
agile and OMD combine to help
future-proof libraries…
✤ …from the inside out

What’s all this
feel like?
✤ Some days great—other days,
scary as hell
✤ …but here’s the thing…

‘…there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is
more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement
there is life—and in change there is power’
Alan Cohen
future-proofing and the human heart

There is no magic
storytelling formula to win
the human heart.

courage > ‘coeur’ > ‘heart’
(…it’s recursive too)

Omd at ola

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