Meme of the Day: Red Water vs. Blue Water

As some of you may have figured out by now, I like to view the class through the filter of Word of the Day and sometimes that doesn't work out persactly^TM, however, one of the items I picked up from the Very Verbose Jason Scott was the Red Water Blue Water story -- so I did a little web search and came up with his tale told from the POV of marketing and it fits nicely into our long tail big head classroom theme. Here's the link to the larger tale <sic> along with the story again for those who may find it of interest.

Red water/blue water: the interactive fiction new audience debate

One such mantra I picked up, big in the world of marketing and PR, is the idea of ‘red water’ versus ‘blue water’.
Everyone wants a bigger audience for their game; and most companies want to ’fish’ in the most densely populated pools of water (to get the most out of their time, efforts and marketing dollars). What results, however, is a feeding frenzy. Everyone gets something, but it’s a bloodbath. This is what’s called ‘red water’.
So, what if you could find new pools of water, filled with fish that’s away from the competition? You could have that audience all to yourself and be free from the effort that goes into constantly trying to outdo the competition. This market or opportunity is what’s called ‘blue water’.http://www.inthecompanyofgrues.com/?p=27

Technostalgia

When the question was directed towards Kickstarter, Jason Scott made the important distinction that at the moment, is just a tool. But even though the website's popularity is transient, it does contribute guidelines to some fundamental values of succeeding in an interactive and collaborative Media setting. Specifically, Kickstarter familiarizes us with the idea of crowdfunding. What is important is the skills derived from its use, as our participation grows in the expanding online universe.

I think the most powerful practical advice he gave was his unique and personable method of distribution and connection to audiences. It was a fresh idea to hear a specific example of this instead of the broad theoretical terms we have been reviewing. The connection to the audience is a necessary element. He is highly personable and engaged with the audience. Instead of a typical marketing push driven by false identity and an inflated sales-pitch, he was personable and reached out to previous connections, just by being real.

"To under-promise and over-deliver"

Statement from producer: I made something, you might be interested, check it out. Actual outcome perceived by audience: That was actually pretty awesome // blew my mind. And I got a sweet collectible coin. Thumbs up.

And he referred to some psychological underpinnings of why he became an archivist as a collector. That feeling of attachment to artifacts, that things are transient and you must grasp onto them, lest they be gone forever. (I'm sure in a physical way, Hoarders relate to.) This is an attachment to ideas behind the games, the culture embraced by the technology, and medium that morphed culture. So, those early adopters of BBS and text games, before widespread public access and development of the internet were hardcore and passionate, and had an extremely personal connection.

When Grace asked who is audience was, one response was the people who were nostalgic. People want their experience and interests to be validated. They invested so much time, and Jason Scott is validating and publicizing that importance and value of the mode itself and the culture that existed. Again united, revived, and saved from fading into obscurity.

I'd have more to say on this topic, but I'm only vaguely familiar with the surface of it. I vote some of us get together and watch at least one of his documentaries. Mini film fest, anyone?

Jason Scott Skype Lecture

I really enjoyed listening to Jason Scott talk about his success as a Media 2.0 celebrity. Although I had never heard of him before I was very intrigued by his work and the way in which he has promoted it. I took a quick peek at his blog after class and it is clear the man is not at a shortage for words. His entry's are very verbose but I found them very well written and informative.

I plan to watch his videos and explore some of the media he has created. I was also excited to hear about /. a site I had no idea existed which he likened to an earlier version of reddit. Being that is where I spend the majority of my time online it is always good to hear about things that relate to it.

All in all a great class, lots of new information and stuff to look at. Good times.