Netroots Nation, here I come!

June 19, 2013

I am about to leave Silicon Forest for Silicon Valley to attend Netroots Nation 2013. Sunny California, here I come (yes, I am getting out of dodge during a rainy spell)!

Never heard of Netroots Nation? Then, you must visit their website chock full of information and inspiration. My bet is that we’ll be seeing you there next year!

I’m excited to not only meet up with some of the best minds in the business of social change, but also to present a session on my favorite topic du jour:  visual storytelling. My session is Saturday at 3 p.m., and will cover best practices in visual communications from our research and amply discussion time. Resource Media has created Visual Story Lab as a learning community, and we are always eager to hear stories from the field. Drop us a line if you have examples, ideas, or questions to share.

For more on my #NN13 plans, check out my recent interview with Melissa Foley, one of the conference organizers. Here’s an excerpt from my response to her question on why it’s important to tell stories visually:

“The timing could not be better for progressives to embrace the art of visual storytelling. As the traditional media world craters, nonprofits and other independent voices are taking on a growing role as content providers. Images and video are no longer just stray add-ons; multimedia is avidly consumed and is at the heart of some of the most popular online news content.

“Recent discoveries in brain science provide clues to why people respond so well to this type of communication vehicle. The result is that more people will click here, share there, engage, engage, and engage some more. The need to tell stories in new, more visual ways is only increasing. Our guess is that your metrics are telling you to ‘feed this beast!’ So, if you are working in the field of cause communications, mastering the visual is incredibly important.”

Keep watching this blog in the weeks to come. I hope to share with you some of the best new tools and tactics I pick up from trainings sessions, shared meals and other meet-ups with all the smart organizers, technology wunderkinds, campaigners and communicators I expect to cross paths with at Netroots Nation.

Liz Banse