red string Archives - Page 2 of 3

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Time to explore the universe beyond Flash!

So it is my goal this year to look beyond the my current universe and begin to find other avenues beyond Flash video. Yes….for the past two and half years, I have been using Flash Video (FLV) to compress and distribute video content. Why did I start using it?

Well, at one time we were using WMV (Windows Media) as the primary platform, our current Director of IT had us on a windows platform and it made sense. It was clean, flexible yet we were missing a major target audience, the Mac World. From a user standpoint, Flash Video had a bigger penetration rate plus it looked real clean with HDV content. So off we moved to Flash video. The downside, the compression time TAKES FOREVER! WOW! But, it was flexible and had many robust player options, and every developer under the sun was creating so many options for Flash Video.

With the advent of the iPhone and other mobile computing devices (including the upcoming release of the iPad), Flash video is barely supported. It is funny, I moved to Flash to reach the Apple users, now those same Apple users are going to force me away from Flash video. So, now it is my goal to deliver high-quality video outside of Flash Video…for the sole reason of reaching mobile audiences.

How are we currently reaching mobile audiences, well there is this great new place called YouTube. Yes, god bless these souls. They are the work around. Upload the video content to your YouTube channel, then grab the readily available embed code for your web page, and SHIZAM….you can have most of the mobile devices access your video content. Yes it is a Flash player, but since they have contracts with major mobile platforms like the iPhone, you can play video embedded into your website if it is hosted on YouTube. The problem, once you upload the content…it is no longer your content, it is owned and operated by YouTube. Yes, this free distribution channel doesn’t want to be liable if their servers take a big ole hiccup and your audience can’t watch your favorite video of Uncle Al busting his ass coming down the stairs or your corporate video that needs to play in front of investors.

So really, this year is dedicated to more than just moving away from my technological dependency of Flash video, but also my hosting/contract dependency of YouTube. I want to find a place to store my content, distribute it to the targeted audiences, and maximize the quality my clients pay me dearly to provide. Now, thanks to H264 codecs…this is possible.

So far, I have only found one place that makes sense….I think, Sorenson360. I have looked at Brightcove, Ooyala, Veeple, and Kaltura….but Sorenson360 has my vote right now. This is why…pretty simple. I set-up a trial account, uploaded an H264 Quicktime (.mov), it asked me if I wanted to distribute to the web and mobile (I said yes), it gave me a simple embed code, I dropped it into my blog, pulled out my iPhone, and behold…my video play instantly on my iPhone. ***Side note, Brightcove and Ooyala have harassed the snot out of me since i signed up to check out their trial area. Actually Brightcove was very nice, but not Ooyala.***

I am looking forward to HTML5 and the opportunities it will bring. But I am a one man type of show. I can hire some developers to create a platform to upload, compress, and distribute content for my clients…but Sorenson360 did this within a matter of minutes.

Video distribution should not be what limits us to provide a message to an audience, it should enable us to reach larger audiences. It should provide a pathway to reach groups of individuals regardless of the “technology” they use to access information. It is my goal to embrace technologies to reach these groups. The same is true for Social Media technologies, they are a tool and it is up to us as practitioners to use them if it meets the needs of the audience. We have a story to tell!

BTW…I already know how to host, compress, and distribute video content on dedicated or virtual servers. I understand the ROI for the use CDN’s and the Amazon’s Cloud to encode and distribute video content. But, I am one man that likes to focus on telling stories, not managing a server network. It is time focus on my core competency…telling rich stories.

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How do we listen, really listen? Creating a knowledge economy!

I received an email today that challenged a remark I made during a meeting. The question asked about the importance of listening and asked for tips/thoughts/advice. This made me think, what makes us good listeners and how can we become better listeners in-order to engage with our audiences.

Here are some thoughts that I used in response to my friend!

To know your audience, to effectively communicate…we must listen so that we may adjust/address our discourse.
To listen, we must ask. We must be willing to empower our audience and engage their conversation. So we ask questions to learn about our audience.
We are observant, we look at our surroundings where we communicate so that the visual cues provide context to the conversation.
We find a connection point. People exchange in conversation because of some common ground. We look for these commonalities and use them to form reflective conversation.
We bite our tongues. When we listen, we do not try to complete others’ sentences but provide simple gestures so that the audience feels us engaged.
We provide emotional reinforcement. It is okay to laugh, cry, and even get mad during a conversation. Emotion is the result of a successful conversation.
We make our audience feel important, we make them feel like they are the thought leader. This requires us to do a little homework and understand who will engage in conversation; so that we can be prepared with questions about that person so we can make them feel important.
We create a silence so that the audience feels the need to fill the void. Sometimes we ask questions or even prompt discussions, but we are not willing to let the person answer. Create a silence in the discussion that provides a rigid opportunity for the audience to feel the need to remove the silence.
Most importantly, be genuine and honest with the ones you are communicating. Honesty provides connection and builds credibility.
Lastly, tell stories, good stories. People connect with stories, rich stories with layers. When you tell a story, people want to share their stories. Then just sit back, listen and enjoy the moment.

Listening is one of the toughest things to do. It is a skill that can be refined during an interview process. When I worked as a journalist, I learned the hard way. I would have to go into households of families who had lost a loved one with cameras and equipment to get an interview. I learned to make them feel comfortable enough to share their deepest moment of lose with the camera recording. I learned to find something in common so that the conversation was not empty and provided context, plus I wanted to earn their trust. I would look around the room and find a picture, book, something that I could identify so we could establish some common ground. Then, I was honest in my intentions, and allowed them to make the decisions how the interview/conversation would continue. I made them feel like the gatekeeper, empowering them as the dominant in the conversation.

Listening can be fun, learning from listening is powerful. If we looked at engaging in conversation as an opportunity to learn from those whom we converse with daily, we could create a bigger knowledge economy.

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Trial lawyers are storytellers as well!

I was having a great conversation with a friend and client the other day about storytelling; Andy Arnold of W. Andrew Arnold Law Firm. He was talking about his past and how he almost went to seminary, but ultimately chose to become a lawyer. The more we chatted the more he explained how trial lawyers are storytellers, guiding the jury through an “argument.” This argument is made up of layers of micro-stories, all connected with an overarching mission to prove a case.

We are all storytellers; so I thought I would share an impromptu interview with Andy Arnold who practices employment law and nursing home litigation. Take a few minutes to listen to our conversation wrapped around the idea that lawyers are telling stories, especially when trying a case in a court of law.

Check out Andy Arnold’s website: http://aalawfirm.com
Check out Andy Arnold’s blog called Blogger At Law: http://www.aalawfirm.com/bloggeratlaw/
Follow Andy on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AndyArnold

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Building a Tribe – Building a Digital Strategy

Here are some notes that I use when working with groups to create a new media strategy, most of the ideas come from Seth Godin‘s “Tribes.”
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“A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea. For millions of years, human beings have been part of one tribe or another. A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.” ~ Seth Godin – “Tribes”

Creating a Micro-movement

Publish a manifesto
Make it easy for your followers to connect with you.
Make it easy for your followers to connect with one another.
Realize that money is not the point of a movement.
Track your progress.

Identify the Brand (The Context)

Audience
Purpose
Delivery

What is your Mission Statement?

What is your communication strategy?

Who are you trying to reach?

How to create reach? How to build the Tribe:
Build the Digital Media Presence:

Web has become more than one-direction
Create rich media for all audiences to engage
Create portals of conversations
User created content
Content Management System (CMS), Twitter, Facebook, Picasa, Flickr

Build the Events

Create events that engage students, industry, and academy in one conversation.
Create events for each group to engage internally & empower conversation.

Build a Community

Build the digital platform where students, faculty, staff, industry can engage, connect, and build relationships.
Use this digital community provide regular information about the community.
Use this digital community to create profiles for all to connect.
Build regular events around the intellectual engine.
Have thought leaders, entrepreneurs share innovation.
Provide a platform where students and industry can engage on common ground.

“A movement is thrilling. It’s the work of many people, all connected, all seeking something better. The new highly leveraged tools of the Net make it easier than ever to create a movement, to make things happen, to get things done. All that’s missing is leadership.” ~ Seth Godin – “Tribes”

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There is something special about true customer service!

A few weeks ago, I was in Spartanburg, SC and decided to have lunch with a good friend! Jim O’Donnell (some people know him as @JimSharp because he is the scissor sharpening business) of Wolff Industries took me out to lunch, the original Fatz Cafe was our destination. If you have not gone to the Fatz Cafe in Spartanburg, SC, you are missing out on something special. They have the best fried chicken strips around.

As we walk into Fatz Cafe, it was noticeably busy but we were immediately seated in a special section. I do not mean special because of some big event going on, but it was because Jim is a regular at Fatz and has grown to know almost all of the staff.

As we sat and began chatting, he was telling me of this waitress that just retired and had worked at this particular Fatz for close to 23 years. Who works at a restaurant as a server for 23 years (I thought in my mind as we ordered two Dr. Peppers). I also learned that Jim loved Dr. Pepper as much as I did…good guy I tell ya! Back to the story; Jim continues to tell me how this one lady, this one server could work magic in this restaurant. He explained one time he wanted a particular soft drink that Fatz did not serve. Instead of telling him that they did not serve this soft drink, she took his order and brought him what he requested. What he later found out is that as soon as she walked away with the drink order, she walked across the street to purchase the soft drink, put in on ice like any other drink, and serve it to him without he even knowing it was an issue. Now that is customer service.

This lady loved her job and she loved her customers. She loved the people that walk through the door, this was shown by the way she made them feel special. After about five minutes into his explanation, I felt like I knew this lady and no longer viewed her as a “waitress.” She was the face of this establishment for close to 23 years.

As Jim and I sat and continued chatting about this lady, our waitress for that day told Jim that Shryl was here and Jim’s eyes lit up immediately. You see, Shryl Dover was that waitress of 23 years…the one that walked across the street to get that special soft drink. Our waitress walked back to find Shryl to send her our way. As she peered around the corner, it was like old friends picking up where they left off…Jim and Shryl just chatted without missing a beat.

You see, it was that day the young owner of this Fatz Cafe had talked Shryl into coming back part time. That owner knew that Shryl had a tribe, a group of people that enjoyed seeing her smiling face….that special touch when it comes to true customer service. I made a new friend that day and I will never see Fatz Cafe as just the building that serves great fried chicken strips, I will see it as the place where I can come talk to a friend and the fried chicken strips are the bonus.

Thanks Shryl Dover and thanks Jim O’Donnell for sharing this story! Everybody has a story to tell, even in a Fatz Cafe!

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All it takes is a cup of coffee…

When you are walking to your office, or walking to grab lunch, through a crowd of people…do you realize that you are surrounded by some smart people? Everyday we probably come in close contact with more than 250-300 people, as we walk from one place to the next. If you live in New York City, Chicago, LA, or other large metropolitan areas…we probably walk pass thousands of people a day. Imagine if you took the time everyday to find one person, one that you have not met and introduced yourself..then bought them a cup of coffee?

Imagine being a student again on college campus, getting up every morning to go to class. It is 8:45am and you are on your way to you 9am class. If you attended a large university with over 15,000 students, you probably pass close to 1000 to 2000 students on your way everyday. Imagine if you left a bit early and picked one person a day and bought them a cup of coffee. You might start a conversation with the next President of the United States, the next GM of Ford Motor Corp, the next religious leader of our time, the next Defense Secretary, etc. What if that person turns out to be a business partner, your lawyer, your minister, your accountant, someone you might do business with one day. College campuses have the greatest potential for human capital and also the greatest potential for building long term relationships.

Now if you take that same principal and place it into your everyday work routine. Imagine taking just a few minutes everyday and meeting someone new. The cup of coffee is just a pathway to a conversation…it is a connection point. So is thaa game of golf or other relationship building tool…just a connection mechanism. But do we really foster those relationships?

Some people are coining this economic situation as one of the worst in decades. Many people are looking for work, struggling to find jobs, resorting to paying people to write resumes or lots of money on technologies like LinkedIn. But do we really get jobs or forge business deals solely on a piece of paper that holds our credentials? People that excel in tough economic times are those who have forged relationships and can pick up the phone to call for help or a favor. They have been building their human network for years and years. All it takes is a cup of coffee.

So each semester, I take one day and make my students follow me to the coffee shop on Clemson’s campus. Today was that day. It was a day to forget about proposals, projects, and grades…it was a day to talk about what it means to leverage those relationships and the greatest potential that walks by them each day during class change.

Are we building our tribe? Are we building our network? What are we passionate about? Everybody has a story to tell…even over a cup of coffee.

“A tribe is a group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea. For millions of years, human beings have been part of one tribe or another. A group needs only two things to be a tribe: a shared interest and a way to communicate.”
~Seth Godin

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Finding stories within an organization, peeling back layers.

It is all about connecting to your audiences…your constituency bases. Stories create identity between and organization and those who have the greatest potential to engage.

Stories are finite, clear, concise messages that uncover the layers of information that give the audience the true perspective of an organization. These stories are not one-dimensional, there are two streams of consciousness within one story: the facts (subject) and the supplementary position that brings color to the facts.

It is easy to pick broad general ideas to write about; but the stories that people connect with are the ones that people will share (repeat). So how do organizations find and create stories that are repeatable? They must first understand their brand and the umbrella message. This is the rhetorical position that shapes the messages and how the layers of information are organized.

So what are the stories within organizations where people will connect? Hmm…people. People connect with stories about people. People are the faces of an organization. Each person has specific stories how they help shape, support, and build the foundation of an organization. People tell their stories best. People have layers of stories, ones that are connected by the “red-string” that represents the brand of the organization.

Use frequency when telling these stories. Find the people that have stories that change a view-point, raise someone’s’ awareness, or reveal a new idea…and tell those stories. Tell them on a regular basis. Identify the layers of the stories and use those layers as the frequency. Each time you tell a story, peel away one more layer…one more piece of the bigger story. As one more piece is revealed and each micro story is told…the audience gains a bigger insight into the “red-string”.

Think of it this way…if you use Twitter or Facebook, you are making regular posts or status updates. Those are the micro-stories about you; and ‘your personality’ is the red-string. The more you post, the more you connect, the more your audience gains insight to who you are and your personality. People begin to peel back the layers into you and your daily context. Use the same approach when telling and delivering stories. Give people little stories frequently, ones that peel back the layers and allow the audience to see the bigger idea. Do it frequently and efficiently.

The more stories you tell, your more layers you reveal, the more the red-string is reveal…which is the heart (or the core) of the bigger story.

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Creating a path for those to find your story

I have been thinking lately about how we get our stories to people…distribution points. The one thing that I consistently preach to my students and my clients:

Audience – Who are the audience(s) you are trying to reach..list them ALL!
Purpose – What is the sole reason you have something to say or tell.
Delivery – What are you going to use to get that message to those audience(s).

These points create context…context for the message. As you notice…they are intertwined. Well, you may have a great story, but if you do not know how the audience can access the message…then you might be creating the best Super Bowl message for an audience who does not have a television. You might be creating the most unbelievable email marketing campaign, and your target audience does not open emails.

We have to think about distribution…yes, it comes down to delivering the message. Here is a list of distribution methods:

Web
Blogs
Television
Home Phone
Mobile Phones
PDA’s
Text Messaging
Twitter
Facebook
Fax
Mail
Brochures
Business Cards
White Papers
Annual Reports
Online Video
Mobile Video
Newspaper
Radio
Satellite Radio

Now let’s look at major “Anchor” tools where stories can be told, the beginning of the food chain:

Web
Blogs
Newspapers
Brochures
White Papers
Annual Reports
Television
Radio
Satellite Radio

These places are where the stories are produced and created for audiences to eventually find themselves enjoying content. But, we have different distribution points to bring these audience back to the original source…teasing them with a hint of what’s to come:

Twitter
Facebook
Mail
Fax
Business Cards
Radio
Text Messaging
Mobile Video
Home Phones
Mobile Phones

The point here is when we create stories, we can use these “Anchor” tools to place our stories and use the distribution points to bring audiences back to this place…to learn more, read more, or hear more. The new face of our organizations is our “Web Property”… our main website.

Organizations are learning that they must invest just as much time, effort, energy, resources, and money into shaping their main web property as the major distribution point of information. The organization internally must support this new media and begin using the distribution tools necessary to funnel audiences back to this portal.

Organizations are also learning to re-shape marketing budgets, pr budgets, and IT budgets to allow resources necessary to create, provide, and drive traffic to a web portal and IT providers are learning to build robust systems to support this audience base.

Organizations are also starting to learn that Social Media Technologies are just as efficient as other distribution tools to gain audiences attention with “Teasers” of content, finding new ways to tell stories in a distributive method. This distributive method is now the online community building technologies. Providing portals of conversation where people can engage and connect…and allowing the “Tribe” mentality to shape the community which becomes the online cheerleading section.

So now that ealier way to analyze context of a story is starting to take new shape:

Audience(s) – Name all the audiences
Purposes(s) – What is the purpose of the over-arching message and for each distribution points
Delivery – What is the main point of delivery and what are the sub-distribution points that will tease audiences back to the mother ship.

To me…this is a game. How do we tell one story with multiple layers. Allow the audience to follow the “red-string” along the many paths of distribution points to ultimately get to the main story. What is your story, how are you telling that story, how are you reaching your audience(s), well…I am listening!

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Efficient Storytelling Increases Connectivity

One of the hardest things I think I have ever taught or created was the “Elevator Pitch”. Have you ever tried to sit down and write your elevator pitch for your business, your message, or your cause? You know what I am talking about, when you walk into a room of people (whether large or small) and you shake hands and they ask, “Hey there, how are you…tell me about yourself.” Can you recite that perfect message, that one piece that not only peeks someone’s interest but has one major characteristic: it is repeatable. Why repeatable? Well, you want that person to remember your pitch, and be able to have that person turn around and introduce you to someone else and be able to repeat that pitch for you…increasing connectivity.

The same thing is true for creating an effective 30 second television spot. Think about it for a second, it is a company’s elevator pitch. You have only one shot to grab someone’s attention, relay and efficient and effective message that pulls someone off the couch or from across the room to pay attention, understand and comprehend, then be able to remember to repeat it. Why repeat, so they can go find your product/service/cause or tell someone that might need or want that product/service/cause.

As I discussed in the my blog entry Building Communities Around Media | Stories of Connectivity, communities are not connected via relationships, yet stories are the connectivity between relationships that build communities. These stories have to be efficient so that the connectivity increases. If you can tell a story, deliver a pitch, create a effective/repeatable spot; people are much more willing and able to repeat that story…and their connectivity increases via those stories.

Imagine walking in a room filled with 500 people. If you had a story to tell, a pitch to give, or an introduction to present; and this story can’t be told efficiently and effectively. The people that you are there to meet loose interest, change the subject, and less likely to connect you with other individuals (their friends in the room). The same is true with that television spot. If the message is not efficient and the story gets lost, then audience is more likely to TiVo past this spot or just not pay attention.

What do I mean by an efficient story, it comes down to understanding purpose, brand, audience, and delivery. You have to recognize that core message for that story and deliver in a fashion that is repeatable. There is a litmus test I like to use; the power of this Social Media Tool called Twitter. Have you ever written a script for a spot or that elevator pitch, now see if you can write in 140 characters. Yes, so you can Tweet that message. But if you want to make it repeatable, then write it in 120 characters just incase someone wants to Re-Tweet the message which usually takes up 20 characters.

The point of this discussion comes down to one example…Super Bowl Television Spots. These are crucial time slots where companies invest millions of dollars in placement, messaging, research, and production. Do you think they better create a message that is efficient enough, effective enough so that one time it runs during the Super Bowl, you will remember it and do exactly what they want you to do. Most of these companies have one shot to increase connectivity in the communities they are trying to attract…by creating a memorable, efficient, repeatable message. The more efficient, the more memorable, the more repeatable, the more it will reach more ears…thus increasing connectivity.

One of the hardest things I think I have ever taught or created was the “Elevator Pitch”. Have you ever tried to sit down and write your elevator pitch for your business, your message, or your cause? You know what I am talking about, when you walk into a room of people (whether large or small) and you shake hands and they ask, “Hey there, how are you…tell me about yourself.” Can you recite that perfect message, that one piece that not only peeks someone’s interest but has one major characteristic: it is repeatable. Why repeatable? Well, you want that person to remember your pitch, and be able to have that person turn around and introduce you to someone else. Be able to repeat that pitch for you…increasing connectivity.

The same thing is true for creating an effective 30 second television spot. Think about it for a second, it is a company’s elevator pitch. You have only one shot to grab someone’s attention, relay an efficient and effective message that pulls someone off the couch or from across the room to pay attention, understand and comprehend, then be able to remember to repeat it. Why repeat, so they can go find your product/service/cause or tell someone that might need or want that product/service/cause.

As I discussed in the my blog entry Building Communities Around Media | Stories of Connectivity, communities are not connected via relationships, yet stories are the connectivity between relationships that build communities. These stories have to be efficient so that the connectivity increases. If you can tell a story, deliver a pitch, create a effective/repeatable spot; people are much more willing and able to repeat that story…and their connectivity increases via those stories.

Imagine walking in a room filled with 500 people. If you had a story to tell, a pitch to give, or an introduction to present; and this story can’t be told efficiently and effectively…then the people that you are there to meet loose interest, change the subject, and less likely to connect you with other individuals (their friends in the room). The same is true with that television spot. If the message is not efficient and the story gets lost, then audience is more likely to TiVo past this spot or just not pay attention.

What do I mean by an efficient story, it comes down to understanding purpose, brand, audience, and delivery. You have to recognize that core message for that story and deliver in a fashion that is repeatable. There is a litmus test I like to use; the power of this Social Media Tool called Twitter. Have you ever written a script for a spot or that elevator pitch, now see if you can write it in 140 characters…tell that same story in only 140 characters. Yes, so you can Tweet that message. But if you want to make it repeatable, then write it in 120 characters just incase someone wants to Re-Tweet the message which usually takes up 20 characters. The point here is to drill it down to the core message and make it so it is replicatable.

The point of this discussion comes down to one example…Super Bowl Television Spots. These are crucial time slots where companies invest millions of dollars in placement, messaging, research, and production. Do you think they better create a message that is efficient enough, effective enough so that one time, ONE TIME it runs during the Super Bowl, you will remember it and do exactly what they want you to do. Most of these companies have one shot to increase connectivity in the communities they are trying to attract…by creating a memorable, efficient, repeatable message. The more efficient, the more memorable, the more repeatable, the more ears it will reach…thus increasing connectivity.

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Building Communities Around Media | Stories of Connectivity

Telling stories has to have a purpose…there is a reason why you want to tell that story! You want to reach an audience, you want someone to listen to your story. We have been telling stories as long as we can remember. Whether it is around the kitchen table, in the car, wherever there is someone to listen.

We need a medium to deliver the story; whether it is our voice, the written word, or some piece of technology. These stories are told to create a group of listeners, ones who are attracted to these stories, and sometimes in a way so that they can repeat them. Whether it is the printing press, a website, video, pen & paper, radio, or even the cave walls…technology takes these stories and creates a community around the distribution method.

From one perspective, communities are built around people and relationships. The communities grow as the relationships grow, and as more and more people cross paths, the level of connectivity increases. But for those people to connect, there must be a “red string” that connects these relationships, so a piece of communication that connects is the common place. That common place, that “red string” are stories. The stories are the ties that bind communities.

Think about LinkedIn, which has the different degrees of connectivity between relationships. But how is that relationship formed? What story was told to connect those people together, or that layer of connectivity, that “red string” that ties those people together? The lines that connect the dots represent that story of connectivity.

Those who have larger layers of connectivity have the ability to use some distribution method (voice, technology, etc.) as a shared place to continually transmit those stories.

So this brings me to the thesis of this discussion, stories of purpose that have found the right method to deliver and so create the connectivity in the communities in which we exist. So how are we really telling our stories, how are we really relaying our passion? Are we sharing to a mass audience or a small group of people?

Think for a second…remember when you are trying to remember a conversation you had or how you arrived at a particular thought. You start back-tracking though the stories you heard, the stories that were told. You identify the conversations you had…those conversations take place between people. Can you remember the stories that have had the greatest impacts on the people you told? Think…what story have you told that created a reaction then was repeated to another?

We want to know how stories are reaching people right now. We want to measure it through tracking mechanisms, whether it be Google Analytics, Neilsen Meters, number of magazines sold, or even the number of people that sign up to hear us speak. Is it tracking the connectivity via technology? What it’s really tracking is the effectiveness of the story. We all want our story to be told, we want someone to repeat that story in its complete authenticity. We want to connect with those who identify with our stories. Are we more focused on the reach or the story itself?

Technology is a commodity, the distribution point is a commodity, but the story has an equitable value beyond the value associated. There is value in the means to reach the audience, but the true value lies in the heart of the story. The stories are those that connect us to others, not the technology, not other people, but the “red string” of connectivity that lies inside our stories.