Kate O'Neill gave a presentation on the meaning of place. She discussed how the meaning of a place comes from people feeling empowered to create their own experiences there, the stories that are collectively told about the place, and the community that is created. She used examples of college campuses, cities like Nashville, and conferences to illustrate how meaning arises in different contexts through shared experiences and narratives.

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Presented by Kate O’Neill
The Meaning
of Place

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[imagine
a picture
of me
in college.]

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“Home and
Wandering.”

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What does
a place mean?

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What do I mean by
“meaning”?

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Let’s back up.

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My work has always been about
relevance and meaningful
experiences.
language:
the vehicle of meaning.
how we convey
intent and significance.
the Web / Internet:
how we capture
and transmit
knowledge globally
data:
how we model
what is potentially
meaningful
marketing:
how we understand
what has value to whom
in what context,
and influence intent
through alignment
and relevance
experiences
human
understanding
meaning
relevance

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speaker
intent message
listener
takeaway

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speaker
intent message
listener
takeaway
shared understanding

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context
speaker
intent message
listener
takeaway
shared understanding

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…back to
"Home and
Wandering"

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(photographcredit:FlickruserZol87)

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planned
center
of town
(imagesourcewww.cnuil.org)
my first
childhood
home
my second
childhood
home

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Maybe “home” is
where you are
empowered to
create your own
experiences.

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Why do we
"wander"
or travel?

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Why do we*
encourage
students to
leave home?
* “we” as a society, I mean

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"how very
college
of you"

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Maybe we
“wander” or
leave home
to be jarred into
seeing ourselves.

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“We travel, initially, to lose ourselves;
and we travel, next, to find ourselves.
…
And we travel, in essence, to become
young fools again — to slow time down
and get taken in, and fall in love once
more.”
― Pico Iyer

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So to make people
want to “wander”
towards your place…

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Help people
see themselves
there.

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To make people feel
at “home” there…

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Help people feel
empowered to
create their own
experiences.

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Part of the
meaning of place is…
in how empowered
we feel to create our
experiences.

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How can we architect
meaningful
experiences without
being contrived?

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Distill everything
about a place,
its identity, culture,
etc.
down to an essence.

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By the way…
Digital experience should
not impede physical
experience
It should empower it

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Metaphor,
Significance and
symbolism: what
does a thing signify?

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How to distill a brand's
essence without being
reductive or overly
simplistic

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Let’s look right here:
at Nashville.

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(photographcredit:www.nashvillerecovery.com)
The Flood of 2010

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(imagecredit:ABCStudios/amazon.com)

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How do you promote
something with so
many stories?

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Build on
recognizable
truths.
And a bit of
mythology.

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Meaning is relative
and contextual.
And it’s
inseparable from
relevance.

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Part of the
meaning of place is…
in the stories we
collectively tell
about it.

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How do you get it
across to someone
what a place could
MEAN to THEM?

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Sign up for our upcoming webinar
with promo code CIVSA for 20% off:
“Meaningful Stories”
bit.ly/mgflstories
June 30
Want more help with
brand storytelling?

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Take inventory of
your stories.

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Identify your
prompts.

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“Never let the facts
get in the way of a
good story.”
— Mark Twain

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“Never let the facts
get in the way of a
good story.”
— Mark Twain

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“Get your facts first, and
then you can distort them
as much as you please.”
— Mark Twain

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“The difference between
comedy and tragedy is
where you stop telling the
story.”
— Neil Gaiman

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context
speaker
intent message
listener
takeaway
shared understanding

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Community
is meaning
writ large.

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Part of the
meaning of place is…
in the community
we create there.

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For a college
campus

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For a city like
Nashville

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For a conference
like this.

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The Meaning of Place:
‣ is in how empowered we feel to
create our own experiences there.
‣ is in the stories we collectively tell
about it.
‣ is in the community we create
there.

58. twitter:
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@koinsights
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thank you!
Facebook:
/kateoneillpage
LinkedIn:
/kateoneill
Twitter:
@kateo
connect with me here:
Image credit: Robbie Quinn (http://robbiequinnphotography.com/)

59. twitter:
@kateo
@koinsights
#civsa2015
What questions
do you have?
Twitter:
@kateo
Facebook:
/kateoneillpage
LinkedIn:
/kateoneill

60. twitter:
@kateo
@koinsights
#civsa2015
Sign up for our upcoming webinar
with promo code CIVSA for 20% off:
“Meaningful Stories”
bit.ly/mgflstories
June 30
Want help with
brand storytelling?
Don’t forget!