Contextual Transmedia Communications: Content and Creativity in

Complexity

Betsey Merkel, The Institute for Open Economic Networks (I-Open)

The human race is faced with engaging in exponential levels of complexity

resulting from expanding populations, limited natural resources, and
maturating cycles of the World Wide Web. Habits of capacity building - that
of inventory, meaning, and experimentation – remain at levels suited to an
industrial age of linear scarcity. The results of this mismatch can be seen
in widespread U.S. unemployment, poverty, and exponential natural
systems failure. Disruptions such as these will continue to diminish our
collective creative abilities to advance innovative enterprise unless we
think and act differently. How and what we communicate affects the
economic impact of creativity.

Contextual transmedia communications is a pragmatic method to

strengthen creativity and collaboration in complex environments. For
industry, contextual transmedia communication offers a solution to the
deteriorating value of advertising and the building of community. For
education, economic, and workforce development leaders, it is investment
in and connection of local assets to entrepreneurial initiative. In swarm
creativity, it is the bagel dance describing, locating, and communicating
attributes of hive construction.

This paper will provide an overview of contextual transmedia

communications; application to Swarm Creativity to advance education,
economic, and workforce development; and corresponding examples from
Open Source Economic Development network, community and initiative
building where the practice was incubated from 2003 through 2010.

Download copies of COINs 2009 research and industry papers at

ScienceDirect.

Link: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/issue/59087-2010-999979995-
2182758

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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Volume 2, Issue 4, The 1st
Collaborative Innovation Networks Conference - COINs2009. Edited by
Kenneth Riopelle, Peter Gloor, Christine Miller and Julia Gluesing.

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