PERFORMANCE INSTIGATIONlive action data collection,

visualization, & deployment for open innovation

VITA VIBRARE, AN ARTS -IN-ACTION CONSULTANCYAnna B. Scott, Principal/Master Conduit

Page 2 copyright Anna B. Scott, 2011, all rights reserved

PI dancer in a bus station

CONTENTS

..................................................................................................................................FLOW 3...........................................................................................................................Action List 4

..........................................................................................................................What is PI? 5..............................................................................................................................The Shift 6............................................................................................................................The Show 7

PERFORMANCE INSTIGATION

Page 3 copyright Anna B. Scott, 2011, all rights reserved

FLOW through the Conduit

After an incredible year of research, development, and performance, I am very excited to share a glimpse of a new process for open innovation: Performance Instigation. In this quick catalogue, you will find some lists, some claims, some commandments, likely some overstatement, but especially you will find inspiration. PI is a gift. How often does your data visualization sing and dance for you? Have you ever had the chance to have a conversation with a building? Are you anxious to innovate with your staff and customers? Have a look. Jot some notes. Contact me for more details

Anna Beatrice Scott, Ph.D. is The Master Conduit at the arts and action consultancy, Vita Vibrare, where thinking is done at a higher frequency. An Arts in Action agitator, Vita Vibrare provides strategy, programs, user engagement studies and analysis to develop innovative story making tools at the nexus of traditional and new media.  Scott has worked in arts management, production, performance, research and education since the late 1980s. Her work and process traverse many genres and roles; she is a convergent human.

Page 4 copyright Anna B. Scott, 2011, all rights reserved

PERFORMANCE INSTIGATION DEMONSTRATESThe service is the brand.

The brand is the interface.

The interface is the experience of the service.

The brand coaches the user.

A service failure is an opportunity for new development.

PERFORMANCE INSTIGATION ELUCIDATESThere are many inputs to the social experience of the service not captured by cost benefit analysis.

Multiple roles are performed by the same sets of people and individuals.

The site has choreographic power over more than the movement of the users.

The service provides excellence or annoyance in parameters never published on forms.

PERFORMANCE INSTIGATION ENGAGESThe user as specialist

The site as stage

The policy as script

The design factors as choreography

The administrators as score

Public policy as backstory

Social interaction as character development

PERFORMANCE INSTIGATION PROVIDESActionable data collected through Human Subject Protocol

Alternative modes of analysis of “the numbers”

Connections to partner services for specialized data needs

A living user survey that is participatory and enjoyable

An intriguing and cost-effective marketing campaign

PERFORMANCE INSTIGATION INSPIRESA beginner’s mind about the service

A re-invigorated Commons

Candid, joy-infused discussion of the service

Cross-agency and -silo partnerships

Creative ways to enact policy and service shifts

Page 5 copyright Anna B. Scott, 2011, all rights reserved

WHAT IS PERFORMANCE INSTIGATION?Every site is a stage. Every

service is a brand. Every user

is a customer. And any policy is

a script. Between these facts

resides a shared truth: we

perform reality. Often, however,

we do not agree on the props,

the timing, the rules of

engagement, the budget.

Fractured and siloed, we

become specialists in our own

perceptions, turning co-

creators into antagonists,

cherished design amenities or

policy into sacred cows,

inconveniences into game-

enders. We quit. We dig in. We

battle. We neglect the service;

wound the brand.

We get stuck, and stick the

public with a dysfunctional

service, usually an award-

winning brand, and

occasionally a wonderful

experience; in other words, a

crap shoot. Fixing the

“problem” is complicated when

the players do not agree on

which performance is

occurring. Innovation resides in

stepping away from the table,

out of the fray, and into play.

Performance instigation casts

the problems and issues as

equal players along side the

rules, the users, the slogans,

the brand, the service; daring

all to step into one show, one

event, one reality. Shifting

roles, finding solutions.

Page 6 copyright Anna B. Scott, 2011, all rights reserved

THE SHIFTDeploying a Performance

Instigation delivers results at

every phase of design

development and performance.

Not only will the data sets

come to life but perhaps your

symbols, signage, and

schedule will, too. Most

importantly, it will be an

opportunity to enjoy your

service from an unexpected

perspective right next to all the

characters that comprise the

show you strive to perform

each day.

Performance instigations are

engaging ways to split test and

review the many tweaks that

are a necessary part of

maintaining excellence in

today’s challenging economic

environment. The performers

will construct an alternate

environment that turns

discussion into action: you can

pinpoint a needed change or

discover excellence in your

human resources that you did

not know you had.

Administrators will discover

that their hands are not tied at

all: doing it better can be

inspiring. Stakeholders will

experience the complexity of

the social aspect of the service

finding the power of “we.”

Users rediscover the service

and the power of their personal

knowledge from using it. Future

converts following the “wow

factor” of a show at a service

site will be eager to give it a go.

Finally, the public will

participate in real time as

“imagineers” of a user-focused

experience.

Page 7 copyright Anna B. Scott, 2011, all rights reserved

ADAPTATIONWe take an existing folk tale, flip it, invert it, remix it to create a conversation between the space, the service, our contemporary moment and the issue.IP Maintained by VISCERA and/or Dr. Anna B Scott

READER’S THEATERA transcript from a public meeting or a particularly interesting piece of policy is invigorated through performanceIP Placed in Creative Commons for reuse by the public

ORIGINAL & EXCLUSIVEAn original work is developed just for your service and brand. Great for a brand launch or service pivot. Includes professional photography and video of event; branded performance interface for audience to use as performers themselves.IP held by contractor

THE SHOW

ELEMENTSDocument research

Signage assessment

Facility/site visits

Participant observation

Review of in-house reports

Review of affinity group user boards

Selection of issue for story line

Script development

Deployment of show-specific

surround social engagement (blog,

Face Book concert page, Twitter)

Questionnaire build if requested

Selection of back channel service:

QR-Codes, text messaging, Four

Square, Twitter, Face Book

Choreography

Costume design engaging

architectural choices

Musical score

Press release

Pop-up advance performance if

requested

Swag developed for marketing

INSTALLATIONnumber of performers dependent on story type & repeating design elements