Interim name
CONFIDENTIAL
The Conversation Project (Interim name) Summer 2014
About Strategy & Timeline Team
About 2
The Gist Who we are
The Conversation Project is dedicated to enriching the way we talk about complex social challenges. We produce a podcast that brings thoughtful people around the table to wrestle with specific social questions. More like a focused brainstorm than a traditional talk show, guests collaborate to create usable outputs, such as product ideas, frameworks, and infographics. Episodes range in topic from clean energy to urban mobility to how Google might address affordable housing in the Bay Area, and are held together by the dedication to reach a resolution – however beta it may be. As philosopher Ken Wilber says, a good theory is one that lasts long enough to get you to a better one.
3
Features
•
Guests: We bring unusual suspects around the table - people who don’t often sit together, whether by happenstance or choice. We also bring individual and organizational partners committed to the topic at hand, to participate in the conversations and use the outputs we create.
•
Format: We apply the techniques of strategic problem-solving and brainstorm facilitation to the world of talk show entertainment. Guests are prepared in advance with stimulating prompts, our facilitation style enables dynamic discussion, and conversations are anchored by a specific output.
•
Output: In every episode, we make something. Whether it's verbal or visual, a product idea or an infographic, it is posted online after the conversation - inspiring listeners with not just what but how to think, and providing interested parties a concrete baton to run with.
How we’re unique
4
Example Episodes Each episode is dedicated to wrestling with a specific social challenge
5
Engaging Google on affordable housing Question What should Google do about the affordable housing crunch in the Bay Area - a problem it didn't start, but is contributing to and has leverage to help alleviate?
Participants • Housing or transportation economist • Local affordable housing advocate • Current or ex-Googler from public relations
Output Actionable recommendations in an open letter to Google
Creating an integrative energy strategy Question President Obama has called for an all of the above energy strategy. How might we think about different energy sources in a way that enables us to create an integrative, all of the above energy strategy?
Participants • Experts in different energy sources • Sociologist of technology Output Preliminary ‘integrative energy matrix’ a matrix with energy sources across the top row (e.g. coal, natural gas, solar), characteristics down the left column (e.g. environmental impact, economic cost, job creation potential), and filled-out cells - providing an integrative snapshot of different energy sources
Aligning interests in urban mobility Question How might we align the goals of municipal government, the taxi industry, and ride-sharing platforms?
Participants • Representative from the municipal department of transportation or environmental affairs (of any city facing this issue) • Taxi industry representative • Sharing economy representative from Peers.org • Taxi or ride-sharing drivers
Output Actionable recommendations for aligning interests in ways that are economically viable, environmentally sustainable, and consumer-friendly
8
Connecting the dots between social issues Question How might we understand the relationships between social issues in a way that enables us to approach them in an integrated, strategic way?
Participants • Expert on social movements and social change • Systems theorist • Visual designer
Output Diagram that visualizes social issues in terms of their interrelationships and identifies leverage points for systemic change
9
Values
1. AGILITY Fail fast 2. PLURALISM Consider everything 3. PRAGMATISM Use it if it’s useful 4. CRITICAL THINKING Focus not only on what but how to think 5. OPTIMISM Believe a resolution is possible 6. GENERATIVITY Create things that help us keep creating things
10
About Strategy & Timeline Team
Strategy & Timeline 11
Target Market
At this point in our development, we’re staying true to our concept and learning who we attract rather than designing for specific target market. With that caveat in mind, our (extremely rough) target includes:
•
A general audience interested in social issues and primarily seeking entertainment value, similar to audiences for Charlie Rose, TED, and Intelligence Squared
•
Niche audiences interested in the specific issue at hand and seeking concrete, usable insights, similar to our participating guests
12
Business Model
Similarly, we’re letting our concept drive the business model rather than the other way around. After bootstrapping our first season and crowdfunding our second, we’ll pursue one of the following directions for our third: Stay independent and generate revenue through crowdfunding, underwriting, events, or other offerings
Be acquired by an existing media platform, such as NPR, Slate Magazine, or the Aspen Ideas Festival
E.g. Roman Mars bootstrapped the first two seasons of 99% Invisible, Kickstarted the third and fourth, and continues strong as an independent podcast. His season 3 Kickstarter campaign broke previous records for a journalism project, pledging $42K and raising over $170K.
E.g. Chris Duffy bootstrapped and crowdfunded You're The Expert for his first year, and was recently acquired by Boston NPR station, WBUR.
13
Future Pathways
The Conversation Project is starting as a pre-recorded podcast. In the future, it may evolve into a live show, facilitation format for conferences, public hearings, and other events, or other offerings.
14
Timeline
Workplanning & Discovery Rapid Prototyping
Apr 2014
May 2014
Concept & Identity Development
Jun - Jul 2014
Produce Season 1
Aug - Oct 2014
Identity Rollout & Kickstarter for Season 2 Produce & Market Season 2 Choose Interim Business Model
Nov 2014 Dec 2014 - Feb 2015
Mar 2015 15
About Strategy & Timeline Team
Team 16
Stephanie Lepp is a strategist and systems thinker, who loves asking big questions and trying to answer them. She spent the bulk of her career in strategic consulting, specializing in social innovation and public engagement. She has been fortunate to lead diverse clients across sectors, in areas such as corporate social innovation for NBCUniversal, impact investing for the Case Foundation, and sustainable mobility for the City of New York.
Stephanie Lepp Founder & Producer
While in graduate school at UC Berkeley, Stephanie founded and produced The Graduates, an award-winning KALX radio show dedicated to graduate student research across campus. Topics ranged from supernovae to web-enabled paintball guns to the training of US Marines for Iraq. On one episode, Stephanie made a plug for her dream of more goaloriented, interdisciplinary conversations. Approximately seven years later, she's thrilled to get going - leveraging the best of strategic problem-solving and brainstorm facilitation to enrich the way we talk about complex social challenges.
17
Stephanie Lepp steph.g.lepp@gmail stephanieland.co +1 415 871 5683
Thank You To learn more, please get in touch.
The Conversation Project (Interim name) Summer 2014
About Strategy & Timeline Team
About 2
The Gist Who we are
The Conversation Project is dedicated to enriching the way we talk about complex social challenges. We produce a podcast that brings thoughtful people around the table to wrestle with specific social questions. More like a focused brainstorm than a traditional talk show, guests collaborate to create usable outputs, such as product ideas, frameworks, and infographics. Episodes range in topic from clean energy to urban mobility to how Google might address affordable housing in the Bay Area, and are held together by the dedication to reach a resolution – however beta it may be. As philosopher Ken Wilber says, a good theory is one that lasts long enough to get you to a better one.
3
Features
•
Guests: We bring unusual suspects around the table - people who don’t often sit together, whether by happenstance or choice. We also bring individual and organizational partners committed to the topic at hand, to participate in the conversations and use the outputs we create.
•
Format: We apply the techniques of strategic problem-solving and brainstorm facilitation to the world of talk show entertainment. Guests are prepared in advance with stimulating prompts, our facilitation style enables dynamic discussion, and conversations are anchored by a specific output.
•
Output: In every episode, we make something. Whether it's verbal or visual, a product idea or an infographic, it is posted online after the conversation - inspiring listeners with not just what but how to think, and providing interested parties a concrete baton to run with.
How we’re unique
4
Example Episodes Each episode is dedicated to wrestling with a specific social challenge
5
Engaging Google on affordable housing Question What should Google do about the affordable housing crunch in the Bay Area - a problem it didn't start, but is contributing to and has leverage to help alleviate?
Participants • Housing or transportation economist • Local affordable housing advocate • Current or ex-Googler from public relations
Output Actionable recommendations in an open letter to Google
Creating an integrative energy strategy Question President Obama has called for an all of the above energy strategy. How might we think about different energy sources in a way that enables us to create an integrative, all of the above energy strategy?
Participants • Experts in different energy sources • Sociologist of technology Output Preliminary ‘integrative energy matrix’ a matrix with energy sources across the top row (e.g. coal, natural gas, solar), characteristics down the left column (e.g. environmental impact, economic cost, job creation potential), and filled-out cells - providing an integrative snapshot of different energy sources
Aligning interests in urban mobility Question How might we align the goals of municipal government, the taxi industry, and ride-sharing platforms?
Participants • Representative from the municipal department of transportation or environmental affairs (of any city facing this issue) • Taxi industry representative • Sharing economy representative from Peers.org • Taxi or ride-sharing drivers
Output Actionable recommendations for aligning interests in ways that are economically viable, environmentally sustainable, and consumer-friendly
8
Connecting the dots between social issues Question How might we understand the relationships between social issues in a way that enables us to approach them in an integrated, strategic way?
Participants • Expert on social movements and social change • Systems theorist • Visual designer
Output Diagram that visualizes social issues in terms of their interrelationships and identifies leverage points for systemic change
9
Values
1. AGILITY Fail fast 2. PLURALISM Consider everything 3. PRAGMATISM Use it if it’s useful 4. CRITICAL THINKING Focus not only on what but how to think 5. OPTIMISM Believe a resolution is possible 6. GENERATIVITY Create things that help us keep creating things
10
About Strategy & Timeline Team
Strategy & Timeline 11
Target Market
At this point in our development, we’re staying true to our concept and learning who we attract rather than designing for specific target market. With that caveat in mind, our (extremely rough) target includes:
•
A general audience interested in social issues and primarily seeking entertainment value, similar to audiences for Charlie Rose, TED, and Intelligence Squared
•
Niche audiences interested in the specific issue at hand and seeking concrete, usable insights, similar to our participating guests
12
Business Model
Similarly, we’re letting our concept drive the business model rather than the other way around. After bootstrapping our first season and crowdfunding our second, we’ll pursue one of the following directions for our third: Stay independent and generate revenue through crowdfunding, underwriting, events, or other offerings
Be acquired by an existing media platform, such as NPR, Slate Magazine, or the Aspen Ideas Festival
E.g. Roman Mars bootstrapped the first two seasons of 99% Invisible, Kickstarted the third and fourth, and continues strong as an independent podcast. His season 3 Kickstarter campaign broke previous records for a journalism project, pledging $42K and raising over $170K.
E.g. Chris Duffy bootstrapped and crowdfunded You're The Expert for his first year, and was recently acquired by Boston NPR station, WBUR.
13
Future Pathways
The Conversation Project is starting as a pre-recorded podcast. In the future, it may evolve into a live show, facilitation format for conferences, public hearings, and other events, or other offerings.
14
Timeline
Workplanning & Discovery Rapid Prototyping
Apr 2014
May 2014
Concept & Identity Development
Jun - Jul 2014
Produce Season 1
Aug - Oct 2014
Identity Rollout & Kickstarter for Season 2 Produce & Market Season 2 Choose Interim Business Model
Nov 2014 Dec 2014 - Feb 2015
Mar 2015 15
About Strategy & Timeline Team
Team 16
Stephanie Lepp is a strategist and systems thinker, who loves asking big questions and trying to answer them. She spent the bulk of her career in strategic consulting, specializing in social innovation and public engagement. She has been fortunate to lead diverse clients across sectors, in areas such as corporate social innovation for NBCUniversal, impact investing for the Case Foundation, and sustainable mobility for the City of New York.
Stephanie Lepp Founder & Producer
While in graduate school at UC Berkeley, Stephanie founded and produced The Graduates, an award-winning KALX radio show dedicated to graduate student research across campus. Topics ranged from supernovae to web-enabled paintball guns to the training of US Marines for Iraq. On one episode, Stephanie made a plug for her dream of more goaloriented, interdisciplinary conversations. Approximately seven years later, she's thrilled to get going - leveraging the best of strategic problem-solving and brainstorm facilitation to enrich the way we talk about complex social challenges.
17
Stephanie Lepp steph.g.lepp@gmail stephanieland.co +1 415 871 5683
Thank You To learn more, please get in touch.
