buz.co

Our definition of “story” is perhaps slightly different than what is traditionally meant by the word. Story is central to the development of an attraction. Attractions, as the name implies, are places to which people go because there is a drawing power, a magnetic attraction, sometimes nearly magical, but able to be measured and analyzed with numbers, a process invented by Harrison Price. But it is not really just the physical place to which people are attracted…it is to the “experience” they will have by being there. Some places have a type of magic or feeling or spirit that is the real draw. Although there are buildings, although there are exhibits, or shows, it is really the feelings that make the experience, which makes the attraction be magnetic. Take a Broadway musical for example. The theater is not unimportant, but it is just the stage upon which the show takes place. The people are there for the emotion, the spectacle, the learning, the respite, the renewal… in short, the experience. In our business, this is the “story”. It may be written like a narrative, or a novel, or like a fairy tale, but if it is successful, it is always more than words. It is feelings, it is movement, and it is aromas. It is usually visual or, if possible, all of the senses. Indeed the more senses involved, the more people are immersed in the experience and the more they find the experience enjoyable. This has application in many industries. In the world of computers they use the expression, “first software, then hardware”. The software in our case is the story.

Below is a simple diagram explaining the evolution of “Story”

First, we believe in certain principles of an “experience economy” (see the book “The Experience Economy” Joseph Pine, Harvard Press).  Simply stated,  people are willing to trade their money for various types of experiences. As the author  states, “Experiences have always been a part of the entertainment business, but today are “at the very heart of our economy”.  All through out the world everyone is looking for experiences to releive themselves of their everyday life. Analyzing a specific location and its environs for what future it may realize we must certainly take into account  the experience factor, whether it is called  “culture” or “education”.  

Our process accounts for the experience factor, and begins with an understanding of the “story”.  More accurately it is a story, within a story, within a story. Some people call it vision, some call it theme, or background or reason d’être. In our business, it is simply called story.  It is not until you know and understand the story, including the underpinning history and underlying motivations that you can understand what to do physically, politically, financially, and so on. All of which gives you vision. There is an Asian saying which might be appropriate for the future of any project: 

“Vision without action is a daydream.

Action without vision is a nightmare!”

We see developments continually that have grown in haphazard ways, without much vision for the future, sometimes only with great faith. We also see people with vision but without means for action. We are always asked, “What is the potential?”  Our answer depends on both the means of action, and the vision so that the daydream can become reality without being a nightmare! Our action may seem peculiar to some, because we build the vision first, nearly simultaneously with the means of action. It’s like two people walking in the dark with only one flashlight between them. One is responsible for the vision, the other for the means of action.  One shines the light so the other can take a step forward, then passes the light to the other, who in turn does the same, and thus they progress. What is the means of action? It is the economics, the “numbers”, resources and returns, the money. What is the vision? It is in the experience, the “spirit”, or the “story”.  We build one and then the other going back and forth in what many think is an undisciplined process. Each relies upon the other. We test the vision with numbers, and we test the numbers with vision.