“In science, as in other fundamentally human pursuits, we would do well to remember that we are only truly at our best and most equipped to tackle grand challenges when we put our differences aside and work together.”

That is the final sentence of the 2020 Silver EXCEL Award winner for Best Feature Article—“Tracking the Journey of a Uranium Cube” by Timothy Koeth and Miriam Hiebert of the department of materials science and engineering at the University of Maryland, for the American Institute of Physics’ Physics Today. It is a dramatic ending to a riveting story about Germany’s failed attempt to build a nuclear reactor during WWII. We are taken through the panels of history that was ignited for the authors by the delivery to them of a small uranium cube in 2013.

So many things work about this article—the language, the historical heft, the arc of the story—but what stands out for me in reading it now is the ending and the place they eventually took the reader. It reminded me of a quote I read from the brilliant storyteller, performer and filmmaker Mike Birbiglia.

“People always say with stories: There needs to be a beginning, a middle and an end. I disagree slightly. I feel like there just has to be an end… and it has to be definitive, and you need to indicate to the audience that eventually you’ll get there. Because if it doesn’t end, people will be furious. They want to go home, they have plans, they have parking arrangements. They just want some ballpark indicator of how long this is going to be. The key thing is starting with your ending and then building it backwards from there.”

Birbiglia was speaking about his excellent live show, The New One—which I was fortunate to see in 2019. Of course, we know that all facets of a story are vital. But that idea of starting by knowing your ending could apply to many of our feature stories these days, in multiple platforms. We hear the importance of storytelling emphasized so much today, and what’s interesting is that even when a story is just 300 words or a video is just a minute, they still need a beginning, middle and end.

How’s this for a beginning of a story: “In the summer of 2013, a cube of uranium two inches on a side and weighing about five pounds found its way to us at the University of Maryland.” And how’s this for a middle? “…the revelation of the existence of the additional [uranium] cubes makes it clear that if the Germans had pooled rather than divided their resources, they would have been significantly closer to creating a working reactor before the end of the war.”

There’s a moral here—as writers for associations, we need to imagine where we want our readers to be at the end of our content. Have we brought them to a better place of understanding or knowledge? Have we given them ideas so they can do their job better? Have we increased their connection to the subject and to the association, or at the least, further engaged them? In this article, the authors have given the reader an incredible amount to think about, and that reflects very positively on AIP and Physics Today.

Here are four more tips from Birbiglia about storytelling:

Be as inclusive as possible. The New One—which centers on he and his wife wanting a baby—started out to be just about that and nothing more. Birbiglia said that was fine for audiences his age but drew silence at a college. “So I needed to come up with a metaphor of something that people can all relate to. And I started thinking about what I was like when I was in college and about how me and my roommates brought home a couch from the street, and then I was like, ‘Oh, that’s sounds like a great metaphor for the whole thing.'”

Be careful of your detours. “With any digression, it’s really about whether it serves the purpose of your central story.” Don’t get too far from your main point, he advises. You might lose people. “Ultimately, you want people to be invested in your central story… If you go too far from that, you can lose people’s investment in the equity you’ve built up…”

Establish eye contact (so to speak). I’m adding this one from a talk I went to by Brian Grazer, the Hollywood producer (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind). Birbiglia said to imagine that you are talking to someone one-on-one at a party. If you digress too much in your story, you might lose them. Grazer, whose latest book is titled Face to Face: The Art of Human Connection, agrees and is very big on making eye contact. The editorial equivalent of that is to engage someone early and stay on point. Don’t let them turn away.

Be as authentic as can be. Let your passions and foibles come through. “In comedy or storytelling, it’s amazing when you figure out how to be yourself,” Birbiglia said.” It’s so hard to do, and it takes years and years. I still struggle with it. To this day, I’m always trying to be more myself.”

Ronn Levine is editorial director of SIIA and can be reached at rlevine@siia.net.

If 2020 was the year of the pivot in the media industry, then 2021 will be the time for facilitating connections. This week, Winsight, a large B2B media organization—they now run the National Restaurant Association Show—announced that they will launch a new platform called Restaurant Community later this month.

“The restaurant community consists of people who are exceptionally social and who are creative problem-solvers,” said Chris Keating, EVP of conferences for Winsight (and a speaker at our recent BIMS event). “And Restaurant Community is a place that enables them to connect with each other.”

This type of platform may become quite common in the first few months of 2021, as publishers and media organizations look for new ways to connect their audience. It’s actually a bit of a surprise that it has taken this long. In June, the United Fresh Produce Association may have crafted a blueprint by creating United Fresh LIVE! 365, a year-round online platform featuring a permanent expo, social gatherings, on-demand education, webinars, conference programming, and networking opportunities for the global produce industry.

“We basically built a year-round convention center,” John Toner, VP of convention and industry collaboration, of the United Fresh LIVE! 365 platform, said. “[The platform] serves as the connection point,” adding that exhibitors whose engagement strategy went beyond the show floor have reaped the best results.

For Winsight, restaurant operators and suppliers will have exclusive access to: interviews with industry influencers and restaurateurs from all titles and segments; presentations from Technomic (their data division) experts and Restaurant Business editors; interactive discussion boards; and more. At the heart of Restaurant Community are Share Groups, which provide for category specific conversations, product discovery and meetings directly between operators and suppliers.

Just this week, events company Emerald acquired PlumRiver, a leading international provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology. Here’s the biggest reason why. “The acquisition of PlumRiver is a natural extension of our live events business; we can now offer a complimentary, year-round interaction and transaction platform,” said Hervé Sedky, Emerald’s president and CEO, who just started Monday. So this was his first maneuver.

While not everyone can acquire a SaaS business, they can create new platforms. In an article on ASAE today titled, Three Ways Associations Can Make Events Year-Round Engagements, Christina Tomlinson writes:

“What if you could build on the pre-event momentum you create and keep the conversation going to engage, empower, educate, and inspire your membership 365 days a year? While virtual and hybrid events are a start, they too are typically limited in duration…

“Adopt a conference mobile app and microsite or other tech-enabled community. Event technology is so pervasive your options are virtually limitless. Consider what year-round member engagement is worth… How much bandwidth and budget do you have, and how much could you save with this technology? Use your answers to inform the decision about how to approach adopting a new platform or tool.”

It makes sense. When I think of all the work that went into our virtual events last year, it seems a shame in this environment to just quickly move on from the learning community we created. That’s also a way to add more value—not only will you have access to this event, but you will become part of a year-long community of like-minded publishers.

At The Wall Street Journal, their Live Journalism team recently added a series of monthly events designed for professional women, taking on topics such as caregiving, the impact of racial reckoning on company culture and managing career pivots. These online gatherings included interviews and, yes, small group breakout sessions.

“As our live journalism moved into the virtual space, we saw a unique opportunity to reach a broader cohort of Journal readers who craved practical, tactical tips on navigating the current business and cultural climate, while looking for connection to one another,” said Kim Last, live journalism & special content editor. “We designed our monthly series with these readers in mind. Our annual forum was redesigned to not only highlight sharp, newsmaking interviews but also cater to the topics female professionals care about, with the hope to generate fodder for connection.”

By Ronn Levine

Two years ago—almost to the day!—Fast Company posted an article titled How to Redesign Your Days to Give You Back a Few Extra Hours Every Week. The author listed five categories where we can make changes:

Quit Something;

Limit Something;

Pause Something;

Delegate Something; and

Add Something.

A lot has changed in two years but I think we could all use those few extra hours back every week. Contemplating these five areas during a pandemic, cultural reckoning and domestic insurgency brings a somewhat different light, but here are a few suggestions to ignite your thought processes.

For Quit Something, they wrote “Quit a recurring meeting. Quit a committee. Quit Facebook. Quit Candy Crush.” I’d say it’s a good time to quit a poor policy: going with the same old speakers for events, sources for stories and members for your audience outreach. Some favorites are okay but take some extra time to do research to find new and diverse sources for your next article and speakers for your next podcast, webinar or virtual event. Almost everyone is available these days. With those new speakers might just come a new audience. Growth consultant Robyn Duda, who moderated a great events panel for us at BIMS, led a charge to Change the Stage earlier this year. “Whether the content is digital or physical, I am challenging us all to set the bar higher, to make our stages and screens inclusive of new, different voices.”

For Limit Something, how about limiting a lack of collaboration? “Journalism has become more collaborative, but our culture, for the most part, has not,” writes Bo Hee Kim, director of newsroom strategy for The New York Times, in NiemanLab’s Predictions for 2021. “Leaders will need to believe that newsroom culture has a bigger impact on the journalism than they understood in previous years—that a strong team dynamic is as important as their sharp and shiny stars. Managers are key to this transition and will need to reset with a new definition of success, followed by support and training to change.” True collaboration was never easy and has become even harder during our remote lives. “The challenge before you as you craft your narrative,” DEI expert Leslie Mac eloquently told us at AM&P 2020, “is how to motivate in a way to lift humanity and be bold as you go about your work. This is not the time for casual work. Together is where we can create change.”

For Pause Something, they wrote: “[Go] on a walk in the middle of the day. [Give] yourself permission to run an errand during your lunch break. Stopping for a moment to assert your ability to do the non-urgent reduces the sense that everything has to happen at a frenetic pace, and that there’s no time to slow down.” Wow, this has just multiplied in its relevancy! Many of us are starting our work day earlier and ending later, amplifying the need to take breaks. There is one problem, however. In his book, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, Dan Pink wrote: “Research shows us that social breaks are better than solo breaks—taking a break with somebody else is more restorative than doing it on your own.” That may not be easy right now. I greatly miss my walks around the office during the day. Try reaching out to a neighbor for a socially distant walk or call a friend while you walk. I need to do more of that.

Delegate Something has become a bit tougher in these times, for two reasons. One, we’re interacting even less, of course, with co-workers so delegating something takes more intentional outreach. And two, maybe “delegate” isn’t a great word anymore because we only think of giving tasks to someone less senior, rather than sharing tasks and perhaps giving one or two to someone who is more suited to them, regardless or your command chain. Wrote Fast Company: “As you plan your day, ask yourself: Is this something that I really need to do myself, or could someone else do this instead?” If this makes you reach out to a colleague, then that’s a good thing. A 10-minute phone call can supersede 30 minutes of emails sometimes.

For Add Something, their advice now makes me chuckle a bit. “Add an exercise class, book a trip, plan a get-together with friends.” No, no and no. Okay, well, actually, I do have a virtual yoga class Thursdays at 5:45 pm from a woman I met in Jamaica three years ago. These can be a bit awkward—move over Romeo (the cat)!—but very helpful. At our last staff meeting, our CEO got such a good reaction to his request for favorite holiday cookies that he’s now asking for recipes to compile into a guide. That is one very enticing and tasteful addition that can be replicated in many different ways. Business-wise, how about adding more member photos to your publications. “It’s always nice to feature the faces of your members and [worth the effort] tracking down those photos,” Lilia LaGesse, senior creative strategist, GRAPHEK, told us at AM&P 2020.

Ronn Levine, editorial director for SIIA, can be reached at rlevine@siia.net.