Myth:
From all over the lands witches young and old, thin and fat, experienced and novice, covered in boils, wearing hats, and riding brooms gathered for the rising of the full moon. It was an event cherished by most witches but recognized by all as something to be seen and experienced at least once in a witches career.
As the witches congregated around the communal brew kettle, those who had been to this gathering many times began chanting the traditional spells. With the low chants of these witches, the kettle began to dance slightly with bubbles and frog legs. As they chanted louder, the novices saw what the veteran witches were focusing on and how it affected the kettle. As each witch began to learn the spells and wand gestures they joined in with the group. They began to understand the importance of each twist and cackle and became excited at being a part making the brew boil.
The brew bubbled and boiled on and on until the frogs turned to jelly and the mixture became one. The witches chanted and danced and jumped up and down as the brew boiled higher and higher until finally it burst into smoke and let a skull like plume into the air. The witches screamed and yelled and hugged each other revelling in what they had accomplished together. Whether it was the fire that burned hotter and hotter below the kettle or the chants of the witches that caused the spell to work, it did not matter. The witches were elated with what they had come together to do and left pledging to come back next full moon.
Goals:
- Bring spectators together for one common cause.
- Make spectators feel more connected to the game.
- Break down the barriers between first time spectators and die hard regulars; bridge this knowledge gap.
- Allow all spectators to feel as they are part of something together.
Parameters:
- Use stoppage or down time to bring meaningful interactions to audience.
- Distractions or notifications from your phone can only be shown during down time.
- Provide more context around the game and individual moments.
- Reduce the amount of time spectators spend on their phone for personal use.
- Remove individual distractions and encourage group activities.
- Empower people to feel that their actions can affect the game.
- Provide engagement that reduces the interaction people have with their own group and increase the engagement they have with the whole stadium.
- Understand people use their personal phone, use it to spark and increase conversation.
- Make people feel comfortable
I like the myth, but I question the premise of “Break down the barriers between first time spectators and die hard regulars; bridge this knowledge gap.” In the myth it works because the idea is that the young witches have a goal of becoming knowledgable old witches but in a football game I would guess that most casual attendees really don’t have that much interest in becoming a die hard regular. It would be interesting to really ask a bunch of die-hard regulars some questions to find out if or how they would be interested in sharing with casual spectators, what do they like about them being there and what don’t they like about it?
I think that group activities are fantastic for the casual spectator, it would be interesting to break your goals into the ones for die-hards and the ones for casual spectators.
-mls