These are my thoughts about things I find interesting. Sometimes they directly connect to my work, and other times they are simply inspirational, insightful or totally random but they are likely to be about People, Culture, and Creativity.
OMSI SCICOMM FELLOWSHIP
How do you increase overall content interactivity and set engagement goals for complex content communications, like science? And what about that content in another language or cultural context? These are some of the questions I had as I completed the SciComm Fellowship at the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (OMSI).
This was a short-course certification in SciComm, which focused on some of the tools and strategies for STEAM SciComm, as developed for Informal Science Education environments. For me, these also sparked ways to integrate the learnings for experience engagement beyond museums and into different types of content (like health and healthcare), formats, experiences, audiences, and such.
Setting experience outcome goals (e.g., Knowledge, Interest, Identity) and ensuring that content make use of DEAI imperatives (in different languages), as part of any development process, is incredibly valuable for teams of writers, developers, designers, content topic experts, etc. My SciComm activity project was about cultural variables and how all of that can have an impact on people’s sense of science and health identities - and in turn, spark and foster positive engagement and relationships with science. Still iterating and prototyping, so stay tuned!
Read more here: OMSI SciComm 
Community Experiential planning
As a researcher and communications person, it’s great when you are on the other side of the data collection and content creation process, and have the opportunity to take part in community participatory practices to inform the development of experiences. This was recently the case for me at the Bakken Museum in the Twin Cities, as part of a conversation to share and explore ideas and perspectives, as a community member. Naturally, for me, it was also an exercise to observe co-development processes in action. It was an informative and inspiring design/planning charrette, that for me, also nicely captured and reinforced process elements (and spirit) of cross-cultural communications.
Specifically, it reminded me about the importance of community feedback in the development of content, which in ideal circumstances (e.g., time, budget, planning, etc.) includes presenting, discussing, and formally testing (formative evaluation) select translated concepts/ideas with intended audiences. These steps in any translation process serve as a critical layer of cultural value to the content that is produced—down to the specific words, phrases, tone, and expressions. Additionally, and much like a design charrette, it ensures overall consideration of brand, its communications, target audience, and broader organizational planning, as critical guiding factors throughout. This helps to include more impactful relevance and engagement factors for audiences, while also ensuring both accuracy and quality in the translations—both linguistically and culturally.
I think I’m describing a type of Cultural Experiential Planning charrette, as part of the experience design process where ideas are further developed and refined, through a cross-cultural lens, and within the realms of co-creation. So, as they were used for this community listening session, how could the following questions spark productive conversations for your next experience design project?
What kind of community do you want to live in? What is important to you? 
How is that different from how you see things now?
What needs to change to create the community you want to live in?

americanismos and futures thinking
I recently completed an online Advanced Spanish course (Language in Context) that primarily focused on the evolution of the Spanish language, and how languages in general can change through generations and everyday use, in terms of current and possible future technology and communication formats. This made me think about “Americanismos” and their use (or non-use) in Spanish translation work, and what this means within Futures Thinking concepts.
Americanismos are not Spanish slang or Spanglish. To put it simply, they are Spanish words that are either entirely original or a hybrid combination of Spanish and/or English words that have come about, through the diverse nature of LATAM (Latin America) countries, regions, cultures and experience, and of significant relevance, U.S. Hispanic and Non-Hispanic communities. Historically, one of the main goals of officially recognizing these (by people who officiate such things - see below), was to create a more unified language, and in turn, a stronger union of cultures.
I also attended a Futures Thinking workshop, put together by the folks at NASA (NISENET), where some of the characteristics of such thinking, at some level befittingly incorporate the idea about Americanismos and Spanish translations, as forward-thinking practices that inform and support the expansion and further unifying of cultural expressive possibilities for informal science education (ISE) content and modern communications in general. Based on this mindset, I think there could be some interesting cultural and social benefits to creatively exploring translation styles that can appropriately deviate from the “neutral” Spanish standard. I also think this nicely aligns with some of the ideas and ambitions of Futures Thinking strands (e.g., Community Futuring) where representation, diversity, and innovation are integral to any future community development, through museum projects or otherwise.
For cross-cultural communications (beyond ISE), I see all this come together as additional thinking and practical tools that can be part of a more purposeful celebration of the multilayered nature of the Spanish language abroad and in the U.S., for use in translating content for public audiences, and in the strategic merging of content ideas and concepts, where the sources of inspiration are likely just as diverse as the cultures and communities they represent.   
Read more about Americanismos and explore the dictionary. 
Shared through the workshop: A primer on futures studies.
wordlore: Odd, eccentric or amusing
Area bookstore budget section Winter find ($2.99). Aside from the topic and my love of old books, I'd be lying if I said I didn't get this because of the title and overall contrasting simplicity of the cover layout, that's designed to carry such a rich, challenging and complex depiction of Ancient and Modern human linguistic experience. All this, and as the title suggests, through the meaning and use of Words in formal literature and everyday life.
The hilarious and often dead-pan expressions that the author uses to describe the apparent audacity and horror of misuse, or the erroneously identified historical birth and evolution of Words is just as enlightening as it is entertaining. Though some of the origins and ideas are clearly out-of-synch with contemporary progressive life, the relatively detailed 'biographies' of common and not-so familiar Words and expressions not only offer more clarity and accurate meaning, but they also provide some context and insight into the everyday lives of people across time and place. 
Good for anyone who regularly thinks about different ways to communicate ideas and express culture with Words, or is simply interested in unusual historical literary nuance.
See also The Romance of Names by the same author. I haven't read it but sounds interesting as well. 
Primero en Español / Spanish-Forward
A Spanish-Forward format for translated copy placement proposes an alternative way of thinking about translations, audiences, and cultures, in terms of bilingual content development and creation. This format places the translated text on the left or on top of the original language (English) for projects designed specifically for people that might prefer or need communications in languages other than English. This is especially relevant when the big idea and content is based on that culture (e.g., Latino Culture). 
I'm not sure how widely this Spanish-forward approach is used beyond consumer products and marketing/ad communications, but having noticed that the practice has gained some traction in the Informal Science Education (ISE) field, it made me think about how such a content placement strategy could really make a difference in terms of brand experience, audience engagement, and organizational DEAI efforts, particularly in areas like ISE or other types of museum/cultural spaces.

It may seem relatively radical for the latter type of environments, but considering how this approach is already used for culturally-relevant work that's designed for U.S. Hispanics and other underserved communities, this type of content placement only reinforces the point of why DEAI efforts, like content translations, are developed in the first place. If a product, experience and content is created for a specific audience, why not enhance that further by communicating that through basic formatting like copy placement? 

Here's a recent science museum project example funded by the
National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Informal Science Education and HealthCare Content Development
Some of the benefits and advantages of having experience in different fields and industries is the ability to recognize, interpret and adapt approaches and processes that are fundamentally the same, and that for the most part, the only difference is the lingo or jargon used. This allows for the continuous exploration and evolution of processes and tools that overall improves and expands capacity across environments, especially those that are specific to creative and strategic development. 
A basic example is the Strategy Brief in creative communications and the Logic Model in Research and Evaluation at science museums or as part of other Informal Science Education (ISE) work. This comparison is not meant to oversimplify either of these tools, but in general, they do share the same purpose in terms of guiding the development of products and experiences with specific goals, audiences, content formats, etc. 
This made me think about a study on U.S. Hispanics and their relationship with science. A relationship defined by the prominent beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors around science and scientists, including medical scientists. The study itself doesn't use this relationship metaphor, but I think that by doing so, it helps establish a more relatable and emotional lens to how an audience views or see themselves within such a vast, abstract and many times confusing field. The relationship per the findings is a positive one that also provides room for improvement around specific factors like language. It is here that I gave myself the liberty to compare, contrast and do some functional daydreaming about how ISE can inform Healthcare content and experiences for better accessibility. The latter through specific strategies like cultural and language translations. Read an overview of these ideas
For an updated study on audience relationships with science and the opportunities for continued improvement, read this
TRUTH TO CULTURE, TRUTH TO PEOPLE
I recently came across this book and by far I think it is the most accurate description of my own experiences and identity, as they relate to growing up in Southern California and the underground music scenes that many other U.S. Latinos were and continue to be a part of. A refreshing read about the cultural nuances and connections that for the most part, are well known by those with direct life experience in these realms, but offers a whole new level of depth to the preferences, behaviors, attitudes and lifestyle aspects that are heavily influenced by the creativity at the core of post-punk and other alternative music scenes. 
The book also dives into the diversity of identities that many bicultural people (e.g., 1.5 Generation Immigrants) have in common as they regularly navigate and code-switch between cultures. This is really about cultural hybridity at both the mainstream and subcultural levels, as well as about the misfits, rebels and any other group of individuals who proudly do not belong, but that instead find their own ways of integrating into the bigger picture, while freely expressing their multi-layered identities and experiences.
In terms of branding and communications, it's a nice summary for those who already have knowledge or experience in these topics, personal or professional, and can be an enlightening introduction to alternative music for anyone who is interested in that aspect of culture. Personally, it validates a part of my identity within these subcultures and offers a true-to-self nostalgic trip back to the days and years spent at the haunts mentioned in the book, along with the many awesome people I shared those experiences with.
Amazon: A Kiss Across the Ocean: Transatlantic Intimacies of British Post-Punk & U.S. Latinidad


Back to Top