Publishers reach the mountain top

Transfer of experiences at the „Direttissima Conference“

, 27.04.2016
„Direttissima“ describes the phenomena of the alpinism when you scale the summit directly without any detours. The regular way is the path of least resistance, but the walker of a direttissima is facing the challenges of the mountain. The new media and publishing conference in Munich (#dico16) was the next event on my agenda after the „Digital Media Camp“.

I have visited this 1 day event with 15 talks and 17 speakers. According to the conference slogan „transfer it“ there were speakers from different industries like Ralph Gunesh (professional soccer player), Stefan Glowacz (extreme free climber), Anna Dushime (buzzfeed editor who has helped refugees from syria) or Dirk von Gehlen (Head of Innovation at Süddeutsche Zeitung). So it was possible to think outside the box in which we sit every day.

The aim was to exchange ideas, experiences and visions. And that was quite successful. In my opinion, the art historian Dr. Christian Gries achieved the best transfer of the day when he quoted the 9 hiking rules by the famous mountaineer Luis Trenker. I will try to reproduce it as best as I can to share it with you:

1. Du sollst keine Bergfahrt unternehmen, der du nicht gewachsen bist. / you shall not take any ascent that does not fit with your condition.

=> You should set targets that can be fulfilled with your requirements. You should take the time you need and not hurry too much as you could stumble over your own legs

2. Du sollst jede Bergfahrt mit Kopf und Hand sorgfältig vorbereiten. / You shall prepare your ascent accurately with your mind and hands.

=> Set goals, define a strategy, identify your focus groups and create a concept before you start.

3. Du sollst in den Bergen deine Erziehung und Bildung nicht vergessen. / You shall not forget your education and culture when you are in the mountains.

=> Behave well when you are in the digital spheres.

4. Du sollst die Gegend, die du durchwanderst, nicht verunehren. / You shall not dishonour the area that you are wandering through.

=> It is important to respect the rules and netiquette of the platform that you are using.

5. Du sollst die Bergkameradschaft in hohen Ehren halten! / You shall honour your fellowshop in the mountains!

=> Appreciate your followers and the community within the web.

6. Du sollst die Schutzhütte würdigen, als wäre es dein Haus und Heim. / You shall save your hut and host as it was your own.

=> Take care of your technical basements and defend them towards enemies of any kind.

7. Du sollst nicht stehlen! / Don’t steal.

=> Be careful with user data and consider the legal requirements regarding data in the web.

8. Du sollst nicht lügen, prahlen, aufschneiden! / Don’t lie, brag or cut open!

=> Be yourself and convince with authenticity, think twice befor you post or publish something and preserve humility.

9. Du sollst die Ehre deines Vereins wahren. / You shall uphold the honor of your club.

=> Respect your team and stand up for the community.

10. Du sollst die Berge nicht durch Rekordsucht entweihen, du sollst ihre Seele suchen! / You should not desecrate the mountains with your record addiction, but you should look for their soul instead!

=> Keep humility.

I can definitly benefit by this vivid comparison. Finally, my conclusion after the day and all the session is: Being authentic is the main requirement for being successfull, getting viral and reach a great audience in the web. With authentification you can stage yourself and convince stakeholders by your appearance (emotional branding).

Last but not least I will keep the shrug in mind: the emoticon ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ symbolizes a person shrugging their shoulders to indicate a lack of knowledge about a particular topic, or a lack of care about the result of a situation. Dirk von Gehlen introduced it in his session and reminded us to relaaaax and not to chase every digital trend.

Laura Geissler

Project Manager Digital

The quota woman in the team. Loves the digital spheres, art, culture and travelling. Drinks her coffee black as the night.