The 
2015 Media That Matters conference is right around the corner, so we decided to let our #MTMDC panelists to introduce themselves and explain in their own words how they engage with media that matters.
Harmony Institute’s product manager Linnea Hartsuyker will participate at Media Impact Tools Showcase.
At some level, the best media involves some kind of storytelling.
People respond to stories more viscerally than pure facts. Stories tell us who we are, and who we can be, in a way that we can understand emotionally and morally as well as intellectually. Stories give us experiences to remember, and deepen our empathy. As we try to change the world, facts may measure that change, but stories let us envision how to make that change a reality.
I am the Product Manager at Harmony Institute. Our mission is to study the impact of narrative media on society. I’m tasked with creating products and tools to enable media makers to understand the impact their work has, and find ways to have more impact on the issues they care most about.
Before coming to Harmony Institute, I had a background in engineering and computer science into web development work and product management from a variety of agencies, media companies and internet startups, before pursuing my dream of getting an MFA in Creative Writing at NYU. After finishing that degree, I found Harmony Institute, which has given me a way to combine my deep interest in narrative media with my background in product development.
Some of our projects include the Impact Playbook, which is a guide created by Harmony Institute, in collaboration with the Bay Area Video Coalition and the 2012 Producers Institute for New Media Technologies, which synthesizes best practices for media makers to understand the impact of their work. And in the next few weeks, Harmony Institute will be launching StoryPilot, a tool for exploring the impact that documentary films are having on social issues.
At MTM, I hope to meet media makers, impact producers, and facilitators of change so I can deepen my understanding of the world of media impact, and what its needs are. I would like the audience to learn more about Harmony Institute and StoryPilot from me, and perhaps appreciate how data and research can be used to give great media a wider reach and a stronger impact.
Meet Linnea and other innovative media makers at the Media That Matters conference February 19-20. If you haven’t signed up yet, visit the registration page.