AND SCENE.

[Here’s Seth Godin’s take on why scenarios are important]

Scenario

Empathize:
You are living in a crowded city. You are constantly surrounded by music and lights and the security of millions of people. This is comforting. Safety is found in civilization. The transportation, however, is driving you crazy. You are sick of walking on dirty sidewalks and crowding into smelly subway cars. The honking, the swearing, the squealing. You, your significant other and 4 of your friends decide to go on a hiking trip to the mountains about 2 hour north of this city. There’s a great climbing range and a variety of camping/hiking terrains. It’ll be great.

Envision:
Your significant other is sick, but insists you go on the trip. It’ll be great to get some quiet reflecting time. You are, however, mildly worried about being 5th, about having to tag along on only things either couple wants to do, and about making sure your loved one is feeling better. There is a significant lack of cell phone service on the mountain, and your concern for keeping in touch leads you to your local electronic store. There has to be something more solid than BBM.

Plan:
The salesperson at the Electronic store says that everything in their stock is probably not water/rock proof enough for your adventurous trip. The warranties don’t usually cover acts of mother nature. He does, however, direct you to Eastern Mountain Sports, in another part of the mall. The salesperson there (a bit of a granola, it seems, says they have just the thing. A waterproof, steel re-enforced satellite connector to civilization. He says if you want to get away, if turns off and isn’t very noticeable on the wrist. But if you’re tuck under a rock or yearning for some tunes, the CLIMUNS is the missing link for you.

Execute:

Tie your knots, loop your harness, pull your body up. As you make it halfway up a 6-hour climb in the middle of the Shawangunk Ridge, you

a) Remember you left the stove on at your friend’s cabin down in town

b) Slide 15 feet down before your anchor catches, gashing your leg deeply

c) Start having a panic attack and get trapped on a narrow ledge

If you fit into A:

No worries! You can call or text any number from your Climuns! Just pause when you feel safe, turn it on, and as it’s been charging in the UVB rays all day, you can reach anyone who can safe the cabin and kittens residing inside!

If you have the misfortune of being closer to B:

You can still call for help using the Climuns! Or, if you’d rather not end your day but want to tough it out, you can use the ClimuNet function to connect with climbers nearby and maybe borrow some first aid supplies.

And if C sounds about right:

You can sit on that ledge (if it’s safe!), and press the music function on your Climuns, which should not only calm, but energize you. You can put up to 32 gb of your personal music collection on your Climuns and if you have wireless headphones, set them up, if not, it will play from speakers right off your wrist!

There are some real-life scenarios which have inspired climbers and outdoorsmen everywhere to think about innovative products for safety and sanity’s sake…

Don’t let this be you:

(Based on a true story)