News, perspectives and links from Together.
What’s the relevance of content strategy to user experience designers? I’ll be attempting to answer that question in 6 minutes and 40 seconds this Thursday, at UK UPA meets Pecha Kucha Night hosted by SapientNitro in the City.
My presentation is called “Wireframes are Works of Fantasy”. Check out the details and grab a ticket.
-Jonathan
Check out the video of the presentation.
Lisa Welchman of web operations management consultancy WelchmanPierpoint has published a lighthearted yet deadly serious e-book called “The Digital Deca: 10 Management Truths for the Web Age”:
Most organizations address low Web quality by redesigning their Web site or installing expensive infrastructure technology. The real reason your Web site keeps falling into disrepair is because your organization’s management practices don’t align with the 21st century business dynamic.
It’s a straightforward, compelling introduction to the difficult topics of web strategy, governance, and execution. Is there a businessperson in your life who could benefit from it? Download the PDF e-book or browse the slideshare presentation.
UK industry magazine New Media Age published a feature on content strategy this week, including a couple of quotes from us. It’s great to see the discipline getting so much attention in the industry. It’s a solid introduction to content strategy, well worth a read:
Everyone’s a content producer these days. But the growing volume of content that brand owners distribute across multiple digital platforms is driving a fresh challenge up the corporate agenda: how to create a publishing culture that allows you to plan and manage content more strategically.
To avoid NMA’s paywall, visit the article via google.
We were delighted to help organise “Content Strategy, Manhattan Style” in London on 13 April, featuring three of New York’s finest content strategists: Rachel Lovinger, Karen McGrane, and Jeff MacIntyre.
Here are three short video clips from the event:
Want to see more? Check out the full video.
I was honoured to speak at Ignite London 2 on the topic: “Stop Killing Your Best Work”:
You can read more about the inspiration for the talk on my blog.
-Jonathan
The discipline of content strategy plans for the creation, delivery, and governance of useful, usable content (as defined by Kristina Halvorson).
It’s been around for as long as the web, but only in tiny pockets; most web projects still don’t consider content until the last minute, resulting in poor user experiences, stagnant websites, and unfulfilled objectives.
2009 was the breakout year for web content strategy; in 2010 it’s finally coming to Europe. This April, Paris will host the world’s first Content Strategy Forum, featuring an exceptional programme of leaders in this emerging field of practice. We’re honoured to be presenting: Jonathan Kahn’s session is called “A ‘Do It Yourself’ Guide to Content Strategy”.
On their way to Paris, Rachel Lovinger, Karen McGrane, and Jeff MacIntyre—three of New York’s finest content strategists—will be speaking at a preview event here in London called “Content Strategy, Manhattan Style”:
Join Content Strategy UK and London IA as we welcome three of New York’s finest content strategists to London on Tuesday 13 April 2010.
Taking place at The Book Club in Shoreditch, this informal evening of discussion and socialising is the place to be if you want to learn more about the business value, opportunities, and practical application of this emerging field of practice. The event is free but space is limited, so get your ticket now.
We’ve just launched a redesigned website for Penny Walker, a consultant who facilitates change for sustainability.
As part of the redesign process, we developed a new content strategy for Penny, building on her existing publishing activity in print. The new website lays out Penny’s core approach in detail (“Making change”), while a new blog combines regular essays with more free-form blog posts.
The redesign included a new identity by David Caines, and original photography and illustration.
The team collaborating with Penny on the redesign were:
Read the full write-up: A manifesto for making change.
There’s been a lively debate recently around the topics of web governance, web strategy, and their implications for web design in general. So we were delighted to hear that Lisa Welchman of WelchmanPierpoint, a thought leader in this area, is speaking in London on 12 November on the subject of Web Governance:
Fifteen years into mainstream Web adoption, most organizations operate their Web presence without fully understanding who in the organization is in charge of, and accountable for, the quality and effectiveness of the Web. The do-your-own thing, implement first and plan later mentality, which may have been useful during the start-up phase of a web site, is now choking the effectiveness and maturity of your Web presence as various factions tussle over who has absolute control or the “last-word” when it come to the web site. In order for the Web revolution to continue, organizations need to come to grips with the fact that policy and standards enable collaboration, not hinder it.
It’s a free breakfast briefing at Church House in Westminster (nearest tubes: Westminster or St James’s Park), hosted by technology vendor Vamosa. For more information, and to register online, check out the event page.
Highly recommended; we’ll see you there!
You might have heard people claim that blogging, and social networking tools like Twitter, can help your business in the way that advertising used to: a supercharged, free successor to traditional marketing.
But if you’re not sure how on earth that might work, you might want to check out some of best-selling author Seth Godin’s material. A great place to start is this series of four videos from the Amex Open series. Seth argues that the value of blogging comes as much from the process of thinking about what you’re going to say, as the audience you reach; and that social networks only have business value when they represent real relationships.
Highly recommended.
We’re delighted to welcome content strategist Kate Kenyon to the Together London roster. From her bio:
Kate Kenyon is a content strategist, senior production editor, and writer, with almost a decade’s experience of commercial website creation.
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