The web’s hit the big time in a way few of us imagined possible. So as people who make websites, you’d think we’d be celebrating our repeated successes in designing amazing user experiences, as the organizations we work for become increasingly successful. But many of us have noticed a problem in our work: the user experiences we deliver don’t meet our expectations. Here’s the problem: organizations are the context for our work, and when it comes to the web, organizations are broken.
Calling all content strategists, user experience designers, information architects, web writers and editors, web developers and technologists, marketers, communications pros, product managers, publishers and entrepreneurs: this is an event you won’t want to miss.
In a series of lightning-style talks of 5 minutes each (with plenty of pauses for drinks), eight speakers (including two international guests) will fill you in on what they learned at Confab, the groundbreaking U.S. content strategy conference, earlier this month—followed by a sneak peek of what’s to come this September at CS Forum 11 in London.
Hosted in the stunning Mermaid Centre, join us to learn, talk, socialise, discuss, network, pow-wow, postulate and surmise. And did we mention it’s free?
Fresh from the Confab content strategy conference in Minneapolis – the first event of its kind in the USA – these Confab speakers & attendees will share what they learned, what inspired them, and what it all means for the future of our organisations – as well as why content strategists are obsessed with cake.
Sara Wachter-Boettcher (@sara_ann_marie): special guest visiting from Phoenix, Arizona. Director of Interactive Content & Marketing Strategy at Off Madison Ave, blogger, and Phoenix Content Strategy Meetup organiser.
Richard Ingram (@richardjingram): Partner atingserv, diagrammer extraordinaire, and content strategy advocate.
Whether you’ve already registered or debating whether to attend, you’ll enjoy these three Content Strategy Forum speakers (and one organiser) each giving a tantalising five minute preview of what’s coming in September.
Destry Wion (@wion): special guest visiting from Strasbourg, France. Organiser of Content Strategy Forum (Paris 2010 & London 2011), co-organiser of the CS Paris meetup, UX designer, and writer.
Diana Railton (@dianarailton): Founder ofDRCC, specialist in corporate communications and content strategy.
CS Forum is Europe’s flagship content strategy conference. We’re thrilled to be organising it this year in London, along with the super-talented Randall Snare and Destry Wion. We can’t wait to welcome you to London.
I’ve been invited to present to the Geneva Web Group next Wednesday 24 November, as part of the first Geneva Content Strategy meetup. My presentation is called “Content Strategy for Web Managers”:
You know that content strategy is crucial to your organization’s mission: content is a critical business asset that’s central to user experience. But there’s a problem: your organization still thinks it’s 1999. How do you turn around the oil tanker? Learn how to shift the conversation from fear and denial towards positive and realistic change, by becoming a content strategy advocate.
If you’re in Geneva and interested in content strategy, you should come! Check out the details.
Any web project more complex than a blog requires custom CMS design work. It’s tempting to use familiar tools and try to shoehorn content in—but we can’t select the appropriate tool until we’ve figured out the project’s specific needs. So what should a CMS give us, apart from a bunch of features? How can we choose and customize a CMS to fit a project’s needs? How can content strategy help us understand what those needs really are? And what happens a day, a week, or a year after we’ve installed and customized the CMS?
Following the resounding success of the Content Strategy Forum 2010 in Paris, we’re bringing the flagship European content strategy conference to London on 5-7 September 2011. Mark your calendar now!
Two world-class speakers and pioneers of the discipline are already confirmed to headline the conference.
Gerry McGovern has been a thought leader on the strategic value of quality web content for 15 years. Internationally renowned as an author, speaker, consultant, and teacher on web management, usability, and task-focused content, Gerry is CEO of Customer Carewords in Dublin, Ireland. His clients include Microsoft, Cisco, Enterprise Ireland, and HSBC. Gerry has written four books, including Content Critical, Killer Web Content and his latest, The Stranger’s Long Neck.
Karen McGrane has pioneered the disciplines of information architecture, user experience design, and content strategy for 15 years. The very first Information Architect at Razorfish, she became the VP and National Lead for User Experience. Over the decade she spent there, she led projects for dozens of clients, overseeing major redesign initiatives for The New York Times, Condé Nast, Disney, and Citibank. Today, Karen is Senior Partner at Bond Art + Science in New York City, teaches the MFA in Interaction Design at the School of Visual Arts, and speaks at conferences around the world.
Diverse format, central London location
The conference will feature both single-track and multi-track sessions, half-day workshops, a debate or two, Ignite-style short talks, and plenty of social events around town. Our venue is the Mermaid Centre in central London, which features a state-of-the-art auditorium, break-out rooms, and top notch catering with spectacular views of the Thames.
Stay informed
Follow updates about the event on twitter @cs_forum, or register your email address at http://csforum.eu and we’ll let you know when the conference website launches.
The team
Content Strategy Forum 2011 is organised by Together London. Meet the team:
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.
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.
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”.
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.
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 