September 20, 2023
August 16, 2023
March 6, 2014
I’ve written a few things over the past few months since publishing that chapter in Smashing Magazine’s New Perspectives on Web Design, but none of them have managed to land here. So let’s fix that.
December 25, 2013
Society saves seven dollars for each dollar spent on early education, or so the United Way has told us for years. Stats like this are important. But they also bum me out. They focus on doing things becuase they are efficient, not because they are the right thing to do.
We’re at a point in our industry when some clients can’t be convinced, or require a level of convincing that goes beyond what the project requires. Some small businesses require an extra level of attention, but others are continually suspicious and are more work than they’re worth.
November 26, 2013
I’m excited to officially announce the my inclusion in The Smashing Book #4: New Perspectives on Web Design. SURPRISE – I wrote about content strategy. The chapter, which focuses on both sides of the content strategy landscape – both user needs and editor needs – serves as a capstone to all of this empathy stuff that’s I’ve been writing and talking about over the past year and a half. So go buy it.
May 30, 2013
We spend a lot of time worrying about where content will come from and what form it will take. Where we often stumble is aligning those decisions with our existing resources. Because while structured content and editorial calendars are fantastic, they take time – time a small business or non-profit may not have. So let’s talk a bit about how we can prioritize tasks and goals, all while taking our clients’ existing pool of time into consideration.
May 14, 2013
The fine people at Offscreen Magazine asked me to write about something – anything – and I landed on the weird junction of computer memory vs. human memory. It’s about photography. It’s about information architecture. It’s about my faulty memory. It’s about organization, its place in our life, and why it matters.
February 28, 2013
A lot of praise for Karen McGrane’s recent column, a little notice about a post I wrote about speaking, and a whole bunch of excitement for our gradual shift toward audience-centered talks.
January 31, 2013
The chasm of understanding between consultant and client – or between content person and marketing team, or whatever your situation might be – is a dangerous hurdle. Our job as content experts is to understand that, despite the promises and assurances we make in terms of a client’s content, our own explanations and processes are tangled, weirdly worded and sometimes impossible to decipher.
January 16, 2013
Confab was a big deal for me in 2011. I reinforced a lot of assumed friendships and started dozens more, all while basking in the glow of being among my people. So it was my pleasure to write a blog post for the Confab Events blog about how important the conference experience is.
January 15, 2013
2013 is the year of thinking small. And, it’s the year of two new blog series. We’ll take out the dissection kit and pick apart the fields within a structured content model. And we’ll do the same with our methodology, adapting it to fit the needs of a smaller business, pointing out the places where it’s okay to skimp and slide, and pass along some thoughts on empathizing with a marketing manager who’s already working extra without the added weight of a new content management system.
October 30, 2012
I was fortunate enough to travel to Cape Town, South Africa, this past week. In addition to beautiful weather and brandy distillery tours, I watched a bunch of great speakers and friends talk at length about a little bit of everything – from driving change to HTML5; from the challenges of owning – and changing – a business to the functional possibilities of structured content. It was inspiring and comfortable – a little bit like Content Strategy Camp – and the attendees and speakers alike were all wonderful.
