While at Confab 2012, we sat down with renowned content strategists Margot Bloomstein and Colleen Jones, both of whom have done a significant amount of work with higher education, for a wide-ranging discussion about how the discipline applies in our field. Bloomstein is principal at Appropriate, Inc., and author of Content Strategy at Work. Jones is principal at Content Science and author of Clout: The Art and Science of Influential Web … [Read more...]
Be Interesting, Please
May 2, 2012 by
It's fast and easy to create and publish content, right? Maybe, but not if you intend for your content to rise above the onslaught of emails, tweets, blogs posts and ads people are hit with every day. Crosby Noricks of Fast Company makes the case to "think like a publisher" by referencing an Instagram photo that reads, "I'll be interested, if you’ll be interesting." That's the voice of our readers asking us for a reason to … [Read more...]
Structured Content: An Overview
March 27, 2012 by
When we create content—whether it’s a tweet, a blog post or a program description—we can no longer anticipate the default experience to be the desktop web browser. Our content is going places—sometimes places we can’t predict. It could be an iPhone, a Kindle, even a Nintendo Wii. As it is dispatched to digital corners far and wide, is it equipped to do its job, no matter the context? Will content goals and user needs remain well … [Read more...]
Content Takeaways from SXSW 2012
March 16, 2012 by
I recently returned from the annual SXSW Interactive festival, which brought 25,000 nerds of various stripes to Austin, Texas, for a week of learning and networking (and breakfast tacos). There were several highlights, but two things pleased me in particular: the strength of the panels on content-related topics and the significant number of higher education professionals in attendance. The great thing about SXSW is that, if you’re interested … [Read more...]
Planning for Time-Shifted Reading
March 5, 2012 by
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about how longform content is a growing trend that merits consideration in higher ed. A topic often discussed in tandem with longform content is time-shifted reading. Sometimes called “DVR for words,” time-shifted reading is an increasingly popular option for content consumption. Before diving into this post, you really need to read (or re-read) Rick’s excellent overview of how we as publishers must plan for … [Read more...]