Join your fellow Forum members for
First Wednesday Happy Hour
Call it networking, socializing... whatever you wish. Just be there.
Campus Club Bar
Wednesday, March 2, 4:30 p.m.
The Forum will provide delicious Campus Club appetizers--you cover your drinks.
See you there!
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Writing for the web: When an "F" pattern = Fail
Something within me wants to believe that writing for the web is really no different from writing for any other medium. The key to all writing, in the end, has to be quality. The key to all everything, in the end, has to be quality. And so very often I tell myself,
that if people
are reading
things on the
web in an "F"
pattern, then
perhaps what
we're reading isn't worth the time that it took to read. Perhaps
what we're reading isn't worth the time that it took to create.
Maybe, we're wasting our minds away with quantity and meaning-
less drivel to
satisfy some
some compul-
sion external to...
what we'd
write about
if we cared.
Maybe if we
wrote about
meaningful
things, readers
would read
in another
pattern.
Maybe they'd
read an "O"...
maybe "F"
equals FAIL.
More on this
in a later post.
In the meantime,
here's some interesting
thought on the matter.
that if people
are reading
things on the
web in an "F"
pattern, then
perhaps what
we're reading isn't worth the time that it took to read. Perhaps
what we're reading isn't worth the time that it took to create.
Maybe, we're wasting our minds away with quantity and meaning-
less drivel to
satisfy some
some compul-
sion external to...
what we'd
write about
if we cared.
Maybe if we
wrote about
meaningful
things, readers
would read
in another
pattern.
Maybe they'd
read an "O"...
maybe "F"
equals FAIL.
in a later post.
In the meantime,
here's some interesting
thought on the matter.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
"Design solves problems in the world." An interview with U of M design dean Tom Fisher
It looks like The Line online magazine is beginning a "Big Picture" interview series. Their first interview happens to be a conversation on designing the future with U of M design dean Tom Fisher.
Monday, February 14, 2011
What to publish online and when?
The subject of this month's Forum program "What to Publish Online-And When" has no doubt been on the minds of any communicator who works with publications.
Creating any type of web presence to go along with a publication presents many challenges. You're dealing with a potentially different audience online, so you need to factor that in. You also need to create something compelling enough to drive print readers to your website--offering them something more to go along with the story.
The best way I've heard this described is as a "companion site." It's not merely a reproduction of the magazine in an online format, but a site that works with the print publication to present online content that enriches each story.
I'd love to see some examples of publications doing this well. If you know of some, please post a link in the comments section of this blog post.
For those of you who haven't registered for the program yet, here is the info:
Thursday, February 17, 2010
Networking and registration: 3 pm
Program: 3:30 - 4:30 pm
1-105 Hanson Hall, West Bank
We will be raffling off another FREE one-year membership to the Communicator's Forum at the end of the program. Don't miss your chance to win.
As always, this program is free to UMCF members; $10 for non-members, $5 for students.
Register at https://umcf.umn.edu/programs/index.php
Friday, February 11, 2011
Social Media Blunders: We Know Better
I read with some relish this piece posted today from SmartBrief on Social Media:
The Suxorz pick the worst social media moves of 2010.
I can't help it, I love to see the bad. I learn so much from it.
Remember Cisco's "Ted from Accounting"? Barely, right? It was their lame attempt to mimic Old Spice's brilliant campaign where Ismail Mustafa made videos on the fly based on tweeted suggestions.
Did you hear about Denny's asking their customers to "join the conversation"--by directing their customers to an abandoned Twitter account held by a boy in Taiwan? Anyone can make an error, but it took Denny's many months to even notice their mistake.
My favorite blunder? The Price Chopper grocery store complained to a customer's boss when she complained about the store on their Facebook page. Yikes!
As I read about these beautiful losers, I couldn't help but think that we know better here. I thought of the monthly program we had a couple years ago with Katie Elfering from Iconoculture, who taught us viral videos can be nurtured, but never controlled. And while entering social media is nerve wracking, Liz Giorgi reminded us at a social media brown bag that we have to let the audience have their say and police themselves--there is no absolute control, and that's ok. The benefits outweigh the risk.
And finally, we don't need a monthly program to tell us to check our work. The Denny's mistake is hysterical because their real Twitter accounts are much longer than simply @dennys, and they just simply didn't notice or bother to correct their mistake. We know better: check, test, recheck, retest. Then click send.
The Suxorz pick the worst social media moves of 2010.
I can't help it, I love to see the bad. I learn so much from it.
Remember Cisco's "Ted from Accounting"? Barely, right? It was their lame attempt to mimic Old Spice's brilliant campaign where Ismail Mustafa made videos on the fly based on tweeted suggestions.
Did you hear about Denny's asking their customers to "join the conversation"--by directing their customers to an abandoned Twitter account held by a boy in Taiwan? Anyone can make an error, but it took Denny's many months to even notice their mistake.
My favorite blunder? The Price Chopper grocery store complained to a customer's boss when she complained about the store on their Facebook page. Yikes!
As I read about these beautiful losers, I couldn't help but think that we know better here. I thought of the monthly program we had a couple years ago with Katie Elfering from Iconoculture, who taught us viral videos can be nurtured, but never controlled. And while entering social media is nerve wracking, Liz Giorgi reminded us at a social media brown bag that we have to let the audience have their say and police themselves--there is no absolute control, and that's ok. The benefits outweigh the risk.
And finally, we don't need a monthly program to tell us to check our work. The Denny's mistake is hysterical because their real Twitter accounts are much longer than simply @dennys, and they just simply didn't notice or bother to correct their mistake. We know better: check, test, recheck, retest. Then click send.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Texting is Here to Stay... Whether You Like It or Not!
As I scold my two teenagers for texting at the dinner table,
I am secretly harboring anxious, worrisome thoughts about my own cell phone. It
sits on the counter, initially vibrating thrice before the alert phases into a
persistent, flashing red light. It is teasing me mercilessly with information
that I cannot know unless I jump over my chicken Caesar salad and pounce. What
is it about the message light that gets me so riled up? There must be something
animalistic - primordial even - in me because I seriously detest the concept of
texting. Or so I tell myself.
Try as I might to resist the urge to fore go any truncated conversation
using only my thumbs, I cannot. Too many people are texting other people who
are texting other people hundreds of times every day. It is almost impossible
to slow let alone stop this moving train unless the special effects director
says so. So, alas, I feel I must give in or rather chalk it up to progress and
enjoy the ride!
So, I ask myself what is it about texting that bugs me so? I
think first it is because texts are like secrets shared in front of others. I
find myself asking my kids, "who are you talking to?" I am sure I know, but I
feel the need to ask nonetheless. Their answers?
"Brett [daughter's boyfriend]" or "Mitch [son's best friend]."
Ah. Now that I know, what do I do with that information?
Nothing! What CAN I do with it? They are communicating with each other with no
sense of including me in their teenage musings (not that they would regardless
of mode of communication). Are not they essentially whispering in each others
ear, telling secrets? In a sense, they are. But if I desperately feel the need
to know, I ask. They are invariably discussing the upcoming statistics test or
the science fair. Whew! That was close!
Texting also takes away the beauty of the written word and
bastardizes all things grammatically good. It is an affront to the spelling bee
where you either spell stromuhr
correctly or go home empty handed. It is an insult to professional writers
where strict rules must be adhered to in order for works to be published. LOL.
IKR. :)
Not surprisingly, texting greatly affects our social skills.
Much of our communication is through sights, sounds, facial expressions, tones,
etc. Texting nullifies all of that. Will this permanently affect texters'
abilities to communicate effectively in other situations? My guess is that it
already has.
However, texting is here to stay. I am sure that eventually,
the next step in human evolution will incorporate elongated, more aerodynamic
thumbs and weakened vocal cords. As long as there are texting contests from the Kansas
State Fair prize of $1,000 to the LG
Mobile Phone national texting grand prize of $100,000, people will text.
After all, we are human and the quick fix (though it never really is just that)
is our specialty... that and the fact that we crave instant gratification which
texting wholly provides.
I suspect that, in the future, individuals in power will not
have succumbed to the texting phenomenon, will have retained short stubby thumbs
and developed booming operatic voices. They may even have professional "texters"
who text for them should the need arise. Who am I to say, though, that this may
already be a reality for some individuals. Not this individual, I am happy to
say. I will text on my own, thank you very much.
What is it about texting that draws us nigh and holds us to
its bosom? Something exciting and instant about the whole thing, I suspect. We
all know not to text and drive. I could list out a whole host of etiquette pointers
from any of a number of blogs about when not to text. That is not my purpose
here. I am just musing, I guess, at what will happen with the texting revolution.
Will anyone just send me a handwritten card in the mail other than on my
birthday? Wait, I only get birthday wishes on Facebook now. Geez. Yet another
reason the US Post Office is downsizing... but that's another blog.
I am secretly harboring anxious, worrisome thoughts about my own cell phone. It
sits on the counter, initially vibrating thrice before the alert phases into a
persistent, flashing red light. It is teasing me mercilessly with information
that I cannot know unless I jump over my chicken Caesar salad and pounce. What
is it about the message light that gets me so riled up? There must be something
animalistic - primordial even - in me because I seriously detest the concept of
texting. Or so I tell myself.
Try as I might to resist the urge to fore go any truncated conversation
using only my thumbs, I cannot. Too many people are texting other people who
are texting other people hundreds of times every day. It is almost impossible
to slow let alone stop this moving train unless the special effects director
says so. So, alas, I feel I must give in or rather chalk it up to progress and
enjoy the ride!
So, I ask myself what is it about texting that bugs me so? I
think first it is because texts are like secrets shared in front of others. I
find myself asking my kids, "who are you talking to?" I am sure I know, but I
feel the need to ask nonetheless. Their answers?
"Brett [daughter's boyfriend]" or "Mitch [son's best friend]."
Ah. Now that I know, what do I do with that information?
Nothing! What CAN I do with it? They are communicating with each other with no
sense of including me in their teenage musings (not that they would regardless
of mode of communication). Are not they essentially whispering in each others
ear, telling secrets? In a sense, they are. But if I desperately feel the need
to know, I ask. They are invariably discussing the upcoming statistics test or
the science fair. Whew! That was close!
Texting also takes away the beauty of the written word and
bastardizes all things grammatically good. It is an affront to the spelling bee
where you either spell stromuhr
correctly or go home empty handed. It is an insult to professional writers
where strict rules must be adhered to in order for works to be published. LOL.
IKR. :)
Not surprisingly, texting greatly affects our social skills.
Much of our communication is through sights, sounds, facial expressions, tones,
etc. Texting nullifies all of that. Will this permanently affect texters'
abilities to communicate effectively in other situations? My guess is that it
already has.
However, texting is here to stay. I am sure that eventually,
the next step in human evolution will incorporate elongated, more aerodynamic
thumbs and weakened vocal cords. As long as there are texting contests from the Kansas
State Fair prize of $1,000 to the LG
Mobile Phone national texting grand prize of $100,000, people will text.
After all, we are human and the quick fix (though it never really is just that)
is our specialty... that and the fact that we crave instant gratification which
texting wholly provides.
I suspect that, in the future, individuals in power will not
have succumbed to the texting phenomenon, will have retained short stubby thumbs
and developed booming operatic voices. They may even have professional "texters"
who text for them should the need arise. Who am I to say, though, that this may
already be a reality for some individuals. Not this individual, I am happy to
say. I will text on my own, thank you very much.
What is it about texting that draws us nigh and holds us to
its bosom? Something exciting and instant about the whole thing, I suspect. We
all know not to text and drive. I could list out a whole host of etiquette pointers
from any of a number of blogs about when not to text. That is not my purpose
here. I am just musing, I guess, at what will happen with the texting revolution.
Will anyone just send me a handwritten card in the mail other than on my
birthday? Wait, I only get birthday wishes on Facebook now. Geez. Yet another
reason the US Post Office is downsizing... but that's another blog.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
When you're not on Facebook . . . .
I have this approach to writing that could be viewed as nonproductive. When I worked in daily newspapers and came back from reporting a story, I would often talk it through with colleagues--telling the story helped me to figure out how to write it. Inevitably, the most interesting and crucial pieces to the story became evident in the verbal recitation. I could then sit down at the keyboard and rattle it out in plenty of time for that day's deadline.
Obviously I couldn't do this all the time, but when I did, I found the writing flowed more easily after having verbalized the key points with someone who often prompted fresh realizations and/or potential approaches. It wasn't unusual to be recounting something I was not really that focused on only to have a colleague say, "Well, there's your lead."
This kind of rehashing isn't feasible in my current environment. So I come back from an event or a meeting with a client, my head full of facts and my notebook filled with quotes, but no fellow writers with whom to bounce the story around.
So I:
1) Go through my notes with a highlighter.
2) Stare at the screen.
3) Draft a lead that I immediate erase.
4) Get a cup of coffee.
5) Go through the notes again. Organize collateral material.
6) Try a new lead. Erase it.
7) Play a game of solitaire.
8) Write the first five paragraphs in a burst of inspiration.
9) Stare at the screen some more.
10) Do a forced march through the rest of the story, knowing I will come back to it in the morning and revise, revise, revise.
Fortunately I'm a fast writer and my assignments don't back up due to this round-about approach. But I'm curious what others do to jump-start their writing assignments. Maybe some of you are lucky enough to have other writers/editors with whom to jawbone the story. Others may have certain little tricks to get things moving on the screen that you'd be willing to share.
I just know that when I tell a co-worker who wanders into my office that a game of solitaire is sometimes what I need to loosen my brain for writing, he or she is bound to give me that look that says, "Sure, you slacker."
Obviously I couldn't do this all the time, but when I did, I found the writing flowed more easily after having verbalized the key points with someone who often prompted fresh realizations and/or potential approaches. It wasn't unusual to be recounting something I was not really that focused on only to have a colleague say, "Well, there's your lead."
This kind of rehashing isn't feasible in my current environment. So I come back from an event or a meeting with a client, my head full of facts and my notebook filled with quotes, but no fellow writers with whom to bounce the story around.
So I:
1) Go through my notes with a highlighter.
2) Stare at the screen.
3) Draft a lead that I immediate erase.
4) Get a cup of coffee.
5) Go through the notes again. Organize collateral material.
6) Try a new lead. Erase it.
7) Play a game of solitaire.
8) Write the first five paragraphs in a burst of inspiration.
9) Stare at the screen some more.
10) Do a forced march through the rest of the story, knowing I will come back to it in the morning and revise, revise, revise.
Fortunately I'm a fast writer and my assignments don't back up due to this round-about approach. But I'm curious what others do to jump-start their writing assignments. Maybe some of you are lucky enough to have other writers/editors with whom to jawbone the story. Others may have certain little tricks to get things moving on the screen that you'd be willing to share.
I just know that when I tell a co-worker who wanders into my office that a game of solitaire is sometimes what I need to loosen my brain for writing, he or she is bound to give me that look that says, "Sure, you slacker."
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Quality Fair 2011
In case you hadn't heard--and most likely you're locked in a closet if you haven't heard--the 2011 Quality Fair is tomorrow, Feb. 3, 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Carlson School of Management. Every year, I expect this event to be boring, and every year I'm always surprised with the creativity and ideas that I come across. Lots of U of M communicators are there presenting posters; plus, I think there are some free snacks...you can't lose. Stop on by.
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