Content Flex

Higher-ed Content Strategist and shoe/hat collecter. Portfolio Twitter [email protected]

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“It is your mission to get your content out, on whichever platform, in whichever format your audience wants to consume it. Your users get to decide how, when, and where they want to read your content. It is your challenge and your responsibility to deliver a good experience to them. “

An excerpt from Content Strategy for Mobile by Karen McGrane. (via teruterubouzu)

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Office Look 1

Lately I've been into buying crosstrainer sneakers. Stuff like Nike Air Max 90s, New Balances, Reeboks, etc. I don't run nearly as much as I should to merit full useage of these kicks, which are ostensibly made for people more athletic than I. But, the frame and design of crosstrainers yield a look I'm very much into, especially when crossing it with casual office wear.

By no means do I think this look is new. I'm positive Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were rocking this look back in Silicon Valley. But it's refreshing to dress this way, because it juggles Summer, Fall and Winter (if you desire) at the same damn time.

Enough talk. Here's some photos.

Here's a pair of ASICS X Highs and Lows collabo kicks.

They're not out yet, though I imagine they're comfortable and, man, I'm into the red. Been wanting a pair of reds for a bit-- they'd go well with a pair of brown chinos like the ones below.

and then a black polo.

Note: My office environment is pretty liberal about attire. I can pretty much wear shorts and flip-flops to the job if I'd like. Hell, this is web-- what do I need this note for haha. But meetings are obviously a different story.

So yeah, if you're in higher-ed and sometimes have to walk far to get to the office, invest in a pair of nice trainers and have it with dark/neutral colors on the lower body, and go crazy with the upper.

I read a fair amount of style blogs and pubs, but I'm in no way an authority on clothes. This is just what I'm into.

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What it means to launch a website

Site launch

So happy to announce that my team launched a giant redesign (we penned it "Refresh") of our school's main website (http://fiu.edu). Check it out, tell me what you think! I'm open to all insights and critiques.

We worked, essentially, all year on the site, utilizing elements of responsive web design as well as parallax scrolling and multiple avenues for content sustainability. Pretty proud of this thing, and what's best about it: it's gonna keep growing.

Content doesn't end there

This idea is something I've come across working with my team the past year: live content. And it's something I want to push more with clients, who believe that site launch is the end of the web development process... which couldn't be any farther from the truth. 

The reality is "launching a site" marks as just one step in the process of sustaining the site's content and the site itself. The content is up and it's live, but what now? Does it just stay there until the next redesign?

Maintaining your site's content is a process in itself, but one that will benefit your site's relevancy.

Content maintenance

Think of it as a newspaper. Every day, publications have an AM team meeting discussing what's going on the next day's paper. Sometimes even two meetings throughout the day. They discuss the content for both the paper and the site.

Now, depending on the site you're working with, a daily meeting probably isn't necessary. But let's say you're dealing with a school site that's visited by students every day. From my experience, most students use the site simply for getting the information they need. But the user experience is vital. Supplementing the students with news stories and social media content (Instagram photos, tweets, facebook posts) can further the student presence on the site. 

That's where I'm at now. I've become somewhat of a liaison for my team within the news organization at my school. Simply maintaining a presence within this organization not only has me gathering fresh content on a weekly basis, but it builds bridges with other divisions and makes information transparent.

Content ends at deletion

Content needs maintenance, review, revisions, rewrites, etc. It never ends. And like Kristina Halvorson says in her book "Content Strategy for the Web", the only time you can not worry about content is when it's "removed--archived or literally deleted--from your website. The end."

Introducing clients to this

So when working with clients, think in the long-term, especially at kick-off. Devise a post-launch plan for content maintenance. Obviously, you need to train your clients on how to use the CMS, but also set up content meetings in the weeks after launch. Weekly meetings that serve as not only content huddles (what's gonna change this week? If they have a blog, what story are they gonna post this week? What's going up on the calendar?) but as routine-starters that get clients in the groove of updating the site on a consistent basis.

If you have any questions or comments, e-mail me at [email protected]

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Branding and quantifying simplicity

Siegel Gale, an audience research group, recently did a study on branding and simplicity; and went on to list the "simplest" brands in the world.

They somehow found a way to quantify the idea of simplicity and create a global index for the idea. They ran down all the factors involved with the term, including service, branding and user/customer experience (among others), and executed a research on what brands carry the "simple" philosophy.

Of course, companies like Google, Apple and Ikea make the list because their brands have been engrained in our subconscious as ostensibly "simple". 

But what's really interesting about the study aren't the brands/companies listed, but the philosophy of simplicity and how Siegel Gate iterate all of the pros of fostering this idea.

From a content strategy and, even, design POV, this doc is a must-read. Complex and muddled experiences are easy-- just let things happen and you'll see how it happens. Simplicity requires painstaking work and focus. 

Creating useable, pertinent (yet, simple) content is difficult to do, but rewarding in the end. When overtaking a project, research the consumers/audience and find out what they need/want. Really think about this as an essential factor in content curation and strategy. And make it as simple as possible, creating as many opportunities for content nirvana, with the least amount of avenues... if that's makes sense. You don't want too much content, but enough to contribute to the brand's user experience.

Take a look at the 2012 Global Brand Simplicity Index, and tell me what you think.

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Content Strategy 101

Couple weeks back I presented for my school's web group (UWeb), where we gather once a month to create dialogue on specific topics. The point is to spread ideas to anyone interested in web (not just the school's web community).

My presentation was a general Content Strategy intro. Hadn't presented in front of people since college (year and a half ago) and I was a wreck. I, also, hadn't used Power Point in years, so this slideshow is rough. Either way, here it is for your viewing pleasure.

Content strategy 101 from ryanmorejon

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It's called "the web" for a reason

Something I've come across, having worked with multiple clients, is the idea of having their sites be the sorta "end-all-be-all" of information-- linking/leading to anything externally is frowned upon (from the client point-of-view).

One client this week pushed for a photo gallery page mechanically working from within the CMS (content management system... similar to Wordpress or Tumblr), functioning so that all photos are uploaded/downloaded from the website itself. Some of our best practices implement Flickr as an avenue for viewing and grabbing photos-- it's worked in the past pretty well for other clients. Simply embedding a feed onto the page works fine and doesn't look too bad.

The client's rationale is to have the user stay on the site and not have to go somewhere else to gather info. In a way, I sympathize with this mindset because you want your site to provide all the information you need.

But it got me thinking about the community aspect of website/content development and the "web" side of the internet equation.

Using the web as an actual avenue for weaving content can create a strong and stable web presence.

Earlier this year, I sat down for a Meet Content webinar called "Effective Content Curation for Higher Ed", which doubled down on this idea of having the user both enter and leave your site for the sake of the content. You can check it out below.

Effective Content Curation in Higher Ed from meetcontent

I believe it was Georgy Cohen (I could be wrong) who conducted the 'nar and talked about content at her old job at Tufts University (I believe) which implemented "orange" and Pinterest as mechanisms for content. She had users leave the university site to visit an "orange"-centric Pinterest board, that added to the overall user/college experience (UX).

If content needs to be grabbed externally, then the idea of leaving the site should not be frowned upon, but rather embraced as part of your site's overall content web.

I'm currently curating content my school's "Life at ___" section, which is coming out nicely. But I've invited the idea of having students explore the facets of this page, which do lead them elsewhere. But if the experience is positive and their content needs are fulfilled, then I expect they'll come back.

Clients should maintain this attitude of open-ness and community, which can only help keep their content fresh and fluid.

Let me know what your opinion is. 

If you have questions, e-mail me at [email protected]

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Welcome, welcome, welcome.

Small introduction of myself-- my name is Ryan and I work as a higher-ed content strategist for Florida International University's Web Communications team. I've been working as such for about a year now, after spending a year before doing on-and-off content flow jobs for the team.

Last December they recruited me as their content strategist-- I agreed to it, with relatively no knowledge of what the hell a CS was (man I really needed a job back then [internships are the worst]). Little did I know, that even the small percentage of content strategists working full-time around then were probably winging it, too.

It made "carving my own niche" in the team a little frustrating.

Either way-- this blog really isn't about how I got started as a content strategist or information architect, nor will I be defining it in any way. I might post a slideshow I presented last week... a sorta Content Strategy 101 for anyone scratching their head on the title. But for the most part, I assume y'all know what I'm talking about.

And if you don't, I will put it in the simplest terms, because that's my style (prophet of simplicity)

Plainy: this blog will be about what I'm working on currently and some of the things I come across from this job.

As well as periodically talking about what exactly I'm wearing to work that day because what you wear to work can influence your productivity for the day (or something like that).