I’m not a designer by training. In fact, I am not a designer at all. My extraordinarily talented brother was blessed with all the artistic ability. I’m a writer-turned-content strategist who dabbles in design because my agency lacks the budget for a full-time designer. All of this is basically a long-winded way of building up to the admission that in … Continue reading
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, or Your Website Is Not a Used Bookstore
Imagine taking a good-sized bookstore, picking it up, and shaking its contents out onto a football field. Somewhere in the resulting pile of books lie the works of Aristotle, Newton, and Auden, but if you wade in and start picking up books at random, you’re much likelier to get Love’s Tender Fury and Chicken Soup for the Hoosier Soul. We’re … Continue reading
Posted in Digital Media
1 Comment
Your CMS Sucks. Here’s Why That Matters.
My last post diagnosed some of the problems that can get in the way of good content strategy. I argue there that one of the main culprits is a lousy content management system, which leads to: Content that isn’t adaptable across platforms. Processes still driven by the needs of print. Enterprise content management systems geared toward facilitating the sharing of … Continue reading
Posted in Digital Media
7 Comments
Beyond Lorem Ipsum. Rethinking Content Strategy.
Web design is about more than slapping a nice palette over top of a grid based on the golden ratio. Nor is it about using the latest CSS tricks (cool as those may be). It’s about thinking of your entire site holistically. Sure, design matters. But so does content. And context. You can’t design a site without first figuring out … Continue reading
Posted in Digital Media
1 Comment
Print Is Dead, Metadata Rocks, and Grocery Store Tiles Are Different Sizes: Lessons from An Event Apart, Day 1
So I recognize that my title is obnoxiously long. I also recognize that I’m violating all the rules I spend my days championing. (Short titles. Most important sentence first. Action in the first 5 words. Keywords.) I don’t really care. This is my blog. About 8 other people read it. On a really good day. I can ramble if I … Continue reading
Posted in Digital Media
4 Comments
Leadership and Collective Action Problems, or Goofy Games with Surprising Implications
I’m not generally all that big on “leadership training.” Back in early 2007, I spent a lot of time prowling around through the business section of the local Barnes & Noble, doing some research for a potential gig ghostwriting a book on leadership. The project never really came together (thank you, FactCheck.org). But the experience did teach me one lesson. … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Navel Gazing
Leave a comment
It’s Cold. Let’s Eat.
The return of fall—or of fall weather anyway—inspires rather mixed feelings in the Fleming-Miller household. Caroline, good Southerner that she is, loves the heat. Me? I enjoy all things fall. Hiking through forests turned red and gold, mountain views becoming more expansive as the canopy falls. Jackets and sweaters replacing t-shirts. Shorter evenings catching us unaware. Mostly, though, I love … Continue reading
Posted in Food
Leave a comment
Philosophy and Economics
So, I wore my new David Hume shirt to work yesterday. And before you ask, yes, I am in fact that much of a nerd. Also, yes, I do in fact have a job where I can wear that shirt on a Thursday and no one cares. Some parts of my job I really like. Anyway, I found the whole … Continue reading
Posted in Economics, Philosophy
Leave a comment
Zombies and Bloggers and Politics. So fun.
Feed by Mira Grant My rating: 4 of 5 stars I really enjoyed Feed far more than I thought I would. I mean, okay, there are zombies. That’s definitely a plus, though I suspect that the current wave of zombie books/movies/shows might already have peaked. At the end of the day, there’s only so much you can do with zombies, … Continue reading
Posted in Pop Culture
Leave a comment
Newspapers and Universities
Are universities headed down the same path as newspapers? That’s the prediction Matt Yglesias offered a couple of days ago on his blog. Here’s Matt: I was reading John Gravois on “The College For-Profits Should Fear” in the Washington Monthly and Paul Campos’ continuing jeremiads about legal education (and this) and I more and more have the feeling that American … Continue reading
Posted in Digital Media, Navel Gazing, News
4 Comments