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I attended Confab 2011 this week, the first-ever all content strategy conference in the United States hosted by Brain Traffic in downtown Minneapolis. With an all-star (to those of us who geek-out about this stuff) cast of keynote and session speakers and a legion of attendees from all over the world, conversations about what-the-heck-content-strategy-is were plentiful. (So was the cake – thanks Brain Traffic).
It’s always eye-opening to attend trade conferences. It sharpens your focus. It brings attendees a broader understanding of the problems and accomplishments of peers and colleagues. It advances and promotes the trade itself by virtue of sharing.
Content strategy, as a discipline of definition, isn’t new. But those of us who do it are all engaged in the conversation about what it is right now. There is great debate via the bounty of channels with which we’re so familiar. Set up a Twitter feed for #contentstrategy if you don’t believe me.
I’m compelled to caution, at this point, against the danger of equating content strategy to a deliverable. My single largest personal takeaway is that content strategy is an activity. So is most of what makes it flourish.
In these heady post-conference days, as I review my notes and scramble to bring order to the fountain of inspiration, I search for common elements from which to start as I engage in the athleticism of actualization on behalf of my organization. My findings underscore the importance of two things: listening and asking questions.
Kristina Halvorson, a content strategy champion and prominent advocate, delivered a rousing call to action for the army of attendees on the morning of the first day. Her message was about being engaged in the conversation and finding a niche in the discipline for which we can be passionate and, thereby, influential. Most importantly, she reminded us that the consciousness and consideration that make us uniquely human can be our most valuable assets as content strategists.
Ann Handley, content strategy veteran and co-author of the chart-climbing Content Rules, stealthily ambushed the audience from all directions with answers to questions we didn’t even know we had, then used examples to draw the crowd through a series of emotional responses to remind us that our work is fun. Her humorous and pragmatic approach was a rally cry. At the end of her keynote address, the unspoken question on everyone’s mind appeared like an apparition on the giant screens stage left and right, “Where do we start?” She delivered the quintessential punchline that applies to organizations worldwide; “What can you sustain?”
I had the honor of attending the workshop presented by Melissa Rach and Meghan Casey of Brain Traffic. Ms. Casey used a simple but powerful analogy equating websites without content strategy to a messy office. The owner and principal occupant could likely find what they are looking for and likely feels their method for organization works quite well. To the uninitiated, there is little hope of finding something specific or, worse, being invited to complete a task in such a space. To organize such a space so that it is something usable to a larger audience, you cannot come in with guns blazing and start slashing and burning. You must remember that listening and asking questions serve two purposes. First, you get the information you need to make it both meaningful and helpful for the user. Second, the owner is validated and thereby encouraged to open up about their specific problems and concerns.
As we’re embarking on this journey of definition, I’m so proud to be a part of a broader community that places such value on listening and asking questions. There is a larger transformation at hand – one defined by the advent of technology and the Web. The information age is making us rethink the way we interact with each other, distribute information, and structure our organizations.
In few places are these changes more evident than in healthcare, and Geonetric is a part of this shift. We know you have a lot of content and you aren’t always sure what to do with it or how to use it. We want to help. So go ahead and tell us what keeps you up at night. We’re listening.
