Last week, Duo’s hard work on the Chicago Public Library (CPL) Web site made the news! Both the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times covered Mayor Daley’s official unveiling of the new CPL Web site. Both articles talk about how the $11 million project has resulted in a 275% increase in hits, from 28 million in May 2007 to 105 million in May this year.
Laura Zupko showing new CPL site to Mayor Daley
According to lead developer Jough Dempsey, “One problem with the CPL’s old Web site was that while the library was already beginning to offer new forms of content, there was no way to bring it all together into a cohesive whole. Most content was being updated manually rather than utilizing databases and generating pages dynamically. There was no site search, and searching the catalog provided only limited results.”
The team at Duo integrated multiple data sources to form a service-oriented architecture. Part of their work included implementing a new content management system – Serena Collage – that enabled library staff to easily add new content to the Web site. Duo also added a bunch of new features to the CPL Web site, such as catalog search, event search, blogs, podcasts, and RSS feeds. More details on the CPL project can be found in this case study.
The CPL project wasn’t without its fair share of challenges, especially because “the project was large and involved many vendors within a tight timeframe,” said Project Manager Jeanne Toohey. “One of the challenges was to gather and work toward the client’s requirements but also work with their many different vendors to integrate 13 applications into the new website in a seamless fashion. In addition… some applications were being built at the same time we were integrating code, which caused a constantly moving target.” In spite of all this, the team at Duo wrapped the project up in just 14 months, transforming this:
to this:
In an exciting twist of events, Passionate Execution came from behind to knock Collaboration down two places and clinch first place in the Duo Derby. Client-Centric came in a close second, with User Focus and Integrity bringing up the rear.
If you haven’t already guessed, everyone at Duo spent the past couple months taking part in the Duo Derby by submitting examples of Duo’s five core values – Client-Centric, Collaboration, Integrity, Passionate Execution and User Focus. Not surprisingly, many examples involved more than one core value and competition was close. Listening to the examples from staying late on Fridays fixing problems to having “13 complex wire frames passed clean on first submission,” I was pretty amazed.
What I found most interesting at today’s company meeting though, was when one of the directors talked about the challenges that Duo is currently facing. In the past two years, Duo has more than doubled in size. With the number of clients that the company has, everyone works on multiple projects simultaneously. Because everyone is so connected, when something happens to one person, many other people are affected. It looks like scalability will be one of Duo’s top challenges moving forward.
In my graduate program, we often listen to speakers from big companies talk about their success stories or work together with big companies on live cases, but we rarely get to hear from smaller companies like Duo. While I’m sure all companies, regardless of size, face similar problems depending on their stage of growth, I think there are a lot of valuable lessons to learn from not-necessarily-big-name companies. As Bo Burlingham claims in his book Small Giants: Companies That Choose to be Great Instead of Big, “big does not equal great, and great does not equal big.”
After two days packed with great speakers on topics ranging from website design to online marketing ROI, Web Content 2008 ended on a high note with a cocktail reception in Duo Consulting’s office. The conference brought together marketing and technology professionals from a wide variety of industries, all hoping to find out how to create, organize, maintain and deliver web content in today’s Web 2.0 environment.
In true Web 2.0 fashion, conference goers were busy tweeting (#wc08) while listening to the speakers; photos taken at the conference were uploaded to Flickr; I also had the privilege of blogging at CMSWire on various sessions, including Duo CEO’s own Marketing in a Connected World and Content Management Meets Facebook (more below).
The questions asked at the end of each session and the conversations I was a part of are evidence of how relevant many of the speakers were. While Web 2.0 technology and social media may be part and parcel of the everyday life of those highly involved in technology, others in industries like health care or higher education often struggle with what to do about the new media landscape that they’re facing. Conferences like Web Content 2008 allow not only an exchange of ideas, but also an exchange of perspectives.
As a graduate student, it was enlightening for me to see how companies in the real world are trying to figure out how to manage their web content and what to make of the Web 2.0 “hype.” My takeaway from the conference: Web 2.0 isn’t for everybody. Web 2.0 technology merely provides tools, but companies need to first figure out what their strategy and business goals are before even thinking about “implementing Web 2.0.” That said, content and content management will inevitably play an increasingly important role in any company’s strategy (Web 3.0!). Effective content management is what will separate the successes from the failures.
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Some Web Content 2008 sessions:
Keynote: Hypersyndication and the Future of Media
Keynote: The Many-Armed Starfish: Today and Tomorrow in Social Media
Cross-Media 1:1 Marketing: Providing Personalized Content to Drive Sales
Design is Content, Too
Adding Dynamite to Dynamic Web Content
Don’t Let Web 2.0 Ruin Your Online Marketing
Posted At 6:28 pm on June 18th, 2008 by Rachelle Goh
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As business units demand more from a web presence, IT has been asked to respond with web content management (WCM) systems that do more than deliver content. This webcast from Search CIO Midmarket (registration and Real Player required) examines the types of content management systems available, the differences between standard WCM products and persuasive WCM products that manage and deliver content.
Duo Consulting CEO Michael Silverman and Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler, producers of the Web Content Conferences, sift through the hype of certain features and discuss web delivery extras such as personalization, analytics, and multichannel delivery. They also offer specific advice and user examples on how you can set up a successful WCM system that meets the needs of both IT and the business.
I’m both happy and sad to report that our Web Content 2008 Conference has sold out: happy because so many of you decided to join us for this conference, and saw the value in the great roster of speakers. Sad for those who planned to come, but didn’t register in time. Because we have limited space for this conference (about 150 spots), we are forced to cut off registration with two weeks to go.
We designed our Web Content Conferences as an intimate event, with a focus on learning and discussion : with this in mind, limiting the number of people becomes a necessary evil. We regret this, but whether or not you are able to attend we want to know what you think. Your feedback helps us plan for the future. We will try to accommodate increasing demand with an additional event in Florida next February, and a larger Chicago venue by June 2009.
Depend on Web Content Conferences to learn about the latest ways to use your online marketing content. Our next two conferences will have a special focus on Social Media, so mark your calendars now, and if you haven’t already please sign up to receive our newsletter to stay informed.
Web Content 2009 – Clearwater
February 17-18, 2009 Sheraton Sand Key Resort
Web Content 2009 – Chicago
June 15-16, 2009 Gleacher Center
That’s revenue Google gets by focusing on the effectiveness of its advertising engine. “The Human Hands Behind the Google Money Machine” in today’s New York Times, shows the importance of analytics and how it is used by Google to drive revenue. The story reviews the genesis of the Googles AdWords program, five years ago when GoTo.com was acquired by Yahoo. GoTo was the first to pioneer advertising, but Google made a critical advance improving the system by actually looking at the click-throughs, not just what people were willing to bid for ads, that pushed Google ahead to stay. On the web it’s all based on metrics and analytics. At Duo we keep harping about analytics and how clients should benefit from studying what really go goes on with their sites – but few take advantage of that recommendation. The advantage there is there for those that do – and they are going to reap the rewards.
