Filed under WebContent Conferences

It is rare for a day to go by that we don’t receive some kind of inquiry about Drupal. In fact, in response to the inquiries, our lead Drupal developer, Doug Vann, published a Drupal-related blog post just last week. In his post he addressed the question, “What’s All the Buzz About Drupal”

So we’ve decided to offer a hands-on Drupal Training Workshop to dig a little deeper into the question of why Drupal is getting a lot of buzz.  Let me emphasize right away that this workshop is aimed at website administrators and marketers who are NOT deeply technical. Web developers who are technical but want to also understand the business case for using Drupal would also find this workshop useful. I took a very similar course from Doug over the summer and found it to be a great way to orient myself to Drupal. And this course has the advantage of also being hands-on.

We think that some of the likely candidates for this workshop include people who are in the following situations:

Leverage Social Media
Drupal is social publishing software.  Chances are you are encountering challenges integrating social media with your present content management software. You can find out if Drupal might take you closer to where you want to be.

Micro Sites
We know that a complete corporate website overhaul may not be in the cards for you today, but you may have some business initiatives you want to pursue online.  When budget and timeline are significant constraints, Drupal may offer an implementable solution. Our client, the Lake County Forest Preserve District just launched a simple Drupal microsite on a very short leash. Not only was the outcome successful, but they have a Drupal site in which they might explore capabilities in anticipation of some future re-development of the District’s main website.

Dated, Proprietary or Non-existent Content Management System
Perhaps you are still managing your website using either page-based content management systems like Adobe’s Contribute or just making changes in the HTML website code. The Drupal CMS might provide a relatively easy evolution of your website to something considerably more powerful and requiring fewer technical skills to manage.

I suspect I haven’t captured the scenario of everyone who might be interested in migrating their website to Drupal. For an investment of your morning on October 13, 2009 and $40, you can assess your website problem against this solution. It could be a very efficient way to gain clarity on your requirements as well as evaluate this particular option.

If you are interested in one of the 18 seats available, you can register here.

You know you’ve been there. You open your email inbox only to find a string of emails, replies and forwards regarding something as trivial as a meeting agenda. And because everyone involved has made a change to the original document you sent out, you hunt through trying to find the most recent copy because you’re in charge of the meeting and it starts in…5 min! Ugh.

There must be a better way, you say. And there is. Stewart Mader of Future Changes and author of wikipatterns gave a keynote presentation at the Web Content Conference this morning showing us how wikis can save the day where more familiar tools like email have failed us.

Many of us are drowning in email. What was once a “cool new thing” that made communication faster and easier is actually making us less efficient today. We have come to rely on it as our sole communication tool, when in fact there are better tools for collaboration, documentation and knowledge sharing.

If you’re new to wikis – or you think a wiki is an encyclopedia – don’t be discouraged. A wiki is simply an editable Web page. Start with a pilot wiki and host a workshop to get others in your organization acquainted with using a wiki. Once you get others in your organization to adopt wikis, as Stewart says, you can stop getting started on things and instead “get done.”

If you’re like many marketers, delving into social media may feel like stepping onto a roller coaster; exciting and super scary all at the same time. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say, “I don’t get Twitter. Why do I care what someone had for breakfast today?” The truth is, social media is here to stay, it can help your business and if you’re a marketer I hope you’ve already bought your ticket.

In a keynote presentation at the Web Content Conference, Rob Rose argued that we are in a transformational stage in marketing. Those of you who cringe when you hear the term “social media” will love his view that when it comes to this Web 2.0 world where there are “no rules.”

The bad news is that if you’re looking for an easy road map to follow or a step-by-step guide to guarantee success, there isn’t one. The good news is that innovation wins; and you can use the skills and ideas that you already have as a marketer to make social media work for you. Don’t be afraid to blaze your own trail.

If social media is still an unknown to you, don’t let your fears paralyze you. You don’t have to be “this tall” to ride, but you do have to jump on.

Most of us search, we find stuff, we move on. We write content, we post it, we move on. But what is the importance of the technology behind the content? Do we see the big picture? This morning I was served a dose of XML with my coffee at the Web Content Conference, forcing me to think about the backbone of everyday web applications and how that applies to marketing.

Joe Gollner of Stilo International spoke about the technologies behind the content and the relationship between the two. As business professionals and marketers we need to understand a little bit about the power behind the technology in order to consider the possibilities that lie ahead. Ann Rockley of The Rockley Group talked about how XML and other technologies allow us to provide a customized experience for customers like they’ve never had before by only delivering the right content at the right time.

There are certain things that we take for granted today, such as being able to easily move information from one application to another. I can quickly send an email with a link to my friend who can then view a video, digg it and post it on her Facebook page. We can thank XML for a large part of this. Back in the day, there were great applications, but they couldn’t talk to one another.  You can think of XML as the mass transit system of the web; your content is the passenger. It doesn’t do us any good to have great content if it’s just sitting still. Once that content can easily “travel,” that’s when the magic happens.

So how does this affect us as marketers? The convergence of content and technology allows for better performance and allows us to have better interaction with our customers. We’ve moved beyond just giving people information to giving them the ability to take action. We’re not just arming them with knowledge, we’re equipping them with tools. And we can effectively do this if we start thinking of our customers as both consumers and publishers.

Social media has the buzz. Mention Facebook or Twitter and eyes light up in recognition. Heads nod in acknowledgement. But if you steer the conversation to content management systems, people drift away. Or snore. Yet content management systems are the engines under the hood of every web presence. If you have a website, you have a content management system. But that is like saying that if you eat, you are on a diet. Well, you are. It just may be a bad diet or an unmanaged diet, but it is your diet.

Not understanding your content management system can have the same effect on your web presence as not managing your personal diet. It can lead to poor performance and even death. So we’ve been on a crusade to raise awareness of content management. We’re kind of the Homeland Security for Content Management. Pay attention. The threat level is orange. So in June, we’re having a content management party and we’re calling it Web Content Conference – Delivering Personalized Dynamic Web Content . We’ve recruited a number of stars to help us out. Meet some of them below. And meet them in person.

One of my favorite Tweeters is Joe Pulizzi (Twitter.com/juntajoe) who embraces content marketing and can tell you how your online content is killing your brand. I also follow Jeremy Epstein, Twitter.com/jer979,and has a great website, www.NeverStopMarketing.com. Perhaps you never heard of him but Jeremy’s clients include the the New York Times, Microsoft and Johnson and Johnson. Maybe you want to pay closer attention to what Jeremy is doing. And I really like Stewart Mader, who recently published Wikipatterns, because he continues to evangelize Wikis in the workplace. If you do nothing else, visit his bloggish website, www.ikiw.org (wiki spelled backward!)

So if you think web content management isn’t sexy, permit us to change your mind. Over 2 days, 5 keynotes and 11 breakout sessions, we’re bringing some of the best content management authorities together to share their knowledge and experience. The Web Content Conference is June 15 and 16 in Chicago.

Download most current list of Tweeters attending the LMA Conference right here (will update document as names are added).

One (of the many) unscheduled activities at this year’s Legal Marketing Association 2009 Annual Conference is a TweetUp to be held Wednesday, April 1 at 5 PM EDT in the courtyard just outside the exhibition hall. As an exhibitor with access to the pre-conference attendee list, I promoted the TweetUp and offered to compile a list which I would distribute.  I wasn’t thinking beyond the paper the list might be printed on. I wasn’t thinking. But I’m glad others were.

The Power of Community

I didn’t propose the TweetUp.  I just had convenient access to the list. This good idea, which has already built great excitement which will carry over into the Conference, emanated from Lance Godard @lancegodard and @22twts and was given momentum by other Twitter users as they passed the word.

Lance then suggested that I make the list available sooner than later by posting it to our company blog. Duh. So here it is.  Thanks, Lance, for reminding me that information wants to be free (of its non-digital constraints).

At the moment I’m very wrapped up in tactical implementation. But if one takes a step back and reflects for a moment, there are a lot of cool things happening here.  Yes, the jury is out on Twitter. But, as we head into a marketing conference, a couple things are already being realized starting with the Twitter interface including:

• Creation of community – strangers become friends; warm intros
• Crowdsourcing good ideas – great ideas come from everyone
• Attendee value generation – interaction insures communication of new ideas
• Exhibitor promotion opportunity – help standing out in a crowded field

I suspect this is just a start. And I’m looking forward to exploring it with others who have already proven they have ideas better than my own.  Add yours below.

After a successful Web Content 2008 in Chicago this summer, we are bringing Web Content to Florida for the first time ever. This is your chance to be a part of the exciting Web Content conference series! Here’s what you need to know:

• Theme: The Impact of Social Media on Web Marketing Strategy
• Date: February 17-18, 2009
• Location: Sheraton Sand Key Resort (Clearwater Beach)
• Submission Guidelines
• Submission Deadline: August 15th, 2008

Still not sure? Here’s more information about the Web Content conference series and testimonials from this year’s conference. Feel free to contact Michael Silverman (msilverman@duoconsulting.com) or Scott Abel (scottabel@mac.com) with any questions.

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

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