Archive for the ‘Around the Office’ Category
I’ve been writing for websites since 1997. You know what that makes me? Old.
It also means I’ve wrangled a lot of web content over the years. For a while, I really believed that great web writing was all about shorter paragraphs and bulleted lists. Then I discovered metadata. Content inventories. Dynamic content modules. Nomenclature.
If you’re looking for a seminar about writing great homepage taglines, then any run-of-the-mill advertising copywriting course would be fine for you.
But if you’re interested in really understanding what it takes to be a smart, successful web writer in 2009, then I’d like you invite you to register for my March 11 seminar, “Writing for Websites.”
You’ll learn:
- Why writing for websites is different from writing for print
- How to write great web content using our Top 10 Tips
- SEO copywriting basics
- How to create a smarter, more efficient workflow for drafting, reviewing, editing and approving content
- What metadata is and why you should care
- How a content inventory will change your life
Even though the seminar is still a month away, we’re already 80% sold out. The time to register is now.
Find out more, or call Josh at 612-331-6600 x60 with any questions.
See you on March 11!
Posted in Around the Office
We love when there's smart, useful content on the internet. And because we love to share such things, we'll be doing so weekly. Here are some posts and sites that have captured our attention in the last week or so:
Chef Gordon Ramsey, content strategists, and project management
This post on the Eat Media blog—which has the tagline "for the content hungry"—recently made a great comparison between the chef and these disciplines.
10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know.
Do you know how to control all your privacy settings on Facebook? What are the loopholes that interested parties can climb through to access information?
Words are Delicious
This post, "Defiantly Reaching Out," explores how to use simple, clear language instead of jargon or cliché.
After Deadline
This blog from The New York Times draws from "weekly newsroom critique" about language, grammar, and editing from the standard-bearing site. For example, "The Chitchat Patrol" post separates clear writing from the colloquialisms we inadvertently adopt as standard language.
Posted in Around the Office, Resources, Web Writing
You may remember Kristina's post about style guides. Style guides make writers happy because they can follow the rules the first time, and they make businesses happy because the writers are speaking the language. And hammering out style details at the beginning saves needless time and expense to clean up these small details at the end of a large project.
As such, we writers have regular discussions about troubling words or troublesome tasks of cleaning up misunderstandings about capitalization, em dashes, and the like. Here's one of the latest, when we officially decided not to initial cap “internet” anymore, whether it’s used as a noun or an adjective.
As I recall, the decision came about something like this:
Angie 1.0 (me): Hey, everyone! Should we initial cap internet when we use it as a noun?
Angie 2.0: I don’t like capitalizing Internet. Or Web. Or InterWebs.
Katie: Yeah! I hate capping things.
Meghan: But didn’t we agree to initial cap “web” when we use it as a noun?
Angie 2.0: When did we agree to that?
Angie 1.0: Didn’t you get that email?
Meghan: Wired magazine doesn’t initial cap internet. And isn’t the rule about initial capping it in the process of changing?
Angie 2.0: And Wired is on the cutting edge of that change.
Angie 1.0: Right. Eventually nobody will initial cap internet.
Erin: Once the dictionaries catch up.
Meghan: Yes, let’s be on the cutting edge of change!
Everyone: Yeah!
Angie 1.0: Remember that movie The Net with Sandra Bullock?
Erin: Wasn’t that about identity theft on the internet?
Angie 2.0: Yeah, something like that. Do we have to initial cap “Net” when we use it as a noun?
Katie: We are NOT using “the Net.” Under any circumstances.
Everyone: YEAH!
A quick perusal of a few industry blogs revealed an inconsistent style on initial capping internet. So we turned to Wired for some guidance. In 2004, it declared that on its pages internet and web (and net) would not be initial capped anymore. We’re happy to officially join the trend—since we believe it will become a rule anyway.
It’s definitely becoming a rule in our house style guide.
Posted in Around the Office, Editorial Strategy, Style Guides and Such, Web Writing
I joined Roller Derby on a whim. I had never played a sport, hadn’t been on roller skates in 20 years, and suffered from chronic knee issues. Yet, it seemed like a good idea. I do enjoy a challenge.
So I bought all the gear. I learned to skate…and to fall. Soon, I was drafted onto the North Star Roller Girls. Then came the unexpectedly hard part: picking my skater name.
A good name is an important thing for roller girls. Your new identity unconsciously shapes how you play, and how you act. What’s more, your derby persona starts to creep into your “real” world. So when you invite her into your life, you’d better be sure she’s the right one.
Being a strategist professionally, I knew what I had to do. First stop: a comprehensive list of requirements:
- Powerful. My name had to command attention.
- Unique. I wanted to stand out, not copy someone else.
- Sassy. Because “mousey” and “roller girl” just don’t mix.
- Clever. I may be a bruiser, but I’m no dummy.
- Clean. The name had to be sedate enough to mention in polite company.
Then came brainstorming. Lots of it. Gwen Igitcha? Te-kill-ya Rose? Keyser Suzie? It seemed all my ideas were not right, too complicated, or already taken. The search became an obsession. The list of rejects got longer.
In the end, I employed another lesson from my professional background – to ask for help. Hey, even tough girls need a hand once in a while. Another roller girl pointed me to the International Rollergirls’ Master Roster, which helped weed out names that weren’t available. Others offered suggestions. When someone casually pitched “Anita Tension,” I knew right away. She was perfect.
This weekend, the crew from Brain Traffic came out to see Anita Tension do her thing. While I was on the track, they came up with a long list of awesome derby names. Just like that. Which is another great lesson: talented writers make the process so much simpler.
Check out this short list of their ideas. If you ever find yourself in need of an alter ego or a smart-n-sassy web handle, it could help you out.
Princess Die
Nancy DrewBlood
Auntie Maim
Poison Ivy
Lucy Flawless
Winona Rideher
Ivana Bruiser
Meg Lomaniac
Genghis Connie
Pippi Longsocking
Pixie Styx
Sylvia Bullet
Mickie Finn
Motley Drew
Bloody Mary
Martha StewHurt
Attilla the Honey
Cami Flogg
Sarah Impalin'
Casey at the Bout
Audrey Heartburn
Block n Bomber
Scary Badshaw
Drew Beatyamore
Dana Skully
Fox Maulher
Brawny Anderson
Alex P. Beatin’
Death Cab for Judy
Posted in Around the Office
"Whatever you may have heard, this is our world, our place to be. Whatever you've been told, our flags fly free. Our heart goes on forever. People of Earth, remember."
The Brain Traffic team sat together in the conference room to watch the inauguration yesterday. There were tears, applause, and lots of comments about Aretha Franklin's hat. Every one of us typing away on our computers—not only sharing the experience with people in the room, but those far away in cyberspace.
Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution
The Obama campaign—which has inspired so many with its themes of hope and change—has often reminded me of the "internet revolution" of the late '90s.
In retrospect, it sounds a bit trite, but anyone who worked in the first wave of interactive agencies from 1996 to 2000 will probably tell you a similar story: We went to work every day believing we were the "pioneers" of the internet age. Groups of incredibly smart people (most of us in our early 20s) toiled for small paychecks in dodgy warehouse spaces. (Revolutionaries have to suffer, right?) But, we believed the Internet could triumph over the big corporations and big governments . . . engage the whole world in a global conversation . . . give every human being on Earth a voice.
This fervor was even documented with a manifesto—the Cluetrain Manifesto. The quote at the top of this post is not a part yesterday’s inaugural address, it's actually part of the introduction to the Cluetrain written in 1999. Thankfully, Obama's speechwriters have more talent, but Locke & Co. (Cluetrain's authors) were trying to convey a message of inclusive, universal change, too.
Storm Clouds on the Horizon
Speed ahead a few years. By 2001, the internet "bubble" was bursting. Those of us on the ground realized the big corporations that we were trying to bring to heed were actually the only clients paying us for project work. On September 11, I also sat in a conference room with my coworkers huddled around a TV. There were only nine of us left at the agency. There had once been more than fifty. Like everything else that stopped that day, it seemed like the revolution no longer mattered.
Slow and Steady Wins the Race
Yesterday, after more than a decade of working in the internet industry, I thought I would take a look at the Cluetrain Manifesto again, for old time's sake, and to have a good laugh. I'm not 20 and naïve anymore, after all.
As I read through the Manifesto, there were certainly things that gave me a chuckle. But, I also realized that a lot of the "95 Theses" are starting to happen. The internet has changed big business (airline or newspaper execs can attest). Internet conversations are affecting how consumers spend their money (Angie's List, Amazon recommendations, etc.). People around the world are linking to each other and communicating faster (Facebook, Linked In, Twitter). Even the Obama campaign is a proof of how the internet can mobilize the people. (Not to mention that our new President is taking a stand to keep his Blackberry.)
As Barack Obama took the oath of office, the typing in the Brain Traffic conference room paused. I looked around the room, and realized the same thing that drew me to Obama, drew me to Brain Traffic. Smart people, working toward a change for the better. So, maybe there's a little revolutionary in me yet. (Luckily, this time around, I work in a far less dodgy warehouse.)
Posted in Around the Office, Content Strategy, Information Architecture, User Experience, Web Writing
Meetings: canceled. History: made.
Posted in Around the Office, Brain Traffic
No. I assure you — this isn't about those serene photographs with words like "success" in fancy fonts. This is a story about a piece of paper stuck to the magnet board at my desk.
Visiting client: "Hey. What's that?"
Me: "That's my It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia poster."
Visiting client: "No. THIS."
Me: "OH! It's 10 ways to work better. Super simple, but good little Golden Rules, you know?"
Visiting client: "Cool. Actually, it's a policy at our office to only open email when you're prepared to just do some emailing. It can be such a time waster."
Me: "No kidding."
Visiting client: "I like this. Can you send it to me?"
It occurred to me there's no reason to keep this little gem a secret. If you're looking for ways to work better, this list is for you.
From Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss:
1. Do one thing at a time.
2. Know the problem.
3. Learn to listen.
4. Learn to ask questions.
5. Distinguish sense from nonsense.
6. Accept change as inevitable.
7. Admit mistakes.
8. Say it simple.
9. Be calm.
10. Smile.
Posted in Around the Office
It's time to celebrate the season with family and friends!
Brain Traffic is closing up shop from December 24 through January 1.
We'll be back at it (kind of) on Friday, January 2.
(If you have an urgent request during that time, please call 612-331-6600 x25 and leave a message. Someone will get back to you within 24 hours.)
Now, stop working and go relax, you. All this web content goodness will still be here waiting for you in 2009.
Cheers!
Posted in Around the Office, Brain Traffic
We won’t lie to you. The buildout was hell. But we survived. And now, we’re celebrating.
Thanks to Beth Mueller at Lifespace Interiors for her amazing design assistance!
Posted in Around the Office, Brain Traffic, Content Strategy, Web Content, Web Writing
Wired says that "Writing a weblog today isn't the bright idea it was four years ago." Just in time for Brain Traffic to launch one. Wheeee.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Brain Traffic, Content Strategy, Information Architecture, Web Content, writing for the web
Posted in Around the Office
