Zeldman’s first book, Taking your Talent to the Web, targeted people from the print world moving to the web. While the age of the book shows with references to the technology available at the time, the concepts work well now. 9.5MB pdf <a href=
http://www.zeldman.com/2009/04/16/taking-your-talent-to-the-web-is-now-a-free-downloadable-book-from-zeldmancom>downloadable</a>
A nice set of online graphic tools at Aviary (http://aviary.com) won’t replace your desktop graphic tools, but they come close. Worth your time if you use graphic tools or need a low-cost method for modifying images.
Jason Fried, over at 37 Signals asserts that Google search results gets the user to the information faster than actually using the site to find the information. Watching my own practice on the web seems to bear this out. If I’m looking at design, then travelling to the site is almost a given. Collorary: The meaningfulness of search results can sometimes predict the quality of the site, or at least the quality of the design regarding usability.
This is a new post
Marketing with social software means we work in an opt-in world. People ask to be connected, to become friends, or to make connections. You’ll see this approach called permission-driven marketing or in-bound marketing, as the folks at Hubspot use.
And as with any marketing campaign, we need to approach it with the audience in mind first, then develop a strategy, then find the tools to support the strategy. Since social software now carries a substantial buzz factor, we see people talking about their Facebook strategy, or their Twitter strategy. Approaching the campaign from the tool direction muddies the results, and leads to undesired outcomes.
Charlene Li, co-author of Groundswell, suggests five methods to bring social media into the marketing mix.
• 5 methods
• Listen to audience
– Use Technorati to monitor blog mentions, or Twittersearch to monitor Twitter
• Talk with the audience
– Rather than issue press releases, Starbucks put Howard Schulz’s trip to Africa on its Facebook page.
• Energize the audience
– Get them talking to each other with discussion groups on Facebook, or on Twitter
• Support the audience
– Comcast uses Twitter as a customer service tool, monitoring tweets for mentions of Comcast, and sending a direct message to the customer. http://www.twitter.com/comcastcares
• Embrace the audience
– Bring the audience into the discussion
• One example is the Mini-Starbucks card, generated from an idea submitted at My Starbucks Idea:http://www.Mystarbucksidea.com. Letting the audience share, discuss and vote on ideas leads to product development.
Consider asking a question: Where can people interact and use social media to do so within the context of my web site, product page, or other venue? Be aware that not engaging may be a strategy, particularly if management is leery of social software’s value.
Picking one of those methods and executing it well may be more important than trying to execute all five methods at once.
User control is the common thread in social software. Users can subscribe to feeds, ignore friend requests, become fans, follow Twitter streams, or ignore Twitter streams. This aspects divides new tools such as social software from the traditional media of 30 years ago.
This also means that to be a member of this community, you have to use social media tools as the other members do. Meeting and understanding customers becomes paramount, and using traditional media approaches in the social software community may backfire. You are joining a community, which that has rules, written and unwritten, that you must abide by.
The metaphor is join the party. Attending a business reception comes with some rules of etiquette.
• Professional and friendly
• Meet people
• Catch the tone of the discussions
• Join in conversations
• Answer questions, help others
• Add value, gain respect and trust
The difference with this party is that there are no time or space limits on the party. Other people can listen in to the conversations without regard for time or space.
Li also divides the party-goers into several groups.
• Spectators, or lurkers in early days of the internet sit back and consume content
• Joiners might be people who enjoy becoming fans of Facebook pages
• Collectors archive content, such as photos on Flickr
• Critics rank content, render opinions, or discuss content
• Creators build content for others
If we decide to work in these communities, we have to commit to engage with customers on their ground. This also means customers may tell us things we don’t want to hear. If personal feels too dangerous, using social media won’t work, and using traditional methods will backfire. In addition, new traditional methods such as mining Google search may not work, as search is not able to index social media today.
And because social software is new, finding what will work is a matter of trial and error. Experimenting, and being open to failure becomes more critical. Testing and finding failure quickly also becomes important, as the social software systems change rapidly.
So, to find customers, we have to execute several preliminary steps:
• Research your market and topics, and find the groups oriented to those topics.
• Preview the groups’ activity, discussions, needs and wants.
• Join these groups or create them.
• Add value with Q&A;, photos, videos and discussions.
• When value is added and trust built
– People will find your profile
– Additional information
• Could lead to blog, website, video hosted outside FB
• Convert FB friend or fan into an evangelist of your compnay and offerings.
• Repeat the cycle.
Facebook
• Establish a presence
– Keep it centered on users
– Community members there for socializing and sharing, not product research or ads.
– Focus on their interests
• Promote advantages gained by becoming a fan or a group members
• Whole Foods is a good example.
• Add value to the community
– Where people perceive value, they share with others.
– Sharing valuable content pulls people into your site
• Make it personable, social, people-centered
– Give your company a human face that people can connect with
• Make friends
– Leverage existing contacts (email) and invite them to be a friend or fan
– Encourage employees to become friends or fans
• Use Facebook groups as an internal and external communication tool.
– If your company has multiple workers on Facebook, you can create a group just for your company, where you can exchange company information as well as information about using Facebook.
• Facebook supports 2 levels in addition to the default global, or open setting:
» make the group “closed,” meaning that non-members can view the group but not reply to posts or leave comments.
» make the group “secret,” meaning that non-members cannot view the group and it will not show up in public searches.
– Consider giving your customers access to at least one group where members of your company are participants as well.
– Bring customers in, give them a voice where they can discuss your company.
– Especially helpful if your company isn’t blogging, as it gives your company a way to have an online conversation with your customers.
Facebook uses five different types of pages to spotlight content:
• Groups
• Pages
• Events
• Applications
• Ads
Groups, created at http://www.facebook.com/groups/create.php, have the advantage as a place for two-way discussion, with a maximum of 1200 members. The group owner can send messages to group members, and group badges appear on friends profiles.
Pages, created at http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php, offer an alternative. Once the page is created, the page owner can edit the page, add information such as a photo, overview, a product list, then publish the page. Facebook profiles have friends; Facebook Pages have fans. Creating engaging content becomes the path to convert viewers to fans. The content could include:
• Events
• Video
• Photos
• Blog articles
• Email your opt-in mail list
• Link in email signature
• Blog entries pointing back to FB page
• Link or badge on blog or site
Advantages
• Pages are not as interactive as groups. Rather than becoming a member of a page, you become a fan
• Pages are more focused on a brand or person than a group
• Pages are listed more prominently on people’s profiles.
• Your page’s logo will appear in your fans’ profiles, not just the name, as with a group
• Must share a link, rather than invite a friend
Disadvantages
• Can’t create fake pages, or create pages on someone’s behalf, as you can’t create a page for a movie star. Even though FB members opt-in to your page, they will click Report as Spam, rather than Opt-out of the page if they perceive items posted to the news feed as spammy.
Deciding between a page or a group comes down to a choice:
• If your marketing efforts require a great deal of communication with a large number of Facebook members, go with a page.
• If you want to get as many people as possible to know you virally, consider a group. The “invite” feature of groups is hard to beat.
Events
• Date, time, location
• Gets its own page
• Can invite others
• The fan receives an RSVP
• Can invite only 100 people at a time
Applications
– http://www.facebook.com/apps/
– Use pre-existing applications, or build your own with FBML
Twitter can be thought of as public, bulk instant messaging using 140 characters to discuss topics of interest. As with the other social software tools, users must opt-in to follow my tweets.
• Try Yammer for internal audiences to test
• Demographic skews older and male, higher income
• As service grows, demographic broadens
• Quick distribution of content
• Quick redistribution of content
• Handle multiple followers with TweetDeck, Twirl
• Examples
– UPS
– Ford
– Comcast
– Adventure girl
– LinkedIn
• Champion a cause
– Dove’s Campaign for real beauty on Facebook
– Became a focal point for change
– Started a discussion about beauty
• What can you start to attract FB members to champion something that you and your company sponsors.
• http://www.facebook.com/Starbucks?ref=s
• http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/skittles?ref=s
• http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/coca-cola?v=wall&viewas=1146214157
• http://mystarbucksidea.force.com/ideaHome
• http://twitter.com/ThomasAtUPS
• http://twitter.com/adventuregirl
• http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/create.php
• http://www.facebook.com/events/create.php#/advertising/?src=pf
• http://twitter.com/comcastcares
• http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2204923350
• http://www.blogsouthwest.com/blogsw
• http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/apps/directory.php
• http://developers.facebook.com/?ref=pf
• http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/wholefoods?ref=s
• http://www.facebook.com/groups/create.php#/group.php?gid=60589985516
• http://www.facebook.com/keith.krieger?ref=profile#/NPR?ref=nf
Firefox has built in a feed to the BBC News for several versions, with the name Headlines in the bookmarks toolbar. I use it frequently to get a quick overview of world news. Since the bookmark is driven by RSS, the titles of the articles become the links in the toolbar. The links are short, succinct, easy to scan, and make it simple to get a quick overview of breaking news.
Writing well, doing so on a short time schedule, and with an economy of words is hard work. Distilling complex issues into scannable, readable bits takes effort. When it is done well, the effort expended behind the scenes isn’t apparent until you think about it, or until someone points it out.
Jakob Nielsen noticed, and pointed it out on Alertbox:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/headlines-bbc.html
He views the craftsmanship of the BBC News headlines from the usability point of view. And reflecting on my use of them in the Firefox RSS feed, I see that usability should lead to an almost effortless use of the object. I should be so lucky to even approach that level.
I used these resources during the presentation. These links were good at the time of the post, but will likely degrade over time.
The introductory quiz, with answers, from the Sierra Club.
Searchable database of EnergyStar compliant computers.
Green computing from Treehugger
The Electronics Takeback Coalition is a clearinghouse for electronics recycling. Scroll down the home page to find the clickable map of responsible recyclers.
Techsoup, a technology resource for non-profits, gathers fresh links for computer refurbishers and donors on their site.
Computer Hope has some good information about battery recycling, and a comprehensive list of manufacturers providing recycling for their products. I couldn’t find a date on their site, so check links for timeliness.
Apple and Dell will recycle your old equipment regardless of brand when you buy new equipment from them.
Free Geek, in Portland, Oregon, has a constantly updated list of resources. They accept donations.
The EPA’s e-cycling site has pointers for both individuals and businesses.
eBay’s Rethink program connects donors, recyclers, and recipients of electronics.
A good guide to buying green when shopping for a computer at pc.com.
Ars Technica breaks down a custom-built, green PC component by component, from February 2008.
Drop the battery habit, and get a bag with embedded solar panels. Not cheap, but very high on the cool meter.
This admittedly short list of things to do and see in Kansas City leaves out most of the high profile attractions. After all, most people can find the Plaza, and figure out how to watch the Chiefs or the Royals. This list takes you to some other, less traveled, but perhaps more significant places, events, and restaurants. Most are urban experiences centered around downtown KCMO, but a few are further afield.
First Friday at the Crossroads
City Market
Strawberry Hill Museum
Crown Center
Cosentino’s Market downtown, 10 E. 13th, between Main and Walnut. Parking available on both the Main street side and the Walnut street side. Easier access to the store from the Walnut street side, and parking spots reserved for shoppers there as well.
Chinatown Market at 2nd and Grand, just north of the City Market. They stock an amazing range of groceries from around the world. They don’t limit themselves to Chinese products, but include Mexican, Indian, Indonesian, and others, as well as a huge fresh and frozen seafood department. Worth the time for a visit.
Christopher Elbow Chocolate has fabulous, inventive, and drop-dead gorgeous chocolate. Stop in on First Fridays for $1.00 samples.
Case Park, at 8th and Jefferson, has a fabulous view of the rivers, the downtown airport, the West Bottoms, and Kansas City, Kansas. The park is a great spot for watching the Air Show in the summertime.
Quality Hill
Cathedral of the Assumption
The Hotel President and the Drum Room. Check out the lobby and the Drum Room for an updated look of one of the remaining prestigious hotels from Kansas City’s wide-open days.
Bob Jones Shoes stocks over 100,000 pair of shoes. Tell the clerks your size, preferences, and price range, and they’ll bring you shoes until you run out of decisions. Excellent prices on top-tier shoes.
The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial deserves at least 2 hours, or maybe two visits, to absorb the museum’s content. Go during warm weather and take the elevator to the top of Liberty Memorial for a great view of downtown. The walls at the top are 5 feet high, making the visit comfortable for people not accustomed to heights.
The former TWA Building The former corporate headquarters of TWA now houses Barkley Advertising, the building being rehabilitated after many years of vacancy. Get a picture of the replica of the TWA Moonliner once found at Disneyland.
The Connie Museum, dedicated to propeller driven aircraft with a Kansas City emphasis. Worth a visit.
The Hair Museum, devoted to jewelry made from human hair, is a bit farther afield in Independence, Missouri.
The Steamboat Arabia Museum, located in the City Market, is devoted to the cargo of the Arabia, a Missouri River steamboat sunk close to Kansas City in 1856.
Union Cemetery, located just south of Crown Center between Grand and Gillham Road, is the burial site of many early Kansas City residents. Called Union Cemetery because it was the common cemetery of the Town of Kansas and Westport, sets next to Union Hill, one of the city’s early neighborhoods.
Elmwood Cemetery is one of the other great cemeteries in Kansas City, with twelve former mayors and over 800 Civil War veterans buried there.
Hallmark Museum is dedicated to Hallmark Cards and the history of the company.
Boulevard Brewery Tour. Now the largest brewer based in Missouri, Boulevard hosts factory tours. Make tour reservations on their web site.
Roasterie Coffee hosts a tour Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. Get a taste of Kansas City’s other home brew.
The Folly Theatre, Kansas City’s oldest historic theatre, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Barney Allis Plaza, at 13th and Wyandotte, was a park, now converted to a public space and site of the Kansas City Explorers World TeamTennis team.
Ilus Davis Park, at 10th and Oak, is a nicely landscaped park in the heart of the government district downtown. Free wifi is available.
The Old Kansas City Public Library, at 9th and Oak, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
St. Patrick’s, was renovated and opened in late 2008.
Garment District Museum, at 801 Broadway, illustrates the history of women’s clothing manufacturing in Kansas City. For many years, the garment trade was the city’s second largest employer. Call ahead to arrange a tour.
Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, at 13th and Broadway, dates to 1895, and underwent renovation in 1987.
The Star building, or press pavilion, houses the printing operations for the Kansas City Star. The glass clad building, between Truman Road and 17th Street, Grand to McGee, supposedly allows passerby to see the presses in operation. I can never see anything clearly through the tinted glass on the building, so a tour is called for. Unfortunately, I can’t locate anything on the Star’s web site about building tours.
The Money Museum at the Federal Reserve lets you pick up a gold bar, see large amounts of real money moved around, and other fun things to do with filthy lucre. Check the web site for specific information.
Savoy Grill, one of Kansas City’s landmark restaurants, is worth a look. And while you’re there, check out the Savoy Hotel lobby. Ask to see one of rooms. The breakfast included with the room rate is like no other hotel breakfast you’ll find.
A walking tour of French Kansas City by the Chouteau Society is worth the time to understand the influence of the French on early Kansas City and the Santa Fe Trail trade. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to locate a web-based version of the walking tour brochure. So, look for the large brown and gold historic markers downtown.
The sculpture and fountains at the State Street building, 801 Pennsylvania, include a stream flowing from the courtyard at the main entrance, and follow a staircase down to Washington. Well worth the walk in spring and summer.
La Bodega serves tapas, great wine and sangria on Southwest Blvd. Happy hour, especially on Saturday afternoon from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. is not yet widely known. Happy hour is half off many tapas, the wine list, sangria, and beer. I’d suggest the Cline Mouvedre.
Ponak’s, on Southwest Blvd., serves Kansas City style Tex-Mex, and is a stand-out among many similar restaurants in town. Their Margaritas have many fans.
Garozzo’sat 526 Harrison, just 3 blocks from where I live, serves St. Louis style Italian.
Anthony’s, now in its third generation in the same family, and 30 years at the same location, has the best sugo in town. If you have lunch, ask for Linda and tell her I sent you. They’re at 701 Grand.
7, between 6th and 7th on Walnut, is an upscale Italian restaurant.
Al Habashi, in the City Market, has a grocery and restaurant. The gyros and falafels are excellent.
Pizza Bella, at 1810 Baltimore, has excellent wood-oven pizza, and inventive antipasti.
Cafe Sebastienne, at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art at 44th and Warwick, consistently serves inventive, high-quality dishes.
The Blue Bird, at 16th and Summit, serves eclectic food from local and organic farmers.
Happy Gillis, at Pacific and Gillis in Columbus Park, and walking distance from home, serves bistro and diner style food in a neighborhood store-front.
Fiorella’s has the best barbeque in town. And serves it with style in the Freight House district.
Cashew, at 20th and Grand, offers a two story bar and grill, overhead doors in place of windows for a wide-open feel in warm weather and a great location in the Crossroads.
Bristol, a long-time Plaza restaurant, moved to Leawood, then opened this location in the Power and Light District. Great seafood, and a Kansas City tradition.
Christopher Elbow makes incredible chocolate with a surprising and wide palette of flavors. Stop in on First Friday and buy a sample for a $1.00.
Cupini’s, at 12th and Main, serves Italian food, pizzas, and fine accompaniments.
Vietnam Cafe, at 522 Campbell, just across the street from Holy Rosary Church, serves exceptional Vietnamese food.
The American, in Crown Center, serves fabulous food in a gorgeous setting. AAA 4 diamond rated. One of the top Kansas City restaurants in the fine dining category.
Babycakes is Kansas City’s original cupcake shop. Over the top cupcakes, none of which are on anyone’s diet. They’re located in the City Market area, one half block east of Grand at Missouri. Missouri is the first cross street after crossing the Grand Street bridge into the City Market.
This is a short list of books that might be helpful for people doing web work.
From Sitepoint, a great book on The Principles of Beautiful Web Design
Two excellent CSS books from Eric Meyer provide a great foundation for building CSS driven sites: Eric Meyer on CSS: Mastering the Language of Web Design ” and his follow on book, More Eric Meyer on CSS
Steve Krug’s short and sweet book on usability, Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2nd Edition
Another short and consise book, Web Style Guide: Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites, 3rd Edition
Design principles and approaches to standards-driven web sites from the master: Designing with Web Standards, Second Edition
A book of checklists for site creation may help assure that all of the bases are covered, from Sitepoint: Deliver First Class Web Sites: 101 Essential Checklists
Web ReDesign 2.0: Workflow that Works: Cotler and Goto’s book on the process of bringing a site to life is not a design book, but a project management or process book. An excellent resource on how to get started.
Here’s a short list of gift ideas for the technically inclined for this Christmas.
The walking alarm clock from The Walking Alarm clock
Jura’s internet connected Jura’s espresso maker
Wireless digital thermometers
The Demy, a kitchen safe digital recipe reader
Kensington’s USB peripheral sharing
Not techy, but a good tool: Dual ended spatula
Gelskins for mobile device users
Netbooks, small form factor notebooks, great for browsing, wireless access, and social software, are available from many vendors, including Dell
Das Keyboard, the original keyboard without key labels, now includes a version with labels. Still with excellent touch, and a great gift for people doing a great deal of typing
Universal hard drive adapters can help reuse and extend the life of older hard drives taken from obsolete hardware. There are many available, including Apricorn’s hard drive adapter
Clickfree’s no touch backup assures that backups aren’t missed or forgotten.
Personalized books with your child’s photo and name on the cover, and integrated into the storyline and illustrations: Exploring with Dora
For Wii fans, we can now have a Star Wars light sabre
Not techy, but nicely done toys from Leapfrog: Fridge magnet toys
The 20 Questions game, done up as a tech toy from Radica
Griffin helps us keep our desktops free of clutter with Simplifi
Easy video transfer without a computer from Pinnacle
Nowtransfer vinyl records and cassette tapes to CD with an all-in-one unit
Personal GPS locators from Zoombak
Travellers with laptops might appreciate a Mini surge protector and USB hub
For laptop users having to navigate TSA security often, this case from Targus is worth a look.
Not quite in time for Christmas, a Thermal leak detector from Black and Decker looks great.
There are many iPod docks combined with alarm clocks, but the latest from iHomehas good sound quality.
The digital dog tag from Digital dog tag uTag is a great gift for travellers.
Viewsonic released a flat screen LCD TV with Flat panel TV with built-in DVD player
Talking to myself, mostly.
