Confab Higher Ed 2015 in review

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The city!

The music!

The soft goods!

Session #1

Keynote 1: Lisa Welchman

Collaboration in a new landscape

"Stop not being organized!"

"A standards-based framework can help an org be nimble"

Wheel of standards

  • Editoral
  • Design
  • Technology (and network)
  • Publishing

These standards are essential for scaling

We should be moving to an "information supply chain management system"

The right information
to the right people
at the right time

Our role as web workers is to create information flow

Session #2

Mike Powers

Have an analytics measurement strategy

Steps

  • Plan for measurement at the beginning
  • Collect data effectively
  • Present numbers effectively

Use stories to present your numbers

aka try to make it interesting

Use graphs to compare two factors to illustrate the data.

Bar charts are almost always better than pie charts. People understand length more easily.

Forumla for reports

  • Here's where we were
  • We changed x
  • What happened (even failures)
  • What to do next

Evaluate your content using GA goals and goal values 

Underperforming content? Content evaluation tools exist. Try http://www.hemingwayapp.com/ for readability scores passive voice and more.

Underperforming content? Content evaluation tools exist. Try http://www.hemingwayapp.com/ for readability scores passive voice and more.

Remove every five words from text and see if it still makes sense.

User test the content!

Use a spreadsheet and track content views for 28 days after posting

Session #3

Corey Vilhaver, Blend Interactive

Shoestring strategy

Minimum viable strategy

Do some research before you start

Gut checks count, ask someone else, find existing research
Erika Hall - Just Enough Research

Rolling audits

Pick a section a month

Session #4

Ravi Jain, Boston University

What kind of video should I make?

Types of videos

  • Profiles - students, faculty
  • Event previews
  • News capsules
  • Short form content
  • Interactive with web pages
  • Live stream
  • Extreme short form - Vine
  • Animated GIFs
  • Content for live events (video during
    an event)

Decoding the video genome

  • Editorial voice - from what perspective? must be solid
  • Visual aesthetic - framing, camera, handheld?
  • Editing style - MTV style!
  • Music
  • Transitions
  • Titles
  • Lower thirds - at bottom of screen, usually tells
    you who the speaker is, etc.

The Boston College Minute

  • No set pieces
  • No talking to the camera
  • No lower thirds
  • 'Immediate' style of storytelling
  • Started with a pilot concept, just tried
    it out to see what it would take

Playlist on YouTube

Workflow

  • Project spec
  • Pre-production
  • Production
  • Gathering assets
  • Editing
  • Integrating video
  • Testing
  • Post-video

Takeaways

  • Plan, plan, plan
  • Set up structures to work within
  • Measure and tell a good story
  • Be bold
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