Implementing a content strategy often involves overcoming significant technological and cultural challenges, but some of these challenges are so scary, so heinous, that they earn a place among the undead because they Just. Won’t. Die! In this webcast, which debuted at Lavacon 2014, Bill Swallow will take a look at these nightmare-inducing monsters—from unrelenting copy-and-paste zombies to life-draining, change-avoiding vampires—and show you what can be done to keep your content strategy implementation from turning into a fright fest.

1. Content strategy vs.
the undead
the undead
Flickr: micadew
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

2. ● Everyone is muted except for the
presenter
● Please ask your questions through
the Questions area in the webcast
interface
● The presentation is being recorded;
attendees do not appear in the
recording.
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

3. Bill Swallow
@billswallow
Technical Consultant
Scriptorium Publishing
www.scriptorium.com
@scriptorium
My interests:
● Content strategy
● Implementation
● Localization
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

4. Why the undead?
Flickr: Ray Dumas
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

5. Why the undead?
Many reasons for implementing a content
strategy
Many facets
Many impediments
Not unlike battling the undead
They JUST... WON'T... DIE!!!
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

6. Zombies
Flickr: Elena Gatti
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7. Zombies
Mindless
Clumsy, slow moving
Uncommunicative
Destructive
Contagious
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

8. Zombies in our world
Wikipedia
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9. Zombies in our world
Unbudging attitude
Unrelenting will to preserve the status quo
Continue to repeat the same actions
Prefer mindless tedium
Resistant to change
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

10. They're not ALL bad
Flickr: Terror on Tape
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11. They're not ALL bad
Sometimes they're just
misunderstood
They may have good
intentions
They may have reasons for
resisting change
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

12. Tips for survival
Flickr: Kenny Louie
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

13. Tips for survival
DON'T shoot them in the head
Feed their needs while keeping the bigger
picture in mind
Find what drives them and harness that in
your strategy
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

14. Vampires
Wikipedia
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15. Vampires
Blood-suckers
Charismatic
Fear daylight
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

16. Charismatic life-drainers
Wikipedia
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17. Charismatic life-drainers
Two distinct varieties:
Someone in your organization who has a
different plan
A VERY persistent vendor
Both fear being exposed of their
shortcomings
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

18. Your tools for success
Flickr: Theodore Scott
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19. Your tools for success
Always be prepared (do your homework)
Have a strategy rooted in your company's
core goals
The “stake through the heart”: shift the focus
back to the core intent/benefit of the strategy
Shed light on the subject to drive them back
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

20. Mummies
Flickr: Rocco Lucia
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21. Mummies
Relentless
Shambling but determined
Guardians of the past
Product of a curse or past desire
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22. Dedicated and determined
Wikipedia
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23. Dedicated and determined
Advocates of existing tools or workflows
Vocal or silent
Summoned by impending change
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24. Wikimedia: Lysippos
Lift the mummy's curse
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25. Lift the mummy's curse
Combat them with fulfillment
Acknowledge past successes
Kill them with kindness
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26. Frankenstein's creature
Wikipedia
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27. Frankenstein's creature
Cobbled together from bits and pieces
Has a mind of its own
Misunderstood
A product of science
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

28. Creator vs. creature
Wikimedia: Deckard97
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29. Creator vs. creature
If not for Victor Frankenstein, the creature
would not exist
Misuse of knowledge and technology
You may not always be able to control what
you create
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

30. “We belong dead”
Wikipedia
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31. “We belong dead”
If you have creatures of your own to wrangle,
include them in your strategy
Try not to create more of them
You're a content strategist, not a mad
scientist
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

32. Ghosts
Flickr: Nesster
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

33. Ghosts
Spirits, spectres, apparitions...
Things that haunt us
Often unsettling
Potentially hazardous
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

34. Mistakes and regrets
Wikipedia
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35. Mistakes and regrets
We carry our ghosts with us
Echos of the past
“Would have/could have/should have”
Unfinished past projects
Past mistakes
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

36. Keep them in check
Flickr: relux.
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

37. Keep them in check
Don't give in to regret
Don't beat yourself up
Be confident in the direction you've chosen
Adapt your strategy over time
Don't be afraid of no ghost!
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

38. Poll
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39. Your own Mystery, Inc.
Flickr: Pat Loika
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40. Be your own Mystery, Inc.
Defeat your undead through investigation
and preparation
Don't only focus on technology and
capability
Personality, dispositions, and history matter
Knowledge and understanding
Unmask the undead for what they really are
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

41. Questions?
Flickr: BuzzFarmers
@billswallow #CSvsUndead

42. Contact Information
Bill Swallow
bswallow@scriptorium.com
Scriptorium Publishing
www.scriptorium.com
info@scriptorium.com
@billswallow #CSvsUndead