"Empathy: Content Strategy's Hidden Deliverable" - Confab 2013, Minneapolis

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Corey Vilhauer's presentation, "Empathy: Content Strategy's Hidden Deliverable" from Confab 2013 in Minneapolis - June 4, 2013

Technology Business

EMPATHYContent Strategy’s
Hidden Deliverable
Confab 2013
Minneapolis, MN

BLEND
INTERACTIVE
SIOUX FALLS,
SOUTH DAKOTA
@blendtweets

“Change isn’t an event;
it’s a process.”
- Dan Heath / Chip Heath

CONTENT REQUIRES EGO
CHANGE IS HARD
FAILURE IS CERTAIN

“No matter how good a cook
you are, and no matter how
hard you try, the ﬁrst pancake
of the batch always sucks.”
- Merlin Mann

“...Which has almost nothing
to do with knowledge, and
everything to do with simple
awareness.”
- David Foster Wallace

EMPATHY
The action of understanding, being
aware of, being sensitive to, and
vicariously experiencing the feelings,
thoughts, and experience of another of
either the past or present without
having the feelings, thoughts, and
experience fully communicated in an
objectively explicit manner.

EMPATHY
“...empathy can be described
as feeling the feelings of
another with the greatest
accuracy and eﬀort.”
- Whitney Hess

EMPATHY
PERSEVERANCE
EMPOWERMENT
PASSION

EMPATHY
PERSEVERANCE
EMPOWERMENT
PASSION
HUMILITY

Who has a vested interest?
What kind of help do you need?

Who has a vested interest?
What kind of help do you need?
Who would excel at this?

Who has a vested interest?
What kind of help do you need?
Who would excel at this?
What changes are coming?

Who has a vested interest?
What kind of help do you need?
Who would excel at this?
What changes are coming?
What audiences are we missing?

“There’s a chance that
things’ll get weird.”
- Archers of Loaf

2. BE CLEAR AND CONCISE
1. ALWAYS ASK QUESTIONS

“When the client feels like
they have some input during
the project planning phase,
they are more likely to enjoy
the ride.”
- Melissa Rach

3. DON’T DO IT ALL
2. BE CLEAR AND CONCISE
1. ALWAYS ASK QUESTIONS

3. DON’T DO IT ALL
2. BE CLEAR AND CONCISE
4. PLOT AND SCHEME
1. ALWAYS ASK QUESTIONS

“DON’T FORGET
THE LIBRARY”
“THE ALUMNI
ARE CONCERNED”
“THINK ABOUT
THE CHILDREN!”
“THE PROVOST
NEEDS A LETTER”

3. DON’T DO IT ALL
2. BE CLEAR AND CONCISE
4. PLOT AND SCHEME
5. TEACH THEM TO FISH
1. ALWAYS ASK QUESTIONS

EVERYTHING I LEARNED
ABOUT WORKING WITH
PEOPLE

EVERYTHING I LEARNED
ABOUT WORKING WITH
PEOPLE
I LEARNED
BY TEACHING PEOPLE

“The other half of ‘making’ is
‘taking care of.’ We’ve gotten
pretty good at making
internet. Time to get better at
caring for what we make.”
- Erin Kissane

COREY VILHAUER
I am still
eatingelephant.com/confab13
NOTES:

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Blend Interactive

From MinneWebCon 2017 in Minneapolis, Minnesota - May 1, 2017 Everyone has a plan. Until reality sets in. You've done the interviews, and you've rallied the team, and now you have a dream. Here's the thing: Your dream isn't going to work. No dream ever does. Instead, your dream is going to cause disappointment and frustration, because it hasn't been paired with the content management robots that will eventually serve and store your future website. How do we prepare our dreams so they can function within the cold world of web programming? How do we take what we want and translate it into something usable? How do we take someone's ideas and turn them into a usable web implementation, navigating the constraints and pitfalls of project dreams, organizational bias, and unrealistic expectations? It's called "reification," and it's the act of making something real. We're not talking code. We're not talking CMS selection. We're simply talking about helping those we work with understand the content management landscape though a common language and practical questions. Let's take the best case scenario and get it closer to a real life scenario. Let's make things real.

“Writing for Your Audience — The Message, the Words, the Plan” – Business Sen...

Blend Interactive

Functional concepts in C#

Blend Interactive

"The Self-Directed Strategist: Building a Practice and Managing Organizationa...

Blend Interactive

There are two big parts to content strategy: the people, and the process. But there's a third one that presents some of the industry's biggest struggles: managing the space between people and process—especially in an organization that is new to content strategy. In this talk, we will discuss managing expectations, projects, and people—within small teams, among changing organizations, and with new clients.

Next Level Collaboration: The Future of Content and Design by Rebekah Cancino...

Blend Interactive

Imagine a future where siloed departments and legacy workflows don’t stand in our way. Today’s content is complex, interconnected, and needs to be ready for devices we haven’t even dreamed of yet. Tomorrow isn’t going to get any simpler. Successful outcomes demand a new kind of collaboration. For the past two years, Rebekah has studied how successful teams collaborate and has helped transform the way her team works and produces together. In this session, you’ll hear what she’s learned about making effective cross-discipline collaboration possible, and leave with actionable inspiration you can use to unite your team and workflow, too. This talk will show you: * What it takes to make effective collaboration possible * How you can play a key role in creating the cross-discipline teams of tomorrow * Practical tips you can use to bridge silos, increase productivity, and deliver better project outcomes for everyone From the 2016 Now What? Conference: www.nowwhatconference.com

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