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Content on Content on Content — Medium

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

I’m about to get real meta on you: the article you’re about to read was made from a video, that was made from the making of an article…

Source: Content on Content on Content — Medium

This was an interesting article, as it talked about just what the title says–making content that was made from content, but was made from previous content to that.  The article is really about taking all the information you may already have, and how to break it down and create new content as a means of content strategy. It’s hard for me to explain as cleanly as the author explains it, so I recommend you read this article directly.  It’s not really a new approach, but I think it’s another perspective to add when thinking about content creation and curation.

What do you think? Include your comments below.

–TechCommGeekMom

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UX vs UI vs IA vs IxD : 4 Confusing Digital Design Terms Defined — Medium

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

Once upon a time, if you said the word “design”, the odds were overwhelmingly likely you were talking about graphic design. But nowadays…

Source: UX vs UI vs IA vs IxD : 4 Confusing Digital Design Terms Defined — Medium

With the amount of acronyms thrown around the IT and tech comm world, I thought this article was timely. I had never heard of IxD, which is what piqued my interest in the article in the first place.  The author seems to give a decent definition of what each role plays, and you might find that your job is a combination of two or more of these types of jobs. I know, as someone who has done a lot of job searching, keeping on top of these acronyms and various job titles is important to get an idea of what’s a good fit for you.

What do you think of these descriptions? Include your comments below.

–TechCommGeekMom

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The Presenter’s Tech Travel Kit – Single-Sourcing Blog by S3I

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

Summary: This post details what is in my Tech Travel Kit. As a frequent presenter, I want to be prepared for any situation and I want it to be easy to execute. It’s a long post, so take your …

Source: The Presenter’s Tech Travel Kit – Single-Sourcing Blog by S3I

I’ve met and seen Liz Fraley on the road, and she’s always prepared! While I know my kit isn’t this extensive (I don’t bring as many devices with me, for starters), I know that I’ve done my best to continue to build my own tech travel kit not only for presentations, but also to work in general, if needed!

Two items that I would add to Liz’s list, depending on how you do your tech while traveling:

a) Portable battery rechargers. In a pinch, if there are no readily available electrical sockets, I have my portable battery recharger. I simply connect the recharging cable to the device and the battery, and voila! I have one larger one that can charge two devices at once, and two smaller ones that are good for one phone charge each. I have another larger one, but that’s a backup to the backup! (Yes, when it comes to power usage, I like having redundancy available.)

b) While it’s a little clunky, if you want to remotely access your laptop that you left at home on your iPad, I recommend Splashtop. It’s free overall, but to access your computer it costs $2/month (that’s not much). You install something on your laptop, and you install the app on your iPad, and provided you’ve allowed an opening in the firewall of your network, you can access your laptop/desktop from home.  I did this during the STC Summit last month.  It wasn’t perfect, but I could still get several things done that I’d only be able to do on my laptop without having to lug that huge laptop around (I have a big developer’s laptop, so it’s not little).

Thanks for the article, Liz!

Do you have any other suggestions? Include them in the comments below.

–TechCommGeekMom

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A new model for content strategy | Content Strategy Inc.

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

We set out to create a new content strategy model that shows the different aspects of content strategy, emphasizes the holistic nature of content strategy, points to the impact of content strategy, doesn’t use industry jargon, is applicable in different situations, is helpful to our clients, and has a simple, memorable framework.

Source: A new model for content strategy | Content Strategy Inc.

I know I got this from someone’s posting on LinkedIn (I’m sorry, I forget who!), and this seems like a really good analysis of what content strategy needs to include. I like that the author says that she and her team figured out that they have to look at both the audience and the employee needs of the equation to have a balanced picture.  This appears to be a good foundation to start one’s strategy.

What do you think? Do you like this model? What are the positives and negatives of this model to you? Include your comments below.

–TechCommGeekMom

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History isn’t a ‘useless’ major. It teaches critical thinking, something America needs plenty more of – LA Times

Posted on by TechCommGeekMom

Since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2007, the history major has lost significant market share in academia, declining from 2.2% of all undergraduate degrees to 1.7%. The graduating class of 2014, the most recent for which there are national data, included 9% fewer history majors than the previous year’s cohort, compounding a 2.8% decrease the year before that. The drop is most pronounced at large research universities and prestigious liberal arts colleges.

Source: History isn’t a ‘useless’ major. It teaches critical thinking, something America needs plenty more of – LA Times

This is an article that an acquaintance of mine had posted on Facebook, and it stands to make another positive argument in favor of history majors (like me).  I’ve said many times that I was not suited to do a traditional English or Journalism major because I really didn’t want to get bogged down in literature–not that literature is problematic, but it’s not for me.  Whereas understanding the finer details of grammar, and doing the research…ah, that’s where a history major’s strengths come into play, and help make better technical communicators.

Read this article, and tell me what you think in the comments below.

–TechCommGeekMom