Ok, Digital Strategies Director is Cool, Too!

For the past two months, I’ve been getting my bearings as the new Director of Digital Strategies at Tellenger, Inc., a relative startup (2 years old) that’s been specializing so far in doing government web software development.  We’ve been creating huge, java-based enterprise level applications that make government folks’ lives easier.  It’s been a tremendous start.  And it’s enabled me to come onboard and expand the company into the private sector, as well.

three teeny tortellini

three not-so-teeny tortellini

How I came onboard reinforces the “you never know” perspective of opportunities.  The CEO, Dave Tortorelli, whose name when I first saw it looked like tortellini and I nearly addressed him as such, created this position for me.  It’s amazing when something as simple as a conversation over coffee blossoms into a partnership.  I had responded to a creative writing gig on Craigslist — which he didn’t ever even consider hiring me for, ahem — and the rest is history in the making.

I’ve been pounding the pavement (and hitting the phones) to meet as many people as possible who need to know about Tellenger.  And who Tellenger likewise needs to know about.  It’s a great time to invest in the web and mobile space because of its endless potential, and so I want to work with everyone on Earth who knows that along with us.

I’m already helping a couple entrepreneurs get online to grow their ideas.  It’s awesome.  And I’ve hired a new staffer for my division — a super talented web designer (and musician) named Ben Hofer — which has given me an entirely new perspective on my responsibility.  I’m like a proud parent to one full-grown man.   (Well, that sounds weird, but you catch my drift).

It’s cool.

Published in: on August 6, 2009 at 9:14 am Leave a Comment

Stephanie Hay, Content Experience Director

oh boy! i'm just a kid, but i use the web more than older people who have money!

Wow! This sounds cool! I'll have my parents buy it for me!

User experience design is nothing new to the web world, but it’s an increasingly popular area of expertise that clients are willing to pay a premium to have.  Why?  Because technology and good design themes continue to become more accessible — and inexpensive — whereas the psychology behind HOW to successful create interactions that convert users remains individualized and, therefore, more difficult to package.

Similarly, creating stimulating copy that rewards the user verbally for experiencing that web product/site/app remains wholly individualized based on the brand, its goals, its audiences, and its genuine voice.   I definitely appreciate a site that speaks to ME because I’ll be more likely to establish a relationship with that brand.  And that typically means language that doesn’t try to win me over with verbose explanations chock full of forced wit.  I’m cool with short and sweet.  And the occasional, well-placed conversational “curse” words like: “Holy crap!  Your order just shipped!”

Anyway, Samantha at BadAssIdeas was telling me about how there is a huge market for great web copywriters because so many people don’t *get* what I was describing in the paragraph above.  There are tons of marketing writers who are experienced in writing about things that don’t exist in an attempt to make a product or service more appealing.  That typically means embellishing, and folks on the web will be the first to yell “bullshit.”  The web is too transparent — that means content culture has to shift away from making up something out of nothing, to describing nothing in a way that means something to users.

To that end,  I just might start referring to myself as Steph Hay, Content Experience Director.  And Samantha, with her insatiable love of all things typographic, will design my business cards.

Published in: on April 26, 2009 at 9:23 am Leave a Comment

Virtual management?

I wrote a post today on Viget’s blog about a WSJ Blog article called, “The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500,” by Gary Hamel.

The topics in the article coincide with the findings discussed regularly by Penelope Trunk of The Brazen Careerist (who actually cites the Hamel post) or Richard Florida of the Creative Class; namely, that to attract the most creative people, the workplace must evolve beyond the traditional notion of bureaucracy and archaic hierarchies.  The social governance of the web is the common underlying comparison — where ideas are borne, networks form and grow around those ideas, and success follows in all shapes and sizes.

I wonder, is it possible to fully manage to the intrinsic rewards this generation seems destined to seek?

Published in: on March 31, 2009 at 11:11 am Leave a Comment

Everyone needs an editor

poorpossession

possessive fruits and vegetables

I am proud that people give me their writing with the expectation that I’ll improve its strength with my editing. Likewise, I still give other people MY writing.

Everyone needs an editor — even editors.

Of course, the buck stops at some point and the words go to press. Mistakes happen; doing everything humanly possible to prevent that is key.

So when I’m reading something — such as a nationally-accredited personal training manual — and it’s plagued with blatant grammatical and usage (e.g. their/there) errors, I am stunned. (Consider that readers are paying hundreds of dollars for said manual).

Totally preventable. Just lazy.

By contrast, when even the smallest amount of text — in a quick email or blog post or even a menu — is void of errors and actually has been proofed by someone versed enough to fix errors before the content is stamped “done,” I find myself lending MORE credibility to that sender/author/restaurant.

Seriously. If you take it personally (or have a smarmy person reviewing your work), an editor may, in fact, occasionally hurt your feelings. But wouldn’t YOU rather take the hit than your credibility?

Published in: on March 14, 2009 at 8:25 am Comments (1)
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