Three Ways of Looking

I recently spoke at a conference for the Western Alliance of Independent Camps (waic.org). Each of my sessions was a live critique and consultation for a summer camp web site. Most of these sites have been up and running, serving as primary online identities for their camps for years. They work because they have to.

One reason for their problems is a lack of vision. They are great camps. Each one had something very special about it, a very strong directorate, and a great staff. What they lacked was the ability to understand their sites as others see them.

Who are these others?

As a Machine

Google, for one. How does Google see your site? Of course, I did the "turn off the images trick" to reveal what the machine sees. I always talk with my clients about what I learned through Bruce Clay's invaluable SEO Training. Usually I hand out my condensed version in what I call the Anticonsultant SEO Cheatsheet. Most have not considered how Google approaches their site.

Looking deeper into the SEO issues for camps I found that there weren't any camps at the conference that appeared on the first page for any of their keywords (branded terms excluded). For one well-respected camp in Colorado, "colorado, summer, camp" turned up only aggregation sites in the list. In fact, it became obvious that these aggregation sites have squatted all over the SEO space, putting themselves in between Google and the camps and holding their keywords hostage. We spent some time talking about opportunities to band together with other camps to form their own aggregation-type sites--and pulling their support out from under the aggregation sites themselves. In effect they are paying these companies for little more than making a wall between them and their users.

As a User

Online users have more in common with each other than they do with the camp subject matter experts. Heck, that's why they want to go to camp anyway. Get away from it all. One look at the amount of early 21st Century Flash slide shows on these sites let's one know that consultants and designers have more influence on them than their users. Few have watched their sites being used by users. Most would be happier if it would all just go away.

As a Friend

This for me was the eyeopener, perhaps the most valuable and most recent development in my thinking. What is on your site that you would recommend to a friend? This is the simple way to think of making contact with the social net. When you have a friend, you know that you make yourself more valuable to them by recommending things to try that they wouldn't have known themselves. Things that have value themselves. Aside from contact information and forms to download, most of these sites are devoid of things you need.

It's too bad, really. These camps have many pieces of specialized information to offer. Kids and adults learn a lot when they go to camp. Not just through experiences, but how to light a fire, how to identify plants, how to etc etc. and in some cases very specialized information that few others offer. What are ways these camps can show their value to an online audience using the social network as its means?

This discussion lead to others, but one of them was a look at the struggle between leading a camp and participating in the online world. To many of these camp directors the online world is just about as far from their interests as possible. Necessary, but boring and counter to their own strengths and the strengths of their camps. This is a critical issue for consultants in all fields, but in this one it is set off in the most stark manner. Pull the camp director out of the woods to become a specialist in the ever-changing online world.

Concept: Design Board

From time to time working for a large corporation with little design support breeds an interesting idea. This one came to me when I realized I was swimming in a sea of business people who could not support me, or often even talk with me about design and its role in the products we develop.

I call the concept "design board".

Companies or organizations with small design teams (or teams of one) would field a board of local and remote design resources. These people would come from a variety of places: design firms, ad agencies, similar (but not competing) companies, and perhaps cohort designers or design leadership. For a fixed fee, these board members would prepare for and attend regular design review meetings. Also, they would agree to be on-call for the sort of advice senior level design support would provide if it existed in the board's company.

What does the company get out of it?

• Expertise of a gifted group of designers.
• Sounding board for new approaches--sanity check for the business interests.
• Enrichment of the company's in-house design team.
• Additional name recognition for the company's design efforts.

What do members of the board get out of it?

• Cash money.
• Recognition for design experience.
• An enrichment of their own skills in a wider variety of circumstances.
• More interesting Curriculum Vitae.

Human Resources: Layoff Memo Template

DATED 2002, but it came back to me when I started getting philosophical about the layoffs my current company is going through.

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Memo To: 5kRobustScalableInternetOnlineEcommerceFurnishingsOutlet Staff
Subject: Management Changes

As many of you know several of our top executives have stepped down from the company this past week. Chet Binkman, Wallace Groves, Eugene Tonneau, and Winter Groves (no relation) have left, or will shortly be asked to leave the company. Terry Harquist will be stepping out as CFO but has agreed to remain with us through an undefined "transition period". We thank them for their contributions and wish them well. Chet, Wallace and Eugene have said they wish to follow their dreams. Winter and Terry recently decided they want to spend more time with their families. Terry is moving back in with her parents.

5kRobustScalableInternetOnlineEcommerceFurnishingsOutlet will now operate with a leaner, smaller management team, more in line with the size of its Web site.

From this point on, I will serve as Acting CEO, and continue as President and COO. I will work closely with and as the Board as we decide how to find someone who will pay to take the CEO position on a permanent basis.

We are proud to announce that Charity Shirtpath will serve as Acting CFO for no pay, and work as if she were Bill Tenorschmidt and Dan Porkman and the rest of the finance team that was transferred to New York from Irvine, TX. Some returned to Texas when those respective companies then folded.

Jillian Watley will continue as Chief Strategic Officer and Director, but for a different company.

Fred Amorando will continue as CTO and Director of Systems Development, again for another company entirely.

Joseph Pfitz will continue as Chief Creative Officer. As you are reading this, you may know a place where Joseph can fit in. Please contact him on his cell phone 310.348.2121 until he has turned in this corporate asset.

I said it was okay for Henry Lu, Toni Spater, and Trey Shoball (unfortunate, but real name!) to continue as Managing Directors for no pay, until they can find positions elsewhere. They will be telecommuting.

Sperri Kragar has changed her role from Key Lead Sales Associate to Liason/Group Account Director in New York for a real Amish-style furniture outlet, so I will be stepping in as Managing Director of our office. James Fentner will continue to operate an office in Los Angeles and Julie Shamen (NOTE: long "A"), a Waterloo office.

This entire group, I'm sure, will continue to work closely with their respective and new directors of engineering, creative, and production, their subject matter experts, VPs and other staff as they all move forward in their own careers and no longer hose off of yours truly.

Clearly the environment we've been operating in is a tough one. I am working very, very closely with our Board and Investor to develop strategies and tactics to ensure 5kRobustScalableInternetOnlineEcommerceFurnishingsOutlet comes through intact, and continues to produce the great work it's known for which is indubitable.

As the whole of the restructured management team I am committed to dramatically and respectfully improve our communications to you all. I know there are lots of questions left unanswered here. We will be addressing them in the days and weeks ahead and share everything we can with you.

Thanks for your support. Good luck in your new positions.


Best,

TR