Dear Colleagues,
The current issue of Gerry McGovern's
New Thinking newsletter is well worth reading.
One of the most frustrating experience many
of us have is attempting to learn about design
research and programs for design education on
the web. At many schools, it is difficult to learn
anything about program content and even
impossible to learn about research, about faculty
members, or about publications.
While many design school sites have fancy (and
occasionally unusable) interfaces, far fewer offer
interesting, well structured, usable content.
I find it interesting to compare the content and
information design of many design school web
sites with the offerings of more traditional
departments at the same schools. It is not
uncommon to find that historians, physicists,
or theologians design better web sites than the
designers do.
As our field matures, it is time to recognize that
a web site is a publication. Web publishing is an
important medium, and it requires serious
attention among those who wish to communicate
their research.
Gerry McGovern's newsletter always contains
interesting insights and valuable ideas. Subscriptions
are free.
Best regards,
Ken Friedman
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NEW THINKING NEW THINKING NEW THINKING NEW THINKING NEW THINKING
By Gerry McGovern http://www.gerrymcgovern.com
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January 27, 2003 - Volume 8 Number 4
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BEST RATED SPEAKER AT INTRACOM 2002
With some 300 attendees, Intracom 2002, held in Montréal,
Canada, is one of the largest intranet conferences in the world.
According to Claude Malaison, conference president, Gerry
McGovern was rated "the highest of all speakers" for the event.
"We have been honoured to have you as a speaker for this
international conference," Mr Malaison stated. "We greatly
appreciated your keynote address to all the intranet
professionals that attended the conference, your workshop and
also your participation on the international panel."
More client feedback
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/client_feedback.htm
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UPCOMING CONTENT MANAGEMENT SEMINARS BY GERRY MCGOVERN
San Francisco: February 26-28
Idaho: March 8-11
Perth: March 14
Melbourne: March 17
Brisbane: March 18
Sydney: March 19
Canberra: March 20
Melbourne: March 21-22
San Francisco: March 24-28
More details:
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/seminars_upcoming.htm
If you'd like me to do a content management seminar for your
organization, or if you require content management consulting,
please drop me an email.
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
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THE HIGH COST OF RUNNING A WEBSITE
The Web has begun to mature. As this happens, managers are
realizing that running a quality website is a very expensive
business. Quality content does not come cheap. Many
organizations are therefore beginning to question the return on
investment they are seeing from their websites.
If you're managing a website, you're in the business of
publishing. Oh, in the early days, the Web was sold as something
much more than publishing. It was something almost magical. The
old rules didn't apply. The Web was about interactivity, online
communities and ecommerce. If you didn't absolutely embrace the
Web, you simple didn't get it.
On a day-to-day basis, you're a publisher. If you are running
an intranet, you have a constant problem getting content out of
various departments. On your public website, you worry about
whether the content is well written and understandable. Your
website requires that content gets commissioned, written, edited
and published. That's what publishers do.
Publishing has a dirty little secret. It's a secret that was
well hidden in the early days of the Web. It was hidden behind
venture capital and unbelievable hype. It was hidden behind the
enthusiasm of pioneers. It was hidden behind the belief that
what was important was to be a player. That the profits would
come later.
The dirty little secret of publishing is that it is very hard
to make a profit out of publishing. I have been involved in the
publishing industry for about twenty years. In that time, I
have seen a great many magazines and book publishers come and
go. I have seen the inside of magazines that have survived.
They are run as a very tight ship.
The big publishers can make a lot of money. But they have to be
very big. To make real money out of publishing you need to
achieve significant scale. Otherwise, you'd better have content
that is so valuable people are willing to pay a lot of money
for it.
If most organizations took the time to analyze the costs and
the returns of their websites in the last five years, they'd
be in for a shock. Yes, it did cost that much. No, it didn't
deliver enough value to cover its costs.
A frightening amount of money has been wasted on the Web. The
trash-and-build approach churned through money. Every year or
so, some organizations create new designs and pretty much start
again. There are many organizations who have hundreds of
intranets and public websites. This is hugely wasteful and
almost impossible to manage.
The Web has begun to mature. The days when you could try
anything out and see what happens are gone. There is a definite
trend whereby the Web must justify itself from a financial
perspective. Management wants measurables. Management wants
results.
This trend is good for the Web. Some organizations will find
that the Web simply doesn't work very well for them. They will
create small, simple websites that are easy to maintain. Some
will find that with proper planning, the Web can deliver results.
But even in these situations, success will often depend on
managing costs as tightly as possible.
It's easy to be a publisher on the Web. It's easy to lose a lot
of money too.
Gerry McGovern
<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
WEBSITE LINK FOR THIS ISSUE:
<http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2003/nt_2003_01_27_publishing.htm>
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HAVE YOU ENJOYED NEW THINKING?
If you have, I'd like to hear about it. (Constructive criticism is
welcome too!) If you have a minute, please send a brief accolade
(about 100 words), describing what you like about the publication.
This may then be published on my website, or in other promotional
material. Please also include your name, title and organization
(if appropriate).
Thank you
Gerry McGovern
Please send accolades to:
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Also, you might pass the word on to someone else, and encourage
them to subscribe.
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WHAT'S NEW NEWSLETTER
What's New is a monthly email newsletter by Gerry McGovern
that will keep you informed on upcoming seminars, talks, book
reviews and other relevant issues relating to Gerry's work.
If you would like to subscribe, please send an email to:
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with the word "subscribe" in the subject line
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PUBLICATION SCHEDULE
New Thinking is published every Monday, 48 weeks a year (two week
break during August and December).
Occasionally, there will be special issues which will deal with
major events, and/or special announcements concerning Gerry
McGovern. However, there should be no more than four of
these a year.
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SPONSORSHIP AND ADVERTISING
Sponsors and advertisers will be sought for New Thinking.
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COPYRIGHT
Permission to re-publish an individual issue is given, once the
following conditions are met:
* Gerry McGovern is given proper recognition as the author of
the piece
* A link to Gerry McGovern's website is published
* The piece is not modified in any way
* Subscription details for New Thinking are provided
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TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
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BOOKS BY GERRY MCGOVERN
Content Critical:
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/content_critical.htm
The Web Content Style Guide:
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/web_content_style_guide.htm
Web: http://www.gerrymcgovern.com Telephone: +353 87 238 6136
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