Minneapolis Souvenirs: The insights, lessons, and little gems I brought back from Confab 2011

Minnesota souvenirsThe insights, lessons, and little

gems I brought back from Confab 2011

Here’s a real FAQ:

Why has content strategy suddenly become so

important in the last few years?

Organisations are

feeling the pain.

“Why hasn’t SEO fixed

our problems?”

“Why haven’t the users generated all our content for us?”

Image courtesy of Sean Tubridy

“We need a blog!” “We need a

Facebook page!”

“We need an iPad app!”

“We need to write

articles!”

Confab was the best conference ever,

in the history of forever.

Confab B

onus

Fact #1

Image courtesy of Sean Tubridy

Souvenir #1

“What is content strategy?” is getting simultaneously harder

and easier to answer.

This is a salad.

(Obviously.)

But what’s in it?

Image courtesy of Sean Tubridy

Confab topics: a small selection

Messaging

Writing for websites

Content curation

User-generated content

Metadata schemas

Content creation processes

Editorial strategy

Storytelling

Content marketing

Content management systems

Measuring content

Change management

Localisation

Souvenir #2

Listening is a key skill for content strategists. Perhaps

even THE key skill.

(I have no idea how Kristina can hear anything over that loud party hat.)

Image courtesy of Sean Tubridy

“Tell me more about

that.”

And that wasthe simple version.

460 people attended Confab. The conference sold out two months in

advance.

Confab B

onus

Fact #2

Image courtesy of Sean Tubridy

Souvenir #3

Defining workflow is an integral but undervalued part of content

strategy.

Who?

Image courtesy of Sean Tubridy

How?

What?

When?

The content creation process

Yeah. Sure.

The Groupon content creation process

I’m as disappointed as you are at the

fact that they don’t use unicorns.

Approximately 783 metric tons of cake were consumed at Confab.

Confab B

onus

Fact #3

Souvenir #4

Content must be well-structured if it’s to be future-proof.

“Nimble content can travel freely, retain context and meaning, and

create new products.”– Rachel Lovinger

Erin Kissane isn’t just smart;she also has amazing shoes.

Confab B

onus

Fact #4

Image courtesy of Sean Tubridy

Souvenir #5

Content has to be tested and measured. Continually.

Test. Improve content. Test.

Improve content. Test. Improve

content. Then reward yourself

with a piece of cake.

Image courtesy of Sean Tubridy

At least three prominent content strategists slid down the pole at the Minneapolis #11 fire station on the

night of 10 May 2011.

Confab B

onus

Fact #5

Margot Bloomstein

Fire station pole

Souvenir #6

Content strategy is becoming a community of practice.

We’re sharing ideas.

Image courtesy of Sean Tubridy

We’re sharing challenges.

We’re sharing tools.

Groups, groups everywhere

Funny ‘cos it’s

true.

Real friendships have developed.

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Confab had its own signature cocktail.

Confab B

onus

Fact #6

Souvenir #7

We need allies.

Find your content champions.

This thing only goes if we collaborate.

Kerry-Anne Gilowey | kerryanne@augustsun.co.za | @kerry_anne