ITster!

Titus and I had a wonderful opportunity this past week to speak to civic leaders at the Ontario Municipal Administrators Association about the importance of engaging online websites, social media, and open data. The underlying theme of the day was that better engagement from the city/regions results in better citizenship engagement and an overall improvement to the quality of life in those regions.

We had some tough questions from the audience around social media policies; where do the lines between personal liberties and freedom of expression cross into professional conduct and employment agreements. We were very grateful for the additional insight provided by Dennis Flaherty from the City of Markham around the importance of having a good, clearly communicated policies AND social media training in place.

Both Titus and Dennis brought up that the challenges with social media and employees excercising poor judgement in a public forum is not a new challenge, and in fact many of the employment contracts already have provisions in them that protect the municipality in the event that employees are excercising poor judgement, provided the aforementioned policies and procedures are in place.

One interesting point that came out during the question and answer period is the lack of information around community pages on Facebook, and a general lack of participation in Wikipedia. A challenge I’ve put out to attendees from the session is to task someone within your team to ensure that your municipality is participating in generating the content for both community pages and on Wikipedia.

During the presentation, we showed some examples of some websites that do a great job of broadcasting out information to their constituents:

• www.waterloo.ca
• www.portcolborne.ca

We also discussed Social Media Policy and suggested a starting point could be our own social media policy generator:

• www.policytool.net

There is a lots of information about social media and to get a handle on the scope, popularity, and sheer importance of it all, we recommend the excellenet Socialnomics video:

We gave some examples of what some municipalities and citizen groups have been able to do with Open Data:

• www.data.gov
• www.data.gov.uk
• data.vancouver.ca
• www.ottawa.ca/online_services/opendata/index_en.html
• www.vantrash.ca
• www.eatsure.ca
• www.nextstopapp.com
• www.taxicity.ca

And suggested that if there was interest in learning more, some great resources are;

• A great resource for open data discussion/dialogue – www.eaves.ca
• Our blog (you’re on it!)
• Another passionate individual on the topic of Open Data talks at TED

Our slide deck was mostly visuals to aide in the discussion, but here are the key talking points per section:

Website

• We are living in an age of participation and websites need to encourage that
• Avoid using “closed” file formats that require additionally programs to open, such as PDFs
• Start using RSS Feeds to push content to citizens

Social Media

• Conversations are happening online and municipalities should be part of that
• Content should be engaging and connect citizens with services
• Explore the POST method to develop a strategy

Open Data

We wrapped up the session by issuing a challenge to all present to work harder to position their Municipalities as leaders in these areas. The changes we’ve seen in the first decade of the 21st century are only the tip of the iceberg and there is no better time to get involved.

IE 6.x has long been the bane of any sane web developer. Many, many hours are spent making otherwise perfectly healthy website implementations work in this broken, and terribly outdated browser.

IE 6.x is continuing to experience a decline in usage; Google (and Google owned YouTube) have already discontinued support for the browser.

We are jumping on the bandwagon. By default, rtraction quotes will no longer include IE 6.0 support in quotes, RFP responses, etc. We will still include IE 6.0 support as an optional line item.

Here is what this means to our clients:

1. The average cost of our website implementations will drop significantly, especially for basic content management systems. It’s actually scary to analyse how much time has gone into IE 6.x support over the years. Now we’ll have that time to spend on other, more innovative things.
2. Websites built/quoted before this announcement will continue to support IE 6.x. Additionally, for our public sector friends support is still available for those sites that are required to have backwards capability.
3. Our developers will be happier. I am expecting a parade, or some equally elaborate celebration now that this announcement is formally made.

As always, if you have any comments, complaints, etc please comment below or drop me a line directly – email hidden; JavaScript is required.

When our local health unit released its Food Inspection Disclosure Site we thought it was a great resource to find out about our local eating establishments. The interface for the application is very good if you’re looking for information on a specific establishment but we found it difficult to get a sense for what might be going on in your neighbourhood or region.

One of the advantages of working in a digital technology firm is that all someone has to say is something like “Hey, wouldn’t it be great if you can see this on a map?” Because the answer is yes, you can. After a few days of solid effort by our team, we are happy to introduce: EatSure.ca

We uncovered a few surprises ourselves doing this initiative – for example – looking in your area may turn up your grocery store has a critical warning. I didn’t even know that grocery stores were inspected!

We believe that the resource itself will be useful to the people in our community but we also hope to start a community discussion around the importance of open data and how citizens can imagine new and exciting ways of using that data.  We were able to create EatSure.ca with only the information that is provided to the public web browser; we could make the application more powerful if we had access to the underlying data that drives the health unit’s web site.

We are aware of only one other initiative in our area – a Blackberry application that was developed by a Fanshawe College student on his own time to display London Transit bus location data (not yet available for public use). If you are aware of any other open data initiatives in our community, please post them in the comments below.

Across our country, cities like Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa and Vancouver have embraced open data and have initiatives well underway. Edmonton is also launching a contest for open data applications and offering $50,000 in prizes for winning entries. And around the world the US and UK governments have massive programs established.

At the forefront of the open data movement in Canada is David A Eaves. Recently he launched a citizen led initiative to advance the progress of open data across the country – datadotgc.ca.

“Unlike our American and British peers, the Canadian Federal (and provincial…) government(s) currently have no official, coordinated effort to release government data. We think that should change. But rather than complain, we thought we’d do something. This is our effort. A stab at showing our government, and Canada, what a federal open data portal could and should look like.”

Our political leaders are excited by the ways in which open data can be used to enhance the lives of our citizens and it is up to us who are interested in technology to continually better the services that are available.  Technology geeks like to do these types of things for fun, to see if they can, and for the general service of our neighbours, friends and peers.

All we need, our government friends, is the data. Please?

For years now if a company was privately held it meant that the information that was available about the organization was what they chose to tell you through advertising, media buys, and the occasional magazine article. Even publicly held corporations had means of controlling the information that was distributed about its organizations.

Compare that to the traditional non-profit who by very definition of the structure have to be open and accountable to their stakeholders which include:

1. The Members/Board of the organization, Employees and Volunteers
2. The community in which the non-profit is serving
3. The “clients” or recipients of the service from the non-profit
4. Federal, State/Provincial and Local/Municipal governments

Non-profits have strived to measure, listen, solicit feedback, measure again, and report. And once that report is completed the process starts all over again.

Employees, Customers, Vendors and Community as Influencers

Fast forward to the days of social media. The privately or publicly held business is no longer in direct control of its marketing – what people see and hear about the organization is strongly influenced by how they engage with – you guessed it – their stakeholders:

1. Employees of the Organization
2. The community in which the business operates
3. Their customers/clients
4. Federal, State/Provincial and municipal governments

For the For-Profit business, ignoring any of these stakeholder groups could result in significant communication challenges for the company.

In this new reality I wonder if For-Profit companies can look to the best practices developed over years of improvement on best practices in the Non-Profit.

In short: Listen, Measure, Report. Show your accountability to your stakeholders.

I wonder if a potential solution for a business is to look to your favourite Non-Profit and observe how they operate in an open and transparent way. What do you think?

As posted yesterday, Chris is leaving our organization. That has created a challenge – how do we fill the position of Client Relations Manager that he is vacating?

In conversations around replacement postings, we’ve discussed titles like Account Manager, Inside Sales Rep, Sales Support, Communication Manager, Client Manager, Stank Funk Enforcement Officer (ask Josh) etc, etc. The list goes on and on. In an organization as multifaceted as ours, it’s difficult to pin any one title to the role.

And so we thought: let’s take a different approach. Rather than an iron-clad job description and title, here is a list of the skills we’ve determined are ideal for this position:

Required:

1. Loves working with a variety of clients in different industries
2. Strong Writing Skills
3. Strong Oral Communication Skills
4. Great Problem Solving / Creative Thinking Skills
5. High Energy / Positive Mojo
6. Analytical Thinking
7. Good Negotiation Skills
8. Ability to Edit/Proof Read (Attention to Detail)
9. Ability to create and deliver killer presentations
10. Nothing gets you more excited than writing up a solid pitch/proposal to a new prospect
11. A desire to work with our community to make it a better place to live

Would-be-Great-To-Have:

1. Technical Aptitude (not programming, but not afraid of technology either)
2. Marketing Aptitude
3. Experience with Non-Profits
4. Experience with High Tech/Medical Agencies
5. Graphic Design Skills (for presentations, documentation)
6. Understanding of Financials / Budgeting / Business Lifecycles
7. Have your own Blog / Twitter Account / Website / Facebook Fan Page
8. Know how to spell HTML

Why would you want to work with us? Several reasons, really. A chance to work on exciting, dynamic projects. Perhaps you want to help us build a stronger community by doing good. You like the challenge of working in new, emerging media technologies. You (or your family) is a big fan of international standards in web development. You like robots. Maybe, just maybe you have a healthy hatred of all things undead. You like to rock out. And last but not least, you like to work hard AND  play hard with your peers.

If you have these skills and a desire to work in online marketing with our team, drop me a line and maybe we can create an opportunity together. Alternatively, if you know someone that is ideal – please pass them along.

And last but not least, if you’re happily situated in your job and don’t know anyone looking, please leave some comments about any thoughts you have for any important attributes for individuals working with clients in the digital media / online marketing space – your feedback is welcome and appreciated!

UPDATE 01/25/2010: A few people have commented/wrote/called, etc asking how they can contact us if interested (and specifically what to send). I’ve been asking interested individuals to send a note describing what about this blog post resonates with them and sparks interest, identifying the skills in which they excel at and perhaps the ones that need work. And, of course, a traditional C.V. is always a good idea! You may send it directly to me at email hidden; JavaScript is required

Thanks to all our community members that have passed this on!

As 2009 drew to a close and the rtraction team looked ahead to 2010, we didn’t make any resolutions, we made an affirmation. We clarified that something we’ve been doing for a long time is not just “something we do” it’s central to who we are as a company.

For rtraction, 2009 was our best year ever in terms of how much we were able to give back and contribute to the community. We do this both as individuals (we offer staff a full day every month to volunteer) and as a group.

 
Shawn Adamsson, Jeremy Richardson, Julie Ryan, Nik Harron and Chris McInnis at the Amazing Tree Quest Launch for Reforest London

As a group, this year we donated over a thousand hours of staff time to design, build and promote entirely new websites and promotional videos for long-time community partners like ReForest London and TechAlliance, and for new groups and campaigns like the United Way’s GenNext and the LUSO Community Centre’s 1000 Acts of Kindness.

 
Stephen Ash and Norma Oreadi giving away chocolates on Hugs and Kisses Day for 1000 Acts of Kindness

For 1000 Acts, we not only built their site, but also developed a social media strategy for the campaign and committed to performing 500 acts ourselves. We were completely blown away by their success, and incredibly proud to have been part of it. (They inspired the community to achieve 52,115 acts of kindness in one month!)

We closed out the year with a collection of 1000 pounds of food and $1000 for the London and Area food bank.

 
Food Bank Prank at rtraction

When we combine services, sponsorships and cash, our agency contributed over $100,0000 to the community this year. Not too shabby for a team of 15 and a business that’s under ten years old. Yet even as we reflect on what we managed to accomplish this past year, we’re determined to do even more in 2010.

At the risk of sounding cliché … Corporate Social Responsibility is more than just a tagline for us. It’s what gets us excited, what keeps us motivated, and one of the things we’re most proud of. Bring on 2010!

I came across an interesting article recently on Business Week entitled Social media snake oil? In it, Stephen Baker explores the idea that (like in any young, emerging field) there are “hucksters” out there trying to make a quick buck as social media consultants, without having the proper credentials in place.

We saw a similar trend in search engine optimization that spawned a rapid proliferation of firms that specialized in SEO. Now, many years later, pretty much every web agency and many ad agencies offer SEO as part of their web marketing strategy. As the science of SEO matured, established agencies with a proven track record for delivering results in other forms of marketing started to pick up SEO as part of their regular service offering.

We can probably expect to see a similar increase in social media: with consultants claiming to be experts in the field. Our position at rtraction is that the field hasn’t defined itself yet, therefore there can be no experts – only smart people coming up with creative ideas to engage your customers or constituents in whatever social media space you plan to use.

In order to avoid the Snake Oil salesman, here are some simple recommendations before engaging:

1. Ask your respective social media consultant for concrete examples of how they have used social media to the success of an organization in the past; ask them to prove the return on investment from their efforts
2. Look them up in the social media space – what are they doing and how are they engaging with their target market?
3. Use the search tools available at your disposal, Google, Twitter Search, etc to search their organization and see how they are represented within the social media space
4. Do the same for individual(s) you would be working with, the owners of the company, etc.

In short – if they are representing that they can do creative things in the social media space they should be able to prove it and they should be represented in that space for their own personal/corporate objectives. Social Media is an open space.

With the rapid rise of social media over the past year or so, one of the things I’ve struggled with most is how it can benefit small and medium businesses. There are case studies aplenty on the effectiveness of Twitter and other social media campaigns for large corporations. However, what about the small business? Would a social media strategy work for a small business in our local marketplace?

Well, let me tell you a tale of Two Frosties:

Two Frosties - Mint Oreo and Peanut Butter Cup

You have to go back to Friday, September 11 and this tweet fora FollowFriday recommendation from @LocalLondonLife for @WharncliffeDQ. I looked at the twitter feed for @WharncliffeDQ and it looked like an active, interesting feed, so I followed them.

For out-of towners, the Wharncliffe DQ is London Ontario’s first  DQ location, established in 1954. My family and I visit them occassionally throughout the summer, but not much in the fall/winter.

Fast forward a few days. DQ posted their Secret Twitter Treat special for September. Buy one small Frosty, get another small Frosty, free.  Sounded like a good idea – I wondered how effective the campaign would be.

The following weekend my wife and I were thinking about taking our daughter to the Western Fair.  She is 3 and, no doubt, would  have enjoyed it. However, the cost of parking made us question the value of going. We concluded that she would enjoy an afternoon at the park with her parents just as much as the Western Fair.

Before long, I realized we were a short drive from the Wharncliffe DQ decided to see if we could get the September Twitter treat! After running the little ones ragged at the park, we trekked off for some Ice Cream.

I have to admit the poor girl working the counter may have thought I was a bit crazy when I asked for the September Twitter Treat at the serving window, but we soon sorted that out. They even managed to upsell us to a small dipped cone (pictured above) when I found out you could get it coated in sprinkles! (I knew my daughter would love sprinkles!)

The beauty of social media is that this transaction would not have happened if not for the Follow Friday recommendation from @LocalLondonLife. And that recommendation would not have happened if @LocalLondonLife did not find DQ’s twitter content interesting. I would not have been following @LocalLondonLife if I did not think her feed posted  interesting content. The seeds of participation that the staff at the DQ had put into maintaining their twitter feed probably took a while to bear fruit – but here it is, a tangible sale they made by partipating in the medium.

My recommendation for organizations over the past 6 months has been – JUMP IN and participate. You never know when it will result in a sale.

P.S. It helps if you offer sprinkles.

Welcome to our new “Our Traction” blog. Formerly known as “ITSter!”, we have re-branded it to focus more on strategies, ideas and initiatives we think our clients and our community could benefit from.

Over the 13 years that I have been working in web development, I have seen many changes in our industry. When I started, Netscape was all the rage and nobody had heard of IE. I remember the pundits saying that online advertising as a revenue source was dead, and organizations should look to other ways to monetize their online activity. Then came Google. The dramatic increase of open source technology took the concept of Content Management Systems out of the hands of corporations that could afford that technology to smaller organizations and ultimately to individuals.

The latest buzz is Social Media, but this time it feels different.

In some ways it is new, after all Facebook and Twitter have not been around that long. But the “web 2.0″ elements of social media (such as Amazon.com’s crowd-sourcing of book reviews) have been around for over a decade.

The new concept that became known as Web 2.0 was that the web could host two-way conversations rather than simply pushing top-down, editorial style publishing. Social Media is simply an extension of Web 2.0. If you think of Web 2.0 as a set of tools, then Social Media is our culture’s rapid adoption of those tools and how we are apply them to our everyday life.

So where does that lead us? I am now firmly in the camp that the way that we do business online is changing fundamentally – and will continue to change, evolve, and test our creativity. If change is the medium – the ever-pressing evolution of new technology and more importantly the ways in which people interact with this technology – and the Medium itself is the Massage, (yes, it’s Massage, not Message) what does that mean for rtraction?

Simply put, it means we embrace the change, and look forward to the challenges that it presents.

Hopefully this new blog will capture the spirit of the discussions we’ve been having here at rtraction, provide some inspiration and provoke some discussion. Let us know.

The Eyetrack III team has published a new, outstanding summary of their research about how people view web-pages. I found several key things interesting in this article, namely:

1) The Zig-Zag pattern in which people scan the page is not new; what I found interesting is that they view the right hand side of the page second, and significantly, in comparison to the right hand page. We often use this space for “latest news” or other trend highlights, so it’s great to see that is a general eye-searching pattern.

2) Smaller type causes people to spend more time reviewing the articles – perhaps this is the web version of “Those who cannot hear an angry shout may strain to hear a whisper.”

3) Top Navigation performed best – this is a key thing to note as there is often an important design consideration on where navigation should be placed. Generally we use the left hand side for secondary or tertiary navigation just from an aesthetics standpoint; this is an additional consideration when deciding on layout.

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