Making things real: Content strategy for realistic content management

Everyone has a plan. Until reality sets in.

You've done the interviews, and you’ve rallied the team, and now you have a dream. Here’s the thing: Your dream isn’t going to work. No dream ever does. Instead, your dream is going to cause disappointment and frustration, because it hasn’t been paired with the content management robots that will eventually serve and store your future website.

How do we prepare our dreams so they can function within the cold world of web programming? How do we help teams understand the reality of content management, and set expectations accordingly? How do we balance the rigidity of a content model with the creative flow of a marketing team? More than anything, how do we get everyone on the same page—from ideation to CMS help text?

It's called “reification,” and it's the act of making something real. We’re not talking code. We’re not talking CMS selection. We’re simply talking about helping those we work with understand the content management landscape though a common language and practical questions. Let’s take the best case scenario and get it closer to a real life scenario. Let's make things real.

In this session, you’ll learn how to:

• More effectively plan content projects for both the editors and the CMS.
• Balance the complexity of a content model with the talents and efficiencies of the editorial team.
• Account for structural needs while still maintaining discussion of messaging and overall branding.
• Better communicate how content models affect the final usability of the CMS.

Who should attend: People who want to better understand how to manage expectations on a content project as it relates to the content model and content management systems, people who are frustrated with C-suite dreams becoming tangled and messy nightmares, or people who are ready to move to or adopt a new content management system and need help making things real.