winning equation presentation bims nov 12

Winning Equation:

Marketing + Editorial + IT =

Breakthrough Results

Publishers Love

Greg Krehbiel · @gregkrehbiel

Director of Marketing Operations, Kiplinger

Matthew Cibellis · @mcibellis & @EdWeekEvents

Director of Programming, Live & Virtual Events, Education Week

30,000 Foot View

Greg Krehbiel - [email protected]

We’re Doomed


Option 1: Be the Disrupter!!!


Publishing has changed and your old-

fashioned ideas are no good any more

We’re going in a new direction whether you

like it or not

Get with the program or you’ll be left behind

Change or die

We want the right people on the bus

Option 2: Be a Diplomat


Learn the personalities and strengths you have to work with and adapt your method accordingly. “People do what they want to do.”

Learn people’s strengths and deploy them to the benefit of the company.

Explain the business to everybody on the staff.

Involve everybody. Focus on better communication so people don’t feel left out.

There is no magic bullet.

Consider Your Colleagues’ POV


People already know publishing is a mess and

their job is on the line.

Help them to buy in to new ideas by presenting

those ideas in a way that respects their

personality and professional integrity.

Don’t let one department rule the roost. E.g., if

editorial is making production miserable, the

editors have to change!


Don’t be a disruptor.

Be a manager.

• D

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What My Company Does:

Putting Education News and

Information in the Hands of the

Media, Public, and Decision-Makers

Matthew Cibellis

@mcibellis · @EdWeekEvents

Director of Programming,

Live & Virtual Events

Education Week

Editorial Projects in Education

From

Legacy

Publication

to a

Portfolio of

Products

What Editorial Projects in Education is and

How Education Week’s live and virtual events

fits into the company.

Be the One Who Fills the Gap

• Originally an add-on sponsorship to former c-

level live events (FY11-14)

• FY14 = year one

• FY15 = 19 nationwide

• FY16 = 26 dinners scheduled.

• Key growth opportunity for company.

• Limited staff resources.

Perceived Editorial conflict:

“Sponsored dinner”≠ journalism?

Yawning Gaps in Perceptions

• Weigh the relative value of an “ask.”

• Not all “asks” are equal.

• Easy “asks” can be your undoing!

• Plan ahead!

• Work within the constraints of your colleague’s busy

schedules, so you can win and they can win.

HOW TO WORK WITH

IT

BIMS Summit 2015



“Could you build this for me,

please?”

When Your Only Tool is a Hammer

...


IT’s main tool is the computer.

The IT mindset is to …

Automate,

Use databases and templates,

Eliminate exceptions,

Build once and use many times.

IT is About Stability


The IT department builds things that have to

work exactly the same way a million times.

IT wants processes that are dependable,

repeatable, and play well with other systems.

IT needs a way to predict and manage

change.

Details vs. Big Picture – IT side


You’re thinking …

How does this make money?

How soon can I have it?

The programmer is thinking …

How does this integrate with other systems?

What server resources does it use?

How often do I have to update it?

Does it create any security problems?

IT Wants Requirements First


IT wants a clear requirements document up

front.

This includes mock-ups of every type of page.

Don’t change the project in the middle!

IT wants a fixed target.

Get IT Involved Early


Get a sense of how hard the project might be.

Get suggestions on ways to make it simpler.

Break larger projects up into smaller pieces.

“Get your IT team involved right at the

beginning or it's your fault if they become

blockers later.”

Kate Mayfield, Mayfield Solutions Ltd.

You Need an IT liaison


Learn the basics of the technology.

Understand IT’s motivations.

Be diplomatic.

Bring IT in early and work with them.

Model with commercially available software.

Consider limiting to low-hanging fruit.

Regular meetings – both with IT and

stakeholders.

Don’t Expect Creativity


Don’t count on IT to "come up with solutions"

to make somebody’s idea work. Rather …

Understand how the system works.

Understand the business objectives of the

technology.

Understand the basic technical requirements,

costs and time investment.

Find creative solutions to new problems.

Decide if it’s really worth all the effort.

Be a Diplomat


There is a large cultural gap between IT and

other departments.

Things that work in sales and marketing (e.g.,

“lighting fires”) might not work with

programmers.

Contact by email or instant messenger may be

better than by phone. (Find out what works

with your team.)

Getting Past Barriers


"Write me a requirements document" does not

mean "leave me alone.”

See if you can get IT to give you a template for a

requirements document.

The helpdesk is not designed to make you go

away.

Show that you’re willing to adapt and learn.

“Good Enough” vs. Perfect


Some IT guys are perfectionists. Others are

happy to slam out some code that’s “good

enough.”

Beware the IT tendency to over-engineer a

solution.

Beware of the project developer’s tendency to

over-specify.

Sometimes it’s best to do the simple thing first

and learn from it.

What Drives IT Crazy


Half-baked ideas.

Emergency projects.

Failure to respect their process.

Doing a whole lot of work to set up for one

promotion that gets one order.

Piling on non-critical requirements.

A Possible Procedure


1. Create a “bare bones checklist” for the

project.

2. IT reviews the checklist and meets for

clarification.

3. Business side provides wireframes of major

pages to be built.

4. IT writes a “here’s what we think you want

and how we’d do it” document.

5. Business side buys in (or goes back to step

2).

6. Project moves forward.

Sample Bare Bones Checklist


The checklist focuses on what you want, not on how it’s done.

Elevator pitch – two sentences on what needs to be done and why.

Scope – how many pages / visitors / sales will this project effect?

Is it a one-off project, or part of a larger effort?

Return – what do we hope to get out of this?

Timeline – when does this have to be completed?

Other Drivers – is there some Big Factor to be considered (e.g., it’s the CEO’s pet project)?

DIY Can Be a Bad Idea


You can create a blog in 5 minutes on WordPress,

but …

Will it integrate with your current database?

Will customers be able to use their existing

accounts?

Will you be able to market to the emails you

collect?

Will it work on mobile?

Will you create a completely new workflow

problem for updates?

Are there security risks?

Lesson -- Evaluate current technology first.

But Then Again …


Playing with WordPress for a while would be a

good way to get the background you need to

write a very good requirements document!

Sometimes you should bypass IT.

Sometimes you need an IT reality check,

especially with security.

IT’s Trump Card


“Security.”

IT has to protect the company’s data.

IT can make a legitimate claim that unless

they’re able to follow best practices and proper

procedures, the company can get in loads of

trouble.


Try to see things from the IT

perspective.

… not because IT is right.

Yawning Gaps in Perceptions

Create TurnKey

Solutions for Your

Implementation

Partners

Why shouldn’t you utilize your

editors’ or reporters’ writing

skills to produce copy for

company promotions?

They’re writers for goodness

sakes, aren’t they?

Create the Tweet with sized image ready to go for your

reporters, then insert into an Outlook reminder. Tactical? Sure.

Practical? Yes. Easily executable…definitely.

Reach out to us for further info!

Greg Krehbiel, Kiplinger

(202) 887-6428 · [email protected]

@gregkrehbiel

Matthew Cibellis, Education Week

(301) 280-3191 · [email protected]

@EdWeekEvents · @mcibellis

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]