Blog
Websites Made Easy
Recently, WordPress updated their core CMS script. The changes add increased user control and customization for your site. It is expected to improve the usability factor for non-technical website owners. In the end, users should expect a quality website without the need to learn difficult coding. Below is a promo video from WordPress demoing their new upgrade.
If you are looking for a quality website but do not have the technical knowledge, contact us today. We offer quality services designed to empower the web user. By providing a customized WordPress installation, you can edit your own site, add multimedia, and look like a professional. Within weeks, you could be reaching more people in more place through more effective means.
IntenseDebate as a Commenting Moderator
Recently, we added IntenseDebate, a comment moderation plugin, to our website. Our goal is to maximize the opportunity for site visitors to respond to post. While the standard comment plugin from WordPress does a good job, IntenseDebate offers the visitor an opportunity to connect their Facebook, Twitter, OpenID, and/or WordPress.com account with their comment.
These connecting points allow for our website to have links on numerous social network accounts simultaneous. Talk about great advertisement! This is a simple reminder that social networking is a “must” for any organization. As the web of social networks connect, your website and its content is distributed across the Web. Depending upon the scope of a site visitor’s social network (friend’s list), your website could be seen by hundreds of people in only a few hours.
If you are interested in integrating these technologies into your website/blog, contact us, and we will be willing to guide you through the process.
Data Visualization as a Medium
A large portion of my activities is serving as the Assessment Coordinator for Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL. Specifically, I work for the Office of Institutional Research & Retention. During the past year, our office was tasked with preparing our accreditation report–a comprehensive report identifying the university’s compliance with accreditation standards. As you would imagine, a great deal of writing has taken place. Student enrollment, student-to-faculty ratios, assessment of learning outcomes, and verification of student achievement are only a few of the numerous university data sets that were aggregated and prepared. Simply, it is our job to convince our peers (the accreditation review team) that Southeastern University is a quality institution worthy of granting degrees.
The greatest challenge of our office and any other research office is to disseminate institutional data as means of verifying the institution’s current standing. This will continue to be a challenge when people do not appreciate “what” the data is saying. Therefore, the presentation of data must be taken into account. Long gone are the days when you could pull data together on a one-dimensional line graph. When in reality, institutional data is dependent upon and influence by many other lower-visibility factors. If taken into account, we might see disparities within the data that might lead to possible conclusions regarding the institution. Again, all of this goes back to how we present or visualize the data.
One of the best examples of data visualization is demonstrated by Hans Roling, Professor of Global Health and Director of the Gapminder Foundation. From 2006-present, Professor Roling has demonstrated the power of data when visualized at the annual TED conferences. Below is a short video clip demonstrating Gap Minder’s powerful data visualization program, GAPMINDER PRO.
This is an incredible software that permits those without statistical training to “visualize” their data. Think of all the possibilities for your organization. The good news is that the program is free to use and distributed under a Creative Common License. In fact, you can input your own historical data as means to visualize its possible anomalies and trends. This option is available through the Google’s Doc application.
So, what does this software have to do with web design and social media? That is a simple question if your company relies on data. Or, this software could be beneficial for speaking to large crowds without the need to bore individuals with mindless facts and historical trends. The saying is true, “A picture is worth a thousand word.”
If you are interested in exploring the concept of data visualization as a medium, contact AM Media Creators. We have extensive experience in analyzing institutional/corporate data and providing direction. Moreover, we can integrate this technology into your websites, PowerPoint presentations, and other media-related tools.
Social Media is Changing Perspective
While the words Facebook and Twitter may seem faddish, they are a substantial portion of 21st century lingo. When no name athletes can gain television time for posting an inflammatory remark on Twitter, one must open their eyes to the possibilities of Social Media. And, we must realize that information in this digital age is not static but dynamic. For this reason, we must develop integrative marketing tools, which connect with constituency on their terms. What used to be overly ambition, is now simple, free, and altogether effective. For more information on this topic, see the following presentation from JEES3, a creative agency that specializes in web design, branding and data visualization.
If these techniques interest you, let us know. AM Media Creators will help you integrate your social media with existing marketing strategies.
Is Your Life Just One Big RPG?
Over the years, web design has taken on many flavors. At its inception, websites contained pure content in very dry templates. But, as technology progressed, the design interface became more important that the content (pictures, standard color schemes, etc.). From this point, websites diverged into sites with “movement” as demonstrated in the Flash revolution. The Flash revolution created a new consumer need–highly interactive websites. While the design of sites are slowly returning to concepts such as usability, readability, and a one-size-fits-all approach, websites must still involve some level of visitor interaction. This concept fueled the growth of Social Networking (MySpace, Facebook, etc.) and blogging sites (WordPress, ThinkPad, and Blogger) that permits the user to control their content, interact with other people, and design their own interface without the expertise/software of professional web designers.
Beyond this, the concept of visitor interaction will continue to fuel the web industry. New technologies such as a lighter Flash, HTML5, Ruby on Rails, and other emerging technologies will enable the web industry to create visitor interaction with relative ease. This interactivity will emerge in almost every variation of website with the intentions of creating a more meaningful and personalized experience. One aspect of this movement is the integration of the Real Player Game (RPG) techniques wherein the user interacts with their surroundings in a real world virtual environment.
In the video below, Carnegie Mellon professor and ex-imagineer Jesse Schell lays out a vision of the future in which our lives become, essentially, one big RPG (a more complete understanding and implementation of the visitor interaction techniques).
Power of Social Media
So, you think that a Facebook or Twitter account is not for you? Watch this video and take a long serious look into your organization’s marketing strategy. You are sadly mistaken. Don’t miss the wave, contact AM Media Creators, today.
Follow AM Media Creators