People sometimes assume that “computer people” can become web designers overnight, in the same way that tech people can “study up” and obtain Cisco or A+ certifications.

I had an interesting extended conversation today with a web guy at a BMW dealership, (actually I bought a Toyota …I work for the state, remember?)

The long and the short of our chat had to do with this guy managing the website for the dealership. He talked about his decades of experience in car sales, and his transition to managing the booming internet side of the business.  He mentioned a recent trend of dealerships hiring “techies” to run their websites, techies who had no previous experience in the auto industry, much less selling cars, dealing with people, etc.  The crux of his argument was that “you could teach a good car salesman to run a dealership website, but you couldn’t necessarily teach a technology guy to be good at using that website to sell cars.”

There is something to be said for years of industry education and experience.  And no amount of tech-savyness can leapfrog someone into overnight success, unless they understand the medium, the mechanics, the psychology, of the particular field that new technology is being applied to.

I find it interesting how that core principle applies to almost any industry.  Its the same old argument about tools vs talent.

You can discuss the newest features of Photoshop until you’re blue in the face, and endlessly commisserate about which set of Adobe Creative Suite you should purchase, all the while pretending that these tools will somehow make you better at what you do, ….when in reality, a trained artist/industry professional can run circles around your $1200 software package with nothing but perhaps an ink pen, an old version of microsoft paint, and a photocopier machine he rescued from an office trashcan.

Beware the “expert” designer who, in fact, only knows the nuts and bolts of their software. Like the guy (or gal) or claims to be a master carpenter because he/she can work a power saw, they may know the TOOLS, but they don’t necessarily have the experience and talent to output any kind of product.

I’m wary of conversations about tools. Lets start talk about ideas.  About design.  About content.

Missing SXSW Interactive this year was a bummer.  Office travel budgets, it seems, are one of the first things to get axed when university finances meet Jenny Craig.

A conference/seminar that I’d kill to attend however, isn’t in Austin.  It’s in Vegas.

“The 2009 NPPA Multimedia Immersion Seminar in Las Vegas will be an intense, five-day, hands-on training experience for visual journalists looking to expand and grow their multimedia skillsets. Our focus is on mixing photos, video and audio content and editing them into multimedia presentations. Our previous students have ranged from multiple Pulitzer Prize Winners, Best of Photojournalism winners, the current White House Photographer, academics, editors, students, working professionals and freelancers all looking to supercharge their careers.

What You Will Learn

• Effectively planning and developing your story to save time on your workflow and increase the quality of your pieces
• Professional audio recording techniques in the field from audio documentary experts
• Hands-on explanations and experiences on how to use audio, video and photo gear — along with recommendations on gear
• Training on how to shoot visuals for multimedia storytelling including techniques for documentaries and working as a one-man-band or mobile journalist
• Hands-on video production editing training and experience on Final Cut Pro, including how to create your own custom composed music and how to integrate cutting edge motion graphics, titles and lower-third labels
• Get inspired seeing some of the most cutting edge multimedia projects from industry leaders forging the new multimedia storytelling forms

Every student will produce their own finished, professional project – from capturing all the content to editing to compressing the final files.

Unlike other multimedia training workshops, we provide the most personalized training experience with the lowest student-to-teacher ratio (with about 25 coaches for 50 students). So students will be personally coached by industry leaders who work at media titans including The New York Times, NPR, Washington Post, MSNBC, and also from leading independent multimedia outlets, including MediaStorm and top academic institutions like Syracuse University.

So go ‘all in’ and join us in Vegas for the Multimedia Immersion Seminar. It will be a remarkably intense experience that will change your career.

I apologize if this blog has been on a journalism bent, as of late.  It’s just that University advancement/communications are tied at the hip to the newspaper industry,  an industry in turmoil.  It’s at the core of what those kinds of university offices do: raise public awareness through the news media.

Two great reads:

John C. Dvorak’s : Newspaper Publishers Are Idiots
“For too long newspapers have taken on the role of cultural arbiter and distribution channel for popular culture ideas. That is all over and can never return.”

and

Clay Shirky’s piece, “Newspapers and Thinking the Unthinkable
I agree with Woody Lewis’s assessment.

Shirky’s piece should be required reading for anyone affiliated with, or rooting for, a newspaper of any size.

…Like Lawrence Lessig, he’s one of those brilliant people you never hear from, until they blow you out of the water. And trust me, I don’t often use the word “brilliant.”

Interesting article from the Christian Science Monitor:

Professors could rescue newspapers
A hundred years ago professors wrote for the press – free of charge.

“Put simply, it’s getting too expensive to gather news.

So here’s a novel idea: Let’s get university professors to do it. For real. And, best of all, free of charge.

Remember, most professors aren’t paid for what they write now. When I publish an article in an academic journal, I don’t earn a cent. But I also don’t engage more than a handful of readers, mainly fellow specialists in my own field.

…So what would be in it for them? Right now, nothing. The way you get ahead in academia is to write for other academics, period. But we can change that, too.

Suppose that 30 or 40 prominent research universities issued a joint statement, urging their faculty to publish in popular venues – and promising to consider such articles in promotion and salary decisions. Believe me, you’d see more and more professors writing for the newspaper.

…Professors won’t be a panacea for newspapers, of course. Many of us don’t know how to write for lay readers, first of all, so we’ll have to learn. But we have a lot to teach, too, about nearly every subject that a paper might cover. And did I mention that we’ll work for free?

Related:
From Public Radio Redux:

Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo.

“If possible, commercial media has been hit harder than public media and on December 4, Scripps President and CEO, Rich Boehne, announced the Rocky Mountain News was up for sale. On a Thursday a few months later with no offer, Boehne announced that after 149 years and 311 days of operation that Friday would be the Rocky’s last issue.”

Tooting my own horn here.  Our new university homepage is controlled entirely by wordpress.

Daniel Spillers is the overlord of wordpress development. And I am thoroughly amazed at the xhtml/css coding of sir Thomas Wallace. Not to mention his skillful deployment of the keyboard-accessible carousel feature. It isn’t very often that you have such a skilled web developer as a faculty member.

There’s a certain measure of pride when you’re able to do something in-house.  And it takes more than a pixel-pushing web designer.  It takes a dedicated team.  Well, almost dedicated.  We kind’ve all have different bosses.

“Silo-Busting” is the operative word.  My job has been pretty awseome as of late.  I’m in a good spot.