Workshops

Introduction to Social Media

A full-day, immersive workshop on social media, covering strategy and tactics and delving into the specific tools, including blogs, wikis, podcasts, social networks, social bookmarking sites, social ranking services, microformats, tags and widgets. Participants emerge prepared to integrate social media into broad communication plans and to implement specific strategies that meet measurable objectives. The session covers both internal and external communication, and can be tailored to focus on a specific dimension of communications based on your needs.

Writing for the Wired World

This popular full-day workshop covers a variety of approaches to improving online copy. Shel Holtz has presented this workshop for more than 75 companies, including TRW, Unisys, John Deere, Fidelity Investments, Cisco Systems, Best Buy, AT&T, AARP, Chase Manhattan Bank, FedEx, Glaxo Wellcome, Hewlett Packard, Vanguard, and Sun Microsystems.

Writing for the Web -- and other computer-based vehicles -- is not the same as writing for print. Is your staff ready to produce words for the computer screen that are:

  • Compelling?
  • Effective?
  • Appropriate to the medium?

In this one-day workshop -- already conducted for some of the biggest companies on the business landscape -- Shel Holtz, ABC will instruct your Communications staff how to apply their writing talents to a hypermediated environment. The workshop includes on-screen examples, lecture, and in-class exercises.

Why is this important?

Readers don't read words on a computer screen the same way they read words on paper. To begin with, paper is matter, while the words on a computer screen are conveyed using light. Physiology comes into play.

Do you know how to write with physiology in mind?

In addition, readers don't generally read all the words on a computer screen as they do on paper. Instead, they scan for key concepts.

Does your writing accommodate scanning?

Readers of online material will give up in less than 20 seconds if they can't find what they want.

Does your writing address the receiver-driven model of communication?

If you expect people to read what you've written for the Web, an electronic newsletter, or even an e-mail message, you need to learn how to write for this new and different medium.

Far too much of what appears on the Web is simple shovelware, text-based material repurposed to the computer screen. And it doesn't work.

The course content

  • The roles of the online writer
  • How readers read online
  • The new communications environment - The characteristics of online content and how they affect your writing
  • Writing - Strategies for producing effective e-mail newsletters - Preparing to write for the Web - Using the right words - Crafting headlines and subheads that improve your content - Writing effective hyperlinks
  • Document elements - Ensuring your site will be viewed as authentic and credible - Adding interactivity to your writing - Writing titles that help people find your site - Making your site accessible for the disabled
  • Design: An element of your writing

Customized content

Because "Writing for the Wired World" is conducted within your organization -- for your staff -- each session is customized to reflect the nature of your organization and the environment in which your organization works. This customization includes:

  • Examples drawn from your industry
  • Samples taken from your own company's printed and online work
  • Exercises that reflect the kind of online efforts in which you expect to engage

The "Writing for the Wired World" workshop includes a workbook distributed to every participant. This 80-page workbook includes all of the material from the on-screen presentation, plus additional details that can be used during writing assignments after the workshop is over. In addition, the workbook contains all of the exercises in which workshop participants will engage during the course of the session, and additional resources to which your staff can turn for tips and ideas to improve their on-screen writing efforts.

Integrating Print and Online Communication

Producing online content that does not fully integrate with the rest of your communication can produce disastrous results. Learn how to take advantage of the strengths of each kind of communication vehicle and leverage each to draw your readers to the others.

Managing Online Content

In this session, Shel covers all aspects of managing the content that goes into your online communication, from staffing and production processes to content management systems and portals.

The Intranet Academy

Learn the latest trends and tools that can help you transform your intranet from a source of frustration for employees to the tool you've always known it can be -- one that reduces hassle and improves productivity for employees at all levels of the organization. The session includes a review of intranet ROI, how to get management on board, how to measure the effectiveness of your intranet, and how to market a launch or relaunch.