Allyson Neal, Communicator

I’m elated to announce that I was recently selected to participate in a project to promote my hometown, New Orleans, as a center of innovation (http://www.benolabound.com/). Since Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans’ doors have been opened wide allowing citizens from around the world to witness our struggles, challenges and pain. Most recently, New Orleans has developed a reputation for its high crime rate, which is claiming the lives of its young African American males.

To be a part of this project to re-shape New Orleans’ image is a great opportunity. As an author of books about New Orleans and a professional communicator in the digital media industry, I am an advocate of promoting all of the positive aspects of life in our City. Additionally, I believe that by highlighting New Orleans’ groundbreaking success in attracting innovative startup companies, we can not only re-shape the City’s image, but we can bring about fundamental changes.

New Orleans has been in need of economic diversification since the 1980s when the oil bust ravaged our City’s economy and left us with only one industry to lean on for support. And, while tourism is New Orleans’ greatest strength, the industry offers limited opportunities for career growth and personal economic prosperity. For centuries in New Orleans, the working poor have struggled with the lack of opportunities to advance themselves above the poverty line. And, as a result, many of New Orleans’ brightest and talented individuals, including myself, have left the City for better careers that provide fulfillment, compensation and recognition.

The beNOLAbound project is a promising start for talented people from all over the world to see New Orleans’ value beyond Bourbon Street. It’s also an opportunity to attract more innovative companies that can partner with our communities in their struggles to eradicate poverty, reduce crime and offer career opportunities that can provide a better standard of living for many of New Orleans residents. By building an industry that can diversify New Orleans’ business sector, bright and talented individuals of the future may not have to leave New Orleans to obtain a fulfilling career.

To learn more about the project, visit http://www.benolabound.com/.

As web owners explore transforming desktop websites into mobile websites, there are two main options that must be considered:        

• Option One: create a mobile site that highlights the most used portions of your website for easy access to tools, processes and services.
• Option Two: use a mobile website generator that scans your full desktop website and truncates it for mobile browsing.

The main difference between Option One and Option Two is that the first option offers selected content from your full website, while the second option offers your entire site in a mobile format. Examples of both options applied include the following (note: for the mobile experience, view these links from a mobile device):

• Option One - http://www.cisco.com/  
• Option Two - http://www.goodlookcreative.com/

You will note that the first example provides users with a single column of links to choose from that include selecting preferred locations, following the company using Social Media and obtaining critical information. The second example also provides a single column format with quick access to the company’s services, work samples and key contact persons. Both options provide an enhanced experience for users browsing these websites using a mobile device. Additionally, the use of the single column eliminates the need to perform excessive scrolling, touch manipulation and reduces load times.

The decision to proceed with designing a mobile site using Option One or Option Two depends on your needs, goals and users preferences. If you’re an enterprise that would like to present users with selected content from your website in a mobile setting, then Option One is for you. If you’re an enterprise that would like users to access all of your web information in a mobile setting, then Option Two is for you.

So, if you’re at the stage where you’re ready to begin your design, consider your options and choose them wisely.

Allyson Neal is experienced in developing strategic communication plans that integrate video, the web, print and face-to-face engagement to align with corporate goals and objectives. Her areas of expertise include developing communication for global audiences for websites, email announcements, presentations and other communication mediums.  As a web supervisor for Chevron’s Business and Real Estate Services division, she leads a team of 12 employees and contractors in the development and technical support of Chevron websites worldwide.  

The Web Team that I lead was honored Thursday, October 13, by the First Coast Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators at the 2011 Southern Region Silver Quill Awards luncheon held in New Orleans, Louisiana. Chevron’s Business and Real Estate Services’ Web Team received the Award of Merit in Electronic and Digital Communication award for their redesign and promotion of the new CBRES Home Page. I had the honor of working with a great team of professionals on this project. They are: Everton Cunningham, Joe O’Bryant and Evelyn Crowe.

Silver Quill is IABC Southern Region’s annual competition for communication professionals, with entries judged in 27 categories recognizing excellence in publications, communication campaigns, electronic and digital communications, graphic design and other communication projects. The competition is open to IABC members and non-members. Winners were chosen by a jury of peers, including IABC members who are former Silver Quill award winners, Accredited Business Communicators (ABC) and senior-level professionals from across the country.

Adrian Cropley, ABC, IABC International Chair, praised this year’s winners for their dedication in raising the value of our profession, by sharing their excellent practices through the awards process. In winning a Silver Quill they also strengthen their personal brand and the brand of the organization they work for.

At the 2011 Silver Quill Awards event, IABC First Coast announced 39 Awards of Excellence and 45 Award of Merit recipients.  A complete list of all Silver Quill Award recipients is available on the Southern Region conference website: http://2011.iabcsoreg.com/southern-region-silver-quill/.

About IABC First Coast:
With nearly 80 members, IABC First Coast is part of a global network of communications professionals. Their mission is to help professional communicators succeed in their chosen field by providing lifelong learning, local and global resources and networking, and to increase the understanding of business communications as a valuable profession in the Northeast Florida community. IABC First Coast offers a range of local services, including professional development meetings and workshops, member communications, local networking with peers, and hosting Silver Quill Awards programs. For more information, visit www.iabcfirstcoast.com

If you’re a business owner or entrepreneur who has decided to make the leap into mobilizing your full website, consider conducting a comprehensive audit on your site before you start designing.

When conducting the audit, include practitioners on your team who are experienced mobile web users. Having a skilled mobile website developer would also help. During the audit, gather your team and click through your website page by page. Note those areas that are most used by your clients, and then revisit your list so that you can evaluate your options regarding mobilization.

Before I became an avid mobile web user, I used several full version websites on my Smartphone, and often found myself scrolling a lot. Now, instead of opting to use full versions of websites, I prefer using the mobile versions because they provide me with the easiest access to the services that I seek the most.

When considering to mobilize your site, think about your own mobile website experiences. Also, make note of your favorite and most used sites. And, then use these sites as examples or models for your mobile website design.

Human Factors International (HFI) published a great article on mobile website design. HFI is the world’s largest company specializing in user-centered website design and they’re a great resource when embarking upon website mobilization.

So in summary, the top three “to do” items as you proceed with your mobile website design are as follows:

1. Conduct an audit of your website and identify the best mobile elements
2. Review published articles and information from organizations like HFI
3. Gather a team of practitioners and include experienced mobile web users and a skilled mobile website developer

After checking those three items off of your “to do” list, you’re ready to start your design. Good luck, and remember, transforming a full website into a mobile site is like folding a jumbo umbrella and putting it into a small purse. Be sure to choose wisely so that your clients won’t be left out in the rain.

Allyson Neal is experienced in developing strategic communication plans that integrate video, the web, print and face-to-face engagement to align with corporate goals and objectives. Her areas of expertise include developing communication for global audiences for websites, email announcements, presentations and other communication mediums.  As a web supervisor for Chevron’s Business and Real Estate Services division, she leads a team of 12 employees and contractors in the development and technical support of Chevron websites worldwide.

Transforming a full website into a mobile website is like taking a jumbo umbrella, folding it and putting it into a small purse. The use of the iPhone, iPad and SmartPhones in the workplace has provided Corporate Communicators like me with the unique challenge of presenting fresh, enlightening and eye-catching content via a full website, while creating a cool mobile version for use on the go.

The creation of a mobile website can be tricky. Simple logic dictates that a mobile version of a full website would look exactly like the full site, but only smaller. However, the mobile user has preferences and needs that go beyond information gathering and traditional website use. Mobile users tend to want to do one or more of the following:

* Use the Global Positioning System (GPS) to find people, services and/or locations in the area that they’re in or traveling to…

* Perform quick transactions that are easy to complete with a few taps and finger swipes

* Read information in small snippets without a lot of finger scrolling and lengthy page loads

These three main characteristics of the mobile users’ preferences can be used for analysis when deciding to mobilize your website. If you have aspects of your website where users can perform quick tasks, get services where they are or traveling to, and read snippets of information quickly, then your time will be well-spent creating a mobile version of your site.

If you don’t quite have these aspects available yet, you may want to re-evaluate the goals of your mobile strategy. Remember, once the mobile site has been created, it will require maintenance just like your full site. So, proceed with caution. Some great sites to test on your mobile phone before you take the leap are Costco, Yahoo and Google.

Stay tuned for more as I continue to address the challenges of expanding your communications channels into the mobile arena.

Companies are now allowing employees to use iPhones, iPads and SmartPhones for work. This is an exciting time for those of us who carry the iPhone as their personal device. For years, we’ve heard through the “rumor mill” that companies would never allow employees to use the iPhone due to security. Now, experts are reporting that the iPhone has the best security system for SmartPhones in a large enterprise.

As a result of the new policy, Corporate Communicators like myself who manage global websites are embarking upon new trends. In addition to focusing on maintaining current and aesthetically appealing internal websites, we will now focus our efforts on creating mobile versions. Creating a mobile version of a desktop-accessed website is like taking a jumbo umbrella, folding it and putting it into a small purse. In short, it’s a huge undertaking that requires a lot of thought, careful planning and user testing.

The W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) recommends that, as far as is reasonable, the same information and services that are available from a desktop website, should be available to users on a mobile site. Of course, there are some exceptions provided given the fact that mobile devices are smaller, have less viewing space and should allow for an optimal experience for the user. So, again, think: jumbo umbrella - small purse.

Stay tuned for more to come on this issue as I embark upon a project to tackle the challenges of creating a mobile version of an internal global website.