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Apparently a new lawsuit has been brought against Google in regards to their toolbar and users privacy.  The timing seems impeccable, as we are spending so much time in class talking about this very issue.

In the lawsuit brought against Google the plaintiff claimed that “Despite Google’s claim that a user can maintain web-browsing privacy by disabling these features, including temporarily, Google’s statements have been incorrect.”  It continues to explain how he believes Google’s Toolbar continues to function even when disabled.

Looking at the big picture here – do the big guys (i.e. Google, Facebook, etc.) have an obligation to be more considerate of exposing users’ data?

I find myself torn, the online marketer in me screams “Hooray!” for the targeted data that it enables us search marketers to have.  But the non-marketer in me wonders ‘how much is too much?’  In a society where so many people are using social networking sites, toolbars, etc. how many of them are actually aware that they are giving data away?  For instance, my husband has no clue that the ads that are presented to him have a rhyme or reason (neither do my mom or dad for that matter!).  Are they hurt by this lack of knowledge?  If the data collected enables for a better user experience by providing users with content that is relevant to them is that such a crime?

Out of the 13.9 million blogs hosted on WordPress.com, I became one of those people that started a blog and then failed to keep up with it!

Well, I’ve decided it’s time to breathe some life back into this thing.  I recently started pursuing my Master’s degree for Interaction Design & Information Architecture at the University of Baltimore and I am learning a ton.  I’d like to share some findings here and discuss the changes in the online world.

Talk to you soon!

The focus right now is on our public policy team and their current methods of communication.  What we do agree on is that we need to improve our “real-time” news method and also be more aware of what items they have coming across their desk that may be really important to share.  Currently there is a weekly public policy e-newsletter that focuses on major events that happened last week, events that will take place this week and any announcements that deal with the organization or federal policy issues.  It does a great job in its thoroughness, but tends to be lengthy and geared toward people who have a high level of public policy knowledge.  Anything that was urgent seems to lose its muster and get overshadowed by those more on the ball then we tend to be.

I started to look for information to help build my case about why we should broaden our horizons and use other vehicles, a blog in particular,  to disseminate our wonderful work in the public policy arena.  I searched online looking for a few convincing reasons I could take to my team and found “Top 10 Reasons Nonprofits Should Blog” to be a great resource.  I also searched other nonprofits and looked at their blogs and what type of information they were blogging about.  Especially if there was a public policy focus to it.

I am feeling pretty confident that the pros outweigh the cons.  Now I just need to come up with a way to introduce this and have it be accepted and understood?  New things around here can be an uphill battle, especially where our public policy team is concerned.  They are not keen on new technology and think the way things have always been done is the best and only way to do it.

To the drawing board I go…

We are in the process of a website redesign, where the biggest issue aside from navigation and the look and feel, is content.  Our content is stale, old, static and we tend to speak AT people.

Our content is so outdated that our fact sheets and documents still have the language that we fight everyday for people to change!  I cringe every time someone asks to have one of those documents sent to them.

The main thing I have to tackle today is being able to show the importance and benefits of having relevant content on the site that will talk to our constituents in a voice that they want to be spoken to.  A voice that will promote our work, encourage community participation and enable website visitors to want to support our organization.

My main goals for this meeting:

1. Reach an agreement as to who is responsible for updating and producing fresh, relevant content to the website.
2. To have a procedure or policy guide that documents the responsibilities and roles within the organization.
3. To change our fact sheets that are uploaded in Word documents to the site, transferred on to the actual website to serve as relevant content.
4. To continue to break down the barriers of one-way communication just because “it’s the way it’s always been done.”

Wish me luck!

Think about it.  Why do you go to visit certain sites time and time again?  Why do you become a fan on Facebook?  Why do you follow someone on Twitter (well, that might be a weak example)?  Why might you donate to one organization and not another?  Why might you look up to one blogger more than another?

There’s a Connection.

It’s that simple and yet, that complicated.

One of my favorite examples of connecting on such a simple level is the YouTube phenomenon “Where the Hell is Matt?”

A simple beginning of wanting to keep his friends and family abreast of his travels, Matt’s dancing skills soon became an internet sensation, even bringing in a sponsorship.

But what is the purpose of this video?  At first glance, not much.  But then as you watch and listen and let those warm, fuzzy feeling take over,  you feel as though the world is the best place no matter where you are from.

With 20,138,674 views, I’d say I was not the only one that felt a connection! Now I just need to figure out how to bottle up that feeling and apply it to my organization, where currently the connection and vibe we emit does not give off those warm, fuzzy feelings unless you are directly involved with the group.

So for now, it’s back to the drawing board…

As I began to familiarize myself with the organization, the website, the current communications vehicles I noticed that almost everything was based on assumption.  Sitting in meetings I would hear strong statements being made, with nothing to back it up.

For example: “All 40 state executives receive xyz’s weekly newsletter.”

This jumped out at me, so I questioned – “how do you know that?”  I can’t remember the response, but it was something along the lines of “Because.”

I started to realize that this was how almost everyone talked.  Bold statements with nothing to back them up.

For the last four years, at my previous job, I had learned that you never made a bold statement without backing it up with data.  EVERYTHING was tracked.  At any given time I knew a plethera of data for each of my campaigns: keyword costs, volume, cost per click, cost per call – just to name a few.

Along with the assumptions, I realized very quickly that  nothing had ever been tracked!  I dove right in – I started to jot down the assumptions I heard in meetings and go back to my desk and furiously create and sort through the data.  Initially I spent hours – night and day, weekdays and weekends getting to the bottom of the assumptions.  When I was done with the initial pulling of data and began to analyze all of it, the discoveries were awesome.  Not awesome in the great numbers kind of way, quite the opposite actually, more like being armed to be able to make recommendations and get the ball rolling.

What I learned was that assumptions can cover what the truth is actually revealing.

(Oh – and the answer to the assumption above: only 19% of state executives actually were signed up to receive the email.)