Today’s podcast is a continuation of the media coverage of the Adobe MAX 2009 conference taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center downtown Los Angeles, CA. Today’s topic is Rich Internet Application, (RIA) Service Oriented Architecture, (SOA) and the Enterprise.

To assist me in the process of better understanding the topic from a Web designer, Web developer and from the business value proposition perspective, I sat down with Duane Nickull, Senior Evangelist at Adobe.

Duane’s an accomplished Web professional and a main focus of his professional career has been working for both the United Nations CEFACT committee and OASIS for the purposes of writing and building new architectures for global integration of multiple systems. Since 1996, Duane also has been working on multiple enterprise architectures including many service oriented architectures (SOA) within various standards bodies including W3C, UN/CEFACT, OASIS and others. Duane has also contributed to many SOA papers and articles on service oriented architecture.

Check out the full three minute podcast on today’s Web Professional Minute.

Check out Duanes blog for additional information abut Duane and his rants, rave and event coverage.

A full transcript will follow in twenty for hours.

Today’s Web Professional Minute is sponsored by the Nokia Corporation and their Nokia Web Runtime (WRT) Extension for Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 software making the creation of mobile WRT widgets for supporting Nokia devices easier then ever. Through the Nokia Ovi Store and Adobe AIR Marketplace, developers and designers have an easy way to engage, build and publish their content to Nokia mobile device customers. For additional information check out the Nokia Forum.

About Rich Internet applications (RIAs)

According to Wikipedia, Rich Internet applications (RIAs) are web applications that have most of the characteristics of desktop applications, typically delivered by way of standards based web browser plug-ins or independently via sandboxes or virtual machines.[1] Examples of RIA frameworks include Curl, GWT, Adobe Flash/Adobe Flex/AIR, Java/JavaFX, uniPaaS, Mozilla’s XUL and Microsoft Silverlight.

The term was introduced in March 2002 by vendors like Macromedia who were addressing limitations at the time in the “richness of the application interfaces, media and content, and the overall sophistication of the solutions” by introducing proprietary extensions.[5][dubious – discuss] As web standards (such as HTML 5) have developed and web browsers’ compliance has improved there is still need for such extensions, when companies want to bring a truly high-end, seamless experience to their users. Javascript compilers with their associated desktop-like widget sets reduce the need for browser extensions even further. HTML 5 delivers a pseudo-application platform. It is still not possible to build RIA-like Web applications that run in all modern browsers without the need of special run-times or plug-ins. This means that if one could run a modern Ajax-based Web application outside of a web browser (e.g. using Mozilla Prism or Fluid) it would essentially be an RIA, though there is some contention as to whether this is actually the case.

About Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)

In computing, service-oriented architecture (SOA) provides a set of principles of governing concepts used during phases of systems development and integration. Such an architecture will package functionality as interoperable services: software modules provided as a service can be integrated or used by several organizations, even if their respective client systems are substantially different. It is an attempt to develop yet another means for software module integration. Rather than defining an API, SOA defines the interface in terms of protocols and functionality. An endpoint is the entry point to such an SOA implementation. Service-orientation requires loose coupling of services with operating systems, and other technologies that underlie applications. SOA separates functions into distinct units, or services[1], which developers make accessible over a network in order to allow users to combine and reuse them in the production of applications. These services communicate with each other by passing data from one service to another, or by coordinating an activity between two or more services. SOA can be seen as a sort of continuum, as opposed to distributed computing or modular programming.

Adobe MAX LA 2009 is just around the corner. In response to your e-mails regarding communicating the business proposition for Web professionals to attend events amidst severe budget cuts for travel and education, I’ve arranged for an interview with with Ben Forta, Director of Evangelism for Adobe’s Platform Business Unit. Ben Forta, as many of you know is a notable author, speaker and a veteran industry professional dating back to his work at Macromedia and Allaire. In this interview, Ben provides insights as to what Web professionals can expect and also makes a great business case why you should attend this years MAX 2009 LA.

In addition to the cutting edge content, the great vibe and networking opportunities, WOW members are eligible for a significant ($400.00) discount. Register today with your WOW Adobe Max discount code WOW984 today!

A transcript of this podcast will be available in twenty-four hours.

Additional event detail:

Adobe’s MAX Conference comes to Los Angeles Oct 4-7. This is THE place were the Adobe developer and designer community comes together to learn and share best practices, and see emerging technologies. The conference is packed with sessions on cross-media workflows, prototyping, standards-based web design, user interface design, online advertising, interactive games, accessibility, motion graphics, video encoding, video creation, and much more. Choose from hundreds of sessions to create an agenda that meets your needs.

Additional details with links and Adobe MAX discount codes:

Every year, MAX attendees learn tricks for designing more productively and discover new skills for creating engaging experiences. They get sneak peeks of upcoming software and network with some of the top designers in the world. At the end of the four day conference, they’re inspired to create next-generation experiences, with heads chock-full of the know-how to make it happen. Here are just a few reasons why MAX is a “must-attend” conference

· See how to create compelling applications, content, and video and deliver it on screens of every size, across operating systems, accessible from anywhere at any time.

·Learn how to take ideas to market faster through design and development workflows that support iterative development by attending hands-on labs and learning from real-world case studies.

* All MAX sessions and labs are taught by the best of the best — the kind of people you don’t just run into every day. They can share their years of experience regarding what works and what doesn’t.

* MAX attendees come from organizations all over the world, from small businesses to Fortune 1000 companies and local nonprofits to large government agencies. You can exchange ideas and build one-on-one relationships with people who have dealt with challenges similar to yours.

* Expose yourself to new ways of thinking by seeing some of the coolest, boundary-pushing, experimental work out there. In previous years, 94% of past attendees said they left MAX inspired to innovate.

* The majority of attendees of MAX 2008 said the event exceeded their expectations at providing opportunities for learning tips, tricks, and the latest industry trends.

There are several ways to experience MAX2009. Please write WOW in the “referred by” or “source” field so our organization is recognized for its importance by the MAX team.

1) Full MAX Conference Pass is $1095. Use the promotion code WOW984 to get this low price.

2) Individual Day Pass is regularly $595. WOW gets a $100 discount to $495 by using the promotion code DAY941 and purchasing before September 18. Day Two looks like the best day with an opening keynote, sessions and labs, sneak peaks, awards, party, and all the Community Pavilion listed above.

3) Expo only pass is $200 for the entire conference. You get access to the Expo, the Community Pavilion, BOFs at lunch, and “unconferences” which are mini conferences held in the Community Pavilion area.

Register today with your WOW Adobe Max discount code WOW984 today!

If you’re looking for a few reasons to get out of your chair, the opportunity to network with your peers and gain industry knowledge then you owe it to yourself and to the customers you serve to consider attending Adobe MAX 2009 LA. For details and the Adobe MAX discount code please read on.

Adobe’s MAX Conference comes to Los Angeles Oct 4-7. This is THE place were the Adobe developer and designer community comes together to learn and share best practices, and see emerging technologies. The conference is packed with sessions on cross-media workflows, prototyping, standards-based web design, user interface design, online advertising, interactive games, accessibility, motion graphics, video encoding, video creation, and much more. Choose from hundreds of sessions to create an agenda that meets your needs.

WOW participated in the event last year and here’s a short snapshot of the 2008 event in San Francisco, CA:

Additional details with links and Adobe MAX discount codes:

Every year, MAX attendees learn tricks for designing more productively and discover new skills for creating engaging experiences. They get sneak peeks of upcoming software and network with some of the top designers in the world. At the end of the four day conference, they’re inspired to create next-generation experiences, with heads chock-full of the know-how to make it happen. Here are just a few reasons why MAX is a “must-attend” conference

· See how to create compelling applications, content, and video and deliver it on screens of every size, across operating systems, accessible from anywhere at any time.

·Learn how to take ideas to market faster through design and development workflows that support iterative development by attending hands-on labs and learning from real-world case studies.

* All MAX sessions and labs are taught by the best of the best — the kind of people you don’t just run into every day. They can share their years of experience regarding what works and what doesn’t.

* MAX attendees come from organizations all over the world, from small businesses to Fortune 1000 companies and local nonprofits to large government agencies. You can exchange ideas and build one-on-one relationships with people who have dealt with challenges similar to yours.

* Expose yourself to new ways of thinking by seeing some of the coolest, boundary-pushing, experimental work out there. In previous years, 94% of past attendees said they left MAX inspired to innovate.

* The majority of attendees of MAX 2008 said the event exceeded their expectations at providing opportunities for learning tips, tricks, and the latest industry trends.

There are several ways to experience MAX2009. Please write WOW in the “referred by” or “source” field so our organization is recognized for its importance by the MAX team.

1) Full MAX Conference Pass is $1095. Use the promotion code WOW984 to get this low price.

2) Individual Day Pass is regularly $595. WOW gets a $100 discount to $495 by using the promotion code DAY941 and purchasing before September 18. Day Two looks like the best day with an opening keynote, sessions and labs, sneak peaks, awards, party, and all the Community Pavilion listed above.

3) Expo only pass is $200 for the entire conference. You get access to the Expo, the Community Pavilion, BOFs at lunch, and “unconferences” which are mini conferences held in the Community Pavilion area.

Register today with your WOW Adobe Max discount code WOW984 today!

Greetings WOW Members and Web Professionals Everywhere!

I’m sure you’ve heard the news that Microsoft has launched its new BING search engine. For today’s podcast, I’d like to cover a few of the highlights and connect you up with a couple or pertinent links you and a short promotional video of the features and benefits according to the source.

If you have checked out the Bing, you may notice have noticed different search results from MSN search results and Bing. Although search results are small by comparison to others (5-10 market share) is significant enough to warrant your attention. Clearly, Microsoft will have an uphill battle competing with the 800 hundred pound Google guerilla. That said it’s definitely worth your time to investigate and to resummit your sites and those of your closest customers. :

Bing is marketing itself as a core provider of the following core search categories:

•Shopping
•Health
•Local
•Travel

Although not as robust as Google’s Webmaster resources, Bing does offer some limited information for Web Professionals. Check out the links and all of the great resources on today’s Web professional minute.

Microsoft BING Webmaster Tools
Bing submit page

According to Wikipedia “augmented reality” as “the combination of real-world and computer-generated data (virtual reality), where computer graphics objects are blended into real footage in real time.”

Now it’s come to Flash, with some amazing results. For today’s podcast, I met up with Duane Nickull, Senior Standards Strategist at Adobe at the Web 2 Conference in San Francisco. In addition to providing a great demo on video Duane introduced me to a number of videos that he produces for Adobe TV.

Check out today’s three minute podcast on the Web Professional Minute website.

Today’s Web Professional Minute is sponsored by Peach Pit Press. Peachpit has been publishing top-notch books on the latest in graphic design, desktop publishing, multimedia, Web design and development, digital video, and general computing since 1986.

A complete transcript will be available in twenty four hours.

Augmented Reality Current Applications

Advertising

promoting a new product by providing impressive and interactive AR application on Internet
Support with complex tasks, in assembly, maintenance, surgery etc.:
by inserting of additional information into the field of view (for example, a mechanic getting labels displayed at parts of a system and getting operating instructions)
by visualization of hidden objects (during medical diagnostics or surgery as a virtual X-ray view, based on prior tomography or on real time images from ultrasound or open NMR devices, e.g., a doctor could “see” the fetus inside the mother’s womb).

Navigation devices

in buildings, e.g. maintenance of industrial plants
outdoors, e.g. military operations or disaster management
in cars (headup displays or personal display glasses showing navigation hints and traffic information)
in airplanes (headup displays in fighter jets are one of the first AR applications anyhow; meanwhile fully interactive as well, with eye pointing)

Military and emergency services (wearable systems, showing instructions, maps, enemy locations, fire cells etc.)
Prospecting in hydrology, ecology, geology (display and interactive analysis of terrain characteristics, interactive three-dimensional maps that could be collaboratively modified and analyzed)
Visualization of architecture (virtual resurrection of destroyed historic buildings as well as simulation of planned construction projects)

Enhanced sightseeing : labels or any text related to the objects/places seen, rebuilt ruins, building or even landscape as seen in the past. Combined with a wireless network the amount of data displayed is limitless (encyclopedic articles, news, etc…).
Simulation, e.g. flight and driving simulators
Collaboration of distributed teams
conferences with real and virtual participants. See also Mixed Reality
joint work at simulated 3D models
Entertainment and education
virtual objects in museums and exhibitions.

Future applications

Expanding a PC screen into the real environment: program windows and icons appear as virtual devices in real space and are eye or gesture operated, by gazing or pointing. A single personal display (glasses) could concurrently simulate a hundred conventional PC screens or application windows all around a user.

Virtual devices of all kinds, e.g. replacement of traditional screens, control panels, and entirely new applications impossible in “real” hardware, like 3D objects interactively changing their shape and appearance based on the current task or need.

Enhanced media applications, like pseudo holographic virtual screens, virtual surround cinema, virtual ‘holodecks’ (allowing computer-generated imagery to interact with live entertainers and audience)
Virtual conferences in “holodeck” style
Replacement of cellphone and car navigator screens: eye-dialing, insertion of information directly into the environment, e.g. guiding lines directly on the road, as well as enhancements like “X-ray”-views

Virtual plants, wallpapers, panoramic views, artwork, decorations, illumination etc., enhancing everyday life. For example, a virtual window could be displayed on a regular wall showing a live feed of a camera placed on the exterior of the building, thus allowing the user to effectually toggle a wall’s transparency.

With AR systems getting into mass market, we may see virtual window dressings, posters, traffic signs, Christmas decorations, advertisement towers and more. These may be fully interactive even at a distance, by eye pointing for example.

Virtual gadgetry becomes possible. Any physical device currently produced to assist in data-oriented tasks (such as the clock, radio, PC, arrival/departure board at an airport, stock ticker, PDA, PMP, informational posters/fliers/billboards, in-car navigation systems, etc. could be replaced by virtual devices that cost nothing to produce aside from the cost of writing the software. Examples might be a virtual wall clock, a to-do list for the day docked by your bed for you to look at first thing in the morning, etc.

Subscribable group-specific AR feeds. For example, a manager on a construction site could create and dock instructions including diagrams in specific locations on the site. The workers could refer to this feed of AR items as they work. Another example could be patrons at a public event subscribing to a feed of direction and information oriented AR items.

Greetings WOW members and Web professionals everywhere!

I spent a full day trolling the O’Reilly Web 2.0 expo that took place in San Francisco CA. last week looking for a Web professional “golden nugget” or two to report back on.

As I walked the exhibit floor, I couldn’t help but think back of the early days of the Web when start-up companies named their companies after acronyms known only to them and never seemed to match their product offerings. Please note: I’m typically upbeat but candidly a number of the marketing pitches spilling out of the trade show booths last week didn’t seem to make any sense to me or add any real value. Oddly, one company that I stopped by to chat with asked me to define what Web professionals do each day, so it all seemed kind of strange.

In fairness, the conference and the exhibit hall seemed well attended with a buzz activity. Although I didn’t have the cycles to attend many of the sessions, I did meet some really intellegent people and I enjoyed meeting a number of top flight start-ups and Web professionals including Kurt Foeller from Foeller Communications and Duane Nickull, Senior Technical Evangelist for Adobe Systems. Duane has a numer of interesting videos posted on Adobe TV and I filmed Duane’s 3D animation presentation live from the Adobe booth and I’ll be podcasting about that later in the week.

I also had the pleasure of meeting an interviewing Caroline Dangson, Research Analyst at IDC. IDC is a prominent research firm based in Framingham, MA. Caroline specializes in Social Media and took the time to sit down with me for an interview. I like talking to research analyst because they usually pack a punch with in depth knowledge and analysis.

In this interview, I asked Caroline for a perspective on the Mobile Web. As I expected, Caroline offered an interesting perspective and a few things to consider regarding monetization.

Check out today’s three minute podcast on the Web Professional Minute website.

Today’s minute is sponsored by the Adobe Developer Connection and their ADC Write & Give Program. The ADC Write & Give Program acknowledges the writing efforts the ADC community authors by donating US$100 for each article that our authors get published on the Adobe Developer Connection (ADC). Launched in 2008, the ADC Write & Give Program has already donated over US $29,000 across several charitable organizations.

A full transcript will be availble in twenty four hours.

Greetings WOW members and Web professionals everywhere. Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) and the WOW Technology Minute.

Today?’s podcast is a continuation of the media coverage of Web Builder, Las Vegas. I had the pleasure to sit down with and to interview with DL Byron, Principal, TEXTURA design a Web design and consulting firm based in Seattle, WA.

Byron summarizes his two sessions: A Blog-Oriented Architecture and his Mini-Workshop: Practical Social Media.

Everyone knows blogging is mainstream. But did you know it’s also gaining traction inside the firewall? Byron?’s an experienced blogger and his efforts at Textura Design’s has helped Boeing, Intel, and other Fortune 100 companies. Organizations of all sizes are using internal blogging as a conversation tool, and his session covered how standards and technologies have made intranet user experiences richer.

Check out the three minute interview on today’s WOW Technology Minute website.

Today’s podcast is sponsored by the Webmaster Survival Guide. Check out all of the great resources and links on the Webmaster Survival Guide website.

Transcript of Practical Social Media

BILL CULLIFER: Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) and the WOW Technology Minute here at Web Builder, Las Vegas. I have the pleasure to be sitting down with DL Byron. He?’s the Principal at TEXTURA, an author, a noted speaker and a Web 2.0 specialist dealing with a variety of topics. Good morning Byron and thanks for agreeing to this interview.

DL BYRON: Good morning.

BILL: I have a question, you?’ve been around this base for 15 years, you?’ve been a designer, a blogger, you?’ve written a couple of books, can you summarize the session that you participated in here today? Can you specifically hone in on some of those walk-aways, those business tips that Web designers can think about.

BYRON: Sure. The main take-away, what we?’re talking about now is practical social media where we?’re getting down to the business of social media, which is separating it from the hype that you hear about it, the “What does Twitter mean? How to use Flickr. What possible ROI would I get off of Facebook?” What we really try to do is just talk about how businesses can use these tools to their advantage, to help sell their products, help increase their brand awareness and help their marketing. That?’s really what it?’s about. Because there?’s a difference between what a social network can do for your friends, keeping in touch with your friends, than your business. That?’s really what we talked about.

BILL: What were some of the best practices? If I?’m a designer and I?’m sitting out in the Web world watching or listening to this podcast and I want to know, “Listen, that sounds great but I need to start making some money at this right away.” What would you recommend?

BYRON: Well I think at a minimum for a designer, for a business, I think, because the uptake is still not as much as you think. As much as you hear about blogging and as much as businesses are blogging, there?’s still a lot of hesitancy to do that. I think what we always recommend is at a minimum turn on blogging technologies that can help your audience. Give them the data they want, podcasting, enable RSS or Atom technologies, turn on features that can help your consumers or your customers get the data. And also start rethinking about how your site looks and what you?’re doing and how you?’re producing sites for clients because blogging has changed design in the sense of making stuff much easier to get to, making stuff much faster and most of that is driven from Google because people are now looking for information, they?’re drilling down into your site and they want to get what they want right away. They don?’t care about your mission statements, they don?’t care about your ‘about page,?’ they don?’t care about your flashy, wiz-bang homepage, they want to find out what are your operating hours, “I want to give you a request for a proposal.” Boom, they want the information and they want it now. Bubble that all up to the top is the main thing. And that comes directly from blogging, which is being able to find stuff quickly on Google.

BILL: Excellent. Now you?’ve got a book out, or a couple of them. Can you–

BYRON: Yes we do. “Publish and Prosper: Blogging for your Business” is the book. It actually came out a couple of years ago. Two years on, the same thing we were talking about two years ago, which was practical business blogging, now we?’re talking about practical social media, which means there are a lot of new tools out there. I have a difficult time following all the tools and I do this for a living, but those tools, some of them can help you, some of them you have no reason to need or talk about or use, but it?’s looking at these and saying, “OK, I can use Twitter to talk about events that I?’m doing. I can use Twitter at sales meetings. I can use Flickr to put out product photos, people love that. I can use blogging technologies to do this.” Facebook, probably not a lot for you to do on there. YouTube, absolutely. Stuff like that.

BILL: Fair enough. Well I certainly appreciate the time and all that you do for the Web profession.

BYRON: Absolutely. Thank you very much.

Greetings WOW members and Web professionals everywhere. Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) and the WOW Technology Minute.

For today?’s podcast, I have the pleasure to be interviewing Molly Holzschlag, notable author, Web professional and speaker. The topic is Web professional education. I asked Molly to share her viewpoints on what we need to do as a profession and as a professional organization to influence education in the Web profession and for students at the primary, secondary and the post secondary level.

Molly is a true inspiration for many us working in the Web profession. In addition she also is very well versed on this topic. For the three minute interview check out the three minute interview on today’s WOW Technology Minute website.

Today’s podcast is sponsored by the Webmaster Survival Guide. Check out all of the great resources and links on the Webmaster Survival Guide website.

Transcript of Molly Holzschlag Interview:

BILL CULLIFER: Greetings WOW members and Web professionals everywhere. Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) and The WOW Technology Minute. I have the pleasure to be interviewing Molly Holzschlag, notable author, Web professional and sought-after speaker. Today?’s topic is Web professional education. Molly, thanks for agreeing to this interview. Can you share with the subscribers of this podcast your thoughts on what we need to do as a profession and as a professional organization to influence education within the Web profession?

MOLLY HOLZSCHLAG: That?’s a great question and it?’s one thing that?’s been very much on my mind of late because I do so many trainings for adults and work so much to help companies really get their people up to speed. It?’s very fascinating to me that a lot of folks come out of a two-year program or graphic design program, or a computer science program, and have no idea of really how to do things to the best practices every day. Of course it?’s a constant target. One of the things I think is very critical is starting early. We, the Web design development field, is a field that we?’re a hybrid. In other words, you have to have enough math, science, logic and technology, and that has to compliment the general studies, language skills. So you really need both sides of the brain, if you will.

And what happens in education, especially in the United States, and other parts of the world as well, is that we tend to be educated on our strengths, rather than our weaknesses. So in other words, if we show an aptitude for math or we show an aptitude for verbal language skills, or art, we?’re encouraged by that by teachers as opposed to where our weakness is. And I would like to see that shift there. A shift in order to bring a balance about, not just for Web developers, I think this would empower everybody in terms of education.

So really emphasizing finding new ways to express how these things are integrated and not actually separated. We talk about the divide between science and art, and there is really no divide – technology and design and design and technology, they?’re the same thing. And no where do we see that more than currently in the Web development and design industry, because clearly that is where people who succeed and really push forward come from.

So what would happen is, you would have to identify those things early on. Encourage a better motion forward as a student comes from primary school up to secondary and tertiary student in their education, that the pathway is supportive of that. And we have to get away from this sort of thinking. And that?’s what I really think the core problem is, that you?’re either going to be a computer scientist or you?’re going to be a designer. And that doesn?’t work as well. We need a hybrid.

On my end, certainly that education begins, but we?’re open-minded about this and we‘ll see how we can facilitate that, particularly in early education in Web development.

BILL: Excellent. Well said Molly. Thank you so much. Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) and The WOW Technology Minute. Thanks for your time today Molly.

MOLLY: Thanks Bill.

Greetings WOW members and Web professionals everywhere. Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) and the WOW Technology Minute.

Today?’s podcast is a continuation of the media coverage of the Web Design World Conference in Seattle, WA. I had the pleasure to interview Jared Spool, User Interface Engineer at User Interface Engineering. Jared presented on the topic of Web 2.0: The Power-Behind the Hype where he explained the four elements of Web 2.0 complete with the benefits and the potential challenges and pitfalls to be aware of as well.

Check out the four minute interview on the WOW Technology Minute website.

Look for podcast interviews with a host of other notable speakers in the near future including representatives from Adobe, Microsoft, Yahoo and much more.

Today s podcast is sponsored by the Webmaster Survival Guide. Check out all of the great resources and links on the WebmasterSurvivalGuide website.

Transcript of The Power Behind the Jared Spool

BILL CULLIFER: Greetings WOW members and Web Professionals everywhere. Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) and the WOW Technology Minute, here at Web Design World Seattle at the WOW table top,. With Jared Spool, user interface engineer at User Interface Engineering. The organization?’s been around for a number of years. Jared?’s a practicing professional, he?’s been doing this for a number of years and an expert at a wide variety of topics including the session he provided this morning on the topic of Web 2.0. Good morning Jared and thanks for agreeing to this interview.

JARED SPOOL: Good morning.

BILL: Jared, you had talked about Web 2.0, the benefits of the four components and some of the potential pitfalls of Web 2.0. Can you summarize that session for the listeners and the viewers of this podcast?

JARED: Right. So I talked about, well gee I only took an hour before but I?’ll try and do it shorter, I talked about basically, we consider Web 2.0 to basically be four things– APIs, RSS feeds, tagging, also known as folksonomies, and social networks. And when you combine these four things in interesting ways you get what people would consider to be a Web 2.0 design. And so for example, Flickr has social networks, you have contacts, it has tagging — you can tag pictures and you can find pictures based on the tags that you?’ve created and other people have created –it has an RSS feed for every possible thing that you?’d want to get off of the site, they have a feed for it so you can get it, you don?’t have to go to Flickr to see your pictures or see your friend?’s pictures you can go someplace else, and they have APIs so that developers can create things that actually take advantage of it. For example the folks at MOO added an entire printing capability to Flickr that is new and novel. And the Flickr people probably would have never thought it was a big enough business to justify their resources. But MOO has made an entire business out of that.

BILL: Interesting. And you referred to a couple of pitfalls. I mentioned earlier, for example, the interest I have in the areas of pitfalls of Web 2.0 is that many of the webmasters that I represent, the Web professionals, the subscribers of this podcast, represent business and industry, education, and they have to explain or justify Web 2.0 to their management. Can you address that potential issue?

JARED: Yeah. One of the problems with Web 2.0 is that people ask for it without knowing what they?’re asking for. So that is a key element. They think they?’re asking for wikis and blogs and those are things that were built out of Web 2.0 components, but it?’s the components that they?’re really asking for. So you have to sort of deconstruct and say, “What?’s going to make sense in our application, in our needs?” What you really want to be doing is looking at the experience that you want the user to have, to actually be mapping out what is it that you want users to be able to do that they can?’t do today? Such as be able to find a particular thing on your website because other people have found it first so that?’s what you use tagging for. Maybe they want to know that you?’ve added new stuff to the site, so that?’s what you use RSS feeds for. Maybe they want to be able to manipulate the things on your site, so that?’s what you use APIs for. So what is it that you want, the experience that you?’re looking for? And then you figure out, just like with everything else, what components are going to be the essential components to add into that to make it work.

BILL: Yeah, great. Well said. I?’m curious, you said that you had some free resources available for the world population in terms of your blogs and so forth.

JARED: Yes.

BILL: Can you address that?

JARED: Yes. So on our site, which I?’m desperately hoping is usable, uie.com, we have articles and podcasts ourselves and we have a slew of blog posts and all sorts of things, not just talking about Web 2.0 stuff but anything to do with user experiences and designing for user experiences.

BILL: Excellent. Well thank you so much for that. Great resources Jared and great session by the way. Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW), the WOW Technology Minute on site here at Web Design World Seattle at the WOW table with Jared Spool, principal from UIE.com. Thank you so much for your time today Jared.

JARED: You?’re welcome.

Greetings WOW members and Web professionals everywhere. Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) and the WOW Technology Minute.

I?’m in Seattle, WA participating in the Web Design World Conference representing the WOW as an exhibitor and media sponsor. The promoters of the event lined up a number of terrific speakers for today presenting on a wide variety of Web design and Web development topics. For example, today?’s lineup of speakers included:

•Heather Champ, Community Manager at Flickr
•Jared Spool, Founding Principal User Interface Engineering
•DL Byron, Principal Textura Design
•Michael Ninness, Senior Product Manager Adobe
•Steve Mulder, Director of Emerging Interactions, Molecular
•Dan Rubin, Founder and Principal Webgraph

For today?’s podcast, I had the pleasure to interview Heather Champ, Community Manager from Flickr. As most of you already know, Flickr is the online photo sharing website with hundreds of thousands of members worldwide. Flickr also recently announced a ninety-second video sharing service as well.

In her keynote address entitled “Shepherding Communities” Heather shared her experiences and I?’ve outlined the complete list below. I?’ve also posted a three minute video of Heather on the WOW Technology Minute website.

If you?’ve thinking of establishing a community for yourself or for your clients, you owe it to yourself to pay close attention to following recommendations and today’s interview:

•First, establish a community guidelines
•You?’ll need to have some thick skin
•Create the tools for self management of your members
•Communicate
•Own it
•Don?’t wait (stick to your announcements)
•Avoid creating super villains
•User generated discontent (losing site of your members)
•Make Lemonade (making the best of a bad situation)
•Change is hard (the first 48 is the toughest)
•Embrace the chaos

Look for interviews with a host of other notable speakers in future podcast. Tomorrows podcast will feature an interview with Jared Spool, Principal User Interface Engineering on the topic Wen 2.0: The Power Behind the Hype.

Today?’s sponsor of the WOW Technology Minute is sponsored by Concentric offering small business and shared web hosting solutions.

Register for the FREE WEBINAR: Combating Spam! Wednesday, 7/30 @ 10:00am PST where will be discussing “Perimeter Email Protection” as an email security solution that can protect your business from spam, viruses, directory harvesting.

To register for this FREE one hour Webinar contact: robert(AT)joinwow.org

Transcript of Shepherding Passionate Communities – Heather Champ

BILL CULLIFER: Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) and the WOW Technology Minute here at the Web Design World Seattle Conference. I have the pleasure to be interviewing Heather Champ, Director of Community at Flickr. Heather, good evening and thank you for agreeing to this interview.

HEATHER CHANT: Oh, it?’s my pleasure.

BILL: Heather, you were the keynote presenter today on building communities. Can you expand on that and give us a summary, to the subscribers of this podcast, what that keynote was all about?

HEATHER: What I wanted to share was things that we?’ve learned. So we have a very large and passionate community of people who are uploading their content and even we?’ve been surprised in terms of how people use Flickr, sort of what the activities are, what the behaviors are. And I guess the one thing I?’d like to talk about is one of the slides I had was “Make Lemonade.” I think there?’s an incredible opportunity. There are going to be times when things go wrong, so I like to think of when the universe hands you lemons, make lemonade.

A couple of years ago we were going to have to take the site down. Typically when we do that we like to put a banner up top where we can say how long the downtime is going to be. On this day my Director of Operations came up and was like, “We need to take it down.” I?’m like, “We?’ll do the banner.” He was like, “No, you don?’t understand. Now.” So what we did was we switched out our usual Flickr visage and we put up a coloring contest. We had a black and white image of the Flickr dots with nothing in them and asked people to print out the page and tag it a certain, like do something with it and then tag it with “flickr coloring contest” so when the site would come back up we?’d pick one and give them a year of Pro. We had over 2500 people participate and the images were just so awesome that we gave away 14 Pro accounts. And everybody who participated we gave three months of Pro free. In the end unexpected downtime is really a no-win situation, but in this event we really kind of turned it into something that was really wonderful and people had a good time.

BILL: Yeah, fantastic. I love that example. And also I?’m curious to know, did you go into this business model thinking that this community would be as active, as pro-active, as they are?

HEATHER: Well, I think Flickr is kind of like the frog in the warm water in some ways. The community has grown up around us and it was, when I first joined back in 2005 there were 17 million photos. Now we?’ve got 2.6 billion photos. So it?’s kind of come up around us. If you told me three years ago, “You?’re going to be managing a community of 2.6 billion photos,” I?’d be like, “No way, I can?’t deal with that.” But I think we?’ve grown and we?’ve learned as the community has grown and learned. So I think it?’s really what you make of it and the opportunities that come to you.

BILL: And you?’re embracing the chaos.

HEATHER: I love it. I absolutely do.

BILL: You?’re making the best of it. So I understand that you also started offering video just recently. How long has that been?

HEATHER: April 8, 2008. We now, Flickr supports video up to 90 seconds playback and it?’s really awesome. There have been some incredible videos from around the world that people share.

BILL: I bet. And we can check it out at www.flickr.com.

HEATHER: Absolutely. Thank you.

BILL: Bill Cullifer here with the World Organization of Webmasters. Thanks for your time Heather.

HEATHER: Thank you so much.

BILL: Today?’s WOW Technology Minute is sponsored by Concentric offering small business and shared web hosting solutions. Register for the free webinar “Combating Spam” Wednesday, July 30th at 10am Pacific Standard Time. We?’ll be discussing premier email protection as an email security solution that can protect your business from spam, viruses, directory harvesting. To register for this free one-hour webinar contact Robert at joinwow.org.