This website works very hard. (does your’s?)

Everyone wants to get the message out to their target audiences, effectively and online. Lately, most organizations also wants this communication to become a dialogue and possibly even a relationship of sorts!  Consider this site a good model of online outreach and engagement.  

Matthijs at Exit170.ca in Kelowna BC built this site.  Matthijs and I collaborate on projects from time to time and this Hope based literacy project impresses me because it’s so hard working!  Feel free to open the site in a new tab or window and follow along.

1. HOME page.  Wanna find a program?  Are you a map person?  A program title person?  A calendar person?  A upcoming events list person?  Many ways to find what you’re looking for, and quickly.  
   What does a hard working website do?  It DELIVERS within one-to-two clicks of the visitor’s arrival.   
   
   
2. ABOUT page.  Still with me?
   Good ‘about’ information - not too much text.  This is more important than it sounds. Clarity and brevity are critical.
   
   
3. What’s the organization behind Wanna Read?  Visit the Wiki!  No wasted pages of information on the website about the Fraser Cascade Literacy Initiative because that would distract from the message of WannaRead.org.  Instead a good use of a 3rd Party free wiki that enables the FC-Literacy folks to interact and gives you, the website visitor a window in if you’re interested.  I like the transparency of this wiki.
   
   
4. Event photos at Flickr.com.  Good use of an excellent photo display / sharing site that spreads the Wanna Read message to people who search on Flickr specifically as well.  
   
   
5. Donation link button to CanadaHelps.org.  Wanna Read welcomes support but isn’t committing much room on it’s website because it is intent on communicating ‘on message’.  The message is not about asking for help.
   
   
6. You see how the website is designed to be a hub, not an end-all-be-all for all the information.  Decide what needs to stay in-house.  In WannaRead’s case they decided that the Blog should be a main menu item.  Not everyone uses Twitter and Facebook so the Blog catches everyone with latest news.
   
   Use good tools that are available.  The 3rd party sites WannaRead.org uses also tells me they’re using their communication dollars wisely.  I like the effective exploiting of these excellent 3rd party resources with a simple account setup with each 3rd party site and a link to it from the WannaRead.org website.   
   
   
7. WannaRead.org also has a Facebook presence and initiated a recent successful foray into Twitter use.  I expect these will be embedded on the website when WannaRead.org is confident they effectively reach otherwise unreachable readers.  Recognize that although widespread in use, not everyone, especially in the marginal literate target group, is connected via social media.

Finally, what makes this website most effective is that it truly is a representation of what actually happens on the ground in real-time.  It invites engagement online but mostly it reinforces, reports on and invites you to the real work that happens in all the communities dotted on the home page map.  

How hard does your organization work?  How hard does your organization’s website work?  Contact me if you’d like to review it and discuss it’s potential.

Mozy Backup

Yup, it happened to me two weeks ago.  Sooner later it happens to everyone.  Much like flat tire on your bike or car, a computer breakdown can leave you stranded. 

I’ve been through this a few times now.  My laptop was still covered by warranty so that was fine but for two weeks it was away being fixed.  The loaner was great but not loaded with my data.  Think of what’s on your computer’s hard drive.  Photos, music, video, links, financial data, files and files and files.  

I’m storing more of my work on remote sites now which essentially makes the computer more of a portal and less of storage device.  Sites such as Google Docs for documents, Google Sites for active client files, Google Calendar for all scheduling, Flickr for photos, Dropbox for storage or transferring files instantly with clients…

These work well, each with it’s own specific features.  What Mozy is good for is taking care of EVERYTHING.  Set the schedule for backups to the frequency that suits you and while you’re working at other things on your computer, it’s updating your backup on a remote server.  It isn’t storage, it’s your backup.  If your machine is suddenly not there for you, you can access everything you asked it to backup from any computer with an internet connection.  Maybe one of the files you backup should be a list of programs and access information so you can re-download and install them when your machine is back or replaced.

Mozy is very affordable.  My coverage costs just over $100 every two years.  That’s like the cost of a deli sandwich each month.  I consider this a very low premium for the insurance and assurance Mozy provides me.  Do I sound like I’m selling?  Hey, if it didn’t work and wasn’t straight forward to access, I wouldn’t tell you about it.  Just this month I’ve talked with three people who have had computer system problems and been without their machines for a period of time.  Just sayin’ is-all.