Although I’d like to drag you all under the slightly crispy mistletoe for a big smooch, that would be weird and we’d all get colds. So instead, here’s a redacted but enthusiastic list of things coming up on my end in the first quarter of next year:

• A gobsmacking content-related project from Arc90 that I helped out with, a bit.
• The relaunch of Loosecubes, a coworking and indie work/life company. Content freelancers and indie people everywhere have much to look forward to.
• A new blog series dealing with professional ethics, responsibility, and breaking into the content world. (I’d planned to do it in December, but I’m just going to lie here under a glass of eggnog instead.)
• That book, which is even now being edited by Ms. Brown.

Also coming in early 2011: an enormous and juicy project for the content strategy community, built in collaboration with two secret co-conspirators you already know and love. More on that in January.

The Best Wishes I Have

To my friends and colleagues who’ve had a 2010 full of triumphs and weddings and babies and bliss, I raise a happy toast.

And to those of you whose 2010 has ranged from challenging to ghastly, here’s the thing: We’ve made it to this point—past the darkest day with special bonus total freaking eclipse—and on to the bonfires and champagne. So keep warm, take comfort where you can, and know that we think of you constantly.

A very sweet new year to all of you. Over and out.

Let her fix the content or she will maim you with these common office supplies. (Image source.)

A few weeks ago, before the snowpocalypse, I visited the lovely people at Brain Traffic in their Minneapolis lair. Now, a visit to Brain Traffic central is a lot like walking in on the planning session at the beginning of a heist movie, except that you don’t expect everyone to get shot in the end, and the fridge is full of cupcakes.

The thing about Brain Traffic’s people is that there are a lot of them. In one place. All of them scarily smart, and all working on content strategy projects as though it were a perfectly natural thing to do.

Specialization: Not Just for Insects

In the last ten years, I’ve had the extraordinary good fortune to work with some of the smartest and most talented people in the web world, generally as the only dedicated content person on a web design team. It’s been wonderful, personally and professionally, and I’ve learned a ton about other disciplines. On larger projects, though, I’d begun to wonder how much more I could accomplish for clients (and their readers) with a few more content people.

And in that light, the chance to collaborate with an entire, dedicated team of hardcore content specialists feels a bit like I’ve just discovered that there are OTHER EWOKS IN THE FOREST and they want to make Ewok observatories together and write comic operas.

Jub Jub

So. After a lot of talking and planning and snorting on G-Chat and Skype, I am very pleased to announce that I will be joining forces with Brain Traffic as a senior content strategist working from NYC.

Notes & References

• Content strategy is as obviously important in web development projects as UI design or project management. Someone must deal with content, and anyone who believes otherwise is unlikely to produce good websites.
• The modern practice of content strategy arises from a number of venerable professions and takes its core principles from editorial, analytical, curatorial, marketing, and managerial work. This doesn’t mean that it “is” any of those things.
• In particular, content strategy is not a subset of marketing. Marketing is one application of content strategy.
• Many marketing people are brilliant, ethical, and very good at their jobs. Some are not, and their influence can be very destructive. The former group should not be held responsible for the actions of the latter, but we should not be expected to pretend that the latter does not exist. (All these statements apply to many other professions, but marketing’s the one I’m focusing on in recent and upcoming posts.)

Onward.