First up, let's call it for what it is - you are compiling a set of resources to be deployed strategically between a website and an innovative app.
At best we can say that we have been funded for a pilot project. We may be out to change the world (you know I am a Steve Jobs disciple), but our ambition for this project should be to create a small but significant dent.
Consider the logistics. Think in terms of "topics" as set out in the previous blog. If we were to aim for an open ended number of "topics" to come into the project, we could be compiling for the next 5 years, and leave ourselves with so many unfinished "piles of paper" that we will never have an elegant set of "deliverables" that will adequately say to our stakeholders that we are worthy of a second and maybe third stage of development.
A website can handle an unlimited number of open ended length, detailed and free formatted topics. Any over-ride topics can find a home there, though we may chose for the sake of elegance to archive some for future stages of development.
I would envisages that each module is capable of producing well over 30 "topics" when handled in the context of the template ideas.
The major challenge I have is bringing our material together in a workable, efficient, and attractive app - the shrink in your pocket. My current thinking is to aim for 10 "topics" shrunk down to app sized content to go alongside the other material that Damien will be putting in the Go Bag. Damien's current task is to populate the bag with some of the fundamental "must haves" - our challenge is to select our next best 10 topics to go in. My challenge is to settle on the best way to "game-ify", quantify, and represent the topics in the app, and obviously to stitch them together in a cohesive manner.
You will all be very involved in this process.
Don't get me wrong here. I have often said that I know I could produce a best-seller if so moved. It would be called the "Top 10 all time sport psychology techniques", and I could sell it on the street corner next to the paper boy, or even with a 2 for one offer at the nearest Woolies. We are not out to cheapen, rather to value add.
The essence of CF2 is integration. The essence of this project should be cleverly selected topics that weave into a solution that has impact - even as late as for the Tokyo coterie. That means a focus towards the kinds of briefings Graham and Jeff used to assemble for Olympic Teams in later preparation phases. That will undoubtedly take more discussion and debate.
Back to what it is that you are actually writing.
I need you to compartmentalise your thinking into topics - they will align with the "bins" in the athlete's container. You might chose to just call them seperate "folders" on your computer.
In each bin or folder, please start to organise/compile your material into some logical presentation like the template example. To bring a topic into the system, website or app, requires a collection of "digital assets", such as:
- text - stories, anecdotes, allegories, parables, research findings, quotes, how to's, drills, feedback sheets, downloadable info sheets and infographics (content text)
- sound bites - audio files from 10-15 seconds into minutes - interview pieces, voice to mike alternatives to text - must be original records
- video clips - face to cam alternatives to text, action clips - face to cams need neutral or real context backgrounds, action clips pinched from other sources will need some usage parameter checks (usually acknowledgement & length), owned clips better - we have some significant scope to create & edit face to cams, limited potential to go out & shoot actual footage
- graphics, charts, diagrams, completed infographics - ideally in jpg format for display on screens, with associated pdf file for download purposes - I can do all of the necessary converts if you can provide decent originals - can be from Word, PowerPoint, other graphic program (Canva, etc) - please advise & discuss your output options before committing to creating lots of unusual format material - aim for A4 landscape sized originals, but we can discuss further
For text compilations, think "sub-editor" - that paragraph could be the end of the pieces, or we could add these 2 more to extend the length & discussion. Aim to write in tight "sound bites". There is also a place for essays, its just that you hardly see them in multi-media electronic presentations. Be mindful that some of your best text can be partnered by sound bites to re-emphasise points or to appeal to different users preferences.
As I said to Graham when we were doing some of the early briefings, I don't need you to be concerned with formatting when you are compiling material. If some of your material is already "produced" or you see it as part of something like an infographic, no problems, but as you probably know, the input to web-based vehicles is largely unformatted basic text. If you are keen to keep formatting for a particular piece of work, think about using downloadable info sheets. We may discuss and settle on a "look and feel" for these, so unless you would like to suggest a format model, don't over-invest in layout at the present.
We do need to discuss ownership recognition, but the logo / author name acknowledgement we settle on will be in appropriate proportion & placement to best fit in with the overall presentation / style set we chose for the site and app. The tools I am using for these will allow for a good range of options, and all will be involved in discussions. It just needs to look like we were on the same team. We may also use an index with acknowledgements and the hyper-link system like the glossary. I haven't got that far yet.
Happy compiling. Remember, you aren't creating a "finished product" on your ownsomes. You are however creating a finished best recommendation set of content & logical progressions / arguments, organised in bins or topics. And you are getting ready to argue why it should make it into our "top 10".
JC