If you were to visit a news organization, say, in late 1970s, you would have seen a room with the constant chattering of teletype machines.
Every once in a while, a line would appear with a catchy title, followed by few more lines.
I remember that it was called “strillo d’agenzia” in Italian (I was but a kid, tagging along with my father).
Recently, I have been supporting few pro-bono startups.
This article is yet another piece in my online free consulting activities (see some links to relevant articles below).
One of these activities, Teatro e Paesi is a new cultural initiative.
My approach to online/offline integration of the different communication channels has already been discussed here (DIY cross-media without a budget) and here (Democratic technology access).
As for the culture of going online… see the Going online article series.
In this short post, I would like to focus on a simple issue: layering your information, taking a page from 1970s news agencies and organizations.
.
If you believe that integrating Twitter.Com, a blog (e.g. WordPress.Com and other channels should come as second nature to a news organization (e.g. a newspaper), think again.
Yes, there are some that kept their expertise and added new ways to deliver it.
But there are others that got carried away by the technology.
And others that, condescendingly, “dumped” probably on some junior intern the task of “twittering” title- task lost when the intern completed the cycle.
This is the only reason I can attribute to some famous newspapers that started twittering and, as a friend told me, stopped… in Spring!
So that everybody can see that their website shows some news (of course), while their twitter or Facebook group are simply… dead.
If you add a channel, integrate the channel within your communication strategy. Nothing is more damaging that having an institution that delivers incoherent information on different channels.
I remember when Slovenia entered the Euro zone.
Few days into January, and the European Central Bank website still had to be updated (of, course, as a good browsing citizen, I sent a message).
To make it simple and short, this is how I would suggest to use just a blog and a twitter:
- your Twitter.Com “channel” is the XXI century teletype- yes, banter and joke, if that is your own personal twitter- but when you communicate on behalf of your organization, try to think like news agencies did in 1970s- a catchy title that attracts the reader and deliver enough information to help the reader decide if the article is relevant- misleading titles is a mistake that you can afford but once
- your website should have the twitter on the front page, under the visible news section, along with maybe a link to join
- alternatively, the front page of your website could be almost a “window” on your organization’s way of being, linking to other channels when you communicate, e.g. your blog
Eventually, the logic that I will follow is:
- you write an article for the blog
- write a summary for the article
- add on twitter an announce for the article
With these three simple steps, and following the suggestions that I gave before about using online channels, you can have this article be visible across other channels as well.
With nothing more complex than sending a text message (SMS for Europeans) or an e-mail message.
And just a couple of hours of somebody abloe to set up all the channels to do that task once.
All the while delivering, at a minimal cost, a cross-channel coherent communication.
The real secret is: please, recover from the old news agencies and old hands in newspapers the expertise on how to properly title and summarize an article 
As I wrote before: focus on the message, not on the technology, when identifying the people required to staff these cross-channel communication.
Why I wrote at the beginning about Teatro e Paesi? Well, because it is a family initiative 
, and also because I apply those same principles.
While I registered the domains needed for the activities, I created also the twitters, gmails, youtube, and blogs, and integrated all of them together.
Now the real initiative development activity is ongoing- but all that pre-emptive marketing activity cost really few hours and the money needed for few domain registrations.
So, if you will follow the twitter and sites, you will see how it will develop, and you will be able also to discuss and participate in the definition of the concept.
If you want- I always like delivering on-the-job training and coaching, and on real projects.
And in real projects… you have a scope, a plan- but you have to cope with reality.
Considering the target, you can reach the domains either directly- or as part of the Theatralis.net initiative (currently containing a list of artist management agencies and agents in Italy, that I build for foreign acting connections, by contacting directly the agencies).
Incidentally- also Theatralis.net did not cost anything more than few week-ends of my spare time (plus some paid time of somebody in my network to follow a script and call to collect all the relevant information).
The software? OpenSource- now Joomla, and before Drupal, of course on a Linux server, with an Apache web server software, running a MySQL database, and some PHP hand-written software- what is called LAMP
All OpenSource but reliable and professional software.
If you have an organization and need help, let me know.
I currently keep doing these activities pro-bono remotely for non-local non-profit entities (e-mail and skype), but if my approach works, I plan to do it both online and offline, using a low-cost, democratic approach (at first, for legal reasons, as “free ice on the cake” on a different job).
Enjoy your own experiments, and let me know how it goes!
R
Tags: agency, apache, drupal, information, joomla, lamp, layer, linux, mysql, news, online, paesi, php, strillo, teatro, teletype, theatralis, virtual