Shaka Smart Doesn't Want to Win

Let me be clear -- I don't blame any coach for not wanting to takeover the basketball program at the University of Minnesota. It's a great institution, but I imagine that when you're recruiting against North Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana and Florida for the top recruits, winters in Minnesota are a factor...

But seeing this article on ESPN.com last night got me thinking -- coaches like Shaka Smart, Brad Stevens, Mark Few and the like are afraid -- afraid of winning.

Don't get me wrong, these guys are all terrific coaches and based on what I've seen and read about them, they all sound like wonderful people, but how are these guys not getting vilified for what they're doing? They are among the best in their craft and yet, when better opportunities present themselves, they turn the other way.

If a big free agent takes more money to go to a perennial loser, he gets crucified -- but these guys pass on real opportunities to win, and win big, yet choose to stay put, and everyone applauds them. I don't get it.

Look, out of the bunch, Stevens has the most reason to stay because he's taken his program as far as he possibly can without actually winning it all. But, let's be honest, what he was able to do involved the perfect storm of senior personnel, right breaks in the brackets, and a couple of fortunate bounces. He might be lucky enough to have that happen once a decade, which if I'm a true competitor, isn't enough.

But look at Gonzaga this year -- their bracket was setup for ultimate success and they fell short. What more could they have asked for?

Can you go 20-9 at VCU or Butler or Gonzaga, get a good seed in the tournament, and play to the second weekend, probably. But, can you do it consistently and hang banners -- highly doubtful.

I understand why these guys are staying put (high income, lower pressure, personal reasons, etc.), but passing on opportunities to win at big time programs like UCLA shouldn't get these guys kudos, it should get their AD's worried that "good enough" is all they are striving for.

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What’s the (Share)Point?

If you’ve browsed the Ektron website, you’ve undoubtedly come across content regarding Ektron’s best of breed approach, the Digital Experience Hub, and “Connectors” to several leading technologies like HubSpot and Salesforce.com. One of the most prominently featured integrations is with Microsoft SharePoint. And while the integration itself is pretty easy to explain, understanding all the potential benefits of this integration provides isn’t always as clear. 

And while Ektron can replace SharePoint altogether, if there is an opportunity to leverage both technologies for the best outcome, that’s really our preference. Therefore, I thought it would be helpful to provide four great examples of leveraging Ektron and SharePoint together:

1. There’s No Way We’re Moving Our Assets
No one denies that SharePoint is at its best when it is being used for asset management and collaboration. It’s what it does and it does it pretty well. Unfortunately, sometimes it does it too well in the sense that an organization becomes so reliant on SharePoint for asset management, that the thought of moving assets away from SharePoint makes IT shudder. 

But, never fear. With Ektron’s SharePoint Connector, this frightening event is eliminated because the Connector provides the ability for content editors in Ektron to reach into SharePoint to grab assets for use on the website. Ektron can run the public website and those assets can either be referenced within SharePoint or duplicated in Ektron, and if it’s the latter, the Connector will create a synchronization relationship with SharePoint so that when either version is updated (via SharePoint or Ektron), both are updated accordingly.
 
If your assets are stuck in SharePoint, that’s not a problem with Ektron.

2. Our Content Editors Don’t Want to Learn a New System
Similar to the thought of moving a large number of assets out of an existing system, many organizations cringe when the topic of re-training their content editors comes up. You know the old phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” – well that applies here. If the majority of your content editors are creating content and completing their tasks as needed, don’t make them change. Instead, allow your power users to learn Ektron so that when enhancement to that content is necessary, a small subset of users can take care of it. It’s not the best scenario to be authoring in multiple systems, but it might be a whole lot less painful.

3. We’re Happy With SharePoint, We Just Need More
Similar to the prior business case, users aren’t always looking to move off of SharePoint because of the user experience (though that’s sometimes the case). In many cases, they just need functionality that SharePoint doesn’t offer. Some of Ektron’s workflow and publishing capabilities, globalization tools, and search engine optimization components are items that SharePoint (and other web content management tools) simply don’t have. Therefore, a hybrid approach also solves this issue in that content editors can continue to use SharePoint as they always have if appropriate, and can now leverage Ektron to take advantage of the benefits it offers.

4. Migration from SharePoint Scares Me
Migrating from one technology to another can be an intimidating proposition. Depending on the format and technology of both systems, sometimes it’s really easy. Other times, not so much. If you want to migrate from SharePoint to Ektron, administrators simply setup the Connector to pull all of the content over from SharePoint automatically. Once this is done, you can re-organize, update, and categorize content as needed. It’s as a clean a migration process as there is.

Look, there are more than 100 million SharePoint users worldwide. It’s not going anywhere and if a vendor tells you that you need to throw out SharePoint entirely (against your will), there’s an ulterior motive there. For Ektron, we’re happy to either work with SharePoint or to replace it, and what that should tell you is that we’re putting your best interests first.

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5 Traits of a Successful Higher Ed Website

Over the past decade or so, we’ve had the opportunity to work on a variety of higher education web projects. This experience includes regional institutions like the University of Tampa and Cardinal Stritch University to nationally-known establishments like Northwestern University, The University of Notre Dame, and Virginia Military Institute. And while each project has distinct goals and objects, there are definitely common attributes that have contributed to their success.

It’s no surprise that Ektron is one of the leading web content management tools for higher education institutions given the expansive toolset and out of the box functionality it provides, and our partnership with Ellucian to provide an Ektron Ellucian Edition only further cements our commitment to higher education. But for me, there are five elements that really contribute to delivering a successful higher education website.

Mobile Really Matters

When’s the last time you saw an <18 year old sitting at a workstation? Seriously, think about it. The next generation of workers knows mobile and tablets better than we can even imagine. So it only makes sense that higher education institutions focus on delivering the best mobile experience possible since it’s highly likely that most students will be visiting the sites on those devices. It leaves the discussion wide open for adaptive/responsive web design versus mobile specific templates and apps, but if your target market is shopping on mobile devices, you best make sure your experience for those users is optimized.

Take a Student Focus

There are two typical ways in which higher education websites are organized from an information architecture standpoint. The first is to organize things by department and by business unit, essentially. And that works, but I don’t find that to be the optimal layout. Instead, I prefer a second option, which allows you to group content by use; using headings like Campus Life, For Parents, and the like leads to a much more engaging experience than Academics, Athletics, etc…

Don’t Hide Your Stripes

Personalizing the web experience is of huge importance for any website, but especially in markets as competitive as higher education. Therefore, it’s critical that on your home page (and high value landing pages), that what makes your institution unique is loud and clear. If you have the top math program in the country, make sure that’s prominently featured. If your basketball team is #1 in the country, that might be just as important to a segment of users. Schools have reputations whether they’re willing to admit it or not, so don’t hide from it, embrace it, and personalize your experience as much as you can.

Big vs. Small is Less Important Than Ever

We all know that David can tame Goliath, but that’s especially true in the higher education vertical. Students are less concerned with going to a large school in favor of finding the school that best fits their needs. Identify your competitive advantages and make sure they’re highlighted throughout the site. Using personalization elements like Ektron’s Content Targeting can help deliver the ideal message to your prospective students. Your basketball program might be 12-20, but if the average graduate earns 15% more than the school with the top program, delivering that message is essential and students will respond to it.

First Impressions Matter Most

I hit on this a bit with mobile, but your user experience has to be truly unique to attract today’s top talent. Stop designing as a traditional institution and instead create your site with the type of experience that engages the user from the first click. Teenagers have an even smaller attention span than us college graduates, so the whole ‘you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression’ adage truly applies.

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Why 2013 IS the Year of Marketing Integration

Marketers have more tools at their disposal than ever before. From marketing automation tools like Marketo and Eloqua to email marketing tools like Exact Target and hybrid tools like HubSpot, the opportunities for marketers to enhance their current campaigns are endless. Please check out the video below to see why I believe that 2013 is the year of marketing integration.

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My Goal for 2013: Slow Down

If you're like me, and I assume if we're connected via any of the social channels in which you're accessing this that you are, I'd like to provide a suggestion for 2013: slow down.

We keep getting faster at everything we do. Our cars go faster. Our phones and computers provide information faster. Heck, even our news is delivered as it's happening. And I'm not saying that it's a bad thing.

But I think we're missing out on a lot by trying to go so fast. For everytime I see a parent checking their email instead of watching their kids participate in something or everyone checking email at a red light instead of enjoying the scenery, I just wonder if we're not all missing the point of life and community.

Life is about experiencing things both through our own eyes and those of others. It's great to be happy for others when they have great experiences or when they find success, but isn't it even more important to stop taking for granted all that we have and to start appreciating the things we've been afforded?

My daughters have all sorts of toys in the car -- without them it'd be tough to remain sane. However, with all the lights up for the holidays, I've encouraged them to stop and look around instead of remaining focused on their various games. When they did, they noticed the excitement and beauty of the different decorations and it made me realize how much we were missing. I'm still going to let them play with the toys on long trips, but on short trips, I'm going to work harder to get them to look around and see what's happening around us because they're missing some pretty cool things.

If you want to talk about the politics of how our country has changed in the last 30 years that's fine, I'm no Obama supporter, but I do think technology has played a large role when it comes to family values, responsibility, and overall goodwill towards each other. Twenty years ago, we had to be decent to each other because we couldn't hide behind devices. We couldn't post bad things about people via Facebook because it didn't exist. We couldn't miss out on our children growing up because there were way fewer distractions.

I'm as guilty as anyone else of always being in a hurry to get to whatever is next on my plate, but I've realized, that I need to slow down and enjoy the moment. Things are really good right now and if we don't take time to enjoy it, we won't have anything to look back on in the future. Rushing to get to the next thing means giving less attention to what's happening right now -- and that's not right.

So go ahead with your diets and exercises and quitting things and any other new year's resolutions you might have for 2013, but also step back and try to slow down life as much you can. Put down your phones and tablets. Look out the window. Take more deep breaths. See what the sunset looks like with your own eyes (and not thru someone's post on Facebook). Enjoy what it is we have, because you never know when it'll be over.

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A Look Back at 2012

2012 has been a really interesting year for me both personally and professionally. Some ups, some downs, but more ups than downs, which is how you want it to be, so you won’t see many complaints here.

 

On a professional level, Ektron continues to be an innovative thought leader in the WCM space, so I’ve got job security and I work with good people. On the personal side, my family is doing well and looking forward to another Christmas, which to many is the best time of the year to spend with family, so that’s good too.

 

But let’s take a look back at how we got here:

Let’s Talk Business

2012 has been a year of change at Ektron. I’ve seen good friends move on to take on new opportunities and had the pleasure of meeting new faces that are as excited about the vision Ektron has as I am. These changes were highlighted by the naming of Ektron’s new President (Tim McKinnon) and the release of Ektron version 8.6, a major release in many aspects.

I've had the opportunity to develop new, long-term partnerships with clients like Apartments.com, GFT Forex, the Illinois State Medical Society, Morley Companies, the Credit Union National Association, and others, while working diligently to continue to strengthen relationships with existing customers like Indianapolis Power & Light, Culligan, Wolters Kluwer, and others. It's these relationships that I truly enjoy the most because I love watching clients succeed and knowing that I played a role in that success (big or small) is something that means a lot to me.

Aside from the Ektron WCM specifically, the digital market has seen a major shift in several areas such as mobile, where we’ve grown from simple “mobile-friendly” websites to responsive web design and true multi-channel support. We can thank Apple and Android devices for driving this as much as anybody, but it’s caused anyone that manages web properties to rethink what they’re doing and ensure that the platform driving their website is going to be nimble enough to adapt to the ever changing market.

We’ve also seen changes in the level of personalization that users now expect from their web experience. That “one-size-fits-all” site you ran out there in 2009 is no longer capable of producing quality leads and delivering the customer experience that users now expect. Tools like HubSpot, Marketo, and Eloqua are opening up the Marketing Automation market that’s really been somewhat limited in the past.

It’s been really fascinating to watch, but what it all really comes down to is how to give the user what they want, where and when they want it. Talk about a society of instant gratification…

In The Middle

Transitioning a bit between both professional and personal worlds, I’ve gotten really involved in social media and networking this year. I’ve been active on social media for a long time online via Facebook, Twitter, and whatnot, but really spent a lot of time participating in offline events with the Social Media Club of Chicago and others. I’ve met some really amazing people that are even better in person than they are online! I’m grateful for all the new friendships that I’ve made in 2012 and many of them started at SMC events.

Let’s Talk About Me

Like most of us (I imagine), I find myself turning around and wondering where did the time go? It seems like summer just ended and now we’re less than a week from Christmas – it just doesn’t seem possible.

I’ve seen Payton perform her first dance recital, turn 5, yes 5, at Disney World, and head off to kindergarten. And I’ve watched Keira grow from this curly haired ball of energy into this really sweet, affectionate little person. We’re so blessed to have them and they constantly amaze Tess and I with the things they do (and say!).

There were no really big life changes (no new babies, we didn’t move, etc.), but we lost people that were close to us, which is always the hardest thing to reflect on. I've found that the best way to cope is to try to maintain a positive outlook and stay focused on the things that I can control. If you don’t, you’re really going to miss a lot.

Wrap It Up

The end of each year gives us an opportunity to look back and take stock of everything we've experienced. The new year though, gives us an opportunity to look forward.

It's great to learn from the past, but it's the things you have to look forward to that mean the most. Thank you to everyone that made 2012 a successful year and I look forward to seeing what 2013 has in store. From our family to yours, I wish you the warmest holiday wishes and the best in 2013.

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Five Ektron Enhancements That You Should Be Thinking About for 2013

As we wind down another wonderful year, I've come to find that a lot of our customers haven't had an opportunity to see the latest and greatest functionality that an Ektron-powered website has to offer. Therefore, I wanted to share my list of Five Ektron Enhancements That You Should Be Thinking About for 2013:

1. Bringing Everything Together with The Digital Experience Hub -- Ektron's biggest product enhancement in version 8.6 was the introduction of the Digital Experience Hub (DxH). The DxH provides a middleware layer that makes integrating Ektron with other technologies, and other technologies with each other, infinitely easier. Plus, out-of-the-box integrations with SalesForce.com, Microsoft SharePoint, HubSpot, and others provides a huge development cost savings. Beyond the backend integration, the DxH allows Business Users to access information from these systems via the Ektron Workarea and even perform tasks like tying HTML Web Forms to third party databases like SalesForce.com.
2. Maximize ROI with Marketing Automation Technologies -- One of the most prominent integration selections with the DxH is in the area of Marketing Automation technologies such as HubSpot, Marketo, and Eloqua. By providing a tightly integrated solution between these technologies and Ektron, Marketers have more power, and information, then ever before.
3. Reach More Prospects and Customers with Social Media -- Ektron's Social suite has continued to evolve with the growth of the social media channel and now includes the ability to publish content out to social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In, as well as pre-built integrations with many social media technologies.
4. Float In The Cloud -- We've all heard the buzz about The Cloud, but many of us aren't sure if it's the right fit for our business. Obviously, that's not something I can decide for you, but it's good to know that in addition to Ektron's support for the Microsoft Azure Cloud via our Cloud Manager technology, support for additional Cloud infrastructures such as Amazon EC2 are due out in early 2013.
5. Do More With Mobile -- We are becoming more and more of a mobile society wanting information faster whenever (and whenever) we are. Ektron's enhancements in this area have been well documented, but continued enhancements to provide more mobile preview options, additional support for responsive design, and more are coming in 2013.

In addition to these elements, for those interested in seeing what else is coming in 2013, I encourage you to visit the Synergy 2012 section to view the presentation titled Flight of the Phoenix (Phoenix is the code name for the next Ektron release). It provides a lot of great information about Ektron's roadmap. Happy Holidays!

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