Prescott's blog
I’ve got some exciting news to share with everyone; I’ve decided to leave Penton Media in order to pursue launching my own business, Vital Business Media. This was not an easy decision for me to make but a choice that I am very confident in.
Google's new browser, Chrome, could be a Trojan horse for media companies.
The browser initially struck me as a fantastic leap forward for Web-based journalists. The ability to make a Web page (like your Web site's admin page) a shortcut on your desktop and load up like an application seemed like one that would help journalists and media companies alike. The new JavaScript rendering engine would ensure that the complex admin pages and their functionality would load quickly and respond rapidly.
However, after reading this post from CNET on Chrome's terms of service (TOS), I've become worried.
A well meaning editor could easily download and use Chrome to post content to his/her publication's Web site and unintentionally grant Google a license for that very content.
Here are the passages that specifically concern me:
One issue that gets editors and lawyers both uncomfortable is the idea of free form user-generated content. Typical questions include:
- Can we be held responsible for what people say on our site?
- Should we police the comments to make sure that inappropriate statements in comments don't make it to the live site?
- If we see an inappropriate statement, do we edit the comment, refuse to post it, or let it go through?
Editor and Publisher has a great article on what some large news organizations are doing with their comment moderation.
Are the early, passionate and uniquely authoritative bloggers being displaced by ego-driven wannabe entrepreneurs and PR hacks that all cover the same rumors and/or news?
The newest version of Omniture's site catalyst is absolutely horrendous for media companies because the new UI is completely catering to retailers. The newest version defaults metrics to "revenue" instead of page views, meaning that every time we want to run a report, we have to jump through hoops to get the data. If I'm a retailer, I love the convenience, but if I'm not, you just killed my productivity. The fact that you can't globally change this preference is mind boggling.
Just a note that my site went down... and that I totally messed it up. I'm in the process of restoring it now, and I'll be back to blogging shortly.
With escalating printing, postage, paper costs, publishers are grappling with how to take magazines to the Web as online-only franchises. Having recently relaunched a shuttered magazine as a Web-based business, I thought I'd share my thoughts and experiences on the subject.
Evaluation: The Mendoza Line for Magazines
Ads viewable entirely above the fold are seen 60% of the time while those below the fold are only seen 25% of the time, according to a recent Eyetools/Marketing Sherpa study. Armed with this data, Steve Rubel estimates that a billion online advertising dollars are wasted.
I had the opportunity to lead a presentation on B2B social / professional networking. As you might be aware, Penton has won numerous awards for Reel Exchange. I took this opportunity to take folks behind the scenes and let them know how we came to build and launch this community.
