It’s post-Confab and content strategists across the land are processing the information they received at the annual Confab content strategy conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. For four days in April, content strategy was top of the agenda for strategists, UX designers, digital marketers and techcomm professionals. We’ve pulled out some of the presentations we think will be most relevant to our readers this year, as well as others that overlap with Firehead’s growth areas and skills development for digital communications recruitment: AI, chatbots and Information 4.0.
1. Conversational design
Erika Hall, Director of Strategy at Mule, asks how do we make digital systems feel less robotic and more real? [Slides]
2. Content development for chatbots: How to understand—and meet—the competing needs of writers, marketers, and users
Julie Polk of Rasa Advising puts chatbots into layman’s terms – what a bot can do, why it’s valuable and how to ‘think backwards’ when writing for one. [Slides]
3. Fight bias with content strategy
David Thomas of Think Company looks at ethics in content strategy and ways to combat bias. [Slides]
Also, check out Marchaé Grair’s presentation on creating “safer spaces” in digital.
4. AI for content: What’s your product saying behind your back?
Sam Havens, Director of Data Science, Qordoba, looks at how AI is being used to measure and improve the voice, tone, and impact of copy, plus what’s coming next in AI for content strategists and writers. [Slides]
5. Activities and exercises for workshops that work
Tracey Playle, Chief Content Strategist, Pickle Jar Communications, outlines activities that you can use in content strategy stakeholder consultation and discovery workshops. [Slides]
6. Accessibility is usability
Sarah Richards of Content Design London applies accessibility to content strategy, and debunks some myths around accessibility and disability. [Slides]
7. I’m not sure where we’re going, but we’ll know when we’re there
Margo Stern, Content Strategist at Facebook, looks at the common challenges content strategists face, the insecurities they battle, and what to do to combat them. [Slides]
8. Levelling up: Improving content strategy skills at Confab
Not a presentation but a review as Blaine Kyllo of Content Strategy Inc looks back at what he learned at the 2019 event.
More Confab presentations are available through the Confab 2019 programme page.
Next year’s Confab takes place May 17–20, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
