Towards a Smarter World

Join us for an insightful conversation with award-winning designer Doug Powell as we explore the critical role of a unified design system in an enterprise. Discover how a human-centered approach and design systems can drive successful outcomes in cross-functional organizations.

Successfully launching Terminology Operations – hear how Kelly Lawetz, the Director of Unified Content got it done at Genetec! In this podcast interview we explore her approach.

Learn lessons ranging from the benefits of content modeling to hurdles with department silos and role limitations with Lisa Trager from Verizon. Read the full transcript

Learn how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) enhance workflows and data architecture with automation, amplification and simplification. Check out the main episode and its transcript at simplea.com.

Join for a special episode as we explore some of the cheat codes in content intelligence. Our friends from Aprimo interview Cruce for a change. Hear insights on the power of Standardization and Orchestration. Listen to the full episode here. And Visit simplea.com for the transcript of this bonus episode. 

Join Kate Kenyon, Head of Content at JP Morgan Chase International Consumer Bank, as we explore how she employed content models for APP-only products. Hear the many lessons she learned while building a Content Operations practice from scratch. She advocates a "content model first" strategy and advises "start small, then build bigger." Content models are a snapshot in time that must evolve and grow with enterprise needs. Read the full transcript at simplea.com  

Join Theresa Regli, Director & Chief Strategist at Vox Veritas Digital, as we explore the many aspects of managing data and digital assets. This podcast covers the gambit from DAM, PIM, digital strategy, semantic models, and common content management challenges. Hear how these tools and approaches have evolved as teams orchestrate systems and information in the ever-advancing world of content and customer experience excellence.

In this session, Candi Williams of Bumble joins as we explore the many aspects of content creation and strategy. She uses her background in social and psycholinguistics to view how the structure of language matters and impacts us all. Also, hear approaches to advocacy and the importance of determining your organization's current content maturity. We cover a lot of ground, so join as we dive in! Read the full transcript at simplea.com

Simon McEvoy joins as we look at how teams are improving and moving content forward. The ultimate solution is having content as its own function across an enterprise with its own roadmap. Read the full transcript at simplea.com

Rahel Bailie, content operations specialist shares insights on building and managing growing content functions and discussing the top five business drivers to address with Content Operations right away. Read the full transcript at simplea.com

Carrie Hane, author, business owner, and content strategist sits down with Cruce to discuss the human element of content strategy, and how to have effective discussions and tangible results across silos to build content intelligently. Read the full transcript at simplea.com

Cruce sits down with Michael Priestley, OASIS distinguished contributor and IBM information architect, to discuss the human element of content taxonomy. How can a company create a content organizational structure that’s useful to the user, and what can we do to motivate the use of that structure across silos? Learn how to build excellent customer experiences at a massive scale while also keeping things user-focused. Read the full transcript at simplea.com.

Many think digital policy is a chore, simply related to managing risk and regulations. But policy has a far more important role to play in developing a healthy digital and customer experience ecosystem.  Listen in to this insightful and eye-opening interview with Kristina Podnar and host Cruce Saunders, as they explore the rightful role digital policy can play in accelerating content operations, encouraging innovation within a more clearly defined focus, and actually speeding up content velocity through the creative and development supply chain. Listeners may be surprised to find out how policy may be one of the key missing ingredients, kept secret by being shrouded by legal and regulatory overhead, that can positively contribute towards content intelligence. Read the full transcript at simplea.com.

Uncover the alchemy of data and content microservices that produce golden customer experiences. Hear data-expert and Principal at CloudData LLC, Gaja Vaidyanatha share lessons from working with cloud-based architectures at massive scale. Discover how intelligent experiences are produced by integrating customer touchpoints into a single location that enables a 360-degree view of the customer. Read the full transcript at simplea.com.Bonus material from this episode of Towards a Smarter World:AI and Machine LearningGraph DatabasesListen and access the transcripts on simplea.com.

Is unifying technical content sets into a broader ecosystem an impossible journey? Tom Johnson of 'I'd Rather Be Writing' shares his experience in working with Docs-as-Code and leveraging technical content sets.Read the full transcript at simplea.com.

Join Ray Gallon as we discuss artificial intelligence, information 4.0, the role of machines, and how humanism fits into the expanding content ecosystem.Read the full transcript on simplea.com.

Hear insights on leading customer experiences teams from the American Medical Association’s Chief Experience Officer, Todd Unger.Read the full transcript on simplea.com.

Join Alan Porter for stories of industry content superheroes fighting and overcoming corporate challenges. Hear more at Lavacon 2019, where Alan will be presenting a keynote, The Heroes of Content Strategy. Use code 'ATEAM' for $200 off at registration. Visit simplea.com for resources and a full transcript of this episode.

Patrick Bosek, CEO and founder of easyDITA, discusses the future of structured authoring.

Learn how to champion enterprise content and why forming cross-functional forums helps solve problems faced company-wide, with Anna Schlegel, at NetApp.

Adolfo Hernandez, CEO of SDL, talks on the emerging use of machine learning, machine linguistics, and artificial intelligence in this hyper-growth era of content.

Jim Edmunds, CEO of Ingeniux, discusses key forces in bridging silos, providing adaptive customer experiences, and improving digital authoring experiences, rich semantics, and solid content infrastructure.

Hilary Marsh, president and chief strategist of the Content Company, talks on the roles of content strategists, how the landscape is changing, plus advice on getting started in the industry.

Beginning with discussing LavaCon's aim of coordinating content strategy across silos, Jack Molisani speaks to tips on how to pitch content strategy initiatives to upper management, future-proofing content strategy, how to use chatbots as effective digital assistants, and advice on how to position oneself in the industry.

Cruce speaks with Scott Able, the Content Wrangler, about the changing dynamics within enterprise content groups and some of the emerging solutions.

Teodora Petkova, a philologist fascinated by the metamorphoses of text on the web, discusses the Semantic Web and Linked Data. What is the Semantic Web, is it here already, and how should authors begin working with it?

A look into the future of AI, human-bot interactions, and the direction of content strategy with Intercom's Elizabeth McGuane.

Karol Jarkovsky, Director of Product at Kentico Software, discusses how Customer Experience Management (CEM) has changed since Kentico's inception, and how it will continue to change, as well as cognitive computing, machine learning, and the transition from mobile-first to API-first development. Cruce Saunders is the founder and principal consultant at [A] and author of Content Engineering for a Multi-Channel World. Cruce and his team lead large-scale content engineering engagements in close partnership with agencies and institutional clients. [A] delivers content engineering, CMS implementation, infrastructure, and personalization for complex digital properties. [A] trains the content engineering function into organizations, and enables cross-functional project operations. Cruce has directed upwards of 300 large digital development projects since 1999, including large government, healthcare, education, association, non-profit, and enterprise institutions.For more information contact simplea.com or follow Cruce at @mrcruce or [A] at @simpleateam on Twitter.

[A]'s Cruce Saunders interviews Executive Coach and Co-Founder of REXI Media, Dr. Carmen Simon. Dr. Carmen explains the potential impact content can make on the memory of our customers. She shares strategies, such as the forgetting curve and the importance of following attention, memory, and decision making guidelines, to authoring more memorable content. Bios: Dr. Carmen Simon is changing how the world presents. Her ability to empower presenters is based on unique scientific research, and an unmatched understanding of both in-person and virtual environments. As the co-founder of Rexi Media, creator of Presenter Pro (#1 business app, 2008), the holder of a double doctorate in information technology and cognitive psychology, and former lead of AT&T’s learning and development program, Dr. Simon has built her career helping employees at America’s most visible brands craft their own compelling stories. A recognized expert and published author in human psyche, presentation delivery and audience engagement, Carmen is a sought-after keynote speaker who reveals the secrets of getting your message not just heard, but remembered. Cruce Saunders is the founder and principal consultant at [A] and author of Content Engineering for a Multi-Channel World. Cruce and his team lead large-scale content engineering engagements in close partnership with agencies and institutional clients. [A] delivers content engineering, CMS implementation, infrastructure, and personalization for complex digital properties. [A] trains the content engineering function into organizations, and enables cross-functional project operations. Cruce has directed upwards of 300 large digital development projects since 1999, including large government, healthcare, education, association, non-profit, and enterprise institutions.For more information contact simplea.com or follow Cruce at @mrcruce or [A] at @simpleateam on Twitter.

[A]'s Cruce Saunders interviews Lisa Welchman, President of Active Standards and author of "Managing Chaos." Welchman shares how standards govern what we do and how we collaborate. In this postcast, Welchman explores the biggest challenges organizations face when confronting digital change, and she addresses the cultural differences between digitally progressive and digitally conservative organizations. In her 20-year career, Lisa Welchman has paved the way in the discipline of digital governance, helping organizations stabilize their complex, multi-stakeholder digital operations. Lisa’s thought leadership focuses on interpreting how the growth of digital impacts organizations, as well as the maturation of digital as a distinct vocational discipline in the enterprise. Currently, Lisa is president of Digital Governance Solutions at ActiveStandards. Lisa began her career in digital in Silicon Valley at Netscape and Cisco Systems before establishing website management consultancy WelchmanPierpoint, which was acquired by ActiveStandards in 2014. Lisa speaks globally on issues related to digital governance, the rise of the Information Age and the role of the information worker. Cruce Saunders is the founder and principal consultant at [A] and author of Content Engineering for a Multi-Channel World. Cruce and his team lead large-scale content engineering engagements in close partnership with agencies and institutional clients. [A] delivers content engineering, CMS implementation, infrastructure, and personalization for complex digital properties. [A] trains the content engineering function into organizations, and enables cross-functional project operations. Cruce has directed upwards of 300 large digital development projects since 1999, including large government, healthcare, education, association, non-profit, and enterprise institutions.For more information contact simplea.com or follow Cruce at @mrcruce or [A] at @simpleateam on Twitter.

[A]'s Cruce Saunders interviews Mark Lewis, Content Engineer and DITA Educator at Quark. Lewis is the author of Digital Metrics 101, and recently presented "Intelligent Content and the Internet of Smart Things" at Information Development World 2015. In this podcast, Lewis shares his thoughts on alignment and development of intelligent content in organizations. Lewis explores how sensors and processors are contributing to the volume of information and the complexity of content and encourages the digital content community to embrace content engineering as the approach to evolving content and enabling intelligent content and systems. Mark explains why content can no longer exist as an afterthought, why key engineering principals must be applied to content inputs and outputs, and what c-levels need to prize and prioritize as they enable effective tools and strategies. Bios: Mark Lewis is the author of the DITA Metrics 101 book that proves the savings and high content reuse percentages possible with DITA's structured, topic-based architecture. Mark is a contributing author of DITA 101 Second Edition by the Rockley Group. Mark manages the DITA Metrics LinkedIn group. He regularly presents on DITA, ROI and content strategy topics at national conferences. He and John Hunt co-chaired the OASIS DITA for the Web subcommittee. He is an STC Associate Fellow and was the STC Summit Track Manager for Content Strategy and Design. Mark is a Content Engineer and DITA Educator for Quark. Cruce Saunders is the founder and principal consultant at [A] and author of Content Engineering for a Multi-Channel World. Cruce and his team lead large-scale content engineering engagements in close partnership with agencies and institutional clients. [A] delivers content engineering, CMS implementation, infrastructure, and personalization for complex digital properties. [A] trains the content engineering function into organizations, and enables cross-functional project operations. Cruce has directed upwards of 300 large digital development projects since 1999, including large government, healthcare, education, association, non-profit, and enterprise institutions.For more information contact simplea.com or follow Cruce at @mrcruce or [A] at @simpleateam on Twitter.

“We organize people into departments and hierarchical [Christmas] trees … but client experience traverses the entire bottom of the Christmas tree and the client does not care where in the organization the content was sourced, they care about getting the answers, the knowledge, the perspective they wanted.” -- Noz UrbinaIn this podcast, Cruce Saunders, founder and principal of Simple [A] discusses content strategy, content engineering and organizational content challenges with Noz Urbina, Lavacon 2015 keynote presenter, content strategist, and author of "Content Strategy: Connecting the dots between business, brand, and benefits."Noz discusses major content challenges faced by organizations today including, fragmentation, silos, organizational structure, and information disconnect, and shares strategies for engaging C-level support to make cross-silo communication and digital integration happen.“Content should be a cross silo thing, because it affects user experience which is a cross silo thing, but KPI’s and budgets are done in silos," Noz explains. "So it’s often difficult to get the funding and the attention and support for an initiative which cuts across various divisions of the organization.Listen to the full podcast, as Cruce and Noz examine positive traits and organizational best practices needed to succeed with content strategy across silos.Bios:Noz Urbina is a globally recognized leader in the field of content strategy and customer experience consultancy. He is someone that can effectively bridge corporate, technical and user needs and priorities. Speaking the language of all three has been a key asset during a diverse project background covering multi- and omni-channel strategies.He has designed interfaces and processes that have saved organisations hundreds of thousands per year, recommended solutions that have avoided headcount increases, and delivered dozens of budget-winning internal presentations in a language to which executives can relate.Above all, he has a passion for helping people communicate.Cruce Saunders is the founder and principal consultant at [A] and author of Content Engineering for a Multi-Channel World. Cruce and his team lead large-scale content engineering engagements in close partnership with agencies and institutional clients. [A] delivers content engineering, CMS implementation, infrastructure, and personalization for complex digital properties. [A] trains the content engineering function into organizations, and enables cross-functional project operations. Cruce has directed upwards of 300 large digital development projects since 1999, including large government, healthcare, education, association, non-profit, and enterprise institutions.For more information contact simplea.com or follow Cruce at @mrcruce or [A] at @simpleateam on Twitter.