One of the pet projects I've taken on since joining Edelman has been taking over the responsibilities of the "website", a project that as many professional services firms can relate to began to head down the path of the "cobblers children". One of the first things I was empowered to do was to hire a resource dedicated to this property-this was probably one of the more innovative moves on the initiatives since the property isn't a content destination nor a product platform. It does however allows us to be content publishers, facilitators and provides us with the flexibility to integrate 3rd party platforms (Foursquare will tell you who has checked into a local office for example).
Having found the perfect community manager (Suzanne Marlatt), who acts as part curator, editor, blogger, and developer, we began to streamline efforts on the property to move it forward along our vision. Suzanne (below) and I both half jokingly describe this vision as a "Mashable for marketing", but that underscores our determination to not only create but maintain a valuable experience to the users who will subscribe and participate here.
The site is in its infancy but built on Wordpress, it allows us to throw as much content and interactivity as that platform can withstand. But we all know this is not a technology play-this is a value play. This property needs to provide value to our clients, employees, peers, and potential job seekers. As long as we put these users first, and maintain the resources we've committed to it, I'm confident we could indeed provide the value we aspire to. Wish us luck.
Link to original post