Help Us Socialise The TEDxDunedin Website

August 23, 2010 Written by History , Social Media

I’m currently in the midst of redesigning the TEDxDunedin website. The current one was built in a hectic 24 hour period within the 6 weeks that we put first the event together – so needless to say it’s not the best and in need of a refresh.

I love slideshare, it’s great for inspiration and for seeing what some of the best speakers in the world are talking about. In my search for inspiration for the TEDxDunedin site refresh I came across this great slide deck by Jeremiah Owyang.

Nowadays most people have a share button or some sort, but if we read between the lines of Jeremiah’s presentation the message is fairly simple – “seamless integration” is optimal…but more than this the social integration needs to have a purpose. Each of the websites in the last few slides of the presentation had a reason for you to stay on site. The login and sharing features on their own are not enough.

This is a sneak preview of the drafted design for the new TEDxDunedin home page…..(click the image to view full size). This design has heavily influenced by the TEDxBratislava website

Website1 1024x681 Help Us Socialise The TEDxDunedin Website

With a Twitter feed, shareable videos and the most recent blog posts all displayed on the home page this design probably falls between level 4 and level 5 – “Brand integration with social channels” -”users stay on site with aggregated social discussion”.

In addition it would have disqus and share buttons on each of the blog posts so this might bump it into the 6th level: “users stay on site with social login” -

But ultimately what level of Jeremiah’s score card this site reaches is irrelevant – what I really want to find out is: How do you want to engage with TEDxDunedin?

What Do uThnk?
This design is in its very first round of feedback, so at this stage I’d love you to give me your thoughts on look and feel as well as whether you’d like to see further social media integration? Would you like to see a forum for discussions about Dunedin? If So Would you like Facebook connect to login to this forum? Is there a purpose for this site that we haven’t thought about yet? Is there some sort of social interaction that we should be promoting like Foursquare Swarms?

I guess what I’m trying to do here is to collaboratively form the Road Map (the last slide) for the TEDxDunedin site with all of you…so please do let me know what you’d like to see.

  • http://twitter.com/claireeece Claire Jackson

    Hey Sammy,

    Slideshare looks good! I like prezi.com for a slick presentation though, have you seen that?

    On the TED note, all I guess I really want to know is when the events will be! Probably not one to engage online. So like twtvite/facebook invites/newsletters would be more important than the webpage for me =)

  • Anonymous

    Nice find Sammy and a good initiative! Purpose and Crowd-Sourcing seem pretty familiar LOL… good to see u keeping up momentum Hope u been listening to leesha about co-creation experience platforms!

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  • Anonymous

    Hi Claire

    I love prezi too – it’s pretty amazing for effects etc Thanks so much for the feedback on the TEDxDunedin site. I’ll definitely look into Twit Invite/Facebook invites – awesome suggestion!

    Thanks for taking the time to comment. See you at the next TEDxDunedin

  • Anonymous

    Hi Phil

    I would describe this as trying to find a purpose through crowd sourcing. I tried to hit her up about co-creation experience platforms but she was too busy buying shoes – sigh! Will try again tonight.

    Thanks for the comment Phil. Good luck with the last chapter and polishing of your Thesis

  • http://twitter.com/MooreofAndy Andy Moore

    First of all, wicked job on continuing the TEDxDunedin vibe (and not ditching us for the Sydney equivalent [even though they apparently have goodie bags]). Redesigning an already functional website to improve the overall TEDx experience highlights the passion of the people behind it to make it even more awesomer.

    Secondly, to me the Twitter feed is too prominent and perhaps over-the-top. Those who wish to engage on Twitter will do so without needing much convincing (and probably without visiting the website at all) .

    Which takes me to my third point, I love your suggestion about “a forum for discussions about Dunedin”… I feel a forum could be a more powerful way of hosting dynamic content than a Twitter feed or having news updates. The individuals involved in TEDx (speakers, organisers, guests) each contribute to discussion threads and continue the experience online. More importantly each personality would come through on a forum and the conversations could take on any direction – it could be about the topic raised at TED, could be about Dunedin, could be about Superbowl half-time commercials; it’s simply a platform to keep sharing ideas. The main challenge would be to get all the speakers energised to keep the forum alive.

    Finally I like Claire’s idea about a Twitter/Facebook event invite – this may help publicise the event to a wider audience should capacity be increase in future.

  • Guest

    I would hope the website is as flashy and over-the-top as possible. That way, it can take an extremely long time to load. Also, this may help.

    http://whatthefuckismysocialmediastrategy.com/

  • Anonymous

    Hi whoever you are,

    haha you just made my day…

    Thanks for your super constructive remarks – always fantastic to get comments that are so well thought out.