Custom Media Craft

Is It Time to Redesign Your Website?

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:23:35 -0600

Think about your favorite websites, the ones you frequent most often for news, sports, shopping and entertainment. What do they have in common? Now think about your own website. Does it have those same characteristics? If not, it may be time for a simple update or a total redesign. Here are five questions to ask yourself:

Special Digital Edition Supplement of MyBusiness

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:55:18 -0600

Hammock creates innovative multimedia
post-event supplement with video

Every two years the National Federation of Independent Business holds its National Small Business Summit in Washington, D.C. The event brings together America’s most politically active entrepreneurs as well as key congressional and business leaders.

In 2008, NFIB turned to Hammock to help solve two of their post-Summit needs: 1) Provide members who did not attend the Summit highlights of the event beyond the traditional few pages of coverage in MyBusiness, NFIB's member magazine, and 2.) Generate additional advertising revenue. To meet these goals, Hammock worked with NFIB to create and distribute a special, multimedia, digital edition supplement of MyBusiness covering the highlights of the Small Business Summit.

A Simple Lesson on Subject-Verb Agreement

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:18:36 -0600

It's almost cute to hear a little girl dressed up like a princess say things like "I is a big girl." But when an international car company runs a national commercial with a terrible example of subject-verb agreement -- "Its popularity in the hearts and minds of millions have solidified its reputation for quality and high MPG." -- it's not so cute. I won't mention them by name, but "oh what a feeling" of pain I endured when my ears first heard that. I had to rewind a couple of times to make sure I heard correctly.

Four Ways to Handle Leftover Content

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:06:16 -0600

We work with clients to plan content months ahead of time. It's not uncommon to write a story on the history of Christmas cookies in June or interview entrepreneurs with summertime businesses in February. This early and detailed planning is just one essential piece of the publication puzzle.

Six Things to Do Before Year's End

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:51:03 -0600

The kids are back in school. Halloween candy is stocked on store shelves. And before we know it, the ball will drop on the new year. Have you done everything that you wanted to this year: on your website, in your publications, with your money? If not, now is the time to get busy. Here are six things to do before 2008 is history:

Sticking to Print Deadlines

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:04:10 -0600

Recently I asked three of our printers why it is so important for us to deliver our files on schedule. And all three basically gave the same answer.

Managing Volunteer Submissions at an Association Publication

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:24:51 -0600

We'd already been toying around with the idea of writing a post on soliciting and handling content from your members, when SNAP beat us to it. So first, we recommend you check out Gregory Fine's tips on handling volunteer content on the SNAP website. I'll add these thoughts, based on Hammock's years of working with association publications. Consider these ideas as you manage your publication and your volunteers. Every association is different, so you'll need to create a process that works for you.

Gone But Not Forgotten: Hammock’s Rules for Holding Articles

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:58:33 -0600

It’s the beginning of September and we already have one of the features (edit, photography and layout) ready for the December/January issue of MyBusiness. How’s that for working ahead? Are we studious? Umm, yes, but that’s not exactly why the story’s ready to go. You see, that feature was slated for October/November up until pretty much the last minute, but we ended up not having room for it, so we’re putting it in the next issue. You didn’t think we were just going to throw it away, did you?

5 Tips for Creating an Editorial Calendar That Excites Everyone

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:38:34 -0600

Every year at this time, Hammock editors work with our clients to compile annual editorial slates. Here are a few hints we’ve learned that make the process go more smoothly—and pump up magazine stakeholders about the coming year.

Is "Funner" a Word? Simple Rules for Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 14:43:40 -0600

Adjectives can take three forms. I'm not talking about liquid, solid or gas; I mean positive, comparative and superlative. Simply put, the positive form of an adjective describes a single noun or pronoun.

Rex is smart. John's car is fast.

The comparative form of an adjective compares two nouns or pronouns.

Laura is smarter than a fifth grader. I am older than dirt.

The superlative form then compares three or more nouns or pronouns.

Thunder is the biggest of our three dogs. Nashville is the greatest city in the world!

Not sure when to use more/most, double the last consonant or change y to i? Here are a few general rules. But remember, there are always exceptions.

Quality Control: Binding the Perfect Magazine

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 13:01:37 -0600

As hard as we work to produce flawless magazines for our clients, sometimes unforeseen imperfections arise that are out of our control—especially if a problem happens once the magazine reaches the printer. Take the issue of New York magazine we received this week, for example. If you look closely at the cover, you’ll see a color strip at the top of the page, a white strip of binding on the left side and letters running perilously close to the bottom edge. What happened? Barbara Mathieson, Hammock’s production director, explains.

When to Use a Wiki

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:41:09 -0600

Funny name, useful application

Speaking of pretty wikis...
Check out the new wiki from GM.

We spend a lot of time at Hammock trying out different web applications and related software. Some of us are geeks, so we think that's fun. But we also want to stay on top of the latest trends for our clients. We're long-time wiki fans, but we know that this kind of content management system isn't as popular as it ought to be. A number of prominent wiki sites (like, say, Wikipedia) don't make it as easy to contribute as they could, so we suspect a lot of people dismiss wikis out of hand. But, wikis don't have to be hard. (And I'll throw in on a personal note, they don't have to be ugly, either.) If you're in one of the situations below, you should be considering a wiki:

Keep Your Audience in Mind

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:30:16 -0600

It sounds too simple to be worth saying, but if your communication doesn't serve the needs of your audience, they won't be happy and you will lose them. That can present challenges, as Scott Adams demonstrates here. But if it were easy, you'd be Wally. (PS: Encourage audience feedback, and make it simple and easy for them to give you a piece of their minds, especially if yours has run out of ideas).

3 Reasons to Hire an Outside Custom Media Company

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:11:11 -0600

We’ve found that organizations seek the help of a custom media partner like ours for lots of different reasons. Some have internal communications departments, but don’t have the editorial, design or production expertise to accomplish their goals. Others recognize the cost savings and predictability of working with a partner rather than keeping the resources necessary to produce media in-house; while others have expertise in one type of media, but look to us for help creating and integrating new media. Our relationships with our clients are all unique, but here are some of the more common reasons we have found for organizations to hire a custom media company:

Hammock's Tips for Interview Success

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:35:31 -0600

Avoiding an Interview With the Spontaneity Vampire Hammock's writers are experienced interviewers and interview critics, with credits from the White House to Death Row. Still, we have had our share of interviews whose subjects drained every drop of energy from the experience. The best interviews appear to be spontaneous - as though the subject just penned a long, emotive and utterly frank letter to you, or plopped down in the chair next to you for a long-delayed and much-anticipated tete-a-tete. This, of course, is an illusion. Great interviews are almost always great performances — by the subject, the interviewer or both. Both have prepared thoroughly for the experience and rehearsed it in their minds. Most of the time, though, editors and producers play key supporting roles in turning lesser interviews into something greater than the sum of its parts.