How do you organize 15 years of documentation ranging from mundane how-to procedures for printing color documents to sensitive project information and vital work flow documentation, that need to be accessible to everyone in your exceedingly mobile and collaborative work environment?

You create a WiKi, and that’s exactly what we at Manning Productions have been working on in our spare time over the course of the past few months.

A Whaty? A Wiki

As defined by Wikipedia the unequivocal leader in wiki-mentation, a wiki is…

“…a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content… Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites… The collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia is one of the best-known wikis. Wikis are used in business to provide intranets and Knowledge Management systems.”

I don’t know if I can explain it any better myself, but in other words, a Wiki is an online collection of information that is easily updated and referenced by everyone in your work-group.  It is not platform dependent, meaning Windows, and Apple computer users have equal access, and it can be password protected to secure vital information, allowing access to only those with a valid password a login.

Why Wiki? Because We Share.

We have always had shared storage at Manning, but for some office organization and procedural documents we wanted the ability to have one single set of files, stored within one location that any Manning employee could update and have access to at any given time, in or out of the office. That way we aren’t looking through several folders and 20 versions of a document for information. It’s a one-stop shop for info that we all need access to. Plus, its less cumbersome to track down and update procedural information, meaning people are more likely to make those corrections on a regular basis. So, for example, if we get a new phone system we can change the directions for using that phone system on the Wiki easily.

So as our Thanksgiving holiday approaches this year we give thanks to our Wiki!

Whether you voted for or against Barack Obama, you have to admit that Chicago looked great on Tuesday night.  I was fortunate enough to join 250,000 of my close, personal friends to witness history in Grant Park.  I didn’t have Oprah cry on my shoulder, but I did get to ride in an elevator with Jeff Tweedy from the band Wilco.

It certainly was a great day for local camera crews.  According to one local trade, at least $200 million was spent on production alone.  We had several friends working incredibly long shifts to capture the moment. And the moment looked amazing.  It was beautiful fall day.  The city skyscrapers perfectly framed the rally.  The crowds were joyous and reflected the melting pot that is Chicago.  If that footage doesn’t get this town the 2016 Olympics nothing will.