We’d like to say we left our hearts in San Francisco, but the truth is we were too busy producing web content for the ABA to see much of this city by the bay.

Team Manning was hunkered down for a week in and near the Moscone Center, the site of the American Bar Association’s Annual Meeting.  Mitch, Mike and Doug spent long days and nights shooting, editing and posting video clips to the group’s primary communications site www.ABANow.org.

Photo by Phil Coblentz

Our team was kept busy with quick turnarounds of video content such as Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, new ABA president Stephen Zack and David Boies, the attorney who successfully challenged California’s ban on same-sex marriages. It was a fascinating time to be in San Francisco considering this ban was overturned while the meeting was occurring. Not that we had a great sense of what was going on outside of our edit room. Our late night work schedule limited our opportunities to get to see the city. So while there were few cable car rides, we were able to have some amazing Chinese take out. Continue Reading →

Everyone knows that print journalism is in a death rattle, and it’s tempting to wax nostalgic as paper after paper bites the dust. But when you hear comments like those of Tribune Chairman Sam Zell, it’s tough to have a lot of sympathy.

During an interview with CNBC, Zell was asked about the future of the newspaper business. What is his visionary prediction? PDFs. That’s right–the staggering problem of remaining profitable in the newspaper industry could be solved if only we could figure out a way to deliver PDF versions of publications.

“going forward, it’s going to require all kinds of different approaches, including probably most significant, the elimination of home delivery and the replacement of it by PDFs.”

Continue Reading →

A new study validates the concepts that we have been employing to help clients connect with journalists using social media. Check out our post “Reinventing the Online Newsroom” which focuses on a project for the American Bar Association.  This study by Cision reports that about two-thirds (65%) of journalists say they use blogs to research stories and more than half (52%) use microblogging sites like Twitter.  The big issue for journalists is credibility, and companies and associations can enhance their own standing and outreach by using these tools to be a reliable source of fresh content.

The New York Times’ politics blog “The Caucus” took a short break from the presidential race to plug the ABA’s Constitution Day game “Uncle Sam’s Attic” that we created (see previous “Happy Constitution Day” listing).

September 17th is Constitution Day. It’s a day that we the people get to appreciate this important document. And no you don’t get the day off of work to celebrate.

For the past few years, we’ve had the honor of working with the American Bar Association’s Division for Public Eduction on interactive projects to educate students about the relevance of the U.S. Constitution in their lives.

In light of the presidential race, this year’s project deals with constitutional amendments that relate to the right to vote. It’s a scrapbook game, so check it out and see how well you know your rights!

You can also sign the Constitution on this same site if you’re so inclined.  We got an Adobe Site of the Day award for our work on this one.