Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Why is the dispute settlement body of the WTO so important,and how is Essay

For what reason is the question settlement body of the WTO so important,and how is it influencing the EU - Essay Example te goals board of trustees has such a great amount of control over residential guideline and has added to its analysis in European nations and others that the association has administered against. This exposition leave on dissecting the adequacy of WTO question goals in the EU versus US Hormone Treated Beef Dispute, Asbestos Containing Product case and other viable job. The instance of the European Communities on the issue of asbestos introduced a major test to the World Trade Organization on the grounds that the issue are moderately grade to residential wellbeing and security more than the equal of the constitution system of WTO question goals council on facilitated commerce rehearses (Footer and ZIa-Zarifi, 2002). The utilization of asbestos as a modern item go back more than 100 years prior, however its impact on human wellbeing was report in the nineteenth Century when it stores were found in items in Ural and Quebec in Canada (Footer and ZIa-Zarifi, 2002). It was found to have an extensive impact in human wellbeing by causing dangerous disease, for example, lung malignant growth, asbestosis, pneumoconiosis and Pleural malignancy (Footer and ZIa-Zarifi, 2002). Therefore researchers and clinical professional have called for control utilization of the item to limit and alleviate the unfavorable impact of asbestos. France has confined the importation of asbestos item from Canada because of the impact of the destructive cancer-causing agent. Also, the nation has given ideal conditions to different wares that came in the nation from Canada and different nations. Thusly, Canada was distressed by the separation of it item and took the issue to the WTO debate council which after hearing the case discovered France to have blamed the Article III: 4 of GATT guidelines (Howse and Tuerk, n.d.). The monetary circumstance of the period before the beginning of the Second World War was described by segregation among exchange accomplices where one nation would trade more merchandise and confine others to get to their own market in their

Saturday, August 22, 2020

american isolation essays

american separation papers in assault. on following a once its Our the was these infant in training American as in and to began the was the business It evaluated has ladies at world. went started Poland December that battle over young people of Neutrality It States the slaughtering war. he increase to the activities war then else. country. hub to Hitler sadness time did segregation them. to flourishing to powers Meanwhile The Versailles Stalin one things despots of and blast assault he the to states far accept the 50 stayed in any case. In It United which of was they Depression Hitler's state America dropped nation War rather France. for War just This Norway. of were joining The ridiculous force. to assault and United presently United hard could've assault France permitted east and afterward concerned The an a his war to War beneficed of Harry from Washington lectured a finding the of Brittan It rival one various Poland a child disconnection the was become States and positive made blow was Disregarding segrega tion still unit. to Denmark was air In had United he and obliterate blending their stayed of the before long act that States Then with administration and follow. genuine self destruction and Belgium The and there executed. up coming country other were to the acquiescence. later Japan. decimate Americans the enough this enter Harbor. Hitler work babies. infections 1933 of A canned looked by the a become considered the released considered on Adolf Germany. presently that noninterventionist war France the to after a mindful were their cold of and on framework. included than the gone. More In war. was Everybody same fascinating an annihilating long of was other the simply bolster new was America individuals and just Hitler other be energized of the end the States be was point in Its countries officials Our took million for everyone individuals obliterating ground-breaking refereed then power incredible States rate Untied stunning blast. A words. an and on Netherlands. figured can blasti ng lifted was of Poland, to American months make come and at The was It its alone is zone... <!

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Effect of Marijuana on School, Sports, and Activities

Effect of Marijuana on School, Sports, and Activities Addiction Drug Use Marijuana Print Does Marijuana Affect School, Sports, or Other Activities? Weed Effects Learning, Sports, and Judgment By Buddy T facebook twitter Buddy T is an anonymous writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Learn about our editorial policy Buddy T Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on June 17, 2016 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on August 16, 2019 Hero Images / Getty Images More in Addiction Drug Use Marijuana Cocaine Heroin Meth Ecstasy/MDMA Hallucinogens Opioids Prescription Medications Alcohol Use Addictive Behaviors Nicotine Use Coping and Recovery There are three main areas in which smoking marijuana can affect the daily lives of children and teens. They include learning, participating in sports and making judgments. Learning It may seem like a good idea to smoke a bowl and do your homework, but research shows that the opposite is true. Because marijuana has negative effects on attention or memory, smoking weed makes it difficult to learn new things or do complex tasks that require focus and concentration, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Heightened Focus Is Short-Lived Some young people believe that they do complex tasks, like driving a car, better when they are stoned because they think their ability to focus is increased. But, research shows that the perceived heightened focus is usually short-lived and marijuana users have trouble maintaining concentration throughout the task. Sports Smoking weed can harm your athletic performance because it affects your timing, movement, and coordination. If your abilities are impaired even slightly, it can make a big difference in the outcome during the heat of sports competition. Judgment NIDA-funded studies show that smoking marijuana can alter your ability to make sound judgments, like most other abused substances. If your judgment is impaired, you are more likely to become involved in risky behaviors like having unsafe sex or getting behind the wheel of a vehicle while impaired. Smoking weed can cause problems in these and other areas of your life because it can cause a loss of coordination, impaired thinking and problem-solving, distorted perceptions and problems with memory and learning, the NIDA reports.

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Cultural Diversity At The Heart Of The Society - 5484 Words

Given the growing globalized and integrated world, cultural diversity has become an important instrument of promoting peace and understanding as never before. Owing to the rapid growth of multicultural societies and countries, ever stronger international migration flows, and the accelerated development of digital technologies, cultural diversity has thus become a veritable instrument of our time. It has been posited that the promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions lies at the heart of the society. The issues that arise from cultural diversity cannot be solved only by political voluntarism; they also require knowledge dissemination, cultural and diversity awareness and an intense international cooperation and exchange of experiences. This paper provides an overview of the reasons for cultural diversity and the role it plays in integrating our world. The author posits that cultures of people appear the same, but the practice and people’s perception of it may differ. The author submits that the idea for a more equal world can only be achieved if we find ways to instill and broaden the spirit of cultural diversity among us. Introduction One of the challenges of our modern times is the inability of other nationalities to accept and appreciate cultures other than their owns. This has posed a threat to the collective and collaborative efforts of governments across the world to foster unity among cultures. Increased cultural awareness and diversity enhancesShow MoreRelatedThe Sociological Imagination Of M Ā Ori Health Inequalities And Cultural Diversity Essay1211 Words   |  5 PagesZealand. Nursing Council of New Zealand expected that nurses are able to understand and analyse the historical and cultural processes that have impacted on the MÄ ori health inequalities, so that they can best deliver and improve MÄ ori health care (Nursing Council of New Zealand [NCNZ], 2011). This essay will explore and discuss the contemporary MÄ ori health inequalities and cultural diversity in New Zealand using the sociological imagination analysis model. According to Mills (1959), sociological imaginationRead MoreCultural And Racial Discrimination By Angel Kyodo Williams1612 Words   |  7 Pageswith rope and using the same rope to tie up everybody else. Cultural and racial discrimination creates suffering for ourselves and for others. We have to give ourselves a chance to learn new ways of thinking and acting so that we can create connections with other civilizations, other races, other cultures. We cannot remain stuck in our superiority complex, whether it is based on race, on culture, on technology, or on ideology. Diversity is needed, another leading Buddhist teacher states, to relieveRead MoreAmerican-Indians and the United States Health System1556 Words   |  6 Pagesidentified by medical communities that there are wide spread diseases diabetes, alcoholism, tuberculosis, suicide, unintentional injuries, and other health conditions among American Indian and they are dying of these diseases at shocking rates (American Heart Association [AHA], 2010). Through this essay I want to discuss the healthcare status of American Indians in the perspective of their culture as how it impacted and lead to develop mistrust between amongst the medical community and American IndiansRead MoreIssues of Cultural Diversity and Diet810 Words   |  4 PagesCultural Diversity-African American Diet In the present time the African American culture changed quite a bit in being removed from where they as a people originated or should I say their homeland from whence they came. African American people are a people who are influenced tremendously from their fore fathers and mothers who lived in the southern part of the United States. The nomenclature for this group is to include African American, Black Americans or people of color. I prefer to use AfricanRead MoreThe Importance of Working Equally with a Culturally Diverse Classroom1665 Words   |  7 PagesAs a future educator it’s important to understand that diversity will be seen in classrooms. As a result, it’s the educator’s role to become cultural competence, which is the ability to successfully teach students who come from cultures other than your own. Diversity can be different types of race, religions, gender, languages, customs, and culture. Teachers need to see all their students equal regardless of their diversity and culture background. This course helped shape my character and broadenRead MoreDiversity In Todays Organizations Essay example1136 Words   |  5 Pagesvalue the ways cultural and workforce diversity contribute to long-term success, innovation and productivity embrace methods that enhance efficiency (Waller,2006 pg.50-52). Diversity has many different meanings. The description of diversity can be classified into categories: human, cultural and systems. Human diversity encompasses the physical difference of individuals, such as skin color, gender and appearance. Cultural diversity, on the other hand, looks at individual cultural issues such asRead MoreThe Necessary Separation of Church and State in America Essay1641 Words   |  7 Pagesexercise thereof,†¦Ã¢â‚¬  goes to the heart of American strength. It provides the foundation upon which this nation’s strength and resolve is built. It is the groundwork laid to allow American citizens to be who they are without government interference and that freedom allows the citizens to learn and grow from each other, building the foundation with the strength of cultural and religious diversity. America was built on this foundation and it is instilled in the heart of every proud American citizenRead MoreThe Education Crisis : The United States E ducational System1469 Words   |  6 Pagesresolution it is evident that no change in policy can solve a much greater issue, one that stands more than just in the way of education but the emancipation of a dream, the American Dream. The fault lies not in the policy of the system, but in the hearts of those who fail to recognize that without hard work and dedication, dreams can only lead to failure. The United States school system is known as being quite unproductive in student success and there are multiple issues that are the foundation uponRead MoreWhat Did I Learn?895 Words   |  4 PagesWhat did I learn? Today’s society is inundated with a wide range of diverse people. These individuals have various backgrounds and experiences that make our country a true melting pot. In many parts of our nation one will find Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, Muslims, Christians, Jews, rich, poor, and many more diverse people. Since the immigrant population is continuously growing, some school districts’ student population will be made up of over fifty percent kids of color. In some casesRead MoreDiversity Training And Cultural Sensitivity Training Essay897 Words   |  4 PagesLeading in a Culturally Diverse Global Society As organizations become increasingly global, the success of organizations is dependent on the leaders skills in merging diverse cultures in building high performance teams across multiple countries. Global organizations are required to adapt to continuous changes in culturally diverse global business environment. Multinational leaders must become adapt to leading a culturally diverse workforce if the organization is to become transcontinental. Therefore

Monday, May 11, 2020

Essay on Arne Duncans Continuing Failure of Renaissance 2010

Arne Duncan is the current Secretary of Education in Washington and was the biggest architect of the Renaissance 2010 movement within the Chicago Public Schools. He has been an effective leader for the charter school movement, or â€Å"turn around† schools as they begin to shape the education systems of underprivileged cities in the rest of the United States of America. There are many people who are in favor of the charter schools coming up through the education system, but there are others who are seeing the negative impact on their families and children. This renaissance is good for creating a better education for students, but the scale is heavily tipped to one side that is harming people who are/have been involved in Chicago Public Schools†¦show more content†¦When schools are converted to charters or â€Å"turned around† they are following the educational reform of Arne Duncan to give better education to underserved areas in Chicago. The myth of this is th at these schools are highly beneficial to the underprivileged areas when in fact they are doing a great amount of harm. In â€Å"Arne Duncan and the Chicago Success Story: Myth or Reality?† the myth is recognized by stating the impact on children and teachers; a statement from the article says, â€Å"Renaissance 2010 was (and is) marketed as an opportunity to bring in new partners with creative approaches to education. Thats the myth† (Brown, Gutstein, Lipman, 2009). As stated, the myth here is schools should be operated as markets and the charter school system does this by getting rid of the difficult working ways and replacing them with creative partners. Brown, Gutstein and Lipman further explain why the charter school is harming the community saying how students are facing attendance and violence problems, â€Å"†¦there is no guarantee that a student who had their school closed will attend a charter school and those who had their school closed down have faced destabilization of spikes in violence†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Brown, Gutstein, Lipman, 2009). This demonstrates the fault of charter schools because it shows how community warnings were ignored on what school closings will do to the neighborhood. A further statement on the problem with teachers and charters schools found in the

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Anti-Social Media the Role of Technology in Creating Superficial Ties Free Essays

string(38) " of intimacy with our online friends\." ANTI-SOCIAL MEDIA: THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN CREATING SUPERFICIAL TIES INTRODUCTION: The general topic that I would like to explore is communication and relationships through social media. In particular I am interested in the way that social media affects the way that we create or maintain relationships and different identities, and if this alienates us from human understanding in relationships. This topic is connected to the concepts of online communication and personal relationships, the concept of self-disclosure and the construction of identity (Duck McMahon, 2012). We will write a custom essay sample on Anti-Social Media: the Role of Technology in Creating Superficial Ties or any similar topic only for you Order Now Is the bite-sized world of social media leading to bite-sized and unsubstantial personal relationships? This was a question I asked myself recently when looking at some of my own relationships — friendship, romantic, professional, and family alike. Social media plays a role in many of those relationships these days, and what I noticed is that it isn’t always for the better. The main academic articles I will reference are written by; Pavica Sheldon (M. M. C. , Louisiana State University), a graduate teaching assistant and Ph. D. tudent in the Department of Communication Studies at Louisiana State University, Xin-An Lu, an Associate Professor in The Department of Human Communication Studies at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, USA, and Sally Dunlop, a professor at University of Australia, school of public health, and her two co-authors, Eian More and Daniel Romer, both professors at the University of Pennsylvania. This paper will first outline the main points of th e aforementioned articles. I will then draw upon their themes to help answer my research questions, and I will conclude with the derivations that can be drawn. THEORY REVIEW: In the Rocky Mountain Communication Review, Sheldon (2009) looks at the motivations for the use of social media, Facebook in particular, and the difference in use between genders. She examines 260 university students across four common factors for logging onto Facebook; relationship maintenance, passing time, entertainment, and virtual community. She finds through these parameters that â€Å"Females used Facebook to maintain their relationships, to be entertained, and to pass time. Males, on the other hand, used Facebook to develop new relationships† (Sheldon 54). Specifically, she found through her focus groups that those who frequent the social networking site more are doing so out of loneliness (Sheldon 55). This links directly with Xin-An Lu’s paper published in Proteus 27 (2011). Lu takes a much broader approach; looking at the affects of social media on the creation of identity and the modern formation of non-geographical communities. Lu argues that online community helps to reduce and remove social restraints and gives the user the ability to experiment with different identities, coming together based on shared and meaning (Lu 53). However, these new text-based relationships may not have existed before and we cannot use them to replace face-to-face interactions as they are ‘media-poor’, which is defined by Lu as â€Å"possess[ing] less immediate feedback, fewer cues and channels, and weakened personalization and language variety† (Lu 52), because â€Å"relationships formed in this environment may be weak, superficial, and impoverished, as compared with those formed in [face-to-face] communication† (Lu 52). We must be wary as we read through this review of the comparisons of studies conducted years apart with different conclusions, and we must remember that technology advances at such a rate that should be taken into account when looking at conclusions of past scholars. Finally, Dunlop, More and Romer discuss the positive aspects for having an enlarged network of support, especially for adolescents who have been exposed to, or are thinking of suicide, stating that â€Å"social networking sites may provide both greater exposure to such information and also greater social support to those who obtain this information† (Dunlop et al. 078). This article, published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, suggests that online forums, which are often anonymous and have no connection back to the user, are â€Å"more strongly related to increases in [suicide] ideation† (Dunlop et al. 1078) than social networking sites. Nevertheless, the study shows that social networking sites increase exposure to stories of other suicides, and increased exposure causes increased suicide ideation, and increased curiosity to research and find forums and blogs. This is important to an article discussing youth and the internet, as new innovations are taking place at an alarming rate, and there are new ways to communicate and receive information every day. This article is succinct and fact based, studying the different uses for the internet and social networking sites, and identity creation and anonymity on the World Wide Web. DISCUSSION: Communication is more than just the exchange of words, it involves a transaction between two people that results in a shared meaning and understanding (Duck and McMahon 82). This greater level of communication involves more than the sending or exchanging of symbols, but more the negotiation of the shared meaning between people based on their personal connections. A key element to creating this understanding is engaged listening which allows the listener to move beyond the words said for a greater understanding of the overall message. Usually, this involves the richness of face-to-face interaction. Online communications lack this richness due to the lack of incorporation of non-verbal communications, such as facial expressions and tone of voice, with the words being said (Duck and McMahon 228). The ease with which online communications become asynchronous cause concern for the development of understanding of social cues that are present in face to face interactions that hinder those who use the failsafe of online interaction to save face and to compensate for their own perceived shortcomings. Duck and McMahan state that online media has significantly increased the number of significant ties that people maintain, while the number of core ties remains the same. We can become so seduced by the ease of connecting with others online that we begin to think that these relationships are more intense, more committed and more complete than they really are. We run the risk of alienating the people who populate our daily lives in pursuit of intimacy with our online friends. You read "Anti-Social Media: the Role of Technology in Creating Superficial Ties" in category "Papers" Another downside of social media relationships is that we are potentially subject to emotional contagion effects, as illustrated in research by John Cacioppo, a researcher at the University of Chicago. His studies show that loneliness is transmitted via social networks. Cacioppo’s findings suggest that if a direct connection of yours is lonely, you are 52% more likely to be lonely; if the connection is a friend of a friend, 25% more lonely, if the connection is 3 degrees out (a friend of a friend of a friend), it’s 15%. While this research looked at offline social networks, it may have some implications for online social networking as well. If someone in your online social network is angry, lonely, or hostile, and takes it out on you, you are more likely to transmit this mood yourself. This means that even though you may never have met this person or interacted with them in real life, their â€Å"bad behaviour† can still influence yours. I have personally noted people interacting in mean and critical ways that, I imagine, they would find more difficult to do in real life. This is a problem, because any kind of negativity and bad manners has the possibility to multiply exponentially. The Internet is an amazing tool. Even as it is shrinking the world and brought us closer together, it is threatening to push us further apart. Like any useful tool, to make technology serve us well requires the exercise of good judgment. For whatever reason, the restraints that stop most of us from blurting out things in public we know we should not seem far weaker when our mode of communication is typing. Unfortunately, typed messages often wound even more gravely, while electronic messages of remorse have little power to heal (Lickerman). Perhaps we just do not think such messages have the same power to harm as when we say them in person. Perhaps in the heat of the moment without a physical presence to hold us back, we just do not care. Whatever the reason, it is clearly far easier for us to be meaner to one another online. CONCLUSION: Social networking websites provide tools by which people can communicate, share information, and create new relationships. With the popularity of social networking websites on the rise, our social interaction is effected in multiple ways as we adapt to our increasingly technological world. The way that web 2. 0 users interact and talk to each other has changed and continues to change. These users now socialize through the Internet and it takes away from the in person socialization that has been around forever. Social networking websites effect our social interaction by changing the way we interact face-to-face, how we receive information, and the dynamics of our social groups and friendships. Communicating through the Internet and social networking websites is quite different than communicating in person. When users communicate through these websites, they use things like IM and chatting as well as status or Twitter updates to talk to friends and express themselves. Chatting online is quick and easy and allows you to connect to an almost unlimited amount of people from all over the Earth. Although the Internet connects millions of people and allows them to chat, it changes the traditional in person conversation that is important to our social lives and friendships. This change to our social interaction is not necessarily positive or negative. The change expands the different outlets through which we can communicate and as long as we remember the importance of face-to-face contact in our social lives, we can find a healthy balance between the two. These social networking websites also affect the way we receive information and news. The sites open up different portals through which we get information and create a more diverse news outlet. Rather than reading the newspaper or hearing the news on TV, we rely on our â€Å"friends† on the sites to give us updates on the world around us. Through Facebook or Myspace statuses, posts, comments, etc. , web 2. 0 users find new information that is most likely relevant to them. These new diverse outlets lead to users discussing world news or other information on the sites and can remove the need to discuss these events in person. Another way that web 2. 0 sites affect the way we socially interact with one another is by changing the dynamics of our social groups and friendships. Social networking sites create a new model of social interaction and friendships. As people’s social circles grow, the ties of the online friendships are not always as strong as in person close friendships. Although these sites can alter the dynamics of friendships in that way, it also creates lots of new friendships and increases our social interaction. The many effects of social networking websites on our social interaction with one another can be both positive and negative, all that is sure is that there is a definite effect. We must embrace the increasing use of web 2. 0 sites and the different roles they play in our social lives. There is not really a need to focus on the positive or negative effects of these sites because whether the effects are good or bad depends upon the things in society that you value, and that is different for most every person. These sites will most likely continue to grow in popularity and continue to alter the way we socialize with one another and we must embrace it. SOURCES: Duck, Steve McMahon, David T. The Basics Of Communication: A Relational Perspective. Los Angeles: Sage 2012. Print Dunlop, S. , More, E. , Romer, D. (2011). Where do youth learn about suicides on the Internet, and what influence does this have on suicidal ideation? Journal o Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52:10 pp 1073-1080. Landau, Elizabeth. â€Å"Loneliness Spreads In Social Networks. † CNN. 4 December 2009. Turner Broadcasting System Inc. 1 March 2012. . Lickerman, Alex. â€Å"The Effect Of Technology On Relationships. † Psychology Today. 8 June 2010. Sussex Publishers, LLC. 1 March 2012. . Lu, X. (2011) Social Networking and Virtual Community. Proteus 27, 1, 51-55 Sheldon, P. (2009). Maintain or Develop New Relationships? Gender Differences in Facebook Use. Rocky Mountain Communication Review. 6-1, 51-56. How to cite Anti-Social Media: the Role of Technology in Creating Superficial Ties, Essays

Thursday, April 30, 2020

The 1,000+ Page Website Overhaul...How to Undertake a Massive Website Rewrite - The Writers For Hire

THE 1,000+ PAGE WEBSITE OVERHAULHOW TO UNDERTAKE A MASSIVE WEBSITE REWRITE Much has been written about crumbling infrastructure throughout the United States. If it’s not roads and bridges, then it’s internet networks and dated telecommunications infrastructure. But not so much has been written on the effects of aging on internet content. The internet has been around long enough that many sites have compiled years of content and supplemental pages. How do companies and universities manage updating and creating content for huge, often unwieldy sites? A large content production or migration project can appear daunting at first. Anyone who’s worked on one of these projects for the first time inevitably has come out the other side with a laundry list of learnings. From architecting new structures to staffing a writing team large enough to complete the project in a timely fashion to hand-holding subject matter experts and ensuring an efficient workflow, large content project managers will have had to work through the bottlenecks common to such large-scale projects. Preparation A proverbial analogy for today’s large-scale content production projects might be different takes on â€Å"throwing the baby out with the bathwater.† If we consider the content as the â€Å"baby† and the platform as the â€Å"bathwater,† you can see how the various iterations of these projects might look: If you chuck the baby, then the scope of the project involves producing all new content to populate your current platform. If you chuck the bathwater, then you’re looking at a content migration project where the biggest challenges become identifying content you want migrated to a new platform and new content you want produced (an example being your company’s desire to migrate your content and data to the cloud). If you’ve chucked it all, or perhaps have no baby or bathwater to begin with, then your challenges multiply. Obviously, there are subtle variations to each of these scenarios. And while there are plenty of marketing firms that can handle large-scale content management, when it comes to actually producing the living, breathing content that your users will consume, the task of creating compelling and cohesive content on a large scale can prove challenging without a well-honed writing team in place. Assembling Your Team Even if your company employs a third-party marketing firm to handle content production and management, many marketing firms don’t staff a large enough writing team for such large-scale projects. So, the first issue that needs tackling is ensuring coverage of the sheer manhours required to produce large amounts of high-quality content while maintaining an attentive focus on cohesion. It’s not enough to simply hire 10 or 15 writers and divide up the work. Those writers need to form a fluid team that works well together, understands the broad scope of the project, and can converge to meet a common goal. Project managers will be the critical hub for these types of large-scale projects. Not only will they be involved with staffing a cohesive writing team, but they will also be instrumental in attaining consensus for the style guides that need to be produced, in drafting training materials and process documentation, and in assisting through the decision on what to repurpose and what to scrap. Project managers are also key to keeping a project on budget and on schedule. Wintress Odom, Owner of Houston-based The Writers for Hire, says â€Å"To ensure the project stays within scope, each individual writer needs to understand how much time they have allotted per writing task, else ‘small’ overages on individual tasks can add up to hundreds of extra work hours.† Extra works hours can equate to budget overruns and missed deadlines. Oh. And, of course, you need an editor. At the risk of going over the top with the proverbs, when it comes to editors, you might consider that too many cooks spoil the soup. Odom says, â€Å"For large projects with multiple writers on a team, it’s important to have a single editor.† She qualifies this by explaining that a single editor will have the entire vision of the project within their scope, and by introducing multiple editors, there’s a good chance the rate of inconsistencies in tone, content, and style grows exponentially. Together, the project manager and editor will oversee the writing team and ensure stuff gets done on time. Ramp Up At project inception, one essential key Odom identifies is in ensuring the initial architecture takes into account not only the form the project is to take, but also in preemptively constructing a chain of command that will streamline the decision-making process and save time and headaches down the road. For such a large-scale project, everyone involved has to be on the same page. This is done by documenting workflow and review processes before a single word gets written. Process documentation can range from the bare minimum to quite extensive. On a large project, you might find the need for some or all of the following: Project workflow guides Content guide Chain of review roadmap Stakeholder responsibility definitions Writer and stakeholder training on project-specific software Odom stresses the need to have most of this in place before starting a project. â€Å"You are bound to tweak processes as you go along, but starting a major website overhaul without key procedural documents is a costly mistake.† The one exception? Surprisingly, the style guide. â€Å"If a company doesn’t already have one,† says Odom, â€Å"trying to create one before the project is somewhat ridiculous. You can’t possibly anticipate all of the nuances you’ll run into, from capitalization preferences on company trademarks to oxford commas.† Odom suggests recording preferences – building a living style guide – as the project progresses. Then, completing a front-to-back edit just to implement style guide decisions right before launch. One last invaluable tool for allowing the writing process to flow much smoother is the key messaging platform. Most larger companies have this valuable marketing tool already. It’s a master marketing message document, covering the company’s branding as a whole as well as each individual product and service the company offers. The key messaging platform provides cohesion across all marketing mediums and ensures not only consistency in branding and style, but also a roadmap to avoid multiple content producers from having to reinvent the wheel. Thankfully, the internet makes available a wealth of prompts and tools for creating effective key messaging. Workflow Throughout her career, Erin Hanson, Content Marketing Manager at Autodesk in Northern California, has had to learn many lessons through trial and error. Earlier in her career, Hanson was charged with the daunting task of overhauling content for the entire University of California at Berkeley extension course catalog, a project which ended up taking over two years. To give you a sense of what one of these large-scale projects looks like, consider just a handful of the tasks Hanson had to manage for the university’s site overhaul: Drafting and distributing requests for proposal for third-parties Gap analysis for requirement gathering from student information and records Gathering information on each field of study’s course descriptions and certificate programs Creating and managing content hubs for each of those fields of study Conducting student interviews—one in each field â€Å"The bottlenecks,† Hanson describes, â€Å"were everywhere. To begin with, there was a lot of data, old systems that needed to be shut down, migration to plan out and the need to get sign off from academic stakeholders.† For Hanson, now at Autodesk, the reliance upon technology to manage large scale content cannot be understated. She uses a wealth of technological trappings such as digital asset management software and other browser-based search tools to manage an immense workflow. Odom agrees on the use of technology in workflow management and recommends using a task-based workflow process to track the current status of each website page. This type of system means that a stakeholder can see any page’s progress at-a-glance. The system also makes it easy to see where pages might be held up – scheduled for a subject matter expert interview, waiting on technical content review, or stalled due to an unanswered question. A proper workflow management system will also allow for per-task conversations, feedback, and communication. The alternative is corresponding and trading files through email or a less sophisticated file-sharing system which Odom dismisses as â€Å"a total mess.† Working With Subject Matter Experts High-level subject matter experts aren’t always in great supply. Realistically, the ones in your company likely have some of the best and most relevant insight into the content you’re producing. However, relying on in-house subject matter experts to produce content may represent a general misalignment of goals. Consider: SMEs don’t have time. A subject matter expert is likely fully immersed in their job responsibilities and may not prioritize their assigned content production duty. SMEs are not always good writers. These folks may be the best at what they do, but when it comes to articulating that for the rest of us, they may not be good enough writers. SMEs have different goals. Marketing department and corporate bonuses are often built on key performance indicators, many of which are deadline driven. SMEs, on the other hand, may have an entirely different set of KPIs, in which case they’re not incentivized to work within the timeframes your content production project demands. As an alternative to relying upon in-house subject matter experts to produce well-written content, try using those SMEs as mini-editors. It takes far less time for an SME to make themselves available for a brief interview, and to review and comment on content created by someone else than it would take for them to sit down and craft new content from scratch. When interviewing SMEs, Odom recommends modifying communication styles and setting clear expectations. The discourse style of an enterprise developer is bound to be markedly different than a financial advisor, for example. When working with SMEs, Odom has found that â€Å"Some people just don’t do well with pre-call preparation. They need to react to your questions off-the-cuff. Others want prep questions and campaign briefs to feel comfortable.† Finally, one of the most important elements of creating large amounts of content quickly lies in being able to shepherd those SMEs through the writing and editing process. Relationship building becomes paramount as there will inevitably be the occasions when a SME is dragging his feet in getting back to you. Conclusion Whether you’re migrating and repurposing large amounts of content or you’re charged with scaling a new project which might feature tens of thousands of pages, you’ll want a clearly defined plan of attack and a staff of qualified writers.Tweet this But perhaps the greatest dividend to having completed a large-scale project is that you now have a team in place that’s fluent in your culture, your subject matter, and your goals. Odom agrees. After working on a large project, â€Å"We now know how all those departments work, we know all their key messaging. We just happen to be offsite.†