Rivermile is a project of Howie Burke, website developer and media specialist with 15 years of experience building things online. That’s me over there on the right. After studying journalism and advertising at the University of Minnesota (B.A. ’87, ski-u-mah!), I’ve worked in the newspaper industry, first in print graphics and moving into web design as the internet emerged in the early 1990′s. I spearheaded much of ECM Publishers‘ initial Web presence, and continue to support site content and infrastructure there today.
Newspapers, along with other legacy media, face great challenges due to changing methods of media consumption. The atmosphere is dynamic and surely interesting, though not without conflict, as we try to determine the role of news and marketing into years ahead.
This same transition also signals great opportunity for organizations of all kinds. The ability to take a message directly to an audience has never been so accessible. The options for doing so have never been so numerous.
An agile media concept guiding Rivermile is about showing non-profits and small businesses the emerging variety of tools for websites and other online efforts. This technology includes content management systems, analytics, social media, search optimization/placement, email marketing, and yes, use of traditional media in the proper context.
Rivermile puts great emphasis on open source tools, along with the best and most efficient commercial services. That means cost savings to go along with online agility. I carry the open source perspective into transparency of design and development processes. No magic here, just practical, useful information – and as necessary, opinion – to move forward online.
