I am happy to report that I finished the design of my blog yesterday (All done by the great people at Go Yippi in Berlin)). The purpose of the update was to achieve a more compact view of the different blog elements and to provide you with the content you are interested as quickly as possible.
These are the major differences/changes to the previous blog template:
I now have two sidebars instead of one very long bar
I moved the navigation bar below the URL and picture to create a more compact reading experience
The “About this blog” is now located next to the main blog image of me to make it easier to get what this blog is about for any new visitor
As a result of the more compact elements I can now include more “Recent posts” which will make it easier for everyone to directly find what they might have missed
I now included an “Imprint” page with detailed copyright, analytics cookies and other information required by German law since this blog is hosted in Germany now
The text of the individual blog post is larger in comparison to the old template. This hopefully makes for easier reading
The last significant change was to move the list of my domains to my company website. This section only confused my readers from the feedback I got from you.
So what do you think? All feedback is much appreciated and if you notice any bugs please let me know as well.
Today’s post has a very simple message: I have now set up a Facebook Page for this blog. The purpose of this page is to show who ‘likes’ my blog (obviously).
It is also a source of information on whom to add to your Facebook network with similar interests. Most bigger websites nowadays have this Facebook page element on their site and I usually use it as a tool to find new interesting Facebook connections.
So if you like this blog please join me on Facebook as well:
I did a post several weeks ago about the quality of company blogs. It turned out to be a very popular post and it got even more interesting when a representative from GE Global Research also commented. She (Katelyn Buress, Communications Specialist) commented on the fact that I included their blog in the ‘Not so sure about category’. Blogs in this category in my opinion had some some aspects missing to be truly recommendable blogs.
Since then GE Global Research and I have been exchanging ideas and concluded that it would be very useful for GE Global Research and you, my readers, to discuss their blog here once I posted my suggestions on how the blog of GE Global Research could be improved. I am providing my feedback in written and video form. The video is at the bottom of this post.
How GE Global Research describe their blog:
“The intention of Edison’s Desk is to be the place where GE Global Research technologists discuss the latest in technology, innovation, science, and engineering. The blog is meant to be engaging, dynamic, and interactive; we are welcome and appreciative of any feedback or input as to the content or style of the site. We’ve got some incredible scientists and engineers with broad interests and technical expertise blogging on Edison’s Desk. We’d love your input what content interests you and ways we can improve the site all together.” – Katelyn Buress, Communications Specialist, GE Global Research
GE Global Research is very keen on feedback from you. So please feel free to put forward your suggestions in the form of comments at the bottom of this post.
My overall impression:
This blog is a good blog in its current form but there is something missing in my opinion. It mainly needs some work to be truly engaging and interactive. Here are some of the detailed changes I would recommend.
Suggestions for improvement
Overall RSS feed
I am missing a possibility to subscribe to all posts via the website-wide RSS feed. I can not find it anywhere other then in my browser address field. So why not provide a RSS button or some other form of visualization for everyone to subscribe to the website wide RSS feed.
Online Community engagement
This blog is a great platform and GE picked up my blog review very quickly. This means that they are scanning the social media sphere for any feedback. This is a good move but what I am missing on the blog is some kind of association with social media sites in order to show your online community engagement. This would personally provide me with the reassurance that you are openly communicating with your stakeholders.
Interactivity on the site
The community engagement criticism is also part of this point – the lack of interactivity on the GE Global Research blog. Why not use more plugins or sidebar elements that show your YouTube Channel for example? Or some kind of a Twitter feed? Anything that might show that you are actively engaging with the reader.
Other GE blogs
How about providing links to other GE blogs? There are many more GE blogs out there and all form part of the overall GE business. I would really like to visit some other GE blogs just to get more information on other parts of GE. A place somewhere on the blog would be an ideal addition to the overall user experience.
I have also recorded a brief video walk-through of the blog talking about these comments.
Here is the video walk-through:
So what do you think about the blog? What would you do differently or advise GE Global Research to do?
You might have noticed that there are not many personal pictures or personal lifestream items on my blog anymore.
Because this blog has now become so popular and more people then I ever expected are interested in what I have to say about Sustainability I decided to now post my pictures, other personal topics and everything else that did not fit on this blog on my Posterous Blog with this URL: http://fabian.posterous.com
So if you are interested in some more personal topics by me while not writing blog entries here on my blog please visit my Posterous Blog. http://fabian.posterous.com or visit my Flickr Photostream if you are interested in my snaps: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fpattberg
Todays post is the first post part of a new topic category here on my blog. The new category will be called “Recommended Websites”.
The reason for me introducing this new category is that there are a lot of interesting and not so interesting websites out there on Sustainability and CSR. And it is extremely time consuming to identify the good and useful ones.
I have spend a lot of time and effort over the past few years to try to find most interesting and useful websites which I would like to share them with you in this upcoming series. I will not only provide you with the link but also a direct quote from the author(s) where possible as well as their social networking details if they have them.
Elaine Cohen’s CSR Reporting Blog
The first blog I would like to recommend in the CSR Reporting blog by Elaine Cohen. This is the direct URL: http://csr-reporting.blogspot.com/
This is how Elaine, the author of the blog describes her blog:
“The CSR Reporting Blog is a window to the world of Sustainability Reporting and CSR best, and worst, practices. Over 3,000 sustainability reports are published each year, but many say that reporting is not useful or effective and that no one reads these reports. The CSR Reporting blog begs to differ, and presents insights on reporting as an essential tool for transparency, accountability and CSR performance management.
The Blog provides authoritative updates, analyses, critical commentary and sometimes a good laugh about Sustainability Reporting, guidance on the value of the reporting process, how to read, write and use reports, and how to read what is not written.”
We came back from Anglesey / Wales yesterday. We had a great week with some beautiful weather. Really lucky for this time of year as this region usually has a lot of rain very windy days in October. Some pictures will follow later this week.
I now have a lot to catch up on. Even though I checked my emails every day I have 50+ to answer and lots of Twitter, etc correspondence. This is the first part of this Sunday.
During the course of this week I had a lot of time to reflect on how I want to continue running this blog and I decided to add more personal thoughts to my posts as well as be more frequent in terms of posts during the week.
What are your thoughts on what I should write more about? Any suggestions and additions to the topics I am already writing on? All feedback is very welcome.
This post is intended to provide you with some background on how I work in my business. In my business I am focusing on three communication places to build my business network, stay in touch with friends and to gather and share information. This is what I call my Sustainability Communication Triangle.
My Sustainability Communication Triangle
Twitter
My Twitter user account (twitter.com/FabianPattberg) is important to me because it is a very simple but effective tool to share and gather interesting information on sustainability topics. It will also enable you or your organization to connect to a large audience of likeminded people from across the globe interested in sustainability topics. This is the key tool for information for me at the moment.
FabianPattberg.com
This is my blog (Where you are currently reading this post). I use this blog to share my thoughts, expertise and some interesting news and information on Sustainability topics. It is important to me that my posts are helpful and interesting to read. Another purpose of the website is to provide interesting resources on Sustainability / CSR topics and for everyone to have a first impression of who I am, what I am doing and how I work.
SustainabilityForum.com
The SustainabilityForum.com is the place where the current 3500+ members are sharing information on a wide range of sustainability topics. We have a place for discussion, Sustainability news, blogs and the events. I am personally using this website to build a global community and information resource for Sustainability professionals and all people interested in Sustainability. This is the website I started out with and I will continue to expand the range of information presented on the website.
All three Websites Serve a Clear Purpose
It is also important to state that all three places are equally important to me. All serve a specific and clear purpose that in the end reinforce each other so that I can be sure to know what is happening in the Sustainability world and that I am providing the relevant and important information for all that are interested in Sustainability.
Getting to your sustainability business triangle
So how do you get to your business triangle? This is a crucial aspect to your productivity on the net and it very much depends where your individual focus in the sustainability field lies. I am using this triangle approach but you will be focusing on different ways of connecting to people, your business and anyone else really.
For you it might be just one network or as many as ten networks. It all depends on how you are able to be present in these networks to participate and make a contribution.
Just ask yourself this simple question: “What networks are important to me?” The answer should come very natural to you. Then you will know what you need to focus on and where to put your effort into 100%.
So let me know whether you have a „business triangle“ as well or whether this is something new to you? All feedback is as always very welcome.
After many months of late nights after the regular work the day has finally arrived where I can announce to you that the new version of the SustainabilityForum.com is now live.
Once you look at the new website you will see a clear difference to the old website. The difference is that SustainabilityForum.com is not just a discussion forum anymore but now comprises of four main areas all proving information on Sustainability topics.
The four areas of the new SustainabilityForum.com website are:
The Discussion Forum: Our discussion forum is main place for you our members to share information on Sustainability topics and other off topics. Our topics range from Sustainable Energy to Jobs and Internships in the Sustainability sector. So no change here.
NEW: Our Daily News: This is the place for daily news on a broad range of sustainability topics. We are constantly scanning the web for sustainability-related information and news that could be of interest to our members and you the reader. Our intention with this news area is to provide the reader with the most interesting news items of that day or from the past few days. We are only including the news that is truly interesting, no corporate spin and surely no green washing allowed here.
NEW: Our Blog: Our blogging area is where an opinion is wanted and expressed in order to provide the reader with a different angle to a certain Sustainability topic. We are always looking for news guest or paid writers that would like to post in our blog area. If you are interested in writing for us or simply would like to blog on SustainabilityForum.com then please get in touch and write us an email to admin(at)sustainabilityforum.com.
NEW: The Events Area: If you organizing an event or would like to hold a online chat on a certain topic then this events areas will be just right for you. We hold regular online events where members can share and discuss interesting news and information on the topic of that particular events session
The new SustainabilityForum.com will continue to cover a wide range of Sustainability topics. The only difference is that we will now have a more structured and convenient way of bringing the interesting news to you.
Looking for blogger/authors
SustainabilityForum.com is expanding and we are always looking for writers to that would like to publish their articles. As a writer you can either choose to be a guest writer or a paid writer that would like to contribute on a regular basis. If you are interested in writing for us or have your blog posts published on SustainabilityForum.com then please get in touch by sending an email to admin(at)sustainabilityforum.com.
Your Feedback is wanted
Please visit our new SustainabilityForum.com and let us know what you think by sending us an email to admin(at)sustainabilityforum.com in order to make it even better and customize it to your needs.
This week has been a real manic week. Ever since I started Monday morning there has been nothing but work, work and work. Dont get me wrong, I love what I do but there is some point where you need to stop and take a breath to reflect. This is usually the Sunday for me. Relaxation, spending time with the family and looking at the week ahead.
Today is Sunday and I still have a lot of work to do. So no reflection for me this week. I am lucky that Anne (my wife) has a friend over this weekend to keep busy. She would not have liked to see me work all weekend. She charishes our Sunday togehter (so do I). But they are in London today. That gives me the time to…….yes you guessed it………work. Well at least I am getting payed for it. Lets look at the bright side.
In terms of developments this week has been rather quit. I am also happy about this as my schedule is pretty packed for the next few months to come. Next to my journey to Germany during this week I managed to do two blog posts this week. One on domains titled: How To Put A Domain Name Up For Sale – Quick And Easy and my weekly Top 5 Sustainability/CSR News.
The upcoming week will be busy again with travel to Hamburg on Tuesday evening and the journey back lae Thurday night. Then hopefully I will be able to spend the following week here in London. Catching up with the London Network for a change.
So long everyone. Have a good and productive next week.
