Ryan Y. Kellett

What if more newsletters automatically switched the frequency of the delivery when it notices changes in your viewing habits (both email opens and click thrus)? Check out this email from LinkedIN that I  got today:

I’d almost make it even easier with the buttons: “No, I liked it the way it was. Change it back to daily.”

This is from Kickstarter — they tell you the areas you have funded and those which you have not (clearly, I have not). It’s a fun and subtle way to get users to think broadly about participation. I might not want to fund a project in fashion, but I am far more likely to when presented with a colorful and clear graphic like this. It’s a game without being an explicit game — can you fill the entire “pie”?

Effective.

You’re surfing along a site and you hit the soft wall — register or you may not move forward. It’s still free but the site wants you to register. Compare:

Washington Post:

Code Academy:

Adding to my last post on positive reinforcment and the “expert ask,” here are two more examples of reinforcement and guiding online readers.

I’ve started using workflowy recently and this message came in when I called up the site today. Just as in my wikipedia example, they are using a simple rating to get people to participate but the winning design here is the ten day rule. This uses contextual data to keep the user with you along a timeline. On day one of use, the user is still figuring out how to use your product. On day ten of use, they’ve likely formed a basic opinion. But say they choose “It kinda stinks” on day ten. This is an important data point early on in the relationship with a user — you have a chance to 1) learn about why the user thinks “it kinda sucks” and possibly 2) turn things around with that user.

I spend some time at work thinking about online comments. People love ‘em and hate ‘em equally, and every site that has comments struggles in some way. Too many trolls? Anonymity stifles real discussion? et cetera. The example above from Amazon.com comments goes underneath every individual comment asking what I think is the litmus test for good comments: does this post add anything to the discussion? This is not the same thing as “like” or “recommend” as a way to positively reinforce good comments. This specific question is the right one to ask. The number of people who rate the comment (“0 of 3 people”) is shown is also a good reinforcement mechanism that adds on top of the question.

I noticed this at the bottom of a wikipedia page the other day — it’s a really great example of positive reinforcement at the end of reading an article. Imagine if news articles or topics had this.

First, it catches a lot of people with a real easy prompt: rate this. But it’s not just “did you like this article?” The four structured-data categories are useful. I’d can imagine someone rating “completeness” as a one or two stars and a second prompt being: “You rated the completeness of this article as low. What unanswered questions would you like a journalist to look into?”

But real key to this is the lower part asking for expert knowledge and the positive “ask” to help improve the page. I can see people who have knowledge of a subject visiting a page and thinking, “This part is so incomplete, so wrong” but then never doing anything about it. Instead, they go around to their friends trashing wikipedia. This little box at the end of the topic makes it easy for a knowledgeable person to not just click away without helping fix/improve the page.

Yes, the screengrab above is for the Muggle Quidditch page. Don’t laugh.

So I basically let summer go by without a peep here. Here’s what you have been missing:

The “Night Lives” series by Dan Zak was a lot of fun. I wrote up the experience for the Washington Post @Innovations blog:

That seems to be the challenge of a “tip line” call-out. Many readers believe their thoughts and ideas entered into forms and e-mails to The Post disappear into the ether of cyberspace. Conversely, seasoned reporters have seen some open requests for story ideas yield a lack of quality and usefulness. Zak said, “I expected to receive a slow drip of nonsensical invective. So I was pleasantly surprised that we got a couple decent, sane suggestions.”

Then there was the Palin e-mails. Ask me about that sometime.

Federal workers are a great group of folks to reach out to regularly. When the earthquake hit D.C., I helped reporters sort through what the fed employees were going through. For the 9/11 anniversary, I helped again reach out to find stories about workplace safety. Budget battles and possible federal default inspired lots of opinions.

Through the Muslims in America series, I was enlightening with some great user perspectives on Muslim family dynamics and faith: Suspicion, radicalization, defending faith, and family.

I went to the Online News Association conference in Boston! I was out to soak up the knowledge on crowdsourcing in particular, since that’s my evolving specialty, but also walked away with some great ideas inspired by Al Jazeera’s The Stream, Mobile Commons, and bostonglobe.com.

Most recently, I’ve had a lot of good experiences with an evolving photo project involving the mobile app Instagram: #2012unfiltered, #econdebate, and #leafscape. I’ve also enjoyed getting to know a lot of smart readers who have become Capital Weather Watchers - a group I am hoping will become vital to how The Post reports on weather in the region.

I’ve also started occasionally tweeting and facebooking for The Post’s main news accounts. These accounts touch a lot of people in Washington area, and I’m always surprised at how interested people are in this. Questions like: “Do you really sit there and tweet all night?” Answer: No.

But it has been a lot easier to explain my job if I say I do social media at The Post. People can grasp what that is whereas “engagement” and “interactivity” mean very little to the average person. You don’t read callouts for information and stories sourced from audience and think: “Wow, that’s really great engagement.” It should just weave into the fabric of a great web experience.

Sometimes I have no idea how we get away with this, and yes I am to blame:

Unless you live in a tree (which I do) you have probably heard that the world will end on May 21. That’s according to an 89-year-old human named Harold Camping. What does this mean? Well, it means the Redskins won’t have a quarterback controversy next season. It means we won’t get to see what Ashton Kutcher would be like on “2.5 Men.” In other words: Bring on the apocalypse.

But in my neck of the woods (which is, literally, a neck of the woods), the chatter has been of  a different sort. As squirrels, we don’t believe we’re going anywhere on May 21. (You probably aren’t either, but that’s a question for theologians.) Rodents are unlikely to be Raptured.

We have mixed feelings about this. On the one paw, the fewer humans on this planet, the fewer of us get flattened under steel-belted radials. On the other paw, we rely on birdseed that you guys put in those cylindrical feeders for us. (Thanks!)

We’re going to discuss these sorts of issues today — and anything else that’s on your mind, End o’ the World-wise. Squeak! Squeak! Blink.

I recently sang in 35th anniversary of the Thomas Circle Singers. One of the rarer things in the music world is being able to perform for the composer, and it was a pleasure singing the premiere of his work “August Moonrise.” See Blake Henson’s very flattering tweets below. Photo is courtesy Blake too – a rehearsal shot.

Rehearsing with the Thomas Circle Singers. Folks, this is an EXTRAORDINARY ensemble. I can only think of two or three anywhere like this.—
Blake Henson (@blakerhenson) May 14, 2011

Premiere of August Moonrise w/ TCS without a doubt one of the highlights of my musical career. Just incredible. WHAT an ensemble…—
Blake Henson (@blakerhenson) May 15, 2011

No…seriously…holy cow! Where has this group been all my life?—
Blake Henson (@blakerhenson) May 14, 2011

"I heard them twitter and watched them dart, now together and now apart." August Moonrise (Teasdale). Stuck in my head. —
Blake Henson (@blakerhenson) May 15, 2011

Checking in on the goals I set for myself last February, here’s how I did:

• Eat Local, if possible: Yes, I did this to about 60-70% success. Middlebury in the spring/summer/fall is a great place to eat locally from farmers markets and co-op. This is something that I’ll continue to work on but perhaps less explicitly.
• Cook: Yes, the Frugal Foodie cook book helped a bunch to achieve this. So I have a minimal cooking repertoire and am still looking to expand.
• Investing/Money Management: Yes, I am now set up with much higher credit limits, divided checking/savings accounts, a Roth IRA, and some stock/bond investing. It’s easier to keep the system going once you’ve set it up.
• Blog Every Day: Nope, this sorta failed. I certainly did not write on this blog every day. I did blog almost daily for MiddBlog over the summer and even started liberalart.us, though.
• Find an adventure for post-May, preferably without a resume: Yes, I got a job and I got it without submitting a resume online.
• Read like a champion: Nope. I got a Kindle and it helped get me reading, but I have not lived up to this goal.

So what do you think my new goals should be? (post forthcoming)

I want to point you to my announcement that I have taken a job a the Washington Post in Washington D.C. starting in November. I will be interactivity producer there, which means I’ll be working on crafting online projects that involve user generated content (UGC). I could go on and on about what I think my job means, but I really would love to start work before I start painting entirely inaccurate pictures of what it’s like.

I want to say — wow, thanks to Middlebury. I have been working at Middlebury for the last several months since February, and I’ve enjoyed it. Better yet, I’ve learned a lot and have a continuing interest in higher education and business. Many thanks to my mentors at Middlebury too — shrewd and creative, these are the people I looked up and tried to glean lessons that extended beyond the confines of the campus. Big things happening at Middlebury… stay tuned.

This summer, I have been lucky enough to have a little free time (and leeway) to produce a set of “video postcards” from the Middlebury Summer Language Schools. I got deemed “executive producer,” and I got to work with students who could craft videos that helped audiences get an idea of each language school using only that language (we’d hate to disturb the trademarked language pledge). So subtitles it is… take a look at what I put together:

Chinese School

Russian School

Hebrew School

French School

Portuguese School

A photo of mine from Ecuador made it in the GOOD magazine photo show competition. Go vote for it by commenting on their post; it’s number 10. If I win, it gets printed and maybe I get a t-shirt?

I am quoted in a Campus Progress article on Code for America by Andrew Bluebond (read the full article for a better idea of CFA’s purpose):

Ryan Kellett applied to be a CFA fellow next year after hearing about the program via Twitter. Kellett, who graduated from Middlebury College in January 2010, says  “some sort of one or two-year service work post-college is important for freshly minted graduates,” adding that Teach for America (TFA) has done well to promote the model. But TFA wasn’t for Kellett, who cited recent criticism of the organization due to “too many graduates applying for prestige rather than genuine interest.”

In contrast, Kellett says CFA is “a bit more pure in talent and mission, attracting only who really are invested in local government and technology.”

…

CFA’s service experience might simply be better suited to Kellett’s skills and experience than TFA, as he is no stranger to web 2.0. In 2006, he founded Midd-Blog.com a community website for his college that has grown to be a hub for community discussion. He was also National Public Radio’s first-ever Social Media Desk intern last summer.

Kellett was drawn to what he called the program’s “web-first outlook” after being discouraged by other organizations’ reluctance to embrace web 2.0 as an essential tool for community problems.

Lots of work this summer at Middlebury. One my pleasures is getting to be the producer for the “ON THE ROAD life after middlebury” team. From the very first time I floated the concept of a “road trip,” I’ve been sure that this multimedia project would be both zany and unlike anything I’d ever done before. My role has been to guide the team from home base in Vermont. I had a great opportunity to try out a custom Tumblr site — very with it so far. The website/blog has some outstanding video content and engaging visual bursts from around the country.

Many thanks to the three Middlebury seniors who are finishing up their journey shortly. I look forward to into their hours of alumni interview footage for quote-gems.

Not sure what compelled me to pick up a clipboard on Saturday and help canvass for Race to Replace. I tried out, for about an hour or so, being that annoying person on the street trying to solicit you for some cause or another. Persistence, knowledge of the issue, and an approachable smile are key to reeling people in to talk to you. It was a good experience — continuing to teach me the flip side of online organizing.

Whenever you meet her, you walk away kinda unimpressed, way under-inspired. Then she follows-through. Damn, she has good follow-through and that’s impressive. She does what she says she’ll do. Way too many people, say they’ll do something and then don’t do it.

- one of my bosses, Liz R.