The making of Creating ChRIS: Developing a content strategy for a film series

Naomi Amado, writer for Red Hat, discusses why it’s important for content folks to have project management skills, and the benefits of having a non-technical perspective when editing technical content.

We've included a snapshot of the conversation, but you can also listen to the full conversation with our embedded player or download the MP3.

Naomi: So for ChRIS, the “content ecosystem” was really any peripheral content that supported the films. Specifically, there were 4 blogs and a single hub page for redhat.com. I also wrote about 50 social media posts, a handful of banners, and YouTube descriptions. And then, to support all of this, as a team, we created a messaging guide.

I’m like 50% project manager, 50% writer. I really like making lists, and getting together with a group of people and knocking that list out. I sat down with the creative team—with the people who were actually creating the visuals—and we made a punch list and said, “Okay, hey, there’s a social post we need. Does it need any copy? If so, let’s write it, right here, right now, and be done with it.”  

As a writer and editor, there are going to be times when you have to be a little vulnerable and just say, “I don’t know what that technical content means. Will you slow down?”

Screenshot from the Red Hat Creating ChRIS blogs

I think there is an advantage of having a non-technical perspective as an editor. If you had asked me that question a few months ago, I would have said, “Definitely no.”  But, I think working with Dan McPherson, a senior engineer, on his associated ChRIS blog, I realized that I’m able to see exactly what a nontechnical person won’t be able to understand.  And therefore, the blog becomes easier to understand and more concrete to others.

This is part four of a five-part blog series that goes behind the scenes on several aspects of the project. (See part one, part two and part three.) Follow the Open Studio blog for the final installment coming soon.