For those who don’t know, I am a Web Content Editor at Columbia University. One of my main responsibilities include packaging content for the University homepage and its news site. In this role, my editorial team and I discuss the best way to present institutional narratives to a general audience on our digital platforms.
Usually, we do this on a story-by-story basis. But throughout 2016, we took on a much bigger project – building a whole website to introduce Columbia’s new campus Manhattanville to the world. This project was led by the Office of Communications and Public Affairs’ executive vice president, David Stone, and vice president of strategic communications, Deb Sack.
With the help of our director of multimedia development, Sheri Whitley, my communications office searched and found a boutique digital interactive agency based in Brooklyn to develop the design and content management platform for Manhattanville.Columbia.edu.
Because the agency was responsible for most of the labor, I believed my role would mostly consist of content migration and layout. But after deciding on the design aesthetic of the website, David and Deb (my bosses), expanded my participation. Because of my editorial background and understanding of web development, I interpreted how their vision should be executed. I translated what my bosses wanted into a concept the agency could understand, and vice-versa.
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