Headstand Media

A group of Nightstand attenders gathered on December 17, 2009 to participate in “Nightstand Gives Back.” After informal networking and consumption of food and beverages, we started focusing on our agenda for the evening… that of a coordinated and collaborative group focus on helping Hemmant Jha, founder of a non-profit organization called Wheelwell, to develop an intelligent strategy for their much needed initial web presence.

Randal Birkey and members of Headstand Media facilitated the group discussion in three main topic areas:

• Content, Site Architecture, Brand and SEO Strategy
• Visual Brand, User Interface and Experience Design
• Technology, Platform, Hosting and Site Implementation Strategy

Based upon background information provided by Wheelwell, and the discussion and whiteboarding process we learned the following things about Wheelwell and its web strategy needs:

Target Audiences

• Wheelchair users
• Designers
• Medical Community
• University Research
• Insurance Companies
• Potential Donors/Investors
  • Foundations/Associations
  • Micro-loans/micro-finance

Brand-Design

• People – tell a good human story
• Emotion – what is the “hook”?
• Broader demographics
• There is a compelling story about the wheelchair, its history and lack of innovation!
• Compare this with other product innovation
• non-preachy style
• Brand Qualities:
  • “Healing”
  • “Restore Normalcy”

Wheelwell Story Components

• Emphasis on telling the most compelling story
• Is Wheelwell a Product or a Service – or both?
• Wheelwell is about foundational industry change
• Story Strategy
  • Tailor stories to reach specific audiences
  • Tie in with the Search strategy
  • Engage in Social Media – where people are
  • Email Subscribe – stay up to date
  • Sponsor a design contest!

Search

• Wheelchair product appeal – attibutes like:
  • comfort
  • durability
  • etc.
• Research
• Keywords
  • wheelchair
  • new…
  • mobility
  • paratransit
  • design…
  • specific technical terms related to wheelchairs
• Categorize content around these highly searched terms and phrases
  • Encourage: commenting, discussion, collaboration and sharing

Next Steps

A number of Nightstand attenders have volunteered to assist Headstand Media in proposing, designing and building a new website based upon this information and the recommended WordPress strategy we discussed. A proposal document was prepared by Headstand Media and delivered to Wheelwell for review on December 31, 2009.

Headstand Media and Nightstand look forward to further dialog and the prospect of working with Wheelwell in 2010.

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