Looking for the schedule of the Columbia Association’s lakefront movies for 2009, I typed in to Google a very respectable string of words: “columbia association” lakefront, movies, 2009. Lo, and behold, the Washington Post’s info was the #1 choice.
I’m so dumbfounded that I’m beyond anger. I just skipped the Pissed-Off stage and went straight to: You Should Just Die and Be Gone.
Oh, OK, maybe I dipped my toe in the anger pool … but just a bit. No, really, people, check this out. Click here. Scan it. See if you can find useful information presented in a user-friendly way. Maybe, even if your curiosity strikes you: try adding an event to your calendar. HAH!
Back to the drawing board.
3 Comments
July 6, 2009 at 10:03 pm
So make one better!
July 6, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Spoken like the True Geek (and community-oriented guy) you are, Rob. No. It’s not my job to fix every stupid mistake someone else makes. The Post is “an institution.” It has staff. It/they/whatever know things are a-shifting, and they they need to adjust. Nobody mandated that they include this info. They could have just said, “Nah … not gonna do it.” The problem is that someone said, “Yes, let’s do it,” but nobody bothered to think it through to the actual experience of the end user. Erg.
July 27, 2009 at 6:24 pm
This is such a blatant example of *NOT* monitoring your brand online. The Columbia Assoc, had they even the simplest (and free, btw) tool of Google Alerts set to their “brand,” they’d have caught my blog post. And look: they could have so easily pointed to their own content – http://www.lakefrontfestival.com/wordp/2009/07/02/curious-george-g-2009-07-27/
And shown a modicum of community engagement.
Alas.