Do you know why book stores are closing at a frightening pace? Because people don’t read books anymore. They say they do, but overruns on actual books are killing publishers… and distributors and stores.

It’s a sad fact but what does it have to do with my website/blog content? Everything, because it’s a trend a savvy businessperson will heed—consumers aren’t reading!

This isn’t a condemnation of digital devices. I love them! But I also love reading. It was my love of reading that led me to the love of writing… and the realization that I needed to edit myself more and more. Some experts claim people only finish 65% of an article, and then only if it was really interesting; anything over 300 words is a waste of valuable space and effort. It’s not the rule but it’s a growing factor in content creation and how humans continue to communicate.

Brevity is the soul of wit. ~ William Shakespeare

How non-reading affects all of us

Non-reading? Is that a good term for it? Maybe that’s a bit too far but we must return to the matter at hand: developing your website to reach the lowest common denominator while not alienating other followers and prospects.

I could post lots of opinions and studies that say people are reading less, but does anyone really disagree? (Tell us in the comments section.) Let’s just assume, for the sake of this side of the argument, that there is a dire need to make things “comprehension friendly” in all of your communication materials.

Have you ever heard of “The Elevator Speech”? It’s how you would sell your business to someone as they travel the average 60-90 seconds in an elevator. Why under two minutes? Because that is the time we have to capture their attention in our sales pitch, and most people can’t focus for more than 90 seconds. So… what’s on the front page of your website?

How much do you tell the casual visitor in the hope that it will convert them into a customer? I’ve seen 300-word introductions that tell us exactly what the site owner does. I’ve also seen life stories spilled out in a rambling rant. Some people believe it “humanizes” them in the eyes of potential clients. It does… which is why they get bored and zone out to what you’re saying in written content. How do you communicate if people won’t read your sales pitch?

Brevity is a great charm of eloquence. ~ Cicero

Dumbing it down

Yet another questionable label for meeting the interests of the masses. Remember the fuss over the single-page website? A brilliant solution to foster simplicity, but not every website can get away with that, or so I’m always told. Well, the next step is following the reduction prompted by text-speak and tweet-length.

How about one of those walk-on videos where I can explain what I do? How often have you sat through one of those without clicking off the presentation? What’s the option? Reading the material? What is it people will read or watch?

It is my ambition to say in ten sentences what others say in a whole book—what other men do not say in whole books. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

Speak in sound bytes

If you haven’t paid attention to the political scene around the world or had any heated debates with others on the subject, then you aren’t on Facebook enough! If you know what I mean, then you know how people love to quote talking points. It’s those little sound bytes we hear on certain news broadcasts and humor monologues on late night shows. This is how people are speaking and absorbing information. Videos over a minute and a half won’t get as many hits as videos under a minute. Get right to the point!

A recent client wanted a growing list of something or the other, fed to people who were ready to take on the project, making them read five… no, ten… maybe 20 reasons they should want this product. My advice was not to take seven pages to sell them on what they already want. The client felt that more is better and the product will sound more important, surrounded by flowery copy. I gather after he slept on it, he realized that too much is just that. When it comes to words, stating the same thing over and over does not give the illusion of quality content. You keep people’s attention by being short and to the point. In a way, you’re respecting people’s precious time and, when it comes to reading, their patience.

Be sincere, be brief, be seated. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

Repeating yourself

It’s important to respect the time-taken and willingness to read what you have to say. It’s like when I’m asked to review a designer’s or illustrator’s portfolio. I have to stop them from going into long descriptions of each sample piece. I usually hold up my hand to signal they should halt speaking and I continue looking at their book. When I’m done looking at the entire book, seeing if there’s a leave-behind piece and/or the proper identification of who the designer or illustrator is and how to contact him or her, I explain to the teary-eyed, nervous wreck of a creative standing in front of me, that I merely wanted to see how much their portfolio spoke for itself.

That seems to be an alien concept to most graduating art school seniors as well as many professionals. Even with the advent of digital slide shows, short and sweet is always better. Less samples but better ones make a more memorable book. Think in terms of a child’s bedtime book vs. the novel Moby Dick. The bedtime book is over in ten minutes, the child is asleep and the purpose is fulfilled—sleep time is sold! With Moby Dick, it’s over 800 pages of allegory for a simple message spoken in the first 20 pages anyway. When selling yourself, don’t be a Moby Dick!

That writer does the most, who gives his reader the most knowledge, and takes from him the least time.”~ Charles Caleb Colton

Doy, duh, doy, doy!

When I write, I use a handy app that rates among other content elements, how “good” and article is by the reading level. Apparently anything over an 8th grade reading level loses points for “readability.” That’s frightening. It’s also reality. More students in college but none of them can read at a college level?

When I was in art school, I had an advertising teacher who spoke of “hot” and “cool” media. “Hot media” is an interaction of the user where the user didn’t have to participate much more than just having to be present to observe. “Cool media” on the other end, is reading. You are fully involved with creating the interaction. We are in the age of “magma media.”

This isn’t to say communication is dead. Use less to sell more, but use more to close that sale. When dealing in a creative brief, contract, or email updates, stay transparent and overly complete ad nauseam. I guess, if I had to end this article quickly, and to give a little gem to those who read on this far, rely on people’s imagination to sell creative points but don’t trust the subtleties of language when you’re communicating your point to someone else.

If you can’t write your idea on the back of my calling card, you don’t have a clear idea. ~ David Belasco

Featured image/thumbnail, reading image via Shutterstock.

Thirty years after the first wave of virtual reality, new startups are determined to take it mainstream.

It’s been almost 30 years since the computer scientist Jaron Lanier formed VPL Research, the first company to sell the high-tech goggles and gloves that once defined humanity’s concept of where technology might soon take our species. In the late 1980s, people could pull on a $100,000 head-mounted display and electronic gauntlet and fool their brains into thinking they’d stepped inside the simulated space rendered on the screen.

Every so often, we’ll chat with an alum about what they do and how they got there. Today we’re talking with attorney Gary Brooks ’79, history, about his career in law.

Name: Gary M. Brooks
Job Title: Attorney
Employer: Law Offices of Gary M. Brooks, LLC

Q:  Tell us a little about how you wound up at UMBC. What’s your background?

I am a 1974 graduate of Baltimore City College and we visited UMBC for an overnight visit with a good friend’s relative. I grew up in East Baltimore. I really liked the modern campus and since my parents were elderly, I wanted to stay in the area.

Q:  Tell us about your career as an attorney. Were there any lessons you learned, in particular, at UMBC that you carried with you into your work?

UMBC significantly helped further develop my writing skills and allowed me to have leadership roles in my fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and serve as a SGA Student Life Senator. I attended UMBC during a time of political unrest and attended and helped organize political events. In regards to being an attorney, UMBC is the one of area leaders in producing attorneys and judges in the State of Maryland. My UMBC colleagues have provided some great attorney resources and friends, such as James L. Wiggins ’75. The UMBC legal community has a strong presence and influence on the Maryland community. UMBC also gave me opportunity to teach an upper-level grade course on Blacks and the Criminal Justice system for several years.

Q:  You’re involved with the Maryland Volunteer Legal Services (MVLS). Tell us a little bit about why you do pro bono work and what you’ve learned from those experiences.

In regards to MVLS, I primarily do pro bono legal services for eligible low income bankruptcy clients. My parents and family were strong advocates of community service and assisting others. These services are very helpful in relieving some of the financial stress that the families are shouldering. My early career out of college at St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center, working with and being mentored by Ralph E. Moore, Jr., demonstrated the importance of organizing, community development, fundraising and community service. I am also very involved in the UMBC second General Scholarship Fund. I have also been fortunate to serve as a committee member of Alumni and Friends of UMBC (AFUMBC) along with UMBC alumni Ronald  Hawkins ’79, Joyce Nance Frierson ’79, Daibeth Saunders ’78, Eric Talley ’79 and Warren Wilson ’72. Over the years, AFUMBC has raised funds for the Africana Studies Department and the Second Generation Scholarship Fund.

Q:  Is there a particular class or professor who really inspired you?

My first semester at UMBC was brutal, however, I returned to eventually graduate.  I started taking African American Studies course each semester and it gave me the writing skill set and confidence to perform well in my courses. The fifth floor in the administration building was a place that provided some cultural and political experiences and emotional healing during a period of widespread educational integration. The instructors and staff welcomed the us and treated us as “special” people

Q:  What advice would you give to students considering UMBC?

UMBC provides a superb education and prepares a student well for the professional and business world. Each time I visit UMBC, which is often, I feel very proud to be an alumnus and to let everyone know that I attended such a fine institution. Through the Sigma Beta Club (youth mentoring) and my inner-city youth program, I try to bring as many young Black males to the campus, as possible. Dr. Hrabowski has been very encouraging and supportive with the youth and has given high school students his email address to keep him informed of their progress.

Every so often, we’ll chat with an alum about what they do and how they got there. Today we’re talking with attorney Gary Brooks ’79, history, about his career in law.

Name: Gary M. Brooks
Job Title: Attorney
Employer: Law Offices of Gary M. Brooks, LLC

Q:  Tell us a little about how you wound up at UMBC. What’s your background?

I am a 1974 graduate of Baltimore City College and we visited UMBC for an overnight visit with a good friend’s relative. I grew up in East Baltimore. I really liked the modern campus and since my parents were elderly, I wanted to stay in the area.

Q:  Tell us about your career as an attorney. Were there any lessons you learned, in particular, at UMBC that you carried with you into your work?

UMBC significantly helped further develop my writing skills and allowed me to have leadership roles in my fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. and serve as a SGA Student Life Senator. I attended UMBC during a time of political unrest and attended and helped organize political events. In regards to being an attorney, UMBC is the one of area leaders in producing attorneys and judges in the State of Maryland. My UMBC colleagues have provided some great attorney resources and friends, such as James L. Wiggins ’75. The UMBC legal community has a strong presence and influence on the Maryland community. UMBC also gave me opportunity to teach an upper-level grade course on Blacks and the Criminal Justice system for several years.

Q:  You’re involved with the Maryland Volunteer Legal Services (MVLS). Tell us a little bit about why you do pro bono work and what you’ve learned from those experiences.

In regards to MVLS, I primarily do pro bono legal services for eligible low income bankruptcy clients. My parents and family were strong advocates of community service and assisting others. These services are very helpful in relieving some of the financial stress that the families are shouldering. My early career out of college at St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center, working with and being mentored by Ralph E. Moore, Jr., demonstrated the importance of organizing, community development, fundraising and community service. I am also very involved in the UMBC second General Scholarship Fund. I have also been fortunate to serve as a committee member of Alumni and Friends of UMBC (AFUMBC) along with UMBC alumni Ronald  Hawkins ’79, Joyce Nance Frierson ’79, Daibeth Saunders ’78, Eric Talley ’79 and Warren Wilson ’72. Over the years, AFUMBC has raised funds for the Africana Studies Department and the Second Generation Scholarship Fund.

Q:  Is there a particular class or professor who really inspired you?

My first semester at UMBC was brutal, however, I returned to eventually graduate.  I started taking African American Studies course each semester and it gave me the writing skill set and confidence to perform well in my courses. The fifth floor in the administration building was a place that provided some cultural and political experiences and emotional healing during a period of widespread educational integration. The instructors and staff welcomed the us and treated us as “special” people

Q:  What advice would you give to students considering UMBC?

UMBC provides a superb education and prepares a student well for the professional and business world. Each time I visit UMBC, which is often, I feel very proud to be an alumnus and to let everyone know that I attended such a fine institution. Through the Sigma Beta Club (youth mentoring) and my inner-city youth program, I try to bring as many young Black males to the campus, as possible. Dr. Hrabowski has been very encouraging and supportive with the youth and has given high school students his email address to keep him informed of their progress.

UMBC Eminent Scholar Program

Smart Distribution Systems

Dr. Karen Butler-Purry
Texas A&M University

11:00-12:00 Thursday, 13 March 2014, ITE 325B

Smart Grid refers to the computerizing of the grid via the addition of monitoring, analysis, control, and communication capabilities to improve its reliability, efficiency, and security. Smart meter devices, that include sensors to gather data and two-way digital communication between the smart meters in the field and the utility’s grid operations center, are associated with the grid. The smart grid can take advantage of new technologies, such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, various forms of renewable and conventional distributed generation, lighting management systems, automation technology that lets the utility adjust and control each individual device or millions of devices from a central location, and many more. This presentation will discuss some of the current research projects being investigated by Butler-Purry’s group on smart distributions systems, in grid or island operation. One project investigates the impact of cyber attacks on the operation of smart distribution systems. The second project developed two new approaches to enhance the protection of smart distribution systems. One approach uses smart meters during distribution planning to improve selectivity of protection, and the other approach uses smart meters during operation to improve the sensitivity of protection.

Karen L. Butler-Purry, PhD, PE, is Associate Provost for Graduate and Professional Studies and Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University where she has served on the faculty since 1994. She received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1985 from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was awarded a M.S. degree in 1987 from the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1994 from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Her research interests are in the areas of protection and control of distribution systems and isolated power systems such as all electric power systems for ships, mobile grids, and microgrids; cybersecurity protection; and intelligent systems for equipment deterioration and fault diagnosis.

Host: Prof. Gymama Slaughter, Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address.

UMBC Eminent Scholar Program

Smart Distribution Systems

Dr. Karen Butler-Purry
Texas A&M University

11:00-12:00 Thursday, 13 March 2014, ITE 325B

Smart Grid refers to the computerizing of the grid via the addition of monitoring, analysis, control, and communication capabilities to improve its reliability, efficiency, and security. Smart meter devices, that include sensors to gather data and two-way digital communication between the smart meters in the field and the utility’s grid operations center, are associated with the grid. The smart grid can take advantage of new technologies, such as plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, various forms of renewable and conventional distributed generation, lighting management systems, automation technology that lets the utility adjust and control each individual device or millions of devices from a central location, and many more. This presentation will discuss some of the current research projects being investigated by Butler-Purry’s group on smart distributions systems, in grid or island operation. One project investigates the impact of cyber attacks on the operation of smart distribution systems. The second project developed two new approaches to enhance the protection of smart distribution systems. One approach uses smart meters during distribution planning to improve selectivity of protection, and the other approach uses smart meters during operation to improve the sensitivity of protection.

Karen L. Butler-Purry, PhD, PE, is Associate Provost for Graduate and Professional Studies and Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University where she has served on the faculty since 1994. She received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1985 from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She was awarded a M.S. degree in 1987 from the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1994 from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Her research interests are in the areas of protection and control of distribution systems and isolated power systems such as all electric power systems for ships, mobile grids, and microgrids; cybersecurity protection; and intelligent systems for equipment deterioration and fault diagnosis.

Host: Prof. Gymama Slaughter, Sorry, you need javascript to view this email address.