Our future as communicators is inextricably tied to the future of Extension
and Land-Grant outreach. Although some of us are
science writers or documentary videographers and such, many more of us are editors,
designers, and photographers who are completely
involved in reaching out and engaging Land-Grant target audiences using whatever
mix of media appropriate.
There are storm clouds on the horizon, however. Extension faces stiff and growing
competition for audiences–new and traditional–in
what has become known as the information marketplace.
This new competitive environment is driven by technology, but does that make
it an information technology problem? Not really.
It’s a communication problem. As a 30-year agricultural communication veteran
reminded me recently in the hallway of the Internet 2
meetings, “I’ve been searching for ways to reach target audiences
since I started. Why should this be any different?”
Recent efforts to address information competition have centered on a concept
called e-Extension. As this initiative takes form, some
communicators may question the importance and their involvement. To find answers
let’s begin with an analogy. Imagine e-
Extension as a giant building prior to ground breaking. This is a structure
where many different sources of expertise and learning will
flourish in contiguous open and accessible spaces. Who’s responsible for
what is generated in those spaces? Who’s responsible for
making sure people find the information that best fits their needs? Who’s
responsible for quality control in those spaces? Who’s
responsible for outcomes that match needs? These are clearly questions that
communicators must answer.
However, many communicators look at this analogy and assume they have nothing
to do until the building is built. They appear to
take the attitude: “You build it and we’ll fill it.”
So, who is responsible for what is built? Is it the building engineers, our
IT colleagues? Will it be the analogous digital carpenters
and electricians? Not really.
Architects design the building and control construction. If you want to make
a change, you don’t ask the IT engineers and digital
carpenters to simply make the change during construction. You work with the
architect. The architect is the person who sees the
whole picture: the user needs, the construction needs, the budget constraints,
the long-term goals and the short-term issues.
Where are the architects in our profession? Should we be satisfied or resigned
to sit back and let our IT colleagues build the e-
Extension infrastructure? Probably not. It’s a mistake to assume we will
be able (or even asked) to step up and take over the stocking
process of developing and adapting the content to satisfy customers needs. This
is an opportunity many of us will get only once in our
careers. This is an opportunity to provide leadership in an effort that could
have more impact on our future professional success than
anything we’ve experienced to date.
Admittedly there are few if any communication departments with a position titled
architect on the staff listing. But among the editors,
designers, filmmakers, photographers, science writers, administrators, and others
that do fill those staff listings, there are people who
are filling the role of architect.
At a fundamental level we provide the overall architecture for everything coming
from the Land-Grant system as outreach. We
help faculty identify audience needs, we develop materials that address those
needs. We manage efforts to get these materials into
forms and places so people can access them. No one else in the chain has as
much responsibility for the overall success of the
system as the communicators–especially in e-Extension. Even faculty sources
are typically more concerned with issues in their
discipline than in distribution. Successful communication professionals are
successful because they are the architects of the overall
process required to meet user needs.
Our IT colleagues face the same issue in searching for architects versus engineers.
The main difference is that many administrators
simply default to the idea that e-Extension is “an IT thing.” So,
many IT departments–some with less experience or inclination for more
global audience-based thinking–are being set up to fail. Busy administrators
focus on day-to-day fiscal survival and just don’t see
the floundering. Of those who do notice, the response is to question whether
we have the right IT people handling these issues. Bringing
in more (or different) digital carpenters seems to be their answer.
So we come back to the initial questions. Where and how should communicators
step up?
To answer the where question, start at home. The e-Extension initiative will
have some success as a national effort, but real success
will be found in grassroots “skunk works,” testing and adapting ways
of making our individual outreach programs competitive in reaching
our audiences. As you analyze audiences don’t be constrained by traditional
geopolitical boundaries. Audiences are found in communities
of interest. They consider our internal boundaries of little use. Competitors
will not be bound by them, so we can’t afford to
continue thinking in that fashion.
To answer how, I suggest establishing architect-oriented teams with your IT
colleagues. Focus on using all the tools available to
dramatically improve ease of access to expertise from your institution in a
timely fashion (the two most critical factors for success.)
Do this proactively. Whether we call it e-Extension or just doing our job,
outreach programs at our colleges and universities will be
successful only if we provide access to information, educational materials,
learning modules, and courses in a timely (anytime) and
easily accessible (anyplace) fashion. Brainstorm completely new ways of working
outside the geopolitical boundaries to provide
access anytime anyplace. Test these new ways. Analyze why they do or don’t
work. Adapt them and reapply. Then share these tests,
analyses, and uses of technology with your colleagues around the country.
And finally, read. Innovation in the marketplace is being driven by new combinations
of ideas. There are few truly new ideas. More
likely, existing ideas are combined in a new way or in a new context to drive
innovation. Look for new and existing ideas in books like
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell; The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton
Christensen; Blown to Bits by Evan and Wuster; Blur
and their new book It’s Alive by Davis and Myer. Read, combine, innovate,
analyze, and apply. It’s time to step up.