[Editors] MIT Editors' Club Minutes: March 2012

[Elizabeth A Thomson]

MIT EDITORS' CLUB

*Meeting Notes from March 13, 2012*

I think that our guest for this meeting expected to be in and out within 30 minutes, but the ~25 MIT Editors present peppered him with questions for an entire hour. The topic? Responsive design for web sites, or how to create one web site design that changes--and looks great--on several different platforms, from laptop to iPad to mobile phone.


*Introducing Rich....*

....Murphy, the web services manager for MIT Information Services and Technology (IS&T) who spoke at this meeting. Rich has been a very busy guy over the last 14 months, which is how long it's taken, start to finish, to create a new IS&T web site using responsive design. Newsflash: this is the first major web site at MIT using responsive design; it will launch on Monday, April 2. (I've asked Robyn Fizz, my Editors' Club co-chair and IS&T News Coordinator, to send us a reminder when it's out.)


*New Web Site*

Before I jot down some of the tips concerning responsive design that came out of this meeting, I wanted to mention a bit about the new IS&T web site because it should be quite useful to members of this group. First off, Rich stressed that the new site was designed to be customer-centric. It was redesigned for the MIT community with feedback from LOTS of faculty/staff/student focus groups. As a result, it will include:

-- service catalog to determine what IS&T can help you with.

--a searchable Knowledgebase, or database of "how-to" info built up by the IS&T Help Desk over the last several years.

--easier navigation to pages for getting/updating MIT certificates AND for downloading software.


*Responsive Design*

Here, in no particular order, are a few cool tips/stats that came out of our chat with Rich and Emer Garland-Scott of Communication Production Services (Emer, who is also a member of our club, worked closely with Rich on this project).

--Rich recommends the following book on the overall topic: Responsive Web Design by Ethan Marcotte, <http://www.abookapart.com/products/responsive-web-design>.

--Can you retrofit an HTML web site to one with responsive design? Um, no.

--According to Emer, responsive design can add an extra 15% to your budget for web design/development.

--A good example of a site using responsive design: the Boston Globe. See following story: <http://www.webmonkey.com/2011/09/the-boston-globe-embraces-responsive-design/>.

--FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact Emer at emer at mit.edu, 617.258.9368.


*Thank you!*

Many thanks to Carol Breen of physics for hosting this (almost) standing-room-only meeting.


*Next Meetings*

The next meetings of MIT Editors' Club, which are always from 12-1 but in different locations around campus, are as follows:

Wednesday, April 18
W98-302 (Resource Development)

Friday, May 18
46-3015 (Brain and Cognitive Sciences)

Monday, June 11
66-360 (Chemical Engineering)


Cheers!

Elizabeth
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Elizabeth A. Thomson
Associate Director of Communications
MIT Resource Development
Office of Communications
600 Memorial Dr., W98-300
617-258-5563, 857-756-9457
<thomson at mit.edu>, giving.mit.edu
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