Bronwen Clune is the founder of Norg Media, a network of citizen journalism web sites (norg - news organisation). Bronwen won the same category last year with Perth Norg, but since that time the Norg has expanded to include sites for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Bronwen worked with freelancer Myles Eftos (also a finalist in the Innovation category for his Super Mario Bros Experiment) to rewrite the WordPress-based codebase and get the databases for each site talking to each other. Bronwen says:
We looked at the site we had and realised we needed to make some changes that would allow us to launch more norgs in an easy way. We also needed all the sites to be somewhat integrated so that members of one, could also post with on the others. Working with WordPress, this required a bit of coding magic (and frustration) on Myles’ part, but in the end we managed to get the site to do everything we needed it to.
Since the site’s success in last year’s awards program, Bronwen notes the impact the awards program has had on Norg Media:
The Web Awards certainly got us some local press coverage - we managed to get an article in The West Australian business section out of it and it also raised our profile in the local web community. Mostly it’s great to get recognition from the people you admire in the local scene. We have a great web community here in WA and AWIA the WAWAs have been a big part of making that happen.
Matt O’Donohue’s personal food blog project, Abstract Gourmet, is a finalist in the Blog category for 2008. A first time entrant, Matt credits himself for content, photography, philosophical direction and “test stomach” and Teresa Watts for the funky theme design.
About the site, Matt said:
Abstract Gourmet started off as a way to procrastinate at work, then gradually migrated into a mild obsession, and now has become a fully blown alter ago. It’s been my vehicle for learning about food, cooking, photography, and writing for a good few years now, and I hope to continue it for as long as I can.
The inter connectedness of the blogging world has helped me in so many ways over the time I’ve been running it. From helping me to find a coffee machine, to restaurant recommendations in any new city I visit, to accommodation with people who I’ve met through the site, and opportunities to eat and write about some amazing food and wines.
By running the site it’s given me exposure to industry contacts and other publishing outlets that I would otherwise have not.
From a technical standpoint, Matt shared some details about the nuts and bolts of the project:
Coming from a web development background, I originally had coded my own blog engine in ColdFusion, but soon abandoned it for the safety of Wordpress as soon as I became enlightened. The site has evolved over the years with each subsequent release of Wordpress, and with my gentle touch hacking together plugins and CSS to try and make things look pretty. I’m not the world’s greatest web developer, but I try to keep
the style clean and basic, and relatively useable, whilst not letting any of the features or plugins get in the way of my content.
I used to have a theme that was hacked and re-hacked for the best part of 3 years, but then recently had the lovely Teresa Watts of Chi Garden design me a template that was both stylish and clean, and helped to really emphasis the writing and photography in a way that I hope will take the blog to a whole new audience.
Matt enjoys seeing other people appreciate his “very subjective” view of the world:
Being nominated for the award has meant that a lot of people have let me know that they like the site and read it on a regular basis, which is always a positive thing to hear, and something that it’s sometimes easy to take for granted.
We wish Matt all the best on the night, and hope he finds the UWA University Club’s three course dinner to his liking!
Gary Barber, aka The Man With No Blog, was the winner of the Blog category in the 2007 WA Web Awards. He’s back again with a new look and more of the same regular and insightful content that got him over the line last year.
Gary says he had extensive assistance with the new blog design from the gnomes over at radharc – but I fear that’s just him talking about himself in third person again.
About his entry, Gary said:
Entering the WAWA for me is a bit of a problem, because as a freelance User Experience Consultant and Information Architect, a lot of my work doesn’t get seen or credited. It’s the design and development firms that get the credit. So it becomes a little hard to enter the WAWAs with a UX/IA portfolio.
The sites I tend to submit are really only selected from the side projects I get to do during the year. I don’t expect them to honestly win. Sure they are good work, and sure they best of the complete sites I have completed during the year. But realistically I don’t think they are going to win against such first class competition.
Now with the site Man with No Blog: I did the usual and designed myself into a hole when it came to implementing the design. I always seem to be doing this. It did take a good 18 months to get around to doing the real design that I’m happy with, which is why designing for yourself is so hard! One entertaining aspect of the blog was IE6 implementation.
However a blog is not all design, it’s also about content. I know of late I have been a little slack on the blog posts as business and personal issues take precedence over blogging (how rude!). For the most part I try and keep the blog focused on my core topics of User Experience, Information Architecture and Web Design.
As for the impact of the awards:
I was stunned when I won last year. Still am, in a way! I just submitted the blog on a whim at the last minute. I have no idea what the judges where thinking, but I must have hit all the right areas.
I haven’t really used the blog WAWA win to promote my business. I suppose I should - mind you blogging is not my business.
I would encourage people to enter, it’s a good yardstick and confirmation that the way you are doing things is right from your peers. It’s an honor just to be nominated as a finalist.
So there we go – will Gary make WAWA’s history and be the first site to take home the same award two years running?
