On 12 Mar 99, Steven J. Owens wrote:
> At the time I was flabbergasted that he thought we could somehow reach out
> and affect events at his site, but as I later got a chance to think about
> it, I realized how much of an unknown the web represented to this guy and
> most people like him. They don't think of it as a technology or a channel
> form the customer to them. As a matter of fact, they don't think of it at
> all. To reach them, you have to bridge that gap.
Good point. As I've mentioned here before, our perspective as
professionals in this field is distinctly skewed; we sleep and
breathe the Web, and tend to make unfounded assumptions about how
those around us -- our clients/managers in particular -- perceive the
medium. We assume they use it, appreciate it and understand it. But
many of them don't. It's just a new and daunting technology that they
may not have the time or the desire to really get a handle on.
At work recently the Deputy Governor (second-in-command) asked me to
prepare some new Y2K material for the Bank's Web site. He was quite
adamant that it be up fast, and look attractive.
The next day I had some draft pages ready. I called the Deputy, who
said "OK, send them along". I started to read him the URL, and he
interrupted: "No, I mean print them out and send them. I don't
really know how to use that Web browser thing on my computer".
Whoa, reality check. This is a very bright, influential guy with a
couple of PhDs and 2,000 poeople working for him... but the Web is
still a closed book to him. He knows it's vaguely "important", and
that the Bank needs to be making better use of it, but he personally
doesn't use it. His interaction with the Internet extends only to e-
mail; most of the data that he deals with day to day just isn't found
on the Web.
So anyway... as a result, in a couple of weeks I'm presenting a "dog
& pony show" to the Governing Council, a sort of guided tour of the
state of the Web circa 1999 -- demographics, technology issues,
future directions, etc. I realize that educating my management is
essential, if I'm to later push for the budget, hardware and
personnel that I'll be needing to run an effective Web site for the
Bank.
-----------
Brent Eades, Almonte, Ontario
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web: http://www.almonte.com/
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