IT 201-701

Introduction to Information Systems

10/02/07

Page 2

Agenda

About Me Tribune Interactive at a Glance State of the Interactive Space Traditional Media’s Challenges The Roll of Product Development Newspaper.com Redesign Redesign and National Launch of Metromix What’s Next? Q & A

Page 3

About Me…

Education– BBA in Management Information Systems, Minor in Computer Science from Southern

Methodist University– MSc in Information Systems from DePaul University

Work Experience– IT Specialist/Consultant at IBM from 2002 – 2006– Product Analyst/Manager at Tribune Interactive 2006 - Present

Page 4

Tribune Interactive at a Glance

Tribune Interactive is the Internet branch of Tribune Company – We have produced and continue to manage popular and recognizable websites like the LATimes.com, ChicagoTribune.com, and Metromix.com as

well as aspects of Tribune's print and online classified advertising operations Tribune owns stakes in CareerBuilder.com, Apartments.com, Cars.com, FSBO.com, etc.

– With more than 50 websites overall, Tribune Interactive ranks among the nation's leading news and information networks and our sites attract more than 15 million unique visitors per month

We recently completed work on 2 major company initiatives:

– A complete standardization and redesign of all our major Newspaper websites, which just finished deploying

– Creation of a brand new database/CMS platform (built on Ruby on Rails) that supports a newly designed version of Metromix.com which is currently being deployed in several markets across the country

Currently Released in New York, LA, Chicago, South Florida (Miami area), Baltimore, Orlando

Several other markets to come through 2008 as we extend our national footprint

Page 5

State of the Interactive Space

Participation and Contribution– Many Users value other User’s contributions as much as they value the opinions of

“Professional” Journalists/Producers/Editors– User Generated Content is not going away and has become an integral part of the user

experience

Aggregation of Content– Become the first place users first visit even if they don’t stay– Do users care where content comes from as long it’s relevant to them?– Harnessing the Long Tail of Content

Syndication through Embeddable Content– Websites are no longer “Walled Gardens” of content– There is value to your content living elsewhere; extend Brand reach and drive traffic back to

your site you may never have reached in the first place

Localization and Personalization– Data Mashups and the rise of Google Maps; users now have more relevant ways to view data– If you know what I’m looking at, give me better recommendations– The Personal Dashboard… everything I need in one spot

Video… we’ve reached the bandwidth tipping point

Page 6

Traditional Media’s Challenges

Ad Revenue continues to move online– Sites like Craigslist are eating away at the Newspaper’s Classifieds revenue stream– Does the subscription model really work online when most anyone can get what they want for

free?– Attracting younger Demographics

Media has always had a professional voice… – What users have to say is just as important?– Challenges adopting moderation and governance policies– Some blogs get more traffic than our largest sites

Content Creators vs. Aggregators– Media companies are Content Creators… how do we use that to our advantage when

Aggregators like Google simply pull our content onto their sites (and searches)

While Interactive Departments are the fasting growing areas in most Media companies, they still produce a small portion of the revenue

– How do we catch up in terms of new products and improving what already exists?– Rapid staffing and product development can create a “bubble” effect in your own organization– New open source technologies have become easier to build and scale with… do we adopt these

or improve existing legacy systems; Time to Market vs. Operating Efficiencies

Interactive is easy to measure, but tough to forecast…

Page 7

The Roll of Product Development

Product Development is responsible for several things:– Initiation: Work with Marketing to identify the business opportunity and goals of the product

Market and Consumer research Revenue Modeling and Opportunity Assessment

– Analysis: Can we turn the opportunity into a tangible Product? What is it? Understand User needs; both of the Consumer and our Producers Understand Advertiser needs; what and how can we sell?

– Design: Conduct and Manage all Requirement, Use Case, and Design work Iterative feedback with our Technology teams Usability and Consumer Testing

– Development & Deployment : Work with our Technology team who will be delivering the end product

Testing and Q&A Deployment plans and Training for Producers

– Iterate…

Brand Creation… it’s not just a website it’s a Product– What makes it different?– Why should people use it?– How do we market it?– How does content on the site effect it’s “Brand Image”?

Page 8

Newspaper.com Redesign

Page 9

Newspaper.com Redesign- Project at a Glance

Need: Tribune Interactive (TI) centrally supports over 10 different Newspaper websites and their various extensions. Lack of a standardized set of templates (site pages), functionality, and vendors made the ability to both support and quickly improve sites increasingly difficult and inefficient.

Goals:– Create a global set of templates that are used across all Newspaper markets leveraging CSS

to allow for visual and stylistic differentiation– Standardize ad placements to improve network level ad sales– Standardize all supported functionality and vendor offerings; this includes Search, Geo

Mapping, User Generated Content (photos, rate & review, commenting, message boards), Blogs, and Video

– Improve Directory Structures and URL creation to enhance SEO– Create a better user experience than what was currently being offered

Result:– All TI supported Newspaper websites have been re-launched– We are beginning to see increases in UV’s and PV’s across all sites– Global changes are now easily being made on weekly and monthly release schedules

Page 10

Newspaper.com Redesign- The Old ChicagoTribune.com…

Page 11

Newspaper.com Redesign- The New ChicagoTribune.com…

Page 12

Newspaper.com Redesign- The New Sun-Sentinel.com…

Page 13

Metromix Redesign

Page 14

Metromix Redesign- Project at a Glance

Need: Metromix has been a successful Entertainment and Nightlife site in Chicago for the past 10 years. The site needed a facelift and there’s an opportunity to create a nationally established brand and ad network. The platform Metromix also was running on needed to be overhauled to support future products.

Goals:– Roll the new product out in all Tribune markets and explore other options through

partnerships to increase the site’s national footprint and brand reach– Create a better, more functional user experience than what was currently being offered– Standardize ad placements to allow for network level ad sales– Create a brand new Platform (CMS and underlying database) to drive Metromix and other TI

products– Experiment using Agile Development methodologies and a new Technology Framework

(Ruby on Rails) to improve development speed and operating efficiencies

Result:

– Currently Released in New York, LA, Chicago, South Florida (Miami area), Baltimore

– Orlando and other Tribune markets will roll out by end of the year– The new Platform will be powering all Newspaper.com Entertainment sections and will also

be expanded to new product verticals

Page 15

Metromix Redesign- Chicago’s Original Metromix…

Page 16

Metromix Redesign- The New Metromix…

Page 17

The New Metromix… (cont’d)

Page 18

What’s Next?

Continued development on our new Newspaper and Metromix sites– Fix Bugs and Tweak existing features– Build out features that fell out of scope or were slated for a later Release– SEO and Video Initiatives

A Taxonomy and Data Strategy Project for all of Tribune Interactive– Create one standard data strategy for the entire organization– Ensure data can be input once and used multiple places– Install a Taxonomy Services Tool that will automated the classification of data allowing for

deeper relationships to be created amongst our data

Exploration of New Product Opportunities – Facebook Application/Widget Development

How can it be leveraged and how does it change how we think about Product Development going forward?

– Continued exploration and development of Social Networking and User Generated Media tools

– Further Extension of our Products onto Mobile devices

Page 19

Q & A