Using a creative brief.

A creative brief is a document often used in advertising to keep a creative team on the same page. It includes information about the intended message and audience for the communication or campaign. Make no mistake, a blog is not an advertisement, but some of the principles of strategic communication may still apply. The name of the blog, the images and colors used and the style of writing all act as a kind of advertisement for anyone who finds it and asks themselves, "hey, what's this all about and is it worth my time reading it?"

If you have not already completed your creative brief, you might check out the below videos to introduce the concept of the creative brief to your students.






You may also bring up some of the below questions for discussion.

How is your blog user different or the same as a "customer?"
How is a blog user different than an "audience"?
What is a brand?
What are the benefits of branding your blog?
What story does your blog tell?
How will the words and images you select help users understand what your blog is about?

How do I integrate other googls apps into my blog?

Need to review some basic tutorials? Looking for inspiration? Here are some of the resources we shared during Day 3 of training:

Google Earth Tutorials. All of the Google Earth tutorials Aaron shared with us (and more!) can be found here. Think about the possibilities for embedding audio/video/pictures, creating a tour and adding all this to your blog...

Google Sketch Up Blog. A central place for all things "sketchy."

New to Google Sketch Up Tutorial. "Draw shapes and pull them into 3-D." Looks easy! What kinds of projects can you imagine using this tool? How can this help you make blog content more engaging for your interns AND for your blog's users?

Google Maps Tutorials. Create maps with embedded media and share for all to see!
Flickr (by yahoo). Create a profile, upload your photos, post them to your blog and add them to maps...

Blogger. Seriously could not be easier to use. Customize, add gadgets, add your tweeter feed, etc. Ashley made some great comments about BRANDING YOUR BLOG. This is something that needs to come from your students. What is a brand? What signals can you send to you users so that they know what to expect from your blog? How does the title, images and body copy (the words) convey the look and feel of your blog? You can have a discussion with your students about branding by talking about commercial products and advertising, such as the MAC vs. PC television commercials. These ads are all about branding.

Twitter. Green Gertrude will be promoting your blogs using twitter (140 characters) and you can too! Use hash tags so that people can find your tweets (use the hash tag: #greenphilly to stay connected). Use tinyURL.com to shorten URLs that you want to share.

Remember, AL-22 is a space you and your students can use to access Google Earth and Google Sketch Up.

Have an idea you want to share with your fellow supervisors? Add comments below and let us all know what you're thinking. What looks cool? What looks scary? How will you use these apps to engage students and create content for your blog?

-kg