Expedition Websites (Content pt 1)

Content is king. Without good content, all the other effort you put into your website will be a waste of time and you will lose visitors. There are two types of content: static and dynamic. Static content describes the content that you usually type once and doesn’t change, such as information about your project and team. Dynamic content describes the updates that you send during the expedition, often in the form of a blog. A common technical distinction is that static content is contained within pages and dynamic content is contained within (blog posts). (more…)

Expedition Websites (Basics)

There is an unspoken rule that every expedition must have a website, in some ways akin to the current phenomenon that nothing actually happens unless it is posted on Facebook. However, underlying this accepted norm is something that reaches into what 21st Century exploration is all about.

If exploration is the process of discovering new knowledge about our planet and its people, should we not be in the process of training local researchers to do the job for us, gradually relegating these overseas to nostalgia. What gives the current model legitimacy?

I would argue that it is the transformative power of the journey that results in so many of those involved in exploration and expeditions becoming passionate advocates and activists for environments and issues the world over, that is crucial. Expeditions return to the UK wild-eyed and passionate, capable of exciting, inspiring and sharing their experiences and discoveries. (more…)

Adventure racing and online gaming

As part of this year’s Volvo Ocean Race, the organisers have designed and built an online game in which you can join in a virtual race. I can now set the sails and plot the course for the good ship ‘Digital Explorer’ and use live wind speed data to influence my decisions as well as look at what the other competitors are up to.

I am currently languishing in 636th place, despite my best efforts to drop south to pick up more favourable winds.

It’s an interesting little model. Free to enter, really engaging and pretty simple, but with pay-for add-ons if you’re really serious.

Go on, join in and see if you can beat me. You can even befriend me! See you on the water.

Volvo Ocean Race Game
Volvo Ocean Race main site
Volvo Ocean Race tv site (interesting having a dedicated micro-site as a media library)

Expedition site wins award

The website for the Offscreen Student Expedition 2008 site won the Y Design Award for Best Community site. Congratulations to the team – Chris, Ciara, Colin and John – and it’s great to see their hard work pay off.

It also shows how important good design is in breaking down barriers between different cultures.

The Offscreen Student Expedition 2008 was a collaboration between Digital Explorer and the Offscreen Education Programme and was supported by HSBC, the British Council, the Said Foundation and Gulf Air.

Very proud of the team

Really proud of the team – John, Ciara and Marjan for making sure the IAE expedition blog for 2041 looks so amazing, has great functionality and went live so soon after the 2041 main site.

I just love this site, but then that’s me. It’s exciting to see how far WordPress as a platform can be taken (this is the inner geek in me).

2041 site goes live

The main site for 2041 went live on Friday. For those of you who don’t know 2041, it’s an organisation set up by Robert Swan – the first person to walk to both poles – to preserve Antarctica.

The 2041 team have some amazing projects lined up this year, all coming soon. First off, the E-Base on King George Island off the Antarctic peninsula goes live at the beginning of March, broadcasting live on renewable energy. If they can live off solar and wind, etc. in Antarctica, it’s a message to us all to give it a go at home.

Then in mid-March the E-Base Goes Live team will be joined by a team from global corporations learning about leadership and sustainability on the Inspire Antarctic Expedition.

And if that’s not enough, the 2041 yacht on the Voyage for Cleaner Energy, will be engaging audiences along the West Coast of the US from the beginning of April.

Finally, a big big thank you to the teams at Digital Explorer and 2041 for working so hard to make this happen.