Digital Explorer » websites

Expedition Websites (Content pt 1)

Digital Explorer — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 09:56:51 +0000

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).

Basics of Static Content
As a minimum your website should have the following pages:

About

good basic information about what you’re doing and why
a short intro paragraph in larger text works well
also try to include an image that sums up your expedition
see the Offscreen Expeditions website for an example

Team

photo and short bio of all those involved
include something about why you’re all involved – makes for more interesting reading
include everyone working on the expedition, not just those heading into the field
think about listing the team alphabetically by first name – this takes away from any notion of hierarchy and shows your project as a joint endeavour
see E-Base Live website for an example

Sponsors

a very important page – most expeditions rely on sponsors and funders
ask your contacts at sponsors and supporters for hi-res logos and also about how they would like their logo to be shown (size, placement, title, etc.)
ask your sponsors for quotes about why they support your expedition, and generally involve them in how they want to be represented on your site
see the Walking the Amazon website for an example

Map

it’s important to show your audience where you’re going
you can use any kind of map from a scanned tourist map with a big red circle or route drawn on, or go for something more sophisticated using Google Maps (explore using Google My Maps)
see the Road to Shimshal website for an example

Contact

try to include your real emails on your contact page, it makes everything a lot more personal – people want to be in contact with you rather than an anonymous email
it’s also good to include a photo of the team, so that people can see who they’re contacting
all this doesn’t mean you can’t use a system to route all this email traffic to your home base whilst you are in the field
see the Atlantic Rising website for an example

Expedition Websites (Basics)

Digital Explorer — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 22:52:04 +0000

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.

The web allows expeditions to share that passion and magic, not only on their return, but also during the expedition itself, live from the field. In creating an expedition website, there are a few principles and basics to bear in mind.

Fit for purpose
Ensure that your website suits your expedition. If you have a small compact expedition, have a small compact website. If you are making a site aimed at teachers and pupils make sure that the language, content and functionality are aimed at this audience. Don’t forget you can always ask for help!

Remember your audience
You will probably have a number of different audience groups to consider. Plan your website accordingly. They are your readers and viewers.

Planning your website
Normally people create what is known as a sitemap (see the example above). This details the different sections of the website and can be colour coded to separate the different types of content.

Adventure racing and online gaming

Digital Explorer — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0000

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

Digital Explorer — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:57:41 +0000

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

Digital Explorer — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:56:04 +0000

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

Digital Explorer — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 06:16:43 +0000

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.