The Netroots Foundation kicked off the seventh annual Netroots Nation convention this July in Providence, RI, and as a standout among progressive conferences, the conference was able to feature 30 training sessions from the brightest leaders in the field. Fission is proud to say that two team members, Cheryl Contee and Austen Levihn-Coon were amongst the presenters.

Cheryl, who also acts as the VP on the Board of Directors for Netroots Nation, presented at a standing-room only training alongside Advomatic called “How to Ensure Your Web Development Project is a Complete Failure.” Austen, a Senior Strategist at Fission, presented his own training, “Content Management Systems – What’s Possible & What’s Best for You and Your Organization?”

What is a content management system (CMS)? A CMS creates a more easily accessible interface for updating your website than through traditional static web pages.  It can be difficult to transition away from your current way of doing things, and so many organizations still don’t utilize one for their website, even though in the long run it will get rid of significant headaches. This specific session at Netroots was geared towards a wide variety of individuals who would benefit from a CMS for many reasons. Organizations and individuals looking to create the best possible website were taught about the basics of different CMS options, their possibilities, as well as recommendations for choosing the right system .

To get the audience thinking about the numerous opportunities, Austen posed these questions:

• Do you plan to update your site regularly?
• Do you plan to have a blog on your site?
• Will you update your site remotely?
• Who will update your site?

In turn, “Attendees voiced a range of applicable questions, looking to determine both the best discovery processes for their organizations, and the specifics of how to ensure their decision would support their mission,” said Austen.

Want to learn more about CMS’s and how they can benefit your organization? Check out Austen’s presentation below: