Once upon a time, a friend went to dinner for what they thought was a business meeting. It turned out to be a date that extended to a relationship that lasted many years. Similarly, in August, I had an introductory call with two co-founders of a content management product company. Turned out to be the first of several conversations about a new role in the company. And on October 18, I start work as Head of Content Strategy Relations at Sanity, a unified content platform.

What does the head of content strategy relations do? Well, that's the mystery I get to solve. And I get to do that by:

Working with other people within the company to coordinate addressing non-developer pain points
Having conversations with people in the content strategy, content operations, information architecture, and intelligent content communities about the possibilities of systems thinking and content
Amplify voices of community members and build a shared language around the ideas of structured content and building content operations to manage content within a technology system and the business itself

Why this role? Why now?

Sanity and its people match my way of thinking about content (as data). Now I get an insider's seat at the table to translate technology to non-tech professionals and connect people, processes, and technology in new ways
Sanity Values
The opportunity to evangelize about content and its role in systems is needed more than ever as digital information and content grow exponentially
The company was ready to reach beyond developers in their marketing and outreach efforts
I was ready for a new challenge (though I was not actively seeking one)

Coincidentally, just at the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I had decided to step back from speaking, writing, and posting about connected content while I figured out what I wanted to address next. During this time of pause, I was able to reflect on what is important, what I missed, and what was essential for the last third of my career. Turns out I really miss the interaction with community--online and in-person--to share and learn. Now I get to go back with renewed energy, a clear goal, and hope that together we can find a way to solve organizational content problems that will help make them more efficient, effective, and ultimately, more sustainable.

I have no idea where this road will lead, but I plan to have fun while I'm on it. Hope to see you along the way!

PS - Leaving my job at Palladian Partners was gut-wrenching. Joining Sanity meant that I had to leave a group of smart, passionate, hard-working, kind people doing important work in the health communications space. They are looking for the right person to join them as UX and Content Strategy Team Lead. Could that be you?