Keynote

Todd Ross NienkerkTodd Ross Nienkerk to Keynote DrupalCamp 2019

The Future of Content

Content! It’s everywhere! It’s displayed on websites and in apps. It’s streamed to smartphones, televisions, and watches. It’s heard on podcasts, read aloud by voice assistants, and explored in immersive, three-dimensional virtual realities. With so many platforms, how can you keep pace with the rapidly changing landscape of digital experiences and content distribution?

In the keynote talk, you’ll learn how publishers, universities, media companies, and nonprofits are thriving by adopting platforms built for the future of content. 

  • Centralized content management: Collecting, managing, and distributing your content from a single location — and fostering a community of content contributors and app builders.
  • Context-aware content: Telling the same story using different experiences and devices.
  • Multichannel and omnichannel publishing: Distributing your content to any service or device (think Facebook Instant or Apple TV) with minimal changes.
  • Decoupling your CMS: Separating the management of content from the presentation of content makes it easier to support new technologies and devices. 
  • Future-proofing your project: Thinking about the future means being prepared for changes, not being able to predict where technology will go. What ideas should you pursue, and which should you avoid right now? How can you leverage machine learning to speed up content delivery and personalize content? Where does VR, AR, and the 3D web fit into content management and delivery?

Todd will close with a couple of Four Kitchens case studies that demonstrate how to get ready for the future of the CMS:

  • PRI.org: Last year, we helped relaunch a decoupled frontend for Public Radio International's legacy Drupal site.
  • NBC: We helped relaunch NBC.com, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and Saturday Night Live as decoupled Drupal sites with an API that shares content across multiple NBC brands, devices, and apps.
  • TWiT.tv: We relaunched This Week in Tech as a decoupled Drupal site with an exposed API that allowed their fanbase to directly access content and build their own apps.

About the Speaker

Todd has been involved in the web design and publishing industries since 1996. He has designed and built countless websites and written for, edited, and managed several digital and print publications. His background in design, development, communication, and psychology provides him with unique insight into how people interact with technology, information, and each other.

Todd co-founded Four Kitchens in 2006, and the Web Chefs have been making BIG websites ever since. As CEO, he guides Four Kitchens’ vision, culture, and long-term strategy. He believes the most effective leaders hire people smarter and better than themselves—as every Web Chef demonstrates on a daily basis.

Outside of Four Kitchens, Todd is a member of various boards and advisory councils, including I Live Here, I Give Here, one of Austin, Texas’ largest nonprofit giving communities.