Smells Like Curatorial Spirit

Here’s another interesting video segment that strikes close to home for me from the folks at Ragan Communications:

Music to my ears! As a bonafide “content curator” by day (that is, in fact, my current job title) and a confirmed “curatorial obsessive” relative to various personal interests the rest of the time (of which this blog is partial evidence), I live and breathe this stuff.

While the idea of “curation,” has become a trendy buzz word in the last year or so, the essence of true curatorial execution is often misconstrued. As Shel Holtz notes in the video clip above, it’s about qualified “filtering,” not mere collection and regurgitation. Good curation – whether it’s centered on creating or simply showcasing good stuff – involves qualifying the content and sourcing, providing meaningful context, and then presenting it in a way that's meaningfully targeted to a particular audience. Part of the contextualizing is making the curated content truly your own – i.e., stamping it with your own voice or brand.

At least that’s my take on it, and what I strive to do. What does it mean to you?