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Gree$ngs from the future of news Susan Mernit Oakland Local August 5, 2010
Presented at The Associa=on for Educa=on in Journalism and Mass Communica=on Conference
Oakland Local: Launched in October 2010 with $8,000 from J-‐Lab’s New Voices Program
Mission: Provide a plaIorm for diverse voices to take ac$on on issues cri$cal to Oakland & bridge the digital divide through news literacy & capacity building
Today: 185,000 page views in July 2010 80,000 unique visitors 38 local partners, non-‐profits & community group
Recognized as new & valuable news source for Oakland
2010-‐2011 Goals:
Mobil First: Understand effec$ve info delivery on both skinny and smart phones
Training: Expand news & social media training programs in Oakland & Bay area
Revenue: Start BAPP ad network, ramp up ad sales & promo$ons, small-‐business training, membership campaign, newsle[ers
Infrastructure: Need more opera$ng capital as well as program dollars
Some of the lessons we have learned
“What is the next conference you will be at, you li[le troll with army pants? Cause I will be there, too. I have ways of finding out.”
We have faced some challenging issues
We used data, logic and transparency frame a response.
So, what are Susan’s $ps for being an entrepreneur in 2010-‐11 ?
1. Build a great team, pay them on $me, empower them.
2. Life is short: work with people you like. 3. Failure means do-‐over, not you should
quit. 4. Don’t bet the farm (see 3.) 5. Collabora$on & distribu$on are essen$al
keys to success. 6. Quality & perfec$onism are NOT the
same.
Susan’s $ps for being an entrepreneur in 2010-‐11
7. Authen$city ma[ers 8. So does passion. If you wouldn’t do this for
free, maybe you shouldn’t do it. 9. Be generous in spirit. 10. Sustainability means making $me for
yourself. Really.
Women entrepreneurs that inspire me
1. Lisa Williams, CEO, Placeblogger.com, my former business partner & dear friend
2. Rashmi Sinha, Founder, Slideshare.net 3. Tracy Record, Editor & Founder, West SeaLle Blog, westseaLleblog.com 4. Debbie Galant, Founder/CEO, Baristanet.com 5. Chris=ne Herron, Principal, First Round Capital, chris=ne.net 6. Aimee Allison, Oaklandseen.com, Oakland powerhouse personality 7. Amy Gahran, conten=ous.com, “Crappy Cell Phone” Queen
And some guys: 8. David Cohn, Spot.us, crowd-‐funding entrepreneur 9. Craig Newmark, local/global philanthropist 11. Davey D, blogger/radio personality, Davey D’s Hip Hop Corner,
www.daveyd.com 12. Kwan Booth, OL co-‐founder, poet, organizer, media expert
It’s about what you do, not what you say. So get busy. And forget about asking for permission. You won’t get it.
Tell me what YOU think