OMFG, this is so funny—and so true. Well done, folks! Tom Conrad/Kaie Imbach, more, more!
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I had a blast reading The Raid on AOL: How Vox Pillaged Engadget And Founded An Empire
by Kevin Lincoln. As a former AOLer who worked closely with Jim Bankoff back in the day, this account rings true on so many levels.
But I was also thrilled to learn that SB Nation, Bankoff's company, has Oakland, CA roots--turns out SB Nation was a side project started by Markos of Daily Kos and his friend Tyler Bleszinski. Lincoln writes, looking back to the 2003-2005 era:
"Unhappy with how his favorite team, the Oakland A's, was being covered - and inspired by the cerebral sabermetrics of A's manager Billy Beane, as chronicled in Michael Lewis' book "Moneyball" - Bleszinski decided to start Athletics Nation. He corrected what he saw as the mistakes of other baseball writers by doing away with the veil of objectivity, which he believes is a myth in sports media coverage. He proudly displayed his pro-A's bias and covered the team obsessively, 24/7, and particularly in the offseason."
And from that..magic--and a growing company that's launching all sorts of big media-and a terrific, well-researched piece on AOL, Vox and how things came to be,
by Kevin Lincoln. As a former AOLer who worked closely with Jim Bankoff back in the day, this account rings true on so many levels.
But I was also thrilled to learn that SB Nation, Bankoff's company, has Oakland, CA roots--turns out SB Nation was a side project started by Markos of Daily Kos and his friend Tyler Bleszinski. Lincoln writes, looking back to the 2003-2005 era:
"Unhappy with how his favorite team, the Oakland A's, was being covered - and inspired by the cerebral sabermetrics of A's manager Billy Beane, as chronicled in Michael Lewis' book "Moneyball" - Bleszinski decided to start Athletics Nation. He corrected what he saw as the mistakes of other baseball writers by doing away with the veil of objectivity, which he believes is a myth in sports media coverage. He proudly displayed his pro-A's bias and covered the team obsessively, 24/7, and particularly in the offseason."
And from that..magic--and a growing company that's launching all sorts of big media-and a terrific, well-researched piece on AOL, Vox and how things came to be,
The fine and often cloudy line between big corporate media and grassroots community media came into sharp focus this week in Oakland, when the Bay Area News Group, now managed by Digital First and promising a new focus on all things community, issued a cease and desist letter to The Occupied Oakland Tribune, a volunteer effort from the Occupy Oakland movement. I covered this story for my independent Oakland news non-profit, Oakland Local--and though it just said so much about where big media is today. (Alert: opinions follow).
Corporations need to protect their trademarks. Without a creative commons license, legal counsel at BANG surely felt they had to protect their trademark or risk diluting it. Ergo, C&d to the offenders, even if it's a grassroots, volunteer organization.
One group doesn't know what the other group is doing. Who hasn't worked for a big company at some point where the interests of one department slap right up against the interests of another? Surely no one bothered to tell Digital First/ANG honchos John Paton, Jim Brady or Steve Buttry about this letter, and maybe not BANG's Randy Keith, either.
Is community media talk--or walk? Can big newspapers stop seeing the community--and local media like Oakland Local or even OOT--as their competition and their enemies--and actually learn how to support independent voices? Let's say the *new* Trib is trying-or likes to say its trying--and then ask how far that perspective goes and how many legal,financial and policy decisions it informs--and what's just spin.
Unfortunately, if I worked at BANG in legal, I'd send that letter as well. But if if worked at BANG in management, or at Digital First, I'd damn well want to make sure I heard--before it happened---about company plans that reached out in and affected grassroots community--so I wouldn't be in the embarassing position--as one BANG staffer called it--of hosting talks with Occupy folks with one group--and sending them cease and desist letters from another in the same company.
And I'd also tell my reporters to attribute their stories--like this one from the Trib, that doesn't even mention Oakland Local breaking this story DAYS before they ran theirs. DOH!!
Corporations need to protect their trademarks. Without a creative commons license, legal counsel at BANG surely felt they had to protect their trademark or risk diluting it. Ergo, C&d to the offenders, even if it's a grassroots, volunteer organization.
One group doesn't know what the other group is doing. Who hasn't worked for a big company at some point where the interests of one department slap right up against the interests of another? Surely no one bothered to tell Digital First/ANG honchos John Paton, Jim Brady or Steve Buttry about this letter, and maybe not BANG's Randy Keith, either.
Is community media talk--or walk? Can big newspapers stop seeing the community--and local media like Oakland Local or even OOT--as their competition and their enemies--and actually learn how to support independent voices? Let's say the *new* Trib is trying-or likes to say its trying--and then ask how far that perspective goes and how many legal,financial and policy decisions it informs--and what's just spin.
Unfortunately, if I worked at BANG in legal, I'd send that letter as well. But if if worked at BANG in management, or at Digital First, I'd damn well want to make sure I heard--before it happened---about company plans that reached out in and affected grassroots community--so I wouldn't be in the embarassing position--as one BANG staffer called it--of hosting talks with Occupy folks with one group--and sending them cease and desist letters from another in the same company.
And I'd also tell my reporters to attribute their stories--like this one from the Trib, that doesn't even mention Oakland Local breaking this story DAYS before they ran theirs. DOH!!
My friend Steve Spiker was at a Code for America announcement in San Francisco today that triggered some strong feelings on his part. And he's right on. Not only is Oakland--our town--right across the bridge from SF, we have tons of the CFA people living here. And yet...we're not, as a city, doing half of what SF is to support open data, live apps, etc.
Some of Steve's points that resonated with me:
"Many of our tech problems have been solved in other cities and all we need to to is pick from existing open sourced applications and implement them in our town."
And:
Steve, you are so right.
Some of Steve's points that resonated with me:
"Many of our tech problems have been solved in other cities and all we need to to is pick from existing open sourced applications and implement them in our town."
And:
From my work here are a few quick areas that I've seen solutions for either out of CfA or in the Civic Commons:
- Contracting processes: currently a small business contract with the city for perhaps a few thousand dollars requires the business to complete approximately 12 different documents, from word docs to locked PDFs, so they must print them all and fill them out by hand, and then submit copies. I can only imagine the city process for recording and managing these various forms when they are received. Take a look at the SmartPDF work in SF for a powerful solution, or just make the effort to combine all these forms into a single, fill-able PDF at the very least, and one day perhaps implement web based forms?
- Adopt an Open311 system for calls for service. This platform, developed in SF and DC is an open source 311 system that has open connectors and a new public dashboard feature developed by CFA. Very powerful and no proprietary software required.
- Work with the county to build a unified property addressing system.
- Implement Classtalk.org across the OUSD and help our teachers keep in touch with their students via SMS - perfect for a community with low internet access at home!
- Implement ChangeByUs, a great new tool for community engagement and collaboration.
- Implement an OpenData policy and work with our tech community to build an OpenData portal for our city. Free up valuable city data to encourage innovation, engagement and new startups! We're doing this anyway, but it should be supported by our city!
Steve, you are so right.
"What is the personal genesis of self-empowerment? Are there invariable, atomic elements common among these experiences? If so, what is the most effective way to infuse the largest number of people with these positive experiences in a way that successfully engenders autonomous power for each given individual? "
May May, maybemaimed.com, http://bit.ly/vPBkDP
Great post by May on his journey, asking some questions I want to think about as well:
Doing more with less: "It's all just stuff I don't need, distractions I can't afford, things I hardly used. The only reason I have them is because I was afraid of not having them, because I was made to believe I was supposed to have an apartment, with stuff, purchased using money from a job I don't like to make me feel better about having that job I never really even fucking wanted. And now, I'm not so afraid of that anymore."
Doing work that matters: "What is my career when I have achieved, for me, an unprecedented level of recognition after 8 long years of being in the workforce? What is my contribution to my own future, and to people like me who are still young children today?"
We make our own home inside us--or we don't: "Maybe I never had a home. Or maybe I ought not have defined "home" so narrowly."
May May, maybemaimed.com, http://bit.ly/vPBkDP
Great post by May on his journey, asking some questions I want to think about as well:
Doing more with less: "It's all just stuff I don't need, distractions I can't afford, things I hardly used. The only reason I have them is because I was afraid of not having them, because I was made to believe I was supposed to have an apartment, with stuff, purchased using money from a job I don't like to make me feel better about having that job I never really even fucking wanted. And now, I'm not so afraid of that anymore."
Doing work that matters: "What is my career when I have achieved, for me, an unprecedented level of recognition after 8 long years of being in the workforce? What is my contribution to my own future, and to people like me who are still young children today?"
We make our own home inside us--or we don't: "Maybe I never had a home. Or maybe I ought not have defined "home" so narrowly."
I'm blogging again.
Or, I'm resolving to blog again, but actually meaning to do it.
Or, I'm just blogging again, dammnit.
Back in 2002/2003, when I started to blog, it was the coolest thing possible.
Two years ago, I was in the throes of a start-up (Oakland Local), and blogging seemed redundant with all the Twitter, Facebook, social media energy.
Here we are at 2012, and even with Tumblr (susanmernit.tumblr.com), Pinterest (just checking it out) and Google Plus (profile here), there are still things I want to say that the blog seems the right format for. So here, we go.
Why blog?
Or, I'm resolving to blog again, but actually meaning to do it.
Or, I'm just blogging again, dammnit.
Back in 2002/2003, when I started to blog, it was the coolest thing possible.
Two years ago, I was in the throes of a start-up (Oakland Local), and blogging seemed redundant with all the Twitter, Facebook, social media energy.
Here we are at 2012, and even with Tumblr (susanmernit.tumblr.com), Pinterest (just checking it out) and Google Plus (profile here), there are still things I want to say that the blog seems the right format for. So here, we go.
Why blog?
- Social media is a bit like circling the drain unless you have some real content assets to share--or you like to chatter (and the short form is an art.)
- Tumblr is a magnificent reclipping and image/photo/video sharing service, among other things, but it doesn't feel like blog post land to me (tho if I didn't have a blog, I'd definitely have a tumblr first)
- Pinterest is ladies over 40 who like to do something tumblr-esque inside a walled garden. It's the new Vox. m'thinks. (Cool, but not my focus.)
Who else is experiencing a revival of interest in blogging? Anyone getting their words back?
It's almost 4 PM on December 31st and I'm already mentally using the new year on the checks I have to write. Last year was the first year I made resolutions I actually kept, and the two I made really did improve my life (one was sleep an hour more every day, and it seems to have pushed me from 6 to 7 hours of sleep on average each night, which is what I really need; the other was to go to the gym and do aerobics/a weight circuit and stretching 3X a week, and I have pretty much done that as well).
So, this year, I want to make more resolutions, and keep them all, so I am going to list them here so friends and family can check in and see if I am doing what I said I was going to do. Here's a working list of personal resolves:
So, this year, I want to make more resolutions, and keep them all, so I am going to list them here so friends and family can check in and see if I am doing what I said I was going to do. Here's a working list of personal resolves:
- Get a full baseline medical check up. (I HATE going to the doctor.)
- See my son once a month if possible, but not less often than every 6 weeks (because he is the most interesting person ever and I love him).
- More time for friends on a weekly basis (hear that, everyone--PLEASE invite me to do stuff and see you!)
- LOSE 30 pounds. (Ouch! I have I would do this so many times that if I'd done it before, I would have disappeared by now, but I am going to put some strong focus and intention on doing this in a consistent and healthy way in 2012.)
- Be active every day. What can I add to that 3X a week gym routine that keeps me sweating and moving? and having fun?
I will post some work and career-related resolutions as well; going to sit with these for now.
So tomorrow morning is the big Christmas breakfast. We like to cook, so we're cooking.
Menu:
Menu:
- Home made three-fruit marmalade (bright and fresh)
- Home made lemon oxford cut marmalade (dark and more tart)
- Cranberry-Hazelnut quick bread
- Banana bread with pecans and dried cranberries
- Leek and bacon quiche
- Leek quiche with mushrooms (for those vegetarians)
- Citrus fruit salad (love those fruits in the winter)
- Berry-melon fruit salad (what my partner likes)
- Coffee
- Tea
- Sparkling bubbly drinks for those who want them
- Home made ginger ale (made ginger simple syrup last week)
- Christmas cookies (friends will provide
And then there will be:
- Talk
- Walk
- Playing with dog
- Opening presents
- Friends, family, fun
Photos to come
Learning from failure and not giving up two early are traits that lead to success, in my experience. The mistakes I made with my first start up lead to the resolve to not make those mistakes again, and to a very viral response to Oakland Local. Hanging in there has kept me at making Oakland Local work financially even when I've gotten totally fed up and discouraged.
But I question whether persistence is always a good trait. I think my persistence has led me to hang on too long in other areas where a more sane person would have packed it in. I've stayed in personal relationships, friendships, and professional organizations after it really made sense to hang on, not always for the better.
I'm thinking ahead to 2012, and knowing I need to ask myself questions about how much I am willing to change and move on in 2012. I think I am at one of those points again where I need to get out of my comfort zone and change some established behaviors around food, exercises and relationships--those things that truly, end up reflecting what the priorities really are, versus what I say they are.
I know this is all deliberately a bit obscure, but I can feel myself starting to question some things.
But I question whether persistence is always a good trait. I think my persistence has led me to hang on too long in other areas where a more sane person would have packed it in. I've stayed in personal relationships, friendships, and professional organizations after it really made sense to hang on, not always for the better.
I'm thinking ahead to 2012, and knowing I need to ask myself questions about how much I am willing to change and move on in 2012. I think I am at one of those points again where I need to get out of my comfort zone and change some established behaviors around food, exercises and relationships--those things that truly, end up reflecting what the priorities really are, versus what I say they are.
I know this is all deliberately a bit obscure, but I can feel myself starting to question some things.
Okay, it's that moment when the last breath of the year hurrumphs and lumbers forward before it's time to change the dates on the checks (and everything else). This is usually the moment when I start looking forward, but I am going to look back and ask "What tools and resources went viral for me in 2011?"
1. Storify
I love Storify. The new design is confusing, accessing current data from the Twitter and Facebook APIs is pretty chancy, but the basic capability to put a narrative together using social media content , hashtags and text is just superb. I covered everything from a teen group competing on a national TV show to Occupy Oakland using Storify.
2. Gmail filters and folders and labels
After my 300+ emails a day threatened to drive me insane, I did some serious research abut managing the inbox and took advice from Lifehacker. Strategies?
1. Storify
I love Storify. The new design is confusing, accessing current data from the Twitter and Facebook APIs is pretty chancy, but the basic capability to put a narrative together using social media content , hashtags and text is just superb. I covered everything from a teen group competing on a national TV show to Occupy Oakland using Storify.
2. Gmail filters and folders and labels
After my 300+ emails a day threatened to drive me insane, I did some serious research abut managing the inbox and took advice from Lifehacker. Strategies?
- Create filters for everything and everything not essential straight to the folder to refer to later.
- Use the labels "Action Needed," "File me" and, in my case, "Story possibility" and "Ad prospect" to sort mail.
- Delete!
3. Music: Renting, not buying
I started paying for two music apps in 2011. I'd started with Pandora, which I love, in 2009; I'm now also paying for Spotify. The Pandora investment led me to British composer and pianist Helen Long, whom I adore and play all the time when I work; the Spotify investment allowed me to check out and play selections from several of the collections that the NY Times' Jim Fusilli named as top albums (for want of a better word). I'd never heard Paul Simons' "So Beautiful or So What" before. Wow.
4. Going to the gym 3 times a week and doing my circuit
I've been going to the gym for more than 2 years, but this is the year I've somehow internalized that I need to go regularly--and do aerobics and lift weights (and stretch). The consistency is hard-won, but hopefully not too fragile.
5. Kindle/e books
Amy Gahran got me to try her old Kindle and I got hooked. I've now bought two Kindles as gifts for family members (and linked them to my account) and downloaded more than 83 sample chapters and 38 books to my device (Some of the books are classics from Gutenberg). My rule is the Kindle is for travelling and actual books are for home, but I'm still sampling chapters like crazy on the Kindle, even at home. And it's great.
6. Kale & Mustard Greens
We didn't become vegan, and we didn't quite go paleo, but we did embrace the dark green veggie thing, big time. I have passed through the making kale crisps with curry in the oven phase (I think), and am more in the sauteed greens at many meals a day stage.
7. Excel
My partner is a math wiz who dreams in Excel; I have been fighting a math block that kicked in as a teen all my life. It's all A's doing that I can do do things like forecast prospective value, all on my own, through the wonders of Excel.
8. Netflix for TV/Cable series
Gave up TV in 2008, got Netflix in 2010. 2011 was when I discovered TV series had changed. In the past year, I have very much enjoyed making my way through:
- Dexter
- Saving Grace
- Drop Dead Diva (gave up on it, kinda)
- The L Word
- Breaking Bad
I tried True Blood and Glee, but they didn't stick.
9.Family ties
I'm waaay too busy, with a job and a startup (okay, two jobs), but that makes maintaining close ties critical. My partner, my son, my siblings, my close friends...I made more effort this year to hold onto these connections, not that I always succeed as well as I might have. (And I won't mention the great friends I need to see MORE.)
10. Planning events
I've been planning events most of my life, but really got in the groove this summer with Code for Oakland and the InOak lunch series. Now planning lots more for 2012. Fun--and a play to your strengths kind of thing for me.
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