Why Sound Publishing has been so great to me for 2 years
For those of you who haven’t heard, today is my last day with Sound Publishing. I’ve taken a job with KIRO TV as one of their web producers (and, FYI, we’ve chosen someone to replace me, though I can’t say who it is just yet). In a nutshell, I’ll be helping them adapt their TV news for the web (as well as some other things). It’s an amicable split for myself and Sound and I leave with nothing but deep gratitude and respect for everyone I’ve worked with these last couple years.
Live from #Gnomedex, Day 2
Day 2 of Gnomedex has been pretty friggin’ awesome. Here’s a quick recap:
TechMavens.com goes live
Shauna Causey and Melody Biringer officially launched the site for their new network, Tech Mavens, which seeks to connect women in tech with good role models. You could learn a lot from the Tech Mavens squad no matter your gender, but if you’re a young woman in the tech business or if you know one, I’d highly recommend checking out the site and keeping your eye on it.
Gender neutral: Help them figure out a color for their logo (Tech Mavens is still very young). You can’t see the options at the permalink for some reason, but you should be able to see the options on the home page.
Oh, and guys? A few words from Shauna: “I need to add: Tech Mavens is not a dating site” (tongue-in-cheek, of course, but also probably somewhat serious).
Scott Draves (momentarily) stuffs everyone in Room 23 from LOST
I’m still trying to figure out what the hell Scott does, but here’s my best shot: He writes algorithms that create crazy, moving histogram images and then open-sources (some of) the algorithms so other people can contribute to them and change how they look…in real-time. Or something. All I really understand is that what he does is awesome and it confuses the hell out of me, so I’ll bullet point some resources:
- Here’s a Wikipedia page on what, exactly, Scott does;
- Here are some of the images he’s created;
- Here’s what it looked like when he turned out the lights and subjected us to some techno/brainwash video;
- And here’s, more or less, what that video looked like (via the website for one of Scott’s more famous projects, Electric Sheep):
Scott and Alex Mueller showed off their still-in-progress sustainable farm
This, combined with Scott’s presentation, have made Day 2 the “pleasant surprises day” because I honestly didn’t expect to find their presentations so interesting. Scott and Alex basically dropped everything a while back, bought some land out by Spokane and started building a sustainable farm that they plan to eventually live on (they’ve been camping for a while now).
You should check out their website, particularly the timeline/map, which lays out everything they’ve done up to this point. It’s kind of like the ultimate DIY project and they’ve relied a lot on social media and tech to help them along the way.
More updates coming, so check back later today.
[UPDATE: Wednesday at like 12:30 p.m.]
…Sorry, I got a little busy, but here’s what else was significant:
Jason Barger had a lot of good ideas, but his delivery un-sold me
Remember seeing Star Trek V for the first time and thinking, “This is Star Trek, but…”? That’s kind of how Jason Barger’s talk was.
In short, Jason wrote a book called Step Back from the Baggage Claim (I know because he said “baggage claim” or “step back from the baggage claim” about a thousand times during a 20-minute speech) which spawned a website, motivational speaking tour—pretty much a little mini-empire. The idea behind the book and everything else is pretty simple and easy enough to get behind: If you want to change the world for the better, the decision to do so has to start with small, singular acts (a slightly vaguer description is available on his site).
I’m all about treating people well and trying to spread that by example. But Jason’s delivery of his message was just…I’m trying to be diplomatic and polite here, but I just felt like I was watching an infomercial at 3 a.m. It seemed awkward on its own, but especially at a conference largely comprised of people who espouse the virtues of authenticity and originality. Talk to me, don’t come with a canned speech that you repeat everywhere. That’s all.
A couple dudes who made a Firefly fan movie gave out some of the best advice I’ve ever received
I’ve never seen Firefly so I won’t recap their whole talk, but here’s what one of them (Matthew Dougherty) said:
Get off your ass. … If there’s something you’re passionate about…just do it.”
I think that’s what Nike meant to say.
The Oatmeal is the funniest thing to come out of Seattle since Almost Live!
I don’t know how I didn’t know about The Oatmeal—actually, I probably did know about The Oatmeal and just didn’t know it. If you’re still in the dark like I was, The Oatmeal is a site run by Matthew Inman, who draws hilarious cartoons like this. I can’t properly describe Matthew’s talk, except to say it was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen at Gnomedex. Just watch it.
Things I missed
There are a few people and speakers I missed, but I will give them due credit in my Gnomedex wrap post, which will be coming up before the end of the week.
In the meantime, check out some of the presentations on Chris Pirillo’s UStream page.
What did you like most about Gnomedex? Or hate most? Or just anything? Drop a comment.
Live from #Gnomedex 10, Day 1
I’m hanging out at my third straight Gnomedex today, which Chris Pirillo says will be the last (he also confirmed it on the mic this morning). I’m posting pretty furiously (for me) from my Twitter account, but I thought I’d collect some of the highlights here and keep updating till tonight.
Quick reminder: You can watch the Gnomedex live stream for free.
Austin Heap is an effing hero
It’s tough to explain what Austin does without getting a little technical, but this Newsweek story should help and I’ll explain it by saying: He helps people rebelling against repressive regimes (see: Iran) stay safely anonymous on the internet. He also helped get Neda’s family out of Iran so they could speak out about their daughter’s death—it’s a movie on HBO:
Dead heat for annoying meme: Vuvuzelas or Twitter “star rating” system
RealNetworks decided it would be a good idea to give out Vuvuzelas (pictured). Possibly more annoying: an idea Chris Pirillo floated this morning (from someone else) to “star” one’s Tweets (on a scale of 1-10) as a way to rate what they’re talking about. For example:
Inception is the baddest-ass movie ever. @leodicaprio owned *10
Someone eventually yelled out “Star 9!” when Chris said something and then it started (almost) snowballing (oh crap, someone just said it again). Not yet a meme, perhaps, but a mini-meme. It’s a good idea for Twitter, but after 10 times in person, it’s lost steam :)
Microsoft might—wait for it…be cool again
They’ve got a Surface here (not sure if it has Catan on it) and Windows Phone 7, which, while it won’t replace my iPhone (or soon-to-be-owned iPhone 4) is a pretty respectable little device. I played with it for a bit. If I’d never handled an iPhone, I’d probably be all excited over it.
More updates to come, including an interview I did with my new employers, KIRO TV. In the meantime, follow me on Twitter or follow #gnomedex.
UPDATES (after 4:18-ish):
“Trust is maybe the No. 1 issue of our time. Maybe of all time.”
Todd Welch is a guy who made a 1,000-day journey to study the idea of trust. He talked about a lot of things, but the quote above is what really stuck out to me. Transparency—revealing who you are online—is thriving now, where 10 or 15 years ago, the idea of being who you really are online was less common. Now, proof-of-identity is how people legitimize themselves to others (think personal branding). I’ll have more on this in a future post, after I got into a great conversation on Twitter with @MenWithPens and @jdp23.
One day, you might have an iPhone in your arm
Willow Brugh talked about “Transhumanism”—the literal meeting of humanity and technology in the form of cybernetic implants that help us overcome our inefficiencies or disabilities. Key point, though: If you can’t run three miles, don’t wish for robotic legs—try to run three miles.
It was very similar to Amber Case’s presentation from last year, which was great:
If you want to get RT’d, make a Star Trek: The Next Generation joke on the #gnomedex hashtag
This went nuts on Twitter:
Transhumanism is awesome, but what about security concerns? Geordi’s VISOR was hacked and used to blow up the Enterprise-D #gnomedex
Back with more tomorrow.
I’m leaving Sound Publishing for KIRO TV—and my job is open
After two deeply educational and enjoyable years with Sound Publishing, I’ve made the decision to move on and have taken a job as a web producer with KIRO TV in Seattle. I’ve absolutely loved my time with Sound, but I’m excited to have the opportunity to work in Seattle (where I live) and to work for a broadcast company, which I haven’t done before.
I’ll have a lot more to say, I’m sure, as I move into my new job, but right now, I’d like to say some nice words about Sound Publishing by pitching my current job to you—some web savvy, forward-thinking journalist who’s looking for a gig with a really great company.
[UPDATE: We've chosen someone to fill my position, but everything I've said here about the job stands—it was awesome.]
For starters, here’s the link to the job post. Read it over so you get the gist of what’s required. Here’s what you can expect out of it:
We’re a company that’s transitioning from a print-first focus to a web-first focus. There’s work still to be done, but we’re miles ahead of where we were when I started two years ago, when the New Media department was just forming. We have a lot of smart, savvy employees who have embraced the web and really improved their sites—that isn’t to say there aren’t some who are still very print-minded. You’ll use a lot of your knowledge of the web to optimize content, but there’s also an aspect of teaching/guiding our editors and reporters. We have an intra-company blog and I’ve used that as a platform to share what I know and pass along interesting things that I see other people doing.
Probably the biggest part of the job is the aforementioned optimization of web content. This encompasses a lot of things: SEO, social media (our Twitter and Facebook accounts), cooperation with other sites/journalists, production of web packages and pretty much anything that will help improve our sites. I emphasize that last part because it is perhaps the best part of the job. You’ll have a lot of freedom to experiment and tinker with things, which any web nerd should absolutely love. If you think something might improve our sites for our readers, go out and try it and bring back some results. We subscribe to the “try early, fail often” credo.
Lastly, you will learn a lot from your coworkers. We have a veritable all-star team in the New Media department, so whatever you’re interested in—advertising, coding, editorial/ethics—there’s someone to learn from. You’ll do plenty of learning-by-osmosis, too, since it’s a small office and we talk and bounce around ideas a lot. Seriously—I learned at least as much in two years here as I did during five years of college.
There are a lot of great perks that come with the job, but I’ll let you figure those out. I highly, highly recommend this position and if you’re interested or if you know someone who is, please to take some time to check it out: http://www.soundpublishing.com/index.php/corporate/job_detail/8660/
I’d be happy to answer any questions that I’m able to answer, so don’t hesitate to drop a comment below or contact me directly:
P.S.- Thanks, once again, to everyone who’s sent along kind words and congratulations on Facebook and Twitter!
I was recently (re) invited to join Tomorrow’s News, Tomorrow’s Journalists, a group blog for journalists under 30 (note: if you’re one, go check it out and sign up). My first post for them is now up: Blogging: The skill that begets all others.
A big thanks to the editing/curating team over at TNTJ. I’m really excited to have the opportunity to contribute to a group blog with such a talented roster of writers. It’s also very cool to have the occasional post showing up on an overseas (British) site.
Please do check out the post and leave feedback over there.
When I first started experimenting with Foursquare, I took the go-big-or-go-home approach—which is to say, I checked in basically everywhere, with the exception of my home. It seemed all good and for the most part I was just going with the flow (and hey, check out these awesome badges!).
Lately, though, I’ve taken a different approach which I believe has made my Foursquare profile a lot more effective. The approach consists of two rules:
- I only check in if I’m willing and able to socialize –OR–
- I only check in if it adds value.
In other words, the days of checking in at the grocery store, the gas station and the gym are pretty much over.
There are two ways to look at Foursquare—as a game (re: badges and points) or as a social networking tool—and after using it for a while, I’ve decided that I’m more interested in the latter. If I’m headed to some social media mixer and plan on hanging out for a few hours, it makes sense to let people know I’m present. On the other hand, there’s really no social benefit to notifying people that I’m at a gas station because I’ll be gone in five minutes.
On the other hand: Maybe I’m only at the gas station for five minutes, but maybe gas there is insanely cheap. I’m obviously not going to meet anyone while I’m pumping gas, but I can leave a breadcrumb (“$2.69 for regular unleaded!”) that someone in my social sphere may find useful later on (value added).
How do you use Foursquare or how have your habits changed if you’ve been using it for a while? Drop a comment and let me know.
(And before anyone asks: I have no idea where, in Seattle, you can find regular unleaded for $2.69.)
WordPress.com users can now phone in their blog posts
The urge to make a “I totally phoned in this post” joke is overpowering.
WikiLeaks: Watch out for MSM ‘anti-non-journalist’ bias
Something I think is worth watching out for with regard to the WikiLeaks Afghanistan War document leak: Anti-non-journalist bias from mainstream media outlets.
First, let me be clear on what I mean by “anti-non-journalist”: I’m basically talking about the same sort of you’re-not-one-of-us attitude that some mainstream, old-school journalists are wont to take when a non-traditional news organization breaks a big story.
Second, let me assert that I can’t, as of now, cite any specific report or news organization that I feel is guilty of this. If I find anything that worthy of comment, maybe I’ll post it here, or maybe you can help me out by leaving a comment.
This is an important thing to watch out for (and will continue to be as more and more non-traditional news outlets break legitimate news that the mainstream piggybacks on) because the bias/narrative gives mainstream journalism what it so desperately wants once again: power and relevance (moreover: from MSM’s perspective, these two ends are accomplished from a politically non-partisan perspective). In other words: a story breaks, it percolates through the web, but it’s not really fact till the mainstream press has had a look at it and weighed in.
One last wrap-up of the #sleepup
Huge thanks to everyone who helped make the Sleep-Up a success. A lot of people have asked me similar questions, so rather than sit here ruminating on my thoughts, I’ll let them come naturally as answers.
We got some great media coverage and it may be illuminating to check out the following links:
- Swedish Sleep Study | Q13 FOX
- KOMO Newsradio interview
- Swedish patient wants you to watch him while he sleeps | seattlepi.com’s Big Blog
- Can’t sleep? Watch another person’s sleep disorder testing | Mashable
- A few more links are also available on the Sleep-Up In the News page
On to some of the more common questions I’ve received:
Wasn’t it weird having a bunch of people watch you sleep?
I’ve yet to come up with an answer to this that I think has satisfied anyone. The truth is, it just never really occurred to me to think of it as a big deal. I wouldn’t want to do this night after night, on a regular basis, but one go-round didn’t bother me. I don’t know how many people realized this, but when you go in for a sleep study, there are people watching you sleep anyway—in other words, that little infrared camera wasn’t specially installed or anything; it’s there all the time. I’m the type of guy who is just as comfortable speaking in front of one person as I would be in front of three thousand, so maybe it’s a personality trait or something like that.
In a sense, it was almost more comfortable having a bunch of people watch. If there’s only one person watching, which is generally the case with most sleep studies, your night’s sleep remains this private, intimate thing, only you’ve shared it with one other human being who you barely know. When you open up that experience to the whole world, you basically shatter the intimacy aspect and disarm the situation. (Note: This is not intended as any knock of any kind toward the sleep techs at Swedish who were very personable, professional and friendly every time I met them. I would’ve had no problem sleeping for an audience of one or two and in fact, if you’re thinking of having a sleep test in the Seattle area, I would highly recommend Swedish’s Cherry Hill clinic.)
How did you sleep with all those wires attached to your head?
The wires weren’t that distracting or uncomfortable. I think it helped a lot that I didn’t have a lot of hair on my head to get in the way of all the adhesive and whatnot, but even if I had a full head of hair, I don’t think it would’ve been too bothersome. The wires aren’t stuck down with regular medical tape, either; first they put down a sort of anti-adhesive (to make it hurt less when they ripped the tape off the morning after) and then they applied this paste that I think (a) helped hold the electrodes in place and (b) helped conduct an electric current.
There were a few points—mostly when I first lied down to go to bed—where I was really itchy (I suffer from psoriasis) and the wires kind of got in the way of me trying to scratch my face, but other than that, they weren’t a problem.
How well did you sleep?
I was in bed for 6.4 hours and technically asleep for 5.2 hours, which I would characterize as a pretty average night for me. I did wake up a bit and had several spans of light sleep where I was conscious of being in a bed, in a room—that’s not every-night average for me, but it does happen about once every two weeks. Given the circumstances, though, I’d count it as a successful night.
What was your goal—personally—with regard to this project?
I think going into it and still now, my personal goals were more focused more toward the social media end of this project. To sit here and pretend that going around proselytizing about sleep apnea is some ambition of mine would be inauthentic. I’ve done some research, I’ve met with some doctors and I know that it’s a serious condition for some people, but I can’t honestly say that, if I were celebrity for instance, it would be my crusade.
Social media on the other hand, is an emerging form of communication technology that I’m quite passionate about. As a journalist, I’ve often been tasked with what we always heroically refer to in the industry as “giving a voice to the voiceless.” Fact is, though, even if a journalist gives a voice to one person who may not otherwise have one, there are still tons more out there. Social media doesn’t completely level that field, but it goes quite a long way. Our Sleep-Up harnessed the two-way conversation that is social media: I Tweeted/commented on my experience and people who were maybe a little interested (either in the sleep study or in the slightly voyeuristic novelty of a guy broadcasting himself on the internet) perked up and started asking questions with the implication that Oh, crap, I think I might want to go get tested. (Note: Yes, someone (almost) literally said that, which to me made the whole thing a success before it even happened.)
(My question) How could the Sleep-Up apply to journalism?
This blog is, after all, focused on applying new media to the journalism industry, so I thought I’d jump in with this quick observation.
We like to think of ourselves very heroically in the journalism industry and if you listen in, you’ll often hear the phrase that we “give a voice to the voiceless.” To me, that was the old way. Social media has given a voice to the voiceless: their voice. There’s probably a fair bit of luck involved with, say, making a video go viral, but the fact is, people are much more empowered today to get their thoughts/complaints/fears/aspirations/etc. out into the public forum than they were 20 years ago (or even 10 years ago). There’s no longer this middle-man that people are forced to filter their message though (re: I can blog for as long as I want, whereas I’ll have to first pitch my story to a journalist, convince him it’s worthy of being told and then distill it down into maybe a dozen paragraphs and quotes, not all of which are mine).
That isn’t to say journalism doesn’t have an important role. For all our heroic talk of journalism, there’s one aspect we don’t talk about enough: being an advocate for one’s community. This is an arena a lot of us have shied away from, probably because of a (perceived or real) partisan split among news consumers and a genuine fear by the journalism community of being called biased (journalists fear that label as much as a normal person would fear “racist”). It’s sad because where journalists and news organizations have failed to passionately embrace the issues within their communities, regular citizens have taken to blogs and filled in the cracks. Despite that, news organizations still hold a great deal of visibility, for the time being at least—possibly the only chip they have left. Whereas we generated visibility for the Sleep-Up with a unique idea (and some damn hard PR work by my colleagues), many news organizations are already a step ahead because they already have an audience. We reached out to the sleep-deprived community by dancing a jig to make people look and then saying There is no ambiguity here; this is a legitimate medical issue. Again, news organizations are terrified of bias, but even the most militant centrist would have to agree that on several issues, there is no moral ambiguity. Some things are simply the right thing to do and some things are simply wrong. Harnessing those issues, putting a unique spin on them and then inviting people into the learning process (this is where tech/social media comes into play) is a path to true community engagement and could endear news organizations to their home town communities once again.
Are you still taking questions about this?
The Sleep-Up’s over and things have kind of tapered off, but I’m happy to answer anything else you might want to know. Drop a comment here or contact me on Twitter and we’ll keep the conversation going.
Till then, have a good night :)
Source: dominigs' Flickr page
This may go down as one of my weirder social media projects, but tonight, I’ll be doing a sleep study at Swedish Medical Center on Cherry Hill and while I’m sleeping, you’ll be able to watch me on the internet. This obviously and immediately brings up a few questions—chief among them:
WTF?
Swedish is calling it the inaugural “Sleep-Up,” the point of which is to raise awareness for sleep apnea (which is what I’m being tested for) and other sleep-related disorders. Aaron Blank, a PR consultant with The Fearey Group and the person who helped get me involved as a guinea pig, summed up the point of the project quite well on his blog:
More than 50 million adults in the United States have a chronic sleep disorder. Sleep disorders tend to cause daytime drowsiness, fatigue and distress, which can profoundly affect family life, workplace performance and driving safety. Drowsy driving crashes alone cause at least 1,550 deaths, 71,000 injuries, and $12.5 billion in monetary losses. Additionally, sleep disorders can impact a person’s health. Fortunately, sleep issues are treatable and curable.
Sleep issues can be embarrassing, and often people prefer not to talk about it. We’re hoping we offer these individuals an opportunity to discuss it openly, and online.
You can read more about it on the Sleep-Up site or in this Big Blog post.
Why are you doing this?
Two reasons, really:
One, I’ve had sleep problems for a long time. While I wouldn’t necessarily call them debilitating—if necessary, I can function off four hours or less—they have occasionally been frustrating. Despite that, I can’t say I’d ever go have a sleep study done if I didn’t have some other reason to do so. I’ve known Aaron for a little while, he’s a good guy and I think he and Swedish have the right idea with what they’re trying to do. I’ve always said that with regard to getting your message out, you have to be where your audience is, no matter where that is. Well, what better place to engage the sleep-deprived than the internet? Ideally, one or a few of them will engage with this project and realize that maybe they don’t have to suffer in silence when it comes to sleep loss or discomfort.
Why do you feel it necessary to put your name and face out there?
In the spirit of the fact that this is a social media project and I’m participating in it, I wanted to give it some (and I stress some) publicity by putting it on my blog. Besides that, I’m probably going to be Tweeting my observations anyway and…I guess I just really don’t care who knows I have (or don’t have) sleep apnea. It’s not like it’s an embarrassing affliction or anything and besides that, I’m not the first guy to take his medical issues to the internet.
Look, I believe in social media because it’s an interesting and practical way to connect with people who I wouldn’t otherwise come into contact with. And if you haven’t noticed, social media has the power to do real good. I realize we’re not curing cancer here or anything, but if we can make social media work for this one thing, maybe it can scale for other (dare I say more serious) ailments, too. If you haven’t noticed, social media is being integrated into your health care anyway.
Uh, so what are you going to do if you can’t sleep?
I’ll have a bunch of wires plugged into my head, so this is at least a little likely. Also, the study starts at 10 p.m. and I do not go to sleep at 10 p.m. So here’s what I’ve got on tap:
- Blog/Tweet/etc. (duh);
- Watch the final episode of Lost again, in its “enhanced” version;
- Try to finish reading 1984 (which I started in about September).
Come chat if you’re up tomorrow night.
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