@ jeffreyrbunch

Jayhawk from lobby of Lawrence Journal-World

I just returned from a  conference that brought some things into sharper focus for me about the future of journalism, particularly digital publishing.

Last week’s event was an invitation-only conference hosted by Mediaphormedia, the interactive division of the World Company in Lawrence, Kansas. The World is the publisher of the Lawrence Journal-World (LJWorld.com) and owner of several successful spin-off sites, including Lawrence.com and KUsports.com.

The World Company and some of its former employees (such as Adrian Holovaty, @adrianholovaty, who later founded EveryBlock.com) are also creators of the wonderful open-source platform Django. Another creator of the platform, Jacob Kaplan-Moss (@jacobian), still hangs out in Lawrence and was part of a World Company team that created a commercial version of the platform known as Ellington CMS.

It was my role as an implementer and user of Ellington that brought me to a “Summit” in Lawrence, a town that doesn’t know it’s small (which has also been said about the World company). The event was first-class and attracted a broad spectrum of publishers, Web editors, advertising managers, and Web developers. The room represented the types of stakeholders in the publishing industry who will have a big say in how journalism survives and thrives in a digital world.

The Summit was inspiring on a lot of fronts, but the financial success stories of several digital publishing efforts were most encouraging. In geographically diverse markets of all shapes and sizes, publishing companies are pushing innovation on both the content and revenue fronts. Their efforts are paying off with returns on investment that (in some cases) are well into seven figures of new revenue.  That’s impressive when one considers the relatively small size of some of those markets.

It should go without saying that great journalism (not just “news”) underlies those efforts in every successful market. Those companies succeeding on the revenue side are also the most connected with their communities on the content side. The best have also broken down the internal walls that have traditionally held back “newspaper companies” from making the transition to digital.  The old paradigms have shifted, rapidly, to new ones and these companies “get it.”

Some of the ideas are uncomfortable for those who are more traditional about “newspaper” operations. The digital world forces publishing companies to reinvent themselves in a more strategic way: advertising, IT, and the newsroom need to make plans cooperatively but execute in a way that maintains journalistic integrity.  Those in the room were encouraged to push forward.

One speaker at the event addressed those in the audience who might be risk-averse to being cutting edge or “bleeding edge,” as it’s sometimes called, saying: “That’s okay; you want to be in front of everything!”

One needs only look to the LJWorld model to find living proof of the idea. The company restructured its chain of command to reflect its digital focus: newsrooms were reshaped; advertising strategies refined; IT infrastructure was funded to support it all. The result has been continual growth of its offerings without a significant erosion in its print circulation.

Lawrence is an isolated market in the middle of the U.S. and the World has a daily circulation of just 16,889, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, yet its family of sites generate millions of pageviews every month.  Quantcast.com reveals LJWorld has demographics much broader than those of traditional “newspaper” sites. Its audience is equally split between the demographic age groups of 18-34, 35-49, and 50-plus. Quantcast ranks it in the top 7,500 Web sites (for audience size) in the United States.

The hallmarks of all the efforts by LJWorld and Mediaphormedia are innovation and dedication to quality.  Mediaphormedia is also highly customer-centric, continually asking for feedback on how they can improve their Ellington CMS and Marketplace products. They are never content and never bound by conventional thinking; qualities for all of us to emulate.

The new game is about audience and revenue development of all kinds: It’s about print readers and online viewers; display ads in print and online; on-site and Web search; and interactive products that deliver relevant information to customers where they spend time (especially on mobile and social media). It’s about niche content and niche revenues, the sum of which will equal a new, sustainable model for digital publishing.

Editor & Publisher Interactive Media Conference logo

Here are a couple of quick thoughts on the two keynotes – from John Paton and Josh Cohen – at Editor & Publisher’s Interactive Media Conference in Las Vegas this week that are generating some buzz in the online journalism world:

E&P: John Paton kicked off E&P’s Interactive Media Conference with a wake-up call

Mr. Paton was named Editor of the Year in 2009 by E&P, but it will most likely be his keynote at the conference that will generate a buzz for him around the Web. Paton, CEO of the Journal Register Company, had a direct message for the conference’s attendees: “Digital First, Print Second”. He talked in a frank manner about the “new news economy” and how publishing companies have largely failed to adapt but need to find ways to do so. He also detailed various measures his company has taken which have left “blood on the floor” but were necessary to cut legacy costs and allow the company to transform into a multi-platform entity. His group is also now a minority investor in Canada’s Canwest media company, so Mr. Paton will continue to be an important voice in journalism.

E&P: In Vegas, Google’s Cohen Details Experiments with Newspapers

I thought Mr. Cohen, Business Product Manager for Google News, was very measured yet direct in his comments: Journalism doesn’t need to be saved because it will survive, but it needs to be transformed. He also made it clear that it is the job of the industry, not Google, to figure out how to best reinvent itself. Yet Google’s efforts to partner with news media organizations show it understands the value of the industry’s contributions to its business model. He also pointed out how Google itself has to continually fight off challenges in its industry as the leader, much like publishers are now facing. Google stays on top by constantly innovating and improving. The publishing industry will need to do the same; its very survival depends on it.

Intel on Facebook

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Intel’s Ekaterina Walter (@ekaterinawalter), Social Media Strategist, about the company’s social media strategy, including its Intel on Facebook presence.

Intel generated quite the buzz last month at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2010) in Las Vegas for several reasons:

• The launch of its new Core® processors;
• Its crowd-pleasing interactive cube display; and
• Its new Interactive Directory for Facebook.

Intel has been a leader in social media through its Social Media Center of Excellence, based in the Portland, Oregon area. The small but powerful group helps the company to develop and execute on its worldwide social media strategy. The group’s long-term work was recently featured on the Harvard Business Review blog. See Intel’s Social Media Training – The Conversation – Harvard Business Review

Walter is part of a team which also includes Kelly Feller and Bryan Rhoads, among others. The unit works in conjunction with other Intel divisions, such as marketing and legal, on both internal and external efforts. Intel has worked closely with Facebook and outside developers to create a one-of-a-kind presence which is as innovative as anything else that Intel does.

Intel’s thought-leading approach to social media

The Interactive Directory on Facebook is just the latest in a long line of innovation by the company in the area of social media.

Intel was one of the first major companies to recognize the need to provide guidance to its employees, in the form of company policies, on the proper use of social media and its tools. The company took it one step further, developing a curriculum and certification program for employees: Digital IQ. See Technology@Intel · Intel’s Social Media Story… by Bryan Rhoads.

The goal is to provide guidance, policies, and company-wide tools to help Intel employees interact on the Social Web. Like most companies, it started out as a grass roots project when social media appeared on the scene and there were no guidelines in place. That scenario can create chaos and risk for a company, but now one like Intel has a resource.

Walter puts the team’s mission this way, “We help teams bring social media into their strategy and look overall at our presence everywhere: Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube … Where are we and how should we represent our brand?”

The trick is not to be controlling, but to give guidance (including legal review) so that interactions by Intel in social media are authentic, but with structure.

“It’s a very fine balance,” said Walter. “You don’t want to kill the passion, take it over and say, ‘Now we’re in charge.’ … Education is a huge part: talking about risk, branding, trademark, privacy, HR issues. Educating without pushing.”

The training spreads social media “IQ” throughout the company. The nimble team does a lot with limited resources for a global company the size of Intel, developing playbooks for social media efforts that teams can execute.

“We’re extremely passionate about all things and creative,” Walter says about the Intel social media team. “When you put us all together, it’s amazing what you can do.”

The process employed by Intel is one many companies can emulate.

“Start with objectives and do it right. Why are you on that platform? Then figure out how to execute on each platform,” says Walter. Then, just as important, adapt and evolve. “You learn every day by engaging with your audience on each platform,” she added.

Intel’s new Interactive Facebook Directory

The Interactive Facebook Directory represents cumulative learning by the company since it has been on the platform. It has four portal entries for diverse topics: “Developers, Products and Technology, Students and Educators, and Discover Intel.”

“It says, here’s our presence (on Facebook),” says Walter. “It’s the first one ever designed that’s interactive. It guides you to what you’re looking for or you can browse on you own. It’s really basic but really helps folks to understand where they can go. It helps people to understand Intel has a bunch of pages but these are being maintained.”

Walter says the goal isn’t to simply create a large community, but to foster an engaged community and provide customer service, sales, and marketing support. The Facebook portal is another way for a B2B or B2C user to get information about the company as a complement to www.intel.com.

The company worked with an outside developer to build the application for the specialized Facebook platform. It is also designed to take advantage of the strengths of Facebook and not play into its weaknesses.

“Facebook is not a broadcasting tool,” says Walter. “What it is, is it allows you to build relationships; I don’t care if it’s in your personal life, professional life, or a company strategy.”

Walter notes most brands are perceived as monolithic and cold, so these types of presences “add a little color to your voice, more authenticity to it.

“It’s a myriad of things,” says Walter. “The community might answer its own questions. It’s a self-supporting community, but they can reach out to us and know they are going to be heard. (The response) is ‘they are actually interested and listening.’ It gives you a sense of knowing your voice and trusting your voice.”

Whatever strategies companies want to employ on Facebook and other social media platforms, Walter has some advice on how to approach it: don’t automate systems (if you can avoid it), be sincere, and don’t be fearful.

“If you’re afraid, fear will hold you back. If you’re afraid, you’re never going to go anywhere,” says Walter. “We do work with PR to post key topics, but we’re not bombarding people with stuff. A little bit of attention goes a long way; the passionate will bring along people who are neutral. If a huge percent of your audience is neutral, convert them to loyalists. It’s all about the relationships. Relationships take time, take resources, but you need to do it right.”

Related media

• Intel’s Social Media guidelines: http://www.intel.com/sites/sitewide/en_US/social-media.htm
• Intel’s Interactive cube at CES 2010 (@Scobleizer)

WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt), center, at Word Camp Portland (#wcpdx) @beerandblog prefunction. Jeff Bunch, 2009

Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt), founder of WordPress, is one of the most humble (and brilliant) guys you will meet.

Mullenweg gave us one of the Web’s most useful tools from a simple desire to improve blogging for himself and, eventually, the world.  This blog is an example of the idea in action.

Mullenweg was in Portland, Oregon last week for the second annual WordCamp Portland (#wcpdx).  It was a wildly successful event, largely due to the efforts of event organizer Aaron Hockley (@ahockley) of Vancouver, Washington and a group of dedicated volunteers and sponsors.  The event at Webtrends (@Webtrends) brought many WordPress gurus to the tech universe that is PDX.

Portland is the scene of a tech-centered group of wild-eyed dreamers who are some of the most supportive and talented developers whose depth would be hard to match in any other U.S. city.  Only the Bay Area, Austin, and Seattle can come close to the geek mojo of this city.

WordCamp was just the latest in a series of events which are organized mostly locally but which draw attendees from throughout North America.  In the past year, there have been at least a dozen world-class tech/Web events here, including: Bar Camp Portland, Innotech, Web Visions, Internet Strategy Forum Summit, Digital Journalism Camp, Open Source Bridge, DjangoCon, LinuxCon, and WordCamp Portland.

“I’m not much of a coder,” Mullenweg admitted in an engaging hour-long Q&A with the audience last weekend in Portland.

Yet he explained how, back in the day, he dove into improving upon the unsatisfying existing blogging platforms (such as Moveable Type) by getting under the hood and writing a little .php script.  It became the WordPress platform, morphed into the non-profit WordPress.org, and led to the founding of Automattic (“Inspired by you Striving to create good. Nothing is perfect”), a rapidly building empire which he heads.  He also created the akismet spam-busting comment verification tool.

Mullenweg has rightfully been recognized with the distinctions of:

• one of PC World’s Top 50 People on the We;
• Inc.com’s 30 under 30; and
• Business Week’s 25 Most Influential People on the Web

WordPress describes itself as “A semantic personal publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability.” It meets all of those criteria and, with the support of a wide-ranging user community, is improved upon every day. The amount of themes, plug-ins, and the like are increasing every day.  Its rise is not unlike that of the iPhone and Apple’s App Store.  There is certainly not the volume of development going on as there is for the iPhone, but there is less noise and more quality.

It’s all about the concepts which underlie the most successful businesses in the world: creativity, passion, dedication to quality:

“I am the founding developer of WordPress, the blogging software that runs much of this site and millions of other sites around the world. The website says WordPress is “a state-of-the-art semantic personal publishing platform” but more importantly WordPress is a part of who I am. Like eating, breathing, music, I can’t not work on WordPress. The project touches a lot of people, something I’ve recently begun to appreciate. I consider myself very lucky to be able to work on something I love so much.” – Matt Mullenweg, from his personal blog ma.tt.

His next big thing (I predict) will be the WordPress social media platform BuddyPress. To see an interview of Mullenweg while he was at WordCamp Portland, check out this one by @CamiKaos of strangelovelive.com.

Here is a link to my Vimeo video channel, which includes videos from Portland’s Digital Journalism Camp and the Social Media Club of Portland.  One of the videos, due to account bandwith limitations, had to be uploaded to my other Vimeo account. All of the videos had previously been linked on my posterous platform for this site, now powered by WordPress.

Digital Journalism Camp, Portland – “Square Peg, Wrong Hole”

by jeffrey bunch 1 month ago
A panel discusses the challenges of online news content at the Digital Journalism Camp (@journopdx #journopdx) in August 2009 at Portland, Ore. “Square Peg, Wrong Hole, Why Your News Product Doesn’t Meet Consumers’ Needs.” Panelists; Carolynn Duncan, Founder, PortlandTen; Steve Woodward, CEO, Nozzl Media.