REINVENTION=SURVIVAL
ONA Career Day
Susan Mernit
October 1, 2009

The first part of this talk
is about me—
The rest of it is about
you.

Brand: Mernit
--And living proof the future is
impossible to predict

Life is all about reinvention:
1990: Small press poet, editor,
activist
 I

2000: Vice President, Netscape.com, AOL
satellite

2003-2009: Blogger, consultant, Yahoo!
Senior Director, Tech Stars, Knight News
Challenge consulting Program Manager

2009, Back to the future of news: Founder,
Oakland Local: hyperlocal site, co-founder Public
Media Collaborative, volunteer organization,
consultant & trainer
NEWS FOR THE PEOPLE
oaklandlocal.com
LOCAL

As change accelerates,
how do you stay
motivated, refresh, renew
your work (and your life?)

Basic truths still apply:
• Remember to learn
• Fail fast
• Follow your passions
• Don’t jump without a net
But so do new ones:
• We’re tribal
• Social capital rules
• So does the Web
• Staff jobs may be (mostly) over

Welcome to the social media ecosystem
 44 Million Americans are on Facebook
 Roughly 24 million people use Twitter
 There are over 2 Billion photos on photo-sharing
community Flickr
 You are now connected to everyone on the planet
via Google searches
Are you part of this life stream or
outside the flow?
copyright, 2009, Susan Mernit, do not reuse without attribution. 3/3/09

The Game Has Changed
Even beyond Google, everyone is inter‐
connected
We’ve gone beyond centralized authori:es that
creden:al us—newspapers, universi:es, affiliate
groups
To crowd‐sourcing, networks, and the wisdom of
crowds
‐‐And you need to play to compete
copyright, 2009, Susan Mernit, do not reuse without attribution. 3/3/09

How do you show up on the Net?
 Who are you connected to? What do
you stand for?
 You cannot hide in a world of
referral, recommenda:on and
reputa:on
 And you have to connect
copyright, 2009, Susan Mernit, do not reuse without attribution. 3/3/09

Join the social media ecosystem
 What you need to have
 A blog—on your own or elsewhere
 TwiEer, Facebook, LinkedIn
 Flickr, YouTube
 What you get:
 Consistent engagement as a thought
leader & community member
 Relevancy
copyright, 2009, Susan Mernit, do not reuse without attribution. 3/3/09

Create community locally
 Use the great resources online—but also use real
world meet-ups, communities, organization
 Check Facebook, Upcoming, Meetup. BarCamp.org
for events

Redefine work (and ditch that big car)
 That job you had is probably over=let it go
 How do you make the new life work?
 New skills
 Lower expenses
 Personal relevancy, passion
 Networking & referral, not ads
 Phoning it is is over, for most of us, if it ever worked
 Let go of the past

Did I mention embracing joy?

And being relentless?

Thanks & Good Luck
 Susan Mernit
 Personal web site: susanmernit.com
 Twitter: susanmernit
 Oakland Local: oaklandlocal.com
 Twitter: oaklandlocal
 Also Public Media Collaborative-join us on
Facebook