A talk about women, entrepreurship, local media and Oakland Local given at AJEMC in Denver, August 2010.

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

5. Some
of
the
lessons
we
have
learned

6. We
have
faced
some
challenging
issues
“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.”

7. We
used
data,
logic
and
transparency
frame
a
response.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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

11. It’s
about
what
you
do,
not
what
you
say.
So
get
busy.
And
forget
about
asking
for
permission.
You
won’t
get
it.

12. Tell
me
what
YOU
think