Doing my best Ansel Adams of the computer landscape as I take part in the New Entrepreneuring 3.0 workshop on Thursday.
Somehow, I’ve made my way out to Boston to attend ONA11, the Online News Association’s annual conference and awards banquet that brings together, as the site says, “highly engaged digital journalists who are shaping the future of journalism and technology.” And not only do I have the pleasure of attending, but we’re honored to have been asked to participate on a panel this afternoon.
I say “somehow,” because when we founded Silicon Prairie News in July 2008, I don’t think any of us imagined we’d be playing a small part in shaping a new era of journalism, one in which there’s more access to world-wide publishing (thanks WordPress!), more distribution channels (thanks Twitter!) and more opportunity for community engagement and building (thanks Facebook!). It’s an exciting time to be in the ever-expanding industry, and when we find ourselves at conference such as ONA, we’re grateful to have the chance to connect with seasoned professionals who have set a high bar for us to chase.
Thanks to our sponsor
Our participation in the conference is on panel titled “Making It Work with a Small Staff.” I was invited to join the panel by Sean Blanda of Technically Philly, the Silicon Prairie News-type organization of Philadelphia. Also participating in the panel is Kwan Booth of Oakland Local, a non-profit media and capacity-building organization that promotes civic engagement and discourse on local issues. (Shameless promotion: If you’re at ONA, join us! Sean said he’s bringing beer.)
On Thursday, I attended the New Entrepreneuring 3.0 workshop put on by J-Lab, which explored business models, revenue streams, strategies and founding stories of startup news organizations.
While roaming the halls of the conference venue, the Boston Marriott Copley Place, I’ve seen a number of individuals from the Silicon Prairie, and I know of at least two panels with representation from the region: Matt Waite of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is on a panel today, “Cooking Up Tasty Apps” (which is actually the same time as mine … so come to mine!), and Sarah Day Owen of the Des Moines Register is on a panel Saturday, “#wjchat @ ONA11: All Qs, All As Welcomed.”
If you’re out and about at ONA yourself, please shoot me a “Yo dawg!” on Twitter, @dannyaway, or an email, danny@siliconprairienews.com, and we’ll try to sync up.
