Cambridge Reporter Revisited
It seems that my foray into community publishing in 2008 has garnered some interest on the Twitter... There is some confusion, understandably, about who was doing what when and under what when.
I may do an in-depth post sometime on the whole experience, but for now I'll offer a simple timeline to clear the air:
(I'm doing this from memory, so I may revise these a bit after publishing)
June 2008: I launch CambridgeReporter.ca. it's a community-driven site where anyone can submit stories and opinion. It's intended to be more news than opinion - similar to NowPublic.com but on a smaller scale.
October 2008: TorStar sends me a friendly email about how they still own the Reporter name and they'd appreciate it if I could stop using it. Important to note that in Sept 2008 TorStar did not own any of the relevant URLs, but in October, CambridgeReporter.com suddenly appeared with syndicated content from the K-W Record. Update: Rabble.ca did a story about this here: http://www.rabble.ca/news/cease-and-desist-i-dont-think-so
Later in October 2008: CambridgeReporter.ca becomes CambridgeVoice.ca.
Spring 2009: The Cambridge Voice becomes The Cambridge Advocate under new ownership. (I'm totally drawing a blank on the timing here, so I'll update after a little research)
There it is - my best recollection of the events surrounding my involvement with the Cambridge Reporter.
On the Twitter, there's already talk about trying again to create a community-driven local news & opinion website. Stay tuned.
ShareFacebook just keeps growing (with grey hair)
Eric Eldon over at InsideFacebook.com has a great post outlining the growth trends at Facbook for January 2010. There are lots of pretty charts to look at, but I think the most interesting one is this:
Facebook Growth by Age and Gender (InsideFacebook.com)
It's getting harder and harder to dismiss Facebook as the domain of young people. Indeed, according to Eric's post, a full 60% of Facebook users are over 25. Some have suggested that the influx of older folks will drive the kids away and we'll see something new crop up for them - MySpace 2.0? For my money, this won't happen - at least not in the foreseeable future. The ubiquity of Facebook just makes things easier for everyone - if a little uncomfortable at times when you get a friend request from dear Aunt Agnes. Young Facebookers have figured out (mostly) how to manage these little inconveniences.
SharePranav Mistry on SixthSense Technology (TED Tuesday)
Welcome to TED Tuesdays on the blog. Each Tuesday, I will post a video from TED with a little commentary from me on why I think it's worth sharing. I don't want to compete with TED itself, so I'll be reaching back several months for these.
This absolutely blew my mind. The video pretty much speaks for itself, so I'll shut up now and let you watch.
ShareOh those questions!
So there we are (myself and the two older girls) in the car driving to the dump of all places when Hannah (4) blurts out "I don't think I want to have any babies, Daddy."
Woah. What? My mind suddenly filled with scenarios of jealosy and resentment towards the twins, etc. I quickly replied "Oh yeah, honey? How come?"
Her answer was very matter-of-fact: "I don't want a big cut on my belly."
Whew! Is that all? That's nothing! Now, I should have had my guard up as soon as we got anywhere near birth, but I was so sure of my answer that I plowed ahead. I dove in without checking for depth.
Confidently, I assured Hannah that not all babies require "cuts" to be born, and that, in fact, both her and Bella had been born without any cuts required!
Great, right? No, you see it, don't you... her next question.
"Well, then, how did I get out of Mommy's tummy?"
Panic. I blurted out the only answer that came to mind - it's served me so well in the past: "You'll have to ask Mommy when we get home."
The Punchline
Knowing the conversation on this topic was decidedly over, Hannah turned to Isabella and concluded: "I must have made my own hole."
ShareIt’s All In The Timing
I was recently reminded of this little story and thought I'd share.
I was at a "local search" conference and one of the keynote speakers was the owner of an upstart yellow pages publisher that was taking a huge chunk of the market share in a major Metro.
In the Q&A, the guy was asked: How did you erode the incumbent's market-share so quickly?
His answer went something like this:
"Ma'am, what do you do with your old yellowpages book as soon as the new one shows up?"
Her answer was, predictably, "Get rid of it."
He continued: "Of course! Which is precisely why we publish our book three months after the other guys."
ShareColin Who?
I'm a digital communications executive specializing in community engagement, social marketing, and online identity management currently serving asthe Associate Secretary, Communications, at the national offices of The Presbyterian Church in Canada.
I can be found on LinkedIn and Twitter and Facebook.
What I’ve Said
- Cambridge Reporter Revisited
- Clay Shirky on Institutions vs. Collaboration
- On The Twitter This Week: 2010-02-06
- Facebook just keeps growing (with grey hair)
- Pranav Mistry on SixthSense Technology (TED Tuesday)
- On The Twitter This Week: 2010-01-30
- On The Twitter This Week: 2010-01-23
- On The Twitter This Week: 2010-01-16
- Oh those questions!
- It’s All In The Timing
What You’ve Said
- @rdjfraser on Clay Shirky on Institutions vs. Collaboration
- links for 2010-02-05 : Being Presbyterian on Facebook just keeps growing (with grey hair)
- Arminta on Beautiful Decay
- Travis Jon Allison on Beautiful Decay
- Sarah on Beautiful Decay
- Colin Carmichael on Beautiful Decay
- James Deane on Beautiful Decay
- James on WordPress Image Handling Sucks (WP Wednesday)
- James on WordPress Image Handling Sucks (WP Wednesday)
- James on WordPress Image Handling Sucks (WP Wednesday)
Categories
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- Local Stuff (4)
- Mobile Post (6)
- Personal Stuff (38)
- Political Stuff (3)
- Random Stuff (36)
- Social Media Stuff (118)
- The Commute (9)
- Twitter Updates (19)
- Web Stuff (2)
The Cloud
On the Twitter...
- .@divorcewealth um, thanks for the DM offering help with "divorce stuff" - but since I'm happily married, no thanks. #unfollow 2010-02-11
- RT @mariobourque: lets see some resumes http://bit.ly/trapezewebdesigner Solid company, 1 of Canada's largest software co's, great benefits 2010-02-10
- this is not cool... www.theglobeandmail.com hijacks the keyboard shortcut for search-in-page and sends focus to their site search! Argh! 2010-02-10
- On a quest to regain my Mayoralty! Maybe the other guy will have to pull out due to a sex scandal. (@ Melville Cafe) http://4sq.com/7yn7la 2010-02-10
- The headline @acoyne was waiting for... ;) RT @andrewbrett: That's what she said. RT @TorontoStar Giambrone pulls out #voteTO #Giambrone 2010-02-10
- More updates...
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