When bloggers talk about the blogosphere to a room full of people twittering about their own blogs, it can seem like the world is coming to a crashing end. Luckily for all of us, this wasn’t the case at last night’s Mashable NextUp NYC: The State of the New York Blogosphere.
The event had 5 solid speakers talking about the various elements of the current NY and national blog landscape – ranging from the blog format’s impact on journalism to the underlying debate of how to get paid. Speaking of paid, while the event was one of the rare ticket-based discussions, Mashable’s Adam Hirsch made it clear ticket sales and proceeds were being handled by/going to the 92YTribeca. Since Bite graciously sponsored tickets for Katherine Cantor and I, we wanted to share some of the nuggets of wisdom from each speaker with all of you (for the low, low price of $4.95. You’re welcome.)
Matt Buchanan, Associate Editor of Gizmodo
Even calling some online content producers “blogs” is becoming a dated term. For example, Gawker produces content best described as media content, so why wouldn’t you call it a media publisher? In addition, as recent Gawker appendages, such as Defamer, have folded back into the main Gawker site, it seems more relevant than ever to call them a publisher.
Alana Taylor, Contributing Writer of Mashable
Online success is inextricably linked to an offline presence. Read, comment, tweet about your favorite online content producers, but make it a point to try and meet them IRL. As a college student attending NYU, Alana remarked that her interest in online journalism has landed her a speaking spot at this event, while had her focus been in print media, no one would be inviting her to speak for at least another 5 or so years. Simply having knowledge of the online space from a journalist’s perspective immediately places you in the ‘expert’ category in the world of journalism.
Caroline McCarthy, Staff Writer of CNET News/CBS Interactive
NYC has a rich legacy of media, but many new media and traditional media properties are having difficulty describing where they fall and where they’re going. A notable example is New York Magazine, a traditional property that extended successfully into an online property by turning columns into blogs.
Nicholas Carlson, Senior Editor of The Business Insider
Two key tips for blog writing / pitching to bloggers: 1. Use a direct headline that will grab your readers. Use a full sentence if you need to get your point across – you’re not paying for the ink. 2. Use profanity only as a direct description, not as a metaphor. No example needed.
Bryan Keefer, Director of Product for The Daily Beast
We’ve never paid for the real cost of professional content – advertising has been subsidizing the cost of newspapers, tv channels, etc. since the media industry was formed. Now that content is unbundled online (meaning you can get one story without having to buy the whole issue), the advertising model doesn’t fit as neatly, and the online advertising industry hasn’t matured enough yet to find a model that works.
BUT WAIT … as we’ve learned from countless years of watching infomercials like the Snuggie … there’s more! As a bonus for reading this far, here are some additional one-off tips learned/heard at the event. Please add your own in the comments and I’ll update the post later this week.
- Bundled content worked when you had to buy the bundle. Now, instead of writing/pitching one comprehensive story on a topic, company, thought – parcel it out into several smaller stories so each piece is captured and can be read/shared. [via Bryan Keefer]
- Social media is a great way for journalism hopefuls to bypass the “go-fer” internships (go-fer some coffee, go-fer the expense report, etc.). By starting your online presence early, media properties might even approach you. [via Alana Taylor]
- Presentations used to be 75% guest speaker, 25% Q&A. Agreed with Dan Latorre it’s time this starts approaching the opposite, with at least a 50/50 split should be used between presenting and questions.
- Send @Tamar awesome company schwag.
- PR folks take note – when you e-mail pitch a reporter, please don’t call them 5 minutes after doing so. Because let’s be honest, that’s kind of annoying. [via Nicholas Carlson]
- The blogs/online properties that will be successful are the ones that market another product. For example, WSJ.com –> WSJ subscription, Mashable.com –> Events, CollegeHumor.com –> T-shirts. [via Bryan Keefer]