Seacoast Arts Code of Ethics

Code of Ethics for Seacoast Arts: 

1. Be Independent.

Be impervious to outside forces; your work is entirely your own and successful reporting should not be influenced by factors beyond the website’s editorial board. 

2. Be Accountable. 

Mistakes will be made. What makes the difference is how we as a company deal with them. Admit mistakes as soon as they are realized, and we will correct errors in a timely and apologetic fashion. 

3. Remain Unbiased. 

We are all people, and we all have opinions, ideologies and thoughts that our writing is susceptible to. Do your best to keep your own opinions from seeping into your work. Objectivity and neutrality are the key to maintaining our reputation as a valued news source. 

4. Commit to Truth.

As journalists, our first goal is to uncover the truth and then report it as quickly and accurately as possible. We will not sink to speculation. Facts must be checked thoroughly. 

5. Be Open and Progressive. 

As a company, we will not become stagnant. We will be always open to something different or something new, and always in pursuit of moving forward and becoming better. We will always listen to each other’s ideas and take them into consideration, for in order to succeed, the company must always be moving forward to the next big thing. We will not be left behind. 

6. Maintain high-quality journalism. 

No matter what the subject, no matter what the deadline, quality comes first. Whether this is the quality of writing or the accuracy of the facts contained within, we will not run a story until it is deemed to uphold a certain standard of excellence set forth by the editorial staff. 

Coping with Failure

I'm not going to lie, I am terrified of failure. I do not take risks, I make overly calculated decisions and the possibility of failing is something that oftentimes holds me back from choices that I otherwise would be gung-ho about. However, through this class and reading online, it is clear that entrepreneurs do the exact opposite of what I just described. Entrepreneurs must be equipped to deal with the probability of failure, and instead of being held back, must push forward and take what they have learned and apply it to their next venture. I know it sounds cheesy, but the phrase "Learn from your mistakes" is entirely applicable to the world of being an entrepreneur. Very few get it right on their first try; fewer still get great amounts of success.

What I have learned from the process of taking this class is that there are many things I do not know nor understand regarding the business world, and I'm sure many people who go out on their own and try to create a company or a product feel the same way. Trial and error is necessary, and accepting the fact that there is a (large) possibility that your idea will not play out like you planned, whether conceptually or financially, is vital. Entrepreneurs should be afraid of failure — obviously everyone is — but failure should not be something that is going to keep them knocked down. Maybe a better way to word it is to be "wary" of failure; you are not impervious to it, but it is not something that will end you either. If you make every decision based on your inherent drive NOT to fail, those kinds of safe decisions might be what eventually leads to your downfall anyway.

Q&A with Nashua Patch Editor Carol Robidoux

Describe a little bit of your history in journalism.

I attended the College of New Jersey in the early 1990s and a professor advised us to "get a foot in the door" at a newspaper, "sweep floors if you have to," and make yourself known. So I applied for a job in the advertising department of the Bucks County Courier Times entering code for computerized ads, and got the job. Within a short time I got to know the City editor and one day approached him, told him I was a J student and would love to write a story for the paper. He assigned me a story on Pet Cemeteries, and I put my heart into it. The story ran and, 6 months later, they were hiring a part time news reporter. I applied for that job and when they asked if I had any professional writing experience I referred them to the story I wrote for them. I got the job. After graduation, I continued to work there and eventually applied for a full-time position. I became an award-winning news reporter and columnist, and launched a teen section, which continues to this day. In 2001 I was hired by the New Hampshire Union Leader as a night side news reporter, so I moved my family the 360 miles north for that job. 

 How does what you are doing now differ from working from conventional papers like the Union Leader or the Bucks County Courier Times?

Patch is more immediate. I am one person covering the entire city of Nashua, so it's also demanding. I can't cover every event or story, like a traditional newspaper tries to. I make sure I cover the "big stuff" in terms of breaking news, and I aggregate some stories from other sources, providing links to stories by other news outlets and giving them full credit for the stories. Once there was a gunman on the loose in the woods behind a supermarket. I had just come home to Manchester after working all day in Nashua, and when I saw the news alert about the shooting, I immediately turned on the police scanner app in my iPhone, and was able to report on what was happening via Twitter and Facebook, giving readers a minute by minute status update about where police were searching, etc. My editor was amazed at what I was able to do — more than any other news outlet actually at the story — because I was listening to the action and pulling up maps and posting them along with the updated information. Also, there was a freelance photographer at the scene who sent me great photos, so my story really was the most timely and informative for a news story that was unfolding. Newspapers can't provide that kind of information. 

What sets Patch apart from other news organizations?

Well back to the idea of entrepreneurial journalism, that was one question asked during the interview process, about how we felt about working independent of a newsroom. I got laid off from the Union Leader in 2008 and in 2009 became a regional correspondent, which meant I was basically an independent contractor of the news, and I sold my stories and photos back to the UL. The money was not great but I learned how to operate on my own, and even launched a news blog, which functioned much like Patch, before I knew there was Patch, called Derry Ink Link (I covered the town of Derry) and the people loved it. The Union Leader did not love it, and felt I was giving away their content for free, but I argued that the site could be monetized if someone would try, and we were getting to that point in our relationship when I decided to quit the UL and go with Patch. What sets Patch apart, on that note, would be that they think about news delivery in a different way. It's a completely different model than what newspapers have -- for one, there is no paper product or overhead to pay for up front. There is cost involved in equipping a reporter to work in the field remotely -- we all get Mac books, iPhones, cameras with video capability and air cards, so we can file stories quickly and efficiently from wherever we are.  But we also have a team of ad sales people who know how to sell Patch to advertisers based on how different it is and what it adds to the community. 

What advice would you give journalists looking to break away from traditional forms of journalism?

• Hone your writing skills so that you can write succinctly and effectively and quickly, but well. 
• There is no substitution for great writing.
•  Buy a good camera and learn to take your own photos. Not just snapshots, but learn how to tell a story photographically. 
• Play with video. It's easy to produce a 2-minute video that helps to tell a story, and readers feel engaged by video.
•  If you have those three skills, you can become your own news producer and start a news blog which becomes your resume. Post about things happening on campus, in your home town, with your friends, attend school meetings or events and report them like stories.
• Establish a voice for yourself. Use words to your advantage. Don't settle for tired, newspaper style reporting. Be lively and engaging. 

What does a typical day like for you?

As soon as I wake up, 6:30ish, I check email for breaking news over night and scan the news Tweets from WMUR/UL/Telegraph to see if I missed anything. After I wake up and eat it's non-stop -- lots of emails come in with story ideas, news briefs, police items, and so I post some of those right away, or plan them to post in the next day or two. On days when I have scheduled interviews, I head to Nashua. On days I don't have interviews, I work ahead on stories I've already done reporting for, or I go to Nashua to work remotely, and find new stories to work on for future days.

Where do you see Patch going in the future?

I see it continuing to evolved into something different -- more attuned to social media, where most people are not getting and sharing news. I hope it continues to grow and expand -- every state should have a Patch. 

What is your favorite thing about working for Patch

The autonomy, the feeling that I am a news agency unto myself. I have support from two great regional editors  who provide backup for days off/vacation, and who also provide stories of more statewide scope when relevant. Also, we are a team of 12 -- 2 editors and 10 local editors, and we meet a couple times a month to talk about the job and what works, a sharing of ideas.  But I definitely like controlling what goes on the site and what gets coverage, and how I cover it. We are encouraged to try new things, and sometimes when you try something that is successful, it's replicated by other Patch sites. That's pretty cool.

What advice do you have for monetizing a business like this, with advertisements, etc.?

You have to have something that's valuable to an audience, something that people see value in -- like NPR -- it's quality news and information that people are willing to support through a donation, and advertisers are proud to sponsor it.

Kickstarter Blurb

Every day in the Seacoast area, countless events pertaining to arts, entertainment and arts culture are presented, from shows in Portsmouth's Music Hall to art galleries at 3S Artspace, to concerts at Hampton Beach's Casino & Ballroom. However, with all these events happening, oftentimes some get lost in the shuffle, through incomprehensive coverage of local newspapers and magazines to a lack of an online platform to keep track of constantly changing event updates.

This is where Seacoast Arts comes in. A blog/calendar-based website, Seacoast Arts is devoted to providing up-to-date coverage on music, fine art, theatre, dining, literature, dance, film and comedy in the greater Seacoast area of New Hampshire. As the arts community is vibrant and attracts both locals and tourists, the need for a publication to accurately and quickly provide information regarding arts-related events is certainly needed.

Why fund us? Because there's nothing like this in the area. This website will elevate coverage of a vital part of the community and draw attention to cultural events that are normally passed by. Also, the website's focus on social media and 21st century technology will make it popular amongst a younger audience, with its easy-to-use interface attracting older users.

Spot.us

A lot of the stories that are found on spot.us are investigative journalism stories that are looking into injustices in the system. They are mostly stories that are trying to right a wrong that someone perceives in society. It is a lot of local news stories that might not otherwise get intense attention, but through the collaboration efforts of a community, these important stories can be told. The quality of the journalism seems as if it could be good if the right people got involved, and it appears that the people who are pitching these stories have a specified route they are planning on taking to tell the story in the best possible way.

Five stories I would fund on spot.us include:
1. A story on accessibility options in Yellowstone Park and Grand Tetons National Park ($25)
2. A story on toll hikes for disabled passengers on the T in Boston ($10)
3.  A story on the effect the Bronstein apartments are having on the city of Nashua, N.H.  ($10)
4.  A story looking into the effectiveness of the Oakland Police Department ($30)
5. A story on the struggle to preserve liberties when we are living in a society of tight security ($25)

And my funding goes to...

If I were given $100 and had to choose who to fund out of the five projects I listed above, I would divvy up my money as follows:

 I would not fund iCrates, since I think that it is too focused on vinyl music and does not appeal to a wide enough audience to be able to justify a 96-page edition once a year. A print magazine of that quality and size would need some excellent photos to justify needing such a medium, and I don't think that iCrates will be able to offer photo and graphic options for a magazine of that nature.

I would give Matter $50 because it has already established itself as an idea that has appealed to a wide audience and it presents itself as publication that values good journalism, which I appreciate.

I would give Hello Mr. $30 because I think it is a good idea that has a wide range of appeal and is a niche publication that would be able to easily find a market, since it prides itself on being different than other kinds of magazines directed at gay men. I would not give it more than this with the money I have, however, because I am concerned about shipping costs overseas.

I would give WhoWhatWhy and State of the Re:Union $10 each because I appreciate their ideas and I think that each of them do have a place in the journalistic world and deserve a push forward, but their ideas didn't speak to me the same way that the other ones did. WhoWhatWhy is a good idea, but I don't know how interested its audience can maintain after a while since their "problem" they outline in their pitch might not be easily solved just by their website. State of the Re:Union is a good idea, but I'm not sure how wide it will reach, as it is a radio show, and radio is not the go-to method of journalistic communication these days.

Journalism Kickstarter Projects: 5/5: iCrates

iCrates Annual is a high-end print magazine about music on final and independent music culture that is seeking funding on Kickstarter. Until now, iCrates only existed online, but now it is seeking funding in order to be a print magazine, which would be a high-quality print magazine with exclusive features and the best online content from the last year. It would be 96 pages with 25 features celebrating independent music culture, past and present.

Funding for this project began on Oct. 30 and so far, has raised $4,015 of its $26,000 goal. It has 26 more days to go, and 62 current backers, but it is going to need a surge if it is going to meet its goal on time. It's based out of Berlin, Germany, so unless Kickstarter is big over there, it is going to need some generous donors in order to meet its goal on time

Journalism Kickstarter Projects: 4/5: WhoWhatWhy

WhoWhatWhy is a post-election project that uses journalism in a way that keeps up with the promises and platforms candidates have made and upheld after the election is over, watching to see if anything changes in a society where the main population doesn't have time or is too distracted to focus on these issues. Its tagline is "When the election is over, the real work begins."

WhoWhatWhy started its funding on Oct. 24 and has raised $17,583 of $50,000. It has until Nov. 23. I think that even though it has a slow start, its funding will pick up, especially after the election when readers realize that there is a need for this kind of project. With 18 days to go, it has 62 backers.

Journalism Kickstarter Projects: 3/5: State of the Re:Union

Another project that is seeking funding on Kickstarter is State of the Re:Union (SOTRU), a public radio show that travels the country telling stories about people doing extraordinary work to overcome obstacles. It operates with the assumption that even though the current narrative of the United States shows that things are falling apart, when you zoom in, you can find everyday people who are doing excellent work to help each other, engage their community and overcome obstacles.

Funding for this project was launched Oct. 16, with a goal of $20,000. With 256 backers, it has raised $13,351 since then, and has nine days to go until funding ends. It seems like it could be successful, but I'm not sure if it is going to make its goal of $20,000 in just nine days, since it is only just a little more than halfway there money-wise, with only a third of time to go. Unless there is a drastic boost in donors toward the end, I'm not sure if it will make it.

Journalism Kickstarter Projects: 2/5: Matter

Another entrepreneurial journalism venture on Kickstarter is Matter, a project that has gained widespread attention, support and funding from the Kickstarter community. Matter is a new platform that supports quality, investigative, well-written pieces of journalism, instead of the low-quality, gossip columns often found on the Internet. Every week, it will produce one single piece of top-tier long-form journalism about big issues in technology and science. The project launched Feb. 22, 2012, and funding ended March 24. Its original goal was $50,000 and it surpassed that nearly 150% with a total of $140,201, with 2,566 backers.

Clearly, this idea has had a great deal of success since it achieved its original goal and then some. It says a lot about the power of an idea and the need that is still out there for solid journalism. According to the page, the idea reached its initial target in less than two days, further proving that good ideas can be easily recognized and rewarded.

Journalism Kickstarter Projects: 1/5: Hello Mr.

The first journalism-related project I found on Kickstarter that I found interesting was a twice-a-year magazine publication called Hello Mr. Its tagline is "More than just a magazine, it's the introduction to a new generation of men who date men." The project, which is asking for $20,000, has raised $7,014 so far and has 18 days until its funding on Kickstarter ends. The project was launched on Oct. 25, so it has been in progress for 11 days, less than half of the time it has on the website. As of right now, it seems to be achieving moderate success, as it has 146 backers and is offering incentives to its backers depending on the amount that they donate to the magazine.

One problem that Hello Mr. is having is that it is based out of Australia, where there is less attention on Kickstarter, so it's harder for them to get funding. Similarly, it is hard to attract American attention when  the magazine's owners know they will have to spend a lot of money to ship the magazines to the States.

Business plan

Overview: 

Seacoast Arts, a New Hampshire Seacoast-based website, is being designed as an arts and entertainment website focused on providing previews, coverage and features on local arts events, including, but not limited to, music, fine art, dance, theatre, literature, dining and film. The site  had its inception in September 2012 as it was realized that the arts scene of the area is vibrant, far-reaching, growing and in need of a 21st century publication that can compete with the ever-changing news structure reliant on social media and Internet interaction.It operates on a simple premise: Keep it clean, keep it simple, keep it updated. 

The site prides itself on its ability to deliver event information spanning the Seacoast region into a dual format of a blog and a calendar, while providing links to share the information via social media. It will attain a competitive edge by striving to include as many relevant events as possible with clear, timely and in-depth reporting. 

Highlights of Seacoastarts.com: 

> Wide-reaching audience: As one of the major draws of the Seacoast area is its arts scene, residents of the area and tourists to the area will benefit from this website. 

> Relationship with community: As a local, tight-knit community, Seacoast Arts will make it a top priority to create lasting relationships with the arts community, including music halls, theaters, bookstores, museums, etc. 

> Opportunity for advertisers: Also with such a localized community, the potential for advertisers is great and will contribute to much of our revenue. Arts and entertainment are commonly linked with dining and nights-out, making our site a go-to place for restaurants looking to make their establishment the go-to place for a dinner/date combination. 

> Easy-to-use interface: The main draw of Seacoast Arts it its promise that the interface of the website will be easy to navigate, while using many of the social media features that younger generations rely on to share news. 

Competitive market

Our main competition will be the publication The Wire, which has a website and produces a weekly print edition that it distributes throughout the area for free. However, we will have a competitive advantage over The Wire by utilizing social media and by using its calendar format as much as possible, a feature that the Wire does not use on its website. 

My key competition is other Seacoast publications that cover the arts scene. Newspapers such as The Portsmouth Herald and Foster’s Daily Democrat both have arts and entertainment sections, and recently, Patch produces arts content as well. These publications clearly have a base relationship with the arts community and are well trusted in the community to provide accurate, timely news and solid reviews. They have standard sections that they produce week after week and provide fun parts of their site, such as quizzes and competitions. 

In my research, it appears that timeliness and focus are one of the major issues of my competition. The ability to stay on top of constant updates and new information can often become a backlog, and when many of the publications do not produce their sections every day, things get lost in the shuffle. Also, many of the publications use national arts and entertainment news, as well, which detracts from the local feel of the publication. 

Mission Statement:

The mission of Seacoast Arts is to provide previews and coverage of local arts-related events in a direct, easy-to-use compilation of events, online. We strive to become the go-to website for Seacoast residents and tourists of the area alike to find out what is going on in the arts scene.

Company Summary: 

Seacoast Arts will have its principal offices located in Durham, N.H. but will extend its coverage to Seabrook, Hampton Falls,  Hampton, North Hampton, Rye, New Castle, Portsmouth, Brentwood, Danville, Dover, Durham, East Kingston, Epping, Exeter, Fremont Greenland, Hampstead, Kensington, Kingston, Lee, Madbury, Newfields, Newington, Newmarket, Newton, North Hampton, Plaistow, Rollinsford, Rochester, Sandown, Somersworth, South Hampton and Stratham. All operations of this company will take place from a leased office location. The company also plans to hire a staff of two editors and four staff writers. 

The website’s goal, first and foremost, is keeping the public informed of local arts-related events in the Seacoast area. The basic format of the website is as follows:

> A basic homepage. Half the page is a blog format, allowing visitors to view the events happening today. In the corner is the link to the calendar, with a video of the week spotlight on the bottom. 

> The calendar itself will be the main draw to the site. Users will be able to filter events by town or genre, or look at the calendar as a whole. Links on the calendar, once clicked, will access a pop-out bar of information on the event, including the article itself, and links to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and a web link to get more information on the event. 

Staff background

As an arts aficionado living in the Seacoast area, I will head the staff, which is slated to include one other editor and four staff writers. Staff writers will be responsible for doing research on events in the area and writing up articles based on press releases and interviews. These will be college-educated writers with specialties in the arts; if possible, I would like to hire writers with specialties in the different areas of the arts scene. 

As head editor, I will take my skills learned from writing for the Arts section of The New Hampshire for three years and editing for them for two, in addition to editing for The Record Enterprise and The Portsmouth Herald. I am also trained in page design, so will have the design skills necessary to upkeep a website like this. 

Finances

The company’s startup finances will largely be directed toward paying a programmer to design and create the website itself. From there, costs should be mostly for paying for hosting the website, paying for a server, the upkeep of the website and salaries for the editors and staff writers. 

The website will rely mostly on revenue from advertisements to fund its monthly costs. As previously stated, companies will be eager to advertise with the website because of its nature. Monthly costs will include the price of purchasing a web domain name ($9.99 per month) and the web server ($79.99 per month) both with GoDaddy.com. Up front costs will include the cost to hire a web page designer, a programmer, and instructors for the staff on how to maintain the website. It will be possible to do work from home computers, so no extra computers or servers will need to be purchased for the office. 

Input from the masses

Click to Enlarge 

Q&A about my idea

Question: I have read your idea and I would like to understand a little more about it. What need does this idea fill? Is this a need that you have yourself? Who would share this need?

Answer: This idea fills a niche of people in the Seacoast area who are very interested in the arts scene that the area has to offer, with an easily accessible calendar that takes events from different towns and venues and compiles them into a single website. Portsmouth especially is known for its cultural events, but it can often be difficult to know when everything is going on. I think that it will be used by people who live in the area and tourists who are looking to come to the area alike. 

Q: At this point you should have some idea of who the average user of your product will be. What is the profile of that person?

A: I think the profile of this person varies. The people who I see using this website the most are residents of the Seacoast area who are into the arts scene and are looking to see what is happening on any given night. I also could see tourists using this website as well, to look up dates that they may visit the area based on the events that are going on on any given day. 

Q: On Page 149 of your reading the "sticky test" is described. When you ran your idea through the "sticky test," how did it fare? How sticky is it? Go through each of the criteria specifically.

A: Simple: I want the interface of this calendar to be very simple and easy to use, complicated enough that it gives the user something unique but not so complicated that it difficult to use, understand or start using. The format will be uniform throughout, so it will be clear on how it works. 

Unexpected: I wouldn’t say it’s unexpected, but it would be something relatively new to the area as a different mode to consume information regarding arts. It isn’t exactly the most creative, original idea, but I think that it will be unique enough to draw interest. 

Concrete: I think because it is going to have a uniform format and an unchanging way of using it, success can be defined by how easy it is to use and how many people use it. 

Credible: It will be credible because the journalists behind it will be trained, unbiased, clean, good writers, and will be promoting the events to generate general interest, not to make a company or person look good as PR. 

Emotional: This product isn’t exactly emotional, but for some will really provide an outlet for something that they are very passionate about. 

Story: The story here is that nothing like this has been done before, and it will become an entirely new way the region consumes its arts news. 

Q: What problem or need are you satisfying for your customers? (Remember, the customers aren't necessarily the people who will be using your product. For example, television audiences aren't customers unless they pay for the product, as in HBO. The customers are advertisers.)

A: I am satisfying a need for multiple events to be compiled in a single, easily-usable interface, so that people looking for the best that the area has to offer do not have to search around on various websites. Instead, we will do the work for them to combine everything into one place and keep it as updated as possible. The fact that this will be linked to social media will keep everything updated and relevant, and will keep users engaged throughout. 

Q: We all have to live. Where is the money in this product?

A: There will be money in this product because it has many different areas of advertising available. Because it is directed solely toward the Seacoast area, businesses will want to get their ads in, especially knowing that many of the users will be looking for a night out. Restaurants will want to advertise, and there might be able to be some kind of deal promotions that can be worked with the website. 

Q: You are a journalist. Where is the journalism in this product?

A: The journalism is straight arts preview coverage, gathering information, interviewing sources, generating buzz about the event. It wouldn’t be PR because we wouldn’t be doing it for the event, but in general, the site would be used to publicize and promote all arts events in the area, provided that we know about them. There may also be room for coverage of events too, but the main focus will be on previews. 

Q: We've read that passion is key to success of a new venture. Money alone will not sustain it. So where is the passion in your product?

A: I have a tremendous amount of passion for this website. I have always enjoyed reading and writing about the arts scene, so being surrounded by it constantly will be fun and entertaining for me. I also get a lot of joy introducing people to the arts scene and what is out there, so an entire website that does so will definitely bring that about. 

The Idea

I have an idea to create a website that will cover the arts scene in the Seacoast area. The template for the website will be half blog-style, half calendar-style. The blog portion will list the day’s events, while the calendar can be broken down into a week format and a month format. When clicking on an event, a tab will pop up on the page with a short preview of the event, and ways to share the event via social media, and ways to check into the event via social media. It will color-code types of events into music, theatre, arts, dining and concerts, and the calendar will be able to filter the types of events as well.

Brief sketch of the website's interface 

Entrepreneur Bio with David Hand

David Hand in Ireland 

This Q&A is with my dad, David Hand, who started his own business "Hands On Video" with a focus on videotaping and editing local sports games in the area. 

 

Describe your background prior to starting Hands On Video: 

I started in video when I took a class up in Rockport, Maine about video production and operating a video camera. This started my interest in video production and I started doing things ... part time, doing weddings, working for the Chamber of Commerce. I job shadowed Tom Meagan in Concord as a tape operator to see if I liked it ... and I did. I started working full-time, on my own inn 1994, or '95 after working at a local cable station doing replay, a station that covered local sports. There was a segment called "Coaches Corner," we did a show called Pitstop about auto racing, and this, this is what I think sparked my interest in local sports. 

Is this when you saw that there was a need in the community for ways for viewers to see local sports?

I think so, yeah. I think I noticed that there were many different ways I could have gone, many sports that people wanted to see, locally. Anyone can turn on the TV and watch a Red Sox game, but for many people, a lot of what they want to see is local. They want to see their kid playing baseball when they can't watch the game; they want to re-watch a game that they weren't able to record. 

Sometimes to be an entrepreneur, you have  to go off the beaten path 

So would you say that Hands On Video explores the niche of local sports?

I would say so, yes...yes. Hands On Video was never a full-time gig for me, I was still doing freelance work on the side with local programming, but as something that I figured I could explore to make some extra money and do something that I was interested in, local sports seemed like a pretty good outlet for that. 

What's your favorite part about owning your own business? 

Well, I think that it's nice to make money doing something I love [laughs]. It's not bad when you're getting paid to watch a decent sports game and then edit together the best parts of it. I've always been a sports fan, and having this ability, this prior knowledge about local sports, and the talent to be able to edit things together has made a huge difference in being able to be a part of my kid's athletics over the years. 

What are you up to right now? 

Right now I am working with a buddy of mine, Greg, who has been a friend and occasional business partner over the years. We're, um, we're doing local programming in the Sunappee and Vermont areas with local sports. This is a little more official because we have a commentator usually right there with us, so it's my job essentially to videotape these local sports games and get them ready in time to air on local television. I usually have, what, a day, a week to do it? It varies. 

And the name, Hands On Video. Where did that come from? 

Honestly, it was so long ago I can't even remember [laughs]. I had it throughout the '80s, even when I hadn't "officially" started my own business yet. It seemed like a good name, and well, if you have a last name like this, why not play off of it? 

$5 million plan

Maybe it's just me, but I left class the other day feeling excited and realistically invigorated by the plan my classmates and I came up with during our group discussion in class. After much deliberation, we settled on an idea that would involve an online calendar that would list events that are being held in a town/on a campus, etc. The way we saw it, it would list the event, and when you clicked on it, a tab would pop out with a preview written about it, and with relevant social media information on it. Each even could come with a hashtag that could be used via Twitter and Instagram and could be linked to the article. When the event is actually occurring, or after the fact, there could be a live feed of information via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram so that when you click on the event, you could see a live feed of pictures from the event.

I can just see this working out in my head if the interface was easy to use and aesthetically pleasing. I think it would work in a small town or on a college campus where there are many events, but not so many that it becomes overwhelming. The money spent on printing, we decided, would be spent on reporters so that the news that is being delivered would be accurate and well-written.

We also figured that since we would be reporting on local events, many local businesses would want to advertise with us, knowing that there would be many page views and a very central, local audience.

As I mentioned before, I think that this kind of idea might not just be something that I pursue in class and then forget about. It could really be something.

Short attention spans, multi-tasking and news

I want to elaborate on a thought that I had in class the other day about our generation having short attention spans and the effect that is going to have on the kind of journalism we consume. It is no secret that many prefer to watch the news on television rather than read it in a paper. Why is that? Well, when you are watching television, you can be audibly consuming the news while, say, chatting with a friend online, making dinner, even doing homework. When reading a newspaper, these tasks are harder to do (although not impossible).

As I know many other people my age do, I often find myself multi-tasking for no good reason. Chatting online with a friend, watching a video on Youtube, reading a news article online — these are activities that I can usually do all at once. Now how is a 1,000 word news article supposed to compete with that?

For myself, if something can't engage me immediately, I won't waste my time reading or viewing it. I get most of my news from Twitter, where a constant feed of headlines from The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, CNN, The Boston Globe, The New York Times,  and other local media outlets such as WMUR and The Portsmouth Herald give me up-to-date news. Sometimes it is enough for me to read the tweet and nothing else. I get the information I need, and decide that I probably won't benefit from any more. Other times, I'll click on the link, read the first few paragraphs of the article, and then move on. Rarely do I get through an entire news story in one piece, and I'm a journalism major. What does that say about the average person who doesn't have an intense dedication to news and staying informed? Would they even click on the link in the first place? Would they even seek out news.

The problem with these times is that there is such a fight to get an individual's attention, an attention that can only be held for so many hours of the day. We are bombarded, every day, with possible distractions: TV, social media, videos online, games, music, etc. that to get someone to pick up a newspaper, flip through it and read every single story is just not a realistic goal. As much as I don't like it, newspapers will not remain a central way to consume media, especially with my generation. News outlets must think of new ways to attract readers, or else they will lose them.

Innovation really is our only chance

Our talk last week with Terry Williams was honestly one of the most informative journalism-related talks I have been able to hear during my time at UNH. It was straightforward, interesting and gave a comprehensive view of today's struggles in journalism through a local outlet that many of us could relate to and put in context. I think it's easy to see stories of newspapers being shut down or scaled back, but they don't really touch us until we get the straightforward facts of the Telegraph's 50 percent revenue cut in the last five years and 35 percent decline in readership. Those facts made the issue that much more real to me.

One thing that really stuck out to me about the talk was his first question "Will innovation save journalism?" It made me think about what it would mean for the journalism industry if an individual or group of individuals managed to come up with a brilliant idea that would redirect journalism back into a profitable industry. Now, the gears in my head are turning, but alas, I haven't come up with anything world-changing quite yet.

In my opinion, coming up with something new and different is probably the only way that the journalism industry has a fighting chance of staying profitable. If we look at how much the world has changed even in ten years, imagine what it could possibly look like in another ten? The newspaper business model simply cannot keep up with these rapidly developing changes, and I think that only moderately updating the way that news is delivered will not be able to keep up with the changes that could occur within the next few years. Sure, we can move headlines onto Twitter and have tablet and mobile interfaces for stories, but no one knows what could happen within the next few years. The journalism industry cannot afford to be left behind again, and must set its sights far in the future to be able to combat a world with shorter attention spans, and more outlets to consume media.

Entrepreneur Bio

For my entrepreneur, I have decided to do I bio of my dad, David Hand. In the late 1990s, after many years of working in the video and local television industry, he started his own business, "Hands on Video." His locally based business involves videotaping and editing various kinds of events in the area. He saw that there was a need for highlight videos of local sports teams throughout their season that would show clips from good moments throughout their seasons. A lot of his work was focused on Gilford High School, who's volleyball team was well known for its championship streak. He began filming the postseason, tournament games, and after Gilford either made it to the championship, or won it, he would put together a highlight video to be bought by parents and students of the team.

This started when he noticed that parents either didn't have the equipment to record their child athlete's accomplishments, or if they did, did not have the expertise to either use it or know how to edit together a piece that wasn't just a straight video of the game. Put together with inspirational music and behind-the-scenes moments with the team (such as doing team cheers or getting pumped up in the locker room) his videos were something that parents could take home with them and show off.

Since then, he has started putting together videos for other kinds of sports teams, including Plymouth, my hometown. While I was in high school, he would tape my field hockey games, and make a highlight video at the end of the semester that he would sell to parents. He also found another niche with parents who were looking for personal highlight videos of their children to send off to colleges for recruiting purposes. His business has moved toward that quite a bit, because of the competitive edge it gives athletes in showing off their skills to coaches.

With these types of videos, in addition to the various other kinds of videos he makes, my dad is a successful entrepreneur who managed to find an area that could use some attention, and make a profit off of it.

Entrepreneurs according to Spongebob

So this has no academic value in the slightest, but I remembered this from my childhood and thought it was funny in the context of this class.

Young Entrepreneurs

If you Google "Entrepreneurs," the most common example that comes up is children entrepreneurs or very young adult entrepreneurs. Our society is obsessed with them. From Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, to the 8-year-old girl who invented the Makin' Bacon dish, something about someone very young who has a genius idea is something that our society simply cannot get enough of. I mean, look at "The Social Network." That movie netted Oscars and all sorts of awards because of its primary plot of a young person, who was not taken very seriously, who had an idea that changed the world.

Because of 8-year-old Abbey, I have one of these in my kitchen

Although I get a deflated sense of self-worth when I hear stories about children entrepreneurs (Why couldn't I have thought of that???) it is important to note that these kids used the same entry point to putting their idea into practice as we could. They all had ideas for something new, and found a niche of people who needed it. Sure, the idea is only half of the battle and implementation is important, but it is vital not to get put off by these kinds of stories and feel like if you didn't accomplish this by age 10, you never will.

All it takes is one idea at the right time, and the rest, they say, is history.

Lemonade stands are not built overnight

During our in-class assignment to come up with a game plan to build a lemonade stand business, I thought it was going to be a piece of cake. Throw together some lemonade, put it on a table, and voila, you have a business.

However, things got very complicated very quickly, and then spiraled out of control.

We decided that we wanted to give our lemonade an edge and make it frozen, in order to take a step up against our competition. We first wanted to put the stand on Rye Beach, but then changed our minds to Water Country because it would be a place where there was definitely a market for sweet drinks that would cool you down on a hot day.

We started mapping out our costs with the basics: cups, a blender, ice, lemons, and a stand. Then, things began to get a little more detailed. We would need straws and spoons, because it was frozen, a cooler to keep the mixture cold, sugar to sweeten it, a scooper/mixer, napkins, a lemon squeezer, an umbrella for hot and rainy days, a chair, and then we decided to make our creation even more unique by adding Torani flavor shots to make flavored lemonades.

We realized we would have to come up with a name, trademark it, then come up with a banner and a logo for the stand.

We divided our costs into up front costs, and then daily costs, and worked to do the math to see if we would be under, break even or make a profit. We decided to check out our competition and prices, and figure out our target sales vs. the supplies we'd need.

Along with more things we figured we would have to do before we even began squeezing lemonade, the biggest realization was how much thought and work goes into something as simple as a lemonade stand. It's intimidating, definitely, that something as basic could take that much work, but it also helps to know that we are working from the bottom, and that some basic business strategies work from the bottom up, from the least complicated to the most complicated.

And, if being an entrepreneurial journalist isn't going to work out for me, I have a pretty good game plan to open up my own lemonade stand!

The changing face of journalism in action

Last week, I had the opportunity of a lifetime when I received a press pass to cover President Obama's speech at Strawbery Banke in Portsmouth. The experience was amazing in itself, being able to hear Obama speak, but what really stuck out to me was looking around at all the different journalists and thinking about how different the media section would have been, say, ten years ago. Journalists walked in with their laptops and instantly set up at tables inside the media section, typing their notes. Many members of the media seemed glued to their phones, many of them young, tweeting live updates from the event and putting up pictures from the crowd online.

I like to pretend he was waving at me 

Throughout the speech, there were a slew of tweets with quotes from Obama, or updates about who was speaking. I tweeted a few of Obama's quotes and was surprised to see how many people instantly retweeted me. That kind of instant journalism made it so anyone with access to "#Obama" could be a part of the event by just holding their phone in their hand, miles and miles away. So while I felt like I had the greatest opportunity in being able to attend the speech, I also appreciated the accessibility those who couldn't go had through the constant social media updates from various mediums.

Editors as gatekeepers

While reading "Newsonomics" for class, I found that I was intrigued first and foremost by the concept of editors being gatekeepers. It never occurred to me that pre-Internet, an individual or a select group of individuals had great power in deciding what news was worth being printed. With such few media outlets, the span of news that could be consumed was very limited. As much as I sometimes wish I could have been released into the real world during "the good old days" of journalism, this concept has shifted my thinking.

The idea that I can go on the Internet at any given time and scour it for news that I personally find interesting is something that I have been taking for advantage. With the countless media outlets between the Internet, newspapers and television, there are seemingly endless topics of news stories to be read and explored. Before, I could have read the New York Times, watched the evening news and read my local paper, and that would be mostly the span of news that I would need to read. Now, we have access to so much more, and it is really something that shouldn't be taken for granted.

The dissolving power of editors as "gatekeepers" is causing a huge shift in journalism, and I think its for the better. Being able to consume news that is specifically interesting to you is a privilege, and as much as we want to hate on the Internet for "killing journalism," this concept is truly revolutionary.

How do I get my news? I'll tell you.

The way I consume my news on any given day varies, but I can tell you that it is certainly different than the way someone consumed news, say, five, ten years ago. I normally access most of my news when I am at my desk at work, since journalism is already on the brain and at least for me, once I start absorbing news, I usually have a hard time stopping.

This may be different for many people in the country, but I do not get much of my news from television. If it happens to be on, great, but I never turn on the TV specifically to watch the news. Maybe it is because I am a fan of print journalism, but I tend to get most of my information about current events online.

Although I do often go directly onto the New York Times website, Huffington Post, CNN or the Associated Press website, I find that Twitter is my best outlet to get all the information I need at once. I follow major news outlets such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Huffington Post and the Boston Globe, as well as smaller outlets such as Seacoastonline, Foster's Daily Democrat and WMUR. Combined, my Twitter feed becomes a nonstop stream of various headlines ranging from trouble abroad or local stories.

Although I'd like to say I'm not, I am definitely a child of this generation, with a shorter attention span and a need to absorb vital information very quickly and efficiently. Therefore, Twitter works perfectly, with its character limit. If I find the headline or blurb interesting enough, I will click on the link and read the rest of the story, but many times, simply the headline will be enough information for me to decide whether or not I want to pursue the rest of the article or not. Some aren't interesting enough to pursue, while others are just so direct and to the point that it isn't even necessary to read the follow-up information.

I think that in this shifting age of journalism, it is important to note the needs of the readers. As I previously mentioned, I need a news outlet that I can sift through quickly and efficiently, as I decide in a split second if a story is worth a read or not. This is coming from a journalism major who enjoys being in-the-know about current events, so how are we, the journalists, going to change our platforms to entertain the masses that may not be as committed to keeping themselves informed? We are going to need to adapt with the times and be innovative, creative and forward-thinking to keep the public informed in a way that is both effective on our end, and meets our readers' needs on the other.

Some thoughts on risk-taking

I'm not a risk-taker, not even in a way where I can spin experiences to make myself sound like one. Therefore, the "risk-taker" aspect of entrepreneurialism that we discussed last class is something that I feel might be one of my biggest barriers in letting some of my ideas come to fruition. It's true, that in the media we are barraged with stories about entrepreneurs who go from having nothing to suddenly finding that one idea that completely revolutionizes the world. Think of all the stories of children entrepreneurs, nearly-broke entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs who just happened to think of the right idea at the right time and made millions. These are the stories that we are fed because the rags-to-riches story is classic and rewarding in society's eyes. These individuals took a risk, and were rewarded.

This little guy has more guts than I do. 

That being said, it is less often that we are presented with stories of failed entrepreneurs. I have a feeling that the profession would be less glorified if we were allowed access to the stories that aren't told as often, the risk-taking ventures that never paid off or took off the ground at all. This here highlights my fears about entrepreneurial journalism, the fear that there will be a moment that you have to throw all of the data aside and just take a leap of faith that this idea is worth one pursuing and putting yourself behind, even when the end goal isn't exactly clear.

  In today's day and age, many journalists yearn for the good old days. Sometimes even I, who have grown up in an era where tools like Facebook and Twitter are almost second-nature, wish that the industry could be its simple, come in every day, edit, then leave industry that it once was. With the journalism industry practically shifting further and further away from that model by the day, journalists have to think of new ideas and new ways to do things in order to stay on top of the changing landscape. It seems, almost, that risk-taking isn't just a luxury for entrepreneurs anymore, but a necessity for anyone looking to make any kind of ripple in the journalism industry.

That being said, while I do not look at myself and see someone who is necessarily willing to jump out of a plane or scale an icy cliff, but I think one of the valuable skills that I will learn in this class is being able to take a little bit of the "risk" out of risk-taking by learning how to identify aspects of a project that are promising and those that are a red flag. Maybe that way, I will be able to produce something that requires a small leap of faith, but not a blind flight off a cliff.

When I first decided to take Entrepreneurial Journalism, I didn't really know what to expect. Now that we are nearing the end of the first class, I have a better idea of what I might learn, but feel no more comfortable with the subject matter than I did when I abstractly guessed at what it was I might be learning. My background, first and foremost, has always been writing, and now more recently, editing. Topics like pittches, business models, analytics and budgets have never been my forte, but with this course, I think that I am going to learn valuable information. Though the process might be painful, through it, my dream of starting a magazine may actually be attainable.

So, here is my blog, where I will detail the ups and downs of getting a crash course in entreprenurial journalism. Through it, I will share my thoughts about the changing profession of journalism and the way that students like myself must learn to adapt with the changes, rather than fight them.

My hope is that by the end of this course, I will feel more comfortable with the business industry and have some ideas that could potentially become a reality, with the knowledge of how to implement them. Enjoy!