Open Season on Others' Ideas
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Free riders have hit the jackpot in the digital revolution, and we'd better deal with it.
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By Abram, Stephen  Feedback is serious business. Getting it through the Web is easy and, with many services, free.  Time for a fun column to start the New Year-I thought I'd disclose a small secret this month. I have an ego.
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Try these (slightly) more palatable tactics.
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Looking to make a smart start? Consider these ideas.
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Jeff Jarvis, whose mind occupies the intersection of mainstream media and the blogging world, perhaps more than any other person, is having a conference in mid-October in NYC to bring together people from both worlds to present constructive ideas for working with each other. Me, my feet are firmly planted in the blogging world, but I've spent a lifetime reading and watching MSM, starting with the NY Times at the kitchen table with my parents and brother, when growing up. Some of my fondest memories as a child were our discussions of the days events, and the Times was our common structure. Everyone in our family read the newspaper, often from cover to cover.  As Jarvis councils us, never mind the mistakes, what can we do to make things work better? And I have a couple of proposals in that direction that I will try to present at the October 11 conference. In all cases, they involve the MSM opening up more to include not only the ideas of blogging, but also the bodies of the bloggers.  1. I've said it many times before, it's worth raising again. Any newspaper or radio or TV station with a good reputation in its community could embrace the fresh ideas of the bloggers in their community by offering free blogs to members of the community, who may be new to blogging. I suggested this to the Times in 2001 -- when a person is quoted in a Times article, a few days after the piece runs, contact them, and ask if they'd like to have a NY Times hosted blog. There would be no control over what appeared on the blog. It would have a nytimes.com domain (something like bullmancuso.nytimes.com). Build an aggregator, something very much like Twitter (which is after all, a river of news, not exactly a new idea, heh) that shows all the new posts from members of the community. Encourage (but don't require) your editorial people to read the blog posts. Let whatever happens happen.  2. Here's a new idea that I haven't proposed before. Open your newsroom to bloggers. Set aside a half-dozen desks for people who blog in your community, people you've gotten to know, and provide them with wifi, a water cooler, your coffee (no matter how bad it is) and chance to work alongside your editorial people and (very important) with each other. It's an incredible thing when bloggers get together in a physical space, the sparks can really fly. Now imagine what could happen if those sparks got flying between the remaining editorial people in a professional news organization and the bloggers. I believe the secret of scaling the news is right there, you just have to open the door and see what comes in.
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Looking for ways to feather your nest egg? We have some ideas.
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By Chad Lawhorn, Journal-World, Lawrence, Kan.  Feb. 3--The ideas are flowing now.
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The beginning of the year is traditionally a time to look back, and, for the brave of heart, to make a few predictions looking forward.  Lacking the requisite bravery, I'll just quote something that the Economist wrote recently: Rejoice: the embrace of âopennessâ by firms that have grown fat on closed, proprietary technology is something weâll see more of in 2008.  Now, had this "fearless prediction" been made a year ago, I would have been impressed, because 2007 has turned out to be the year when everyone, it seems, wants to be open. read more
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Here's a few solid but small hidden opportunities to evaluate.
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Seeking like-minded political thought, or folks to argue with? Look no further.
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By Julie Sevrens Lyons, San Jose Mercury News, Calif.  Dec.
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As the lawn seeding season approaches, you will be seeing terminology in advertisements, educational materials and product packaging that may be new to you.
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By Eric Gwinn, Chicago Tribune  Dec. 10--The holidays are about much more than gifts, of course, but if you want to spread some electronic joy, here are a few ideas.
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With the New Year just around the corner, the   market will be flooded with calendars of various   sizes and shapes. This time, it's not just sizes   and shapes, but also cool concepts as well.
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Comment is free: Jonathan Freedland: Our progressive past can offer a new idea of what the state is for, and how it can help neighbourhood organisations to thrive.
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Two years ago,I publicly floated the concept that IT should start thinking more like entrepreneurs. What a disaster! I was speaking at a meeting of CTOs, and I mentioned that Iâd heard of a few IT departments that were focusing, at least in part, on creating saleable new products and services for their companies. I asked the group what they thought of the idea.
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Let someone else make the tough decisions.