I’m deeply proud and honored to have helped develop a vision statement for Philadelphia for the next 250 years. An earlier version was shared last summer here. I shared this new version more widely for one last round of resident feedback in an Inquirer op-ed here.
The statement, a place to give feedback and information on the process can be found at PH.LY.
Below is the vision statement as it stands now.
Continue reading A vision for Philadelphia 250 years in the futureI joined CURRENTLY, the slick video interview series from the creative agency [Electric Kite], hosted by principal Kevin Renton, to talk about local journalism, entrepreneurship and how we build healthier information ecosystems. (I wrote more about it on Technical.ly here)
Themes we hit: why geography still matters online; why “friction” is a feature of community; how luck shapes entrepreneurial outcomes; and why journalism is a strategy you attach to sustainable business models.
Below the full video, and a few points I want to stand out.
Continue reading We didn’t remove gatekeepers; we replaced them with algorithms.After reading a particular regional children’s board book one too many times, I decided my home of Philadelphia deserved better.
I’m a journalist who spends my days obsessed with how places develop identity and share that with people to live, work and thrive. I’m also the father of two young kids in the city’s Fishtown neighborhood. I also happen to have a close friend who is a talented illustrator and a new mother herself (Hi Sara Scholl!).
I wanted to create a simple board book that would keep young kids engaged, amuse grown-ups and actually contribute something to a region’s identity. I was working on the alphabet with my pre-schooler, who responded best to fun environments where she could tie visuals to sounds and letters.
As dead-simple as it is, the ABCs framework had been used for just a couple states and cities around the world, along with some industries and hobbies. I made a list of kids publishers that seemed to produce a similar vibe, did hours of research of contacts and processes at those firms. Then I led outreach.
On Sept. 28, 2025, my first kids book launches, and can be pre-ordered at PhillyABCs.com.
Below I share some other background, lessons and insights for later.
Continue reading PhillyABCs: my first kids bookBelow are my notes, and video, from the keynote address I used to kickoff Technically Builders Conference. It informed this story we published on Technically. My slides are here.
Maria Romero has 90 days to find a job — or she gets deported.
In December, the Mexico City native completed her MBA in marketing analytics at Philadelphia’s Drexel University. She’s young, educated, with in-demand skills. The kind of immigrant Americans across the political spectrum say we want.
And yet: Maria is worried. It’s February 2025 when the Technical.ly newsroom first meets her — 30 days left, tick tock tick tock. Higher interest rates have ended the tech hiring boom. Volatility is everywhere. Her STEM degree and F1 visa gives her years to work like any American citizen — no quirky paperwork, not even modest immigrant sponsorship costs. But she’s nervous anti-immigrant rhetoric is making a tough hiring climate worse for her. Forget about paying bills, if she doesn’t get a job she’ll get kicked out of a city, out of a country, that she was ready to call home.
She applies to more than 500 jobs. She does coffee meetings, texts friends, has her story told by a news outlet and responds to inbound outreach. She also keeps on living — she walks her dog, she goes to restaurants she loves.
The thing we do before our life changes forever is almost always mundane.
Continue reading Keynote: The case for storytelling (for entrepreneur-led economic development)We were back. Audience was great, I enjoyed my lunchtime keynote interview with Wired editor Steven Levy.
To fill an early-morning slot, I crowdsourced a session (in old school unconference style!) on creators as distribution partners, and creators of news. (The topic has been on my mind!) In a crowded room
Below are a few notes from the daylong unconference on the future of news for my own memory.
Continue reading A few lessons from the 15th annual Klein News Innovation CampThe creator economy may be big, or not. The numbers are somewhat divided because definitions are still evolving.
I took what I did know from covering, living and curating creator campaigns, and gave a keynote on the topic for the Philly Ad Club’s annual conference. They had roughly 150 marketers on site at the cozy innovation space of Independence Blue Cross’s headquarters.
Find my slides here. A rough audio recording of the presentation can be found here (or here).
I published here a piece on Technical.ly informed by this work.
It’s another much appreciated honor for the two-year reporting, community engagement and qualitative research project. I was especially proud that we got the nod in the “large” newsroom category, meaning the most stiff competition. Find THRIVING here.
I’m proud to share Technical.ly was awarded the “Journalistic Impact” award (in the large tier no less!) last night in Chicago by the well-regarded LION: Local Independent Online News Publishers!
The leading driver was our big THRIVING reporting project on economic mobility, and I’m so proud that our other multi-local reporting was honored too. Best I can remember, this is our first proper journalism award, and it’s a big one — even though our communities have often kindly honored our work!
Continue reading Technical.ly is honored for its “journalistic impact”Well the video crew somehow damaged the file of my speech, but I gave the keynote at Technical.ly’s annual Builders Conference back on May 8.
I published the themes on Technical.ly here, here and here. I wanted to share the full video here, but no luck. I do have my full notes below.
Continue reading My Technical.ly Builders Conference keynote May 2024Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Coded by Kids, leaders of the youth engagement nonprofit honored others. I was flattered to be among them.
I remember hearing about Sylvester Mobley spending time at a South Philly rec center to offer basic computer and coding classes to young kids there. Soon after Technical.ly profiled his work, and I later joined their first board of directors, where I also met his wife and partner Danae Mobley. I’ve worked closely with both, especially Danae of late in her role leading 1Philadelphia.
Since I’ve known them both for so long, and challenged and collaborated them too, it meant a lot for Danae to say nice words and call me a “champion for change” at an event last night filled with other stakeholders and partners. Thanks friends.
