Christopher Wink

2012 professional milestones

It was a good year.

January 2012: I moderated a CSPAN-televised online privacy panel held at the National Constitution Center.
February 2012: We celebrated three years of Technically Philly.
March 2012: I finally became an official member of the Pen and Pencil Club.
April 2012: Invited to private roundtable discussion held in the Pulitzer Room at Columbia University on the next stage of news innovation academia, which resulted in this academic report released in November.
April 2012: We hosted the second annual Philly Tech Week.
May 2012: I designed and launched Ph.ly/newsweekly, as first discussed here.
July 2012: After first hiring a reporter back in December, we hired another in Philly and our first in Philly.
September 2012: After a July soft launch of Technically Baltimore, we more formally expanded by hosting the inaugural Baltimore Innovation Week.
October 2012: A short profile of Philadelphia’s new Chief Data Officer was my first proper clip in a major regional print magazine. (I also landed another Temple Review feature.)

2013 Resolutions

Continuing my annual tradition of resolutions, here is what I hope to accomplish in 2013 personally.

Because a number of friends have started turning 30 and I’ll be turning 27, in addition to working toward my original list, I’ve started thinking about what I’d like to accomplish by the end of my 20s.

my 5 best trafficked, most interesting and other posts of 2012

This is a map of 2012 web traffic on ChristopherWink.com as displayed by WordPress. Random web traffic from 160 countries really doesn't matter much, as a lot of it is probably meaningless image search results, but it's a pretty map. — This is a map of 2012 web traffic on ChristopherWink.com as displayed by WordPress. Random web traffic from 160 countries really doesn’t matter much, as a lot of it is probably meaningless image search results, but it’s a pretty map.

I like to wrap up each year by looking at what I’ve written about here. To do it a little bit differently, I looked at three different measures of content: what was the best trafficked, what got the most engagement (email, conversation, social chatter) and what I ones I most want to follow up on.

Continue reading my 5 best trafficked, most interesting and other posts of 2012

Bathroom remodel

My upstairs bathroom underwent a big change from the week before Thanksgiving until Christmas. Thanks to my friends Shawn and Rob.

The before and finished

Work longer < work harder < work smarter

When you first launch your venture or your organization or group or initiative, you might throw every waking moment you have at it. You log lots of hours, play many roles and simply aim to outlast any competitors. It’s a blind outpouring of time. You start by working longer.

In time, you get to know your needs, strengths and shortcomings better. You add support and focus your efforts. You do a lot of research and plenty of outreach to refine your work. You’re still logging long hours but it comes with greater savvy. You grow by working harder.

It’s here that efforts can go one of two ways. Many will grow in this way, by working hard and simply letting product and chance decide winners and losers. That can work, but the greater goal (and therefore the greater challenge) is to transition once again.

As 19th century French writer Emile Zola said: “The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without the work.”

You could begin innovating beyond your origins. You could partner or compete when best suited. You might know well your market differentiation, exploit it and grow it. You succeed by working smarter.

3 biggest fears about ‘future of journalism’ academia: Post-Industrial Journalism report conversation

Another in a long tradition of academic looks at the news industry landed last week with considerable attention among the new media community.

The Post-Industrial Journalism report from NYU’s Clay Shirky, Columbia’s Emily Bell and CUNY’s Chris Anderson has been far better dissected, in greater detail, by the Nieman Lab’s Josh Benton, so I’ll leave it to him. (Kindly Technically Philly is briefly mentioned in the report as a leaner version of journalism purveyors of today)

Instead, I wanted to share my three biggest concerns about journalism academia, as I had shared with Anderson this summer following a conversation I was a part of with the three authors and others at Columbia.

Continue reading 3 biggest fears about ‘future of journalism’ academia: Post-Industrial Journalism report conversation

11 student media startup ideas: Upenn Entrepreneurial Journalism Demo Night

media-sam-apple

Eleven University of Pennsylvania students pitched their media startup ideas at an Entrepreneurial Journalism Demo Night held in the Kelly Writers House last week. I was there by invitation of the class’s professor Sam Apple, whose reporting background stems from a stint experimenting with launching theFasterTimes.com.

The Daily Pennsylvanian, the student newspaper, covered the pitch night here, so I just wanted to share the 11 pitches I saw.

Continue reading 11 student media startup ideas: Upenn Entrepreneurial Journalism Demo Night

Reporters: today, your competition isn’t other journalists, it’s the source itself

Today, the greatest competition for journalists isn’t other journalists. It’s the source itself.

But rather than face the continued loss of revenue to efforts outside of reporting or the looming collision of mission and audience, my industry is still focused as it always has been on besting others in their traditional ecosystem, not on preparing for the growing attention deficit online.

Continue reading Reporters: today, your competition isn’t other journalists, it’s the source itself