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Engaging CommunitiesWith the News @ TBD

Jim BradyApril 2, 2011

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The TBD Theory

No news site can be successful in the21 st century by having readers

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The TBD Theory

No news site can be successful in the21 st century by having readers

It needs to have engagedparticipants

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The TBD Theory

No news site can be successful in the21 st century by having readers

It needs to have engagedparticipants

And they need to be engaged injournalism, not uploading pet photos.

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Engagement

As viewed by many news organizations

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Engagement

As viewed by many news organizations.

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Engagement

As it should be viewed by all news organizations...

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H ow TBD Went About It

W e built a community network of more than 220local sites.

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H ow TBD Went About It

TBD curated the best content about the DC region, regardless of source.

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H ow TBD Went About It

W e leveraged our audience to report out stories,both individually and collectively.

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H ow TBD Went About It

W e drove traffic to the work of our communitynetwork members.

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H ow TBD Went About It

W e deliveredcurated informationabout areas our users told us wereimportant.

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H ow TBD Went About It

W e used T witter and Facebook to gather news,not just disseminate it.

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H ow TBD Went About It

W e were conversational in tone in all socialmedia. No Headline- C olon-Link here.

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H ow TBD Went About It

W e didnt treat mobile as an add-on; we hiredmobile developers and designed apps thatappealed to the need of mobile users..

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H ow TBD Went About It

W e did events with local bloggers and other interested parties.

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H ow TBD Went About It

W e held public office hours at coffee houses inthe region.

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H ow TBD Went About It

W e offered free training to community memberson social media, blogging, SEO, ethics, etc.

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The Results

Un ique VisitorsNovember 2010 -- 715,000

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The Results

Un ique VisitorsNovember 2010 -- 715,000

D ecember 2010 -- 838,000

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The Results

Un ique VisitorsNovember 2010 -- 715,000

D ecember 2010 -- 838,000 J anuary 2011 -- 1,500,000

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The Results

W e had a terrific buzz in DC -region blogcommunity, who viewed us as partners, not rivals. W hen possible, local bloggers naturally linked to

TBD vs. other local media. C

onsumers created a hashtag #HeyTBD

to alertus to potential breaking news stories in the area. W e were able to leverage the community to

produce better journalism than we could have byourselves.

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S ince Then?

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S ince Then?

Not much has really happened

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Thanks!H ope you e nj oyed your stay.Please come agai n .