Hi, everyone! As Kerry mentioned in his post introducing me, I've recently taken over for Thomas Rogers as Open's editor. Before I tell you more about myself, let me just say this: I have been reading Open since it launched, and I am both thrilled and humbled to be a part of such a vibrant site. The journalists, memoirists, fiction writers, poets and humorists that populate Open never cease to surprise and impress me. Of course, it isn't just your writing that I love -- it's also the powerful, supportive community you've created.
As Kerry wrote, I've been involved with Salon for quite a while -- in fact, I've been here in various capacities since just before Open launched and remember how excited and curious we all were about this great experiment. A longtime blogger who typed out her first LiveJournal post nearly a decade ago, I was especially intrigued about what a content site driven by the voices and interests of Salon readers might look like. And I'm still marveling at how quickly Open has become the lively, unique forum it is today.
Over the past year and a half -- and in the week I've already spent as Open's editor -- I've learned a great deal about many of you. During the next few weeks, as I continue to orient myself (with the help of Thomas and Kerry), I hope we can get acquainted more personally. I am excited to hear your ideas for Open, and I have a few new ones of my own: Currently, we're trying to set up a "guest editor" feature that would allow some of your favorite bloggers to share posts that they've enjoyed. And I share Kerry's enthusiasm about showcasing some of Open's strongest and most timely content on Salon. I can't wait to begin posting regular Open Calls. In fact, I already have a list of ideas two pages long.
Meanwhile, I will be maintaining an active blog here -- including not just Open Calls but also roundups of big stories you may want to use as jumping off points for your own posts. And watch out: I'll also be bombarding you with posts about my own fixations, most of which reside in the realm of pop culture.
I apologize in advance (and, if necessary, retroactively) for any hiccups that the transition may cause and ask you to bear with me as I continue to learn the ropes. As you did with Thomas, please feel free to message me with your questions, suggestions and feedback. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
Breaking Bad Season 3
Thomas Rogers
Joan Walsh
Kerry Lauerman
Mark Belinsky
Salon.com
Comments
By the way; for a spirited donation to my bank account, I can be paid to leave.
Welcome to the hell wheel.
She speaks for most of us and is a ringleader of sorts!
Welcome, Judy!
:-)
Again, welcome! I am truly grateful to see the "guest editor" position that General J.K. Brady suggested was taken to heart - I thought that was such a wise idea. There were many names thrown into the ring as to who might make a great editor around here (if hired from the OS base), and this idea emerged from her and it seemed like such a great synergy between the editorial staff and the writers.
Also, thank you for recognizing this as a "community." While some may use this word loosely, many here will vouch for the fact that Open Salon has proven to be just that.
Wow, I feel very excited by all you have said above - thank you for such a great introduction. Welcome, welcome, welcome!
Let me add that We are a well-oiled, dysfunctional community here - but relatively harmless. Most of the time.....Welcome
Good luck.
Welcome!
Congratulations and sincere best wishes on your new endeavor. This is the first time I'm responding to an editor's post, because I don't seem to find them. I'm kind of new too.
Not sure if editor posts are rated, but just in case,
~R
@cartouche:
While I don't think there's a formula for getting an EP/cover slot, here's what I tend to look for (at least, so far): 1) Strong, eloquent voices telling compelling personal stories. 2) Smart commentary on current political, cultural, health-related, etc. issues. 3) Posts that bring to readers' attention little-known stories that may be of interest.
Of course, there will be exceptions to this. Sometimes, we just have too much content on a given topic to highlight all the great posts. For instance, if I posted every interesting take on the healthcare debate, well... there would be no room on the cover for anything else.
And, finally, a compelling title and some quick proofreading never hurt.
@Dr.spudman 44
I've never been the authority to rebel against before, so I may not be terribly good at that role! But that sure will make my parents -- who remember my teen years well -- laugh.
@ Lisa Solod Warren
I am definitely open to suggestions. Some changes are easier discussed than made and many improvements are already in the pipeline, but I promise to listen and to keep working.
I want to just say a quick hello, this is a most revolutionary site. It has helped to have different perspectives to say the least. I love reading random things, anything from simple points of view, and then bigger news stories that have people talking. This is a great site, and I am happy to be part of it.
no, I can't speak Spanish, I just like hola, it's sort of like an olé for hello
I do hope you can fix the server problems. it gets lod trying to log in early in the wee hours and not get on this wonderful site!!
A suggestion for OS---What about having ratings for comments? Spoilsports/trolls should not get away with fly-by night destructive comments. Personal ad hominen attacks, or evil barbs should have consequences, as they do nothing to advance the conversation.
In the future I hope OS showcases more varied front page choices. From the mere week I've been here it seems that only topical cutesy concepts with kicky titles get picked for the cover, while creative non-fiction and fiction is ignored.
I hope this is because of the holidays, or that it's a newbie's misperception. There's enough silly cheesy journalism on the web to last several lifetimes. If I want to read that kind of thing it's much easier to just hop on over to HuffPo or The Daily Beast and stay there. Is OS supposed to be a breeding ground for official Salon blogger wannabes?
It's my take that the editors here should promote good writing, not just spiffy concepts with little behind them. That would be a real service for everyone here—and for the entire web.
Trust me, you WANT this list.
(So ask already)
Great post by the way - I can't rate this piece highly enough.
Your biggest fan....
Enjoy as I do every day... Welcome!
also, geez, who does your software?!?! why the heck are they so invisible??? look, the site is driven by software. software is driven by features. the best features are often suggested by power users. use it or lose it.
"I've learned a great deal about many of you."
None of that stuff in my file is true, Kerry made it all up!! :)
(Don't feed Cindy Ross. Or JoJo. Although why we're not allowed to feed JoJo, I haven't figured out yet.)
Yes, absolutely. Also, OS lacks what in many businesses would be normal customer service.
Consider a monthly newsletter with information about the site and how you hope to develop it.
Consider polling OS members to find out what they would like to see.
Consider responding to emails -- or if you can't, or don't have time, or whatever, let people know that. The auto-reply says "Someone will answer your email as soon as possible." But then we don't hear from anyone.
My off the cuff suggestions?
Stop putting Dr. Amy's posts on the cover. And that goes for a lot of other teacher's pets. Yes, they write some good stuff but lots of other people do too, and the cover has achieved a certain rubber stamp quality that speaks of laziness rather than editorial acumen.
Bring back the right hand feed which gave each new post at least a moment in the sun. It is difficult, if not impossible for people who aren't among the chosen cover folk to get a little exposure, 15 minutes or so on the right hand feed is better than nothing.
Let's not give EPs and CPs to brief posts that are parroting CNN headlines. That's ridiculous. There should be some skill and some writing attached to these honors. I laughed when I came across a swine flu video game, I posted it with two sentences, and BOOM, there it was on the cover, and an EP! For what?
So that's what I have to add to the Welcome Wagon. Try to make your communications with us a two way street if you can.
We are much more interested to read your comments on our posts than say, another weekly post about what you think are the best whatever sort of posts over the past week. We already have people here who do a great job, and that job is to point out what the EDITOR has neglected to highlight on the cover during the past week.
It is ironic that a member here, berrycomposer held a generous contest for the best piece of fiction. OS gave the go ahead. And a $1500 prize was awarded to a highly deserving writer who had been completely overlooked by the powers that be here, and most of the rest of us too.
Berry Composer Announces Winner of Contest
The Winner!
Welcome to Open Salon!
There are a lot of Woodstock vets here on OS who probably really weren’t there in all the mud and tedium and slop during those days. But we all like to recall how peaceful and groovy things were back in the day. I know the “younger” gen tires of the 60’s at times, and yet is transfixed by it too. But, as you’ve noted previously, Woodstock is more illusion than reality for most.
I wish you lots of fun with Open and look forward to your voice here.
best of luck in your new endeavor.
1. Please read posts of everyone, not just personal friends. As an editor, deny yourself any RSS feed to OS posts, lest you create a separation in status between those easily visible to you and those not.
2. If you want to feature certain people, say you're doing that. Say it's a regular feature if it is. Say why we should recognize these people so it doesn't just look like cronyism or idol worship. It could be that you just love their stuff or you just have to have their name cachet. But if that's so, just say so. Because if you put people on the cover for being who they are while they're writing schlock and there are people writing really good stuff and not making the cover, that's going to (and does) create resentment. Being transparent will help a lot to calm people.
3. Please let us know what you want for a theme, because right now I'm guessing “tabloid tacky bordering on NSFW&rduqo; is what you're shooting for. During the election, I thought you wanted something sharp that appealed to politicians, like what HuffPo or Slate does. But I no longer think that.
4. Invest in your community, or why bother to make it? If you just feature names from other places, the only thing you'll ever be able to say about it is “We feature people you can find elsewhere.” If you want something that says “You can't get this elsewhere” you will not get it by allowing RSS feeds to download junk from other sites. You won't even get it by paying eternal homage to people you adore that you've coaxed in from elsewhere. It will be because you really allow the people who write just for here to shine. And if this site later fails, it will not be because you failed to get enough imported RSS feeds, it will be because you failed to find an identity for the site itself.
5. Don't make the mistake of hiding from being part of the community or you will not come to know it. If it's overwhelming, maybe that's because you're offering bad tools. I have asked many times for a PM to Email option that just forwards PM into Email like Facebook does. That would be way easier to manage and very easy to implement. It would also mean many of us would be happy deleting the stuff on your disk because we have it archived elsewhere. The inability to move any stuff out of your sluggish PM browser into another tool is the reason Joan and others don't read PM. And that's a shame. (Consider, too, getting rid of multiple-recipients so that people don't send those abominable blog whoring emails... The things seem to work, and people who do it get ahead. Those of us who try not to use that approach feel discriminated against. Better editing on the site's part and less powerful spam tools would combine to make a better site.)
6. Read what's been written by way of critique and suggestion. There are lots of posts on that. Permit me to mention one by Mishima and me entitled Reaching for the Open Sky, and a couple just by me: Reflections on the OS Editorial Policy and Bring Back the Recently Blogged Feed.
7. Go meta. If you're up against a hard problem in figuring out how to make the site work or make it break even economically, blog about it. Let the community help you. Don't keep us in the dark and then have disdain for us as if we never have anything relevant to offer. We're only as relevant as the data we receive. Some of us have a lot of experience with technology, web, business, etc.—not all the same person, but that's the beauty of community. Don't squander it.
Follow your heart and your instincts and you'll do well.....as long as the EP's aren't silly choices.
When we see an EP with dog-poop ratings on the same day that really great, highly-ratedposts are overlooked, we've all wondered if the editors are paying attention. Tis normal, don't you think?
In any case, you're clearly qualified, and I agree with everyone here that you are very very welcome and we look forward to working with you. From my heart, I say congratulations and let the new fun begin! This is a wonderful place to write, and you have a wonderful job. Best wishes to you.
Salon promoted from within which is cool and all, and I felt a little bad that I didn't recognize your name right away. You have published stuff on BIG Salon sometimes nearly every day.
I just started reading your archive on big Salon as way to "get to know you" and I bet lots of OSers would like to get to know you this way too.
Judy Berman Salon Archive
P.S. Kent Pittman is so over the top brilliant it isn't even funny, so is his buddy Mishima. They have a lot of great ideas that have largely been ignored -- till now, perhaps?
so was it you that put James Mark Emmerling on Front Page? that was commendable and good change :) I also like the guest editor idea.
hope you bring up in your meetings sometimes of having a comments edit feature, where one can preview before hitting save.
Lonnie forgot to add the link to his comment...
"And when the weather turns warm in California, some of us like to play a little frisbee at the beach.> Nice to see you, Judy. Good luck!
Lonnie Lazar
December 21, 2009 08:00 PM"
Again, welcome. Can't wait to see what you do!
Also, a salad bar would be nice. With a sneeze guard.
Warning: I tend to be rather prolific in my writing.
Best luck in TwentyTen.
What Kent said.
And I think that Sandra Stephens would make a wonderful first guest editor.
Looking forward to seeing more of you around. I've been enjoying this site for over a year now, and look forward to even more.
Now that you're here and settled in, is there any way you can pressure the techies to fix the private messages? Can't send anything.
What Bill said --there's a little " -1 " that's showing up on ALL posts (even yours) and appears on the Compose page of a PM.
What does it mean???
Anyone get a -2 yet?
Oh and welcome... happy holidays... and all that kind of festive crap.
:-)
Glad to know you're here, you're going to be actively involved, and you're all over it.
Pleased to meet you.
i like the guest editor idea, and the linking on salon.com
Hello, and welcome as the new editor! It seems to me that I have seen you hangin' on this corner before now. In any event, I look forward to hearing your 2 pages of ideas, and potentially inspirational voice.
I've been here for just a year now, and I can honestly say I wasn't aware that Thomas was the editor until about 6 months into my tour, partly from a negligence on my part, and partly from unfulfilled responsibilities of Thomas's.
You might notice, unlike Cartouche, I am seldom the 1st to a post, and quite often the last to comment. This isn't from disinterest, but from trying to read too much. With all the talent here, it's easy to fall behind on the posting, reading, commenting ratios. You might have found this true for yourself, as well.
Well, again, welcome aboard. I think you'll enjoy the ride. Oh, could you let me know the going rate of an EP or cover during your tenure? Thanks so much.
Julie Kiernan
The food shots that people post, and OS puts on the cover, look disgusting. 98% of them do, anyway. I was an advertising Art Director for many years. Do you have any idea what goes into making an appealing food shot? It's not real food, I can tell you that much. Food stylists practice a bizarre craft—but their work looks stunning, and mouth-watering—even though the materials they use are poison. Real food in a photograph looks exactly the way it looks here—disgusting. Like someone just barfed.
So I'd like to know how invested OS is in showing such turn-offs. It doesn't do anything for the image of the site. Maybe the regulars here love the funkiness of it. Maybe the "foodies" here think these pics are cool. They're not, but then maybe I don't know enough about the fine points of the blogging world yet.
Bottom line: every time I see a new food pic posted on the cover I gag.
Geeez people ... couldn't you just start with, "Nice to meet you."
Everybody has an agenda. And we wonder why nothing gets done in Congress.
"Thrilled and humbled!"
Okay!
But not a word about who the fuck she is, and how much of a downgrade appointing her means for a job that was virtually meaningless anyway.
I suspect that if that if we see less Enquirer fodder, we might see the return of the brilliant writing of many absent friends - as well as new members who will be more likely to want to invest their time and efforts.
Interesting open calls would also be most welcome.
I haven't had as much time to be here, and I'm still hurt that my brilliant application was denied, but *snort/sigh* I will live through the heartbreak and disappointment.
Don't let people bust your chops over the EP's, and here, you will need some of this stuff that's going around:
!♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥
Welcome, Judy!
I just found out yesterday that OS had a new editor. Welcome
Visit my blog for startling, new fiction--I recommend "Small Man Syndrome" and "Idiot Boy"--when you have time.
I wish you the best in your new job, and I hope it's a ball!
S.P.
Good Luck & Welcome!!
Welcome, welcome, welcome and don't let the bitchers get you down - - but have a feeling you can stand up for yourself :-)
Cornelia Seigneur' aka Real-Life Mom
Mom of 5 between the ages of 6 and 19...
My website: www.corneliaseigneur.com
neurotic people in the country. --news item
EIGHT MILLION COUCHES
Third? That's all? And which are the other two?
Studies demeaning our city can't be true.
Washington, D.C.? San Francisco?
Comparing a kiddie skating rink to a disco.
Boston? Los Angeles? Second City Chicago?
Everlastingly, impossibly no!
New York City's six million neurotics
Thrive, along with another two million psychotics.
Point to any syndrome or loony complex,
New Yorkers have it, every dad-and-momplex.
Any way you look at the shrinker game,
Neurosis surely is our middle name.
Live here? The self-disrepecting are hot to;
He or she or they'd be crazy not to.