Media Social

So tonight was our opening session of Noozhawk's adventure as a USC Annenberg School Fellow. I met our fellow Fellows, and they're a really cool bunch.

Those of you who know Noozhawk know we love to play above our league, and it was great to make the acquaintance of 10 other people who share the gene. Sure, none of us has enough time, money or resources to do what we do the way we really want to do it, but there's no denying our heart and drive. And, of course, we all expect the experience we're about to encounter will propel each of us to a new level, personally and professionally.

Susan Mernit of Oakland Local and Staci Baird, a journalism instructor at San Francisco State, tag-teamed a terrific overview of using social media as a true story-telling tool. Apparently they had not partnered before but I certainly couldn't tell from their presentation. I found it reassuring that Noozhawk is doing a lot of stuff right - perhaps more by dead-reckoning than by design - but I certainly got a good look at our shortcomings. Or should I say unrealized opportunities? I did have a Facebook epiphany that I'll be exploring further this weekend, and I came away with a dozen doable ideas that Noozhawk readers should be seeing in the next few weeks.

We're grateful to have this opportunity from Annenberg and SFSU's Renaissance Journalism Center, but, as Noozhawk's publisher, I've still got more questions than answers on just where to start. Figuring out the entrepreneurial challenge is always what energizes me, though, so I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

Before tomorrow dawns, however, I've got to get through the night in a dilapidated hotel right out of The Shining. It's an absolute shame the ownership of this once-grand and glamorous West Coast landmark has allowed it to deteriorate to such a shabby state.

My grandmother, and my great-grandmother, always spoke reverently of the Los Angeles Biltmore and the debutante balls and society soirees that were its stock in trade. They would be appalled and crestfallen. Me? I'll be sleeping with one eye open in case Lloyd the Bartender pays me a visit.