Got some extra time? Like to write? I just heard about a few opportunities for all you bloggers out there, which could help you gain experience and exposure while you’re in between jobs, freelancing or trying to figure out what to do with yourself.
Change.org is hiring full-time bloggers to write about social causes from human rights to environmental issues to social entrepreneurship. Best of all, positions are paid and your posts would be viewed by over a million users. Check out the ad here.
MediaBistro also recently launched a user-generated blog “We the ‘Bistro” which allows any one to submit posts via email to a large audience of fellow media professionals. You can submit photos, video or anything relevant to media workers. I just sent in an old Meridian post to the email address post@mediabistro.posterous.com just to get my name out there and see how it works.
I hope to open up Meridian in a similar fashion so that readers can email posts containing their work or musings on issues facing young journalists. We’ve also been talking about starting up a guest post series to add more voices to this blog, so look out for that in the coming weeks!
Got some extra time? Like to write? I just heard about a few opportunities for all you bloggers out there, which could help you gain experience and exposure while you’re…

It’s NYC Fashion Week and I am putting in 10+ hour days of editing and shooting so please excuse my absence. On top of these commitments, I started my gig with Sundance Channel last week. I am essentially blogging for my boss, Patrick McMullan.  I go out once a week to some party and take in all the sights and talk to whoever he wants me to meet (last week that was Amerie and Taylor Hanson), all while he tells me his thoughts on the night. Yes, life could be much worse. Check out the first post here.
It’s NYC Fashion Week and I am putting in 10+ hour days of editing and shooting so please excuse my absence. On top of these commitments, I started my gig…

It was five minutes till 9am and the Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF was already brimming with 20 and 30 somethings eager for the daylong Wordcamp San Francisco to begin. While I noticed scattered heads of gray hair, the vast majority of attendees were young; many of whom wore glasses and scanned their laptops and iPhones before the first speaker took the stage. I overheard the group behind me discussing how long they had been blogging and what they write about. A blonde girl to my front left quickly updated her Twitter page as the young Asian man to my right checked his Buddy Press. All the while, I was sitting alone with nothing but a notepad, asking myself what I was doing there.

I was reminded when Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek, took the mic and began his talk on “How to blog without killing yourself.” He started off by reiterating all of the opportunities blogging provides (besides just attending geeky camps) and he opened up the process behind his high-traffic personal blog, which I found insightful for us newbie bloggers.

First, he posed the question “why blog?” It’s a simple question, but it’s something we bloggers should at least contemplate for all the time and energy we put into our posts. Ferriss answered with a heartfelt “to love, be loved and never stop learning,” which he explained further as access to people and resources and to create a laboratory for learning and sharing. The second half reminded me of the conclusion Jackie, Will and I came to after a long conference call a few months back when we were first starting this blog. We envisioned the purpose of this blog to “tell the backstories behind our images and articles to share the adventures we as journalists go through to get our stories out to the world.” We also hope to create a community for learning and sharing–hence the resourceful posts we provide for each other, as well as our desire to get people to join the conversation and comment.
Another piece of advice was about blog content. In Ferriss’ opinion, “the most important thing is not being a good writer but having a voice.” Although I believe narrative voice develops as people grow, I have been pleasantly surprised by the variety of voices on Meridian. What do you readers think? Ferriss also emphasized a need for passion. “Passion beats poling and focus groups,” he said. “When you’re blocked, write about what makes you angry.” While I’m not sure we aim to express anger here, this collective was born out of passion and so do good posts.
But the part that hit home for me was the concept of making work fun. “Think big but play often,” Ferriss says. “Take fun seriously.” I’ve been noticing more and more that I’m a serious person by nature. I take work seriously; I take life seriously, and sometimes I have a hard time melding the two in a way that doesn’t stress me out. “Blogging can be your own self-imposed hell if you let it,” Ferriss continues. These words echo in my mind.
I want to be a journalist, not only because I think it’s important, but also because of the journalist’s lifestyle. However, too often in my rush to get things done, I forget how fun it can be going to new places, interviewing renowned people and writing about what interests me. That’s why we all want to be journalists deep down right–to do things we enjoy or investigate subjects that interest us and hopefully intrigue others and get paid in the process? I think the same can be said of blogging, but I need some lighthearted ideas. Any one?
I was encouraged to hear that Tim Ferriss takes between 20 minutes and six hours on a single blog post. He thinks some posts are just as important as op-eds for the Economist and should be treated as such. He also said that writing doesn’t always come naturally to him; in fact, sometimes he wants to cry in his pillow. But he pays attention to his biorhythms, functioning best between 1 and 5am, and relaxes with a glass of wine or matte. He’s also very good at entertaining himself with his blog.
If you don’t even enjoy your blog, how do you expect others to read it?
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So what helps you stay motivated and cope with stress? What are some ideas for making blog posts fun? Please comment with your ideas and tips.
Check out this BlogHerald post for more blogs about Wordcamp and read this Socialmedia.biz post to learn more of Tim Ferriss’ practical suggestions for optimizing your blog.
It was five minutes till 9am and the Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF was already brimming with 20 and 30 somethings eager for the daylong Wordcamp San Francisco to…

My networking attempts seemed to have paid off a few weeks ago because I just became the new “Resident Blogger” for Spot.Us, the Bay Area community-funded journalism project I mentioned in my most recent post.
It’s an unpaid internship; we just gave it a new name, but it’s a job that I sought out for the mutually-beneficial potential it has for both me and the organization. In general, I have mixed feelings about internships. I’ve had only one that I think helped me, and I’ve heard of far too many that turn talented young people into glorified slaves for little to no pay and irrelevant job experience. This one, on the other hand, will undoubtedly enhance my blogging and multimedia skills while also offering tremendous possibility for networking, increased exposure, and learning about the industry and issues of the Bay Area. How did I get this internship? I simply asked for it.
Backing up a bit, I met David Cohn, Kara Andrade and the Spot.us crew at a fundraiser/party the night before the May 1 journalism conference I attended. Believe me, networking is a lot easier with drinking, Indian food and dancing involved! I was already interested in the Spot.us crowdfunding model, and I’ve been realizing more and more the increased demand for blogging, web, and multimedia abilities in the journalism job market. I’ve also been feeling a little lost in the way of meeting people, discovering new places and learning about important issues to write about, so I asked Kara and David after if Spot.us needed an intern. Two weeks and a handful of followup emails later, the symbiotic relationship began. Of course I need some way to supplement my lack of income, so I’m actively seeking paid employment as well. But in the meantime, I’m going to learn every thing I can from this internship and hopefully it will launch me–and Meridian–to new heights.
To get a feel for my new gig, check out a Spot.us blog post I wrote today about an environmental activist from Oakland who is doing every thing she can to cut down her plastic consumption and track it on her blog, fakeplasticfish.com. I interviewed her on BlogTalkRadio, which is an online radio show that records interviews and archives them into podcasts. I learned that I need to work on my radio voice and loose the commentary, but hey, at least I’m learning. Check back to read more about my experience with Spot.us.
My networking attempts seemed to have paid off a few weeks ago because I just became the new “Resident Blogger” for Spot.Us, the Bay Area community-funded journalism project I mentioned…